Digital Fruit Blog

Giving it a Second Go

2012-02-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

Okay, now last year I tried to drum up interest in the DF Con idea, and that fell flat on its face. Not because their wasn't interest, but because I couldn't get facilities, and we didn't have enough content to warrant a convention. This year I'm hoping to change all of that. I'm roughly setting a date for early July, and we'll see how things go from there. We already have more stuff ready for this year, so lets hope things work out for the best.

Giving Up Facebook

2012-02-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

I just got a message today from an old friend via Facebook. He said he was quiting Facebook and gave me his phone number and email. I called and talked with him for a while, and brought up the subject of why he was leaving the social network. His response was simple enough, he'd had enough, of the privacy issues and drama, not something new to gripe about in the world of blue and white. What did hit me was how easy it was for him. He had no problem with it at all, just left, no questions asked.

Which seems complete anti-thesis to idea that social networking is becoming an essential part of our culture. I began to realize that as far as personally and business wise, I could drop Facebook, too, and never really give it a second thought. I don't really use it all that much. So, think about that to yourself, how important is a social network to you?

(Working Title) Titanic

2012-01-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

So, I'm working up a new multi-player game, and I'm in need of help to come up with more meat on its bones. So far, the idea is just a working demo for showing off at the Digital Fruit LAN parties, and if the game gets to completion soon, it will probably be given away as a prize for the victors at tournaments (of other games, of course).

Main premise so far, the Titans: Giant monolithic dragon deities aligned with the force of nature they control, or reek havoc on. Your goal, ally yourself with your chosen deity and fight to bring about its will, or defend it's morals against assailants. Includes as playable characters: monster races, barbarians, holy knights(Paladin and Templar), undead, and forest dwellers. Also working on a race of nomadic drifters, but that may or may not make it in.

Any suggestions are welcome, criticism is not. This project is already underway, and telling me it contrite and cliché will not change how it goes. Thank you for participating.

Problems for Linux Numbers (But Not Really)

2012-01-26T11:39:00.000-08:00

I was checking the statistics of this very blog yesterday through blogger, and I noticed something strange. The number of Linux users that visits the blog has gone down. Now, this only perplexed me for a moment, as the answer to the puzzle was also right in front of my eyes, but what do think was the cause?

Well, the cause is that Blogger's statistics are now counting Ubuntu as a seperate and distinct operating system. And as I see it, this can only benefit the Linux community as a whole. Yes, it does mean there might be some naming confusion, like how people think Android is different from Linux, but all in all, it means enough people are using a Linux product to set it apart from the nearly thousands of Linux distributions floating around out there.

Now mind you, this is mostly an opinion piece, but it is the opinion of someone who isn't a Linux user on principal, but because it actually does what I need it to better than the competition. And Ubuntu is something that the more attention it gets, the better it gets. So, as I said, I think this is a good sign for the Linux community that Ubuntu is getting recognized as a separate system. Maybe it will get people over the stigma of "using Linux".

Small Business Seminar

2012-01-25T23:13:00.000-08:00

Digital Fruit is working on setting up a small business seminar sometime in the near future. The seminar will cover free or low cost technologies to help small businesses grow. The admittance fee will be twenty dollars.

Digital Fruit Stands against SOPA & PIPA

2012-01-18T19:09:00.001-08:00

Along with the blackout of Wikipedia, the blackout doodle on Google.com, and Mozilla's remarks on the Firefox homepage, I would like Digital Fruit to be counted with the rest of our internet allies in the fight against the horrible legislation standing before congress and the senate. These two bills, SOPA & PIPA, strive to seg a legal standard that practically screams of George Orwell's 1984. These bills aren't about copyright violations, they are about the control of ghe flow of information. They establish a system where a select few get to decide what is and what isn't on the internet, without the consent of the people. That is the kind of oppression this country was founded to prevent. Don't just sit by and let it happen again.

So, I would prompt you, if you are a resident of Aberdeen, or anywhere in the United States, contact your state representative, and tell them to vote NO on both the SOPA and PIPA.

LAN Party Tomorrow

2012-01-13T23:57:00.001-08:00

LAN party tomorrow, at 8:30pm. Be there or be square.

Product Pick: QR Code Reader

2012-01-12T02:37:00.000-08:00

So, I'm not going to waste a lot of time here, because there is definitely a lot of time to waste. There are so many QR code readers out there, and all of them seem to think you need this amazing plethora of features you will never use. That in mind, my pick automatically goes to Google Goggles.

This lightweight and easy to use QR reader is the fastest I've seen. I tried it out against the Best Buy product reader app, and QR Droid, the two previous android readers I used, and neither could hold a candle to it. Its just amazingly fast. Which is great when you're trying to read a QR code on the fly.

Also, the Google Goggles app has an added feature that actually made my reader experience more secure. From what I've read, there is only one other major market reader that has this feature, but Goggles actually previews what the web address is that you are being taken to, so you can actually check it out and make sure it isn't some seed place that will infect your phone with malware

So overall, the Google Goggles app gets a five fruit rating, because it was an amazing improvement over the garbage I had to suffer through before.

Working on Our Presence

2012-01-07T23:27:00.000-08:00

So, this is a quick request to the people who visit here. We at Digital Fruit are trying to increase our web presence, and could use the help of any of our readers. I know its sneaky, but we are trying to up the number of hits we get on the Digital Fruit website, so if it isn't a nuisance, make http://www.digitalfruit.biz your homepage. Thanks

Bad Signs

2012-01-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

So, I've been paying attention and doing some research, and also some remembering. I've been remembering two singular events in US history, that may have just been related.

Now, its hard to argue the point anymore that video games are the high point of entertainment, and that they are usually the first things cut when people can't afford something new. That just sounds like common sense.

But what happens when people can't afford things like video games over the course of a long period of time? The industry sags. And that is exactly what happened in the early eighties in the US. I think its happening again. There are a lot of symptoms that match up, so you might not even expect. A resurgence in PC gaming for one. And the seeming "health" of the current gaming industry, where just about anyone can be a developer. All of these are similar to the gaming crash of 82.

New Year

2012-01-02T23:24:00.000-08:00

So the new year has begun, and that means its time for resolutions. And Digital Fruit has as a few of it's own this year, too.

For the year 2012, Digital Fruit plans to complete the Digital Fruit radio to version 1.0, and get it's first java-based game up on the video games page. We will also get the shop up and running and get our first retail offerings up on the site. So, look forward to it.

LCD Scandal "Resolved"

2011-12-28T02:01:00.000-08:00

So, somehow I missed the boat on this one, but apparently there have been accusations slung around that the major manufacturers of LCD screens, on everything from cell phones to televisions, have been colluding for years to artificially drive up the cost of LCD screens in a bid to make themselves more money without actually having to work.

I found this out today as I overheard a radio broadcast suggesting to listeners to check into a settlement that may get them a partial refund on their LCD-screened product, so I decided to look into it.

So, as the story goes, in and around 1999 at least seven major LCD producing companies banded together to form an alliance to insure that they could control the price of LCD screens and charge as much as they liked (here, here, and here). They referred to the near 60 meetings as the "Crystal Meetings" (here). This sounds way too ridiculously spy-movie for my comfort, almost enough to make one paranoid.

In 2006, they either disbanded or got caught, I'm not sure which, the details about everything get fuzzy around here, but by 2008, there were complaints being lodged in US courts (here).

Overall, this really makes me nervous as a consumer. I'm not really complaining that much over the price gouging, thats something that corporations are notorious for. I'm worried over the fact that so many of the players in the industry were involved. There were seven who settled, but there are many more that haven't, and are fighting against the system. Things like this are definitely causes to the global recession, and we can't have any more of this.

Search Reality

2011-12-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share some of the humor I see in analytics numbers for all of you tech geeks out there interested in the business side of things. This graph, taken from the analytics of our own website, I feel accurately reflect how search really works online:

I mean, do you really use Bing or Yahoo? I know I haven't been on either of those sites for months, at least. I mean, hell, Linux use has a larger piece of the pie.

Welcome Back!

2011-12-26T00:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome back one and all. Did you have a merry Christmas? Good. And have a happy New Year, too.

But on that note, I'd like to let you Digital Fruit Fans in on a little secret: Digital Fruit celebrates the twelve days of Christmas, so we will be continuing on with our holiday celebrations and retail sales until the sixth of January.

So Merry second day of Christmas, and have another cup of eggnog, this is going to be a long one.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Just taking a couple of minutes to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Ah, USB Experiments

2011-12-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

So, I being the geek I am, picked up a USB experiment interface, and have been enjoying the process of putting it together. Its one of those kits you pick up at Radio Shack, and put together on your own. A very high tech hobby kit, like the old computers used to be.

Anyways, I've finished assembling the thing, and I got to try it out on my computer the other day. It works wonderfully. Every part of the card works exactly as it should, so I know I at least have decent skills when it comes to soldering parts together.

But now comes the really fun part. Now that I'm done with test the card with demo programs provided with its SDK, I get to write my own software to utilize this thing and its inputs and outputs. A whole world of possibilities awaits, all at my disposal. Guess I better get busy then.

Klout

2011-12-20T03:51:00.000-08:00

I found out about a new service the other day that I'm still not sure about. Just like FourSquare and its potential for violating privacy, Klout.com has a potential to really piss people off.

The idea of Klout.com is that everyone has clout within their community, and this should be recognized with in the online community as well. They give you a score between 0 and 100, and award you with little things as you accomplish goals.

Honestly, its all starting to sound a little formulaic to me. Its the same concept as Four Square, just on line. Log in and make sure everyone knows you're the resident expert at what you talk about.

I'm giving the service a try, but if in a couple of months, I don't get some positive feedback for my actions, I'm probably deleting my profile(which you have to do even if you haven't signed up and don't want Klout to give you a score). So, I'll be back in a couple of months to review, and that will be that.

Did You Forget Chrome OS?

2011-12-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

I remember last year how big a deal everyone and everything seemed to be making over Chrome OS. They were talking about how it would revolutionize the way we compute, and that we would all love and embrace it immediately. Now I know that hindsight is twenty-twenty, but this is just laughable.

I thought the whole idea was terrible from the start. An OS that can't do anything unless you're online? There are so many things that can go horribly wrong with that idea. And yes, I am aware that there are off-line options for some Chrome OS apps.

But the thing that made me laugh the most on this most forgotten "world changing OS" is that there were plenty of people that were saying Android(and here, and here) was only a temporary stop for Google, and they were only using it to get people over to Chrome OS. Yeah, that worked out well.

With the user base of Android sitting nice and pretty, and the user base for Chrome OS nonexistent, I'm pretty sure that Chrome OS was a failed revolution. Honestly, I've heard no news on this system in almost six months.

Next LAN Party

2011-12-11T04:15:00.001-08:00

Okay Digital Fruit fans, our next LAN Party event is the 15 of December. Its this up-coming Thursday, so make sure to mark it on your calender. The game of choice will be Lord of the Rings Online. Its a 7.2 GB download though, with a two hour intro for new characters, so you might want to start this one early.

Um, Confused

2011-12-03T03:40:00.001-08:00

I'd like to say that my confusion was actually short lived, and this story really just made me smile. I order something off of New Egg on Black Friday, and they package arrived yesterday. I opened the box, found a sea of packing peanuts, plunged my hand in to find my prize, and pulled out this:

Ridiculous but true, I received a single package of coffee with my Black Friday splurge. Do you think they were trying to keep me awake? Cause I really don't want to offend them, but I don't drink coffee, I get my caffeine cold from a can of Coca Cola.

A Sad Sad List

2011-12-03T02:19:00.001-08:00

Because this is becoming too much of a problem, I'm listing here a bunch of programs that have been broken by the lax interface compatibility of the Unity desktop environment. I'll also be listing if they work properly in Gnome 3, so if you prefer to stick with certain programs, you'll know if you have a second option.

Well, here's the list:

IBM Lotus Symphony - Works in Gnome 3
Vuze

Aluminum Drive update 2

2011-12-03T00:58:00.001-08:00

So, just a quick mobile post, after yesterday's recycle round-up, we've saved up $50.91 towards electric generating equipment. Thank you one and all for your help with this project so far. We've got about one fourth of our goal for the year, so we hope that you keep going strong with your aluminum donations. I'd like to take the time today to ask you to think of anyone you know, just one person, that may want to particapate in the

Last Post of the Month

2011-11-30T22:55:00.001-08:00

As we come to the close of this November, and the Thanksgiving rush has settled down, we here at Digital Fruit get ready to gear up for the Christmas season. Its something pretty big for us here, we are a media content creator. So that means Christmas specials, Christmas music, and something rather new on the scene, Christmas video games. (Plus all of the written Christmas stuff, too.)

With that in mind, I'm hoping to get blog posts in, but if things get busy, I'm not sure how well I'll do getting all of the typing in. This year I have the benefit of mobile blogging via the Android platform, but even that has its limits. Also, we celebrate the twelve days of Christmas, which means our celebration ends around noon on January sixth. So in case I don't get to you before then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Micro Blogging Spam

2011-11-29T14:59:00.001-08:00

So, would you like me to twitter you? Sounds dirty doesn't it? And that is apparently what a new wave of twitter accounts are hoping for. I'm sure the problem has always existed on Twitter, but I've noticed a vast increase in the number of annoying, porn-related accounts that keep following the Digital Fruit Twitter account. Its really kind of sad.

And unfortunately, this kind of thing is usually a sign of the death of a service like this. When things like porn become an overwhelming dog pile on a service like Twitter, it shows the vast number of people using the service, yes, but it also sends those users fleeing in the thousands. Most decent people don't want to be flooded by porn adds or explicit invitations on a daily basis, and will quit using a service if this is what happens.

Now Digital Fruit has no desire to leave Twitter, I find it a good way to pulse the general flood of information floating around the web, but I can't see the average consumer putting up with this crap. I'd like to petition the nice people at Twitter to put up their best effort in stopping this kind of garbage from overwhelming users.

I would like to say that this article is written based on just my personal experience with Twitter, as there are very few people in my local area that actually use the service. If I'm an isolate incident in this community, I'd like to then make it know that I'm having this problem with Twitter. Does anyone have suggestions for improvement?

Linux Sucking Bad

2011-11-28T02:38:00.001-08:00

So, as I've been bemoaning the current crisis in Ubuntu-land (mainly Unity), I decided to hop on over to another "high-quality" linux distribution, and see how things were going. Oh how disappointed I was. Meego has died. And while I had my back turned, too.

Now, I was a little upset with the death of Moblin, because Moblin was cool, slick looking, and worked well on the hardware it worked on. But then I played around with Meego for a while and found it to be a decent, if slightly unwanted, replacement to Moblin (I had plans to use Moblin as a more user-friendly OS to sell on computers for people who just want to use a computer, not fight with it).

Now, Meego has been replaced with another system, Tizen, and you can't even get a hold of it as an operating system. So, instead of another stable option to Ubuntu and Fedora-core, we are once again left with only two stable users, and only one is really competing in the consumer space. I'm starting to get why some people ditch Linux and go back to Windows and Mac.