Scene thru a bewilderness

time to move on?

2007-11-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have given multiple chances to my work environment -- have been more than fair in my opinion -- yet I am in general in disgust with the job I "get paid for". I love software and the power it provides. That "good" software or its value is not really understood at my employer shows up in evidence all over the place in internal projects. And I can only really derive any satisfaction nowadays from supporting users and providing great tools for them to get their jobs done. Hiring in software-related jobs (that I have personally observed) can be viewed to a large degree as cronyism or nepotism. This is disgusting, and while 60% margins may support this, it is not what I am looking for any more. THIS COMPANY IS TOO "OLD".

Google and web services are changing the world, and the corporate PR at my current employer pays it plenty of lip-service, but internally the _fighting_ to just to try to use some of the innovative technologies within makes you take a step back and wonder. THIS COMPANY IS TOO "OLD".

I think I really do contribute to making a group of fellow employees as a whole perform better. However, the reward system my employer uses does not really take that into account. It never has. It is all about getting your name associated with "something important" and having those important items being by-and-large successful. The company culture evolved much before there was a network culture and the territorial aspects of non-networked domains and making the network link bottlenecks valuable persists. There is little embracing at the upper levels of new networked mediums and the internal small employee groups who do endeavor to try to proliferate the new approaches like wikis or blogging or webservices are branded as mavericks. I understand the response. Flattened organizations can be threatening to some not ready for it. I just am not sure whether I want to spend any more time to change it or whether I can. THIS COMPANY IS TOO OLD.

I think the yearly review system if horribly broken from my job satisfaction viewpoint and I do not think I can change it. The so-called leaders (this term is largely referring to their position) in the institution are much too attached to it and the status quo to evolve. Half-truths that are sold well can get someone ahead and it is really hard to compete with that when you have integrity and base personal assessments on honesty rather than telling a large collection of small lies in order to sell yourself. Trampling down your colleagues actually can get rewarded. You do not have to have been at all responsible for any or most of the work in your line items. The important thing is to have a number of "important things" attributed to you in line items in the yearly review. It does not really matter much (unless you have an enlightened manager) whether you actually did those things or whether the tasks were necessary to do. THIS COMPANY IS TOO OLD.

I have not received any long-term Retention Seeking Units (RSUs) lately so I think
that is a hint that it is time for me to head somewhere else and try out a new culture. The previous work culture I enjoyed when I moved into the area of an empowering and enabling environment does not exist. Small pockets may still be found, but I think most of us that find ourselves in these small pockets are slowly running out of air. I think most of the satisfaction for me at work comes from being able to work with a group of smart, unselfish, helpful co-workers who in the end really care about project success, not about how to leech off the system and their employer. THIS COMPANY's PRACTICES ARE TOO OLD-FASHIONED. Should i try something else?

Play 'all' video formats in FrontRow on Macs

2007-11-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

The Perian component collection is the best codec installer I've ever had the pleasure of using for my trustworthy Mac mini.

Perian is a free, open source QuickTime component that adds native support for many popular video formats. No more FrontRow crashes and files that won't play unless you have the right codecs installed for VLC. My Mac seems to play formats more reliably than my Windows Vista and xbox360 config.

Next stop: Mac OS X Leopard!

MakeiPhoneRingtone - self-created iPhone ringtones back in 1.1.2 - yah!

2007-11-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

On a Mac, you can use the wonderful "freebie" app from Rogue Amoeba: MakeiPhoneRingtone.zip

If you need to edit audio files, you can try the open-source Audacity, while Rogue Amoeba offers their own highly-praised app: Fission.

Installing Android SDK on Ubuntu Gutsy with Eclipse3.2

2007-11-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

http://code.google.com/android/

Download the Android Platform SDK. Of course your want the linux version, v android_sdk_linux_m3-rc20a.zip being the version at this writing.

Fire up the Synaptic package manger

Install eclipse

Version 3.2 is the default version available in gutsy). I did a search for eclipse, but since I already had it installed, there was nothing else for me to install.
However, due to warnings about it not being compatible on the google install page, I removed the eclipse packages related to gcj, the GNU native java compiler. I also completed removed the gcj environment, planning to use instead Sun's JDK 5

I also needed to do something for eclipse in order for it to behave appropriately:
```
sudo touch /usr/local/lib/eclipse/.eclipseextension
sudo chmod 2775 /usr/local/lib/eclipse/.eclipseextension
sudo chown root:admin /usr/local/lib/eclipse/.eclipseextension
```

Install sun-java5-jdk
1.5.0-13 was the current available version in gutsy

Install ant (1.7 is available in gutsy)

Install JDK as the java version for everything.
$ sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-1.5.0-sun

Unzip and "install" the Android SDK package:

cd
mkdir -p Projects/Android
cd Projects/Android
unzip ~/Desktop/android_sdk_linux_m3-rc20a.zip # this was where I downloaded the zipfile to
cd
emacs -nw .bashrc

I then added the following to my .bashrc, starting a new terminal afterwards:


# set PATH so it includes Android tools path                                 
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$HOME/Projects/Android/android_sdk_linux_m3-rc20a"  
if [ -d $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/tools ] ; then                                     
 PATH="${PATH}":"$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/tools/"                                
fi

Start eclipse and using these instructions, install the eclipse Android plugin from https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/You'll want to update the path in Preferences for the Android plugin so it can find your tools.

Your first project

The final stop is to create a new Android project. The easiest way to do this is to pick one from the samples directory like LunarLander, found in our example at ~/Projects/Android/android_sdk_linux_m3-rc20a/samples/LunarLander.
Again, there are instructions here. Don't forget to launch your project workspace, using the far right icon.

The eclipse plugin kit comes with an integrated device emulator that lets you try out directly on your workstation.

Have FUN!

Java Nirvana with Android

2007-11-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Android of course is Google's acquired software stack for mobile devices including cell phones.
It is based on Linux for the operating system and the application layer is C libraries underneath with Java for application development.

THE SDK is available for downloads, released today...

Main developer page: Android Platform
Videos page for getting started with development: http://www.youtube.com/AndroidDevelopers

NY Times Coverage: Seeding the Google Phone With Apps

Next series of Itanium® processors - launch press release

2007-10-31T22:20:00.000-06:00

Intel Unveils Seven New Intel® Itanium® Processors

This Itanium product line is very real, in case anyone was wondering.

Excerpts from the press release:

All server-maker members of the Itanium Solutions Alliance (ISA) will launch new Dual-Core Intel Itanium Processor 9100 series-based products, including Bull, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, Hitachi, Intel, NEC, SGI and Unisys.

and another (emphasis added is mine):

"Transitive is releasing its QuickTransit for Solaris/Sparc-to-Linux/Itanium solution today." said Transitive President and CEO Bob Wiederhold. "The combination of QuickTransit with servers equipped with Itanium processors provides datacenter operators with the ability to run legacy Solaris/SPARC applications on standards-based platforms without porting or recompilation, thereby allowing them greater efficiency, flexibility and return on investment."

Hopefully the next series of announcements for the next product in the line will come like clockwork. :)

Google Gears and Gutsy

2007-10-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

I had some issues with getting Google Gears for Firefox (aka Iceweasel) to work on a fresh Ubuntu gutsy 7.10 install (running under vmware server). The problem was staring right at me from the (details) page for Linux. I needed libstdc++5, but gutsy seems to come with libstdc++6.

$ apt-cache search 'libstdc\++5'
libstdc++5 - The GNU Standard C++ Library v3
libstdc++5-3.3-dev - The GNU Standard C++ Library v3 (development files)
libstdc++5-3.3-dbg - The GNU Standard C++ Library v3 (debugging files)
libstdc++5-3.3-doc - The GNU Standard C++ Library v3 (documentation files)
libstdc++5-3.3-pic - The GNU Standard C++ Library v3 (shared library subset kit)

I had to

```
sudo apt-get install libstdc++5
```

blow away un-installed the 'Add-on' for Gears in Firefox 2.0.0.8 and re-start Firefox

I was able to re-install the Google Gears .xpi (the current version of the Add-on: 0.2.4.0) (another firefox re-start required) and now, things are working swimmingly with this plug in.

Sabbatical 07 blog

2007-05-21T23:45:00.000-06:00

Sabbatical07 David Crook blog.

Tower of David with dry moat, Jerusalem

2007-03-31T11:52:00.000-06:00

CNN is using Twitter to deliver Breaking News » TinyScreenfuls.com

2007-01-02T00:10:00.001-07:00

Just stumbled upon this in my blog reader. so far seems like a clever idea.

Source: CNN is using Twitter to deliver Breaking News via TinyScreenfuls

Here is a followerlist "badge"...

follow crookster at http://twitter.com

follow dpcrook at http://twitter.com

I wish there was a way to tag thing or somehow otherwise exclude them from showing up on the "badge" view...

BBC NEWS | 100 things we didn't know last year - Magazine Monitor

2006-12-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

This is interesting, going over things that were learned of in 2006. #5 makes me giggle.

>> BEGIN <<

Each week, the Magazine chronicles interesting and sometimes downright unexpected facts from the news, through its strand 10 things we didn't know last week. Here, to round off the year, are some of the best from the past 12 months.

1. Pele has always hated his nickname, which he says sounds like "baby-talk in Portuguese".
More details

2. There are 200 million blogs which are no longer being updated, say technology analysts.
More details

3. Urban birds have developed a short, fast "rap style" of singing, different from their rural counterparts.
More details

4. Bristol is the least anti-social place in England, says the National Audit Office.
More details

5. Standard-sized condoms are too big for most Indian men.
More details

<< snip >>

Source: BBC NEWS | Magazine Monitor

Mashup of the Week Podcast: Pachelbel: Root of All Mashups?

2006-12-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

Source: Mashup of the Week Podcast: Pachelbel: Root of All Mashups?

post to test Google AJAX video bar

2006-12-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Note you need to click the link to get the video samples (inline)...

Reveal VW Gti Videos

Hacking the XBox - Team Xbox-Linux at 22C3

2006-12-23T23:26:00.001-07:00

The first part of this video is some of the best dissemination of information in hardware and software design of a secure system I have ever had the pleasure to watch. At work I was partially responsible for validating an on-chip ROM used for security, so I understood much of what the first speaker was talking about (on the original PC-based XBox). However, I think he makes it very accessible and enjoyable to watch.

From Google Video listing: Video of the presentation by the Xbox-Linux Team at the 22nd Chaos Communication Congress in December 2005. There's a full presentation of the Xbox security (both software and hardware: the '17 mistakes' by Microsoft) and some early look into the Xbox 360 secutiry.

VW GTi Commercial (Catapult)

2006-12-23T23:16:00.001-07:00


VW commercial with Helga and some sort of mad scientist engineer that deal with "pimped out" rides. Check out www.vwfeatures.com (or www.vw.com) for more info.

AJAX Search API Playground: Google AJAX Search API in Blogger

2006-12-23T21:40:00.001-07:00

Source: AJAX Search API Playground: Google AJAX Search API in Blogger

This brings technology which allows a totally non-programmering blogger the gamut of Google's information system to be made accessible, and allows "dynamic content" right within your blogger page...

Wow. Wow, wow, wow... This is another step in bringing power to the masses. Having a high-speed broadband connection definitely makes this experience complete.

You need to get a free key and agree to their TOS to use it, similar to Google's other APIs.

And there's a great video going over the idea with Scoble interviewing Mark Lucovsky on podtech.net.

Loveland Gas Prices

2006-12-21T23:33:00.001-07:00

I used this mainly last summer when we had the $3 per drive to work gas prices. It's nice because they are kept up-to-date, and have three grades of gasoline.

XNA Tutorial - Sprite Animation Framework

2006-12-21T23:14:00.001-07:00

The classical sprite structure, re-incarnated for your XNA pleasure. The actual post with code examples was pretty crumby since there seems to be an errant center tag somewhere.

UPDATED, 23-Dec-2006, 1:37a: Jason graciously and quickly noticed my post and commented that he fixed the code formatting so that it play with Firefox. It viewed well for me. Excellent! See the comments for more details.

Source: xna3way » Blog Archive » Tutorial - Sprite Animation Framework

blogging about ubuntu?

2006-12-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

Do You Blog About Ubuntu? « Ubuntu Blog

I am an ubuntu convert, and after watching what's been going on in the Debian leadership lately, I am not looking back...

Parallels Desktop for Mac Update Beta2

2006-12-21T22:16:00.001-07:00

This keeps getting better and better on the Mac and they fixed all the gripes I ever had with it.

Source: Parallels Desktop for Mac Update Beta2

Technorati tags: mac, virtualization, windows

City of Loveland - Snow Plan

2006-12-21T20:12:00.001-07:00

Found some useful information related to the snow removal policy on their website.

Snow Plan

Looking for information on how the City of Loveland handles blizzards and other winter weather conditions? The following pages give you more information about Loveland's weather conditions, how the City prepares for weather conditions, and what happens when winter weather begins.

North Loveland East1 Snow Removal Map

Configured apache2 with dav_svn and HTTPS / SSL for subversion with PAM authentication on Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper LTS

2006-12-20T22:55:00.001-07:00

It took me a while to figure the last missing piece (ARGHH!), but here is my final /etc/apache2/mods-available/dav_svn.conf

<Location /location>
       DAV svn
       SVNPath /path/to/my-svn-repos

       AuthType Basic
       AuthName "Subversion Repository"

       require group subversion

       SSLRequireSSL
</Location>

This was not working for me forever until I found out what was missing on the following web page (linked below)... The PAM authentication module was not working from within apache, but there was nothing in the Apache logs that yielded info on why the auth had been failing...

http://philipatswarchy.wordpress.com/2006/11/27/apachesslsubversionpam/

$ sudo adduser www-data shadow

Live Writer Beta - first post!

2006-12-20T15:21:00.001-07:00

Installed the Live Writer beta.

We got some winter weather today.

Loveland Airport

I am posting this from inside Live Writer to test to see how the map widget works.

upgrading ubuntu 6.06 LTS gallery to G2 2.1

2006-12-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

Found a backport .deb with this Ubuntu bug for a backport of Gallery2 (version 2.1) to Ubuntu Linux dapper (6.06 LTS).

The upgrade process worked without a hitch!

Thanks to the backport packagers and the Gallery2 ppl!!

Updated:
I had been using the standard Gallery2 (v 2.0) from dapper.

http://www.crookster.org/gallery2

I also added some code to my blog sidebar to include a random thumnail from my gallery, as you can see to the side.

Resources on wiki devoted to XNA project

2006-12-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Started documenting my work getting started getting infrastructure set up for an XNA project... http://www.crookster.org/mywiki/XnaProject

Viewing CHM files from a network drive on your LAN

2006-12-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Due to MS05-026 vulnerability (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896358), I discovered to my dismay that trying to use Windows .CHM files residing on a Network share is TURNED OFF in Windows due to security reasons. This stinks for electronic books that you may have in the .chm format. Thankfully, there's a annoying workaround that you may choose to implement-- but it involves registry hacks and may introduce security holes...

There's a write-up of a simple step-by-step guide way to do a workaround for network files on this page: Viewing CHM Files Across The Network

XNA is deja vu of BASIC

2006-12-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

I've been exploring the Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express concept from Microsoft.

The just had their first official (non BETA) release of Game Studio Express and the whole ideas around it reminds of way back of the time when we had an original IBM PC and it came out of the box with BASIC interpreter. I am not actually sure any more if it came that way with BASIC installed under DOS or not.

That environment was my introduction to computers during grade school. It was an amazing thing for me as a kid since having BASIC within the DOS environment allowed you to dabble in learning how computers worked and programming and there was a large community of magazines and books sprung up on how to make it fun. Good old DOS 2.11!

Now Microsoft has basically recreated something which feels very similar to me allowing you to develop managed code for Windows XP (and soon Vista) and even target and deploy it to your Xbox 360 as a first class citizen (though it will cost you for that privilege). Wonderful!!! This multi-platform capability shows the benefits of having deployed their managed runtime architecture. One cannot help but be awed at their graphics strategy such as DirectX's unified shader model and having a bridge joining consoles and PCs together. Good for them in being able to execute to their strategy.

For me, though, I am so excited about the prospects of getting my hands dirty with this and there are already homebrew communities starting to spring up around this.

I installed the SDKs, etc. on my fastest Windows box tonight and will hope to start exploring it more over the upcoming days...

There are available some videos on the conceptual philosophy and origins of XNA available on MSFT developer site.

hello.

2006-12-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

i used to run a personal blog on my own server, but why bother with all the hassle?
I may start using this one more...

dpc