I ran across Wubi last night. Wubi is a utility that installs a full version of Ubuntu on a PC running Windows. It’s nice for several reasons:

1. It’s much easier to use that the usual way of installing Ubuntu. You don’t have to repartition your drive, you don’t have to fiddle with a bootloader, you don’t have to know how to set up a Linux filesystem. Basically it’s a one-click operation. You download and run it; it downloads Ubuntu and installs it for you.
2. It installs a really-truly installation of Ubuntu. It’s not a form of virtualization (which is slow) nor is it a live boot CD (which is slower).
3. Once it installs Ubuntu, you can uninstall it like you’d uninstall any other Windows application.

I just used it to install Ubuntu on my Thinkpad X60 tablet. I’m a Linux neophyte but am interested in having a Linux system around for doing some development that appears to be simpler under Linux than under Windows. (Why, oh why is it so difficult to access the RS-232 ports from software running under XP?) Much of what I’ve seen of Linux strikes me as still not quite ready for prime time, but I’m betting that the development tools are quite good, given that the only people that used Linux up until recently were developers. read more

UPDATE: Sold!

In the somewhat unlikely event that you’re looking for an old Apple Studio Display 17″ LCD, I have one for auction here. I suppose it’s of historic significance if you’re an Audio Damage fan; I used it for all of my Mac activities for the first couple of years of the company’s history, and then used it to test all of our products for G4 compatibility after I migrated to an Intel iMac.

There’s a very nice video here done with stop-motion animation of characters cut from cardboard. (Make sure that your sound is turned on; the accompaniment is a remix of an excellent old song by Yazoo.) I wonder whether I like stop-motion animation because I watched Sesame Street when I was a kid. Remember the animation they did with sand and stuff?

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., Jan 19, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) — Vermont-based ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s has unveiled its latest flavor, “Yes Pecan,” which recalls President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign mantra.
“Yes Pecan,” a variation of Obama’s famous slogan, “Yes we can,” is described by the company as “an inspirational blend” that includes “amber waves of buttery ice cream with roasted non-partisan pecans,” Ben & Jerry’s announced Monday. read more

I didn’t pay much attention to any previous presidential inauguration, so I can’t actually compare today’s inauguration of President Obama to previous ones. I think it’s safe to say, though, that it’s been awhile since an estimated 2 million people made their way to the D. C. Mall to watch the swearing in of the new President. We’ve been watching the coverage on and off since shortly before he was sworn in; it’s now about 5:40PM in D. C. and the parade is still underway. The enthusiasm is amazing, and rather touching. The following video clip captures the mood well. It was taken before the parade, while the Obamas were making their way from the Capitol building to the White House. Listen to the crowd’s reaction as the President gets out of the car, and watch how appreciative he is as we walks along and waves to the crowd: read more

That’s one of Wm. Gibson’s best observations. To wit: Microsoft releases Songsmith, a fairly clever program that generates accompaniment (albeit banal accompaniment) for your singing. Unfortunately they plug it with a painfully awful advertisement. In response, the street starts abusing the software by running a capella recordings of well-known songs through it and showcases the results on YouTube and elsewhere. The ad and several such examples can be found here and this page has more. read more

You’ve probably never thought “gee, I wonder how they inspect high-tension power lines without turning off the electricity.” I know I haven’t. If you were to ask yourself that question, though, you’d realize that it must be a tricky task. There’s a remarkable video here showing how they do it. The short version of the story is that they use helicopters to put people in fireproof, conductive suits onto the lines, where they perch like birds.

[Found on Hack a Day.] read more

The various news sites say that the fire was 30% contained as of 7:00AM. The wind is relatively calm so they think they’ll have it contained by this afternoon. Some neighborhoods that were evacuated have been reopened and one of the roads that was closed is open again.

There’s ongoing coverage here of a good-sized fire north of Boulder. A good number of homes have been evacuated and as of 8:10PM MST the fire covered 6,400 acres and was still uncontained. The problem is that it has been very windy here with gusts over 50mph. The lower of the two videos on that page (as I write this) gives you a pretty good idea of what the wind has been like.

So far our area has not been evacuated, and I doubt that the fire will come close enough to warrant our departure. The fire is north and west of Boulder; we’re north and east of Boulder. The wind has died down also, so hopefully they’ll have it contained soon. read more