Winter’s Haven

One of the best things about Kubuntu (and other Debian-based Linux distrubutions) is the packaging system, which gives you easy access to an enormous collection of software libre. And sometimes while browsing though the collection of available packages, you discover fantastic little programs that you hadn’t even been looking for.
My surprise find for today: “python-empathy: [...]

How to install a 2.5-inch (laptop size) hard drive in a 3.5-inch (desktop size) drive bay:

Search locally or on the internet for an appropriate mounting bracket designed for mounting a 2.5-inch disk in a 3.5-inch bay. Buy it.
Shut down and unplug the computer into which the hard disk will be installed. Open up the computer’s [...]

My recent lack of blog activity owes partly to school, and partly to the fact the my laptop finally died (it had been on its last legs for a while). I replaced it with a desktop box from Dell; desktops are a lot cheaper, especially in light of the comparatively short life expectancy of laptops. [...]

I read the following quote in a Wired article:

sales associate Babs Brockaway says she’s seen the number of customers leaving with shiny new fixed-gear (“fixie”) and single-speed bikes skyrocket. …The simplicity appeals to neophyte riders overwhelmed by too much technology. “It’s simple: You just pedal,” she says. “This is shocking, but there are people who [...]

The Economist brings us an article about some very cool biologically inspired architecture.

PZ points out a video showing a squid giving birth to hundreds of tiny offspring. Truly wonderous.

In case you missed it, there was a terrorist incident at Los Angeles International airport last week. Care to guess what notorious group was responsible?

As should be [...]

That is today’s wonderful news for all Konquistoradors. The Apple/KDE rift will be healed, our beautiful web browser shall be spared a future of hopeless marginalization.
Hooray!
(After writing this, I started to wonder if “Konquistorador” is even a real word. Apparently not: a Google search comes up mostly empty. I still think “Konquistorador” has a better [...]

I don’t make a habit of getting excited about intellectual property law, but this proposal to resolve patent disputes via Starcraft matches is hilarious. It’s even more hilarious once you catch your breath and realize that it might not actually be such a bad idea.

Contrary to what I stated in the previous post, it is completely incorrect that DDT bans have prevented its use for vector control in third-world countries. Bug Girl, an entomologist, thoroughly debunks that claim. The agricultural use of DDT has been banned in many places (partly because more widespread use of insecticides causes insects develop [...]

The Economist has a fascinating series of articles (one, two, and three) on biochemists’ newfound recognition of the importance of RNA in the life of the cell. Scientists are already using this new understanding of RNA to develop drugs which can disrupt the production of harmful proteins, and, more generally, manipulate cellular processes in a [...]

I had been using Akismet to filter out spam comments, but it seems to produce too many false positives. My apologies if you posted a comment which got thrown out by the spam filter.
I’ve now moved to using a CAPTCHA system to prevent comment spam. Also, comments no longer need require my approval before appearing; [...]