All posts by patrickrhone

/dev/random, Announcement

…And Thanks For All The Fish

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Well, the time has come. Consider this the official pronouncement that Geek Gather is no more.

I started Geek Gather several years ago as an attempt to have a once a month time to get together with my fellow geek friends and talk tech without boring the non-geeks in our lives — and maybe collaborate or connect on the occasional project or two. The idea came from my wife, Bethany’s, own “Stitch and Bitch” sessions with her girlfriends where they would do the same (with a decidedly more female and crafty bent).

Over the many years, there have been evenings where a dozen of us have been there and others where it has only been two. All have been worth the time and I cherish each one. That said, as of the past several months, it has mostly been just a couple of us or, at most, three. And while I certainly enjoy the company, I have decided that that time slot spent away from my family could be better allocated to more purposeful pursuits. Michael (the usual number two with me in recent months) agreed and, thus, we have decided to put an end to Geek Gather now.

That said, we will be at The Chatterbox this evening if you swing by. We will be holding our first meeting of our replacement endeavor, The Finishing School, which I welcome all to join. Even if not, you will be welcome at the table all the same.

So, thanks agin for the years of wonderful memories and may we all gather again around other tables soon.

Patrick Rhone
December, 2012

/dev/random

For Sale

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OK, Apple delivered. Therefore, here is what I have for sale:

  • Nokia N800 Internet Tablet in very good condition. Comes with all accessories and 2 2Gig SD cards (It has two slots). Also has a case I bought for it. Looking to get 250.00 but no reasonable offer refused.
  • 80 Gig iPod with Video (5.5G). This is less than three months old and kept in a case most of that time so it is pristine. Not sure what to ask yet on this but new it is $399.00. Once again, no reasonable offer refused.

Anyone interested in any of the above should contact me directly to discuss.

/dev/random

Potentialy for Sale Today

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Here are some things I will be selling if Apple releases an new iPod on September 5th and it is basically like the iPhone, without the phone…

  1. Nokia N800 Internet Tablet
  2. 5th Generation 80 Gig iPod
  3. My soul

Anyone interested in any of the above should contact me directly to discuss terms. Originally, My Left Nut was included in the sale items but Bethany wont let me sell that. Says she still needs it for some unknown reason.

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August Geek Gather Wrap Up

Here are some of the conversations had and/or overheard at last nights Geek Gather:

  • Eric discussed the state of selling Apple in enterprise environments.
  • Eric also brought his iPhone along and everyone took turns drooling all over it.
  • iShared a bit of the iLife love.
  • I also mentioned I got one of the shiny new iMacs to replace my eMac.
  • It was also espoused that most people, more specifically, IT people are self involved, thick headed idiots in general. Present company excluded of course.
  • I talked about how I found Ubuntu’s versioning schema interesting as it works by year and month of release as opposed to the traditional methods used by other companies.
  • Finally, Tim has now hooked us all on Top Gear. A UK car review show with a wicked sense of destruction.
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Geek Gather Followup

Sorry for the slight delay. Here are some of the topics of conversation overheard at this month’s Geek Gather:

  • No, Patrick does not have an iPhone and wont be getting one until his Verizon contract runs out.
  • Michael and Patrick are still rocking Ubuntu only on their PC laptop boxen because Windows is teh suck.
  • Patrick provided a sneak peak at OmniFocus.
  • Rodney has adopted the always-connected-to-the-node cyborg look that is all the rage by getting a Jawbone.
  • Patrick attempted to hid his jealously of Rodney’s purchase by smugly whipping out his new Fountain Pen and acting like a complete pompous jackass. Misguided vanity overtakes him sometimes.
  • Tim Eian challenges us all to try to beat his carbon footprint score. (I think it is 14)
  • Turbo Tim showed off his Motorola Q.
  • Much discussion ensued about work ethics, attitude and regulation differences between the US and Europe. The Europeans work less, but still kick America’s less than productive asses despite this fact.

That is all I can remember for now. If anyone else would like to chime in, please do so in the comments.

/dev/random

Coworking in Lowertown

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Do you know someone who is an independent freelancer, working at home or otherwise in need of some space to work and some company? If so they may be interested in Coworking. What is coworking? Here is one person’s elevator pitch:

“Tired of fighting for desk space at coffee shops like Ritual House Coffee Roasters?

Are you self-employed and miss community and structure in your work life?

If so, then it’s time to start the New Year right and give coworking a try!

What is Coworking? Coworking is cafe-like community and collaboration space for developers, writers and independents. Grassroots coworking spaces are popping up all over the world, from New York City, to Paris, to… San Francisco.”

And now, there is a coworking space coming together in the Lowertown area of Saint Paul called The A Place. They are looking for people who are interested to sign up so that they have some idea of possible members.

Therefore, if you are interested, or know anyone who may be, point them here to get involved. Personally, I have been a big fan of coworking for a long time. So much so that, even though I have a full time job with an office, I still plan on signing up for a night and weekend hot desk membership just to support that cause.

/dev/random

Letting Go

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I have some old systems and other random tech stuff sitting around my old house. I have been stalling for some time on getting rid of them. This has been for several reasons. First of all, I have not had the time to prepare them (wiping the hard drives and such). Secondly, I keep telling myself that I will use them for something some day (will never happen). Time to start letting go.

These items are all in working condition as of the last time I checked them. I would like to see these go to loving homes so I am giving you all first dibs:

  • I have two Bondi Blue original iMacs. These have G3 processors but I had 10.2.8 running fairly well on one of them for a while. I think one of them may have an upgraded drive (20 gig) but and not sure which.
  • I have a Grape second generation iMac G3 as well. Same story.
  • I have a 900MHz PIII Dell. It has 512megs RAM and an 80 Gig HDD. It is in a slim form factor case that stands upright – therefore, any add on cards need to be halt height. Even so, this would be a perfect machine for a linux based server. It is also pretty quiet so with a USB TV tuner/converter it could act as a Myth box.

I have some other items too. A couple of monitors (One 1st Gen Apple Studio Display in Graphite, One Dell 17inch CRT), a little outboard sound enhancer for computer speakers (hard to explain what it does exactly – makes cheap speakers sound amazing), I probably have more stuff I could get rid of too but have not gotten that far yet…

In any case, if any of this stuff sounds of interest to you shoot me an e-mail. No reasonable offer will be refused.

/dev/random

Gutsy Gibbon

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So, at the last Geek Gather I was struggling to remember the code name of the next Ubuntu release after the one due out later this month. It is…

Gutsy Gibbon

Click the link for all of the info and release dates (the final release should happen about a week or two after Micheal has decided to upgrade to Feisty Fawn).