Logitech Revue Honeycomb Update Pending

Posted by Phil Kohler on December 12, 2011 None comments

Logitech announced that the long anticipated Android 3.1 Honeycomb update for the Logitech Revue has been released. All current user will need to do is make sure that their Revue is connected to the internet, powered on and accept it when prompted for the update.

Read more »

Logitech Ends Revue Production, Stating it was a Mistake

Posted by Phil Kohler on November 11, 2011 None comments

Big news today on the Internet TV front. Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca has announced that Logitech will not manufacture new Logitech Revue units and will not be replacing it with another box. Given my recent experience with the Revue, …

Read more »

Android Honeycomb 3.1 and the Logitech Revue

Posted by Phil Kohler on November 8, 2011 None comments

My initial impression of Google TV and the Logitech Revue were tempered by the knowledge that the long awaited Android Honeycomb 3.1 update has not yet been released for the Revue. Google announced the Google TV update on October 28th and …

Read more »

Google TV, Initial Impressions with the Logitech Revue

Posted by Phil Kohler on November 7, 2011 None comments

As readers of this site will note, I am a long time Boxee user. I ditched cable TV about 4 years ago and adopted Boxee as my replacement. Since adopting Boxee a few years ago, I have had better access …

Read more »

My Reintroduction to Mac OSX, Initial Reaction

Posted by Phil Kohler on November 2, 2011 None comments

This is the first Mac I’ve heavily used for Desktop computing in about a decade. I was a huge fan of the old Mac OS, also known as Mac OS “Classic” to you newer Mac users who missed the 80′s and 90′s. Back in the day the Mac offered the single most engaging desktop environment – a fact that it was both praised and lashed for depending on who was doing the talking. The whole “Mac vs. PC” battle raged, where “PC” meant “Windows”, and people took militant stances – many without ever having experienced the Desktop environment they aligned themselves against.

Read more »

Finally upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04

Posted by Phil Kohler on August 27, 2011 1 comments

I’ve made the decision. Despite being less than 60 days away from the release of Ubuntu 11.10, I have decided to upgrade to 11.04. Why am I doing this instead of waiting? I’ve been using 11.04 and Unity for a …

Read more »

New Adventures in Social Media

Posted by Phil Kohler on August 14, 2011 2 comments

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently exploring social networking tools that I wasn’t using on a regular basis. I’ve been all over Plurk, tweeting away on Twitter and laughing it up at the rage comics on Reddit. Inspired …

Read more »

Where Have You Been, Phil?

Posted by Phil Kohler on August 4, 2011 None comments

Okay so I wound up totally punking out on all of you. The last time you heard from me I was on the verge of posting some reviews and How-To’s on better controlling and modifying Ubuntu 11.04′s Unity UI. Then …

Read more »

More Unity Mods

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 27, 2011 1 comments

I’ve spent a lot of time reading about and discussing user frustration with Unity in Ubuntu 11.04. From most of the discussions I’ve had, there seems to be a lot of frustration with adding custom launchers to the Unity launcher, working with the Unity Quick Lists and with controlling the basic behavior of the Unity launcher.

Read more »

Adventures in Macintosh

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 23, 2011 1 comments

Being a Linux user today reminds me of what it was like being a Mac user in the 1990′s. There’s a lot to be said about being part of the community that gathers around what some might claim to be an “underdog” desktop operating system. In the 90′s, less than 20% of computer users were Mac users. In 2011, even far fewer users are Linux users.

Read more »

Internet TV: A Response to Inquiries

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 18, 2011 10 comments

Since posting my guide, “How to Ditch Cable and Satellite TV, Save Money and Be Happy”, I have received countless question on where I got this information and how people can learn more about replacing a paid television subscription service with free online services. Given the attention and interest this guide has received, I felt that responding to all of these questions publicly was the best way to address them.

Read more »

Installing Blenders Primstar 1.0.0 Scripts in Ubuntu 10.10 Made Easy

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 18, 2011 3 comments

Many people involved in created 3D objects – whether it’s wire meshes or UV maps – rely on Blender. Blender is an open source cross platform suite of tools used for 3D creation. People involved in content creation in virtual …

Read more »

Some Changes

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 17, 2011 None comments

I’ve been really encouraged by the amount of traffic that this site has had. Those of you who have visited this site before might remember it being far simpler in design. In response to recent traffic I invested some time …

Read more »

‘Protect IP’ Bill Threatens Freedom

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 17, 2011 4 comments

Senators Hatch and Leahy have introduced the “Protect IP” Bill which will impose an internet blacklist reminiscent of the censorship that the citizens of China are forced to live with. According to this Bill, the US Department of Justice could force browsers, service provides and search engines to block users’ access to websites.

Read more »

Resize Unity Launcher Icons in Ubuntu 11.04

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 3, 2011 5 comments

Resizing the Unity Launcher icons should really be considered a basic function. I really have no idea why this wasn’t included in the initial release of Ubuntu 11.04, nor have I looked into it. For all I know it could lead to a catastrophic system failure resulting in your box falling over dead, your neighbor smacking your kids and the moon falling into the Atlantic. I’m going to tell you how it’s done anyway.

Read more »

Linux is Changing

Posted by Phil Kohler on May 3, 2011 5 comments

I’ve been dreading Unity since it was announced. I’ve been an Ubuntu user for years and I didn’t want to move from the Gnome 2 interface. The Gnome 2 interface works for me. As Ubuntu 11.04 alpha’s and betas were released, I would install them in virtual machines and on a test box to try them out and my experience with Unity was lackluster at best. I’ve been boring my friends and coworkers for weeks with talk about changing distributions to escape Unity. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why Ubuntu decided to develop Unity. It made no sense.

Read more »

How To Fix Samba “File Inaccessible…” Error in Ubuntu Linux

Posted by Phil Kohler on April 26, 2011 9 comments

I’ve transfered roughly 5TB of content onto this server before setting up my Samba shares and have been adding to it since then. Regardless of which device I access my server from, I run into the same problem with all of the content I added after creating my Samba shares. When I try to access that content, I get an error message reading “media source or file is not accessible”. I use my Boxee Box heavily and confronting this issue when I’m just sitting down to relax and watch a movie is an experience I’m not exactly open to.

Read more »

Installing Pogoplug Software On Ubuntu 10.10 Server Through Gnome

Posted by Phil Kohler on April 23, 2011 1 comments

The Pogoplug has management software for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux that allow you to mount the drives you have connected to the Pogoplug as if those drives were physically attached to your PC. This software works well with Windows and Mac OS however, it is somewhat problematic with Linux. Here I will document the installation and configuration of this software.

Read more »

Digital Storage Crisis

Posted by Phil Kohler on March 13, 2011 3 comments

I am literally in the midst of a storage crisis and while I might hope for there to be a cloud with a silver lining, the reality is that there are several clouds with silver linings that I can march off towards and the problem is that I must now decide which avenue to pursue.

Read more »

Considering Personal Cloud Options

Posted by Phil Kohler on March 10, 2011 1 comments

ll of this aside, the most common question I’m asked when I start rambling on about this topic with people is “what exactly is a personal cloud?”. Many media outlets often refer to the cloud in very ambiguous terms and often get the idea of a personal cloud completely wrong. The odd thing is that a personal cloud is a surprisingly simple concept: a personal cloud allows you to make your files, as well as some hardware such as a printer, accessible to you wherever you go where you will have access to the internet. It’s as simple as that.

Read more »