Intel Software Network Blogs » World of Netbooks: Interview with Jon Ramvi of the Ubuntu Eee Project
An email interview I just posted at my place of employment, Intel Software Network, with Jon Ramvi, organizer of the Ubuntu Eee project - the best Linux distribution for the Eee PC netbook that I’ve used so far (and I’ve tried many).
If for some reason you don’t want to order one from Apple, the new 13″ MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro (the aluminum unibody and glass models) have arrived at Amazon. Those are affiliate links, so if you end up buying from them, I get a small percentage from Amazon that will go towards a cool project I’m working on that will be revealed soon. Much obliged. 
Mothers Cookies closes after 92 years of business in Oakland - San Jose Mercury News
No more Circus Animal cookies? *cry*
Google Code Blog: Zoho Mail goes offline with Gears
Cool for Zoho Mail users, but when the heck are we going to see Gears offline functionality for Google’s own Gmail and Google Calendar?
Since starting to post my “link with some commentary” posts here on my blog, I wanted to have some way to denote the “linkblog” posts. I’ve always like how John Gruber does it over at Daring Fireball: a ★ character denotes a “link with commentary” post, to differentiate it from a “long form” blog post, original writing, etc.
Shameless enough to copy his idea, but too ashamed to copy the exact symbol, I’m going to try the following. My “linkblog” posts will be denoted by a ☍ character in the title. I think it looks sort of like a link. It’s a Unicode character (named “Opposition” - ooh, mysterious!), so it might not display properly in some places. But I think it will mostly be OK.
If it goes awry, I’ll find another character, or just bag the idea completely. But this is the explanation for the weird little ☍ characters you’re going to start seeing here from time to time (like this one and this one). Let me know what you think!
Mobile Speed Trap App, Trapster, Now Available For iPhone - ReadWriteWeb
Very clever free app that relies on lots of people using it (you can use it via the web, and some other GPS and mobile devices - it’s not iPhone-only) to report when they see a speed or red light camera, or a police speed trap, or place where they hide. Has all the usual iPhone features (gets your location on the map automatically via GPS, etc.). It can alert you if you pass within a user-defined distance of any reported traps. The data was kind of stale in my area (only 4 items shown, two of which are static red light cameras), but it’s a very cool idea, and the app is executed well. Sarah Perez says in the RWW article linked above that the “live” reports go stale and drop off of the map after a couple of hours, which is a nice way to know that the reports you’re seeing are recent and accurate.
One thing that annoyed me: when I try to drag the map with my finger, like in Google Maps, it doesn’t drag, but instead thinks I want to drop a pushpin to report a speed trap/camera.
As to the legality of the app? Interesting question. I think it’s legal. Speeding, or otherwise violating the law, of course, is illegal, and I’m not encouraging it. But if you want to know what’s going on around you, traffic-enforcement wise, this is a slick way to do it.
Eye-Fi SD cards add Twitter, Flickr, RSS support - Boing Boing Gadgets.
These just keep getting more and more appealing. An SD card with built in wifi, geolocation tagging capability, and now the ability to post straight to Flickr (it didn’t have this before?), Twitter, and RSS feeds.
They’re still kind of spendy, though. $99 for 2GB, I think, is the current price. When larger cards (4 and 8 GB) are so cheap (less than $15, sometimes), you have to really want what the Eye-Fi cards offer. I want one, but I don’t know if I want one to the tune of a hundred bucks.
For quite a while, I’ve been posting a few “newsworthy” items per day, with some of my commentary, over at my linkblog - http://linkblog.joshbancroft.com. Sort of a “let me be a clipping service and filter for you”. The items get piped to other locations, according to Josh’s Greater Unified Internet Tubes Theory, like FriendFeed, my friends on Google Reader, etc.
Like Twitter, and other places I write, I’ve felt that it’s sort of taken away from how much I write here on my blog. You may have noticed. I only post here now about once a week, but I’m writing like mad elsewhere. The problem is, not many people are visiting my linkblog, or subscribing to its feed. So I’m going to try a change.
I’m going to start posting those “interesting item with a little bit of analysis/commentary from Josh” items here on my blog, instead of on my linkblog. I’ll still drop occasional stuff - mostly “drive by” links without commentary. But if you’re subscribed there, you’ll want to make sure to subscribe here, at my blog feed, too.
Let me know if you have any thoughts. Hopefully this will make things simpler and more interesting!