Just a quick fyi: to allow automatic upgrades on an Ubuntu install, make sure the documentroot has group write for www-data:

sudo chown -R www-data.myusername /var/www/websiteRoot

sudo chmod -R g+w /var/www/websiteRoot

In the past year or so I’ve noticed something simple about google’s strategy that is going to push them even further from M$ in the coming years. It’s all about planning for the future, and not deviating from that plan.

My love for online mapping grows as someone finally adds alternate routes to driving directions.
The major benefit of this is avoiding traffic. In cities like Chicago this can be huge. It would have been awesome to have had this when I was driving to work, instead of taking the train like I do now.

It gives you the estimated times driving times for all routes, including estimated times with traffic. It also gives the transit info, including alternate transit routes and times for those.

I’ve been pretty pumped about this type of feature since I heard about it in the Dash GPS devices, and now it’s finally something I can use.

check it out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=S+Wabash+Ave&daddr=N+Arlington+Heights+Rd&hl=en&geocode=FWoCfwIdrO7G-g%3BFcozggIdXobB-g&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=12&sll=42.050057,-87.874832&sspn=0.134352,0.311737&ie=UTF8&z=12

I finally had it this week having to use 3 keyboards/mice for my computers around my personal office. My friend, a while ago, told me about an open-source solution called synergy.

I installed it last night on two ubuntu machines and it was so easy and fast to install.

sudo apt-get install synergy quicksynergy

Then create a synergy.conf . Here’s mine:

sudo vi /etc/synergy.conf:
section: screens
kelly:
mary:
end

section: aliases
mary:
192.168.8.102
end

section: links
mary:
right = kelly
kelly:
left = mary
end

section: options
screenSaverSync = false
# My KVM uses Scroll Lock to switch screens, so set the
# hotkey to lock the cursor to the screen to something else
keystroke(f12) = lockCursorToScreen(toggle)
end

Then start:
synergys -f –config /etc/synergy.conf

And that’s it. It works awesome! Check it out if you have multi-monitors with different boxes.

So since I use it more often, and 90+% of my blogs are on twitter…I’m going to start leaving rss for twitter. It forces my blogs to make my life more efficient with the 140 char limit. Twitter also has a better program base then google reader does making it much easier to use.

Sorry rss…twitter wins.

I’ve recently found out I work way too much. I’m also training for another marathon in April which takes up time, and sometimes I like to sleep. I recently tried bar trivia for the first time and realized my need to have a few more like-minds around me.

It’s a little hard for me to find friends I like. I get bored way to easy with my ADD and too many people are more interested in things that just don’t have any depth at all. You know what I’m talking about.

So it’s time for me to make some friends that have smarts, are unique and a bit nerdy I guess. Any ideas?

I bought an iPod Touch about 5 or so months ago, and it’s rarely left my side since. This little device is amazing. Easy to learn, and I have access to any type of media I want with just a few swipes and taps of my fingers. It’s introduced me first-hand to the power of iTunes and what the apple media business model means for our future. What if you could pick the shows you want to watch at night through your phone, any time of the day, and have them ready for you whenever you wanted to watch them? Yes, like a Tivo on steriods. As easy as flipping through the channels on your current tv.

Right now to copy this type of model is expensive and time consuming. First you have to setup your computer so it outputs to the tv. Then you need the right software to play your videos and music. Then you need a way to get your media. And what if you want to watch it in a different room, or even on your smart-phone?

iTunes has started the model, but it’s too proprietary right now to become as accepted as the tv. Though it is a giant step forward.

With iTunes you can subscribe to video and audio-only podcasts. This means if your favorite news cast makes their show available online, all you have to do it subscribe to it once and iTunes will automatically get the show for you everyday to watch at your disposal. No more missing shows and news because of work or other activities.

What I love most is the ability to get things that I can’t with tv(especially now I don’t have cable). I can listen to This Week in Teck (twit.tv), pretty much all espn shows, web design shows, and political news casts. This truely lets you pick your own window on the world, from the big tv corp view, to the small independents. Anyone with a microphone and the Internet can get their voice out to the whole world. This is the start of the next evolution in media, and I suggest you try it out.