How To Not Be A Douchebag at SXSW

Filed Under Events, Geek | 2009-08-20, 14:19

Last year I had a blast at SXSW Interactive. It was both enjoyable and informative. However I quickly noticed that there are a lot of.. well douchebags at SXSW. It quickly became quite humorous to pick them out in a crowd and discuss what made them douchey. While it was all a lot of snarky fun, I realized that some of these people probably didn’t even realize how douchey they were being! So I decided that this year I should hold a panel to help those in need. The panel is aptly titled “How To Not Be A Douchebag at SXSW”. Here is the the proposal that was submitted:

Description:
Aimed at both first-time and long-time attendees to SXSW Interactive, this biting and humorous, yet useful panel takes a look at the common actions and behaviors to avoid if you don’t want to be described as “doing it wrong.”

Questions that will be answered:
Who is “that guy” and how do I avoid being him?
How do I self-promote without being a douchebag? (i.e — when should I give out my business card?)
What words instantly make me sound like I don’t know what I’m talking about? (i.e. — what are douchey buzzwords?)
How do I not come off looking like an obnoxious PR flack?
How do I pitch my product/service/technology? (i.e. — to schwag or not to schwag?)
How do I handle an open bar?
How should I ask questions at panels and presentations?
What is the proper Twitter/Foursquare etiquette at SXSW?
How can I treat the locals graciously?
How can I make a connection with someone I’m attracted to and not come across like a marketing dweeb? (i.e. — hooking up, the undouche way)

Joining me on this panel will be the lovely Violet Blue of sex blogger fame and the experienced John Adams from Twitter. There’s a good chance we’ll pick up a fourth member before SXSW so if you’re interested in joining us, let me know. But in the meantime we have to convince SXSW that this is a panel the people want to see! In order to do this we need your votes. If you’ve got a minute, please head over to our proposal on the SXSW Panel PIcker and give us a thumbs up! But hurry, voting ends on September 4th.

1 Comment

Coder Girl: An ode to female programmers

Filed Under Funny, Geek, Video | 2009-07-24, 22:22

This song by Dale Chase is spot-on:

The first hint that my own “coder girl” and I would be good together? Seeing O’Reilly books on her bedroom shelf.

Of course I’d be remiss to not point you to the Girl at the Video Game store video from G4′s Attack of the Show to supplement the above:

4 Comments

Fallout 3 LARPers = awesome

Filed Under Geek, Video Games | 2009-07-10, 16:12

Anyone that checks my Xbox Live stats (Gamer Tag: edrabbit) will see that I’ve spent a bit of time playing Fallout 3. And the love for the expansive world that Fallout 3 weaves is probably why I enjoy these photos of a bunch of Russian LARPers (Live Action RolePlaying). I don’t read (or speak) Russian, so I have no idea what the post is about, but the time and attention that they’ve put into their costumes and environment are impressive. And come on.. hot Russian girls with guns, need I say more?

Check out the full gallery of pics over on the LiveJournal post. If anyone can translate and fill us in on the story, that would be appreciated!
via Wonderland

7 Comments

Mozy Backup + Reinstalling Windows = FAIL

Filed Under Geek | 2009-07-07, 02:12

So I need to reinstall Windows. It happens, Windows gets “dirty” and sometimes I just need a format and reinstall to feel clean again. The same way one might feel on Sunday morning after a weekend bender. But like a good computer user, I’ve got offsite backups (in addition to that RAID array) that go to Mozy.com. But before I jumped into a “nuke and pave” I figured I should check and make sure you don’t need to do anything special with Mozy because I remember that it took months to originally backup my 400gb of files. So I jumped onto Mozy.com’s support chat and quickly found out that I would have to re-upload the 400gb of files. There is apparently no way to tell Mozy that a fresh install of windows should be treated as the same backup set. I can’t imagine what they’re using to uniquely identify machines, but apparently it’s not a harddrive serial number + your user account, which would make sense in my book. So I guess it’s time to start hunting for a new offsite backup solution.

If you want to read the ridiculous conversation I had with support, I’ve included it in full below for your amusement:

You are now chatting with ‘Sunil’

Sunil: Welcome to Mozy Live Support. May I have your account email address please?

Ed: Hi Sunil, my email address is [REDACTED]

Sunil: Thanks. Are you dealing with an issue you’ve previously talked to us about or is this a new issue?

Ed: this is a new issue

Sunil: Could please explain me in detail the issue so that I can help you?

Ed: I have a computer that I need to reinstall windows on

Sunil: Ok.

Ed: this computer has a secondary drive that I use to store important files. This drive is backed up to Mozy

Sunil: Ok.

Ed: I want to make sure I don’t have to reupload all of the files after reinstalling windows
Ed: what do I need to do to make sure Mozy recognizes that this is a pre-existing backup when it’s running on a new install of Windows?

Sunil: Ed, unfortunately it is not possible but you need to restore the files after reassociating Mozy to your newly installed operating system.
Sunil: Mozy will consider this computer as a new computer if you upgrade or reinstall operating system.
Sunil: There is a method to replace the machine or to re associate Mozy after reinstallation of operating system.
Sunil: http://support.mozy.com/docs/en-user-home-win/guide/tasks/home_replace_machine_c.html
Sunil: You may refer this link given above to know how to perform a replacement of machine to associate Mozy again.

Ed: so I have to reupload the 400gbs of data I have backed up to Mozy?

Sunil: Yes. You may have to restore the files and then re upload the files in this case.

Ed: so I have to download 400gb of files to replace the original files on my local drive, and then reupload the 400gb files I just downloaded from Mozy back to MOzy?

Sunil: Yes. You may have to replace the machine and associate Mozy to your newly installed Operating system computer and then Restore the old files doing a web restore logging in your account.
Sunil: After retrieving the old files you may start a new fresh backup to upload files.
Sunil: Is there any thing else I could assist you with Mozy?

Ed: Do you realize how ridiculous this is?
Sunil: I can understand your frustration Ed. It is because at any time of reinstallation of operating Mozy will cant detect your machine as the old.
Sunil: It’s security feature is set like that way.

Ed: and there is no functionality to tell Mozy that this is in fact the same backup set?

Sunil: If you really want to retrieve the old backup set, it is possible.
Sunil: You may just login to your Mozy home account.
Sunil: and then click on restore files.
Sunil: Then, click choose file to restore.
Sunil: Now select the date of your last backup by choosing bold color dates.
Sunil: Here you will get the option to view your old back up sets.

Ed: I have all of my backed up data on my local drive, you guys have all of my backed up data on your servers. I shouldn’t have to download my own data and then give it back to you when it already exists in both places.

Sunil: Since you are reinstalling your operating system your old data and backup data can remain in our server for only 30 days. However, when you reassociate Mozy you can restore only the important files uploaded before.

Ed: I don’t need to restore any files since I already have all of them on my drive

Sunil: Ok.

Ed: I am reinstalling my operating system on a harddrive that is not backed up by Mozy
Ed: I am not changing the secondary (slave) harddrive that is backed up to Mozy
Ed: I don’t need to upload those files to Mozy because they already exist there
Ed: I should just be able to change a config file or setting somewhere that tells mozy this is the same backup set, just on a fresh install of windows

Sunil: At any time you are installing or upgrading your windows Operating system you are loosing the old backup set and Mozy installed config files.

Ed: I can save the mozy installed config files, just tell me which ones I need to save

Sunil: http://support.mozy.com/docs/en-user-home-win/faq/tasks/common_issue_reinstall_backupsets_c.html

Ed: will this work if I put the conf.dat file back in the MozyHome folder on a fresh install of windows?

Sunil: Ed, if you are reinstalling the operating system Mozy will not be able to detect your machine as the old computer. It will consider it as a new computer. Please refer the link given below to know more about this:
Sunil: http://support.mozy.com/docs/en-user-home-win/guide/tasks/home_replace_machine_c.html

Ed: how can I force it to recognize it as the same computer? What information does it use to uniquely identify the computer?

Sunil: It is not possible and Mozy will not have that feature if you are upgrading your operating system or using a new computer etc.,
Sunil: Please refer the link mentioned above to replace the machine after reinstalling your operating system.

Ed: Thanks for the information, I’ll start looking for alternative backup solutions

24 Comments

How To Take Apart the Flip Video Ultra

Filed Under Gadgets & Hardware, Geek | 2009-04-13, 12:50

Flip Video Ultra Camera with Macbook Pro

I love the idea of the Flip Video cameras.I bought a Flip Video Ultra last year and it has served me quite well. It’s small enough that it’s easy to carry around for those random moments when you wish you had a video camera. It’s cheap enough to not worry about taking it places where it could get absolutely destroyed. And it has enough space (60minutes) to record quite a bit of video.

However when I was doing some video for the 2009 Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight I noticed that the power switch was not sliding as easily as I remembered and would occasionally stick and cause problems when I needed to quickly turn the camera on and start recording. I figured it was just dirty so I’d open it up and clean it. I didn’t want to just start pulling stuff apart as I’ve broken many a plastic tab with this method. I did a quick search to see if there were any tear-down guides for disassembling the Flip Video camera, but came up short. I did find this video which was helpful, but also difficult to flip back and forth through. So here’s my quick photo guide to dismantling should you want to clean things, modify the LED, microphone, or whatever.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Unfortunately after all that disassembling and reassembling my power switch was still sticking. A couple loosening turns of the screw closest to the power switch was actually all the solution I needed. It was still interesting to take a look at the guts of my trusty Flip though.

17 Comments

Zenta’s A-Pod Hexapod Robot

Filed Under Art, Geek, Video | 2009-04-08, 12:35

After seeing the video of Zenta’s hexapod in action I just had to share it. It’s design, fluid movement, and lifelike qualities make it absolutely beautiful. The video just had me saying “wow” every few seconds whether it was picking up a can of soda and not getting thrown off balance, or being dexterous enough to pour a glass of water. As my friend Neil put it, “This robot is so lifelike, it will either have you cooing with delight or running away screaming.”

The creator, Zenta, is no stranger to hexapods or robots, having quite the robot family. If you’re more interested in the construction and parts of the A-Pod, check out his post which is chock full of great photos and how-to info.

3 Comments

SXSW 2009

Filed Under Geek | 2009-03-12, 22:42

Obligatory “I’m doing SXSW” post. Find me and say hi if you’re here too!

It’s my first time and I’ve already learned something valuable: “Don’t get a hotel room far away” Looks like I’ll be racking up the taxi fares as well as the bar tabs this week!

Changing Home and End Keys for Firefox

Filed Under Apple, Geek | 2009-03-04, 15:51

One of the biggest problems when I switched from my Windows laptop to OS X on my Macbook Pro was the lack of dedicated Home/End keys. Having to hit function and the arrow keys to get my Home/End navigation was annoying. I’ve now adjusted to it and have a callous on my left pinky to prove it. But Home and End don’t always behave the way I expect. This is most apparent to me in Firefox when I’m attempting to write or edit a blog post using WordPress’s web interface. The default behavior is to jump to the beginning or the end of the form, not the line of text I’m on. I had to change this. Luckily I found this tip over on macosxhints.com. It’s relatively simple to modify the behavior to the “right” way in Firefox, although you’ll have to do it each time Firefox updates:

1. Make a backup first and then unzip or jar extract the contents of /Applications/Firefox.app/Content/MacOS/chrome/toolkit.jar into a temporary directory. You might have to right-click on Firefox and select “show package contents”

this one

3. Zip or jar to recreate the archive (jar cvf toolkit.jar content/) and replace the original.

Or instructions for those that are more command-line inclined:

cd tempdir
cp /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/chrome/toolkit.jar .
jar xvf toolkit.jar
Replace content/global/platformHTMLBindings.xml with this one
jar cvf toolkit.jar content/
mv toolkit.jar /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/chrome/

Thanks bloodnok!
image via

2 Comments

Mistabishi’s “Printer Jam” Video

Filed Under Geek, Movies and Music | 2009-02-27, 13:38

This great drum n bass track from newcomer Mistabishi is appropriately titled. The video is a nice companion for your eyes as your ears are assaulted, in that good sort of way. Turn up the speakers and hit play. If you like what you hear, you can grab his album on iTunes or Hospital Records.

Thanks Jof!

2 Comments

WordPress Inserting Line Breaks In Front of Form Elements

Filed Under Geek, Wordpress | 2009-02-26, 13:37

So I’m working on a form for users to submit data on a WordPress-based site. I want it to look like this:

What I’m getting is this:

Those are screenshots, so here’s a “live” example:
Name:
Email:
Phone #:

Taking a look at the preview page using Firebug, I noticed that it was inserting <br /> in front of each input field. It did this with a select drop-down menu too. What gives? Anyone ever run into this?

4 Comments

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