Hoopty Rides

Hoopty Rides

Not computer related but very cool...

Forgot to post this...I've had it awhile


Number 390735...that's me

Using Linux at home

Like I said in an earlier post I use Linux at home 95% of the time. But the things I use Windoze for really annoy me.

1. Syncing with my Palmone Tungsten C--gpilot, jpilot, kpilot none seem to be able to connect
   
2. Downloading off of my Nikon Coolpix2000 Digital camera just won't work yet
   
3. Scanning on my HP PSC 1310 all in one printer...does everything else wonderfully
   

Those are my new projects

These are also the things that can turn a person off of Linux. People have gotten used to things being built for windows and then it just works...or fails miserably and you get the blue screen of death.

I know that there are things I can do with congig files etc to make it work...and i will. and if anyone ever reads this blog they will get to read about it here

HOW TO CVS Video Camera Hacking for PC & Macs

Good read on hacking the cvs camcorder

TechWeb | News | Judge Orders Apple to Pay Up For Bad iPod Batteries

Build your own Penny Arcade or who really loves Galaga?

Penny Arcade

OK there is only one word COOL. I had recently purchased a book on building your own arcade machine...but this is soo cool so small and simple. I already have the NAMECO game controller

Do-it yourself PVR

My DIY Linux PVR

Excellent article. I will be spending more than a few hours going over the specifics offered here

Boot loader showdown: Getting to know LILO and GRUB

Boot loader showdown: Getting to know LILO and GRUB

If you are gonna use Linux with Windows you need to understand boot-loaders and the duel boot idea...excellent article linked here.

Wish I had read it a year ago

I spoke in an earlier post about how my camera lacks screws and appears to be snapped together. Here's a pic to illustrate. There are no screws on any side that can be seen without removing the sticker on the back.

After removing the sticker there were three very small screws that held the back to the front cover. The circuit card is then removable in one piece. Seems they have modified the design from the ones I've seen online and in MAKE magazine

Meet Jake

Handsets' Deadly Use: Detonators - Yahoo! News

Handsets' Deadly Use: Detonators - Yahoo! News

As much as I love modern tech I get a little sick to my stomach when I think of it being used to attack GIs in Iraq or in a bomb used to attack us here at home.

Now we know that the powers that be don't talk about it. But I know there are Cell jammers out there on the market overseas...anybody got any homebrewed hacks to buid one...purely for educational purposes??

If there's a homebrew hack surely the government has one huh?

GM self driving car

From Engadget:

his will totally give new meaning to the term auto-pilot: GM will be launching a vehicle with an actual self-driving system in its 2008 Opel Vectra. That’s right — think KITT, people, but without the smarmy voice (well, we assume, anyway). It will be able to pilot itself even in heavy traffic at up to 60 mph, which is more than we can say for most of our friends, really. It’ll be using lasers, a video camera and a sophisticated computer brain to recognize signs and detect obstacles. Let’s hope the OS it uses is, um, extremely stable.

Hacking my own DAKOTA disposable digital camera

I've done alot of reading about the Dakota Digital disposable digital cameras. I had read you could pick them up at Walgreens etc. Well here in Honolulu we don't have Walgreens. But we do have Long's drugs...seems there everywhere. So I went looking for the cameras.

Success! They have both versions of the still camera. I could not find the CVS camcorder and I got nothing but a lot of blank stares from the "sales" associates...but whatever I can only do so much at a time.

I went ahead and bought one of the "version 1" cameras--the ones without the LCD display.

I got it home after the obligatory run to PAC SUN and the food court. I was able to get home with my new hack-toy. First thing i noticed is that this camera does not have the screws I had seen in the various websites and the MAKE magazine article.

I've taken some pictures of the work so far and will be putting them up soon...

TREO 670 rumors

As always GIZMODO has the scoop on the new treo cellphones. But I just gotta wonder...why windows on a treo??? Now if this means somebody will come up with a Linux installer that would be awesome.

UBERGEEKS lets get that thinking process going....

Hacking Google

All right I'll admit it. I am not near the hacker/geek/tech genius I would like to be. But I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last nite...sorry It is late. I digress.

One thing that is great about the web is customization. The old school newspapers and News shows are going the way of the dinosaur because the user is stuck with the content presented. I don't know about you but that seems so 90s to me.

I am a news junkie. Always have been now I have found the perfect way to get the news I want.

If you havent tried it go to http://news.google.com its a really great news site. But the best part is: on the right side of the screen is a gray block that says"edit this customized page" click this and you can add sections or delete sections you don't want to read about.

PDA News - PalmSource buyout rumor, T-Mo Tornado, Palm Linux jobs?

PDA News - PalmSource buyout rumor, T-Mo Tornado, Palm Linux jobs?


Ok T-mobile is my provider and I really like alot of things about them...but lets get real except for the TREO 600 they have been slow releasing good new pmodern phones this one looks cool. can't wait till October

Better living and crimefighting thanks to modern technology

See this guy?? He is soo busted thanks to a smart woman and the cameraphone she was carrying. Seems she noticed the perv staring at her on tyhe subway and snapped his pic. Later he decided to drop his pants and expose himself. The story is at: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/340923p-291030c.html

Drudge has also picked this up so I imagine the real-life SVU unit will be stopping by to talk to this guy real soon.

And congrats to Thao Nguyen the smart young lady who took the pic.

Getting Linux working in the home

I had been wanting to utilize Linux in my home for a very long time.

There was a time I would download the floppy images with a 486-33 using a 2600 baud modem. Attempting to burn the images using rawrite etc. I do not miss those days.

But for various reasons mainly my own lack of geekiness I didn't commit to full-time Linux on home PC.

Then in 2004 I started picking up Linuxformat magazine and reading it. It had a wealth of information written in a way that allowed a non-unix geek an oppurtunity to learn without being turned off by pages and pages of : GRUB LILO FSCK KDE GEVERYTHING etc.

The main problem for noobs is that it is nearly impossible to wade thru all the techspeak in most forums. The magazine helped and it came with DVD on every issue with a distro onboard.

Between reading the articles about the distro and having them in my hand I decided to give it a try.

I bought a second harddrive. I wanted my windozeXP and my Linux separate. Since my Win HDD was 70 gig I bought a second 70 gig HDD and slaved it in.

The first distro i tried was SUSE Linux 9.0 and I hated it. My optical mouse had to replugged in after booting. It couldn't read my HDA drive (windows) and it just felt buggy and unrefined

Several renditions of Fedora etc followed.

I finally went out and purchased SUSE 9.3 professional and I love it!