Ohio Linuxfest 2007 September 30, 2007
Posted by alan in : tech , comments closedFor the third consecutive year I attended the Ohio Linuxfest in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday 9/29. It’s certainly a worthwhile event, and interesting to see how far people travel to attend the show. I overheard several people talking about their travels from Michigan and I also noticed that there were more than a few people attending from Canada. The biggest disappointment I have each year is with the talks that are canceled at the last minute. This year I was looking forward to two talks that were canceled: The Challenges of Building a Linux Distro by Warren Woodford and Free Software, in Africa: a Perspective by Nayyar Ahmad. My favorite talk of the day was Introduction to Python and/or Solar System Demolition by Catherine Devlin. I’ve been studying Python for about three months now, which helped me to follow most of her discussion as she described how to create a physical model of the solar system in Python. Catherine’s blog is here and she has posted all of her files from the presentation. Ohio Linuxfest is also supposed to be making the audio of each talk available at a later date. It was great to see the guys from The Linux Link Tech Show. I was lucky enough to visit their table early in the day and they gave me all of their podcasts on DVD. It will be great to catch up on the earlier episodes!
AlphaSmart Pro September 29, 2007
Posted by alan in : tech, writing , comments closedRecently I acquired the use of a used AlphaSmart Pro. Initially it seemed like an outdated device that I would have little use for, especially considering that I already have two laptop computers. As I started playing with the AlphaSmart I realized that it does serve a purpose that the laptops cannot easily fill. The AlphaSmart is an excellent tool for writing first drafts. It is light-weight, rugged and runs for approximately 200 hours on two AA batteries. The device is also instant on — flip the switch and be writing in about three seconds. When I sit down with a laptop I usually find myself reading news online, programming or working on countless other projects. It can be too easy to become distracted with the computer at hand. The AlphaSmart is only good for writing — nothing else to distract! The device provides eight separate note files, each selectable via function keys. Sixty four pages total. I figure I can use the AlphaSmart for writing blog snippets on the go, and other general writing tasks that come up. This would also be a great tool for technical writers, as it would be easy to carry it around to grab notes while talking to people or writing a first draft of assembly instructions in a lab setting. Saving your first drafts is very easy. The AlphaSmart Pro connects to the keyboard input on any computer. After connecting, hit the Send Key and the AlphaSmart actually types the information into an open computer program. Save the file on the computer, clear the AlphaSmart and it is ready for the next series of first drafts. It seems like the perfect writing tool! Actually, I’ve just started using the AlphaSmart so it will be interesting to see if it seems like the perfect writing tool after I’ve played with it a few weeks. The AlphaSmart Pro is available on Ebay for about $20, and there are newer versions of the device available if the AlphaSmart Pro seems too limiting. There’s even an AlphaSmart discussion group at Flickr with lots of interesting discussion on how people use their AlphaSmart for writing.
