X-Geek

Extreme geekiness

There are 700 posts filed in X-Geek (this is page 63 of 70).

Toy Blimp Attracts Chicks!

I’ve been looking into aerial photography platforms lately as part of a special project. Google served up this page on an RC blimp which I found thoroughly entertaining. Under the uses for this stuff, you’ve got this list:

IDEAS WITH THIS TOY!!! GRADUATION CEREMONY, SPY ON STUFFS, INDOOR FUN, ADVERTISEMENT, ATTRACT CHICKS, TRADE SHOWS, MARKETING, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING!!!

I don’t see anyone “attracting chicks” whilst playing with a toy blimp. On the other hand, there might be some “chicks” out there who are, for some reason, attracted to toy blimps.

Me, I just want to be able to take cool aerial photos, preferably without having to get a pilot’s license. Attracting chicks is only secondary, I swear.

Fifteen Years With UNIX and the Internets

My earlier post regarding my history in Raleigh also brings up another important milestone: this month marks fifteen years I’ve been using the Internet. My first email address was an EOS one at N.C. State’s College of Engineering and I got it August 1992. I spent my early time online downloading bootleg copies of OS/2 from the New Mexico State University’s Hobbes OS/2 collection. Apologies to all the schmucks playing nettrek who’s latency suffered as a result. 🙂 (Apologies also to IBM. Hey, I was young and foolish.)
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Tracking Phone Phishers

We’ve gotten a few calls from what we’ve taken to be solicitors, judging by their CallerID, and let them go to voicemail. They never leave a message which seems to validate our approach. Today we got a call from a similar number, but this time the CallerID shows a different company. Same result: no message.

Looking for this number on the Internets reveals a number of people have been called by these guys. It appears to be some kind of phishing scam, judging by the comments. The scammers are using the VoIP DIDs of a Las Vegas company, thus the 702-520-xxxx numbers, and likely also manipulating their CallerID information. Whitepages.com shows the numbers belong to a company called Digitcom. At this point, I’m assuming Digitcom knows nothing about the scam, but I’ll give them a call today just to make sure they know.

If you get a call from “Tuscany Industries” or “Insider Events” at 702-520-1122 or 702-520-1117 (or other numbers in the 702-520 exchange), beware. As for myself, I’ve already configured my home phone server to record all interactions with this number. Might be useful for any investigation. Asterisk may be used for fraud as it apparently is in this case, but it can also be used to bust these chumps.

Has anyone put Linux on the dashboard GPS units?

When we bought our 2001 Honda Odyssey two years ago one thing I was anxious to hack was the DVD navigation system. Honda wants $150 for an updated map DVD, which is – appropriately enough – highway robbery. Thus, these sub-$300 car GPS navigation systems that big-box retailers are now stocking have caught my eye.

With their relatively low cost, 12V power source, built-in color touch screen, voice synthesis capability, and of course integrated GPS, these units seem perfect for hacking with Linux. Yet I’ve not been able to come up with any such projects.

Let me know if you find anything, mmmkay?

Virgin America Arrives

…but not here. Yet.

You’ve probably heard the news of Wednesday’s inaugural flight of Virgin America, the geek-friendliest airline to date. With an in-flight entertainment system built around Linux, onboard wireless Internet, and power plugs at every seat, Virgin America appeals to geek customers like me.

Right now they fly between San Francisco and New York’s JFK airport, but will soon be adding more cities to their schedule. Wouldn’t be great if Virgin America came to Raleigh and offered our first Raleigh-San Francisco nonstop flight?

I signed up for Virgin America’s frequent flier program, eleVAte, with the hopes that if Virgin America sees many members in North Carolina, they might be willing to consider serving us. You can help, too! Go to the sign-up page and get yourself an eleVAte membership. Let’s bring the “Geek Airline” to the Triangle!

W4OTN/blog On The Air

Glad to find out today by way of Planet Trilug that my friend and fellow ham Eric Christensen is on the air with his own blog.

I’ve worked a few Tour De Cure volunteer events with Eric and have great respect for him. It takes a lot of concentration and professionalism to keep an event like the TDC on track and Eric has lots of both.

His blog should be interesting. Welcome to the blogosphere, Eric!

(73, Mark N4JMT)

CQ CQ?

Note to self: make sure to remove Yaesu FT-50R ham radio from rental car before returning car to agency. D’oh! I brought it along with the hopes of firing it up on top of Mt. Constitution, but its battery wasn’t charged like I expected it to be and thus it became an expensive paperweight during our trip. Fortunately, Avis has it and is mailing it back to me.

While I’m on the subject of praise where praise is due, kudos to Southwest for correcting my mistake and getting our family home the same day. I didn’t expect it to happen but the gate agent who made the arrangements went above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks a bunch!

San Juan Island Community Radio

Looks like the locals are working together to get their own low-power radio station on San Juan Island. The San Juan Island Community Radio project has recently been approved for non-profit status and will soon be applying to the FCC for its transmitter.

I think the islands are perfect for a community radio station, as the geography (among other things) naturally creates issues of interest only to its residents. I hope they get what they need and get their station on the air. Hopefully I’ll be tuning them in the next time we visit.

If you’ve got some experience with community radio, why not send them a line and offer some help?

Using Thunderbird With Zimbra

My current employer uses Zimbra for email and calendar hosting. I’d been told that there was little that my favorite email client, Thunderbird, could do as far as interacting with Zimbra.

Of course, I got IMAP email working with Zimbra fairly easily. To my delight, though, I got Thunderbird syncing with the Zimbra server’s calendar feature! Here’s how it works:
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