Monthly Archives: December 2009

HP’s Racist Webcams & Computers

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

A fairly hilarious video turned up on Youtube; apparently one of HP’s motion-tracking laptop webcams has difficulty tracking black faces as opposed to white ones. Obviously it was not intentional. It’s almost certainly a software problem dealing with light contrasting, … Continue reading →

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PCI expansion slot cover welds are the work of Satan!

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

What, you ask, are PCI slot cover welds? Well, PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect, and it’s one of the main types of expansion cards you can plug into a computer motherboard. In the old days, your sound card and video card … Continue reading →

Posted in hardware | 1 Comment

Women: Terrified By Computers!

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

Some academic cranked out a study arguing that women find the “stereotypical” computer science environment unwelcoming and so flee for that reason. Ars Technica explains why this is, to put it delicately, crap. -JM

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the best free Windows downloads

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

Lifehacker lists the best free Windows downloads of 2009. I’ve used several myself, and recommend them highly. -JM

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Install The Java Plugin For Firefox On Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

I’m going to be honest here; I don’t really like Java, and I wish it would go away. But much like Flash, it is a fundamental part of the modern Internet, which means that you’ll have to use it at … Continue reading →

Posted in Linux | 3 Comments

HP Hates Windows 7

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

Windows 7 is fast and efficient, at least compared to Vista. So why does HP feel the need to lard up its Pavilion consumer laptops with layer upon layer of additional software? The HP Pavilion dv6000 with Vista was one … Continue reading →

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Thunderbird 3

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

Thunderbird 3 has, at last, been released. And the reviews are pretty good. Mostly. -JM

Posted in Linux, Mac OS X, other people talk about technology, Windows | Leave a comment

Install Google Chrome On Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

It’s been a long, long wait, but Google’s Chrome browser is at last available for Linux. Here’s how to install it on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. First, visit the Google Chrome website: http://www.google.com/chrome Click on the Get Google Chrome button, … Continue reading →

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Dragon Age: Origins – the Soundtrack by Inon Zur

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

One of my more…eccentric…hobbies is collecting computer & video game soundtracks. At least a third of my music library is soundtracks from a variety of computer games dating back to at least 1990 or so, some of which I am … Continue reading →

Posted in gaming | 1 Comment

how to make Ubuntu Linux look like Windows XP

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Jonathan Moeller

With detailed directions from the Linuxologist. I’m not sure why you’d want to do this. XP is pushing nine years old, and making Ubuntu look like XP is a bit like making Olivia Wilde look like Margaret Thatcher. But I … Continue reading →

Posted in Linux, other people talk about technology, Windows | 2 Comments