So people were asking what I've been up to. In short, new toys for my Nokia 770, HD upgrades for my HTPC, and some work on my other site. Read on for more details.

So .. got the tax documents from the first Linux on Power contest. And they screwed up (again.. anyone surprised? Me either. So first they can pocket a cool $500 per contestant, and NOW they get to write it off as a contest winning.. way to go asshats.) Read on for the details.

Posted from my new toy. More to follow soon. For now, suffice it to say that data entry methods kinda suck and its got some bugs, but mostly it rocks.

So, most of you probably won't care, or aren't paying attention, but I have been waiting for quite some time for this announcement from Nokia. Now all I need is pricing...

I'm just busy. Got a job and while its very little like 'what I do' (its apache admin) it does pay the bills. Also, I'm getting back into embedded development -- now that I'm out from under those former "friends" and their NDA I can publish again. (Wow.. I spent a year getting poor and falling behind in my field while not learning anything new. Thanks a lot, "friend".) So first new release is here - some notes on building OpenZaurus under OE on an OSX box. (Don't worry - my kernel and my tivo are still irritating me too, so I'll be covering all the old stomping grounds again.) Oh, and I sold the first mac. So no more offers ;)

So I'm back from diving in the Bahamas. (I can't recommend Xanadu highly enough. Nor can I find words to properly express my disgust with the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach and RCI Vacations. Enough of that here, more below if you want the quick version.

In other, more pressing news, I'm unemployed again.(It comes down to not working for a friend unless that friend is an experienced manager.) So if anyone needs an experienced systems designer, programmer, systems administrator, manager (of most/all of the above) or lead, etc, let me know. Must be near/in DC or Baltimore, or involve some/all remote work. Travel is fine, sales-support is not (I hate lying to customers more than necessary.) So.... tag me.. I'll put my resume up here when its finished.

So .. I got most of the way done with my Tivo patch, then I got to betatest this (thanks Anonymous!) and compare it to mine, etc. It works, go use it. And its not mine (for that matter, except for confirming it works on my boxes, I didn't even contribute.) So I haven't got any worries as far as the legalities, or as far as my employer is concerned (here's a tip: always -always- ask about the NDA/Noncompete/etc before accepting the job.)

In other news, LinuxOnPower just mailed to say I just won another G5. Yep. IBM rules. So umm.. anyone wanna buy a slightly used G5? ;) Maybe they won't screw this one up and I'll be able to give them some good press. (I was hoping for them to do something useful like port MOL or make sound work, but I'll settle for delivering the correct prize in a timely manner..)

There is a new contest, worldwide this time. AND they specified the Mac model number. (Smart.) So unless you are in Quebec, go register and get porting!

So I got the G5. The contest rules said it was valued at $2500, but they sent me the significantly-less-useful $2000 model. (Only 4 dimm slots instead of 8, 256M instead of 512, 80G drive instead of 160, slower FSB, etc etc. All the models are listed on the Terrasoft page.) Until I find out whats up with that, I'm leaving it mostly alone (if I have to ship it back, it'll be a lot easier to redo OSX real quick than to have to clean up a YDL install. And as it is now, even that might not be necessary..)

Grr. Its not hard people, just do what you are contracted to. This sort of thing really gets me mad.

So I got an update (finally) from the contest people. My G5 will be here no later than Friday. Yay! In other news, the 'big project' I've been planning is to work on G5 support either for OpenOffice (under MacOSX) or to get MacOnLinux working on the G5. Unfortunately, the primary MoL developer has been MIA since about August of last year. And I can't find a good G4->G5 porting doc anywhere (the x86->amd64 docs from AMD are great, but nothing like that seems to exist for Power chips.) If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them...