Desktop System Monitor on Linux Mint 10 and OS X

Hello. My name is Ed and I’m a tech geek.

I thought I would get that confession out of the way first. Of course, those close to me already know that about me. This post will be evidence enough that I really am a tech geek. Desktop system monitoring is something that can be used as a badge to show off just how geeky you are but in all actuality, it can be very useful. Behold the badge of my geekiness with this screenshot of my MacBook OS X desktop using GeekTool.

And more recently:

As you can see there are some useful monitors on my desktop that gauge my memory, CPU and drive space. Just in the past few months since that last Tron Legacy screenshot I have also added a fan speed monitor of my MacBook. The calendar portion at the bottom, though, is not part of GeekTool and can be found here as a free download. The easiest way I have found to configure GeekTool is by installing Geeklets. Basically, they are preconfigured scripts to add to GeekTool to give you the monitors you see on those screenshots. Now as you see above I have a pretty basic desktop on my MacBook. There are some guys and gals out there that have done some AMAZING desktops as evident on this page. I especially like the comic book strips toward the middle; more so, the desktop monitor story as told by the Buffy comic. Look closely at the dialog.

Now over on the Linux side we have something called Conky. I had heard of the utility before but had never used it until today. The guys over at Web Upd8, the Ubuntu/Linux blog, posted a really cool article on Conky Lunatico Rings that someone created over at  Gnome-look.org. I followed the instructions posted on Web Upd8 and configured my own version with a green color scheme instead of the orange using Andrew’s ‘no wireless’ tweak found in the post and posted a brief video to display my desktop.

The video quality isn’t so great, I know, so I apologize. Here is a closer screenshot to get a better view.

Other than the color, I was also able to change the position as the default was more toward the middle of my display and I changed the disk monitor from used space to free space.

For Windows users out there you are probably wondering if there is anything like this for you, and there is. I’ve not used them so I’m not too familiar with them but go check out Rainmeter and Samurize.

Origami Unicorn

A few days late but I wanted to post my winning a free t-shirt from Last Exit to Nowhere.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered two Blade Runner t-shirts from them. If you’ve never heard of Last Exit definitely check out their site catalogue of movie t-shirts. I love their stuff. I had already ordered their Nexus 6 t-shirt last year so this time around I ordered the red Off World Colonies and Origami Unicorn shirts.

Last week on Twitter Last Exit to Nowhere held a contest to post pictures of customers in their t-shirt.

Here is what I submitted:

Lucky for me I won. Since I already had a few t-shirts from Last Exit I let Techie Jr. choose the free t-shirt. He chose a shirt from High Fidelity only because the shirt had a monkey on it, he has never seen the movie.

Huge thanks to the guys at Last Exit to Nowhere. Check out their site and follow them on Twitter.

C-beams Glitter in the Dark

For those that don’t know me, I am a huge Blade Runner fan. If you look back on this blog you will get a few hints of just how much of a fan. Well today I received a package in the mail of an item I have been wanting to get for myself from Think Geek for a very long time; the Blade Runner LED umbrella. Here is picture of myself holding it.

The only problem with the LED in this umbrella is that it is not as bright as was portrayed in the film, as seen in this shot.

But, I really don’t have a lot to complain about since it was free. Think Geek has a program that as you buy items you accumulate points to use toward merchandise. Well, having purchased a lot for Christmas presents this past year, I accrued enough points to get the umbrella.

Now, if only I could get the Rick Deckard blaster prop I would then be a very, very happy Blade Runner fan.

On the subject of Blade Runner fans, check out this fan made video I found by Onur Yeldan.

New Page of Pictures

I don’t know why I didn’t add this to my blog years ago but as you can see above I now have a photo gallery page. This photo gallery is made up of albums from my Picasa Web Album.

Enjoy.

I’m A Winner

I’ve never won a contest nor been picked randomly in a lottery drawing but recently I participated in a simple forum post over at CC2K and won a free book, 999: Twenty-nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense, and a $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble in their All Hallow’s Read Scary Book Giveaway. Now I can buy some digital books for my B&N Nook I got a few months back. I’m pretty excited about reading the analog book too.

My thanks to Beth Woodward and the gang over at CC2K for this fabulous prize. Go check out their site and participate in their forum.

Dragon*Con 2010

Pictures from previous Dragon*Con visits.

Some friends and myself at my last Dragon*Con attendance in 2007.

The Big Bang Theory – Captain Future is Coming

For you fans of the show The Big Bang Theory, you may have noticed some of the cool geek items in Leonard and Sheldon’s apartment. There are quite a few that I found really cool, like the Firestorm figure and the Green Lantern collectibles on the shelves. Well one of the items that is hanging on the wall kept catching my eye every time I watched an episode this past season (I’m new to the show), a poster with a robot and a man that had similarities to Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. You can see the poster I am referring to in this clip at about 2:15, over the right shoulder of Penny:

I finally found out a little background on this poster this past week.

The poster is from a cover of a pulp book that was published in the early 40’s called Captain Future. Thanks to that show and the total awesomeness of that poster, I became intrigued with the character and backstory, especially after reading about it here. Some of those covers are just plain brilliant. I had never heard of Captain Future before starting my search but instantly became fascinated by the information that I found. I started looking online to see if I could find any of the original pulp books to buy but, of course, they are rare and in some cases pretty expensive. I found out today, though, that the hardcover of the collected works is coming out in July.
http://www.captainfuture.us.com/
http://www.haffnerpress.com/cf1.html

I’m actually excited. I may still look for the original books though.
Thanks The Big Bang Theory.