Mike Schoon » Main

New Years Goals

mike — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:33:17 +0000

One might ask why I refer to my resolutions for 2010 as goals instead. It’s simple, really. The more I think back to 2009 the more I realize that resolution isn’t the appropriate word for what I want to do. There is a process to meeting goals, resolutions are immediately assumed to fail. Resolution implies that what I want to do is reactionary and also that the first time I slip up, I might as well pack it up. So, with that said, here is my list of the things I want to reach for this year:

LESS FACEBOOK - Social networking has gotten ugly. It is a good tool, but not an art. There is nothing artistic about “Liking” everything I see, getting nagged to take care of my fake fish, and finding out which president my personality most closely matches. I enjoy connecting with people, but Dailybooth is more fun in that regard: Add a daily photo, any photo, and people comment and interpret it. It is so much more interesting. Not sure if I will ever really delete my account with FB, but it is certainly getting less of my attention in 2010.
MORE WEBSITE – I need to add more content to my sites. 2009 was the year of digging down into the nitty-gritty of WordPress, messing with constant upgrades and doing SysAdmin and Developer stuff. This year, I am going to blog more and have fun with it. SourceTX.com is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites to work with and I want to start hammering out a lot of content. The idea is simple. I am going to start offering a place for authors, artists, and musicians to post one-off content and I am considering interviewing in the future. Kind of think of it as an online art magazine that never claims to be.
GO CORP – The romanticism of being a part of a fledgling company that stands against all odds has kind of taken a back seat with me of late. I am going to focus on practicality in job offers this year and not delusions of grandeur in regards to being the next big thing. No companies that are buyout-bait or refer to their service options as “solutions” to add marketing value need apply. I’m ready for something real that clients really want.

These are the things I am going to work on. 2009 is done and gone. Time for a new decade and a new year. Wish me luck!

On a Quest for a Universal Remote

mike — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:39:14 +0000

I am thinking it is time for change.

It is time to simplify things a little. I am on a quest for a universal remote. This is the assortment I currently use on a daily basis, and it is driving my six year old absolutely crazy. That’s not mentioning the fact that it is driving me crazy trying to keep them all in one place with a six year old.

From left to right, you have two Wii Remotes (for the Wii and also the Media Center), a Roku Player, the Magnavox DVD Player, the Philips TV, and the DirecTV Tivo Series 2.

I am very skeptical that I can find one universal device for all of them. The Wii Remotes will have to stay and are pulling more than their share of the load. I have my Media Center computer connected with them over Bluetooth as well as using them for normal gaming. The Roku Player is fairly new. I am hoping I can find something compatible, but might have to manually program it for that. The DirecTV, Tivo, DVD Player, and TV should work with most devices.

I am going to look at the Logitech Harmony and see what I can come up with. Anyone else have any suggestions?

Scion Sponsored Events

mike — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:24:12 +0000

Whether you love this kind of music or not, you’ve gotta be impressed with how close Scion is to the third rail in social media. If only GM would go out on a limb like this, they might make a turnaround.

Scion Metal Show Presents: Municipal Waste & Trap Them from Scion A/V on Vimeo.

SCION and VICE present:

SCION METAL SHOW JUNE

Featuring

MUNICIPAL WASTE
TRAP THEM

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

KNITTING FACTORY
7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028

8PM – 11PM (All Ages)

The event is FREE WITH RSVP at www.scion.com/metalshow

RSVP is strictly required. Early arrival is suggested as space is limited. Entry is not guaranteed. Line up subject to change.

Home Theater 1.0

mike — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:11:48 +0000

I’ve added yet another ongoing project to my long list. I have been debating the idea of incorporating a computer into my “Home Theater” setup for a while now. I decided to tear down my office and grab the GQ desktop that has been running for no reason and take the plunge into setting up a home media server. The first step is out of the way, getting the thing hooked up to the TV. Initially, I was piping the audio through the TV, but that wasn’t cutting it for music. The Creative Labs Dolby 2.1 PC speakers came into the mix this morning. I will get a proper surround sound system when I can, but for the time being, this will do. Enigma sounds a lot deeper than through the TV. I am happy to say that I can now blog through the TV! ( I am such a geek!).
Anyway, I will add improvements as I go. That usually is the best way to go for me, get the basics installed then improve over time. I really need to start pricing some better hardware, but with the economy the way it is, I want to do that slowly. For now, I get to play with Ubuntu on a 27inch screen and test things. I’m leaning towards MythTV as an interface, but XBMC and Boxee might be worth the memory upgrade someday.

xB Anecdotes

mike — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:41:57 +0000

I was filling up my car yesterday when a woman approached me. “Excuse me, sir” Okay, locked the keys in the car, asking for directions, needs a jump (which oddly enough doesn’t happen too much in Texas)… “Do you like your car? The xB, I mean. I’ve been thinking about getting one.” For the first time in my life, I am not driving some second-hand beater. “I do, it only took me 3 fillups to get to Chicago last time.” “Wow, I’m from Chicago, too.” “Cool” “well, thank you…” “Thank you” End of story. I know, lame little story. Know what though? I’m not usually approachable, or maybe I just thought I wasn’t. I love my Scion. It’s fun to drive and to be honest, I like the fact that it’s ugly. Ugly means character in these days of bland SUVs and compact cars.

Happy Monday!!!

mike — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:46:13 +0000

Another Reason to love vimeo…

mike — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:26:02 +0000

I came across this while fumbling around vimeo, and found several others I will share some other time. This one is definitely seasonally appropriate. More of the wonderful video by Paul Davis can be found here: http://vimeo.com/brothersjacoah

Requiem for A Snowfall from Paul Davis on Vimeo.

Lifestream Plugin

mike — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:00:01 +0000

I just implemented an awesome plugin that keeps track of all your social junk in one place. If you look to the right, there is a link to my Lifestream page. So far, I’ve added twitter, youtube, flickr, jaiku, brightkite, my Gallery feed. Those familiar with with FriendFeed and Facebook will understand what this functionality provides. I love that this is integrated into my own site (that I own). It’s not like I am going to sell my own marketing data to other companies. Anyone with WordPress should really check this out.

http://www.ibegin.com/labs/wp-lifestream/

Interactive Mirror

mike — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:22:29 +0000

This is an absolute MUST HAVE someday!

Interactive Mirror from Alpay Kasal on Vimeo.

Adventures in GPS

mike — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:36:11 +0000

I have been in need of a new GPS receiver for a while. While I love my Garmin eTrex and it has been a lifesaver on several occasions, the netbook lacks serial ports. Carrying a serial to USB adapter is out of the question. I wanted ultra-portability for my kit, especially on vacations and while traveling. Whatever solution I came up with, I knew from previous experience what package would need to be installed first:

sudo apt-get install gpsd

Enter this device:

No brand name, no fancy package. I plugged it in and it functioned beautifully. Ubuntu detects it as a Prolific PL2303 USB to Serial Bridge Controller as revealed by dmesg:

[ 950.076139] usb 2-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
[ 950.242660] usb 2-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[ 950.246324] pl2303 2-2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
[ 950.271393] usb 2-2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0

That last line is important. I needed it to issue the next command:

gpsd /dev/ttyUSB0

As this device lacks a screen to indicate satellite fix, my next step was to install xgps:

sudo apt-get install gpsd-clients

I mostly use xgps for testing connectivity. It is a very basic interface with limited information. Pretty useless for navigation unless you work with satellites all day and know where they are supposed to be in the sky.

Eight years ago when I started experimenting with laptops and gps, I quickly found GPSdrive. It was really the only map-based GPS software available. Recently, using a netbook’s small 16:9 screen became a major problem when I realized the application wasn’t written for the Gnome toolkit. I was unable to maximize to my screen resolution of 1024×600, making any buttons at the bottom of the app hidden. TangoGPS has most of the functionallity necessary to track where you are on a map. Like GPSDrive, it is compatible with the Open Street Map project, works with gpsd, and even allows for friend updates.

For now, I have a system that tells me where I am, how fast I’m driving, and allows me to contribute to open street map. I will be eperimenting with another program called viking shortly and will discuss it here when I know more about it.