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LaTeX Broken On MacPort “texlive” Update
I spent about 4 hours today troubleshooting a stupid, stupid issue with the “texlive +full” package as provided by MacPorts, which is required to run certain GUI LaTeX editors such as TeXShop. Several days ago I ran an innocuous-looking… preston$ sudo port sync preston$ sudo port upgrade outdated …and amongst many things that updated, texlive…
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Kindle 3G Upgrade: Mini Review, Recommendations
I’ve previously expressed my love for the Kindle family of devices, and on a whim decided to upgrade from the Kindle 2 to the new Kindle 3G with 3G and wifi. For others contemplating the upgrade, here’s what you need to know: Pros The new button layout is way better. Next/Previous button are on both…
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Spring 2011 ASU Webapp Course
In Spring 2011, the College of Technology and Innovation at the ASU Polytechnic campus will again be offering CST 533/494: Database-Centric Enterprise Application Development. The calendar is not yet out, but should soon be listed as a Thursday evening class: one night per week for the Spring semester. The course will be available at both undergraduate and…
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Amazon Kindle Customer Service Experience
About a month ago I noticed the top of my Kindle 2’s e-ink display starting to go out. Starting from the top of the screen, row-by-row slowly ceased to display “ink” until I could no longer see the battery indicator area. I could surely have lived with this, but given that the device is less…
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TOMS Shoes
I recently won one of a thousand pairs of TOMS shoes courtesy of a joint promotion in conjunction with Gowalla and AT&T to celebrate TOMS 1 millionth “shoe drop”. (It’s basically like the “One Laptop Per Child” program, but for shoes.) From the TOMS website: “TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: With every…
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MakerBot Thing-o-Matic Pre-Order
I’m super excited to have just pre-ordered a Thing-o-Matic from MakerBot Industries. It’s a fully automatic 3D printer (aka CNC rapid prototyper) that can also be outfitted with different material nosels (aka extruders) to draw in 2D, print designs for circuit board, and even dispense frosting and peanut butter. (Not joking.) Here’s a great example…
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Upgrading From Ruby 1.9.1 to Ruby 1.9.2
I’ve spent half the day so far inbeded in the furious stressful upgrade process of a handful of Ubuntu Linux 10.04 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard systems from Ruby 1.9.1 to Ruby 1.9.2. I haven’t even gotten to the Rails 3.0.0 stuff yet: just the baseline Ruby installation. I’ve gone through the upgrade process…
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Thanks, KindleTools Users!
I just wanted to shout out a quick “thanks” to the thousands of Kindle fans that have used the Kindle Tools website to find the PIDs for their Kindle devices. I’m aware that the site doesn’t fully support all models and variations of Kindle hardware devices and software applications, but I am supporting the site…
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3D Desktop Ruby Applications On Linux
Over the past year I’ve put out a few working demos of how to develop full 3D, OpenGL-based OSX applications using Ruby. Most of the comments I’ve received have been positive, but I think the high learning overhead has been the prime limiting factor in addoption. I also decided to focus exclusively on Mac OS…
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ASU Faculty Parking Fun Facts
It’s the first day of class at the ASU Polytechnic campus in the East Phoenix valley, and I’m illegally parked without a permit. Some fun facts for you: A single-course, single-semester adjunct position for the 2010 year pays approximately $6K, before taxes. (Thus, around $12K pre-tax for the academic year.) An annual faculty and staff…
Got any book recommendations?