I have the best bash prompt ever. It took a lot of hacking and googling, but here she is: Notice that the smiley face and text colors change depending on the exit code of the last run command (red = failed, green = happy). This is handy, for example, after a big long build that […]

Taking a break from computer science and model aviation for the moment, I want to make sure my readership (both of you, not counting my mother) is aware that my company is currently hiring software developers. I know that many developers in the Salt Lake City area have recently found themselves on the job market. […]

I came across a graph theory problem at work this week, and decided to blog about it to help me sort it out. At first I didn’t think of it as a graph problem, but that’s how these problems often go, shrouded in disguise and all. But I digress. The problem is this. Considering the […]

If you want to give your ParkZone T-28 Trojan unlimited vertical flight for under $30, today is your lucky day. Just head over to hobbycity.com, and pick up one of these Turnigy 35-36C motors. Here’s what you’ll need to do the upgrade: The new motor (duh) A Phillips-head screwdriver An everyday drill and an ordinary […]

This was a record week for computer help. Like most resident geeks, I give a lot of computer help, which I like because it makes me feel useful. But this week was a record. In a single week, I: Recovered data from a “mostly dead” hard drive Rescued an iMac hard drive from a greedy […]

I’ve update my LDS General Conference Podcast with the sessions from October 2008. Enjoy!

Every once in a while, a rare while, I come across a product that makes me say, “Wow, they actually thought about this.” I’m pleased to announce that today it happened again, thanks to a new web browser called Google Chrome. Read on for my brief review of the browser and some of the cool […]

How about a hit upside the head with a history lesson in telecommunications? You’re still here? Okay, buckle up. In the late 1800’s, a paranoid undertaker from Kansas worried that human operators were routing phone calls to his competitors. You see, back in the day an operator (usually female) would manually connect your phone calls […]

A couple weeks ago I sent my Spektrum AR6000 receiver to Horizon Hobby’s service department because it was losing bind on the ground (especially in cold weather). Oddly, I could never reproduce the problem on the bench. It only happened at the flying field, and only on hand launches. Very weird. I was nervous that […]

For the first time in my life, I installed Linux on a laptop and every feature worked out of the box: video, sound, wireless network, mouse, keyboard, desktop effects, everything! I am blown away. I’m running Hardy on a Dell D630, and I followed the upgrade path after installing Kubuntu originally with Gutsy (and then […]