If you heard of the Office or Monty Python’s Flying Circus, you’d know that the British have a variable penchant for comedy, burlesque and satire.

Fun fact: Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade star cameo in all three of these shows.

These videos are not safe for work as they have a fair amount of vulgarity.

IT Crowd

2 IT guys and a ditzy female supervisor in this hilarious tech sitcom.

Indeed, similar to the UK Office, IT Crowd was at one time slated to be ported to the US (even taking along Richard Ayoade!). However, due to screen writer’s guild strikes and the economy, it was called off. Sometimes the UK versions are the best.

Youtube links (Unfortunately Channel4 blocks embedding these):

• Best of IT Crowd 1
• The IT Crowd clips
• Boss jumps out of window
• 118 999 881 999 119 7253
• If you “type google into google” you can break the internet

Snuff Box

Hilarious, surreal. UK meets US.

Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace

Feels like ER in the 80’s mixed with a horror twist.

Dingoo A320

The Dingoo a320 is comparable to a Nintendo DS in price. It’s bundled with a proprietary OS with an SDK (Software development kit). Hardware is nice. It even has an FM Player and a mic. It charges via a normal USB connector (the one you may already use with your cell phone or G1). Screen is backlit.

The stock emulators have poor performance.  ThinkGeek’s featured photo of Super Mario World on the dingoo is pristine, but the truth is mario’s face may meet that rocket because of the choppiness of the emulation.

Linux support comes to the rescue on the Dingoo with Dingux. Implementing it however involves some clever hacks. Sadly, Dingux doesn’t support the FM player or the mic yet.

Gamepark GP2X Wiz

The GP2X Wiz by Gamepark is in my opinion superior. The display is brilliant. It runs Linux natively. Think of it like a gameboy advance with a Lithium ion battery, backlight, OLED screen. It even has the specs and software to play MAME games.

GP2x also supports a bustling homebrew community featuring emulators. After all, that’s what an open handled is all about: Giving developers the rights to create their own open source applications.

GP2x is a handheld done right. Unlike the DRM-imprisoned PSP, Gameboy and iPhones the wiz actually gives you freedom. It’s an textbook instance of how FLOSS can make a seemingly ordinary piece of hardware into an enterprise-class super device . Look at DD-WRT and OpenWRT. Look at Cyanogenmod for Android. Look at Linux on the desktop.

If you paid your rent and have 200 bucks lying around, grab one of these things.

My opinion: Dingoo Digital in China needs to understand their overseas niche is in homebrew. They should make their operating system Linux-based. If you have moderate knowledge of computers (Can put files onto an attached storage device) and want a handheld, grab the GP2x. You won’t regret it.

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;  to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wish my friends and colleagues a successful and prosperous 2010.

DarkBlue 2 (Electric Boogaloo) is based off the GPLv2 theme DarkBlue.

Backstory: This theme was on Wordpress.org at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/darkblue but removed because the original theme violated wp’s guidelines. Original author was William Sutanto.

However, before hand I tried these theme for my blog. As of Dec 28, 2009 I’m using it on this very site. Because the theme is derived from DarkBlue and is different, I’m appending “2″ to it.

Links:

• Github page – wp-darkblue
• Original DarkBlue 1.3 Theme

Changes since the original DarkBlue:

Dec 30, 2009

• Add fixes for wordpress.org acceptance (adding wp_page_links, wp_footer, rm’ing tags
• Add language_attributes to HTML tag
• Changed link in README and footer.php to link to this blog

Dec 29, 2009

- Fix h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 sizes
- Make sidelinks on sidebar 11px -> 12px

Dec 27, 2009

- 960px width for site
- 550px width for content
- Line height added to content for readability
- Menu list item font changed to Verdana
- Title and description redesigned.
- Widget titles now have CSS class
- Widget titles now is 16px
- Widgets are now seperated with a padding for readability
- Footer note changed to new author, spam/ad link rm’d to correspond with wp.org guidelines

As a full-time Linux user, I’m not a very big Windows fan. However, I’d like to present some apps I zealously adhered to over my old days as a poweruser.

When a friend or colleague has a bogged-down system (be it by viruses, badware or general oldness), I often ask if they’re willing to Backup their Documents/Music and reformat. This means installing applications over again, but the improvements are always substantial.

A note: The install wizards on these programs may bait you into downloading Yahoo! or Ask.com software. If the Terms of Service/Privacy policy in the install wizard says “I agree to xxx and to Installing Yahoo!/Ask.com”, Don’t check it. Just click next/Install. If you accidentally do, go to Add/Remove apps and uninstall, you don’t want them.

Here are some of the apps I download after a fresh OEM install:

Grab all your essentials in one sitting: Ninite

Type (License): Freeware (Proprietary)

Website: http://ninite.com/

This program is a deliverance from the almighty himself. Check the boxes for the programs you want to install and it will create a batch installer. You need internet access to do this. It includes everything from Java and Flash to Dropbox, to VLC, to steam, Open Office, Abiword, Skype, etc.

I could end this post right here, but I’ll go on.

Tweaking: TuneUp Utilities 2006-2010

Type (License): $49.00 / Demo (proprietary)

Website: http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

The king of all system control apps. Has full features for performance tweaking, removing junk files, optimizing network settings and even theming. The 2010 version even has a turbo mode that removes system services to make your computer zip. It has so many features I can’t fit them.

Privacy / Performance: CCleaner

Alternative to: TuneUp Utilities

Type (License): Freeware (proprietary)

Website: http://www.ccleaner.com

This is a free registry/cache/junk file cleaner.

Tip: Make sure you go into settings and choose to “Secure delete”. Choose the DoD 3-pass clean.

Tip 2: Consider checking the box to erase “Free space” too. Not all the time because it’s time-consuming.

Privacy: Eraser

Type (License): Freeware (Open Source)

Site: http://eraser.heidi.ie/

Description: Delete means delete. Microsoft considers hard drive encryption to be a feature you pay for and its filesystems are extremely insecure (FAT32 has no security, anyone can view anything, NTFS has little). Microsoft is very deceptive that Windows doesn’t notify you that you’re not really permanently deleting your files until you overwrite them.

Read more about eraser at Stanford’s SLAC: http://www.stanford.edu/services/encryption/desktop/windows/securedelete.html

Tip: Make sure to erase any free space on your hard drive as well.

Tip 2: You can also right click your Recycle bin and securely erase your bin.

Privacy: Truecrypt

Alternative to: Microsoft Bitlocker

Type (License): Freeware (Open Source)

Site: http://truecrypt.org

Even though you’ll never need it. You never know when you’ll get blindsided. You could lose your laptop, have it stolen, etc. Even having one layer of weak encryption will throw off thieves and give you great peace of mind.

Lite, Effective Antivirus: NOD32

Type (License): $40/yr Subscription (Proprietary)

Website: https://www.eset.de

ASM-based virus scanner. Very low memory footprint. Fast.

It also works great when using Windows 7 as a guest (a la VirtualBox)

Free Antivirus Alternatives

AVG Free

Type (License): Free (Proprietary)

Website: http://free.avg.com/de-en/homepage

ClamAV

Type (License): Free (Open Source)

Website: http://clamwin.com

Micro$oft Security Essentials

Type (License): Free (Proprietary)

Website: http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Audiophiles: Foobar

Type (License): Freeware (License)

Website: http://www.foobar2000.org/

Simple, playlist-based music player with a low memory footprint.

Torrenting: µtorrent

Website: http://www.utorrent.com

Type (License): Freeware (Proprietary)

Torrent client with tons of features, oddly small size and low-memory footprint. Very stable.

Office Essentials: Open Office

Alternative to: Microsoft Office

Website: http://www.openoffice.org

Type (License): Freeware (License here)

Get all your essentials with OpenOffice. Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint are too pricy.

Gaming: Steam

Alternative to: Greedy retailers like Best Buy and Gamestop

Type (License): Freeware (Proprietary)

DRM gaming. But steam takes the pain out of it. No limits on redownloading the software you purchase. Stable. Time-tested. (You can grab this with Ninite too.)

You have to pay for the games, of course. However the long-term benefits of using Steam make it worth it. It saves you from scratched CD’s and managing all your cd-keys.

Steam store also offers generous software bundles of related games (Civilization, Valve, etc) and can save you tons of money.

Virtualization / Guest OS: Virtualbox

Alternative to: VMWare Workstation, VirtualPC

Type (License):  Freeware (License details here)

Website: http://www.virtualbox.org

If you want to try out Linux or keep a sandbox’d operating system to do programming on, VirtualBox is will accept Windows, Linux and *BSD as guest OS’s. It’ll run on Linux too.

HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1

Recently had a situation where I borked my G1 / HTC Dream. It took me hours to fix. This isn’t a tutorial on how to install third party roms or root your G1, it’s more of a troubleshooting thing.

Screen would be stuck on the “T-mobile G1 Screen”. If it’s on there for longer than 5-10 minutes, you have have an issue.

Had to pull battery out many times.

SPL to use is HardSPL. Look here: http://code.google.com/p/android-roms/wiki/Install_Hard_SPL. To check your SPL boot holding Camera+Disconnect buttons. Hold camera to switch between Fastboot and serial.

HardSPL includes fastboot. Fastboot lets you flash recovery images when no other options are available. You can grab flashboot for Linux/OS X/Windows at http://developer.htc.com/adp.html.

Fastboot binary may require you type sudo before, for elevated use permissions.

Download the SDK for your operating system, move fastboot into the /tools folder. If on linux or OS X, chmod +x fastboot.

$ sudo ./fastboot flash recovery recovery_image.img

Recovery images. cm-recovery 1.4 is OK. However RA-Dream (amon recovery) is superior (supports adb, console and sd card mounting from it). Big time saver because you’ll be transferring stuff to/from your SD card often.

Reinstalling Cyanogen sometimes means you may need to install the original HTC 1.6 image (MD5sum: b3e12b004c155761a10b1a848288e0c3) http://www.baroukh.com/adp1/signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip

For the fastboot image (no signature for updater to check against, fastboot only, MD5: a06a3d24ff4cbe5c81317e41891e6965): http://www.baroukh.com/adp1/signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-img-14721.zip

Then you can grab Cyanogenmod and upgrade via Recovery: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=567610

When a friend or colleague is laptop or computer hunting I always try to recommend my favorite products and websites in order to help accommodate them. If you’re great quality laptop, you can’t beat the Lenovo (Formerly IBM) ThinkPad.

I work regularly on a X200 Tablet and a T400 refurbished from the Lenovo Outlet. Suffice it to say, I am a very satisfied Lenovo customer.

1. Time tested. Thinkpads have had the same characteristic look for ages. 1992 to be mm-specific. So that’s about 18 years, more or less.
2. Industry tested. Many corporations and government agencies swear to Thinkpads. They even use them in space.
   

   Space-approved.

3. No odd keyboard placement or other gotchas. I have an ASUS N50V and I hate the swapped Fn and control keys keys. Why don’t they just use Fn-Ctrl? When they change the order on laptops you use regularly it’s annoying.  Also other laptops are designed in such an odd way, non-standard keyboard placement, mouse in a weird area, etc. For office professionals, sometimes standard is the most ergonomic fit you can get.
4. Consistent design. Other laptops spend too much time “rounding” out their looks with shiny plastic glosses. Manufacturers do this to improve the look when selling them on the floor as retailers like Best Buy and Fry’s.
5. Great build quality. Carbon-fibered reinforced plastic cases. Also, newer models have a Magnesium-alloy roll cage to protect the internals. (Thanks Wikipedia, was wondering what they were made from ).
6. Price point. While some configurations can be pricey, most are fairly economical. Use the Lenovo Outlet for refurbished/used or go for stock models. These laptops will include a variety of unique configurations; whatever is on the shelf.
7. Decent hardware. Lenovo isn’t perfect, but relative to other manufacturers who screw you over with Broadcom and other odd hardware you can’t trust, they’ll give you a system you can expect. They use Intel Centrino (Chipset, Mobo, Wireless) on most laps. So this works well.
8. Wireless-friendly. Newer laps have support for wireless 3g/wimax. You can look for this in outlet or customize for this. My T400 has a 3g and wifi. My X200 has a wimax and a regular wifi card.
9. Linux-friendly. Currently I’m running Kubuntu Karmic AMD64 on both my X200 and T400. Also, for a great Linux documentation source, check out ThinkWiki.
10. No camera option. What is the problem with Dell/HP/etc. with understanding that many places have a no tolerance policy for cameras? Ever try going to a court house with a camera on your lappy? They’ll turn you around. Helpful hint: Lenovo Outlet lets you search via a “No Camera option”

My hope is Lenovo carries on the legacy of the ThinkPad into the future.

(Thinkpad Image courtesy of Goldman40, Wikimedia Commons)

Glad to be helping out with the Kubuntu docs for Lucid Lynx.

Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) will be a LTS (Long Term Support) release. It’ll be nice to have that running on your servers!

From nixternal's blog.

Above: Kubuntu KDE documentation roster, nixternal’s post.

Very excited to KDE 4.4, especially after seeing Beta 1 and the new Feature plan.

Edit: Dec. 25, I actually ended up handing this off. I have a little too much on my plate. However I am following KDE 4.4 closely.

I was able to commit my Xmonad, xmobar, rxvt-unicode and VIM configuration files to github
You can check them out at:

• http://www.github.com/skiquel/vim-config
• http://www.github.com/skiquel/xmonad-config

Socialite is a module inspired by many of the great web 2.0 plugins in Wordpress.

I find that wordpress is far more adept at blogging and publishing, and the current state of Drupal modules fall short here.

So, we have socialite. Add your identities online to the block so visitors and fans can see where you or your business is.

It will automatically generate favicons based on the domain of the site.

Drupal.org project page: http://www.drupal.org/project/socialite

Github project page: http://www.github.com/skiquel/socialite

The module isn’t ready for prime time just yet, you can still try it out.