Save Our Balls!

This is a follow up article to yesterday's about Bucky Balls. I signed up for their newsletter and this was the image the email had:

The learn more link goes to a new page about how the CPSC is busting our balls and that Bucky Balls is going to "fight hard to keep our products on the market... and our balls in your hands." There is also a video on this page which explains things further out. All in all though, great video with some great truths in it.
Magnets and other "deadly" products are not the problem. Irresponsible people are the problem.
And also, I strongly encourage, as the video suggests, to stick it to the CPSC and buy some balls, or cubes.

~Captain Steak

Bucky Balls

Yes, this is a post all about balls. Big balls, regular balls, gold balls, black balls, purple balls, green balls, pink balls, the list goes on.
If you have not heard of Bucky Balls, is that a comfy rock you have been living under?
In a nut shell, these balls are a rare earth magnet that are marketed as an adult product, or not intended for kids. Despite this fact, kids still play with them. Big surprise there. Since we also live in a society that enjoys placing blame on anything except the actual cause, Bucky Balls is now getting sued. The reason? Irresponsible parents that let their kids play with these balls and then swallow them.
This is the state that the USA is in now. We encourage irresponsibility while also the Government is supposedly protecting our interests.
What is Bucky Balls response to all of this? In a word: Pissed.
If you go here, you can read a press release of theirs.
Also at the top of this page is a great paragraph which I will share here:

You might have heard there's a problem with our products... 

THIS IS NOT TRUE.

A government agency (the Consumer Product Safety Commission) is saying they should be recalled because children occasionally get ahold of them. This is unfair. We market exclusively to adults. We are vigorously defending our right to market these products you love. Let us know how you feel about this: Comment on Facebook; send a tweet; tell your friends; complain loudly; or just buy a set to stick it to the CPSC. Read more here.

End Quote

And go figure, there is a petition to fight the CPSC.
If you go to Bucky Balls site, you can find out even more information about this. Personally, I side with them on this issue. This is a product that is marketed for adults. This is a product that has, I believe, 5 warning labels on the actual package. This is just a great example of why should we watch what our kids do? We don't want to be responsible for shit. Welcome to the USA, here is your summons.

~Captain Steak

You just never know

High school is always a fun time. You meet a whole bunch of people. You get some friends. You lose contact with some people. You just never know what might happen to some people. While browsing through Facebook, I noticed someone shared a link to an EP called Lines. After going to this site, I find out that this EP is done by Jane Marczewski. This a woman that was a couple grades behind me in high school. You just never know what people might do after high school.

Anyway. follow that site and you can download her new EP for free and also tip her some money if you like. Personally, I knew from high school that she had an amazing voice and passion for music. Now that she is slowly breaking out onto the music scene, it is rather incredible to think about. Enough from me, now go listen and download her EP. Captain's orders.

EP Download Site and also her Facebook page

~Captain Steak

Declaration of Internet Freedom

This is exactly what it sounds like. A declaration stating that we have rights and that our interwebz should be free. I was going to explain this out more, but the FreePress.net email I recieved has a email template for sharing. This does a lot better job of detailing it, complete with a link so you can sign it as well. Enjoy.

"Dear Friend,
People in power are making political decisions behind closed doors about how the Internet should operate — and they’re doing this without the involvement of actual Internet users.

The result: bills like SOPA and CISPA that could close down the open Internet and destroy our freedom to connect.

It’s time for us to reclaim the Internet. It’s time to declare our Internet freedom.

Lawmakers around the world must stand with us to protect the open Internet. And Internet users must be involved — from the start — in shaping policies that affect our experience online.

Add your signature to the Declaration of Internet Freedom today. Then tell the world why the open Internet matters to you.
http://act.freepress.net/sign/internetdeclaration/?source=confirmation
"




Captain Steak

The missing link(s)

The Captain has become aware of a need. Many people are searching and searching for items and can never quite find them. These elusive missing link(s) could be hard to find. However, The Captain is here to solve these problems. The Captain has scoured the High Seas of the Internet and found several missing link(s) to share with you. These links are for a variety of purposes. News sites, other awesome blogs, Linux cheats, Geeking out, and on and on. So without further ado, other than this ado, I present to you the missing link(s). If you would like something added to this list, comment or message me, and The Captain will review your choice.

ThinkGeek provides for all your geeky habits. Slashdot is user submitted news links for a broad spectrum of interests but mostly Technology related news. Sourceforge and Freecode are databases of open source software. Sourceforge is for more general systems and Freecode is more specific to just Linux.

Next is Geekologie. This is a general blog written by GW. He may seem a bit off, but he is pretty awesome and shares a ton of interesting articles. And some of the stuff he may do while drunk. Sorry, had to GW. Most of the articles are geeky happenings or just some really cool videos. All in all, really awesome.

For some good geeky laughs, there is xkcd. This is a web comic that is posted three times a week and always provides for a good laugh. Also, watch out for the red spiders.

For even more laughs, Reddit exists. The front page of the Internet has comedy in all forms and is a special place to see. Just visit and enjoy is all I can say.

Another good news site, with some reviews and other stuff, is Tom's Hardware. This is also a network of sites. There are sites for guides on how to do stuff. A site to help find stuff cheap. A site for just general news. Provides some good information.

Another good humor site, as well as information about projects he cares about, check out George Takei. He also has Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest. Links on his site for those. Tons of great humor. And also just great to see how much he is involved with Allegiance and various other projects. It's ok to be Takei!

Now about open source. For too long people have been paying for software that they don't need to. Enter osalt. Select a catagory then it provides a long list. First are the commercial products, ie the ones you pay for. After this it provides a list of open source alternatives that get the job done for free.

Another good site to know is MakeUseOf. This site provides several cheat sheets and how to guides on a variety of topics, as well as general reviews about techy items and such. They also provide lists and lists of the best software or plugins for different programs. All of which have been reviewed by them. They even have some geek humor out there too. Oh and lots of giveaways.

And then if you are worrying about viruses, worry no more Avast! is here to save the day. They provide free anti-virus for all the OSes out there. There is even an upgrade option to pay for some extras, but the free version does just fine.

Now onto the big one that didn't almost get away. Linux, or more specifically Ubuntu, is a great OS that for some reason people just don't get or have an unnatural fear of. If you are just new to the Linux world, the Captain suggests starting off with Ubuntu.

This is a good basic OS for beginners and the advanced users. There are also several websites that provide some good information about Ubuntu. For a quite thorough guide, there is Ubuntu Guide. Provides specific how to's of various areas of Ubuntu. If you want to keep up with Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu, this is his personal blog. For general happenings and news about Ubuntu, check out OMG! Ubuntu.

Enough about Ubuntu. Maybe you want to try another version of Linux but don't know which one to try. Check out DistroWatch. Name a flavor and they have information about it, as well as links to even more information.

Now you know some stuff about Ubuntu and Linux and you hear you can do things in the terminal window. But you are still confused about the commands. Enter SS64. This is for the bash shell commands, but they also have some other command lists as well.

Too much work, time to have fun. For some good flash games, check out Ninja Kiwi and Game in a Bottle. Both are smaller developers that produce some fantastic games. For a more general site that uploads all sorts of games, there is Armor Games. Search for games done by John, like Achievement Unlocked. Always a good time.

What about listening to musick? Pandora is wonderful Internet radio. You enter a few bands and it plays musick similar to what you entered. You either thumb up or down new songs which then helps Pandora to suggest other musick choices for you. The Captain's Station is where you can find all sorts of musick that I listen too. Too long to list them all.

That about wraps this list up for right now. Again, if you know of anything to be added, comment or message me and I will review the site.

~Captain Steak

The Cola Wars

I am not going to tell you which cola is better, or that this cola is more awesome than that one. Instead, take a look at the most recent ads of Pepsi and Coke. Which company would you rather support?

Seriously though, which of these companies would you rather support? Personally, Coke is a much better choice. One company shows the good things that people surprisingly still do. The other shows how hard you have to work to get their product. Coke's current motto is "Open Happiness". Pepsi's is "where there is pepsi, there is" insert something here. What more could be said?

Captain Steak

Marri Age for all

So, when it comes to certain issues, I have no problem stating my mind. Will it piss people off? Possibly. Does The Captain care? Not a damn bit.
My thoughts on equality: Why the hell are we squabbling over meaningless issues? Marriage should be for any couple that is in love. This could be a man and a man, a man and a woman, or a woman and a woman. As I have seen several people post and say, "What will these protestors look like in 50 some years? What will we remember about them?" For a good reference, just think back when the minorities stood up for equality, mainly the African Americans. Looking back at that whole fiasco, many state that we were idiots for fighting over that for so long. How is this any different? This is after all the Home of the Free, ain't it? Why are we one of the last nations to make this law?
I am in full support of Equal Marriage for All. This article provides an interesting take on the issue that may make you change your mind.
As a final note, consider Clint Eastwood's sentiments on this issue:
"These people who are making a big deal about gay marriage?
I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody
else! Why not?!
We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a
deal out of. Just give everybody the chance to have the life
they want."

~Captain Steak

Yay for Geeks!

Saw this and thought I would share. If you are wondering, The Captain does not fit into just one of these molds. The Captain fits into many.

~Captain Steak



Source: BCO

Ubuntu

As many of you may or may not know, I have a huge fondness for Ubuntu. Every six months a new Ubuntu version is released. After each release there is a summit to discuss the next version and the next set of features. Before this summit, people are able to pick the brain of Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu. The questions were intriguing, but to my mind this question stood out the most. The answer to it is just more reason to love Ubuntu. Ubuntu is here to build our future. Also, follow the questions link to read the rest of the Q&A session.

~Captain Steak

Q: What do you think about Windows 8? Have you tried it? Do you think that it is a big chance for Ubuntu?

Mark: I admire some of the gutsy choices microsoft are making.
It’s difficult for them, and they are doing some things very well
credit where it is due.
We are not here because we hate anybody else.
We’re here because we have a vision of a future only we can create.
Nobody else is trying to create that – not Microsoft(!), not Google, not Red Hat, not Debian, not Arch
so, it’s up to us to build that future: free, supportable, beautiful
 and your help is much appreciated.


 

Time for some reviews

This past month I have had the pleasure of playing, reading, and watching something that was incredible.
First up is the playing. My fiance has a friend who happens to be a programmer. He recently released his very first game, Omegalodon. Check out the link for the description of the game. My take on the game is that it's a uniquely original concept. The controls are fairly basic and the objective easy. Overall, the game can provide for long hours of enjoyment. If you have not yet played it, why not?

The reading is a trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. The books are incredible reads and very engrossing. After taking a few days to get through the first one, I then finished the last two in a mater of a couple of days. There is action, comedy, tragedy, romance, and the Capitol. The books were nothing short of amazing. If you have not yet read them, why not?

The watching is the movie that is based off of the first book of the above trilogy. Before going into the movie, I read up on some facts about the movie. It had shattered box office records just at the midnight premiere. The movie's opening weekend went on to shatter even more records. The theatre I want to still has it playing on four screens despite having opened over three weeks ago. So is this just hype or is the movie that great?

You don't need to read the book first, but the book does help explain some things in the movie. The movie itself was mind-blowing. I will not go into detail of the movie as I do not want to spoil anything. But the movie is worth every penny. It might be over two hours long, but by the time it's over it feels only like an hour. The movie just draws you in and makes you feel everyone's pain. If you have not yet seen it, why not?

~May the odds be ever in your favor.

~Captain Steak