... but it's a good one.
Many of you know of my longstanding obsession with the world's greatest band ever--Pearl Jam. Just wanted to announce that their new album, which is appropriately self-titled (i.e. Pearl Jam for all those of you who don't understand) is released as of today May 2nd 2006. The reason I say it is appropriately self-titled, is because it is much like a debut release, with the band getting back to the basics which made them so well accepted in the earlier parts of the 1990s.
This is, in my opinion, and in the opinions of many of the popular review sites, the best Pearl Jam album in 10 years, and the more I listen to it, the more I start to think it is their best ever. Seriously, it's not like previous albums, it's real good.
The maturity of the lyrics make this album well worth the 10 bucks you'll pay; it's not kiddy stuff. The songs are all catchy and the musical arrangements have such uncharacteristic (for PJ at least) depth to them, that you might mistake them for something off a Pink Floyd record. With this album, Pearl Jam renews its reign over the kingdom which is Alt Rock and are well on their way, blazing a path, to the retake throne of Rock and Roll, which is so rightfully theirs.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Diamonds in this Coalmine
So a good friend of mine just called me in response to my recent blog post and she wasn't too happy with my pessimistic outlook. She also reminded me that I forgot to post about the good news I got on Friday -- NYU has formally agreed to put me another $60,000 in debt. (Get It?!?)
I'm sure once I have a chance to relax and let some time lapse things will be looking better again. So until then, can someone please post a review of FUDCon for all to see. I would do it myself, but I'm too damn tired and don't feel like concentrating enough to write a proper review.
Also, Fedora has been officially invited to the O'reilly Open Source Convention this year. I have all the forms and paperwork ready and have spoken to the coordinator for that, so I'll post up some more info when it's available.
I'm sure once I have a chance to relax and let some time lapse things will be looking better again. So until then, can someone please post a review of FUDCon for all to see. I would do it myself, but I'm too damn tired and don't feel like concentrating enough to write a proper review.
Also, Fedora has been officially invited to the O'reilly Open Source Convention this year. I have all the forms and paperwork ready and have spoken to the coordinator for that, so I'll post up some more info when it's available.
Down In A Hole
Just got back from Boston. This has ended up being the worst and most expensive trip of my life.
$800 Auto Glass Replacement + $350 Traffic Ticket + $200 Gas = $1350.
I now realize that I could have gone on a weeklong European vacation and saved money. Anyway, somebody must be giving me the evil eye or something because this is just insane. Just when I got over the broken window, and had the weekend to relax, a stupid fucking state trooper pulls me over.
I've learned my lesson though. Time to take a break from travel for a long while. I think I am going to crawl into some hole and disappear for a good long time.
$800 Auto Glass Replacement + $350 Traffic Ticket + $200 Gas = $1350.
I now realize that I could have gone on a weeklong European vacation and saved money. Anyway, somebody must be giving me the evil eye or something because this is just insane. Just when I got over the broken window, and had the weekend to relax, a stupid fucking state trooper pulls me over.
I've learned my lesson though. Time to take a break from travel for a long while. I think I am going to crawl into some hole and disappear for a good long time.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Do The Evolution. Or Not.
In response to Jesse's recent posts about filing evolution bugs:
Have fun. I myself have filed numerous bugs, especially over this past summer working with Dave Malcolm, and all are yet to be fixed. Wait, scratch that, one was fixed, but that was the one which we included a patch with, and it was a stupid fix anyway. The important things, including the potential to lose mail, don't seem to bother them. I doubt you will get very far using bugzilla reports. Me, I prefer baseball bats and brass knuckles.
Evolution was sucking hardcore and no one cared to fix anything so I switched to Thunderbird. Thunderbird has open bugs about reply-list and guess what, it's actually been fixed already. Chris Aillon is out in California this week and is meeting with some of the moz dudes. So I had him talk to the people responsible, and that bug is fixed and ready to be rolled out in the next update.
Mozilla is actually willing to work with people and invest the time and effort to fix things and I proudly support their efforts.
P.S. Why did we ever abandon Mutt and Pine?
Have fun. I myself have filed numerous bugs, especially over this past summer working with Dave Malcolm, and all are yet to be fixed. Wait, scratch that, one was fixed, but that was the one which we included a patch with, and it was a stupid fix anyway. The important things, including the potential to lose mail, don't seem to bother them. I doubt you will get very far using bugzilla reports. Me, I prefer baseball bats and brass knuckles.
Evolution was sucking hardcore and no one cared to fix anything so I switched to Thunderbird. Thunderbird has open bugs about reply-list and guess what, it's actually been fixed already. Chris Aillon is out in California this week and is meeting with some of the moz dudes. So I had him talk to the people responsible, and that bug is fixed and ready to be rolled out in the next update.
Mozilla is actually willing to work with people and invest the time and effort to fix things and I proudly support their efforts.
P.S. Why did we ever abandon Mutt and Pine?
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Announcing FUDCon Boston 2006
Hot on the heels of the release of Fedora Core 5 and the success of previous FUDCon events worldwide, the Fedora Project is proud to announce FUDCon Boston 2006. FUDCon Boston 2006 will offer a wide range of speakers on an even wider range of topics, in three separate tracks, and is sure to have something for everyone.
More Info can be found at:
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon/FUDConBoston2006
==When==
Friday, 7 April 2006. This is the Friday right after LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.
==What==
FUDCon Boston 2006 is the fifth such event globally and the second to be held in Boston, Mass. USA. FUDCon Boston 2006 will feature an expanded three track lineup which includes a user, developer and applications track. The application track will feature unique individuals and corporations, such as Levanta, MySQL, Pogo Linux and even representatives from the Catalonian Government in Spain, who have
leveraged Fedora for unique purposes and have contributed to the community.
The complete schedule can be found on the wiki and will be updated to reflect any time conflicts speaker may have. Please use it as the definitive timetable for the day's events. Additionally, the wiki will be updated with more detailed speaker, abstract and room info for each specific talk.
==Where==
The Fedora Project is honored to be able to work with Boston University once again to make this FUDCon a reality. The event will be graciously hosted once again by the BU Office of Information Technology, and this year, the BU School of Management gets in on the fun.
Also, as last year, we plan on offering streaming video and audio of all tracks and sessions. This year, these streams will be higher quality than previous attempts, as we think we've gotten it right this time. The streams will be Ogg Theora and should work out of the box for users of Fedora Core 4 and 5. Check the wiki in the coming weeks for links to the streaming content.
==How==
As spaces are limited we urge all those interested to pre-register by emailing fudcon-register@fedoraproject.org . Those who pre-register will have badges available for pickup the day of FUDCon and will receive preference for sessions which may fill up quickly.
==Thanks==
Thanks go out to all who made this possible and have contributed so much to the massive growth and success of the Fedora community. You know who you are.
See you in Boston!!
More Info can be found at:
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/FUDCon/FUDConBoston2006
==When==
Friday, 7 April 2006. This is the Friday right after LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.
==What==
FUDCon Boston 2006 is the fifth such event globally and the second to be held in Boston, Mass. USA. FUDCon Boston 2006 will feature an expanded three track lineup which includes a user, developer and applications track. The application track will feature unique individuals and corporations, such as Levanta, MySQL, Pogo Linux and even representatives from the Catalonian Government in Spain, who have
leveraged Fedora for unique purposes and have contributed to the community.
The complete schedule can be found on the wiki and will be updated to reflect any time conflicts speaker may have. Please use it as the definitive timetable for the day's events. Additionally, the wiki will be updated with more detailed speaker, abstract and room info for each specific talk.
==Where==
The Fedora Project is honored to be able to work with Boston University once again to make this FUDCon a reality. The event will be graciously hosted once again by the BU Office of Information Technology, and this year, the BU School of Management gets in on the fun.
Also, as last year, we plan on offering streaming video and audio of all tracks and sessions. This year, these streams will be higher quality than previous attempts, as we think we've gotten it right this time. The streams will be Ogg Theora and should work out of the box for users of Fedora Core 4 and 5. Check the wiki in the coming weeks for links to the streaming content.
==How==
As spaces are limited we urge all those interested to pre-register by emailing fudcon-register@fedoraproject.org . Those who pre-register will have badges available for pickup the day of FUDCon and will receive preference for sessions which may fill up quickly.
==Thanks==
Thanks go out to all who made this possible and have contributed so much to the massive growth and success of the Fedora community. You know who you are.
See you in Boston!!
Friday, February 24, 2006
FUDCon CFP Almost Closed
The Call for Papers for FUDCon Boston 2006 is drawing to an end. The official deadline is about to lapse, although we will still consider submissions that come in over the next few days and are encouragin. Thanks go to everyone who has submitted abstracts and we look forward to announcing the final lineup and events schedule later next week.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
FUDCon Boston 2006 Call for Papers
I would like to start out by thanking both the community and developers who have helped make Fedora such a huge success on so many different fronts.
Riding on the success of the series of FUDCon events worldwide I am proud to announce that we will be holding FUDCon Boston 2006, taking it back to where it all began. The event will be graciously hosted by Boston University once again with sponsorship from BU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the BU Office of Information Technology, and this year, the BU School of Management. The date for the event is Friday April 7th, the day following the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.
We are looking for interesting topics and presentations covering a number areas. Talks should be focused on one of the 3 main tracks.
Track 1 - User Track : Topics that deal with the user experience, desktop innovations, etc.
Track 2 - Developer Track : Topics that deal with software development in the Fedora environment.
Track 3 - Application Track : Either topics that deal with applications/uses of Fedora in other Open Source projects or topics that showcase a specific Open Source application.
To be considered for presentation, abstracts should be submitted to fudcon-cfp@fedoraproject.org by no later than Thursday February 23, at 11:59pm. We welcome submission from both developers and community members alike, new and old.
After the review process, notifications will go out on Thursday March 2nd followed by a full schedule for FUDCon Boston 2006 and official announcement on Monday March 6th.
Thanks.
Riding on the success of the series of FUDCon events worldwide I am proud to announce that we will be holding FUDCon Boston 2006, taking it back to where it all began. The event will be graciously hosted by Boston University once again with sponsorship from BU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the BU Office of Information Technology, and this year, the BU School of Management. The date for the event is Friday April 7th, the day following the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo.
We are looking for interesting topics and presentations covering a number areas. Talks should be focused on one of the 3 main tracks.
Track 1 - User Track : Topics that deal with the user experience, desktop innovations, etc.
Track 2 - Developer Track : Topics that deal with software development in the Fedora environment.
Track 3 - Application Track : Either topics that deal with applications/uses of Fedora in other Open Source projects or topics that showcase a specific Open Source application.
To be considered for presentation, abstracts should be submitted to fudcon-cfp@fedoraproject.org by no later than Thursday February 23, at 11:59pm. We welcome submission from both developers and community members alike, new and old.
After the review process, notifications will go out on Thursday March 2nd followed by a full schedule for FUDCon Boston 2006 and official announcement on Monday March 6th.
Thanks.
Monday, January 09, 2006
There's No Place Like ~
Okay, so it's been a struggle getting caught up with everything and finally being able to breathe, but lo and behold, sometime between 11 and 12 today, I accomplished that exact feat. So what now? Well, I've been working on a little project on the side with a few friends for the past month and things have really begun to pick up steam. I might be headed to NYU in the fall to participate in the most awesome ITP Program. Lot's of good stuff coming out of there.
However, don't be fooled. As of Jan 9, I am able to step back into all my Fedora work full force, and I find that awesome. There is much to be done on every front. Marketing is always busy and we are trying to get together another awesome FUDCon and a most special event for the LinuxWorld expo, so look for updates on that. As part of the ambassadors, I am almost done writing my letters to the U.N. and Mayor Bloomberg. I'm looking forward to picking up pieces of the triage stuff as well and maybe getting my hands dirty in a few other things.
It feels good to be able to breathe again.
P.S. Howard Stern's first Sirius Broadcast is Jan 9 as well. I'm looking forward to listening to the first show and seeing what it's like. I got my Sirius Radio last year for other reasons, but I'm sure this will be interesting.
However, don't be fooled. As of Jan 9, I am able to step back into all my Fedora work full force, and I find that awesome. There is much to be done on every front. Marketing is always busy and we are trying to get together another awesome FUDCon and a most special event for the LinuxWorld expo, so look for updates on that. As part of the ambassadors, I am almost done writing my letters to the U.N. and Mayor Bloomberg. I'm looking forward to picking up pieces of the triage stuff as well and maybe getting my hands dirty in a few other things.
It feels good to be able to breathe again.
P.S. Howard Stern's first Sirius Broadcast is Jan 9 as well. I'm looking forward to listening to the first show and seeing what it's like. I got my Sirius Radio last year for other reasons, but I'm sure this will be interesting.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Hiatus
Where is Jack? While reading my backlog of emails, I've realized that a large number of people have emailed me regarding my whereabouts over the past few months. This is aside from the large number of people who have phoned me.
Well all I have to answer all you people is that most of the time life is good; Unfortunately, recently, life sucks. Therefore, I've been on kind of a computer break. I'm trying to tie up a few loose ends, catch up with some long overdue work and think about some new directions.
Hopefully, the picture will be clearer after Thanksgiving Day, that's the plan at least, and I will be able to return to some type of normalcy. I am hoping to be back up to speed, caught up with everything by 20 December.
See you then.
Well all I have to answer all you people is that most of the time life is good; Unfortunately, recently, life sucks. Therefore, I've been on kind of a computer break. I'm trying to tie up a few loose ends, catch up with some long overdue work and think about some new directions.
Hopefully, the picture will be clearer after Thanksgiving Day, that's the plan at least, and I will be able to return to some type of normalcy. I am hoping to be back up to speed, caught up with everything by 20 December.
See you then.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Is It Wrong to Hate Stupid People?
In response to this story http://www.cooltechzone.com/index.php? option=content&task=view&id=1645, and its author, this idiot, varun@cooltechzone.com, I would just like to say the following:
This is a prime example of how any turd that can open its mouth can now become a "journalist" in our day in age. This guy is the most clueless motherfucker on the face of the earth. He is clearly severely undereducated, due to his clear lack of understanding, based on some of his comments, such as:
"...I hate Linux. I think it’s the most over rated piece of software ever built and survives simply out of spite and not because it is terribly good at doing something because it is not!"
"In Linux, you have to recompile a kernel if you want to so much as change your modem!"
and the ever conclusive:
"as most of the people developing Linux probably sit at night writing up malicious code for windows!"
Varun, you could clearly benefit from some form of instruction, both in the English language, with regards to grammar and punctuation, as well a course in how to be a real journalist and actually do some factual
research to base your article on.
It is clear and obvious to anyone with even the smallest of brains that you probably have never tried Linux in your life, if you think that it is not good at anything and that you need to recompile the kernel to get a modem working. I doubt you even know what a kernel is.
I really don't even care that you are talking shit about Linux. You just need to realize that if you are going to write articles and expect people to read them that you can't just go running off your mouth. There is something called journalistic integrity and factual basis.
But dude, by all means, If you really want to give Bill Gates a blowjob, just ask him directly and do yourself and the world a favor and spare us from having to waste our time reading your crap. Instead of an "article" just write him a love sonnet next time.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Fedora Bug Day Event - Pick Your Poison - Friday 2005-07-29
Saddle up the horsies and git yer shotguns kids, its time for a Bug Day!
Who:
The Fedora BugZappers Triage Team, men, women and children alike. More information is available at
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
When:
Friday 29 July 2005 - Starting at 9AM in your timezone!
What:
The theme for our first bug day will be "Pick Your Poison." Anything in bugzilla is fair game! The goal will be to try and triage as many bugs as possible, close out duplicates as well as linking to upstream bug
trackers. Additionally, we have the special honor of trying to file and close out as many Documentation Bugs as possible.
Where:
Join us on #fedora-bugs on irc.freenode.net and on fedora-triage-list@redhat.com . Bugzilla is at
https://bugzilla.redhat.com .
How:
The following steps are necessary for those interested in participating:
1. Go to http://bugzilla.redhat.com and sign up for an account.
2. Sign up for a Fedora Account using the same Bugzilla name at https://admin.fedora.redhat.com/accounts/ . When setting up your account, click the box to be added to the 'fedorabugs' group. An administrator will then approve your membership.
3. Sign up for membership to the fedora-triage-list at https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-triage-list .
Once you are done and signed up, please send an email to the list with a subject line of "Triage Participant: 2005-07-29" so that we know you plan on participating. This also ensures that you will be entered into the
activity tracker for the day so you can earn a reward. More on that later.
4. Hop on #fedora-bugs on irc.freenode.net on Friday morning and bring lots of ammo!
Why:
To help the project, to help the developers and to earn rewards. Yes you heard right, rewards. There will be awards given out to certain participants at the conclusion of Bug Days. Awards for things such as
most active, most reported, most closed, most marked upstream an so on will be announced within a week and all rewards sent out. Also, sometimes we will have special rewards that we give out just for fun, at
random, because well, we're nice guys and gals.
What are these rewards you ask? Joining us is the only way to find out what's in the treasure chest.
See you on Friday.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Official Launch of the Fedora BugZappers Triage Team
Want to help out with the Fedora Project, but can't code a lick? Well fear not my dear friends. There are many ways you can help the cause and today I am pleased to announce a brand new way you can help contribute. Join the Fedora BugZappers!
Who are the BugZappers?
The BugZappers, (http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers) are the official triage team of the Fedora Project. The main goal of the team is to triage, or do a first pass, of bugs in Bugzilla and ensure that a number of parameters are satisfactorily met. Basically what that means is that the BugZappers will go through bugs as they come in and try and make sure the bugs are valid (i.e. not a duplicate), sane and contain enough information to be escalated to developers. If you have ever reported a bug and wondered why it took so long to get fixed, well then BugZappers is the right project to join.
Tell Me More!
The BugZappers aim to be the primary line of defense for Fedora Quality Assurance (QA). The BugZappers will begin running Bug Day events, every alternating week, usually on Wednesdays. Bug Day events are when the team gets together to concentrate our focus on certain subsections of the project which need work. Triage should continue on though, and remember kids, "Every day should be a Bug Day!"
So, if you are tired of hearing complaints about things not working, pieces being broken or just plain want to help Fedora be the best dang Fedora it can be, then join the BugZappers team and help the developers make the most of their coding time. It's fun, it's easy, you don't need much experience to start and we are willing to show you the path of the righteous, should you choose to accept this mission.
What's in it for me?
Glad you asked. First of all there is candy. OK, so there is no candy, but there is free stuff. The team is working on some giveaways and run contests during Bug Day events. You also get to work on triaging things that annoy you first, so your problems get fixed sooner; kernel problems anyone? Also, a wise man once said, much fame and fortune come to he who close many bugs. OK, it really wasn't a wise man buy you get the point.
How Do I Join?
Step 1: Sign up for the mailing list at:
http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-triage-list
Step 2: Join us on IRC
We live in #fedora-bugs on Freenode
Step 3: Read/Modify/Enhance the wiki
Our wiki is located at http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
Additionally, we have more information available on the wiki at:
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugsReports and http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Bugs.
More content will be added as we get the project off the ground and moving.
Also, be sure to look for our announcement of the first Bug Day event coming soon to an Inbox near you!
Who are the BugZappers?
The BugZappers, (http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers) are the official triage team of the Fedora Project. The main goal of the team is to triage, or do a first pass, of bugs in Bugzilla and ensure that a number of parameters are satisfactorily met. Basically what that means is that the BugZappers will go through bugs as they come in and try and make sure the bugs are valid (i.e. not a duplicate), sane and contain enough information to be escalated to developers. If you have ever reported a bug and wondered why it took so long to get fixed, well then BugZappers is the right project to join.
Tell Me More!
The BugZappers aim to be the primary line of defense for Fedora Quality Assurance (QA). The BugZappers will begin running Bug Day events, every alternating week, usually on Wednesdays. Bug Day events are when the team gets together to concentrate our focus on certain subsections of the project which need work. Triage should continue on though, and remember kids, "Every day should be a Bug Day!"
So, if you are tired of hearing complaints about things not working, pieces being broken or just plain want to help Fedora be the best dang Fedora it can be, then join the BugZappers team and help the developers make the most of their coding time. It's fun, it's easy, you don't need much experience to start and we are willing to show you the path of the righteous, should you choose to accept this mission.
What's in it for me?
Glad you asked. First of all there is candy. OK, so there is no candy, but there is free stuff. The team is working on some giveaways and run contests during Bug Day events. You also get to work on triaging things that annoy you first, so your problems get fixed sooner; kernel problems anyone? Also, a wise man once said, much fame and fortune come to he who close many bugs. OK, it really wasn't a wise man buy you get the point.
How Do I Join?
Step 1: Sign up for the mailing list at:
http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-triage-list
Step 2: Join us on IRC
We live in #fedora-bugs on Freenode
Step 3: Read/Modify/Enhance the wiki
Our wiki is located at http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers
Additionally, we have more information available on the wiki at:
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugsReports and http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/Bugs.
More content will be added as we get the project off the ground and moving.
Also, be sure to look for our announcement of the first Bug Day event coming soon to an Inbox near you!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Songs for Polar Bears
Ok so in response to Thomas' last post about needing more music, here is a list of new-ish bands that you might find some interest in. But before I get to them, I would like to first say that I've been thinking for a long time about starting some kind of band of the week thing, where I would talk about or introduce a new band every week, so I might actually get around to doing it now. Lastly, I would like thank Sirius Satellite Radio for not playing shitty music and introducing myself to some of these new and awesome bands. I'm just going to rattle off a list, if anyone wants me to include links, let me know and I will edit accordingly.
1. Snow Patrol - Although they aren't as unknown as some of the other bands to follow, I really dig their sound. Sort of laid back-ish and maybe a little, kind of emo. The lyrics are golden though. They are what's currently in my cd player at the moment.
2. Head Automatica - The lead vocalist is from Staten Island, NY not too far away from me and someone I know grew up down the block from him. He used to be in a band called Glassjaw which was almost like thrash metal, but now he hooked up with this DJ, Dan the Automator and their sound is really unique. Take two parts rock, one part disco add a dash of hipster-ism, and you have Head Automatica. If you pick up their disc, Decadence, I really like the tracks Beating Heart Baby, The Razor and Solid Gold Telephone.
3. Alkaline Trio - Just good plain ole' rock. Their new disc, Crimson, really kicks ass with some great tracks. It starts off really powerfully with the track, Time to Waste, and continues to be a great ride all the way through. I don't think any true rock fan can say anything bad about this disc, its just that good.
4. The Bravery - One of the better UK bands that are up and coming, their self-titled debut disc is pretty good, I like them.
5. Thornley - OK, so some people already know of them, and they've been out for quite a while now. I forgot how I found out about them, but I listened to their debut disc, Come Again, for about 5 months before I moved on, it just rocked so much. Last week I picked up a new copy, since my original one was lost, and rediscovered them again. I really, really like them and as ender can attest, they are excellent live.
That's about it for now. I can't give them all up on the first go round.
1. Snow Patrol - Although they aren't as unknown as some of the other bands to follow, I really dig their sound. Sort of laid back-ish and maybe a little, kind of emo. The lyrics are golden though. They are what's currently in my cd player at the moment.
2. Head Automatica - The lead vocalist is from Staten Island, NY not too far away from me and someone I know grew up down the block from him. He used to be in a band called Glassjaw which was almost like thrash metal, but now he hooked up with this DJ, Dan the Automator and their sound is really unique. Take two parts rock, one part disco add a dash of hipster-ism, and you have Head Automatica. If you pick up their disc, Decadence, I really like the tracks Beating Heart Baby, The Razor and Solid Gold Telephone.
3. Alkaline Trio - Just good plain ole' rock. Their new disc, Crimson, really kicks ass with some great tracks. It starts off really powerfully with the track, Time to Waste, and continues to be a great ride all the way through. I don't think any true rock fan can say anything bad about this disc, its just that good.
4. The Bravery - One of the better UK bands that are up and coming, their self-titled debut disc is pretty good, I like them.
5. Thornley - OK, so some people already know of them, and they've been out for quite a while now. I forgot how I found out about them, but I listened to their debut disc, Come Again, for about 5 months before I moved on, it just rocked so much. Last week I picked up a new copy, since my original one was lost, and rediscovered them again. I really, really like them and as ender can attest, they are excellent live.
That's about it for now. I can't give them all up on the first go round.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Like Eating Glass
Well, in a follow up to my previous post, I guess if I am going to admonish the bad, I must praise the good as well. So, fortunately, this story posted on news.com is a decent description of the situation and not some sensational scare peace. Joris Evers, should be commended for writing up such a concise and non-FUD spreading piece. Kudos!
People are Stupid, Yet Again
People, especially so called "journalist" need to learn to calm the fuck down. Earlier today Mauricio points out to me this story about Jon Johansen "hacking" Google Video. For God's sakes, all he did was remove 5 lines of code, which might I add, are freely available , as in open source, on google's code site. To add insult to injury, the google video player is nothing but a bunch of patches to VLC, which Jon works on already anyway. Oooh, an open source hacker modifying his own code! Quick someone call the US Department of Justice and Interpol. This is horse shit.
Ryan Naraine, you my man are truly an idiot and worthy of the title "Connecticut People." This article is nothing less than sensational journalism which should be retracted immediately. People should not be allowed to write misleading stories like this.
Ryan Naraine, you my man are truly an idiot and worthy of the title "Connecticut People." This article is nothing less than sensational journalism which should be retracted immediately. People should not be allowed to write misleading stories like this.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Providence and Anti-Providence
So last week Joe basically all but dragged me to the state of Rhode Island to go this "awesome" mall in Providence. Well let me just say that my list of states that suck has just grown by one. I decided to go because I needed a large picture frame to house my digital picture frame project and I figured an "awesome" mall would most likely have at least one place to buy a picture frame. Boy, was I wrong. The mall sucked so badly. It was really big with lots of room, but no good stores whatsoever. It also took a century to walk from one side of the mall to the other, which was exacerbated by the fact that you need to pass 5 Abercrombie and Fitch stores and listen to the blazing really really bad music. Not to mention that they had elevators that only go up one floor, when there are like 4 in the mall. Smart, real smart.
Also, Connecticut, you are not alone. People in Rhode Island seem to not know how to drive either, as Melissa can attest to. This has led me to the conclusion that pretty much ever state in New England has inept drivers. They insist on driving at 45mph in the left lane, not yielding, and subsequently screaming, honking, and yelling at you when you cut them off. Connecticut is by far the worst offender and I have therefore coined the term, "Connecticut People," henceforth to refer to people who are bungling, clumsy and incompetent.
Lastly, I must say that I am extremely sad today. Maybe more on that to follow, Maybe not.
Also, Connecticut, you are not alone. People in Rhode Island seem to not know how to drive either, as Melissa can attest to. This has led me to the conclusion that pretty much ever state in New England has inept drivers. They insist on driving at 45mph in the left lane, not yielding, and subsequently screaming, honking, and yelling at you when you cut them off. Connecticut is by far the worst offender and I have therefore coined the term, "Connecticut People," henceforth to refer to people who are bungling, clumsy and incompetent.
Lastly, I must say that I am extremely sad today. Maybe more on that to follow, Maybe not.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
FUDConIII Call for Locations
We are currently researching the possibility of having a third FUDCon take place around the time of LinuxWorld San Fran, Aug 8-11. Therefore, we are looking for institutions in the area, and there are many, who would be interested in possibly hosting us. The only main prerequisites are as follows:
1. We prefer it to be an academic institution if at all possible.
2. That it be reasonably close to San Francisco proper, although exceptions might be made if there are sufficient transportation options.
3. The institution and/or it's constituents are involved in some way, shape, or form with Linux, Open Source and obviously, preferably Fedora.
If you think your place fits the above criteria and would be willing to host a FUDCon please click here to send email to both myself and fedora-marketing-list and let us know.
1. We prefer it to be an academic institution if at all possible.
2. That it be reasonably close to San Francisco proper, although exceptions might be made if there are sufficient transportation options.
3. The institution and/or it's constituents are involved in some way, shape, or form with Linux, Open Source and obviously, preferably Fedora.
If you think your place fits the above criteria and would be willing to host a FUDCon please click here to send email to both myself and fedora-marketing-list and let us know.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The Endian of an Era
So obviously there is much controversy all over the computing world about Apple's announcement, as well there should be. It seems as though Apple has finally decided it should be targeting mass markets, too, since Jobs said they plan on having more offerings like the Mac Mini. Personally, I think Apple did the right thing. Hopefully the PPC architecture will still live on somewhere other than XBOX 360 and handhelds.
Also, John C. Dvorak, here, made it a point to mention that he now thinks Linux will be hit significantly harder than any other operating systems due to Apple's shift. He predicts that many developers will forgo writing and distributing open source software for Linux since they can now do it for Mac and they have better user interfaces and more intuitive design. He also says that some never really cared much for open source and now can develop for OS X and sell their code for profit. Well, I disagree completely. People who write open source software do so for many more reasons other than eye candy, ideology or profit. I'm not going to get into it but great organizations doing great things, similar to Summer of Code, will ensure that there is a healthy stream of high quality FOSS developers for years to come.
Dvorak's final comment was that he sees this as a major threat to Red Hat and it's business. Now, I've been a Dvorak fan for quite some time, but I must say, this is pure crack. Anyone who knows anything about Red Hat's business model would surely know that the markets for RHEL and OS X are so completely different, they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. What Dvorak fails to see is that many more people are replacing UNIX with Linux and not Windows with Linux. So barring Apple allowing installation of their server offering on stock hardware, I really don't see why Red Hat or any other Linux centric product distributor should be worried. Apple is still way to closed minded to begin thinking about expanding to the mainstream server or embedded markets.
Otherwise, haven't been up to much lately. Working on getting some python/xmlrpclib foo to work with some graphing foo to make some pretty pictures of things. Also, spent a fair bit of time trying to troubleshoot broken hardware today. As Warren mentioned in a post a few days ago, broken hardware sucks, it took forever trying millions of combinations of hardware to finally figure out what was wrong. What's even worse than broken hardware is when manufacturers decide to change specs mid production without changing revisions. This makes problems significantly harder than they need to be.
Oh well, fun fun fun.
Also, John C. Dvorak, here, made it a point to mention that he now thinks Linux will be hit significantly harder than any other operating systems due to Apple's shift. He predicts that many developers will forgo writing and distributing open source software for Linux since they can now do it for Mac and they have better user interfaces and more intuitive design. He also says that some never really cared much for open source and now can develop for OS X and sell their code for profit. Well, I disagree completely. People who write open source software do so for many more reasons other than eye candy, ideology or profit. I'm not going to get into it but great organizations doing great things, similar to Summer of Code, will ensure that there is a healthy stream of high quality FOSS developers for years to come.
Dvorak's final comment was that he sees this as a major threat to Red Hat and it's business. Now, I've been a Dvorak fan for quite some time, but I must say, this is pure crack. Anyone who knows anything about Red Hat's business model would surely know that the markets for RHEL and OS X are so completely different, they shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. What Dvorak fails to see is that many more people are replacing UNIX with Linux and not Windows with Linux. So barring Apple allowing installation of their server offering on stock hardware, I really don't see why Red Hat or any other Linux centric product distributor should be worried. Apple is still way to closed minded to begin thinking about expanding to the mainstream server or embedded markets.
Otherwise, haven't been up to much lately. Working on getting some python/xmlrpclib foo to work with some graphing foo to make some pretty pictures of things. Also, spent a fair bit of time trying to troubleshoot broken hardware today. As Warren mentioned in a post a few days ago, broken hardware sucks, it took forever trying millions of combinations of hardware to finally figure out what was wrong. What's even worse than broken hardware is when manufacturers decide to change specs mid production without changing revisions. This makes problems significantly harder than they need to be.
Oh well, fun fun fun.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
A Hunting We Will Go
Okay. So this past week saw me going down to Raleigh and then back to New York, up to Westford and then back to New York Again. The funny part is, I had always imagined myself disliking the South, you know based on that whole Union vs. Confederacy thing. So I was shocked when I left and I found myself saying that the South is actually pretty nice. Lots of green. I don't get very much of that anywhere else. While I was down there I got a chance to go out with Greg, Seth and Elliot and we discussed some things. It was nice to see everyone again.
Anyway, so at some point on Wednesday I got settled and started focusing on accomplishing something, to gather some hard data on the overall Fedora bug situation. Mainly I wanted to get a breakdown of certain metrics, bugs by component over each release, % bugs reported by community members vs. Red Hat employees, % bugs that are really bugs vs. feature requests, % bugs that are being reported which should be upstream etc etc. I think it's really important to gather the data before we start conjuring up documentation and creating triage processes. Hopefully, in a week or so we should have a really clear and extremely detailed overview of what is going on, where it is going on, and by whom. At that point it will be a lot easier to do a handful of things.
Other than that, I just went through BZ and tried and close anything which was fixed upstream already, and just wasn't noted as such in RH BZ. Also filed a few bugs upstream and linked them into RH BZ. So at least things are moving along nicely and bigger things are starting to take form.
**Special mention of the week: The jukebox in that place in Harvard square, was it Charlie's? Man that thing kicked ass.
Anyway, so at some point on Wednesday I got settled and started focusing on accomplishing something, to gather some hard data on the overall Fedora bug situation. Mainly I wanted to get a breakdown of certain metrics, bugs by component over each release, % bugs reported by community members vs. Red Hat employees, % bugs that are really bugs vs. feature requests, % bugs that are being reported which should be upstream etc etc. I think it's really important to gather the data before we start conjuring up documentation and creating triage processes. Hopefully, in a week or so we should have a really clear and extremely detailed overview of what is going on, where it is going on, and by whom. At that point it will be a lot easier to do a handful of things.
Other than that, I just went through BZ and tried and close anything which was fixed upstream already, and just wasn't noted as such in RH BZ. Also filed a few bugs upstream and linked them into RH BZ. So at least things are moving along nicely and bigger things are starting to take form.
**Special mention of the week: The jukebox in that place in Harvard square, was it Charlie's? Man that thing kicked ass.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
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