Topics

76

Living Room / What do you know about couchsurfing

« on: July 09, 2006, 07:53 PM »

The other day I read this newsticker message from heise.de(German) and thought that couch surfing might be a cool way to travel and find a cheap&nice place to stay.

After I read that the rescue mission was successful I signed up and filled out a great part of my profile. Now, these guys are still recovering so I didn't expect everything to work supersmoothly. But I cannot find a forum of any sort on their site, maybe I am just overlooking something, maybe they don't want a forum, maybe they'll add it later.

I tried to chat. But they use some bloody stupidnot-so-cool flash movie as chat application. Macromedia was kind enough to develop a flash plug-in for my fringe group browser on my fringe group operating system; this plug-in is not as good as the one for the windows platform: sometimes I cannot read text, sometimes I don't see anything at all, always it uses a lot of CPU time. So, I couldn't chat with the other users, and I sure do love chatting.

Now I am asking you: do you have experience with couch surfing, hosting; have you used their "service" or do you know of other, similar sites? Do you perhaps know some of the users/admins/founders; did you use the old system and could tell me if there was a forum? Do they have an irc server, or a channel on some existing network?

edit: misspelled word corrected (hat instead of chat)

77

Mini-Reviews by Members / Stumbleupon - better pass your time on the web

« on: July 07, 2006, 02:15 PM »

Where can I find it?

Here is the website of stumbleupon.

How does it look?

The guys from stumbleupon have created a bunch of screenshots, so I wouldn't have to make my own.



Uhm, WHAT is it?

StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click  Stumble!, you'll get high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended (rated I like it) by friends and other SU members with similar interests. Rating these sites shares them with your friends and peers – you will automatically 'stumble upon' each others favorites sites.

-http://www.stumbleupon.com/about.html

and what makes this better then any other service of this kind?

To be frank, I don't know of any service, but maybe these should be listed or even reviewed here as well. I can't say if it is better or worse.

Why do you bother us with this then?

It actually lets you stumble upon interesting websites! Yes, there have been a few that weren't interesting or great at all. This is expected, since a person's interests can vary by the minute, one shouldn't place to much value on accuracy.

I see stumbleupon as a great way to pass time. Just click the green/blue ball and see where it takes you. I don't see this a marketing tool like digg or so.

What makes you use it? What makes you recommend it?

It is easy to install, easy to use; it does not distract the user, and it stays out of the way.

* easy to install: the "sign up" button sends you a mozilla site or extensions. This makes installation easy, because https://addons.mozilla.org/ usually is allowed to install extensions; other sites would have to be allowed first. This makes installation both easy and quick. The installation of the extenstion automatically signs you up on the website, you do not need to fill out any extra forms.

* easy to use: one click to rate sites, one click to stumble upon the next site, one click to tag a site, on click to see what others had to say, one click... you get the picture. What I also like is the fact that it opens pages in a new tab when I click the buttons with the middle mouse button - just like I would click on links. You won't even have to learn to operate a new program!

* does not distract: stumbleupon does not popup anything, no bubbles, windows, messages; it does not blink nor flash, nor does it play any sounds. It does not annoy you when you don't need it. It is there when you need it, it stays away when your attention is on other things.

* stays out of the way: the extension had me when I say I could put it in the menu bar! That means, it doesn't even require an extra toolbar, sidebar or whatever-bar. It does not waste "real estate" which is important to me

Where's the hook?

If you are not careful, you might waste a lot of time stumbling about the web...


My Impression

To me this extension is useful (sort of guide through the web), it does look mature. I mean it works just like that, no need to fiddle with anything, no about:config-hacks; just: install - use. This appeals to the technical side of me Hmmm how should I put it, it's solid.

I recommend you try it out, only if you have time to browse the web! If you don't have time to play, don't play.

So far I have used only the most basic functions, there are a few buttons I haven't clicked to see what they do.

78

Living Room / finally! - rubik's cube solver

« on: July 07, 2006, 08:36 AM »

I just stumbled upon this interesting website which features a robot that solves rubik's cubes - all by itself!

That website, however, has given in to the latest hype of presenting any moving pictures as flash film. Thanks to youtube we will soon have poor quality images with desynchronized sound tracks...

Anyway, it is a fascinating robot nonetheless

79

Living Room / blind folks see differently

« on: July 04, 2006, 05:47 AM »

hadez dug out this clip about blind plane pilots.

Translation

At the end the pilot says:

You know, Bob...
One day they will scream too late. And then we will all die! hahahaha!

I found it hilarious!

(it is a little old but still funny)

80

Living Room / I don't think I read this properly

« on: June 24, 2006, 09:07 PM »

ohmygawd here he comes drama king again

Well, actually the story is very funny.

Ok, so what's the big deal about it?

In my current condition ("fresh" from the party ) this story here is just too unbelivable!

Do things like these really happen? Is that blog entry really funny or am I imagining¹ things (again)?

If it's true, this world has just become a little bit weirder 
¹How do I spell that word?

81

Living Room / new Futurama series! finally!

« on: June 23, 2006, 02:59 AM »

Here are a lot of Smileys or the Excitement

  














Here is the Link for the Information

So you can read it yourself!

82

Living Room / War is a nasty business - a business nontheless

« on: June 22, 2006, 05:02 PM »

Bloody Wars!

Yes, I agree: wars are not really good. In fact they are bad for everybody. No exception allowed: wars are bad!

There are many battles being fought all over this planet. One battle sticks out; a huge battle, a complicated battle, a battle with many fronts, more fiends¹ than foes. Poetry aside, someone drew a map so you can find out if there is a war going on near you.

¹: no typo there

83

Living Room / They will hear you when you zing to them

« on: June 20, 2006, 05:07 PM »

Huh? What? When? Who? Where? How?

This Site analyzes podcasts and lets you search them. They didn't find donationcoder though.

I still have doubts...

That's encouragable :-) But at least try before you cry.

I think it's nice for finding podcasts for certain topics; I also think it doesn't cover enough feeds yet.

Why do you make me read this?

Well I found one extra podcast which I didn't know of before.

84

Living Room / Feed Me!

« on: May 19, 2006, 04:36 PM »

I have too many feeds in liferea already, so why don't you give me some more feeds? Tell me about your favorites, I will try them all! Attached you will find my zipped feedlist.opml in case anyone was interested.

85

Developer's Corner / Speech Recognition for Programmers - Tell it what to do

« on: April 28, 2006, 03:21 AM »

Quick! Where is it?

You can download it right hurr.

Uhm... and what is it?

Voice Code is an Open Source initiative (...) to develop tools for programming by voice.

So in essence you speak and it writes code!

OK, What's the catch?

I only very recently saw it on slashdot, followed the link to the original article and from there to the voicecode site. I have *not tested* the software, I haven't even downloaded it yet.

Also there are some limitations to the supported programming languages. But this is open source software, I am sure it will catch up very quickly.

kthx, next!

I will try this nice piece of software and see how well it does for me. I find the idea very intriguing.

What are your thoughts? Have you had experience with voice recognition software in general? I 'd like to hear about it...

86

Living Room / remember that cool video with the even cooler game?

« on: April 06, 2006, 03:43 PM »

Say what now?

You know, the cool movie here, where the scientist shows what I want to have for my birthday.

So... what game?

In that movie, said scientist plays several games. And now you can play it too!!!

But I don't get the game; what am I supposed to do?

Yes, like most games, this one is challenging too...

87

Living Room / get naked! like totally

« on: April 05, 2006, 06:49 PM »

How?

The procedures are explained here.


But I feel so vulnerable when naked!

It's no problem when everybody does it, so tell your mother, your sister, and your sister's friends! And let's get naked like totally like now!

  

88

Living Room / website: stuff on my cat

« on: March 29, 2006, 06:56 PM »

Where is it?

The website "Stuff on my Cat" can be found here: www.stuffonmycat.com.

What is it?

People put stuff on their cats and take pictures. Other people can comment on posted pictures.

How cruel! You gotta respect those poor creatures!

Believe me, if the cats didn't like it they would clawexplain it to you. These hairy fellas are properly fed and have the patience and grandeur to endure the fun at their expense; "slightly annoyed" maybe...

I still don't find it funny!

Such is the course of the world, and there is nothing we can do about that.

89

Developer's Corner / CSS Tweaker for helping to clean up CSS files

« on: March 23, 2006, 10:54 AM »

Where is it?

You go here.

What is it?

It is a free service which takes a .css file and attempts to optimize it. The resulting .css is usually much smaller and less redundant (I believe). However, all the definitions are on one line so it will be difficult to edit it afterward.

You should try and see or yourself. I am sure it will be impoved in the future. I bookmarked it already.

90

General Software Discussion / Windows XP boots on Macbook Pro

« on: March 10, 2006, 10:30 AM »

My roomate sent me this, I couldn't believe it at first. But there you have it: actual proof!

XP boots on mac

91

Living Room / Scariest Thing I Saw This Year

« on: March 02, 2006, 04:34 AM »

Where did it come from?

That I do not know; a friend sent me the URL in an Email.

Where don't I want to go today?

Don't go here! It is rather disturbing if not frightening. Under no circumstances click if you have a bad day!

I clicked, what should I do now?

Call your family and tell them you love them; then find a local CCC-Representative and ask for help on this matter. If you can't find someone from the CCC, a related organization will do fine.

I urge you to consider this, and take appropriate steps to protect yourself. Even more so if you live in a country of the EU...

 

92

Mini-Reviews by Members / website for the informed netizen: GROKLAW

« on: December 15, 2005, 07:41 AM »

Introducing
the URL http://www.groklaw.net/

First Contact
I came across Groklaw when I was reading an article at the heise.de newsticker about SCO sueing several companies (it's an emo topic, so I'll stop here). Said article referred to groklaw. Upon going there I was overwhelmed by long articles, not interrupted by ads. My first read took two hours, because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the terms and the comments were interesting to read too.

What it is About
Groklaw is about helping non-lawyers understand whats happing in a trial or during other legal procedures. It is focussed on the USA legal system. The person behind Groklaw, PJ, is not a lawyer herself but a journalist. They sit in court and at hearings and later report about them. Also they try to get hold of public material of such court sessions. Groklaw is very accurate, precise, and extremely informative. If you want to LEARN or UNDERSTAND what's afoot in the covered legal battles, groklaw is the place for you. Here you can find Groklaw's mission statement which is much better than anything I could write

Among others the following cases are covered:

• SCO vs IBM, the biggest "case"
• SCO vs Autozone
• SCO vs Novel, very important as well
• State of Massachussetts adopting ODF, and MS not liking that

Why I go there
I am honest: What interests me most are cases where either MS or SCO are... uhm being slapped across the face, in a figurative manner. I exclusively use Linux and opensource software; on my PCs (one workstation, one file server) there runs not one piece of software I couldn't get the source code for if I wanted. SCO wants me to pay for using Linux. Since I am poor, I do not find this such a great idea. MS has been The Enemy since always.

My "workflow" goes like this: I check my favorite newsreader for new headlines at groklaw's newsfeed, and read the articles; sometimes I follow links to external sites when they cover things in greater detail. After working my way through all those law-talk I take a short break and then go at the comments.

Worthwhile Comments
The comments are sometimes funny, sometimes off-topic but never trollish. PJ does not like it when people become abusive or insulting. It is more like a top-quality (moderated?) forum. Most comments deal with the matter at hand, ask questions or provide further information, sometimes about only remotely related topics. But still it doesn't run wild; or maybe I don't want to see it like that. At any rate, Groklaw is about the only site I can spend several hours a day, reading articles not in my native language an using terms I do not fully comprehend.

Worldwide Influence
I have been reading Groklaw for two, three years now and it is still appealing; in fact, as I am now getting used to the legal terms more, it is even more enjoyable and educating. I am aware that the U.S. legal system differs from the European or the German system, but the companies "battling" each other are the same on both continents.

One could say Groklaw is slightly biased against SCO, but Groklaw provides you with all the information so you can make up your own mind and express your opinion.

Coming to an End...
So far I have not contributed to Groklaw in terms of comments or donations, but I strongly recommend this site to anyone slightly interested in the U.S. legal system; people using Linux, and other OSS; people who love, hate, work, have been laid off by SCO, IBM, MS, and other "big players"; real-life intriguing exciting "stories"; copyright holders or challengers; patents and their abuse; and in many other cases as well.

Groklaw is *NOT* a playground for all those uncountable flame wars! They seek to inform and maybe even educate, not engage in silly troll-feeding.

I like  Groklaw  and if you don't you better do not tell me so