The First 100 Years Are The Hardest

Linux Support for the Parallax BOE-BOT (Board of Education Robot) I'm leading a robotics class for the Boys and Girls Club of Collin County on Saturdays. Today I got my BOE-BOT working with Linux over USB! (albeit the interface is still limited to the command line). Here's how I did it: 1) Download the Basic Stamp Tools for Linux from SourceForge 2) Extract to a local directory and make/make install (w/ sudo when necessary) 3) Plug your Boe-Bot into the USB port, and use the "dmesg" command to deterime the correct port. My port was ttyUSBO: usb 2-3: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 usb 2-3: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001 usb 2-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 usb 2-3: Product: FT232R USB UART usb 2-3: Manufacturer: FTDI usb 2-3: SerialNumber: A7005rCF 4) Create a symbolic link from your USB port to /dev/bstamp and to the Parallax Tokenizer shared library: bash...

Good-bye Samba. Hello CUPS! I've finally resolved a long standing issue printing from windows PC (xp and vista!) to the laser printer attached to my Fedora based linux workstation. So far this solution has been very reliable and doesn't required SAMBA. 1) In Fedora, Define a " Raw Print Queue " and make sure its shared (select the "Generic" drop down when you reach the "Printer model" step of the wizard, then select "Raw Print Queue") 2) In Windows XP (or Vista), "Add Printer", select "Connect to a printer on the Internet", and use the CUPS URL for the raw print queue on your Linux workstation (mine is http://192.168.0.102:631/printers/Raw) 3) Print a test page from Windows. If you have a problem make sure you have the correct Windows/XP/Vista print drivers installed, just as if the printer were connected locally.

2009 Quotes “We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard… because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” (JFK) “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent… It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” (Charles Darwin) “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” (Henry Kissinger) "Do, or do not. There is no 'try.’" (Jedi Master Yoda) “Look for the sudden and significant change…” (Judy Spitz)

For the Children! 2008 Softball Champions -- Corporate Challenge - City of Richardson Continuing a fine tradition of winning for Texans Credit Union, our team won gold this year with the Division D Softball tournament . We started the tournament with Game 1 on Saturday morning at 8am and led the team to a 6-2 win. The Texans then made it through the tournament with one loss (4-14) Sunday afternoon in a double-elimination gold medal round. We played the final gold medal round with lots of passion and energy on Sunday afternoon. Coming from behind with 6-8 deficit, we gained four runs to post a 10-8 lead. However, our opponents managed to tie the game 10-10 with a minute left on the game clock. The Texans again rallied with a 1 run and held our opponents scoreless in the bottom of last inning to win the gold medal 11-10. The Richardson Corporate Challenge is an Olympic style competition involving many athletic (and non-athletic events) held in the fall of each year. This charit...

Resolving GDM issues with Fedora 9 (Sulpher) GDM is not fully supported in Fedora 9 because GDM was rewritten during the GNOME 2.21 release cycle ( ref ). gdmsetup is missing so you cannot customize your login and I had issues with user switching ( Cannot communicate with GDM (The GNOME Display Manager)). Also, GDM would not put my monitor into powersaving mode from the login screen which was a real issue. To resolve I reverted back to the fedora 8 versions of gdm and fast-user-switch applet. Note: this could be "dangerous" (ie, see below - you may be required to recreate your user account). 1) Download fc8 rpms for gdm, fast-user-switch-applet and fedorainfinity-gdm-theme (required to resolve a gdm dependecy) gdm-2.20.1-5.fc8.i386.rpm fast-user-switch-applet-2.20.0-1.fc8.i386.rpm fedorainfinity-gdm-theme-8.0.1-1.fc8.noarch.rpm 2) Remove the fc9 versions of gdm and gdm-user-switch-applet $sudo yum erase gdm 3) Install the fc8 versions: $sudo rpm...

The Everyman’s Library 100 Essentials The Aeneid by Virgil The Analects by Confucius Animal Farm by George Orwell Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Arabian Nights by Husain Haddawy The Audubon Reader by John James Audubon Beloved by Toni Morrison The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; The High Window by Raymond Chandler Black Mischief, Scoop, The Loved One, The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh The Bookshop, The Gate of Angels, The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Carried Away by Alice Munro The Castle by Franz Kafka Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Collected Stories by Raymond Chandler Collected Stories by Roald Dahl Collected Stories by Franz Kafka Collected Stories by W. Somerset Maugham The Complete Henry Bech by John Updike The Complete Short Novels by Anton Chekhov The Complete Short Stories by Evelyn Waugh Crime and Punishment...

WiFi Antenna Hacks for (Almost) Free! I "stumbled" across a couple of cool tools to improve performance of your wireless router at home. The "Ez-12" parabolic reflector took a few minutes to make and really worked great. My WiFi router is upstairs. I got a 10db signal boost and my WI-FI connection quit dropping on my laptop downstairs. Ez-12 Parabolic Reflector Template: http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html If you are adventurous you might also try this. I’ve got everything ready but haven’t made the commitment to cut the existing wiring on my WiFi antenna. The parabolic reflector appears to be working well enough. At any rate this one was fun to build and beats spending $50 at Best Buy. WiFi Antenna Hack: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/837885/wifi_antenna_hack/ Measure Signal Strength (Signal/Noise ratio) of your Wi-Fi Signal NetStumbler: http://stumbler.net/

Love of My Life - Queen/Freddy Mercury (Top 5 All Time Favorites!) Love of my life, you hurt me, You broken my heart, now you leave me. Love of my life cant you see, Bring it back bring it back, Dont take it away from me, Because you dont know what it means to me. Love of my life dont leave me, Youve stolen my love now desert me, Love of my life cant you see, Bring it back bring it back, Dont take it away from me, Because you dont know what it means to me. You will remember when this is blown over, And everythings all by the way, When I grow older, I will be there by your side, To remind how I still love you I still love you. Hurry back hurry back, Dont take it away from me, Because you dont know what it means to me.

I've got Straight Edge ! Listen to the NOFX cover of Minor Threat's "Straight Edge" from their White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean CD. Refer to : wikipedia And yes, that's my Porsche 911 in the slide show. 1996, air cooled flat six 993, speed yellow, custom centerline 19" chrome wheels. I use it both for fun and show!

How To... Embed MP3 in your homepage: EMBED SRC=" filename " HIDDEN="TRUE" AUTOSTART="TRUE"> Embed a flikr slideshow: http://flickrslidr.com/index.php

Revisiting Hardcore Roots I've recently been listening to Bad Brain's " Banned in DC " album again. Some of their reggae tracks are really worth listening too as well. Mainstream types might enjoy watching the recently released DVD American Hardcore . The rest of you should check out Penelope Spheeris' now classic film from 1981 titled Decline of Western Civilization.

25 Greatest Science Books of All-Time This list was published this month in Discover magazine. I would welcome any of these on my "wish list" and will be watching ebay to find rare editions or even reading copies if that's what it takes to get these added to my libarary. 1. and 2. The Voyage of the Beagle (1845) and The Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin [tie] 3. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) by Isaac Newton (1687) 4. Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei (1632) 5. De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres) by Nicolaus Copernicus (1543) 6. Physica (Physics) by Aristotle (circa 330 B.C.) 7. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) by Andreas Vesalius (1543) 8. Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein (1916) 9. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976) 10. One Two Three . . . Infinity by George Gamo...

Only The Gods are Real... A few weeks ago I purchased the book The Sandman by Alisa Kwitney. Her introduction to the King of Dreams quickly drew me into a world I have been vaguely aware of but more or less disinterested in for the past 15 years. Sandman has turned out to be one of those rare joys when you discover something comletely new and fascinating by accident- the pleasure of discovering something that you have long overlooked. Exploring Neil Gaiman's other work, I just finished American Gods , which won the Hugo, Nebula and Bram Stoker awards for Best Novel in 2002. If you have any interest in religion or ancient mythology, this book is absolutely worth reading. The themes have been explored before (think of Thor and Odin from Douglas Adam' classic Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul) but Neil's prose kept me turning the pages till late at night then filling my dreams till early morning. Interesting Links: http://www.frowl.org/gods/gods.html http://www.rambles.net/...

Nothing on DirecTV tonight? Has the wife commandeered the TiVO with Chick Flicks? Try YouTube! Bonus- If you're into juggling be sure to check out Vova and Olga Trying to beat the World Record in 11 club passing ... and the many related videos.

So you want a day off So you want a day off? Let's take a look at what you are asking for! There are 365 days this year. There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have 2 days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work. Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91 days available. You spend 30 minutes each day on coffee break. That accounts for 23 days each year, leaving only 68 days available. With a one hour lunch period each day, you have used up another 46 days, leaving only 22 days available for work. You normally spend 2 days per year on sick leave. This leaves you only 20 days available for work. We are off for 5 holidays per year, so your available working time is down to 15 days. We generously give you 14 days vacation per year which leaves only one day available for work and I'll be damned if you're going to take that day off!

I'm In Love With My Car Words and music by Roger Taylor (Queen) The machine of a dream Such a clean machine With the pistons a pumpin' And the hub caps all gleam When I'm holdin' your wheel All I hear is your gear When my hand's on your grease gun Oh it's like a disease son I'm in love with my car Gotta feel for my automobile Get a grip on my boy racer rollbar Such a thrill when your radials squeal Told my girl I'll have to forget her Rather buy me a new carburetor So she made tracks sayin' This is the end now Cars don't talk back They're just four wheeled friends now When I'm holdin your wheel All I hear is your gear When I'm cruisin' in overdrive Don't have to listen to no run of the mill talk jive I'm in love with my car Gotta feel for my automobile I'm in love with my car String back gloves in my automobile.

Excellent Op-Ed piece on New Orleans "Will New Orleans Recover?" Nicole Gelinas Excerpts: ...No American city has ever gone through what New Orleans must go through: the complete (if temporary) flight of its most affluent and capable citizens, followed by social breakdown among those left behind, after which must come the total reconstruction of economic and physical infrastructure by a devastated populace... ...New Orleans has no real competent government or civil infrastructure—and no aggressive media or organized citizens’ groups to prod public officials in the right direction during what will be, in the best-case scenario, a painstaking path to normalcy... ...Sure, the feds must provide cash and resources for relief and recovery—but it’s up to New Orleans, not the feds, to dig deep within itself to rebuild its economic and social infrastructure before the tourists ever will flock back to pump cash into the city’s economy. It will take a miracle. New Orleans has experienc...

Why Hillary Can't Wait Till 2008! Verry Funny Stuff: http://www.michaelhodges.com/stuff/funny/2008cc1.swf

Grocery Star Wars . Starts a bit slow but well worth the three and a half minutes to watch. The audio is hilarious- click on the "meet the puppets" link if you miss any of the characters names (like Obi Wan Cannoli or Tofu-D2). Very well done!

Renewable Energy Resources NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory Home Power Magazize - Guide to Photovoltaics Systems Premier Power Solar Electricity Specialists Mr Solar.Com Grid Connected System Kits Altair Energy Turn Key Systems National Geographic Article Spray-On Solar-Power Cells Are True Breakthrough