Google SketchUp 8 for Linux - get your fix here...

My nephew Mason told me he was having issues running SketchUp 8 on Linux... I replied "They support it on Linux now? Seriously?". I have to try this...

I grabbed Google SketchUp 8 from the download site, saw that it runs in wine, and proceeded to run the install. Like Mason, I got the following error:

SketchUp was unable to initialize OpenGL!
Please make sure you have installed the correct
drivers for your graphics card
Error: ChoosePixelFormat failed


I found the solution in the Ubuntu forums. SketchUp defaults to setting a HW_OK registry key to 0, but wine really cannot probe the OpenGL subsystem to query if OpenGL is installed... The solution? Set the value to a "1" and SketchUp will skip the hardware check... The file you want to modify is user.reg in your .wine subdirectory [$HOME/.wine/user.reg]

[Software\\Google\\SketchUp8\\GLConfig\\Display] 1290153021
"FIRST_TIME"=dword:00000000
"HW_OK"=dword:00000001
[change 00000000 to 00000001]

SketchUp fired up great on the next try. This is going to be soooo cool.
;-]

Official Google Blog: The goats are baaaahk!

Ok, the gang at Google are truly geeks. Who else would solve a lawn mowing problem by hiring a bunch of goats? Don't know whether to laugh, or be impressed. Methinks I do both...

Official Google Blog: The goats are baaaahk!

Official Google Docs Blog: A new Google Docs

Christmas already? Google announces lots of improvements to Google Docs, making them faster and adding in a collaborative drawing tool. How cool is that going to be? I'll try it today. Collaborative flow charts and diagrams? This could get fun.

Official Google Docs Blog: A new Google Docs

Whats New Official MySpace Profile

First they add @myspace.com email beta, and now they update a bunch of sharing options. I need to start talking to family with myspace more... I am friggin' hatin' facebook these days... fb guys, make up your minds on the privacy stuff already... sheesh! ;-]

Whats New Official MySpace Profile

KEXP 90.3 FM - where the music matters

Going on right now... "The Death and Life of American Journalism:"

http://kexp-mp3-2.cac.washington.edu:8000/listen.pls

KEXP 90.3 FM - where the music matters

Now in Production: The First Google Android Car

Now in Production: The First Google Android Car

I bet you cannot buy a car equipped with an iPhone... How cool is this? From the article:

"The 2.1 version of Google Android — the same that Google used in the Nexus One and Motorola Droid — is installed on the vehicle’s GPS computer. You can use the computer for directions and traffic reports just as you can with many other GPS devices."

[hat/tip -> Alice Grey for the link... ;-]
--egrep

Alternative Radio : Vandana Shiva : Shakti: Feminine Power for Change

Alternative Radio : Vandana Shiva : Shakti: Feminine Power for Change

kexp.org is broadcasting the March 16th Alternative Radio show. This is a continuation of the "Soil vs Oil" battle being waged around the world. She speaks of how women can get behind it.

Plug this stream url into your media player for the live broadcast of this talk.

http://kexp-mp3-2.cac.washington.edu:8000/listen.pls

--egrep

Michael Moore: The Green They Steal, the Greed They Wear ...a St. Patrick's Day Lamentation

Michael Moore: The Green They Steal, the Greed They Wear ...a St. Patrick's Day Lamentation

What else is there to say? Michael Moore says it all... ;-]

hat/tip -> Michael!

Press Release: KEXP SXSW Live Broadcast Starts Today! Freelance Whales, Spoon, Best Coast and more!

113 Dexter Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
Contact: Rachel Ratner
Rachel@kexp.org
For Immediate Release

KEXP Announces Live Broadcast from Gibson Musical Instruments during SXSW
Broadcast includes live performances from 16 bands over 3 days.

KEXP (90.3 FM Seattle and KEXP.ORG) are broadcasting live from Gibson Musical Instruments in Austin, TX during the SXSW Music Festival. KEXP DJs, Cheryl Waters and Kevin Cole will broadcast sixteen live musical performances by Freelance Whales, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Best Coast, Choir of Young Believers, and more March 17-19, 11am-8pm CT. ME Television will be onsite, filming all day Friday, March 19th. The performances will air on Warner Cable systems Channel 15 / Digital 577 in the greater Austin Area.

KEXP is also featuring performances from the Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit and Capsula at KEXP’s SXSW Day Stage, as well as live performances by Spoon, Broken Bells, Visqueen and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings in partnership with NPRs SXSW Showcase at Stubb’s.

“KEXP will be able to connect more people to exclusive SXSW content than ever before” says KEXP’s Senior Director of Programming, Kevin Cole. “In addition to the live broadcast and performances, music lovers will be able to experience more of SXSW through our daily live performance podcast, blog features, and video streams.

KEXP’s Austin Broadcast builds on KEXP’s core mission of public service by bringing artists and musicians together with listeners for a tangible and memorable experience. KEXP has been taking live broadcasts on the road to cities including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, and Austin for the past eight years. This will be KEXP’s fifth year broadcasting live from Austin, TX during SXSW.

These broadcasts and live performances are free and open for the public to attend. For more details and information on how to be a part of the studio audience, visit KEXP.ORG.

Here’s the Line-up:

KEXP SXSW - LIVE BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 17th (Austin time)
11:30am Fanfarlo
1:30pm The Middle East
3:30pm Best Coast
5:30pm The Crayon Fields
7:30pm Title Tracks

Thursday, March 18th (Austin time)
11:30am JEFF the Brotherhood
1:30pm Quasi
3:30pm Choc Quib Town
5:30pm Choir of Young Believers
7:30pm The Very Best

Friday, March 19th (Austin time)
Noon Ozomatli
2pm Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
4pm Freelance Whales

LOCATION:

Gibson Musical Instruments
3601 S. Congress Avenue
Suite G-400
Austin, TX 78704
512.692.4191
Show on Map

For more information, interviews, and questions regarding KEXP’s Austin Broadcast, email Rachel Ratner, Communications and Outreach Manager, at rachel@kexp.org. And, as always, discover music at www.kexp.org.

Made possible, in part, by Microsoft Silverlight, DTS, and Gibson.

About KEXP Public Radio
KEXP is an influential, non-commercial radio station based in Seattle and supported through financial contributions from listeners worldwide. Over the last three decades, KEXP has built a reputation as a purveyor of new and emerging artists and musical forms. Today, KEXP programs a rare mix of music spanning multiple genres and brings listeners more than 400 live, in-studio performances each year.

KEXP enriches the lives of our listeners by championing music and discovery. Listeners enjoy KEXP at 90.3 FM in Seattle and around the world at KEXP.org.

The station is governed by the Friends of KEXP, anon-profit organization operating the station on behalf of the University of Washington, which holds the FCC license. A partnership with EMP provides facility support and programming collaboration. The University of Washington’s information technology group provides KEXP with the development and application of streaming services, technical expertise, development of streaming applications and other relevant technology to extend the music experience

About ME Television Studios
The ME TELEVISION network launched October 1, 2005 and offers audiences immediate access to the regional music scene and entertainment information. ME’s initial cable distribution partnership with Time Warner Cable allows expanded coverage beyond the city limits of Austin to the 40 surrounding cites in Central Texas. The network establishes a significant platform of regional exposure for professional musicians and new artists.

--end release

Too friggin' cool... way to go kexp! hat/tip 

--egrep

Official Google Blog: The Internet in America: A YouTube Interview with the FCC

Ok peeps... You want Internet/Wireless/Mobile reform, speak up now! Vote on or submit your questions to FCC Chairman Genachowski for the CitizenTube interview on Tuesday, March 16th. You have until Sunday the 14th to submit your videos or questions.

Official Google Blog: The Internet in America: A YouTube Interview with the FCC

Behold...Disney World's TRON-O-RAIL!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Ok, I will admit it... I too am a tronite [or whatever you want to call us...] This is one of the best ideas I have seen come out of WDW in a while. Very shiny! ;-]

Behold...Disney World's TRON-O-RAIL!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Marvell’s New Armada Might Bring Both HD And Gaming On Netbooks, Bye Bye Atom? | NetBook Expert

Marvell’s New Armada Might Bring Both HD And Gaming On Netbooks, Bye Bye Atom? | NetBook Expert

I have been using the Marvell Sheevaplug plug computer ans wished it had a graphics head on it. This takes low power/high performance to the next level. People I have met on Buzz mention gaming all the time. How 'bout gaming and HD video at the same time on two different monitors?

I have died and gone to heaven... The Marvell chips rock. Had no idea they were shooting for the mobile/palmbook market. This is sweet!

Official Google Blog: Over 4,000 developers at Google I/O 2010

/egrep is doin' a little jig around the front porch... I got my confirmation last week... Whoot! Anyone know some good couch surfer sites near Moscone West? Going to be out of money by the time I hit SF... ;-]

Official Google Blog: Over 4,000 developers at Google I/O 2010

Official Google Blog: Google welcomes Picnik

This is way too cool. I always wondered why Google had not moved forward as much as I wanted on Picasa, especially on Linux. I have used some online web based editors and many offer more features than Picasa and other "photo editing" programs.

I wondered if my Gmail user/pass would work to log in, but the site does not even require registration, just reads photos off your cloud storage site, or you can upload from your computer. Sweet. Free. I like free ;-] --egrep

Official Google Blog: Google welcomes Picnik

Multi-factor Authentication and the Cloud - ReadWriteCloud

Great section on temporary password recovery typically being an inbox. Bottom line, make sure your passwords for all your major accounts differ from each other...

If they are the same, having one account compromised means you are owned. Completely. [egrep quickly does inventory to make sure his own password usage complies ;-]

Multi-factor Authentication and the Cloud - ReadWriteCloud

NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

For those that would like a great site to check tsunami status as updates are posted, try this site. Looks like all warnings have been cancelled or the events have passed.

NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

Official Google Blog: A meeting of the minds: Google's 2010 EMEA Faculty Summit

See, now that's the way to help with education... create events like this populated by the best and working with one goal in mind... hat tip -> Google and Open Source...

Official Google Blog: A meeting of the minds: Google's 2010 EMEA Faculty Summit

Living on the command line - the road to ChromiumOS Flow

[or... why sleeping only 21 hours over a 96+ hour marathon software launch is not a good idea, but boy, is it fun! ;-]


I wanted Google's ChromiumOS to play with because it was new, different, and because I believed in it. Here was an operating system for a pc type device that is designed to be an internet tool. Not a cell phone, not for use on a full powered pc, with local storage, large displays, and lots of power user programs. It is designed to be used to connect you to the things you do online. On the go, mobile like you are. From a lightweight desktop at home, down to a netbook or tablet, this little operating system does everything you need, runs on inexpensive devices that run for hours, and guess what? It's free ;-] The core kernel of ChromiumOS was open sourced to the global community to build systems out of by Google in November 2009. I like free...

Best way to find out how something works is to take it for a test drive, so I started searching the net for versions I could test [I had heard people were close] and found a few. The couple I tried first were not quite ready to actually test, but I heard one was, so I grabbed a copy of ChromiumOS Zero http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/, Hexxeh's  most recent version, and started testing.  Zero was written by a young developer known to the open source community as Hexxeh. [pronounced heck-see] I downloaded Zero, burned it to some usb sticks and started testing various laptops and netbooks. ChromiumOS Zero worked on over 90% of the devices I tested it on. Impressive... 

"Worked" means I was able to boot the device running ChromiumOS Zero, log in and connect to the net. Authenticate would be a better term to use. When you boot up ChromiumOS, the default login screen uses your Gmail credentials to log you into your gmail account. Yes, your account. Not just bring up a web browser but log you into your "home" directory of your google apps. Gmail. Google Talk. Google Docs, all of your Google apps are just an icon click away. Need to upload that video you just shot to YouTube? to Picasaweb? Lots of apps, both Google's and the others were there in in Zero. Welcome the Cloud people... wow. Many new apps and features/bug fixes were promised for the next version, Flow, but by now, I did not want to wait, I had hardware that was failing tests, I know stuff like this and how to hack at it until you break it or finally get it working, so I did what any open source person would do, I proceeded to go hang out where the development was going on and check things out.

Made a pest of myself is more like it... ;-] The key is pushing hard enough to get "in", but not too hard, so I used my instigator's skills to make it easier to give in than to fight me anymore [what a pest I was... ;-] and ended up helping with all kinds of things leading to the release on Feb 14th. By Friday night it became clear that a lot of people, from all around the world were interested not only in ChromiumOS Flow, but in just how the heck a 17 yr old college kid was managing to not only produce a bootable ChromiumOS image, but that he was doing it at a higher quality level and sooner than anyone else. [that I know of...] Very impressive...

Hexxeh announced a release date of Feb 12th, 2010 [Dude!!! never commit to a date! "the week of" is good enough... ;-] ChromiumOS Flow shipped on Feb 14th, 2010 after many bug fixes, reflows, apt-gets and emerges, peaking with a loud groan of agony when a certain "upstream change" nearly sunk Hexxeh on Saturday [what were they thinking?!?!?! emerge? are you kidding me? the day Hexxeh was supposed to launch? Arrggghhhh!!!! ;-] He found a way around that problem... magic.

I hear ChromiumOS Flow works well, really well. It does on all my hardware. I really hope a lot of people download it and take it for a spin. To make it so it can update itself via the net, Hexxeh had to increase the size from a 1GB usb stick to a 2GB stick. Small price to pay. You download the compressed image [327MB] from http://chromeos.hexxeh.net and follow the simple instructions. Unzip the image. Copy the image to the usb stick. Insert the usb stick into a pc that can boot off a usb drive, and log onto the net. Best way to start for the first time is to have the pc plugged into a lan connection. If you only have wireless access, all is not lost, there is a local account you can use to log in locally because you have to configure the wireless with router passwords from the GUI. Hexxeh promises a fix for this soon.

I am not the best reviewer of applications, but from a hardware support point of view, Hexxeh has everything I had to test with covered except Intel's GMA500 Poulsbo graphics chipset. Shame on you Intel... No open source drivers for the GMA500? tsk, tsk... Hexxeh says he will get it working... ;-] Here is some of what I tested:

• eee pc 1000H 10" netbook - had some wireless issues up until the last beta test. Whoot! pass
• Acer Aspire KAV10 10" netbook - perfect
• Acer Aspire Revo R1600 nettop w/nVidia ION 3d graphics - hdmi out to a 1920x1080 TV. stunning. perfect.
• AMD X2 64bit cpu w/ATI 3d graphics - perfect but needs driver work... ATI? hello?
• Acer Aspire ZA3 11" LED netbook - works fine, but the graphics performance... Intel... GMA500? remember? grrr... [I have 3 of them... ;-]
• HP mini 1000 - has a 3g wireless card issue that Hexxeh could not solve that night. All is not lost... Auto updater, remember? Fix might be out any day...

For a full hardware compatibility list, check the wiki: http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/wiki/doku.php

The really cool thing you can do with Hexxeh's ChromiumOS Flow is to use it as a safe way for kids to surf the net. When your child wants to get online, plug a ChromiumOS Flow usb stick into your normal home pc, and it boots into chrome. Your child logs into gmail, and is protected by all the parental control tools you have with children's Gmail accounts. See: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=69797 for more information. Another great feature is that when running off the usb like this, nothing ChromiumOS encounters on the net can harm your pc or it's data. Safe. I like safe. Perfect for people that really do not know how to use PCs well, and I bet it is pretty hard to infect with viruses [virii?]. Of course it's safe, it's Linux.

What also surprised me during my entire stay with the team was the number of people who were clamoring to learn how to do what Hexxeh was doing, or how they can learn about Linux, most of them kids. Really eager kids. Lots.

I have been in the open source online community since 1996. I played multi-player games [Marathon!] with co-workers at Disney Online after hours a lot. In '95 a co-worker brought in 8 floppies, looked at me and said "wait 'til I load this..." Quake I. Wow. As soon as Quake 2 got me on the internet to game for the first time, I knew I had to run my own server. What? Linux on a pc? Already? Sweet. Install it in text mode, and never leave the command line. That's where the open source world lives... on the command line...

The world I live in and work in has desktops with GUI's for doing email, docs, communication and tools. They are also home PCs full of all of our entertainment and fun stuff. The servers that a really big chunk of the internet runs on are in cool dark datacenters, usually a long way from any user that needs to do any interaction with, and processing even the data to maintain a graphical interface with that user is not a good use of the server's processing power. You access these computers out on the 'net from a text window or "terminal" that you can run on almost anything. Text mode, command line.

What am I going to work on next? I'm going to hang out my shingle and teach, but in an online classroom, not so much at a college. How? That is one of the coolest things Google has given me... Everything I need to create a complete Linux instruction environment. I have gdocs, gmail, gtalk, and maybe someday I can video conference via Google Voice. Googlewave came in real handy tracking issues and status in real-time leading up to the launch of Flow. I supply a virtual Linux server the students can use to run their labs and research/practice on. Google gives me tools that 90% of the classrooms in the world do not have, and its online, where everyone can connect up, no matter where they are, no matter what timezone they are in. Remember, these are all collaborative tools. That means that everyone sees each others' changes in real-time, with changes saved every few seconds into the cloud. sweet! free! I like free ;-]

I teach for free, because 95% of what I have learned, I learned from others who wanted to share their knowledge. Can you make a living at this? Probably not, but if someone benefits from what they have learned, then maybe they will want to drop a contribution into the tip bucket for server&storage costs. It is the open source way ;-]

A lot of people in ##hexxeh over that 5 day period contributed a lot to this launch, but Hexxeh was the key to it's success. It was he that gave me the initial idea on teaching. No matter how busy he was, he would take time out to help each person that came in there with a good question, never losing patience, even when the usual response to his answer was "why?" You help out where you can, it is the open source way...

To the others there who helped [sometimes in unusual ways ;-] or shouted encouragement, a hat tip and a big thank you. You know who you are ;-]

--egrep