July 31, 2007
More Spore Tidbits

From TED Talks is a video of Will Wright talking a bit about spore (16 minute video).

Do I care? No! I want the game dammit!

Posted by Arcterex at 02:04 PM
Comic Book Origins

A hilarious look (note the 'what would have happened in real life' sections) of 5 of the Most Absurd Superhero Origins.

Posted by Arcterex at 08:57 AM
July 30, 2007
News on Vista Performance Fixes and SP1

Istartedsomething has some news on Vista hotfixes improves file performance, reliability, standby/resume, games graphics and global warming.

If you were one of the many betting on performance and reliability improvements in anticipation for Windows Vista Service Pack 1, then your winnings has arrived early, in fact some can already claim the jackpot. Winning lotto balls KB938194 and KB938979 for Windows Vista were distributed today to a group of Windows Server 2008 testers which is said to fix many of the mass-reported performance issues in Vista and even some unexpected improvements.

Sadly these aren't available to the common folk yet, but they are expected to be coming out via Windows Update "in the coming weeks", unless you're feeling very brave and want to download the patches from some random site on the net (I'd recommend not doing this by the way :)

Another post on Vista SP1 is here.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:05 PM
Kevin Smith To Direct Heros Spinoff

How cool is this!? Kevin Smith at Comic-con talks about how he'll be directing episode one of 'Origins', a 'Heroes' spin off series.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:16 PM
July 29, 2007
First Iron Man Trailer

Whohoo! Low res, but in existance, check out this Iron Man trailer from Comic Con.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:16 PM
July 27, 2007
Ubuntu Security Howto

Ubuntu Security is a new sticky post on the forums, with lots of good info.

Posted by Arcterex at 04:47 PM
Why Being a Guy Sucks

Unfortunate (Sexual) Things About Being a Man. As if the world needed to beat us down more!

Posted by Arcterex at 03:46 PM
SysAdmin of the Year Nominations

Got a geek that works extra hard for you, or you think would love a bit of extra recognition? Head over and nominate them for the 2007 Sysadmin of the Year. It not only makes you feel really great to be nominated (thanks keth!) but the prizes are pretty kick ass too!

Posted by Arcterex at 11:06 AM
July 26, 2007
New Compiz Fusion Screensavers

Very cool video of some of the new stuff people are doing playing with the newly merged Compiz/Beryl project, Compiz Fusion. The video is here. Great soundtrack too :)

Posted by Arcterex at 10:22 AM
Biggest. Linux Box. Ever.

OMG. SGI is setting up a system for NASA, the Largest Shared-Memory System in the World. 1024 dual core CPUs (that's 2048 cores). 4TB of RAM. 13 TFLOPS. Running linux.

Yowza.

Go Linux!

Posted by Arcterex at 10:18 AM
Cat Predicts Death

Oscar the Cat Predicts Patients' Deaths. Sad and cool at the same time.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:10 AM
July 25, 2007
YSlow For Firebug Released to the Masses

Yahoo's YSlow Plug-in Tells You Why Your Site is Slow, it's a plugin for firebug, and is now available for the masses. Here's the YSlow plugin page.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:46 PM
Transporners Comic

Much More Than Meets the Eye - hilarious comic, another one I'll have to subscribe to.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:19 PM
GNOME Panel Bling

Gnome panel mania has a great look at some new panels and panel alternatives that are available...

Posted by Arcterex at 10:53 AM
Web 2.0 Porn

A list of the porn sites of web 2.0.

Posted by Arcterex at 08:28 AM
Fastest Production Car Video

I so love Top Gear.... here they are doing a video of a Bugatti Veyron at top speed, which incidentally, is over 400km/h. I think I've seen / posted this before, but I really don't care. We all love watching videos of cars with, you know, 10 radiators and who go that fast.

Posted by Arcterex at 07:53 AM
July 24, 2007
Kernel Developer Interview (CK)

Really interesting interview with kernel developer Con Kolivas.


Con Kolivas is a prominent developer on the Linux kernel and strong proponent of Linux on the desktop. But recently, he left it all behind. Why?

He also talks about the linux desktop, Microsoft, and why he's no longer a kernel developer.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:00 PM
4 Minute Bionic Woman Preview

I've seen most of this already, but if you haven't, check out the Bionic Woman preview.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:37 AM
12 Types of Ads

Video demonstrations of The 12 Kinds of Ads and ad formats.

Posted by Arcterex at 08:38 AM
Movie Intro Movie

It takes a bit to get going, but hang in there, this Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Intro is actually really good!

Posted by Arcterex at 08:03 AM
July 23, 2007
11 Year Old Drum God

Wow, this 11 year old drummer is amazing! Helps he's been playing since he was 2!

Posted by Arcterex at 04:26 PM
Preparing for a Date

Hehehe, nice tips on How to Prepare for a Date.


Under no circumstances should these phrases ever leave your mouth on date:

1 - "…and that's why the courts ordered that I be castrated."

Read the full thing for the funny.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:48 PM
July 22, 2007
Best Simpons Quotes

101 Greatest Simpsons Quotes.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:32 AM
July 20, 2007
Xen Also Merged into Linux Kernel

In other news, it looks like Xen Merged into the 2.6.23 kernel today. Iiiiinteresting things going on!

Posted by Arcterex at 03:39 PM
Version Control Option... BZR

Andrew writes up a bit about Version control that doesn’t make your eyes bleed, in this case, the bzr system.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:48 PM
New Linux Virtualization Module Comitted... 'lguest'

Very cool stuff... lguest was merged according to kerneltrap. Remember KVM, a kernel module with build in paravirtualization built directly into the linux kernel? 'lguest' is similar, but unlike KVM, doesn't require the VT enabled CPU.

Performance is still not up to Xen or VMWare, but it is something that'll be built in the kernel, is lightweight, and gives people hackability.

I'm not sure if more virtualization is better. I'd rather see efforts go into one of the existing technologies to make it faster / better or more compatible. Course, maybe lguest is is the project that'll get this needed attention.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:09 AM
New Tiny Linux PC

Very cool, this would be (almost) perfect as a little router / nat box... the fit-PC only draws 3-5 watts of power, is the size of a paperback, and still has enough power to be a decent system. The ONLY addition I'd want is a third NIC to allow me to use dual WAN connections. Still, pretty good for under $300 right?

Posted by Arcterex at 10:47 AM
Internet Chat in Real Life

I've seen this Internet Chatroom Parody a while back, but hey, I'll post it again. Basically what an internet chat would look like in real life.... and based on my own trolling experience, it's pretty accurate :)

Posted by Arcterex at 10:11 AM
July 19, 2007
10 Things To Hate About Star Trek

Funny list of B10 things i hate about star trek:

Between Scotty's poor lubrication habits and Geordi's damned polarity reversing trick, it's a wonder the Enterprise doesn't just spontaneously explode whenever they put the juice to it.
Posted by Arcterex at 09:37 PM
Firefox 3 UI Preview

Techdo brings a good look at a Preview of the User Interface for Firefox 3. I'm looking forward to a version that's in beta that I can give a whirl.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:38 AM
Peanuts Redone in Anime

It's just one pic, but yea, Lucy is hot now.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:04 AM
Cool Storm Pic

Very cool picture of storm clouds and lightning approaching the coast.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:01 AM
July 18, 2007
Star Wars - Force Unleashed Trailer

A trailer for Star Wars: Force Unleashed has been unleashed. Fileshack has both and HD version and the flash version. Force Unleashed is a console game (not for you PC players!) which looks cool. Well, the trailer (first bit) is supercool anyway.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:08 PM
Harry Potter Movie Vs Book

Geeks of Doom look at Harry Potter 5: The Book Vs. The Movie.

Posted by Arcterex at 05:26 PM
July 17, 2007
OMG! A Real Transformer

I really want about 10 of these to begin my takeover of the world.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:28 PM
Matchbox Rocket Cars

Cool video of the latest not-for-kids project, the Rocket Powered Matchbox Car.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:06 PM
Bee Movie Trailer Online

The Bee movie, Jerry Seinfeld's new project has a trailer online. Looks..... uhmm.... kinda lame to be honest.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:11 PM
Real Men and the Fifth Element

It is said that Real Men Love the Fifth Element... and if so, I am a real man.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:33 PM
July 16, 2007
Not Everyone Loves the iPhone

Not everyone is an iphone fanboy, some even think that The iPhone is a piece of shit, and so is your face. Caution, bad words present in the webpage. And the blink tag. Heathens!

Posted by Arcterex at 10:14 PM
Fantastic Animal Photos

Some great animal photos via reddit. I particularly like the one of the lions drinking at the same watering hole as the elephant. Bit slow to load though.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:40 PM
OpenFire Jabber Server

Note to self: Check out the Ignite Realtime (AKA openfire) jabber server.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:03 PM
Congrats Sillz!

Just a quick note to say a huge congratulations to Sillz (Sarah) who just delivered her second son!

You know someone is a true geek when they blog that they're in the hospital going into labor :)

Posted by Arcterex at 08:12 AM
What I Used To Think People Were Saying

LOL - the New Yorker's article on what I used to think people were saying about me.

Yup, another this-is-true kinda moment.

Posted by Arcterex at 08:11 AM
July 15, 2007
Safari Features Firefox Should Steal

Good list of 9 things Firefox should steal from Safari.

Posted by Arcterex at 06:28 PM
Vista Driver List

Ed Bott has started a Vista Master Driver List. Still nothing there to help out my SigmaTel microphone issues, or my film scanner, but it's a nice place to start for others.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:24 PM
Windows Lock/Unlock Via Webcam

Chris Pirillo pointed out some software from BananaSecurity which uses a webcam to recognize your face, lock your computer when you're not there, and unlock it only when it recognizes your face again. Obviously there are some questions about this, like what if I'm wearing a hat, what if it's darker/lighter, how secure is the lock it puts on your computer, and what if I want to use the webcam? Course, it still interest me greatly as the laptop that work got for me has a built in webcam on it...

Posted by Arcterex at 10:12 AM
July 14, 2007
20 Worst Windows Features

The 20 Worst Windows Features of All Time - according to PC World anyway.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:26 PM
iPhone File System Available

How I broke into the iPhone UNIX files and lived to tell about it, via The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Full shell access via software, no serial or special hackery required.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:02 PM
July 13, 2007
Perl Song

Fozbaca posted a link to a video Perl in a Nutshell, the song.


... Easy to write

Not always easy to reeeeeeeaaaaadddd.....

Classic :)

Posted by Arcterex at 02:28 PM
July 12, 2007
Guest Prayer Shouted Down in US Senate

Hindu Prayer Shouted Down in US Senate. Truly a grand victory for freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and of course, that separation of church and state! Great job everyone!
</sarcasm>

Posted by Arcterex at 10:48 PM
Another Halo 3 Trailer

Forget Foo has the Halo 3 Trailer. Great graphics, but the character animation and movement still feels (for the most part) a bit off. Same with the vehicles. Course, that's a bit off compared to real life, cause it does look fantastic!

No consoles for me though, so I'm out of luck....

Posted by Arcterex at 09:47 PM
Brain Quirks

I knew a couple of these Nine Brain Quirks You Didn’t Realize You Had. Cool list.


#9 - You have an instant playback feature.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:27 PM
July 10, 2007
Huge Matchhead Bomb

Great video of when Kids Ignite A Matchstick Bomb consisting of 30,000 matchstick heads. Booya!

Posted by Arcterex at 04:17 PM
Hacking the Super Bowl

Great video about how people smuggled thousands of electronics into the superbowl and spelled out a secret terrorist funny message.... check out The Super Stunt.

Posted by Arcterex at 04:09 PM
Soundwave Transformers Funny Video

Hilarious video about the transformer Soundwave and his life after the original 1986 movie entitled: Soundwave - The Touch.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:31 PM
Get Smart Teaser Online

Get Smart Teaser Movie Trailer, thanks Forever Geek!

I remember watching Get Smart back in the day and just loving the coolness, cornyness and funnyness of the whole thing. Lets hope that they don't destroy this part of my childhood.... Transformers was excellent, I hope that Steve Carell does as well as Max Smart.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:55 PM
New CPU Scheduler Merged into Kernel 2.6.23

The Completely Fair Scheduler has been merged into the kernel 2.6.23 tree. This new scheduler (which decided which task to give the CPUs attention next) "tries to run the task with the 'gravest need' for more CPU time. So CFS always tries to split up CPU time between runnable tasks as close to 'ideal multitasking hardware' as possible."

Posted by Arcterex at 01:39 PM
Porn and Your Social Life

Got an IM from my super-windows and super-security dude main man Dana with a link to Porn and it's Relation to Your Social Life which had me rolling.

I of course, fall on the far left side of the graph.

No, really!

On a related note this came while I was reading up on why techs steal your porn when you bring your computer in for repair.

Posted by Arcterex at 12:55 PM
Dave Barry's Life Lessons

Found a funny list of 25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years from Dave Barry. Nice mix of funny and serious....

If there really is a God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, and He decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will not use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
Posted by Arcterex at 11:18 AM
Working with Lightroom Catalogs

Nice video on Using Catalogs in Lightroom 1.1.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:13 AM
Ars In Depth iPhone Reviewr

Ars Technica has a great iPhone in depth review full of pictures, screenshots, tech info, etc.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:31 AM
iPhone Hackers Have the File System

Cool, Houston, we have filesystem access. Kinda, I think :)

Posted by Arcterex at 09:29 AM
July 08, 2007
Kernel 2.6.22 Released

Linux kernel 2.6.22 is oot and aboot, and the link has a summary of changes and new stuff in a (fairly) digestible format.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:33 PM
Vista 6 Month Security Report Debunked

The report that came out a while back saying basically how Vista has had hardly any security issues and Linux has had tons has been, debunked by insecure.org. First of all it's shocking that someone with interests in Microsoft would see less vulnerabilities and someone with interests outside of Microsoft would see more. Shocking. Next you'll tell me that statistics can be manipulated!

So read the debunking, and read the original report and commentary over at OSNews.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:30 PM
July 06, 2007
Designing Pixar Characters

Fish, Rats, Chefs and Robots. - all about designing characters for pixar's movies.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:32 PM
iPhone Full Shell Access

Well, that didn't take long? iPhone full shell access is here! Course, you need to do a bit of soldering to get the serial cable connected. Still, shouldn't be long now.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:30 PM
Massive Update for Virtual Earth

Not to be outdone by (IMHO) google earth's superior sat photos, here comes Microsoft Virtual Earth: 26 Terabytes Published to Virtual Earth – Biggest Update Yet.

Nope, still no good sat photography of my house :(

Posted by Arcterex at 12:02 PM
A Dog You Don't Want to Mess With

Yowza! You really don't want to Mess with this Dog! Remember those dogs from the Hulk movie? Mirror image!

Posted by Arcterex at 09:20 AM
Situps Alternatives

Who needs sit-ups? Especially when you know what a hot potato is (hint: it's not something super-kinky that you would be afraid to ask your wife for :)

Posted by Arcterex at 09:16 AM
July 05, 2007
Chinese Restaurant Story

If this story where a Former Chinese Restaurant Employee Tells All is even half true, I will never look at Chinese food the same again.

Posted by Arcterex at 02:14 PM
Ha Ha... Stupid iPhone Lady

StupidiPhoneLady.com is a site with just a video of, you guessed it, a Stupid iPhone Lady. Watch the full story for all the goodness :)

Posted by Arcterex at 01:32 PM
Harry Potter 5 First Look

13 minute HBO show First Look: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix via Geeks of Doom.

Posted by Arcterex at 09:00 AM
July 04, 2007
A Star Squirrel

Without comment I present Sugar Bush Squirrel-The Superstar Squirrel.

Cute nuts....

Posted by Arcterex at 05:23 PM
Obscure Declaration of Independance Facts (Merry Fourth Folks!)

I found 5 Obscure Facts About the Declaration of Independence which is pretty interesting, even to a northerner like me.

Happy Fourth of July to my American friends and fiends!

Posted by Arcterex at 03:34 PM
KDE 4 Alpha 2

KDE 4.0 Alpha 2 has been announced. Some screenshots and links in the comments.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:28 PM
Firefox 3 Beta RSN

Wired points that a firefox 3 beta should be coming really soon.


The final alpha of Firefox 3 was released to developers today. After this Mozilla’s roadmap calls for the release of beta 1 on July 31st which will be the first feature complete version of the next generation Firefox browser.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:21 PM
Tramsformers Name Change

Last Transformers story today, I promise. This pic of a name change form shows someone who is way to into the transformers.

Posted by Arcterex at 01:12 PM
I Have No Words

If anyone can explain this to me, I'm waiting...

Posted by Arcterex at 01:03 PM
Special Effects in Transformers

Cool look at the Transformers Special Effects from popular mechanics.

Posted by Arcterex at 11:55 AM
Running Windows Apps on Linux

The article 10 minutes to run every Windows app on your Ubuntu desktop is standard is some ways (using vmware) and unusual in others (desktopless settings and RDP). Check it out anyway, if you have need for windows on linux....

Posted by Arcterex at 10:41 AM
Spider Behind Clock

If I came home and saw this I think I'd just move. No packing, just pick up my keys and leave forever.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:07 AM
July 03, 2007
Another Transformers Review

Geeks of Doom has a transformers review. Good review, right in line with the rest, saying that other than a couple of minor things (juvenile love story sub-plot for example), the movie kicks ass and does not destroy your childhood :)

I'll probably be going tomorrow night, assuming I can juggle things around properly.

Posted by Arcterex at 03:53 PM
iPhone Initial Reviews

Well, I spent what little time on Saturday I had free reading iPhone reviews, watching the 'first unboxing' videos, usage videos, screenshot galleries, etc. Darren found a nice initial (but in-depth) review of the wee beastie (I want one!).

The end result from pretty much everything I've read is that it's gorgeous and amazingly user friendly (JK has a nice writeup on the little details that make Apple the leader in UI. It's not the major things, it's the little bits....) and gorgeous to look at and use. They keyboard gets some getting used to, and EDGE for data transfer sucks slightly more than other options. Definitely sounds like the pros outweighs the cons by a long shot though.

Posted by Arcterex at 10:37 AM
July 02, 2007
Vancouver+ for FSX Released

Congrats to Jon Patch for the release of Vancouver +for FSX, of which I am a proud beta tester, and was very impressed with the rendering(s) of my hometown(s).

Posted by Arcterex at 10:53 PM
July 01, 2007
Great Talk on UI From David Pogue

Found this via a few different places, but check out this 22 minute (and well worth it) talk from David Pogue from a conference in 2006. He starts with a musical number (not kidding) and then talks about UI design and technology and how we deal with technology these days.

Posted by Arcterex at 04:47 PM