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I help run the Lancaster County Linux Users Group. We’ve been around for 7 years. A lot of LUG’s have come and gone during that time period and it’s easy to see why. I’ve been thinking about closing our LUG for a while now. It’s not that people don’t use Linux, it’s just that the Linux revolution is over. Everyone has returned back to their normal lives and Linux is no longer a novelty, it’s just part of everyday life like reality tv and cell phones. There haven’t been any exciting new developments or projects for over a year now. Sourceforge has kind of flatlined as developers, businesses, and users have reached the limit of the open source model.

No new great server apps or utilities have really been developing. Linux is just another tool I use to get humdrum jobs like DNS, web serving, and database stuff done. It certainly will never usurp or replace Windows like it was hyped to. Don’t get me wrong I love Linux - I’m just not excited by it anymore. On the other hand Apple has really picked up the torch where Linux left off. I’d say the developments in OSX are way more interesting than what’s happening in Linux. In fact since I’ve been using OSX I’ve hardly used my Linux workstation at home.

Well I still need a topic for this month’s LUG meeting so post a comment and let me know if you can think of anything new and exciting in Linux.

The infamous USA Today Red and Blue election map of the U.S. showed which counties were Blue Gore counties and which were Red Bush counties. But what this map has come to symbolize is the very distinct polarization of the U.S. into two cultures which are spreading further apart. It’s not about Republican or Democratic areas anymore. It’s about two Americas. I like how the columnist Terry Mattingly puts it, ‘This election was Hollywood vs. Nashville, “Sex in the City” vs. “Touched by an Angel,” National Public Radio vs. talk radio, “Doonesbury” vs. “B.C.”, “Hotel California” vs. “The Okie From Muskogee.” It was The New York Times vs. National Review Online, Dan Rather vs. Rush Limbaugh, Rosie O’Donnell vs. Dr. Laura, Barbra Streisand vs. Dr. James Dobson, the Supreme Court vs., well, the Supreme Court.’

I live in a very very “red” county, and sometimes it drives me nuts having to listen to the “red” apologists assert their moral and ideological superiority over anyone who might have a different idea. If I lived in a “blue” county I’d probably find their dogmatism just as offensive (well no, I would probably just find it mildly annoying). I’m not a centrist by any means. I’m a Green Party member for crying out loud. I just can’t stand how both red and blue believe that if you buy any one part of their ideology, you have to commit to everything else (why can’t there be purple? or even green!).

However the one thing I’d like to see is a Red v. Blue fantasy league. Just like rotisserie baseball, one could collect the stats of blue counties and red counties and then compare who came out ahead. It would be interesting to see which ideology actually produces the best results. One could track a wide variety of stats like crime, gdp, median income, homelessness, education, etc. Just like other fantasy leagues, the results would be scientifically useless, because it wouldn’t be a true apples to apples comparison. It would be too difficult to make a scientifically valid study, but it would be interesting eh? What metrics should be used, and would it be feasible to do?

At every party there’s always “that guy.” You know the one. The guy who knows everything about everything. The guy who won’t shut-up, won’t go away, and doesn’t know when to be embarassed of his faux pas. Well Michael Moore is “that guy”, and this time he’s really done it. Well the anti-Bush crowd has raised a hallelujah as Moore plays for the choir. Well I’m in the anti-Bush crowd and I’m nervously staring at my feet trying to hide in a crack in the floor as Moore makes an ass out of himself again. Moore wanted to create an anthem the anti-Bush folks could rally around, but what I’m afraid of is that all the anti-Bush arguments will be iconified by Fahrenheit 911. The critics and the fact-checking is going to start and Moore is going to look bad. Meanwhile the Bush campaign is going to get a lot of sympathy votes from people who see F911 as a cheap character assasination.

There are a lot of good reasons not to vote Bush this year, and I doubt many of them will be covered in F911. I think there are good reasons that even a pro-war conservative would have to acknowledge have merit: like the colossal national debt, our crippled international relations, and the lack of progress in creating any kind of decent security infracture in the US. However Moore’s documentary will only further polarize the U.S. and make reasonable people go insane with rage. I doubt he’ll make any converts and he’ll undermine the Bush opposition’s credibility. I resent being lumped in the same category as Moore, just like I hate being lumped with Pat Robertson just because I’m Christian.

Will I see F911, yeah I will… hopefully at a matinee so Moore doesn’t make too much off of me. It still makes me feel weird just like Passion of the Christ-mania made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I’m just not a good team-player when it comes to defending ideologies.

Well Moore will laugh all the way to the bank with his latest diatribe, and he can hang with Mel Gibson in the VIP lounge of millionaires disguised as selfless defenders of the faith. What the nation needs is not an F911. We don’t need more gasoline on the partisan fires. What we need is a new vision and direction for the nation that will bring the left and right together. This is something the Kerry campaign has been woefully short in supply. The old ideas of both the left and the right have failed us. What we need is someone proffering new solutions. That would be something I’d gladly pay to see.

The 91st Tour De France starts soon, and I’m already on the edge of my seat. Last year’s tour was amazing and nail-biting, almost as exciting as LeMond’s ‘89 win. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on Lance to be the first 6 time champion. Last year Lance had a string of close misses and disasters which almost forced him out. However Lance didn’t have any real competition. This year is going to be completely different. The competition is very strong. Jan Ullrich is usually overweight and undermotivated to be a serious contestant, but he seems to be in top form with his Tour De Suisse victory. Iban Mayo also looks like serious competition after crushing Lance in the Ventoux time trial at the Dauphine Libere. However the Tour De France is much longer and harder than any these early tours. Mayo and Ullrich are good riders but the moxy required to beat Lance aren’t there. In fact there’s only one rider I think that can and might beat Lance… Tyler Hamilton. You heard it here first. Of course I could be completely wrong. I wish Lance the best, and like the Smarty Jones phenomenon, everyone would like to see Lance win, but I don’t think he will. The odds and the competition are too much.

Other things I’d like to see: I think the points jersey will be equally as heated as last year and maybe more interesting than the GC. The aussies Baden Cooke, Stuart O’Grady, and Robbie McEwan could potentially put on a great points battle.

I love my Nokia 6800. It is a tried and true workhorse. I’ve had all sorts of phones and pdas, and the 6800 is my favorite, most-used, organizer-thingy i have ever used. I was originally a palm enthusiast dating back to the original pilot. Then I got a palm III, and then a Zaurus SL-5500 (which I regret at great cost). The zaurus taught me that great specs do not make a great pda. Sure the zaurus had sharp hi res graphics and could run samba and apache, but at the end of the day it couldn’t give me a decent calendar and addressbook. In fact the more stuff a pda boasts, the more it slows me down. The 6800 is downright stone age in it’s technological advancement, but its simplicity means it gets used often. Since it’s my phone, i carry it with me all the time and the thumboard allows me to quickly put in appointments, bangout text messages, and add contacts on the fly. The zaurus was a small brick and complex to use, so it would often sit at home for days at a time. My boss’s Toshiba pocket PC is suffering a similar fate in its cradle as it waits fully charged to be used one day.

So if my 6800 is so great why a new device? Well the 6800 doesn’t sync to anything which makes me nervous if I ever lose or break it. Plus it would be nice to use some sort of desktop software like evolution or isync to add data to it and check my schedule during the day. The 6800 has taught me what I need the most in an organizer:

• It has to be lightweight and fit in a pocket, the zaurus was too big, most PocketPC’s are too big for me too.
• It has to be a phone, I rarely leave the house without my phone, so having an organizer in the phone guarantees it’s always with me.
• It has to have a thumboard. I’m seriously addicted to thumboards, they work well, and I can type 80% as fast as a normal keyboard. I don’t even miss using a stylus or gui with the 6800. Menu based interfaces still rock if designed well.

So what would I like that the 6800 doesn’t have… Well bluetooth would be nice but not necessary. Some connectivity to a PC is a must though. I would also like a checkbook app. When I had a checkbook for my palm, I always had a balanced checkbook. A camera is a nice bonus, and most phones have a camera now. Both the 6820 and the treo 600 have what I need. The question is which is better. The 6820 is $150 less, but the treo has an SD slot and all the palm apps available; plus it syncs with Mac’s iSync which the 6820 does not. So you decide!

I tend to be a bit bike obsessed, so of course I couldn’t make it through London without visiting one bike shop. Londoners have practical bikes due to the weather. Most bikes I saw were equiped with mudguards and wider than typical tires. I think more people ride bikes in London per capita than in US cities. However this is just anectdotal, I don’t know this for sure. The bike I really liked and saw plenty were Bromptons. These are pretty much the standard when it comes to folding bikes. I really liked the clever design and a lot of issues I have with the bikes I have are addressed by folders. Folding bikes have long been used for mixed mode commuting. I like the fact that I could take the bike with me on the train, on a bus, or in a car trunk. It would give me the opportunity to ride more often by having a bike available all the time. Currently I’m looking at the Giant Halfway or the Breezer I3. The Brompton is cool but too expensive. I like the Breezer because I think Joe Breezer is an awesome guy, a great idealist, and a modern hero. However the Halfway is really cool looking. Truth is I don’t have the space or money for another bike, so I don’t have to decide.

Well just got back from London, what a great city. However I’m a bit exhausted just like Cerys croons about. When I travel I like to see the sites etc. but the most important thing for me is eating. My favorite London place to eat is Wagamama. As usual it did not disappoint. However this year I was lucky enough to discover a new eatery just as good, Giraffe. It’s hard to describe what Giraffe is like but their cuisine is creative but unpretentious. I had grilled halloumi pot stickers with a chili dipping sauce and sweet and sour wok-fired edamame. It was simple yet exotic non-traditional comfort food. The staff were great and really friendly, and the atmosphere reflected the food - funky yet familiar.