Home › Blog ›

It's Just this Little Chromium Switch Here

Weblogging and commentary by Chip Rosenthal

Ruiz Library Grand Opening

Submitted by chip on Fri, 30-Jan-2004 - 4:00 pm
in

This Saturday marks the grand opening of the Daniel E. Ruiz branch of the Austin Public Library. The festivities begin at 10:00 on January 31. The official press release notes:

This new 16,000 square foot library will replace the existing 5,079 square foot leased space of the Riverside Drive Branch at 2410 Riverside Drive. The new $6 million library at 1600 Grove Boulevard will be the largest library branch in the system and will serve the growing populations of the Riverside and Montopolis neighborhoods.

I wasn't sure this day would ever come. This represents the culmination of events set in motion back in 1997. During that pre-boom budget cycle, the city went looking for cost saving measures, and selected the Riverside Drive branch for closure. Riverside was a small, storefront library, which made it an easy target. There was vociferous opposition to the closure, in which I participated.

The City Council voted to restore funding to save Riverside. Then, the following year, Austin voters approved a bond package that would fund permanent locations for the last three storefront branches, including Riverside.

The site selection was a tad controversial, because both the Riverside and Montopolis neighborhoods were vying for it. The City Council appointed a citizen's committee to oversee the bond measures. The committee proposed to build a large branch--the largest branch in the system--on Grove Boulevard, where it would be accessible to both neighborhoods.

I've already toured the new branch and it is great. The location is wonderful, between a wooded lot and a natural golf course. It is easily accessible, just down the road from ACC and along a bus route. Congrats to the APL facilities folks for a job well done.

The Internet Training Center at the old Riverside library has been relocated to Ruiz. Our classes start up again next month. If you stop by Saturday, check out the Training Center. I'll be hanging out there giving demos.

Disposable DVDs are Dumped

Submitted by chip on Thu, 29-Jan-2004 - 3:17 pm
in

If you shop at H-E-B (and if you're a Texan, you probably do) you may have noticed the EZ-Ds (link to Flashturbated website omitted) display at the checkout. These are the "48-hour DVDs" that self-destruct upon exposure to air.

Wired News is reporting that H-E-B is terminating the EZ-Ds experiment early. Good riddance, I say.

There was significant concern about the environmental impact of the use-once-and-discard discs. The EZ-Ds manufacturer tried to fight some of the backlash by setting up a return program for the expired discs.

I'm also concerned about what the EZ-Ds represent with respect to our ability to own and use digital media. The manufacturer, a division of Disney, tried to position EZ-Ds as an alternate to renting. The studios, however, would love nothing more than a video scheme that offers them complete control over use. Imagine how much happier the entertainment industry would be if all CDs and DVDs self-destructed within a few days. EZ-Ds represent a step in that direction.

This isn't the first time the entertainment industry has tried to place stringent controls on the use of video media. Several years ago, the industry tried to push the DIVX video disc over the then fledgling DVD standard. They liked DIVX because you had to keep paying fees in order to use their discs. Video fans, fortunately, saw right through it, and that scheme died.

The EZ-Ds are still available around town. Hopefully the other sellers will follow suit. This is just a bad idea that should be scrapped like a 48-hour video disc.

And the Winner is...not Gentoo

Submitted by chip on Fri, 23-Jan-2004 - 11:35 am
in

I've been doing a couple of Linux evaluations. One is to select a Linux distribution for my servers, another for workstations. It was time to make the workstation decision. After looking at a number of alternatives I selected Gentoo Linux as the best alternative. So, then, why am I typing this on my new Fedora Linux workstation?

Gentoo Linux offers Modest Performance Gain

Submitted by chip on Tue, 20-Jan-2004 - 9:57 pm
in

Gentoo Linux is touted as one of the best performing Linux distributions. I recently ran some tests to verify this. My tests confirmed that Gentoo does indeed perform better. The gains, however, appear modest. I measured just a 15% improvement.

New Email Address Obfuscation Technique

Submitted by chip on Sun, 18-Jan-2004 - 11:49 pm
in

In a recent article I discussed using Javascript to protect email addresses on web pages from harvesting by spammers. Most common techniques use Javascript to synthesize an address and insert it into the document. The article explained my concerns with that technique.

No User Serviceable Parts

Submitted by chip on Fri, 16-Jan-2004 - 2:47 am
in

I know I've been terribly quiet lately. I've been too distracted to write much. This month, I left my long time South Austin apartment and relocated to the wrong side of the river. I've been busy with packing and moving and recovering from moving. Now I'm busy looking at my boxed-up belongings, wondering what the hell I'm going to do with them.

AT&T Lied

Submitted by chip on Tue, 13-Jan-2004 - 2:32 pm
in

Remember this entry where AT&T customer service gave me the runaround? Remember how I had a nagging suspicion they lied just to get me off the phone?

Well, yeah, they did. Just tried the phone card. They didn't fix anything.

Debian Linux: First Step is a Doozy

Submitted by chip on Thu, 08-Jan-2004 - 12:58 pm
in

With the new year, my server fell into limbo. It runs a version of Red Hat Linux that is a dead end. No further eratta will be issued and Red Hat has abandoned the product line to concentrate on high-price data center servers.

Thus I (and many other people) are evaluating replacement products. Debian Linux is the current leading contender in my search . What initially attracted me was the compatibility with our current programs and data, a robust software packaging scheme and aggressive release schedule for security patches.

Fit, Tan and Rested

Submitted by chip on Thu, 08-Jan-2004 - 12:02 pm
in

IJTLCSH has stolen off for a brief, unannounced vacation. We are now back, nursing our hangover and trying to get that quickie Vegas wedding annulled. Content soon to follow.

CD and DVD Tutorials

Submitted by chip on Sat, 20-Dec-2003 - 2:52 pm
in

Links: Optical Drives & Recording Formats and Burning CDs and DVDs.

I thought this pair of articles was a great overview of the current state of optical storage technology. If you've ever wondered about those odd option settings on your CD burning software or been confused by the many standards for writable DVDs, these articles will answer your questions.