It's Just this Little Chromium Switch Here

Monday night, I learned how to use a USB memory stick as bootable install media for Debian Linux. It's a little complicated, mostly because piecing together bootable media is just that way. Once complete, it works great. I can still use the stick for usual file transport purposes, but now if I boot off it then it will offer a Debian Linux installation.

The Preparing Files for USB Memory Stick Booting chapter of the Debian Installation Guide outlines the process.

It describes two ways to do it: an "easy" way and a "flexible" way. The "easy" way makes sense for a one-time deal (and you are willing to reformat the stick afterwards), or if you are willing to dedicate a stick to the installation. I didn't. I've got a 4GB stick that I wanted to make bootable and hold the Debian installation files, but continue to use it for other purposes. That's what the "flexible" method allows.

This note describes the procedure I used.

Software developers have learned that when you need assistance, there are places you can turn online. If you've got a C++ question, maybe you'll visit the comp.lang.c++ newsgroup. For Java questions, the Java Lobby web site is a popular resource.

These are "communities of interest". People with deep interest in the topic (we call them experts) gather there. They can be extraordinarily powerful resources, because you have so many qualified people congregating in one place. Just be sure you follow the guidelines of the community and don't do something stupid (like ask an FAQ), and you may be able to get some quality assistance.

This week, a new web site called Stack Overflow was launched. It is intended to be a resource to help developers with their questions, but it's different from those other resources.

(This press release was just issued by the City.)

The Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission and the City of Austin's Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs will present a free community forum on "The Transition to Digital Television" Thursday, Sept. 18 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Dottie Jordan Recreation Center, 2803 Loyola Lane (map).

Members of the community forum and those affected by the technological advancement are invited to learn more about the digital TV transition. This transition affects viewers with televisions that operate with rooftop antennas or "rabbit ears."

Speakers will discuss the basics of DTV and what residents without cable or satellite television will need to do to continue to receive free over-the-air television programming.

Effective Feb. 17, 2009, U.S. Congress has mandated all full-power television stations to broadcast in digital only.  The switch from analog to digital broadcast television is referred to as the digital TV (DTV) transition.

You may have heard that the nation is switching to digital television in February of next year. For one city, the switch has come early. As a first-in-the-nation pilot project, Wilmington, NC switches to DTV today.

Actually, DTV has been there (and here) all along. What's changed is that the analog program transmission stops today in Wilmington, and stops in February for the rest of the nation. When that happens you must have a DTV receiver to get over-the-air television programming.

The Wilmington experiment represents almost a best case scenario, so I don't anticipate too many problems. It's been the focus of intense local publicity, so everybody there is aware of it. I've found at outreach events that people in Austin are aware of the coming change, but are still confused as to what to do.

An AP news article today says:

Sales of the store's $59.99 converter boxes have been brisk, [Radio Shack employee Larry Pakowski] said.

"I can't give you a specific number, but I can tell you traffic has been pretty steady," he said.