Precious little things

This morning we rode our bikes to the best bagel shop in the world.  It is a hidden little shop that you would not find unless someone told you (psst, it’s Berkeley Bagel at 1281 Gilman). There are more than a few semi-dangerous spots on the road to the bagel shop but we brave it…

Secret Sauce

On the way to Italy, then on to Israel, I worked a bit on my presentation. I had offered several different topic ideas to the LUG organizer and he chose the most technical one. The topic: Building Linux Hardware. As a how-to, it seemed appropriate to share my company’s favorite suppliers, the best-of-the-best OEMs and…

Spunky and oh-so sticky

Every now and then you meet someone who is utterly unforgettable. Their name instantly sticks in your memory and you know that 10, even 20 years from now, the memory of this person will still be lodged in your mushy cranial memory logs. If you have read Made to Stick, then you know what I…

Traffic spike

Every now and then we wind up on Slashdot. A recent /.ing went as follows: “Lenovo has stopped selling laptops pre-installed with Linux on its web site, only 8 months after starting the trial program… For those looking to buy full-sized laptops and desktops with Linux pre-loaded Dell, System76, ZaReason and Everex all still offer…

Consumer psychology and the keyboard

There is no part of the computer that we humans work with more intimately than the keyboard. It is the only part of the computer that we actively touch. It is no stroke of fate that Microsoft rebranded the Start key as the “Win key” in 1995. The message, ingrained on an emotional, psychological, even…