Sleepy asks : "Are there any open source beer brewing applications available? There are a couple of commercial apps available for Windows, and one for the MacOS, but I haven't found anything which includes the source. I am teaching myself Java programming and would love to learn on a "real" program. I have a "healthy" interest in brewing so this is an especially interesting app. If there is no such thing, yet, would anyone like to team up and write one? I'd prefer to use Java as it's what I'm already learning, and is fairly portable."

Kristin DeAngelis sent me some interesting mail covering some of the hoop-la surronding LinuxWorldExpo. One of the big things to note is that pre-reg time has been extended to Feb. 1-head over to LinuxWorldExpo for more information. And if you're coming head over to booth 1143 to see our smiling mugs, and we'd like to thank Kit Cosper of Linux-HW for sending Rob and I out there-buy stuff and make him happy.

Ladies and Gentleman its that time again. Grab the shot glasses, or the champagne or a beer or a can of jolt and drink to Linux v2.2. Take that drink when you type 'make zImage' (or bzImage if you are so moved) and remember all the hackers that made it happen.

Martin Hock writes " This guy, Steve Gibson, who is phat enough to write everything in assembly language, but not phat enough to run Linux, has created a nifty freeware (beer, not speech) program for Windoze called Free & Clear that demos the way Microsoft's ClearType "may" work by employing color fringing. Only interesting if you have a color LCD display, or possibly if you have an extremely precise aperture grill. On my Libretto, it's pretty funky fresh. He claims that it works with Virtual PC, but I'd be impressed if someone got it to work under Wine, because we all know how much X loves fonts... I've given it a quick spin with the Non-Emulator myself and it looks trashy. " Is anyone up to porting this bugger? The page is excellent because it explains all sorts of interesting things about the technology in question, including the fact that it has been around for 22 years longer than Microsoft seems to want us to believe.

When I put out my call for Geek Christmas Gift ideas, I had no idea what I was in for. But after the storm of email that followed was washed away, I was left with a list of toys that any geek would be excited to give or get this year for whatever holiday it is you celebrate this time of year. Hit the link below and read the list if you're curious.

Well I did this last year, and the among the best things I got was a gigantic floppy disk, and a box full of dead hard drives. It was just so much fun that I figured I ought to try again this year. If you have cool geek stuff: beer, strange hardware, posters, or anything else that a geek might like as a strange Christmas present, mail it to the address I've posted at the end of this article. I'm gonna post pictures of the coolest stuff. You could even consider this a combo Christmas/Graduation present since my last class is next week thursday *grin*. Now back to the news (Bracing myself for the flames: "This isn't News!")

Jim Gleason writes "Does the idea of hiking the castle-laden hills, caves and medieval hamlets of the German countryside appeal to you? Does the thought of excellent beer preserve your good mood for days? Do you think that Linux rules? Well, Electric Lichen L.L.C. is organizing a week-long trip called Linuxbierwanderung, "The Linux Beer Hike." Scheduled for August 1999, Linux users will hike the hills of northern Bavaria to learn Linux on their laptop computers and visit the local brewpubs. Experts in Linux and the Bavarian outdoors will teach classes to the hikers during the day and enjoy the local pub scene in the evening. " People can subscribe to the mailing list via the Web Page which is also archived. Linux, Beer, and Nature. 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

the ISDN line is working. We moved to a different neighborhood just so we could get some bandwidth. Between ISDN line problems (courtesy of the mutants at the telco) and ISP problems, and router config problems (courtesy of everyone and their brother that looked at our router and failed miserably) it was a long painful journey. But a journey that has ended with a house with its own subnet and finally a phone line that doesn't need to be dialed out 24/7. Life is good. Gimme a beer, I've earned it.

Stradivarius wrote in to say "New developments in computing theory suggest that analog computing may be more powerful than its digital counter part. The latest thesis claims that some computational problems can only be solved by analog neural networks. Since neural networks are essentially analog computers, the work suggests, on a theoretical level, that analog operations are inherently more powerful than digital."

I'm face with a terrible dilema: I acquired a new scanner, PCMCIA SCSI controller, configured SANE, and wrote code to handle automated image uploading and attaching to Slash stories. All of these need testing. And I have this stack of pictures that we took of our old house before we moved last July. So click the link below to view a truckload of jpegs, plus my descriptions, of the place affectionately known as GH1.0. Really, this won't be of any interest whatsoever except to the handful of you who visited the place, but some of you may want to come along for the ride.

Ego writes "I've been searching high and low for the past year for a good business accounting package for Linux. Currently, my father runs an in-house beer and winemaking supply store, and since about five years ago, we've been using Peachtree Accounting for Windows. I'm looking to upgrade all the computers in the house network from windows to Linux, and this is the one obvious thing that we cannot live without..." True. I wonder how many other shops could use something like this? Click below for more...

Matt Allen writes "Ok, if you've ever wanted to know what beer looks like under a microscope go here. It really is pretty cool..." Beer makes a good desktop background image.

Last night I wrote this. It was really really late. I guess that I really can't do much beyond apologize. I started writing at around 1:30am after grabbing a Pop Tart and a glass of milk. It's strange what follows when you type 'vi poptarts.txt' hit the carriage return, and just start typing whatever comes to your mind.

Sean McPherson wrote in to say that issue #32 of the Linux Gazette is now out. Several folks wrote in to say that the very geeky/very funny User Friendly comic strip has moved. New domain. New design. And it's funny too. I had a submission about a web site that featured the destruction of Beanie Babies, but whoever sent it in forgot the URL. Someone should definately post it in the comments if they know it. I'm all for destruction of beanie babies. Finally, you should go to this page and click on product information. It's just something funny for those of us who've read far to much badly translated tech stuff. This one takes the cake. sunDevil for sending it in. Apparently I get 72 magic powers if I buy their mobo? I can't tell. Last hit the link below to read a batch of misc. notes from todays Slashdot code changes.

deathcat writes "This is an article on the eating habits of geeks and prop-heads. I got the link from this really cool newsletter Netsurfer Digest ." Add me to the list of unhealthy nerds. My groceries consist of 4 2 liters of mtn dew, a few microwavable pizzas, crackers, juice, a few cases of beer, M&Ms, chips, macaroni and cheese, and hamburger helper. I figure I've got at least a week to live.

Paul Tomblin sent us a link that the truly hardcore amongst us will appreicate. This apparently is the server in their apartment. Very high tech. You can see a this picture or a closeup Paul describes it as "a Rolling Rock beer case, with the motherboard and "guts" inside the box, and a Cable Modem on top, all suspended from the ceiling of the basement with chains. " This is almost as cool as the PC-in-a-fridge we posted a few months back.

Matthew S. Wood writes "StampedeLinux is having a few legal problems. Basicly, Stampede Technologies Inc. is threatening to sue StampedeLinux, due to Logo, Tradename, and domain infringements. Are there any lawyers out there that could draft a response letter for us? We don't really have any money now, and therefore cannot afford a lawyer. We have already started the process for changing our name to StampedeLinux, to avoid the trade name infringment. We feel that the logo is different enough, and that the domain name is also not a problem... help? :) "

Matthew Miller has written in to express his concerns over GnuHoo- the web link tracking project that we posted last week. The issue is use of the term 'GNU' in their name- when in fact their project is all proprietary software. Hit the link below to read what Matthew has to say about it. When I saw the site, I assumed the source would be made available: In fact, I wanted to install a copy over here to track the links from old articles. Read the following very carefully. Update GnuHoo has now been redirected to NewHoo. I'm glad to see the Right Thing done. Best of luck to everyone involved with NewHoo.

Last night I left my shallow world of poof chairs, laptops and beer to go view not one, but two movies. I watched The X-Files, as well as Mulan (those who know me, realize the significance of a new Disney Movie in my life *grin*). If there is demand, I'll post a review of Mulan (the short review, is it greatly exceeded my expectations. Very fun). In the meantime, Hit the link below to read my X-Files review.

DJ Delorie writes " Hey, a MIPS-based robo-puppy! I wonder if we can get Linux to run (pounce?) on it? Definitely one for the wish list." They don't have pictures, but its basically a standard that Sony is trying to get together for a robo-fad. I'm not sure what I'd do with such a device, but programming one to fetch beer would be nice.