Native video and audio support in the Firefox 3.1 beta.  Sounds like a cool idea.

This is the first beta from Mozilla to include support for the and elements. This beta includes support for the OGG Theora and OGG Vorbis formats on all platforms. There are quite a few free tools for encoding to OGG Theora and OGG Vorbis. We are also working on backend support for GStreamer for Linux, QuickTime for Mac and Windows Media for Windows. However it’s not clear if those backends will land before 3.1 final is ready.

Web Tech Blog » Blog Archive » Firefox 3.1 beta 1 - an overview of features for web developers.

YouTube - CSI New York “VB GUI Interface”.

Since I started writing for GeekDad I have been getting a very odd assortment of spam, press releases, and product pitches.  Significantly less than half of those actually pertain to being a Geek, or Dad.

These are the “unsubscribe” instructions from an email promoting the book Scratch Beginnings, which looks interesting, but again, doesn’t really pertain to being a Geek, or Dad, let alone both.

P.P.S. If you would like to unsubscribe from the one mass email that I send out whenever my work gets picked up by a publisher, simply reply to this email and type BreaKER BrEAker 1-9, the EaglE hAS leFt the nEst in the subject line. CAPS sensitive.

Serious WTF.

YouTube - Singstar - bol.com games.

“What’s the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?” Her answer: lipstick. There are at least four funnier punch lines than that. They are as follows:

“You can’t keep a hockey mom chained to a post in your backyard with a bowl of water all day.”

“Hockey moms are still legal in some states.”

“Michael Vick.”

“Pit bulls don’t drive mini-vans. Or wear panty-liners.”

Sarah Palin - Dickipedia - A Wiki of Dicks.

YouTube - Betty White calls Sarah Palin a “Crazy Bitch” on Craig Ferguson.

Slash: “This Time Around, We’re Not Making Compromises”

Has the huge success of Guitar Hero boosted your rep even further?

Yeah, but the flip-side of that is I met this kid who came up to me and was blown away by the fact I was the guy in the Guitar Hero game, and he kept going on about that. Ten minutes later he goes, “Do you play real guitar?”

YouTube - The Financial Crisis Explained.

These are my links for October 7th through October 8th:

• obstcp - Google Code
  -
• Obfuscated TCP Introduction | Richard Yoo's Weblog
  -
• MAKE: Blog: Self-disinfecting toilet brush
  -
• MAKE: Blog: 100 skills everyone should know…
  -
• Revealed: The Internet's Biggest Security Hole | Threat Level from Wired.com
  -

These are my links for October 1st through October 7th:

• » Oh, yeah. I can hardly wait for Windows 7 after seeing this… Dvorak Uncensored: General interest observations and true web-log.
  -
• 4 Tools to Get More from your Google Analytics | Avangate Blog - Software Business Blog
  -
• MySpace.com - Brandon McDermott Band - GALVESTON, Texas - Country / Acoustic / Americana - www.myspace.com/brandonmcdermottband
  - Saw these guys live in Galveston on Sat night.
• Al Iverson - Rogers Park, Chicago: Asus Eee PC and Sprint EVDO? Easy!
  -
• Sprint's EVDO Mobile Broadband on Ubuntu GNU/Linux | Samat Jain's personal home page
  -

These are my links for September 30th through October 1st:

• Al Iverson - Rogers Park, Chicago: Asus Eee PC and Sprint EVDO? Easy!
  -
• Sprint's EVDO Mobile Broadband on Ubuntu GNU/Linux | Samat Jain's personal home page
  -
• http://www.oldskool.org/pc/8088_Corruption
  - Cool demo done on an 8088
• Brad Sucks: Out Of It
  - The new Brad Sucks album.
• Galveston hurricane 196 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  -

These are my links for September 28th through September 29th:

• Ralink RT73 USB Wireless Drivers in Feisty Fawn
  - This guide uses p_larbigs’s drivers instead of the serialmonkey drivers because p_larbigs’s are based off of the serialmonkey drivers, but have been already patched for Fragmentation Attacks and Injection, so you can utilize more features in Aircrack.
• WPA Cracking with rt73, aircrack-ng, and Ubuntu Gutsy | apocryph.org
  - Getting rfmon to work on the rt73 usb wifi key
• Galveston Post-Ike - a set on Flickr
  -
• Hurricane Ike - a set on Flickr
  -
• wpa-buddy
  - Decrypt 802.11 WPA traffic
• WebHome < U-Boot < DENX
  -
• SourceForge.net Repository - [u-boot] Index of /u-boot
  - u-boot cvs tree
• WebHome < DULG < DENX
  - The DENX U-Boot and Linux Guide (DULG)
• Embedded Artists AB, Embedded Systems Development - made Easy
  -
• SourceForge.net: Das U-Boot - Universal Bootloader
  - Log inCreate account CommunityJobsHelp
  Das U-Boot - Universal Bootloader
• I will REMOVE the fucking toilet seat if you don’t shut up@Everything2.com
  - This rant isn’t due to the fact that I am unwilling to help women with this admitted deficiency. Rather, I find it infuriating that because women are seemingly unable to check to make sure that the toilet seat is down, they take this anger out on me. It becomes my deficiency, I am less of a person because I cannot remember to put the seat down/lid up.
• Soldier’s Mother “Ecstatic” about Obama’s Bracelet
  - The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was “ecstatic” during Friday’s debate when Senator Barack Obama mentioned the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.Jopek says Obama’s comment rightfully suggested there’s more than one viewpoint on the war.

Yet another good reason to avoid DRM.  I predict that we will see a lot more of this in the coming years.  Do yourself a favor, and buy music you can use, wherever and whenever you want.  There are plenty of sources for DRM Free MP3s, most of which are cheaper than the DRM versions offered elsewhere.  Look at Amazon, eMusic, and some iTunes music for starters.

Customers of Wal-Mart’s digital music service will be in for a big shock very soon, just as Yahoo Music customers were. Wal-Mart has announced that they will shut down their DRM servers on October 9th. What does this mean for Wal-Mart digital music buyers?

If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer.

Wal-Mart Gives Consumers Number 1 Reason Why DRM is Not the Answer - ReadWriteWeb.

These are my links for September 27th through September 28th:

• Palin the Post Turtle is a must read!!
  - "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top - that's a 'post turtle".
• Famous Awk One-Liners Explained, Part I - good coders code, great reuse
  - In this article he said that it was best to introduce Awk with practical examples. I totally agree with Erik.
• SparkFun Electronics - Coin Cell Holder - 24.5 mm
  -
• Plan59 :: 1950s Space Art :: Union Carbide, 1960
  - Hand holding the periodic table of elements as the nucleas of an atom
• Plan59 :: Ray Guns :: Space Toys :: Buck Rogers :: Space Helmets, 1958
  - 50s ad with cool kids in space suit costumes.
• Plan59 :: Vintage Ads :: Mid-Century Modern :: Wonder Drugs, 1955
  - 50s ad for wonder drugs, bubble gum style.
• Plan59 :: Vintage Ads :: Mid-Century Modern :: Union Carbide, 1959
  - Picture of a hand and needle[?] poking a proton from the nucleas of an atom.
• Cthulhu Tract | By Fred Van Lente and Steve Ellis
  - Funny

These are my links for September 26th through September 27th:

• FREEZELIGHT - Jan Leonardo Wollert and Jorg Miedza (LAPP)
  - Cool light photography
• Not Exactly Rocket Science : Carbon nanotechnology in an 17th century Damascus sword
  - Interesting theory on how the real damascus blades of the middle east got their strength and flexibility.
• West End E to W, #2 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
  - Photo of Jamaica Beach showing Dad's house and sheds.
• What is Travian
  - Someone's review of Travian
• Evil League of Evil
  -

Just cracked open the first bottle of Junk Yard Dog IPA.  I’ve had it conditioning in the fridge for 2 weeks now and thought I’d crack one open for a taste.  The carbonation is pretty light, much like a Fat Tire, but it doesn’t taste flat at all.  It has a strong hops aroma and bites a little at the start but finishes clean and smooth.

The recipe recommended 6-8 weeks of conditioning, so I’ll give it another try in 3-4 weeks and see how it’s doing.

I’ll be heading down to Galveston in a week or so to help family clean up.  If you are in the area and want to sweat your ass off in a mold and mud filled house, gimme a holler.  I can hook you up.

These are my links for September 24th through September 25th:

• Hurricane Ike - Galveston - a set on Flickr
  -
• YouTube - SANDISK's Channel
  - Sandisk's Life Moves contest. $10k grand prize.
• General EOS 40D development discussion
  - Movie mode on 40d
• Canon 40D hacked to record movies - Hack a Day
  -
• Travian us2
  - Server 2 for Travian, an interesting web based game akin to civilization and the like but with more people

These are my links for September 23rd through September 24th:

• Robots And Monsters: A Charitable Menagerie
  - RobotsandMonsters.org is an effort started by Joe Alterio to trade original commisioned art for donations to a good cause. Everybody wins.
• Vote John McClane '08 - T-Shirts, Buttons & Stickers
  -
• Best of Mother Earth: 1996 McDonalds Hamburger
  - Totally scary post about a 12yo burger from McD's
• PlaGMaDA
  - Some ideas for world building
• ROBOTS DREAMS: Robot Dart Gun Ready for Combat (Video)
  - Foam tipped dart gun for robots.
• Framed prints & posters. : Joyner Artworks
  - More of the robots and donuts series
• Eric Joyner's limited edition prints.
  - Robots and Donuts.
• Singapore Tech X Challenge Results and Videos – World War Robots at TechX - Popular Mechanics
  -
• Obama Family Chili Recipe Recipe | Recipezaar
  -
• Comanche Hill » On The Chili Issue
  - Everyone knows you don’t put beans in chili.