Check It Out

Links to cool places or things.

There are 1,524 posts filed in Check It Out (this is page 123 of 153).

Lock your screensaver using your phone

blueproximity_conlogo

I’ve often wondered what it would take to have my PC know who I am without having to type in my password every time. Typing passwords is so second millennium! There should be a better way.

Today I found that there is. My friend Tarus mentioned a Mac app called AirLock that will activate and deactivate your screensaver using a Bluetooth-equipped phone. I thought that was pretty cool, so I went searching for a Linux app that does the same.

I found it, and it’s called BlueProximity. The good news is that it’s been in Ubuntu for over a year. Simply type

sudo apt-get install blueproximity

…and you’re all set.

This of course made me wonder if my $WORK could replace all the proximity card readers at the entrances with Bluetooth sensors. Why should I carry a badge if I’m always carrying my mobile phone? And why couldn’t this take the place of my car keys or door keys, for that matter?

In a nice coincidence, I got a Bluetooth headset from woot.com last week for a net price of $0. It’s only been a few days since I turned on Bluetooth on my phone. Now I have two cool things to use with it!

Snow this weekend?

Looks like snow is a possibility this weekend. This came from today’s NWS forecast discussion (emphasis mine):

THE FORECAST BEGINS TO GET REALLY INTERESTING LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY EVENING WHEN MID-LEVEL CAA ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER WAVE STARTS TO SPREAD INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST…WITH CAA IN THE LOW-LEVELS KICKING IN AT THE SAME TIME AS LIFTING OFFSHORE LOW REINFORCES THE LOW-LEVEL NELY FLOW. A NARROW BAND OF HEAVIER PRECIP IS POSSIBLE AS THE 850 LOW LIFTS ACROSS THE AREA…WITH MODELS SHOWING STRONG 850-500MB FRONTOGENESIS ACROSS THE AREA. PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT AND LOW TO THE COAST WILL BE A DETERMINING FACTOR IN BOTH THE WESTWARD EXTENT OF PRECIP AND THE STRENGTH OF THE LOW-LEVEL CAA SURGE…BUT MODELS ARE IN REMARKABLE AGREEMENT WITH SHOWING THE ENTIRE COLUMN COOLING BELOW FREEZING ACROSS THE NORTHERN/NORTHWEST PIEDMONT SATURDAY EVENING BETWEEN 21 TO 00Z…TRANSLATING EAST ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH DAYBREAK SUNDAY. BUT AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE…IT WILL BE A FINE LINE/NARROW WINDOW BEFORE THE INVADING COLD/DRY AIR SURGE COMPLETELY DRYS THE DENDRITIC GROWTH ZONE. GFS IS VERY QUICK TO DRY OUT THE COLUMN…WHILE THE NAM IS A LITTLE SLOWER…MAINTAINING DEEP MOISTURE AND LIFT WELL ABOVE THE -15 TO -18C LAYER. THIS FITS WELL WITH P-TYPE TRENDS AS WELL. IN SHORT…AREAS ACROSS THE NORTHERN PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN COULD SEE SOME MEASURABLE SNOWFALL SATURDAY EVENING AND SATURDAY NIGHT.
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Bobby Bowden retires

Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden

The news is all over the sports world that Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden has coached his last season. It was inevitable (and made moreso by the team’s recent foundering) but it’s still a sad day for college football.

I grew up a Florida State fan and have always thought Bowden was the epitome of a college football coach. There will certainly never be another one like him. As Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky pointed out:

Bear Bryant didn’t build Ala­bama from next to nothing. Joe Pa­terno didn’t start Penn State from virtual scratch. Bobby Bowden turned Florida State from a former girls’ school into a national football power.

Thank you, Bobby Bowden.

My NBC 17 interview

Due to my role as the chair of the East CAC, I was interviewed today by NBC 17 regarding WakeMed and a nearby club, Black Tie. You can view the interview on NBC 17’s website.

Longtime MT.Net readers know what a huge fan I am of WakeMed. Our daughter spent seven weeks there as a preemie and is thriving in every way thanks to the incredible care she got from WakeMed. Even so, I have to admit I don’t think I’ve heard one complaint from residents about Black Tie over the past year. I’m hoping both parties can agree to work together to help strengthen our community.

Raleigh’s untamed greenway: Walnut Creek Trail

Walnut Creek Greenway

The beautiful morning and the promise of a sunny afternoon in the mid 70s got us itching to go for another family bike ride. After considering a trip out to Durham’s American Tobacco Trail greenway, we opted instead to explore one greenway we’d never tried before, Southeast Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Trail.

Our goal was to start at the easternmost point possible and go as far west as we could. Worthdale Community Center seemed to be the trail’s official starting point but after reviewing the maps I decided the 8/10ths of a mile from there through the surrounding neighborhood to the paved greenway was not worth riding. I know what homes and sidewalks look like: I wans the trail!

We thus drove to the end of Little John Road and parked at its dead end. The residents of the house next to us gave us long looks through the storm door, making me think that they didn’t see many greenway users parking here. Though I felt the neighborhood was completely safe I decided that parking on the narrow neighborhood street was being too disruptive to the neighborhood. Next time I’ll look for a lot at one of the nearby community centers.
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Operation Downfall

300px-Operation_Downfall_-_Map

Today is the anniversary of the deadliest, bloodiest, most devastating military invasion that never happened. It is the day during World War II that Allied forces were to invade Kyushu in the start of a full-scale invasion of Japan – an invasion that would have cost untold millions of lives on both sides.

Fortunately, it never took place.