So I was bored. who says baking cookies cant be fun?
It's a great way to make new friends :P

(the rest of the series can be found on my deviant art profile)

How big are the stars floating around in the universe?

It's hard to fathom just how small we are.

Lance Armstrong @ Nevada City Classic

So today (sunday) I got to see Lance Armstrong win the Nevada City Classic, in Nevada City, CA.



I recorded the last bit of the 2nd to last lap, final lap, and the victory lap. Skip to 1:50 to see lance.

I was basically at the bottom of the course, where they slow down around the 1st hairpin turn. At this part they would fly by at about 30mph.
There were a few times where Lance got a little too close for comfort, but for the most part I just locked the focus at 2 meters. :)


Heres a quick video of the end-of-race interview with Lance Armstrong recorded by the local newspaper, The Union.






The video above shows just over one complete lap. Its crazy how fast they are going! right where the video ends is approximately where I was standing. I could even see myself in the video :)

The Course was 1.1miles around thru the downtown city streets, for 40 laps. It was really awesome!












...and yes, Lance won the event...his first since returning from his 3 and a half year hiatus.












ncclassic.com for more info about the race.
Click here for a local news report covering the event. Sorry, they don't allow page embedding.

1964 Livermore Data Systems "Model A" Acoustic Coupler Modem, live demonstration

Notes from the creator of the video:

Circa 1964 Livermore Data Systems "Model A" Acoustic Coupler Modem, live demonstration.

Background: This modem was given to me ~1989 by the widow of a retired (IBM?) engineer. Computerhistory.org has a Model B dated 1965, and I've seen a ~1967 Model C written up in a magazine. (Interestingly, incorrectly identified as being only 110 baud.)

Even better than seeing it in a museum, I decide to hook the trusty Model A up and make it talk to something. After some trial and error, I manage to get it to talk to a terminal server at work and use it to connect to a linux box. It's ALIVE! So, 45 years after it's creation, this antique modem gets to send data to and from the modern Internet.

Linux Foundation Video contest winners announced

On the 8th the Linux Foundation released their winner for their "We're Linux" Video Contest.
1st place was:
"What does it mean to be free?"


2nd place was my favourite pick, "The Origin"

Post of the Day - Dasher

Today's post is an interesting program, to say the least. Dasher is an alternative interface for writing text, as opposed to using a keyboard. Like the matrix, it really has to be seen to be understood. Here is a quick video example:



It works well, its not as fast as touch typing, not by a long shot. But it is an alternative to small keyboards or devices such as cellphones, where the alternative would be single-finger typing or thumb-typing on a minuscule keyboard.

It can be installed in OSX, Windows and of course, linux.
sudo apt-get install dasher
or click this link apt://dasher

Project Homepage:
http://www.dasher.org.uk/

New NVIDIA linux driver released today

Just a heads up. NVIDIA released a new stable video driver for Linux today. Version 180.44 fixed a few problems I was having with dithering and compiz, so it it recommended that if you are running a machine with an NVIDIA video card you grab the update.

To manually install the update:

1. download from this page To your home directory.
   
2. Hit Ctrl-Alt-F1 keys together to open a new TTY. Log in with your normal user name and password.
   
3. type: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
4. type: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-180.44-pkg2.run (for the 64bit version) (there is also no need to type the whole thing, just use bash's autocomplete. type up to the 'NV' and hit tab twice.
   
5. type: sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-180.44-pkg2.run
6. follow the prompts within NVIDIA's display driver installer. Dont bother trying to download a precompiled version of the kernel. Just select to build a new version when it asks. Also, even if you are using the 64 bit driver, you will want to install the 32bit OpenGL libraries when it prompts.
7. type: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
8. log in. You should be using the new driver.

Just a warning though, with this install method, you will not be able to access updates to your NVIDIA driver via apt. And, this is a big one: Every time you update your kernel you will have to repeat the process. In fact, everything breaks. Just so long as you keep the NVIDIA driver in your home dir, it is not a problem though. Just repeat the process above and everything will work out fine.

Jaunty Beta | Ubuntu

Just a reminder that the Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04) beta will be released for testing at some point today. check this link for the downloads, once they are available:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/jaunty/beta/


For more info into the Ubuntu release process:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyReleaseSchedule

Jaunty Technical Overview:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyJackalope/TechnicalOverview

Post a Day - UNetbootin

Todays post is very much like the "Create USB startup disk" or usb-creator tool that has been included in ubuntu since 8.10. Using UNetbootin, you can use your USB key as a LiveCD with just about any popular flavor of linux. If you're like me, playing with many different distributions, and many different versions of linux, all those cds can add up quick. Sure you could vm them, but that doesnt allow for full use of your hardware, and also disallows modification of drives, which may or may not be a good thing.
UNetbootin will download the iso images for whichever distribution you choose from a list, or you can supply your own iso. UNetbootin can also be used to create bootable usb drives for such linux-distribution tools as Super Grub, Gparted, among others. You can even create your own custom boot using the linux kernel source.
The real advantage of creating a USB LiveCD though is being able to take your linux with you, plugging your 'computer' into any machine you happen to come across, and all your programs, settings, documents, etc are right there with you. Just remember to enable USB booting under your BIOS. Most recent BIOSs support this option.

Linux and windows flavors are available.

Project home Page:
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Linux video ad contest

You may or may not know about a video ad contest The Linux Foundation is hosting. Currently anyone can vote now thru the 8th. to find out more about the contest, click here.

currently this is my favorite, but i haven't seen all of them:


The Origin... from Agustin Eguia on Vimeo.

Post a Day - Vim

OK, so if you've used Linux for any length of time, you've needed to use text files via the command line....You can use $cat filename, $less filename or even $more filename to view files, but how do you actually edit a file? gedit works if you're within the ubuntu gnome shell, but what if you're stuck at the command line pre-session? That is where Vim comes in. Vim stands for Vi IMproved, because it was based on Vi, a UNIX text editor from the 70's.
Because its fully text based, navigation and editing is less then intuitive for the novice user. However with a little experience, it can be a huge boost to your Linux or even Unix command line forte.
A very helpful guide is build into Vim, reachable via the command line. Just type vimtutor, and you'll be creating, saving, editing, copy/pasting and even searching files in no time. The tutor takes about 10-15 minutes.
Unfortunately Vim is not a default package on the Ubuntu LiveCd, but it can be installed easily by typing:
sudo apt-get install vim

or by clicking this link:
apt://vim

Vim project page:
http://www.vim.org/index.php

Vim Cheat sheet:
type: action:
:q! ----quit without saving.
:wq ----quit, saving changes
i ----begin making modifications. esc key to exit editing mode.
x ----deletes char
w ----tabs to the next word

documentation can be viewed here