I am looking forward to working with Rick on future presentations in the area, whether I’m able to attend or not.  If anyone else in the LoCo is interested in presenting or has any questions, please let us know on the mailing list.

Here are a few pictures of the venue, and Rick’s setup.

Rick Schwai from our own Ubuntu Wisconsin Local Community had an interview with WXPR regarding his upcoming presentation, “Introduction To Ubuntu.”  Above is the sound clip from WXPR, where Rick got a little more than a minute of airtime giving a brief introduction to Ubuntu, giving listeners taste of what they can see on October 3rd.  If you’re in the area and find this interesting, we hope to see you there.  I’ll be there, with a nice stack of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS CDs to hand out to anyone who attends.

Stop on by:

When: Mon, 03 Oct. 2011 18:30 – 19:30 CDT

Where: Rhinelander District Library

Why: Introduction to Ubuntu

Let me know if you have any questions, and we hope to see you there!

xkcd: Workaround

Now, I don’t profess to be a coding master leet hacker guru.  I do, however, understand that there are a few things that could definitely be more optimized with this code below.  Sure, it will work.  Sure, it should have the correct and desired outcome, but there are a few ways to do things a bit differently.  In something small, it’s not going to have a huge impact.  Do this a few dozen unnecessary times, and you may have issues.

Professional coders, this post may be of no use to you, or maybe it’s a nice refresher on some coding style.

We’re going to break down a small block of code I recently saw.  Granted, this is psuedocode, but you get the point of what was actually happening:

int $theStart = 0;
for ($theStart=2012; $theStart < 2028; $theStart++)
{
//do some operation (2028-2012 times)
}

First  off, you’re hardcoding limits into your forloop. Don’t do this, it makes babies cry.  To make this more flexible, I recommend variables declared at the top of the class/function/whatever-block-is-currently-in-scope with some lower and upperbound that is easily identifiable.

Remember this line?

int $theStart = 0;

Well, you’re re-declaring the variable the next line. That’s just silly.

for ($theStart=2012;  $theStart < 2028; $theStart++)

Because you’re re-declaring $theStart here, we’re going to combine that with the declared lowerbound and upperbound into this:

int $lowerBound = 2012;
int $upperBound = 2028;
for (int $i=$lowerBound; $i < $upperBound; $i++)
{
//do some operation ($lowerBound - $upperBound times)
}

You can probably see that it may be one more extra line of actual code, but here’s an explanation of why this is better.

• We’re avoiding re-declaring an already declared variable
• Easily identifying upperBound and lowerBound variables, if you need to change them later, resuse this code for anything else, adjust this class/block/function to take in upperBound and lowerBound as arguments, etc
• Makes the code easier to work with using the temporary variable i inside the forloop, instead of worrying about changing theNumber. Granted, theNumber‘s actual value won’t change outside of this forloop (scope, kids!), but it still won’t be as confusing.

Take what you want out of this, perhaps it’ll help some code out there be better, stronger, run faster, and jump higher.  Also, try using your right hand to scratch your right ear.

Before you start:

Keep in mind that sanitation is important; sanitize all of your equipment (I suggest vinegar, do not use soap), and make sure you keep your hands clean.

I read a few different recipes before deciding to start my own, so please do your research beforehand and make sure you’re safe!  If I’ve missed anything, feel free to let me know.  I cannot responsible for anything you may do wrong, so please do your own research to make sure you’re safe.

I obtained a starter SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) from a gentleman at work (Thanks, Brad!).

Here’s what you need:

• 1 gallon spring water (room temperature)
• 5 bags organic green tea
• 1.5 cups pure cane sugar
• 1 meal pot (for boiling water)
• 1 gal glass cookie jar (important that’s glass)
• 1 plastic ladle (no metal, please!)
• 1 jar of starter Kombucha (you can use a cup of Kombucha and a SCOBY from a previous batch, or get some from a friend, or use some from Kombucha you’ve purchased)

Here’s how I did it:

1. Boil 1qt water in the metal pot
2. Add 1.5 cups sugar, dissolve
3. Turn heat off, add 5 tea bags
4. Steep for 15 minutes, then discard tea bags
5. Remove from stove and let cool to room temp (consider leaving overnight)
6. Combine starter Kombucha, 1 qt tea, and remaining room temperature spring water into the 1 gal glass cookie jar
7. Cover with a porous cloth, and use a rubber-band to keep it fastened around the top of the cookie jar
8. Let sit on the counter for 7-14 days at room temperature
9. Separate the new SCOBY (that will have grown on top of the old SCOBY), and put it into a new jar, along with 1 cup of the brewed tea (you’ve just made your own starter batch!)
10. Strain the Kombucha, and enjoy!  Please don’t store in metal or plastic containers; use glass.

Here is my first starter batch as a result of my first gallon of Kombucha.  The white stuff is the SCOBY that grew on top of my jar, which I will use for my next batch.

So, I got a haircut today and had about an hour long discussion with my barber about all sorts of topics.  We touched subjects varying from the new iPad, different upcoming technologies, and we ended up talking about operating systems.

I am finding myself being a smidge reserved when it comes to talking about Ubuntu, I don’t want to be “that guy,” (read: evangelist) but I do not hesitate to like to let people know that there exist free (libre, beer) alternatives to the software they’re used to.

We began talking and Ubuntu came into conversation, and, as per the usual, common questions did arise.  I felt he asked questions any responsible consumer would, and I wasn’t surprised as to his reaction to its (Ubuntu, and GNU/Linux in general) existence.

He asked me a few questions like:

• Why is it safer? No viruses?
• How is this free?
• What is “Open Source?”
• How do I get it?

One thing that is important to keep in mind when doing an Ubuntu Hour is that you should be prepared to answer questions like these accurately (or as accurately as you can, it’s okay to tell someone you’re not entirely sure).  I’d get into possible answers, but that would take a long time to write in a single post, and there are other explanations on the internet that are probably far better than I would be at explaining them.

He did seem generally intrigued and frustrated with his current setup, and liked the idea of “it” in general.  Of course, I could have gone into greater detail about a lot of things, but it’s important to know when to stop.  One thing that I will do next time I’m in for a haircut (or have spare time to run across the road; that’s all the farther away it is from my room on campus) is bring him a LiveCD to try out.  Maybe he’ll like it, maybe it won’t, but at least he is aware of an alternative.

You never know when an opportunity may arise and when you can make a difference, so be prepared.