[19:03] <kdub> DarkwingDuck: ever check out horton plaza coffeehouses? i was going to put together a June UH today, i think
[19:35] <iheartubuntu> Markdude - does Partimus have a SoCal connection at all? My biz has like 6 computers we want ot give away... I think four of them are 386 and two are early 486. Not sure if these are something Partimus would be interested in
[19:36] <pleia2> we only take pentium 4s and above
[19:37] <iheartubuntu> OK - Does Partimus have anything down in LA area or similar NPO?
[19:37] <pleia2> for things that old you probably want to look into a computer recycling place
[19:37] <akk> There was a booth at SCALE for a partimus-like group in LA.
[19:37] <pleia2> http://www.komputers4rkids.com/ is down there
[19:37] <nhaines> iheartubuntu: I may be interested in a computer with a 386 processor.
[19:37] <akk> Was that computers4kids?
[19:38] <nhaines> akk: yes.
[19:38] <akk> ah, a k
[19:38] <nhaines> akk: and an r  :)
[19:38] <akk> ah, indeed
[19:38] <iheartubuntu> I do not know the condition of them (what peripherals, etc)
[19:38] <nhaines> Just a heads-up for Ubuntu members in here.  The Ubuntu monospace font is pretty tasty.
[19:38] <iheartubuntu> I should probably fire them up
[19:39] <philipballew> about how old are they?
[19:39] <nhaines> philipballew: 15-20 years old.
[19:39] <iheartubuntu> Nathan, I'll see exactly what I got and let u know
[19:39] <nhaines> iheartubuntu: thanks.
[19:39] <iheartubuntu> my first computer I bought as a teen from my paper route money was a 386... I think I paid $1400 for it!
[19:39] <akk> It's really hard to get school groups to take computers that old. Even though they'd work fine with ubuntu and a lightweight window manager.
[19:40] <nhaines> akk: not a 386!
[19:40] <pleia2> I think even a 486 would be pushing it
[19:40] <akk> wait, it's the group that's 15-20 years, not the computers?
[19:40] <seidos> computers
[19:41] <nhaines> akk: my first PC in 1992 was a 33MHz 386SX with 2MB RAM and an 80GB harddrive.
[19:41] <iheartubuntu> Ive got an old Gateway laptop 486 with Ubuntu 9.04 on it... works AWESOME... very fast... too bad the screen cracked
[19:41] <pleia2> a lot of educational software these days requires java and flash, so even our p4s with 512M ram are a bit slow, we're going with 1G ram now
[19:41] <nhaines> From the description (386 and 486), I extrapolated the computers' age.
[19:41] <akk> Yeah, that would be a little old for ubuntu ... that would be in the days of the first redhats and slackwares.
[19:41] <pleia2> and partimus doesn't have a recycling component, so if we get hardware we can't use we're responsible for disposal (which costs us time/money)
[19:42] <nhaines> akk: you can get slackware running on a 386 with 6MB of RAM, but it's not super speedy.  :)
[19:42] <akk> Most schools turn up their noses at anything older than a P4
[19:42] <MarkDude> iheartubuntu, there is a computer for kids place
[19:42] <akk> (ironic since some of the P3 machines were actually better than P4s, but let's not let logic get in the way of standards)
[19:43] <MarkDude> I talked ot them - I will find their info later
[19:43] <nhaines> K4RK says that selling a computer with a CRT (instead of an LCD) is nearly impossible.
[19:43] <iheartubuntu> pleia2 - my city and local cities have free electronic recycling days once a year, and many private schools and churches accept old computers since they can get paid for recycling the comps
[19:43] <pleia2> MarkDude: I already linked to it ;)
[19:43] <MarkDude> P3 is only useful in a few countries to the south
[19:44] <akk> I have a friend in LA who just gave away a bunch of CRTs (nice ones, 20") to kids.
[19:44] <MarkDude> Many of those places sent their ewaste to 3rd world countries
[19:44] <pleia2> heh, we don't accept crts either
[19:44] <iheartubuntu> our first flatscreen monitor passed away the other day
[19:44] <akk> The local school wouldn't take anything, but he found a guy who put him in touch with families that couldn't afford decent computers.
[19:44] <seidos> MarkDude: is that where they have people cook the components to try to get the traces of gold out?
[19:44] <MarkDude> People that dont have machines are ok with CRT
[19:45] <MarkDude> and worse seidos
[19:45] <MarkDude> ban.org has pictures
[19:45] <philipballew> wipe your hd!!!
[19:45] <MarkDude> and lists responsible people
[19:45] <seidos> i saw a documentary on sundance channel
[19:45] <akk> CRTs still give better images than LCDs. I know people who still use them for that reason (graphics people who can't afford the professional LCDs).
[19:45] <seidos> acid vats
[19:45] <sn9> MarkDude: speaking of partimus, i may be available today only
[19:46] <iheartubuntu> just picked up a LG LCD monitor.... id much rather have that than a CRT
[19:46] <iheartubuntu> super crisp screen
[19:46] <akk> I switched to LCD because they're easier on my eyes, and I'm prone to migraines.
[19:46] <iheartubuntu> me too
[19:46] <akk> But I miss the better color of the CRT.
[19:47] <philipballew> i need to find a deal on a monitor somewhere. the one i have been using is a bog box one.... wonder where to get one
[19:47] <iheartubuntu> I still get migraines though... just dont have to look at the CRT lines anymore
[19:47] <akk> me too, iheartubuntu ...sadly
[19:47] <seidos> sunglasses help me sometimes
[19:47] <iheartubuntu> i notice less headaches now that ive switched beers
[19:47] <iheartubuntu> :)
[19:47] <iheartubuntu> if thats possible
[19:48] <akk> I had to quit using computers last night and go do something else, felt a migraine coming on from too much screen tiem.
[19:48] <akk> time
[19:48] <seidos> drink up!
[19:48]  * seidos hands out kool-aid
[19:49] <iheartubuntu> the last few years i have drank mostly hefeweizen style beers... and always get raging headaches... ive switched to Spaten... Oktoberfest or Optimator and do not get the headaches anymore
[19:49] <iheartubuntu> my migraines usually come from too much of focusing on one thing like the computer
[19:49] <seidos> i switched to coke
[19:50] <akk> I stopped drinking beer entirely ... and alas, good stuff like guiness gives me headaches a lot faster than watery stuff
[19:50] <iheartubuntu> i just switched to sugar sweetened pepsi (from coke)
[19:50] <iheartubuntu> if only i could get off the soft drink fix entirely
[19:50] <philipballew> Tea FTW!!!
[19:50] <iheartubuntu> FTW?
[19:50] <iheartubuntu> for the world!
[19:50] <philipballew> for the win!!!
[19:50] <seidos> philipballew: haha
[19:50] <nhaines> I had a great Spaten Optimator Monday night.
[19:51] <nhaines> Warsteiner Dunkel is also pretty good.
[19:51] <nhaines> But my favorite is probably the Aventinus doppelbach.
[19:51] <iheartubuntu> i really like the spaten.... very crisp and clean, no aftertaste
[19:51] <nhaines> Franziskaner doppelbach is a close second.  ;)
[19:51] <iheartubuntu> i just had a belgian beer... the name started with an "M"
[19:52] <iheartubuntu> i dont recall
[19:52] <iheartubuntu> pretty good
[19:53] <nhaines> I've been tending towards Spaten Dunkel in the evenings lately.
[20:00] <seidos> i had a great green tea the other night, i let it steep until it is room temperature, then i drink it
[20:00] <iheartubuntu> laptop that is pedal powered (afghanistan)... http://krisdedecker.typepad.com/.a/6a00e0099229e8883301538ea49bcc970b-500wi
[20:01] <philipballew> ^ the cure for American obesity
[20:02] <iheartubuntu> ha!
[20:03] <iheartubuntu> i like how they painted the desk/crank setup to match the laptop
[20:03] <seidos> coal or solar is probably the only option in afghanistan, both of which are probably impossible to build without awesome schematics
[20:03] <seidos> i wonder who built it
[20:03] <akk> I loved the original OLPC design with the hand-crank -- I'd love to have a non-AC way to charge my laptop.
[20:04] <pleia2> there is a company that ended up releasing the hand-crank addons (they were given out in the goodie bag at the OLPCSF Summit last yer)
[20:04] <pleia2> but even my netbook is 2x the power usages of an OLPC, so I couldn't charge it with it
[20:05] <seidos> what's the power consumption of an OLPC?
[20:05] <seidos> my notebook is 45W
[20:05] <pleia2> 15
[20:05] <akk> 45W! For a laptop?!!
[20:06] <pleia2> my netbook is 30
[20:06] <seidos> that's max
[20:06] <akk> oh, well, how often does it use that?
[20:06] <iheartubuntu> hook it up to a bike, ride all day, use the laptop at night :)
[20:06] <iheartubuntu> id bet a netbook is even less, no?
[20:06] <seidos> probably never
[20:06] <akk> I think my vaio runs about 10-15 most of the time, and it's old and has a spinning disk.
[20:07] <seidos> did you use a kill-a-watt to measure it?
[20:07] <pleia2> well, I'm just talking what is in the small print on the power adapters :)
[20:07] <akk> yes
[20:07] <pleia2> I don't know what they use for real, presumably much much less
[20:07] <akk> alas, the kill-a-watt is at home and I'm not, so I can't verify that right now.
[20:07] <akk> oh, power adaptors are always rated for way more than computers actually use.
[20:08] <seidos> i wonder what a 486 would use.  the power supplies were like 230W if i recall
[20:08] <akk> You can't buy a desktop power supply under 200W, but a decent intel-based desktop probably uses under 45W most of the time, max of maybe 80W.
[20:08] <akk> And the 200W ones are getting hard to find, a lot of people are using 400W or 600W
[20:08] <akk> which are very inefficient when operating in the range where actual computers run. It's crazy.
[20:09] <seidos> 45W, about the power use of a midrange tungsten lightbulb
[20:09] <seidos> not too bad
[20:10] <pleia2> my last desktop had an 680W PSU, but that's because I thought it would be cool to use a giant server for my desktop, it required that much (and it was loud!)
[20:10] <pleia2> I was able to pile in the harddrives though, that was neat
[20:11] <seidos> i think mine had a 300W
[20:11] <akk> Desktop-sized hard drives use a surprising amount of power.
[20:15] <seidos> not bad if it can be put to good use...
[20:15] <seidos> that's the tricky part
[20:40] <iheartubuntu> does anyone remember which release removed the flash files from saving off in the tmp directory?
[20:42] <seidos> not really, i would guess 10.04 though
[20:45] <iheartubuntu> thats what im thinking too
[20:46] <iheartubuntu> i have some videos i want to download from a site i subscribed to (no not that kind). its a investment site and i dont know how long the videos will be up and i dont know when i'll have time to watch them. so i want to store them.
[20:47] <seidos> i want to access my webcam using cli tools
[20:47] <iheartubuntu> i supposed i could clear my cache in chrome and look for the files easily that way... up until now the thousands of things stored in the cache directory have made it impossible to find tmp videos anymore
[20:47] <seidos> i read this, http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Webcam-HOWTO/
[20:47] <seidos> now i have to study it
[20:48] <seidos> it really doesn't seem like it has what i need
[20:48] <akk> Access how? snapshots, or tell it to stop/start recording video?
[20:48] <akk> I know how to do snapshots from the cli, but haven't done video.
[20:48] <seidos> likely, store it as a video file
[20:49] <iheartubuntu> access video from IP or something?
[20:49] <seidos> upload it to youtube
[20:49] <iheartubuntu> as basic as it is, i have our webcam at work recording with cheese
[20:49] <akk> All the commandline stuff I've found has been either single snapshots, or running a streaming server.
[20:49] <seidos> cheese is hit and miss
[20:50] <seidos> i tried compiling the newest version, failed
[20:50] <akk> I've had good luck with cheese (I just used the one in the repo, didn't compile it) but it's interactive, not commandline.
[20:50] <seidos> hmmm, then maybe it isn't possible
[20:51] <seidos> i thought access to the webcam was possible through "simpler" tools
[20:51] <seidos> i just want to record, i don't care if i can see myself
[20:51] <seidos> i'll search this page for "record" though
[20:52] <akk> I think it's probably possible, just haven't found out how.
[20:52] <akk> Whatever cheese is doing under the hood to talk to the camera certainly could be done without a UI.
[20:52] <seidos> here's something:  streamer -q -c /dev/video0 -f rgb24 -r 3 -t 00:30:00 -o /home/jhs/outfile.avi
[20:53] <seidos> i don't appear to have that binary
[20:58] <iheartubuntu> nathan, i'll get back to you later today or tomorrow on the comps i have
[21:40] <kdub> some devices you can just cat /dev/video0
[21:40] <kdub> my hauppauge pvr250 was like that, it was nice
[21:41] <sn9> that's an mpeg-only device, though
[21:43] <seidos> invalid argument
[21:45] <kdub> sn9: yeah, true. if its a raw video device though, it could be possible to pipe it through ffmpeg and cpu encode on the fly
[21:45] <kdub> depends how the driver for the device is written i guess
[21:45] <sn9> there is a standard interface
[21:45] <seidos> i tried compiling xawtv, it didn't work...moving on
[21:45] <sn9> v4l-dvb
[21:46] <akk> Why do you have to compile any of these, instead of apt-getting them?
[21:46] <akk> Are you leaving ubuntu and switching to gentoo? :)
[21:47] <seidos> trying different distros
[21:50] <sn9> i did that. i came back.
[21:51] <seidos> i did it, came back, and now i'm doing it again
[21:51] <akk> I finally have debian going on the laptop! The secret was that it needed pm-suspend --quirk-dpms-on to sleep.
[21:52] <akk> Ubuntu figures out the quirks automatically.
[21:52] <akk> But debian is about 30% more power efficient on a laptop.
[21:52] <seidos> i should probably do Debian next
[21:52] <seidos> i tried installing it once, but couldn't get wireless working then
[22:16] <rww> akk: power-efficient because of lower CPU usage?
[22:17] <akk> rww: Because of the power management regression in recent kernels. I think it's not putting devices to sleep, but no one seems to know exactly.
[22:17] <rww> ah, I vaguely heard about that.
[22:18] <akk> It's a huge difference. And something in natty makes it even worse, so even when I suspend, the laptop doesn't fully suspend
[22:18] <akk> and will use up its battery in about 6 hours, not much better than it does when it's actually running.
[22:47] <nhaines> akk: maybe linux 3.0 will fix that!
[22:47] <akk> I can hope! :)
[22:47] <nhaines> I don't think it will (necessarily) but it was fun to say Linux 3.0.  :)
[22:48] <akk> I don't think they've found the problem yet, though it would be nice to think there was some substantial change that motivated the version bump.'
[22:48] <nhaines> Mostly that there aren't substatial changes anymore and it's been a decade since 2.0.
[22:48] <nhaines> Or another decade since it began.  Something like that.  :)
[23:07] <kdub> linus said specifically in the email, no big changes :P