Heavy Geeking

Lots of things to talk about here... As previously posted, I downloaded Ubuntu 9.04 and wubi installed within Windows. I played and enjoyed Ubuntu heavily the last few days. Anyway, I decided to download Xubuntu (Ubuntu's less-processor-intense little brother) and killed the Ubuntu install to try Xubuntu - and borked my boot sequence. Took me about a few hours of playing to get my laptop popping the Vista again, and I luckily managed to maintain my install - I DID NOT HAVE TO "RECOVER"! Lost the Ubuntu/Xubuntu, though. I'd do it again (and probably will). :)

I also tried to USBuntu a bootable USB Ubuntu install on the 2 gig USB Flash Drive. Kinda flaky, so I went and redid my geek.menu version of Portable Apps. Rocking the Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 (download the 3.5 Beta 3 and then "upgrade". Also have Editpad (it has a built-in "make me portable" thing!), Abi Word, VLC Media Player, and Gimp with a few plugins to make it "windowed" and the menu setup sort of like Photoshop (all available from the Portable Apps site). A little buggy, but I tweaked the pic of Homie that is with this post from within, so not that bad, I guess.

Also, mowed the grass today. It was cool out this AM, so it seemed like the thing to do.

Playing with Ubuntu 9.04

I downloaded the latest and greatest Ubuntu today and wubi installed to the laptop on the D partition. In effect, I am dual booting the Linux and the Vista. So far so good... the wifi recognized without a problem, as did the sound and video. So far, a good solid install! The fan runs continuously, though. So far no problems, but keeping an eye on it.

The Grundig S350DL

Well - I finally decided that I was bigger into AM/FM that also does shortwave than shortwave that also does AM/FM. This thing sounds AWESOME and picks up much more than every other radio in the house!

Some info:

Found a thread on Google Groups - rec.radio.shortwave - $100 Beginner 'portable' Radio for Shortwave Listening (SWL) or AM/MW Broadcast Listening where this radio was featured in the discussion. It also has it's own Yahoo! Group - The Grundig S350 Group. From the site:

===>>SNIP

The Grundig S350 and new Eton S350 DL are the everyday common man's "Volks-DXing-Radio". A low cost AM-FM-SW Radio with Good Sound for: the bedside, kitchen or work shop; a sports radio at work and in the office; or portable for On-the-Go Radio Enjoyment...

===>>END SNIP

Also found a mondo ripping huge thread on shortwave listening - The Something Awful Forums - Achtung! Its the one and only Shortwave Radio Uberthread!. Has MUCH info (the thing is like, 70 pages long) and some adult language.

Oh - and I have already heard my first Numbers Station!

Feeling good so far...

Down on the Farm...

This is my farm. Broke ground yesterday and now we have planted BOTH tomato plants and have the cages ready to go. Hopefully, we will have a bountiful harvest. Still deciding on if I want to go back and snag a few pepper plants, as well.

Went to the Radio Shack in town today and looked into getting the Grundig S350DL, but they didn't have one. The guy wanted to order me one, but it's kind of hard to make an impulse buy if you order it. Still bopping back and forth between the aforementioned S350DL or the Grundig G6 Aviator Buzz Aldrin Model, which the Shack actually had in stock. I am enjoying my Grundig Mini 300 - it is a great portable radio and got me into wanting just a few more features (the Mini 300 doesn't have as many bands as the other two).

Only have two fish left in the 10 gallon tank. When they go, I'll clean the tank out and freecycle it or whatever. It was fun, but now it's more of a chore.

Buffy

Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer are up on Hulu! Check out one of my favorites - Buffy - Season 3 Episode 16 - Doppelgangland.

Stream this...

As I write this I am listening to a self-created Pandora Radio Station - The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn Radio on my iPod Touch via the Pandora App. Sometimes I listen on the computer, too. I guess this post is going to lament on my reluctance to depend on the internet for my entertainment. I have posted about my recent purchase of a AM/FM/SW radio and have looked into broadcast digital TV. I guess the cheap somebody in me likes the idea of not paying somebody for entertainment. On air radio and TV cost me nothing to enjoy. BUT - you get what others are willing to provide you. And you usually have to listen to words from the programming sponsor. Still, it is usually a fair trade-off.

Enter the internet age - I can watch many, many shows on Hulu, or Fancast (and many others). I can do tunes with Pandora, or Shoutcast (both have iPod Touch/iPhone apps) or any number of other services... And they all require an internet connection.

As a compromise, I started to search around for a good USB stick type device that would act as a radio and digital TV tuning device, using my laptop as an output device. Many TV/FM sticks (some with remotes) out there. Maybe I'll get one.

Speaking of all that - I have also been looking at high-end shortwave equipment - MAN! One of the coolest things to me about the first Bourne movie was looking at the radio gear setup at the Treadstone Safehouse... SWEET!

Space, Games, and Reads

NASA had a contest to name the new section of the International Space Station and the term "Colbert" won. Except Nasa is not wanting to name the section "Colbert". I voted for it... Just wanted to see if democracy will win. The democratic process reflects the will of those that participate.

Catching up on The Colbert Report and The Daily Show on Hulu. Life is good!

Plenty of wind here today. Kinda sucks, actually.

Saw a Nintendo DSi in the wild today. Well... actually a box that supposedly had one in it. No display or any kind of fanfare involved - so far. Hmmm... Not looking into getting one, as of now, but still, kinda cool.

Chimichunga's seem to be bigger burrito's. Zapping some Chikin and Beef ones now. Wish I had sour cream to make them even more unhealthy.

Started reading a book by Max Tucker (NSFW) which was a juvenile romp of an alcoholic cretin. Enjoying immensely - very funny, but kinda adult.

Radio Radio

Many moons ago I discovered Howard Stern while flipping through the channels on the radio in my '75 Toyota Corolla. AM Radio. Hmmm... During my stint in our Armed Forces I had the opportunity to work on a Ratt Rig - an AM Radio Transmitter/Receiver that consisted of the ancient AN/GRC-106, a huge radio with two parts to it. It could transmit for thousands of miles, and for a short time I was involved in the MARS Messaging Network. Very cool stuff!

Anyway, I have always enjoyed listening to different radio programs. While in Europe and the Middle East in the late 80's and early 90's I had a chance to listen to world band transmissions and enjoyed.

Awhile back, I was at the crap store and came into a very inexpensive ($3) crank emergency radio - it had AM/FM/SW and, notably, Arabic writing on the front. I saw a documentary later that those radios were given to people in Afghanistan. Cool... but it didn't work all that well. I still have it, and will use it if I need to in a power outage or whatnot.

Anyway, I have been looking at AM/FM/SW radios on Amazon for a very long time now... I knew I'd eventually get one, but was torn between three models - the Grundig Mini300 (pictured above), the Grundig G-6 Aviator Buzz Aldrin Model, or the Grundig S350 Deluxe

Well, I finally nailed the Grundig Mini 300. It was $30 - the other two were closer to the $100 mark. I figure that if I truly get into it, I could get a better radio later... although I am now three hours in and am enjoying the radio immensely. It picks up way better than any radio I have owned. The thing is fairly small, has easy to use controls, can listen to 7 SW bands, AM (Medium wave) and FM. It is somewhat solidly built - with a rubber'ish coating on the outside, and it came with a belt pouch thing that lets you strap it to your belt and a set of earbuds. Very cool!