automaticable

In the latest Ubuntu newsletter, a new link was posted for the Hardy Heron release countdown script.  The beta version is already available, and we are under a month away from the final release.  Hardy will have the latest Firefox 3 pre-release, as well as major updates to GNOME, the Linux kernel, and much more.  This is another step closer to a general-purpose free operating system that “just works”.  Get excited.

[ Hardy Countdown Timer ]

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About a month ago, I received a notice in the mail from my ISP, Insight, with news that they had been bought-out by Comcast.  They promised that there would be no changes in my service and the transition would be seemless.  Everything would work as it had, except they would charge a little bit more.  Great.

They’re in the midst of transferring services to Comcast, set to be complete sometime in April.  Everything was fine on our end until our internet went out a few days ago.  After a few hours of toying with it, I decided it had to be Comcast’s issue.  I tried rebooting the router, renewing the IP, and even connecting my computer directly to the modem– nothing worked.

Finally, I called Comcast and talked to one of their “specialists” from Indiana (better than India, right?).  He dialed into the modem, and was able to get a computer hooked up through the modem, but still not through the router.  We made an appointment to have somebody come out.

Two days later, somebody from Comcast came out and tinkered with things for about an hour.  With all of the toys in his magic bag, he still couldn’t get the router working.  Moreover, we were able to hook up a different router, and that one worked.  We chalked it up as a faulty router, and he was on his way.  But something was still fishy.

We bought the router about 5 months ago, and everything had been working on it perfectly.  I installed the DD-WRT firmwire for even more control.  Everything looked good on it, except we couldn’t get an IP from the modem.  After doing a little research, it seems that Comcast has some trouble with DD-WRT routers.  The solution was to change the router’s MAC address from the default DD-WRT address to something else.  Many users clone their laptop’s MAC, but I used one from an older router.  A quick reboot afterwards, and we’re back up.

It’s hard to say whether it’s an incompatibility issue, or Comcast is actively blocking this alternative firmware.  I’ve generally had bad experiences with Comcast, so I choose to believe the latter.  Anyway, I’m glad we got things worked out, because I wasn’t too excited about going through the warranty process with Linksys either.

You may have noticed a little downtime this afternoon.  That’s because we’ve upgraded the blog to use the brand new Wordpress 2.5.  The change should go unnoticed for the casual reader, but the upgrade means many enhancements for writing and maintaining the blog.  Among the biggest changes:

• Simplified admin dashboard: The interface for writing and managing the blog has gotten a major face-lift.  What used to be cluttered is now much more organized and easy on the eyes.
• Integrated Statistics: We’ve been using the Wordpress Stats plugin to analyze our visitor data.  Now it’s been integrated into the main dashboard for quick access.
• Better Photo Management: It’s now much easier to upload and add images to posts, without the need for additional plugins.  You can even create a gallery associated with a single post very easily.

The upgrade process was nice and simple, and everything seems to be working as expected.  We’ve also added a new subscribe link in the sidebar.  If you notice something wrong with the site, please let us know in the comments.

As America heads towards a recession, or at the very least an economic slump, it is important to not only find solutions to turn the economy around, but also figure out how we got here. One of the main contributors to our current economic state is America’s irresponsibility in the housing market.

The blame for our current housing crisis can be placed all over, from big banks to small investment firms, and from our government all the way down to the individual home buyer. My negativity currently resides with the latter two, the government and the individual home buyer. I read earlier today in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (one of the larger newspapers in Atlanta) that both of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls have plans in place to help the individuals effected by the housing crisis. $30 billion were set aside to help bail out families whose houses are being foreclosed on. My questions is this: since when does our government set aside billions of dollars to help out Americans who simply made bad, uninformed mistakes?

This is where accountability comes into play. I am 100% against our government bailing out individuals who failed to realize that their sub-prime, adjustable rate mortgages could (gasp!) adjust above the level they could afford to pay. How can so many people be so ignorant? Did they all think a miracle had happened and all of a sudden they could afford their dream house on a combined $50k income? Here is a tip America: when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

If our solution to this problem is to simply bail out Americans who were too blinded by sub-prime loans to read the fine print, what is to stop this from happening again? Just as if you told your young child that every mistake they made was OK and that mommy would always be there to fix everything for them, America will lose all accountability and remain in their uninformed ways, sucking on the governmental teat. If there is no risk involved in a loan, there is no reason to worry about whether you can make the payments or not. And this is what Obama and Clinton are supporting: a program that promotes ignorance and diminishes all accountability in the American people. Mistakes will not be corrected as there is no risk of failure or punishment. This is not the America I want to live in, but a precedent is about to be set that may effect the decisions of Americans for generations.

Think before you make a decision as large as buying a home, and make sure you can afford your payments, no matter how high they may get. Instill accountability in not only your children, but the American people as a whole. Hand-holding is for toddlers, not grown US citizens.

Sometimes you run across things you will never, ever understand. This is an example of just that. This is a French safe gay-sex ad, and it is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. Do NOT click play if:

• You are homophobic, or
• You are at work
  • Yes, there are sexual innuendos. Actually, not innuendos. It is the equivalent of 2 Ken dolls making man-love at times.

I post this because I think it is absolutely hilarious. It’s not gross and it isn’t offensive, so don’t worry about being scarred for life here. But imagine the artist and animator who had to put this all together. And who did this concept, seriously?

YouTube video after the jump

Continue reading “Ride the rollercoaster to AIDS!”

Over spring break, my friends and I took a road trip to Toronto, Ontario. It was a 9-hour car ride each way, but we saw red barns, Crabby Joe’s, maple buds, flannel, drag queens, crazy hot dogs, Niagra Falls, and much, much more. The entire trip was a little under 60 hours, but it was a whole lot of fun. For my first trip to Canada, I’d say we had quite the experience. I’m going to break the trip into a series of posts– this one appropriately part “eh” (that’s pronounced “A”, for you Americans). Keep reading for the juicy details.

Continue reading “Roadtrip to Toronto, Part eh”

You know all of those dead baby jokes? Some of them are funny, all of them are disgusting. Many of them include a microwave. I thought they were all fun and games but I was wrong.

That is just so sad.

*Edit* And the sad baby news keeps coming.  How much is your baby worth?

Put away your dance shoes and take a seat; this is not the Panic you were expecting.

Panic at the Disco, who aptly changed their name to exclude the “!” after Panic, has come out of left field with their new album, “Pretty. Odd.” Instead of the dance-rock that skyrocketed them into stardom in “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” Panic has decided to take a more indie approach to their sound. Gone are the days where my inner 13 year old girl can belt out “Shotgun wedding!” and dance to the old electronic breakdowns that were my guilty pleasure from the old Panic! All is not lost though, as this album is a solid release from this band that came out of nowhere to swoon teen hearts.

After my first run of “Pretty. Odd.” I was disappointed. I am accepting of a band when they decide to change their sound, but not a single song on this album reminds me of “Fever.” After my initial letdown, I forced myself to run through the album a few more times to see if it had redeeming qualities, knowing Panic at the Disco wouldn’t dare release an absolute dud of an album. I’m glad I did, as now I enjoy the album thoroughly.

Enough about what Pretty Odd is not. This album is a step towards the indie/classic rock scene, with obvious influences from the Beatles and The Beach Boys. These influences show up through slow acoustic melodies and paced rock ballads. One of the most surprising things to come out of this album is the fact that Panic has 2 vocalists. I’m not talking about backup vocals, there are 2 lead vocalists. Ryan Ross’ new sound is as opposite as “Fever” and “Pretty. Odd.” so it seems like a good time to introduce him. His voice is more stereotypical than Brendon Urie’s, which is expected because of how unique Brendon’s voice is in the first place. Ryan is featured significantly in 4 songs from the album and does an impressive job. Though his voice is very plain and sounds like most emo vocalists, he shows more control and musicianship than most. Like the album as a whole, it took me a few runs to appreciate his vocals, but now I feel he fits in the mix perfectly.

Because this album is less poppy and such a turnaround from “Fever,” my prediction is it will receive less radio time but will build a stronger core audience. There are fewer hits on this album because they moved away from the dance and pop scenes, but overall this album is more focused and solid.

The best part about the new album? Now I don’t have to roll up my windows to sing along to Panic at the Disco. Before they were purely a guilty pleasure, but this new album lends them more credibility in the music scene. So give it a couple of plays before you judge it too harshly and “Pretty. Odd.” may just be one of your new favorite albums.

I’ll bet you never knew that automaticable was a place where people actually live, work, and even pollute! Check out automaticable city and leave a message for the residents. I know it’s not much, but keep checking back to see us grow. We have high hopes, and we can’t grow without your support. Hope to see you there!

Thanks to Blogoscoped for the idea!

I try to keep up to date on a lot of different topics, and there is no better way to cover massive amounts of information than through blogs. I taught you before about how and why RSS feeds are so important, and now I’ll give you a rundown of a few of my favorite blogs to help fill up your RSS reader. Like I said, I try to cover a lot of topics every day, so I’ll break down my recommendations by subject as best I can.

Advertising - Even if you aren’t in the advertising biz, there is still a lot of interesting information out there. I recommend:

• Adland - Adland receives submissions of both commercials and image advertising and puts the best on display. This is a great place to see the hard work and the resulting concepts from advertisers all over the world. No industry is excluded, so you will see ads for pepper spray next to commercials for vodka.

• SEO Book - This one definitely comes to down to personal interest, but I love reading about SEO news and tips and SEO Book is a great place to learn. Obviously the motivation for Aaron Wall to write this blog is to sell his book and subscriptions online, but he puts out a ton of free, useful information all the time.

Food - Though I don’t often cook large extravagant meals for myself, I still like to inspire myself to try new things. My favorite food blog is:

• FXcuisine - François-Xavier (FX) is an amature cook and food photographer, but you would never know he wasn’t being paid to do this work. Hailing from the shores of Lake Geneva, he focuses on traditional Italian, French, and Swiss cuisine, though you will find influences from all over Europe in his work. The reason I absolutely love this food blog is not for the recipes since they are fairly difficult and usually use obscure ingredients, but because of the absolutely beautiful photography and the step by step instructions included for every dish he makes.

Geeky - I definitely have a geeky side, and it shows in my choice of blogs. Almost half of what I read is tech related! Below are just a handful of blogs that satisfy my geek-tooth.

• Google Blogoscoped - While not an official Google blog, Blogoscoped comes darn close. This blog is a great way to not only get up to date Google news, but also tips and tricks on all of your favorite Google products.

• Gizmodo - This is simply a fantastic source for gadget news and reviews. Though it can be inundating with over 35 posts a day on average, it is easy to skim through and read what really catches your eye. Coupled with Engadget, you will never miss a single gadget announcement, ever.

• xkcd - While not a blog per-se, I still have this daily comic imported into my RSS reader. If you have even an ounce of geek in you, you will absolutely love xkcd comics. They are clever, witty, and downright nerdy. I have never felt so smart for laughing at a comic. Don’t worry though, there are comics you won’t even understand, meaning there are people out there nerdier than you.

Interesting/Random - The rest of these blogs don’t fit into one category very well, but are all worth reading. They will teach you things you never knew you needed to know, all while entertaining you.

• Lifehacker - No single blog has changed my life more than Lifehacker. I am not exaggerating when I say that either. It focuses on “life hacks” you can use to make your life more fun, productive, and efficient. From high-tech hacks such as Linux installation guides to ultra low-tech hacks on how to help conserve water, Lifehacker has everything you will ever need to know. If I had to recommend one blog that every person should be reading, Lifehacker would be it.

• Clusterflock - Clusterflock is considered a group-blog, written by a large team of blogging friends. It has no real focus but is always entertaining. Many of my posts on automaticable have spawned from ideas on Clusterflock and I expect to find even more inspiration from there in the future. They also often comment on posts by Jason Kottke, who is one of my favorite bloggers right now as well.

• Marginal Revolution - Marginal Revolution is an economics blog. Before you judge it, give it a try. Included is the continuing series “Markets in Everything,” which covers how people will try to start businesses in everything from wigs for cats to demilitarized ICBM silos, and the ongoing discussion about how prostitution, both legal and illegal, effects the world economically. This blog will make you look at the world differently, forcing you to take a look at the economic effects of every decision that is made.

These are only a handful of the blogs I read daily (there are over 40 on my list!), but this should be a great place for you to start. Have I missed any blogs you feel should absolutely be included? Let me know in the comments. I am ALWAYS looking for new and interesting blogs to read.