My interests tend to focus on technology. I've spent the
last fifteen years learning and using Linux. I tried various
distributions, but installing BasicLinux -- a minimal
version of Slackware -- on an old ThinkPad 365X was the
greatest learning experience. The users had a great mailing
list and the distribution required you to do dependency
resolution, install and activate kernel modules, alter init
scripts, etc. I've since moved on and run Debian stable with
LXDE on the desktop. For my main machine, I like something
that just works.
Starting this Phlog has forced me to learn a little about
gopher and sftp. Puzzles are good and that's the way I see
most technology: as puzzles to be solved.
Among my other obsessions are a number of small gadgets:
*PalmOS devices (IIIxe, z22, and LifeDrive). I've noticed
that a few other phloggers are PalmOS users.
*webOS phones (HP Pre3). I maintain a couple of apps
(Preddit and NewsZ) for webOS, although I barely know what
I'm doing. I've updated Preddit so that it uses encrypted
connections. Whether it's actually secure or not, I don't
know. NewsZ is a web app that connects to a website that
scrapes Google News feeds and renders the linked sites in
mobilized format. The site was written in javascript and
it's the most complicated thing I've done in terms of
scripting/programming.
*winCE Handheld PCs (HP Jornada 680). I haven't done much
with these, other than set them up and chat with the people
at HPC:Factor.
*BlackBerry phones (Bold 9900, Q10, Passport). I
maintained a thread at CrackBerry.com which provided users
with the information necessary to use the Bold 9900 without
a BlackBerry Internet Service connection. I really like
devices with keyboards, but I did not want to be dependent
on proprietary software. All of that information has been
moved to a website within the last year.
These days, I have shifted to Android, and have set up my
device to mimic webOS as much as possible. Like some of you,
I prefer open source software and look for my apps on Github
and F-Droid. I worry about the surveillance built into the
device -- and have actually considered going back to my flip
phone and the LifeDrive. It may yet happen. For now, I've
disabled a lot of the Google apps, and set up a firewall in
an attempt to limit the connections.
It seems that my next project may be to set up a server
(raspberry pi? converted laptop or TV box? I'm not sure) to
host something. After reading solderpunk's last blog entry,
I feel like I should contribute something of that nature. No
timelines though. It's a busy time of year for me.
I haven't provided links to any of the projects mentioned in
this blog post on purpose. When I write an "About Me" and
add it to my gophermap, I'll throw in a bunch of links.
