The WikiReader is a funky Hitch-Hikers Guide style gadget that gives you Wikipedia in your pocket. I love the form, the touchscreen, the low power consumption, the low price and that it uses a MicroSD card. You can subscribe to bi-annual updates and they will post you the cards, or you can download the (4GBs of) data yourself.

     

Click here to download:

WikiReader_tag_brainfart_gadge.zip (179 KB)

Mark Shuttleworth has kicked up a bit of a storm by apparently saying that Linux was "hard to explain to girls". There is an open letter post about this on the Geek Feminism Blog, followed by a hell of a lot of comments on the subject. It seems to boil down to 'he didn't really mean it like that', 'it's not okay to say that kind of thing, even if you didn't mean it like that' and 'has anyone seen this video or a transcript anyway?'

Anyway, I've made a little graphic that Ubuntu could use for their 11.10 release if they wanted to tackle this issue. :)

(Please note this was produced with a high level of sarcasm and irony. If you are offended, please look up those words before commenting!)

I did a bit more work this week, but not as much as I would like. The PSD is in a bit of a state at the moment, so I've cut out some details to show off, including some application windows.

Note the terminal tab at the bottom, so Linux power-geeks can change the desktop to something that lets them really get under the hood!

I've also allocated a little space that Google could use to display ads - I need two more, so leave suggestions in the comments. Winning suggestions will be used. :D

More next week. Enjoy.

     

Click here to download:

More_on_the_GoogOS_GUI_tag_goo.zip (303 KB)

Last night I stumbled across this Photoshop mockup I have 2/3rds completed of a potential GUI for a Google operating system. This was created before Android, Chrome and Wave existed (as far as anyone knew) and is based on nothing but my own thinking.

I rather like the look of it, so I'm going to finish it off over the next few lunchbreaks. You're welcome to share any thoughts you have on the subject in the comments. :)

There has been a bit of a Ninja-meme going on in the CrunchBang Linux Artwork forum. Richard Querin had the inspiration to turn the #! logo into a cartoon Ninja. He later went on to refine the design.

You can see my take above (and find an earlier version on the forums). I used a somewhat modified version of the free Osaka font.

EDIT: You can download this wallpaper, including the source SVG at http://drop.io/crunchbang - along with a few other goodies.

On and off for the last week I have been experimenting for pretty much the first time with some icon designs for an Openbox logout script being written by Nik_Doof for #! CrunchBang Linux.

I've attached a screenshot below of the 0.1 release in action, as well as some alternative icons. I plan to revamp the icons: I'm going to try a set making better use of PNG transparency, and also provide a smaller size (64x64?). Of course, I'll also make the SVGs available in due course.

Any feedback is welcome!

   

Click here to download:

Openbox_logout_icons_tag_crunc.zip (259 KB)

I've spent this evening working on a cartoon penguin in Inkscape. I'll release this with a liberal Creative Commons licence and as an SVG when I'm sure I'm happy with it. I've also attached my work in progress for those who may be curious. Any constructive criticism is welcomed. :)

   

Click here to download:

Penguin_cartoon_tag_linux_desi.zip (64 KB)

As I've mentioned here before, Ubuntu Eee, the first OS that I installed on my then-new Asus Eee PC, is having to rebrand itself so it no longer mimics the Ubuntu identity. They kicked off a competition to design a logo and win a snazzy netbook, and now the submissions are all in.

I hope they have the good taste to pick one of the more polished and original concepts. It's obvious which entries are good and which are bad, but some have more subtle problems. For example, many of the logos incorperate a tiny 'e', which instantly makes me think of Internet Explorer - not a positive association! There are others which are quite appealing, but fall very much into web 2.0 cliches, with rounded corners, a glossy plastic sheen and vivid colours.

Many others play with variations on the Ubuntu logo and/or lemons. Some of these are quite clever, but if it's too obvious it seems inappropriate.

I've picked a few of my favourites below:

Today a discussion on the CrunchBang Linux forums started me off exploring the fascinating world of interactive fiction.

Initially I just wanted to get a local copy of the Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy text adventure up and running. The download is a ZIP containing a .z3 file. All I needed was Frotz (or another interpreter) and I was up and running. But my investigation had piqued my interest. How do they make these games? Must be easy, right?

Wikipedia lists a few development systems, and I really liked the look of Inform7. The website seemed very up to date and full of good information. Also there were .deb files available, which usually makes installation a complete breeze. Finally, I found a good tutorial on the Linux Journal website (pt1, pt2) which would walk me through the installation and then give me basic tutorial. Sold!

Installation seemed to go smoothly, despite me using a more recent package than the tutorial. Then I launched gnome-inform7, and was greeted by the intro dialog, inviting me to start a new project, reopen the last one, or open an existing one. I optimistically clicked on 'Start a new project', the dialog vanished and...

...Nothing. Bugger.

Turning to The Google soon turned up a bug that seems to be the same, but the 'fix' was to change a line of code in a file that doesn't seem to be on my machine. The other 'solution' seems to be to compile from a later version myself. Of course, it is assumed one should know how to do this. Some more Googling convinces me that I'm in over my head.

I guess my point, if I have one, is that I feel this stuff should be easier. Do I need to be the kind of person who wants to solve this kind of technical problem, constantly, to use Linux succesfully? Because I'd rather have spent the last few hours working on my first interactive masterpiece. Or watching telly.

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Still, at least I discovered the excellent Slingshot!

Just a quick screenshot of my new desktop. I have just installed #!CrunchBang Linux on my Eee PC, in place of Ubuntu Eee. (which is going to be re-branded as 'Easy Peasy', incidentally!).

Branding issues aside, I felt that the netbook remix interface was a little limiting, and I want to try a 'proper' distro on my Eee. I was going to try Ubuntu, or my old friend Linux Mint, but instead discovered #!CrunchBang. I was a little uneasy choosing a distro that makes absolutely no claims to be easy and noob-friendly, but I ended up having no real problems at all.

This picture shows my current desktop. I want to learn the shortcuts, so I made the wallpaper as a memory aid.