Linux
Graphics
Networking
- A Look at NoMachine NX – I discovered NX performs better for remote access than anything else I’ve tried (i.e. RDP, X11, VNC, and straight SSH+screen if you happen to need GUI), particularly over slow links. Unfortunately, it doesn’t handle links with 93% packet loss very well.
- Quagga Routing Suite – GPLed routing software for IPv4/IPv6 that handles a number of routing-related protocols (a list of them is here)
- Yersinia – network tool designed to take advantage of some weaknesses in different network protocols… I haven’t used this but the guys from cinci2600 did a presentation with it
- Etherboot/gPXE booting – an open source network bootloader, providing a direct replacement for many proprietary PXE ROMs. I have yet to try this.
- LTSP, Linux Terminal Server Project – adds thin-client support to Linux servers, so thin clients or dumpster PCs can be used for something useful within a school or business.
Programming/general computer stuff
- “Roles Before Objects” by Doug Lea – some sort of pattern for software development, particularly for “organizing activities that separate object-independent from object-dependent matters”
- “10 Amazingly Alternative Operating Systems etc.” – maybe overly prophetic and lofty, but a good article nonetheless
- Twibright Optar – OPTical ARchiver, a codec for encoding data on paper; it gets about 200 KB per page at 200 DPI which is reliable for most paper, and contains some pretty heavy error correction. This might be neat for long-term archival purposes of smaller data.
Other projects
- MAgtALo (MultiAgent Argumentation, Logic and Opinion) – a prototype tool for virtual round-table meetings. I don’t really know much about this. I just read about it in some IEEE publication I found on the ground.
- LibriVox – free audiobooks from the public domain
- Geographic British Isles – a project aiming to collect geographically representative photographs of every square kilometer of Great Britain and Ireland
Electricity
- “High Voltage Sparks and Arcs” – My friend Mark found this, and it has a collection of videos and photos of some pretty spectacular incidents at high voltages. The only casualties are machines, if you are worried.
- How Transistors REALLY Work, from William Beaty who is annoyed at the way many textbooks teach transistors to students
Music
- Lunar – an artist Jeremy likes, self-described as “An eclectic blend of electronica, rock, dance, ambient, drum ‘n’ bass and classical.” They have two albums available for free download as of now.
Tinfoil hat stuff
- Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America (Google Video link)… I don’t know what to think of this, but I did watch it.
- Maltego: “Maltego is an open source intelligence and forensics application. It allows for the mining and gathering of information as well as the representation of this information in a meaningful way.”
Economics of the non-tinfoil-hat variety
- “Where to put your money if it’s just sitting in a checking account”
- ABSEL – Association for Business Simulation and Experiential Learning; “professional association whose purpose is to develop and promote the use of experiential techniques and simulations in the field of business education and development”
- M.U.L.E. – an early video game that was praised for its elements of economic simulation
- The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, by Gregg Easterbrook (Amazon link)
Other stuff
- Anti-pattern – something that distinguishes itself from a conventional bad idea or bad practice in a particular way; “Some repeated pattern of action, process or structure that initially appears to be beneficial, but ultimately produces more bad consequences than beneficial results.”
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