elasticdog

Looks like there's blog post about the whitepaper [1] which is a bit more informative without reading the PDF, and this was already discussed [2] via an arstechnica article.

[1] https://community.rapid7.com/community/infosec/blog/2013/01/...

[2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5137353

I'm curious what you mean by "community package installer"? If you're referring to Yaourt, that is an unofficial, third-party wrapper script that is unsupported by the Arch Linux developers and isn't required by any means. It does add some convenience for building packages from the AUR (Arch User Repository), but it's much safer to actually examine those PKGBUILDs to make sure they're sane. You also shouldn't need it for regular community repository packages, as those can be installed via pacman just fine.

If you do want something from the AUR, are customizing one of the official packages, or are trying your hand at packaging something else, editing PKGBUILD files and using makepkg manually is pretty straight forward once you've done it once or twice.

The community is very helpful and responsive...on the forums, mailing list, and on IRC. Feel free to stop by if you ever want to give it another shot and get stuck.

I always thought that the major issue with getting into the LMS space came from Blackboard's portfolio of software patents surrounding such a service.

Blackboard has pledged that they would not enforce those patents against Open Source projects [1][2], but pay services might have trouble coming their way...which would explain the lack of innovation/modernization in the area.

[1] http://www.blackboard.com/about-bb/patents/patent-pledge.asp...

[2] http://www.blackboard.com/about-bb/patents/frequently-asked-...

Thanks from me as well...I used dfZx4U2xCTqe9Vsh.

I'm starting to think it would be nice to have a service where people could share invite codes and keep track of which ones have been used.

I've tackled most of those with my cheap standing desk...although it's height is not easily adjustable. To switch things up, I have a futon with a lapboard in my office as well:

http://elasticdog.com/2011/01/shelf-made-standing-desk/

I made a standing desk out of a cheap shelf system back in January [1], and haven't looked back. About the only change I've made since putting up those pictures is swapping out the Apple keyboard for a Kinesis Freestyle.

I'd like to build some small shelves off the sides of the top level to add some speakers, but beyond that I've been extremely impressed with making the switch.

[1] http://elasticdog.com/2011/01/shelf-made-standing-desk/

Many of these are in W|A already without the need for inputting the full formula; just specify various levels of 'heart curve':

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fifth+heart+curve

...and the 3D surface is there too:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=heart+surface

Are there any good command-line journaling applications out there? I'm thinking about writing something simple that would automatically organize entries into separate monthly files, add date headers, store everything in version control, etc.

Googling for "command line journal", unfortunately, is not the right way to search for such a beast...

That is correct...it is nice to be able to see the underlying Mathematica code that any natural language query generates. Here's your "draw a red circle" example:

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4355/drawaredcircle.png

LastPass is fantastic (http://lastpass.com/) for website passwords, but isn't too great for non-websites. It's very similar to 1Password, but cross-platform. It can be used to manage non-web passwords, but it's kind of a manual process using their secure notes.

I absolutely love the idea of an extensible framework that you could write plugins for to connect up to various sources of data, but I'd much prefer the same functionality in a desktop application rather than a hosted web-app. That way you wouldn't have to be paranoid about what is being done with all of your personal information...

Very true...even Jamis recommends it over his own creation:

http://twitter.com/jamis/status/13735390978

I'd advise putting your vim directory (or ALL of your dotfiles) under version control. To keep things clean, the first thing you should do is install Tim Pope's pathogen plugin which allows you to install each plugin in its own self-contained directory under ~/.vim/bundle/plugin-name/, and it will autoload everything for you.

  $ cd ~/.vim/
  $ git init
  $ mkdir {autoload,bundle}
  $ wget -O autoload/pathogen.vim http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=12116
  $ git add autoload/pathogen.vim
  $ git commit -m 'add pathogen.vim plugin'
  

Then, you can just extract each plugin under that bundle directory, or if they're managed by the same version control software you're using, you can use something like git submodules to track the plugins automatically. Add this to the top of your ~/.vimrc file:

  filetype off
  call pathogen#runtime_append_all_bundles()
  filetype plugin indent on

...and you're off to the races. Let's say you want to add NERD_tree:

  $ git submodule add http://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree.git bundle/nerdtree
  $ git submodule init
  $ git commit -m 'add nerd tree plugin as submodule'

From then on, you'll be able to track upstream changes to the plugin, and everything is self-contained so you don't have to worry about copying all the files into /doc, /ftplugin, /syntax, etc. The one thing you'll want to do is generate all of the help docs after you have your plugins installed by loading up vim and running:

  :call pathogen#helptags()

The list of what I use goes a little something like this:

@ pathogen - to cleanly organize all of your plugins

@ bufexplorer - to explore your open buffers

@ command-t - a better fuzzy finder for opening files

@ endwise - add proper end statements for ruby code

@ fugitive - fantastic git wrapper

@ matchit - jump to matching brackets or logical statements

@ nerdtree - navigate and manipulate files

@ pastie - post code to pastie.org

@ repeat - adds the ability to repeat functions with .

@ speeddating - Ctrl-A/Ctrl-X manipulate dates properly

@ surround - alter stuff that surrounds text like quotes and html tags

@ taglist - helpful source code browser

Beyond that, I have a bunch of syntax files for various languages and file formats.

Realistically though, if you're just starting out. Learn how to use the editor first, then if you notice certain use cases that you don't have with built-in features (and there are a TON), then start looking for plugins to make your life easier. There's a lot you can do with custom settings and functions in your ~/.vimrc file too, so it will take time (years) to build up what works best for you. Be patient, it's worth it!

If you're curious, you can always find gems by looking through other people's configs: http://github.com/elasticdog/dotfiles

It really should only cheer if the commit passes all of the automated tests...just sayin' :-)

On a Mac, the MacTex suite simplifies things pretty well [1]. I typically write my documents in Vim, and then render them to PDFs with TeXShop. It installs all of the standard TeXLive stuff, so if command-line LaTeX is where you're comfortable, that works too.

[1] http://www.tug.org/mactex/2009/

Here's a photoset of us using a QB at work a few months ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elasticdog/sets/721576238573723...

I'd say the user interface needs some work, but the hardware is great and it was really fun to see people's reactions around the office! (the mustache was my idea)

Any way to build the agent from source? I run Arch Linux on my Linode and would love to try out the added functionality.