Rodrigo A. Sepúlveda Schulz

Do the right thing: donate for the Tsunami relief effort

Apple.com summarizes it well: click on the picture below.

Update on 1/1/05: My family has decided not to send any paper greeting card this year, and will donate the equivalent of our greeting card budget to Unicef. I hope you will do the same.

That time of year when you have to fix your mom's computer

Happens to me all the time: just because I have a computer science degree... it seems I have to fix all IT bugs, upgrades, migrations, etc. for everyone in the family, and the in-laws.

Ross, you're so right on track: "So when the holidays come around you spend time with your family doing In-law IT." He provides a quick list of advice on what to do. I completely agree on all of it, especially, get your mom on a Mac: either this 15" laptop, or this cheaper desktop iMac model.

And add a webcam so that she can talk to you, and show you what she's doing on her computer ;)

ps: Pix from a great site: ITmugs.com

Playlist: Peter Cincotti

World's best wine butler is 28

Enrico Bernardo is the new world's best butler: he is italian, 28 and oversses 60,000 bottles at the Cinq, the 3* restaurant at the George-V hotel in Paris. Read a portrait here (in French, or use your favourite translation tool).

ps: Google has a page on ways to help with the Tsunami relief.

amazon.fr needs a new leader - they suck

What's wrong with these guys at Amazon France ? I posted earlier this year that they cheat on prices: they do not include VAT (tax) on prices, whereas all others do, until you check out.
Look at what I got this morning in my spam inbox, from amazon.fr again: "deceived by your Christmas presents ? sell them on Amazon.fr!". OK I understand the business considerations, but dudes??? forgot your ethos over the weekend ?

(PS: thumb pix from here)

A screen copy of the spam email:

Another random prediction for 2005: Google buys Flickr

Well, it would make sense (via Jeremy). Probably Google should start Google M&A, modeled after GoogleLabs ? ;) (see my previous post on Google buying up Keyhole).

Unless SixApart gobbles up Flickr, and sells its equity to Yahoo? That would be a quick exit for Esthr and Joi ;) (did you see that weird spam comment on her post ?)

Anyways, I wrote a while ago about integrating Flickr and Typepad: cool service that you can easily use also on your mobile phone.

ps: Esther has one of the most comprehensive collection of pictures of swimming pools on her Flickr account! I'm guessing she swims every single day in the wee hours...

Ready to start flying over your house ? Try Keyhole!

Just discovered this little gem (via Wi-Fi toys): a piece of software + subscription-model service that allows you to view almost any location on earth in a graphical animation that makes you feel like Superman flying over your house. I'll be testing it later today. It didn't go unnoticed in the real world, as Google bought it for an undisclosed amount 2 months ago...

From their joint press release:

Google Acquires Keyhole Corp MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - October 27, 2004 - Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) today announced it acquired Keyhole Corp., a Mountain View, Calif.-based digital mapping company.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"With Keyhole, you can fly like a superhero from your computer at home to a street corner somewhere else in the world - or find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. "This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest. Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google's efforts to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

With an Internet connection, users enter an address or other location information and Keyhole's software accesses the database and takes them to a digital image of that location on their computer screen. The interactive software then gives users many options, including the ability to zoom in from space-level to street-level, tilt and rotate the view or search for other information such as hotels, parks, ATMs or subways. Unlike traditional mapping technologies, Keyhole creates a dynamic 3D interface for geographic information.

Keyhole's technology combines a multi-terabyte database of mapping information and images collected from satellites and airplanes with easy-to-use software.

Google also announced, effective immediately, a price reduction for Keyhole 2 LT from $69.95 to $29.95. Keyhole was founded in 2001.

Keyhole customers include consumers, large and small businesses and public agencies. Current Keyhole users will benefit from the expanded resources and operational scale made possible by the integration into Google. Their service will continue uninterrupted. For a free, seven-day trial of Keyhole, please go to www.keyhole.com.

Very interesting indeed. I use the map feature of French yellow pages all the time. New applications can be foreseen with this 3-D approach!

Jean-Michel Billaut mentionned another similar technology recently, from French company Pixelis. Demo here. Any VC has already invested in the guy ?

Update: for some real flying, check this video of a fighter plane (via Régis).

Update on 27/3/05: just discovered NASA World Wind, a programme that lets you "zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth. Leveraging Landsat satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data, World Wind lets you experience Earth terrain in visually rich 3D, just as if you were really there.
Virtually visit any place in the world. Look across the Andes, into the Grand Canyon, over the Alps, or along the African Sahara."

You can download the torrent here.

Using Wi-Fi in public places? Think again. Hard.

Wi-Fi technology has boomed tremendously over the past 2-3 years. It's convenient at home, very convenient in public places to grab your email or spend hostage time, convenient in the office if you have to go to conference rooms all the time. I've been tracking this space for quite some time: check my Wireless category for this blog, and also my new Wireless category in my blog roll (bottom left).

Doing it all the time ? Think again! A recent SecurityFocus report warns you again about the tools available out there for wireless communication interception (airsnort, weplab, aircrack, etc.).

I remember sitting in a VC conference about a year ago with Hervé Schauer in the room. A lady was trying to persuade me to use their new WLAN connectivity at the conference: I said no way if Hervé is in the room! I've known him for about 10 years, and it's not that I wouldn't trust him: it's just that I am sure he can crack into my PC, and intercept my emails in a matter of minutes: his firm does a lot of security consulting (I really recommend using them) and develops tools that are available for the general public...

Hence, I read today that Joi is going to the Chaos Computer Club conference... waow! way to go! He points to one of their posts on how to secure your box while at the conference (great humor: it's called 'How to Survive'...). My advice would be to leave the computer at home... There is no such thing as 100% security, and tempting the folks at a CCC reunion is probably a bit too much ;)

I talked a bit about the hacker culture and some books I recommend about it here.

10+2 things to do with a live Linux CD

I couldn't possibly have said it better:

Live Linux CDs are a simple concept with many possible uses. Here are 10 things you can do with a live Linux CD.

 

1. Try Linux without installing it

Knoppix is the "mother" of all live Linux CD's. It comes with 2 GBs of software making it the perfect distribution to try Linux with.

     

2. Use as a portable desktop

Slax fits on a small 8cm CD making it literally pocket sized and contains enough software to be useful for everyday use.

3. Maintain hard drive/recover data

SystemRescue CD includes a host of tools for maintaining a hard drive including a partition manager and resizing software and drive imaging software. SystemRescue CD can read a variety of file systems including Windows NTFS.

4. Install Linux

MEPIS Linux can be run from the CD to try it out and then installed from the running distribution in a very friendly environment.

5. Try Linux software

PCLinuxOS is similar to MEPIS in that it can be run and installed from the CD. It also includes some of the best Linux software available for you to try out.

6. Reset forgotten Windows passwords

Austrumi is a good little live CD distribution that includes a tool at boot that allows you to reset forgotten Windows passwords (including Administrator).

7. Build your own distribution

Damn Small Linux is a fantastic 50 MB distribution as is or that you can personalize with your own choice of software using the very easy to use myDSL system. 

8. Watch/listen to multimedia

Movix is a live distribution designed just for playing audio and video files from the internet, CD and DVD.

9. Play games

Morphix is a modular distribution that has a version just for playing games.

10. Scan safely for virus's

INSERT is the INside SEcurity Rescue Toolkit and includes an anti-virus package making it a great way to clean an infected computer.

This is a small selection of all the live Linux CDs, Frozentech has a comprehensive list.

(via OSnews via Tuxs.org)

OSnews also reports that you can run a Windows X Server from a liveCD:

XLiveCD is an X Server that runs off of a Live CD for Windows. Put the CD in the drive and the X server and an Xterm both autostart, allowing you to ssh into a machine and run X-forwarded applications. This is great for use in public labs where you may want to run those remote Linux apps and don't have an X server installed. Built with Cygwin and a few other packages. See the home page for downloads, or just grab the torrent here.

Slashdot argues that you can also play gazilllion games with a live CD. Here's the post:

Quiberon writes "A distribution of Knoppix loaded with games has a bootable CD with 700 MB of open-source games, 3d support for NVIDIA, ATI, and Intel Extreme, gamepad support for XWindows. uni-kl is University of Kaiserlautern, the first on the list for distributing SuSE fixes - they are good. Every kid should have one for Christmas morning."

Mandrake soft (linux distro) gets €3.05m for Xmas...

Gee... I missed this one. Too much involved in packing gifts and chlilling Sauternes bottles... And I do hang out with their accountants every now and then! Well, the folks at MandrakeSoft just raised some cash, just in time for Xmas (did you know that Jacques Le Marois, Co-founder & CEO of Mandrakesoft is not a too distant relative of my wife's ? Genealogy does help every now and then ;) Actually he is also the CEO of Geneanet, the company hosting my online family tree... small world.).
I blogged about their latest release 10.0 a couple of months ago.

Anyways, from their press release (via OSNews):

Moreno Valley, CA; Paris, France; December 22, 2004. Mandrakesoft closed a 3.05 million euros increase of capital via subscription for 508,333 new shares at 6 euros per share, an increase in shares of 10.58%. Shares outstanding are now 5,312,889. Independently, Mandrakesoft negotiated the retirement of 1.45 million euros of debt via one time cash payments totaling 0.51 million euros, or 35%.
This transaction adds 0.78 million euros to shareholder equity. Combined with retained earnings, the acquisition of Edge-IT, the negotiated retirement of debt (including that which was announced previously), and the share subscriptions, shareholder equity has gone from a 3.73 million euros deficit in March 2004, to the current positive 1.97 million euros. This satisfies a prerequisite for the transfer from the Marché Libre to a larger Euronext market.

Guys, care to send me one of your DVD distributions so that I stop working with Fedora (1 minor reason here) and start testing your stuff ? I even have a machine ready for that ;)

Update on 30/12/04: check a recent online review of their latest edition: Mandrake 10.1 Official Club DVD Edition.

Merry Christmas

To all those who believe in its spirituality and to the others who enjoy the fine dining & presents sharing, ho ho ho ho... Merry Christmas!

(pix from South Florida.com)

Update: the Coca-Cola company has an interesting history of Santa-Claus. Interestingly, I've been to the places mentionned in the note in Turkey...