Category: Productivity

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Installing Adobe AIR 2.6 in Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit

Five years ago, I posted an article here on how to install Adobe Air (the discontinued native Linux version) on Ubuntu 12.04.

Everything that I had written here I decided to pull, because Adobe likes to do massive bulk DMCA Takedowns without actually verifying whether the reported page actually violated anything. They simply did a text web search, and smote down everything that looked even remotely offensive. And as an added note: this isn’t the first time they’ve done this with this exact page.

I can no longer recommend trying to get any Adobe products working on your computer for any reason. I realize that this page has helped hundreds (if not more) people to get Adobe’s horrible (and non-supported) Air platform working in Linux, just to be able to use third-party apps. But as useful as it might have been, I just can’t in good conscience help anybody with it any more.

Adobe falsely accuses me of stealing their property and has my page forcibly removed from Google searches? Yeah, okay, there’s enough links out there that I still got some traffic. I felt good in knowing that I was helping people (or so I thought). So I left the content up, exactly as it was, knowing that I hadn’t violated anything, in hopes that some people would still find it.

Fast forward a year, and I’ve been hit by another DMCA takedown, again from Adobe, for the same exact page. It’s become obvious to me that instead of making products that people actually want to use, they’re focusing their attention on punishing users who they think might have remotely stepped out of line. Now they’ve filed a complaint against my AdSense account, and are taking money from my pockets- and I still haven’t done anything wrong. At no point have I ever offered any of Adobe’s products for download here.

Google is as complicit in this as Adobe- don’t think I’m letting them off the hook. I went through their extensive review process last time, and they basically told me “Tough luck, buddy. Sucks to be you.” I’ll have a few more articles about how to break free from the many-headed Hydra that is Google in the near future. Their time is coming, as well. They can rot as far as I’m concerned.

Adobe can bite me. I’m through with them, and you should be too. As is fitting with a blog called “Living Outside the Box,” Here’s a non-extensive list of alternatives to Adobe products:

I’m sorry if you came here looking for help with getting Air to run on Linux. I really wanted to help you, but Adobe had other plans.

Please, urge your third-party developers to move away from anything having to do with Adobe. You’ll be better off for it.

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Shoot at the moon…

Up to now, I’ve used this blog for very simple, very ordinary things. However, as with all simple things, eventually it becomes time to see them grow to fruition. You take their little bloggy hands, and usher them out of the nest, free to grow in the big, wide internet world.

Basically, I’m going to work on my blog blog being able to make money.

Now, this sounds more horrific than it is. Just about every good blogger/writer/artist I know of makes money off of their website. I’m just going to keep it straightforward, no stupid flashing ads or anything like that. But my ultimate goal is to be able to write and make music for a living.

Today is the start of a new day. Here’s to change!

*clink*

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Hello world!

Well, here it is. New website, new blog, new everything. My old blog was banished into the nothingness of the interwebs.

So, here’s to a new beginning. It will obviously take some time for me to get things rolling again. I need to redo the WordPress settings, plugins, theme, etc. and then I will actually be able to get back to doing what I really love: creating content!

Thanks for being patient. If you need to see what’s going on, you’re welcome to check out my Facebook page or my Google+ page. Or my Twitter feed. Or…

Or you could just stop by and say “hi!”

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How Your Life Changes In Two Seconds

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Got up at 5:00 and packed the bike with a day’s change of clothes, lunch, and ate breakfast.

5:50 I jump on the bike and head down my street. I’m wearing reflective ankle bands, a reflective vest, and my bike has reflective tape on the frame, as does my helmet with mirror. I have a 4-watt led headlight in front, a solid and a blinking tail light, the big ones powered by a special front wheel I built using a generator in the hub, never needs changing batteries.

I decide to ride to work through Nicholls State, crossing Bayou Lafourche at the Audubon street bridge. All is quiet, no traffic, making good time. I haven’t been pushing myself hard today because I was trying a new higher handle bar setup, and wanted to see if it was more comfortable.

There’s a short stretch where the shoulder runs out just as you get to Rosedown off of 308. Up to there, you get 20 miles of a huge shoulder, which isn’t bad, until you pass Reienzi and the shoulder narrows down to nothing, essentially forcing bike traffic and pedestrians into 45MPH 2-lane traffic. This is called a “pinch point” and it is very dangerous, so I either go into the lane early to force people to slow down, or I am forced to wait.

Today there is little traffic so I go into the lane, causing a car to have to slow a little to get around me, only for 50 feet or so. I then ride up Rue Loudon to cross Canal street at a “safe” intersection, traffic signal, etc. I wait till the light turns green for me (yes, bikes can trigger most light sensors) and when it changes, I stand and take off across the intersection.

Within the space of about 2 seconds, I get hit by a car, I end up laying in a twisted heap on the side of the road, my bike was thrown into the middle of the intersection. My left leg is pointing in the wrong direction. Time to stop and rethink life.

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Words Cannot Describe

I’ve pretty much been out of the loop for a while. I’ve got a good excuse, however: last week, while riding my bike to work, I got hit by a car. The impact shattered my left femur in pieces, and I had to be transported to a trauma specialty hospital in N.O. because of the damage.

I just got home yesterday from the hospital after they rebuilt my leg. Things are different… it seriously winds me to walk on a walker around the room. Going to the bathroom is a major ordeal that takes planning. Just getting dressed could take half the morning if you include medicines, changing bandages, etc. and nothing is really simple.

And yet, I see things more clearly now. I could easily have died being hit like that. I’ve always had a lot to be thankful for, and now, I’ve got even more.

Still hurts like crazy, though… but at least I’m alive.

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My First 200K Rando Report

Well, some of you know I’m somewhat of a bike nut. Some of you may even know that I’m a little on the crazy side. That’s why, when I discovered the “sport” of Randonneuring, and I saw how crazy the people are, I had to get in on some of that action.

Randonneuring, or “rando” for short, is basically slower paced long-distance cycling. The official rules have options for 200K, 300K, 400K, 600K, and 1200K rides, all basically without support, and without stopping for any real length of time. You’re basically riding around the clock, and the 1200K rides are known to stretch into 3+ days.

I figured I would hook up with the New Orleans chapter of RUSA and see what the fuss was about. Now, to most people, I’m a pretty accomplished rider. I log about 3000 miles a year commuting, and I’ve done several 75-mile-a-day charity rides. I don’t think twice about knocking out 50 miles. How hard could it be to do 125 miles, right?

Hah. Continue reading “My First 200K Rando Report”

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Finished My Second MS150

A few weeks ago, I finished my second Multiple Scleroses 150 mile tour. A good friend of mine came down with Multiple Scleroses last year, and so I rode a custom chopper bicycle for the tour in 2009. It was a blast, but the bike was really slow, and I only made it 115 miles before tornado warnings stopped us.

This year, I decided to use a “faster” bike. Unfortunately, the fastest bike I had was a Schwinn hardtail which I use to commute. Of course, I couldn’t just ride a road bike like everybody else there. Oh no, I had to do something different. Why not ride the commuter, and pack my bags too? And hey, why not a Hawaiian shirt. They’re cool. So that’s what I did.

There were more than 1200 riders, and they raised more than $500,000 in donations for the National Multiple Scleroses Society. I had a great ride, and finished both days strong (though not fast).

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Commuter Report: Week 1 Finished

I really enjoyed biking to work last week, even though I had to bail on Thursday and Friday afternoons because of the torrential downpours. Fret not, as I now have fully functional fenders and lights on the BlueBike, and I’m ready for anything. Well, not anything per se, you know, not a tornado or volcanic activity, or a tidal wave or a Cat 5 hurricane. But as for dark and rain, I’ve pretty much got that covered. I’ve got all my stuff in waterproof bags, so even if it rains, I’m ready to go.

Yes, I’m still scared of getting run down, but not as much as I was. In actuality, the rides have been a lot better than I thought they would be. I’m still curious as to if/when I’ll run across local law enforcement, and what they’ll tell me about riding in the street… Thibodaux, LA doesn’t have the greatest track record for bicycle-friendly law enforcement. It would do those guys some good to actually patrol on bikes and see what traffic is like without the protective bubbles of their plush cruisers. Heh, that’s wishful thinking.

Anyway, the ride has gone mostly fine. I had a rough day today, but I am reminded that last week went really well. My lighting system performed perfectly after I realized I had hooked the battery up wrong! The taillight I use only works when the polarity is correct, it’s made of LEDs and doesn’t have a rectifier in it. (Hmm, another project I could do one day) The bike is riding fine, the fenders worked great. Everything seems to be going perfectly.

I still need to get a better tire solution for preventing flats. The Kenda tires I have ride well, but are cheap, and they seem to like to eat up bits of metal like Cookie Monster eats cookies. Maybe I could try some tire liners, like Mr. Tuffy brand.

As I sit here typing this, it’s raining outside. I don’t know if the rain will be done by the time I get off of work, but I’m looking forward to riding home in the rain, to see what that will be like. No, I’m not crazy… I spent money on quality fenders, I want to see how well they work!

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Commuting To Work

So I finally decided instead of riding 14 miles every morning, and then driving to work, I’d just ride the 8 miles to work instead.

You’re probably thinking “That’s a no-brainer!” but it’s more complicated than that. On my normal morning ride, there’s no traffic lights, very little traffic, and only one stop sign. To get to work is a shorter distance, but requires navigating a dozen stop signs, busier streets, and at least two traffic lights and a bridge. Also, I will have to carry myself (and my stuff) back home in the heat at 5:00, which I don’t have to deal with on morning-only rides. I also have to figure out how to carry a change of clothes, any food I need, my laptop, and anything else (including lights and a battery) on the bike, while on my regular rides I don’t need any of that stuff.

Don’t forget that buying a bike and everything you need for a commute costs money! It’s healthier to get exercise, yes, but it’s still not free. With recreational cycling, if you get a flat, you don’t have to ride. If something breaks, you can wait to fix it. If it’s too rainy, too dark, or too whatever, you don’t have to ride. With commuting, you pretty much need to ride every day, unless you have a car on standby at all times. I do happen to have a car, so this is less of an issue for me.

So is it worth it? It depends on how dedicated you are to it. Believe it or not, you will save more money by riding when it’s convenient, because you will not need things like lights, fenders, panniers, or specialized clothing. You won’t get as fit, though, if you don’t ride on a regular basis.

So whether or not you will get benefits from cycling to work depends on what kind of retuns you’re looking for. So far, I’ve lost close to 20 pounds just cycling and eating right. Commuting will actually increase my mileage compared to my normal 13.5 mile morning jaunts, up to 16.5 miles total a day. Not a huge difference, but it eliminates the extra time I spent riding in the morning… I can actually get up and leave laterthan I normally would if I had ridden and then drove to work.

Time will tell how things go long-term, but for how good I feel riding my bike, I’m going to stick with it.