I have owned the T-Mobile G1 since October. I had been looking for a replacement for the T-Mobile Wing for some time, and being a fan of open source and Linux, I was very excited to read about Android (even exploring Android development using their SDK), and even more excited to learn T-Mobile had the initial offering of an Android based cell phone.

While working on a wireless kiosk using Ubuntu, I had the need to shrink the Ubuntu installation. Part of creating a custom install, using remastersys, is creating a live CD iso image.

I did, of course, remove the unnecessary software and programs like the games and cd burning software (see http://www.staldal.nu/tech/2008/12/08/packages-you-might-want-to-remove-...) and I ran several commands including localpurge and deborphan (see http://strabes.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/clean-up-unnecessary-packages-on... ).

Rumors are now circulating that Seattle's oldest newspaper, the Seattle P-I, may be going up for sale, and if no one buys, may close. Unfortunately, the progression of technology cannot be without some casualties.

Another local newspaper has been advertising for a ColdFusion programmer on and off. I have to wonder how long the newspaper can remain relevant. It will be a sad day when the last issue goes to print; Similar, I imagine, to the last buggy rolling off the assembly line.

An incident at the popular web service called Twitter has brought to light the importance of complex passwords. A hacker decided to try to break into a popular user's account at the service. He did so by writing an automated tool that used what's called a dictionary attack to try and guess the user's password. He went to bed and let the tool run all night. The next morning, he found he had broken into the user's account, finding the user's password was set to the word "happiness."

I read an article on Slashdot detailing an announcement by Microsoft. This announcement states that Windows XP will be available to OEMs, or computer system builders, until May 2009.

Vista was supposed to replace Windows XP on new computers in January of this year. However, sales of Windows Vista and a public outcry persuaded the company to extend the sales of OEM copies of Windows XP through 2010.

A story caught my eye on msnbc.com with the headline "activist moves homeless into foreclosures."

Expecting a real human interest story, I was appalled at the spin introduced in this story. Essentially, a man by the name of Max Rameau is helping homeless people break into and occupy foreclosed, vacant homes. And I guess he's not alone.

"I'm going to learn Ubuntu?" =)

I have been looking for an online backup solution for Linux for quite some time. There are many solutions out there, but as far as I have found, they are all written for Windows or Mac. I had been using duplicity with a remote server, but to purchase my own server for this use would be cost prohibitive compared to the solution I found.

I then read a post on an Ubuntu forum recommending SpiderOak as an online backup solution for Ubuntu.