BuzzMoo.com

It’s kind of weird when you talk to a movie buff over a long period of time. They’re hard to excite, for one. It takes serious cinematographic skill to win over the most critical of the critics. So when Elroy talks about a movie for the good part of an hour non-stop, you’re assured it’s absolutely great. Or, absolutely terrible. And we’re not talking Clone Wars terrible here, rather something akin to Plan 9 From Outer Space. Of course, when you review B-grade sci-fi you’ve got to go a little easy on the producers…tiny budgets, B-list actors, tecnical limitations imposed by the genre.. on the other hand, I’ve seen Equilibrium.

So if you’re after something truly terrible, check out Contamination at EOL. And if you’ve seen it (or plan to), make sure you let Elroy know – there’s common ground here!

Ben Thompson over at Half Life Source is reporting on the ever increasing talk about the OLPC project’s XO laptop moving away from Linux in preference of Windows. The argument goes along the lines of it being better to expose children to Outlook, Office and other Msoft packages, as these are the software that run by and large in the commercial sector – and most other employers of note. Ergo time spent producing material Open Office is less valuable than time spent producing material in Microsoft Office if you want to be employed in the developed world?

It’s a short-sighted logic. As many job selection criteria for skilled labour positions include something like “Familiarity with Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook” commentators on the OLPC project feel that because the XO is a ‘laptop’ there is an opportunity to load it with software that you’d be using if you weren’t an impoverished 12 year old from Mongolia. But most of the users of XO laptops are indeed disadvantaged. And when you’re struggling to just get power to your device, worrying about a consumer oriented crash prone operating system is the last thing you want to be doing.

The OLPC project rests on the underlying principals of open source, whereby the device as a whole is supported by a community, for free. As Pia from OLPC Australia is clear to point out in an article published in May, running windows on an XO doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“It is completely irrelevant to the value of what the whole project is all about. OLPC Australia has been set up without that ever being on the agenda. The core principal that’s repeated often about the project is that it’s an education project not a laptop project. Part of delivering on that idea is the open source platform. The community built around the not only the technology but also the content and the use of the device. There is a community angle that permeates everything on what the device, how it works for kids and that sort of stuff…I have no idea as to why Windows is regarded as relevant to this and some of the stuff in the press about running Sugar on Windows and things like that – well Windows is just an operating system that doesn’t deliver on the vision of OLPC.” [source]

We’re not far off from streaming applications as the mainstay of our computer experience and when you think about that you start to wonder about the value of that old Office 97′ disk. Add to that the potential increased cost of the XO should it run Windows (projected as around an additional $10) because of new hardware requirements and the deal is looking like less and less appealing all the time. In the end, understanding the OLPC project not as a laptop project but as the development of a broadband enabled learning tool (that just happens to take the form of a laptop) is critical if you want to contribute to the stated goals of the project.

Yet another set of photos of OLPC’s XO. This time I get up close and personal and the cat gets involved…and in theory you should get an idea of the size of the unit. Remember, you can check out this gallery and others in pictures section.

I finally got around to uploading my music back catalogue (as they say in the game). Mostly for posterity’s sake, but if you’re interested in a musical journey of sorts you can easily track my progress here on the audio page.

A few fresh beats are on the way.

So apart from birthdays I don’t often get cake (specifically for me, that is..). Well, trust Babycakes to come through with the goods.

So we’re celebrating 3 years with deliciousness.

Thanks, sweet!

Gizmodo takes a broad look at the One Laptop Per Child program from inception to now in part one of their “OLPC Untold Story” article. It’s a good overview of what’s come to pass in the years since 2004, with no sugar coating. If you’re new to the OLPC thing, have a read.

So the script-based, make-it-easy-for you installer “Kororaa” for Gentoo Linux has come to the end of it’s days. Chris spent a lot of time working on it and managed to develop a sizable community around the software. I know he also learned a lot about open source software and everything that comes with it (Specifically those pesky video diver licenses..) and a lot of people learned with him. Since there now are more comprehensive solutions available for easily installing Gentoo, Chris and Molly have decided to stop development.

So, goodbye Kororaa, but thanks for the good (and easy!) times with Gentoo!

The latest product out of the e-Shack has been launched today: www.idef.com.au is now live and populated with information regarding the International Digital Entertainment Festival to be held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank, from 14 – 16 November.

The International Digital Entertainment Festival (iDEF) is the platform for events and activities from an industry, educational and consumer perspective, with the support of major industry members and associations. The festival will include the Digital Lifestyle Show, eGames Expo and Develop, an ICT Symposium and Careers Expo.

The eGames Expo, as I’m sure you know, will be in its third year this year and promises to be great fun. So be one of the many thousands sure to enjoy it this year and check out .

Meanwhile if you’re a fan of community support and have a FaceBook page you might be interested in joining Computer Assistance Support & Education’s (CASE) new FaceBook page. It’ll be updated regularly and used to communicate news about special events – of which there should be a few soon!

I sure didn’t watch Big Brother. And while I wouldn’t call myself a voyeur, I do enjoy webcams and even had one running here on buzzmoo.com for quite some time. Well, due to some local government initiative (I guess) some guy is confined to some shopfront in Civic for a week where he lives 24/7 in view of everyone. It’s also streamed online, with audio and chat connecting everything. He’s got a whole bunch of stuff in his room (it looks like a playground almost) and seems to put a lot of effort into entertaining… I guess he doesn’t have much choice now. His attempt at a lighting show and Robbie’s inebriated state says that there’s a chance Pablo will be borrowing the laser pod…

So check out Cabin Fever. You don’t get KFC rammed down your throat!