Specifications

8 | august 2008 www.linuxjournal.com
I
f you are a regular visitor to the LinuxJournal.com
Web site, you might recognize me as the
goofy video Gadget Guy, or possibly as the
Web author with a penchant for controversy.
While the latter is largely coincidental, the former
is just the way I am (my wife can grudgingly
attest to that). This month marks the first issue
that I’m the Associate Editor of the print maga-
zine as well. Whether adding me to the staff
will be beneficial, or more like the spreading of
Windows spyware, is yet to be determined.
The Cool Projects issue is significant to me
for another reason as well. A year ago, in the
August 2007 issue, my “How to Build Your Own
Arcade” article marked the first time I was pub-
lished in Linux Journal (www.linuxjournal.com/
article/9732). It also appeals to my inner child
that thinks life should revolve around stuff that’s
“cool”. The 2008 Cool Projects issue (the one
you’re reading now) offers plenty of opportunity
to have fun with our favorite operating system.
Whether you’re looking for a cool way to do
your job, or whether you’re trying to avoid doing
your job altogether, we’ve got you covered.
If you subscribe to Linux Journal at work, and
you’re trying to justify the Cool Projects issue to
your boss, fear not. We make it much easier than
trying to explain the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
Edition to your significant other. Eric Pearce
shows us how to make a 16-Terabyte file server
out of bubble gum and popsicle sticks. Well,
okay, maybe not with those ingredients, but he
walks us through the process of creating a really
big server.
Bill Childers shows us one of the coolest
uses of a USB Flash drive I’ve ever seen. With
an outdated 256MB drive, Bill shows us how
to make a bootable device that will install
many different Linux distributions and launch
a handful of utilities too!
If you can’t find something this month that
directly ties to your job, feel free to play the
“professional development” card, and have
some fun while you’re furthering your techno-
logical horizons. Michael Surran, for example,
tells us all about his use of Linux in education.
As someone who has implemented Linux in
schools before, I always find it cool when
schools take the plunge.
Perhaps you are a programmer, and code all
day, and code all night. Reuven M. Lerner shows
us how to make sure our Rails are optimized,
and Dave Taylor helps us extract really important
data—from the Internet Movie Database. Along
with some open-source mapping software, this
issue is really full of easily justifiable diversions.
For me, however, the exciting thing about the
Cool Projects issue is building cool stuff. Have
you seen the Bug Labs’ BUGs? All you have to do
to build a cool project with them is snap togeth-
er the pieces you want. The BUGs are amazingly
versatile and are being developed every day. We
show you how to make the little buggers bend
to your will. Or, maybe you want to learn to use
E-Ink technology and handcraft your own tiny
PC. Jaya Kumar shows us how.
What if you don’t subscribe to Linux Journal
at work, and you’re just looking for some cool
things to do with Linux in your spare time? Kyle
Rankin and Marcel Gagné felt the same way.
Kyle shows us how to interface a Wii remote
(Wiimote) to our Linux machines and use the
controller as a joystick and mouse. Marcel, taking
the word “cool” literally, shows us a handful of
penguin and ice games bound to keep you busy
for hours.
Finally, if reality isn’t cool enough, we’ve got
Zenoss, and we’ve got “How to Fake a UFO
Landing”. Granted, the two have nothing to do
with each other, but if you name your network-
monitoring system Zenoss (Zeen-ohss), you’re just
asking for some taunting. So, sit back, prop up
your feet, and enjoy this issue of Linux Journal.
If you get tired of reading, maybe catch a few
flicks on TV with your Neuros OSD. We’ll tell you
about that little beauty as well.
I
Shawn Powers is the Associate Editor for Linux Journal . He’s also the Gadget
Guy for LinuxJournal.com, and he has an interesting collection of vintage
Garfield coffee mugs. Don’t let his silly hairdo fool you, he’s a pretty ordinary
guy and can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail]. Or, swing
by the #linuxjournal IRC channel on Freenode.net.
Linux: the Root
of All Coolness
SHAWN POWERS
Current_Issue.tar.gz