86 Words

Following on yesterday’s OSS post, we’re reviewing Bitnami - a site that makes it very easy to try (and use) complex software without the massive configuration hassles normally associated with doing so.

Interested in trying Drupal or Joomla? Maybe you want to develop with JRuby or LAMP?

Bitnami gives you three ways to do it without the hassles! You can choose to install Natively, in a virtual machine appliance (you can use the free VirtualBox to run it), or in the cloud (which isn’t free)

There are a ton of the (very config-heavy) apps available, preconfigured and ready to go!

You can even use the structural stacks for full development, and still without the hassles!

- BitNami.org -

Tags: Gadgets, Just Cool, Virtual, Collections, Reference, Net Life, Life Tips, Geek Stuff, Software, HowTo, Cool Sites, General by Jai
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This is just awesome!

This would come in most handy when building a new system (or rebuilding an old one - a common task for Windows users), but it can be useful even when you just need to install or reinstall some of your standard, vital open source apps.

Just go to Ninite.com, put a checkmark by all of the apps you need to install, and click the button - you’re given a custom installer for those apps - no fuss, no hassle, and best of all, no crapware!

The app list includes most of the great Windows OSS stuff…

When you’re done, click the button and you get all your favorite apps in one download!

Here’s a shot of the installer as it actually performs the installs.

- Ninite.com -

Tags: Just Cool, Gadgets, Collections, Reference, Net Life, Life Tips, Geek Stuff, Software, Cool Sites, General by Jai
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I wanted to let everybody know, 86Words will be a little light on content for the next week or so as I’ll be on the road toward Chicago for my  next assignment This means that I won’t have Internet access for a bit and I’m going to be really tied up for the trip.

Anyway, it’s my normal convention to take pictures of the pals I met before I leave a client, and I got one (or two) that I thought was too great not to share - see below.

My buddy Chris - A Mug Shot

Chris - Side View

Tags: Humor, Reference, Weird, Current Events, Art / Visual, Virtual, General by Jai
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OCR, or Optical Character Recognition has come a long way since it was first attempted. What used to be possible (poorly) only on custom, very expensive equipment, can now be done (better) with a $50 software.

And now it can be done shockingly well at no cost on the web!

I put OnlineOCR.net through it’s paces, and I was pretty impressed!

If you have a news article you would like to convert to text, this may be your best option!

As you can see, I specifically chose an image that had a lot of traditional OCR problems - low resolution, non-white background, some italic, inline images, multi-column, etc.

Considering all of the problems mentioned above that make OCR difficult in this case, the accuracy I got was remarkable! The yellow areas are the mistakes that were made - all three have pretty obvious reasons for having "misread" the text!

- OnlineOCR.net -

Tags: Just Cool, Gadgets, Current Events, Reference, Net Life, Science, Geek Stuff, HowTo, Life Tips, General by Jai
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It never ceases to (pleasantly) surprise me just how specific some peoples’ hobbies (and associated web sites) can be.

Propnomicon is a website dedicated to the hobby of making and collecting Lovecraft inspired props / artifacts, with a specific focus on Cthulu related items.

The offerings range from simple Miskatonik U. ID cards and Anthem music to complex scientific investigations kits complete with biological samples!

The site is extensive, and even if the hobby isn’t for you, you might find something cool you’d like to make anyway!

A custom-made samples kit from a (presumably) fictional expedition

One of a number of Cthulian critters

A field research kit with, as mentioned above, bio samples

- Propnomicon -

Tags: Weird, Virtual, Collections, Scary, Reference, Retro, Gadgets, Just Cool, Cool Sites, Geek Stuff, Links, Gaming, Art / Visual, General by Jai
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The Astronomy Picture Of the Day (APOD) site puts up striking, intriguing, or beautiful astronomy shots daily (and I’ve featured at least one of them before).

Today’s image really caught my attention because

    A) there’s an ongoing feel of mystery behind Rapa Nui ("Easter Island"), and

    B) A very good friend of mine (who reads 86Words) really digs the statues (though, in my opinion, they look nothing like him).

The visual definition of "Ominous"

- Original Image on APOD -
( Click the image after the jump for the full sized version )

 - Current APOD Image -
( If you use this link today, it will take you to the same image, but the image at this link changes daily )

Tags: Just Cool, Current Events, Collections, Reference, Net Life, Science, Geek Stuff, Cool Sites, Links, Art / Visual, General by Jai
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We’ve reviewed laptops on here before. We’ve also covered some Steam Punk stuff. We’ve even done some Hack / Mod coverage.

This is a combination of all three!

And on top of that, it’s a fairly easy mod to do!

I already have my (old) laptop picked out for this conversion!

(I’ll put up pictures when it’s done).

Booooorrrrinnnnngggggg…..

AWESOME!!!

Even the back is pretty awesome looking! And wait ’til you see how simple it is!

- Original Article on Instructibles.com -

Tags: Gadgets, Virtual, Retro, Reference, Art / Visual, Life Tips, Geek Stuff, HowTo, Cool Sites, General by Jai
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( Article suggested by Danny Ashton who "thought [we] might like it". Thanks Danny, you were right!)

Why am I so excited about shoes?

You have to see the shoes I’m talking about.

An article on TheToyZone.com covers 21 different shoes that any geek would love. I doubt that any particular geek would love all of them (save a foot-fetish geek, perhaps), there’s almost certainly something on there for everyone (who’s a geek)!

If there’s a single pair on here that would be loved by ANY geek, this is probably it - the Storm Trooper heel - how can a geek resist, fetish or not?

How about the Aphrodite platform? It’s computerized, has hidden compartments, and is specifically designed for "sex workers" (that’s like a gynecologist or an obstetrician, right?)

I’m personally kinda partial to these, though I suspect my wife wouldn’t let me wear ‘em. I wonder if they actually work as keyboards?

- Original Article on ToyZone.com -

Tags: General by Jai
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More precisely (and grammatically, more correctly), I have seven secrets. I know what they’re about, but I don’t know what they are

Or something.

Cracked.com did an interesting article titled "7 Secrets Only Two Living People Know (For Some Reason)". It doesn’t only list them, but gives background details that make it interesting.

For example, someone paid $50,000 to know who Carly Simon was talking about in "You’re So Vain".

I would save list the seven, but it’s a secret…

And I”ve reached my word count.

One of the best known Secret Recipes in existence

Apparently, even though someone really did her wrong, she doesn’t kiss and tell!

The other of the best known Secret Recipes. I don’t even think the Oceans Eleven guys could get into the vault where this thing is stored!

- Original Article on Cracked.com -

Tags: Reference, Collections, Weird, Just Cool, General by Jai
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I’ve often said that we’re living in the future, but the video below made me realize that I was wrong - the future actually isn’t here for another few months.

Rumors have been flying forever about the Apple Touch Tablet, but somehow, this stayed hidden until very recently - and is probably going to give Mr. Jobs some sleepless nights.

It’s not just the device itself (which is impressive), but the way it is intended / designed to be used. To "get it" you’ll pretty much have to watch the video.

In it’s standard, flat, pen-based layout it looks cool enough…

Then you find that the thing is formatted like a book! (and wait ’til you see the NIFTY stuff in the video!)

Okay, when THIS comes out, we’ve reached the future… Unless Gizmodo or Microsoft are just playing a really nasty joke on us all

- Microsoft Courier User Interface -

via Gizmodo

on Vimeo.

Tags: Gadgets, Current Events, Just Cool, Software, Geek Stuff, General by Jai
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