So for those of you who don’t know or follow my twitter feed, my aunt is a IT Pro Advisor at Microsoft Canada. You may also know that my opinion of Microsoft hasn’t been the highest (as expressed often in this blog).
The purpose of my visit was to ask successful people how they got to where they are in their field, which holds my interest. The people were incredibly kind and interesting and really let me pick their brains. Continue reading
OMG! Ubuntu (a blog you should certainly be reading if you don’t already have it in your reader) has the complete guide to tricking out XSplash, the new bootscreen manager in Ubuntu 9.10.
One of the great things about XSplash is that it starts XServer, what displays good graphics on your screen in Linux, BSD, and OS X systems, a few seconds into the boot instead of near the end. This means that you no longer have to really know your stuff to change the bootscreen; all you need to do is follow some very simple instructions.
First off, if you just want to change your bootscreen, play with the files in /usr/share/images/xsplash
But I’m not here to talk about that: I’m talking about a seamless boot experience that changes your login window and XSplash background to be your normal wallpaper. Continue reading
In the newest installment of the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, director Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) takes the story of Cylons and gives it the 2-hour treatment. The Cylons, as any connaiseur of sci-fi will know, are robots that Humanity created as servants. After rebelling, they disappeared for 40 years before coming back to wipe Humanity off the face of the galaxy. Additionally, they no longer look like robots but have skin and bleed like Humans.
WARNING: Spoilers abound after the break. Do not read unless you have seen The Plan or *at least* all four seasons.
Quick rating (before the break): 4/5 if you like Battlestar and want to see things resolved, 2/5 if you are only half-engaged and want more food for thought/questions asked. Continue reading
The latest release of Ubuntu has hit the streets. The much-acclaimed “Karmic Koala” (Ubuntu 9.10’s codename) is now out in earnest, bringing many usability enhancements as well as technical ones.
Make sure to use the torrents if you can, just to relieve server tension.
Because I can’t update incredibly often, I’ll use this post to point you to OMG! UBUNTU!, probably the best Ubuntu blog I’ve seen out there. Regularly updated, OMG! UBUNTU! gives you the low-down on everything Ubuntu-related, including upcoming plans.
So I thought that the news on the Caprica front was that there was nothing new before getting close to the Jan 22 television premiere (I’ve already seen it on DVD, of course). Not so.
Several new gems have slipped under my radar. First is my favourite in a series of print ads that are being tested and were subsequently leaked:
What I specifically like about this one is the allusion to the Fall of Man as described in the Bible (refresher: Humanity, in it’s self-defeating quest for knowledge, commits the only sin possible: taking a fruit (usually portrayed as an apple but it really doesn’t matter) from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (which sounds snappier in Hebrew) after being tricked by the fallen angel Lucifer (aka Satan) who says that it will make them gods in their own right. This wakes humanity up, allowing them to know what is good but also the potential for evil and permanently corrupts humanity.). The allusion is an excellent one that I didn’t catch before and I really think that this poster really best reflects that and takes aim at a story that is so embedded in Western consciousness that even if one hasn’t heard it before one understands its significance.
There are also two new promos on Youtube. Though at first glance they may look similar to previous ones they both have some engaging new content, which I won’t go into for spoiler’s sakes.
And for good measure, a commercial worth watching.
I’m hoping the CBC or CTV or some mainstream network will air it since I don’t have and probably can’t shell out for SPACE, Canada’s answer to SciFi. It does, of course, comply with CRTC “Canadian Content” regulations (made in Canada starring mostly Canadians) and it would help networks fill that valuable 70% CanCon quotient… Just sayin’
It has come to my attention that the public is not educated about the intertube’s latest sensation, FilmRiot, the Revision3 show that shows you how to pull off the techniques you see in the movies without having to sell your soul for an FX budget.
So I present this Public Service Announcement for the betterment of my readers.
So I’m a big BSG fan, and can’t wait for the latest instalment in the Reimagined Series, The Plan. The Plan is the entire series from the perspective of the Cylons and explores what was going on behind the scenes in the Cylon camp. While the Series gives you – mostly – the Colonial point-of-view, The Plan will be an interesting balance.
Picture after the break. Contains Battlestar Galactica spoilers. No peeky unless you know 11 of the 12 Cylon models.
So I was thinking about one particular thing that I wrote about in my review of the GNOME shell, when I said that you should drop the ideas you have about how a desktop should look. This was how artificial the “desktop” concept is. Back in the Stone Age we came from the desktop paradigm: it’s what we understood in terms of productivity. However, a computer is much different, much more powerful than a desk. On a desk you have a finite space which contains only the information and objects you put on it. It doesn’t fetch data, tell you anything, give you opinions or options. It’s a tool. A computer is different in that it has the power to fetch information, to move it, and to bring it all together and present it to the user. It can handle any type of media: where a desk could only handle text and photos (unless you put a boom-box on it) the computer can do text and photos and sound and video and social interaction through Twitter and other feed-based services. We need to embrace a paradigm that suits the computer. Continue reading
Since I find nothing better to write about (ie I don’t want to talk about the whole Google Voice thing), I’ll write about my favourite things. Yes, this is for my family. Let me be subtle:
Fans of Battlestar Galactica might remember the track “Battlestar Operatica” on the soundtrack which aired during “Tigh me up, Tigh me down”. It was an operatic piece composed specially for Battlestar by the soundtrack composer, Bear McCreary. The lyrics (in Italian) are:
Maledetto sia tuo cuore Cylone
C’è una tostapane nella tua testa
E porta tachi a spillo
Numero Sei ti chiama
Il rivelatore Cylone impone
La tua ragazza è un tostapane
Maledetto sia tuo cuore Cylone
Ahimè, disgrazia! Ahimè, tristezza e miseria!
Il tostapane ha un bel vestito
Rosso come la sua spina dorsale ardente
sussura Numero Sei:
“Per tuo commando” Maledetto sia tuo cuore Cylone
Which translates into English as:
Woe upon your Cylon heart
There’s a toaster in your head
And it wears high heels
Number Six calls to you
The Cylon Detector beckons
Your girlfriend is a toaster
Woe upon your Cylon heart
Alas, disgrace! Alas, sadness and misery!
The toaster has a pretty dress
Red like its glowing spine
Number Six whispers:
“By your command”
Woe upon your Cylon heart
And that’s the kind of random post for today. I should appologize for my absence; I got back from a trip to les Etats-Unis where I couldn’t blog. Thanks to my friend Jay for providing some content while I was away!
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