Diary of a Network Geek

Right, so last week, we had a sci-fi book-picker.

This week, it’s a flowchart over at SFSignal designed to help you pick the next science-fiction television series to rent from Netflix.  (Or, wherever, if you dropped Netflix due to all their foolish marketing stuff.)  And, I have to admit, there are several on the flow chart that I haven’t seen yet.  Though, again, if you haven’t seen Firefly or the newest Battlestar Galactica, I’m always in favor of those.

So, go ahead and check it out.  After all, it’s Friday and you don’t have anything better to do than pick out what you’re going to watch this weekend anyway, so jump to it!

It’s not secret I love books.

Frankly, it’s no secret that I love science-fiction books, either.  But, generally, my “To Be Read” pile is so huge I sometimes have a hard time picking which book to read next.  I’ve featured other book pickers in my Friday Fun posts before, but those were all generic.  So, here’s a new one specifically for Sci-Fi books; BestSFBooks

Now, I’ll be honest, it’s not strictly a book picker, per se, but it lists the “Top Ten Books” and the “Top Ten” authors for the current year and previous years as well as listing the newest science-fiction books.  You can also search the site and find out more about books you might be interested in reading to help you decide which to pick.
It’s pretty much brand new, so there’s no telling how good it really is at helping you find new books to read, but I think it’s worth checking out.

Besides, it’s Friday, so what else do you have to do?  (If you use the site, though, please check back here and leave comments about your experience!)

I guess QR codes aren’t quite dead yet!

Back in the day, hobos, or “gentlemen of the rails”, used to use a kind of code that let other hobos know important information.  For instance, if they marked a cat-like symbol on a fence, it meant that a kind-hearted woman lived at that house and might give a hungry drifter food.  Or, three diagonal lines means that the place is unsafe and a hobo should get out of there as quickly as they can.  (You can see more codes on Wikipedia.)
Well, someone has updated that for the modern world and smart phones.  That’s right, someone has made QR Code Hobo Codes.  Now, you can just print up templates and spray them with paint out there in the world and people can shoot them with their iPhone, or Droid, or whatever, and see the information.  And the codes have been updated for modern life, too!  Now, they’ve added things like “bad coffee”, “dangerous homophobes”, “camera perverts”, “no outlets”, and “insecure wifi”, among others.

So, who knew?!
Now, while you’re out adventuring this weekend, keep an eye out for QR codes to scan!  You may find some interesting things along your way!
Have a great Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Science is cool.

Okay, let’s be real here; some science is cooler than others.
Seriously, all that stuff about finding faster-than-light particles is awesome, but, it’s mostly invisible to us.  As a kid, one of my favorite places in the entire world was the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  I loved it because it animated science and taught the principles and ideas in such a creative way that many of them have stuck with me as an adult.
One of the coolest exhibits was around soap bubbles.  Well, soap bubbles filled with natural gas.  From this exhibit, I learned that bubbles are round, no matter what shape the tool used to create them is, because they’re an equalization of pressure inside and outside the bubble, which always forms a sphere.  I also learned that natural gas bubbles explode when they hit a flame.
What can I tell you?  I’ve always loved fire and this museum played to that.

So, in partial homage to that exhibit, here is a bubble display of a slightly different kind: Bubbles and ferromagnetic liquid.
They don’t explode, but it is pretty damn amazing to watch.
Besides, it’s Friday and if you’re reading this, it’s not like you have anything else to do, so go ahead and check it out!

Ever lost a camera?

And, by “lost”, I mean, has your camera ever been stolen?  Well, Gadget Trak can help.  And, now we know that it’s not an empty claim!
I’ve mentioned other camera tackers before, but Gadget Trak’s stolen camera finder has been verified by a photographer who used it to recover his camera.

The photographer is a pro by the name of John Heller who “lost” $9,000 worth of equipment he needs to pursue his livelihood while on assignment in California.  He used the tool to find other photos on the internet that had been taken with his stolen camera.  That led him to another pro who had unwittingly bought the stolen camera.  The L.A. Police are still investigating the people from whom the stolen camera was bought, but what really matters is that Mr. Heller has gotten his gear back!

And, yes, that is a free service they offer.  Because, hey, on a Friday am I going to try to sell you something?  Of course not!
Y’all have a great weekend!

No, not today, but soon!

Monday, September 19th is the official Talk Like A Pirate Day.  It’s an internet holiday, which means you still have to show up at the office, but at least you can talk like a pirate!  Yeah, that’s pretty much the whole thing.  It’s a day to celebrate talking like a pirate, created by the internet.

Happy Friday!

(Hey, what do you want from me?  It’s been a tough week, okay?)

I’ve never been a huge fan of Moby Dick.

But, I have to admit, the idea of mashing [amazon_link id=”0199535728″ target=”_blank” ]Moby Dick[/amazon_link] with [amazon_link id=”B003UESJJC” target=”_blank” ]Apocalypse Now[/amazon_link] seems like a pretty killer idea to me.  And, that, dear readers, is just what Apocalypse Moby is; an amazing mashup of these two very different stories that comes out amazingly well.  In fact, it almost had a science-fiction feeling to it.  Or maybe that was just my personal experience leaking through, but, either way, it was pretty cool.

Of course, it’s a play, stage-play or screen-play, depending on your bent, which may make it a bit challenging to read, but, I think it’s worth it.  And, trust me on this, it works surprisingly well.  Honest.
It’s just the thing to read on a weekend when you’re too hot to do anything else anyway.  So, go ahead, it’s free!  Go download it and read it!
And have a great weekend!!

Do you have a lot of music?

I’m not a huge music person, really.  At least, not in the pop-music on the radio all the time kind of way.  But, I am sort of a digital pack-rat, which means I’ve actually got a surprising collection of MP3 files.  And, of course, moving those from computer to computer means I’ve ended up with a surprising number of duplicates.  So, what to do?
Well, now there’s DupeGuru, music edition.  Pretty much what it says; a program to help you remove duplicates and this one is the “special” edition for music.  Though I have to admit that I’m not sure what the difference between the editions could be, really.

In any case, since I’m sure you’re not working on a Friday, you might as well check it out and get your music sorted for the long weekend!
Enjoy!

I love free!

So, most everyone in my business has heard of Adobe.  Mainly because they’re the top design and graphics software publisher in business right now.  Well, they’ve released a FREE program called Muse that lets you layout and publish webpages without having to write code.  Now, myself, personally, I’m okay writing the HTML code behind simple webpages, but, frankly, it’s a lot faster to do it in a nice graphical user interface that’s filled with point-and-click tools.  Also, since this comes from Adobe, you know that they’re going to have a great interface and make it easy to use for the novice.  Not sure how the output is, but, frankly, for most users, as long as the page looks nice when they’re done, the code behind it doesn’t really matter.

The program itself runs on their Adobe AIR platform, which means it’s pretty lightweight and fast.  You can read about all the features on the Muse website.
Oh, and while this is free right now, it will, eventually, be for sale in 2012, when they’ll be charging by the month for it.  So, you’d better get this while you can!

Hey, free, creative software just in time for the weekend, how can you beat that?
Well, enjoy your Friday, in any case.

No, not some new chick I’m dating.

Sadly, it’s Linux software.   Okay, well, not so sad, because it’s Linux-based software to help you track your personal library.
Yeah, yeah, I know, what kind of geek has a personal library that’s worth cataloging, right?  Yeah, well, as it turns out, me.  I probably have a couple thousand books of one kind or another spread all over my house.  I’m pretty sure virtually every room in my house has a stack of books in it, if not a full bookshelf.  And, yes, I do lend quite a few books and they sometimes go missing.  And, yes, I have so many books, I have, on very rare occasions, bought the same book twice.  And, finally, yes, I’ve been talking about doing this for years, but this software actually looks like something I might use.  Besides, it’s free.

Among the features are the ability to search by ISBN, author, title or keyword so you can find just the book you’re thinking of in your collection; the ability to retrieve information from on-line bookstores and other sources; and the ability to use several different scanners, including the CueCat, for data input.  (You can read more about the features here at the Alexandria FAQ.)  There is more information, including a manual and screen shots at the Alexandria homepage.

So, yeah, a little geekier than my usual Friday Fun post, but it’ll probably excite the librarians among my readers.
(And, I really hope there are some sexy librarians who still read this blog!)
Enjoy your weekend!