---
author: Chris Hodapp
comments: true
date: 2008-11-09 17:33:09+00:00
layout: post
slug: 20080926-20081109-really-overdue-stuff
title: 2008.09.26 - 2008.11.09, really overdue stuff
wordpress_id: 101
categories:
- Scratch
tags:
- books
- economics
- electricity
- graphics
- linux
- Music
- networking
- programming
---

**Linux**



	
  * [http://www.spencerstirling.com/computergeek/powersaving.html](http://www.spencerstirling.com/computergeek/powersaving.html) - "Saving Energy in Linux" from Spencer Stirling

	
  * [PowerTOP](http://www.lesswatts.org/projects/powertop/) - tool to assist with such energy-saving (on Intel boxes at least) by telling how well hardware power-saving is utilized and which software is causing problems

	
  * [Improving Boot Time on a General Linux Distro](http://blog.crozat.net/2008/09/improving-boot-time-on-general-linux.html) from Frederic Crozat

	
  * [Handy One-Liners for sed](http://student.northpark.edu/pemente/sed/sed1line.txt) from Eric Pement... I used the venerable [sed](http://www.grymoire.com/Unix/Sed.html) extensively at work to un-screw-up CSV files

	
  * [MediaTomb](http://mediatomb.cc/) - an open source UPnP media server with a web interface; my coworker Uriah said he used this to stream things to his PS3 from his Linux box


**Graphics**



	
  * [MeshLab](http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/) - free 3D triangular mesh processing software

	
  * [Caustics Mapping](http://graphics.cs.ucf.edu/caustics/) from UCF


**Networking**



	
  * [A Look at NoMachine NX](http://www.gnome.org/~markmc/a-look-at-nomachine-nx.html) - I discovered NX performs better for remote access than anything else I've tried (i.e. RDP, X11, VNC, and straight SSH+screen if you happen to need GUI), particularly over slow links. Unfortunately, it doesn't handle links with 93% packet loss very well.

	
  * [Quagga Routing Suite](http://www.quagga.net/) - GPLed routing software for IPv4/IPv6 that handles a number of routing-related protocols (a list of them is [here](http://www.quagga.net/docs/docs-info.php#SEC5))

	
  * [Yersinia](http://www.yersinia.net/) - network tool designed to take advantage of some weaknesses in different network protocols... I haven't used this but the guys from cinci2600 did a presentation with it

	
  * [Etherboot/gPXE booting](http://etherboot.org/wiki/index.php) - an open source network bootloader, providing a direct replacement for many proprietary PXE ROMs. I have yet to try this.

	
  * [LTSP, Linux Terminal Server Project](http://www.ltsp.org/) - adds thin-client support to Linux servers, so thin clients or dumpster PCs can be used for something useful within a school or business.


**Programming/general computer stuff**



	
  * ["Roles Before Objects"](http://g.oswego.edu/dl/rp/roles.html) by Doug Lea - some sort of pattern for software development, particularly for "organizing activities that separate object-independent from object-dependent matters"

	
  * ["10 Amazingly Alternative Operating Systems etc."](http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/09/26/10-amazingly-alternative-operating-systems-and-what-they-could-mean-for-the-future/) - maybe overly prophetic and lofty, but a good article nonetheless

	
  * [Twibright Optar](http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/) - OPTical ARchiver, a codec for encoding data on paper; it gets about 200 KB per page at 200 DPI which is reliable for most paper, and contains some pretty heavy error correction. This might be neat for long-term archival purposes of smaller data.


**Other projects**



	
  * [MAgtALo](http://occam.computing.dundee.ac.uk/arg/?page_id=14) (MultiAgent Argumentation, Logic and Opinion) - a prototype tool for virtual round-table meetings. I don't really know much about this. I just read about it in some IEEE publication I found on the ground.

	
  * [LibriVox](http://librivox.org/) - free audiobooks from the public domain

	
  * [Geographic British Isles](http://www.geograph.org.uk/) - a project aiming to collect geographically representative photographs of every square kilometer of Great Britain and Ireland


**Electricity**



	
  * ["High Voltage Sparks and Arcs"](http://capturedlightning.com/frames/longarc.htm) - My friend Mark found this, and it has a collection of videos and photos of some pretty spectacular incidents at high voltages. The only casualties are machines, if you are worried.

	
  * [How Transistors REALLY Work](http://amasci.com/amateur/transis.html), from William Beaty who is annoyed at the way many textbooks teach transistors to students


**Music**



	
  * [Lunar](http://lunarmusic.net/) - an artist Jeremy likes, self-described as "An eclectic blend of electronica, rock, dance, ambient, drum 'n' bass and classical." They have two albums available for free download as of now.


**Tinfoil hat stuff**



	
  * Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America ([Google Video link](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936))... I don't know what to think of this, but I did watch it.

	
  * [Maltego](http://www.paterva.com/maltego/): "Maltego is an [open source intelligence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_intelligence) and forensics application. It allows for the mining and gathering of information as well as the representation of this information in a meaningful way."


**Economics of the non-tinfoil-hat variety**



	
  * ["Where to put your money if it's just sitting in a checking account"](http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26285)

	
  * [ABSEL](http://absel.org/) - Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning; "professional association whose purpose is to develop and promote the use of experiential techniques and simulations in the field of business education and development"

	
  * [M.U.L.E.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E.) - an early video game that was praised for its elements of economic simulation

	
  * The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, by Gregg Easterbrook ([Amazon link](http://www.amazon.com/Progress-Paradox-Better-While-People/dp/0679463038))


**Other stuff**



	
  * [Anti-pattern](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-pattern) - something that distinguishes itself from a conventional bad idea or bad practice in a particular way; "Some repeated pattern of action, process or structure that initially appears to be beneficial, but ultimately produces more bad consequences than beneficial results."


<!-- more -->
