Doing some stuff, working on another Linux Journal article, and stumbled across a project that looks pretty interesting: git-annex. Not sure how I’d use it yet, but it looks like it MIGHT work as a open-source Dropbox, without needing anything more complicated than git.

Definitely something I’m going to be hacking around with. I’d still probably maintain Dropbox as I have too many iOS devices that JustWork(TM) with Dropbox, but git-annex might be a great way to track files (and copies of files) that I don’t want to manage in Dropbox due to space concerns. (Movies, music, and other media, perhaps…)

It just struck me that I’ve got an article in the current issue of Linux Journal! I wrote about installing multiple OSes on the Nexus 7 tablet. If Android and hacking around with things is your cup of tea, then be sure to read this article. If you don’t have a Linux Journal subscription… well, then, what kind of geek are you? You should fix this right now!

Louis CK may be really crude at times, but he hits the nail on the head occasionally with respect to people’s behavior. And after listening to a kid at Barnes and Noble complain about how slow her phone was, I feel compelled to drop this video in here. If you’ve never seen this – take a minute and watch. It’s hysterically funny, but incredibly appropriate for folks living in the 21st Century.

So, looks like the root SSL certificates that power all of the WebOS software updates and app stores are going to expire in a couple of months. WebOS cert notice page

I’m mildly concerned about this, but I’m not sure why. I do have a Pre 2 and an HP TouchPad, but I rarely use them now. If HP decides not to renew the certificates (and push the necessary software update before the certs expire), then the units basically become frozen in time. They’re not state-of-the-art anymore, but they are cool devices nonetheless.

I suppose part of the reason this bugs me is that it’s the real beginning of the end for WebOS. WebOS has been on lifesupport for a long time, barely hanging by a thread, but this is the first tangible sign that the end isn’t far off. WebOS is a great example of an excellent idea that’s been passed over, and that just saddens me. I’m not a fan of a duopoly market, and that’s what we mostly have now in the mobile space with Android and iOS (despite the fact that I do like iOS devices a lot). WebOS was a great, open, standards based alternative to the other mobile solutions, and it’s looking like it’s going to go out with a whimper, not a bang.

HP, if you see this, don’t let WebOS die. Just roll a quick update and get it out there. The goodwill that you’ll get from the fans of WebOS might just be worth it.

Anyone out there re-read favorite books over and over again? It’s something I tend to do, but sometimes I get folks looking at me with a O.o expression when I say something like “Hey, I’m re-reading Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon for the fifth time, and just picked up a new tidbit - have you read it?” (By the way, if you haven’t read Cryptonomicon, fix that. You’re broken.)

I’m currently doing exactly that – if you look in the sidebar, you’ll see I’m 54% done with Cryptonomicon, and I am indeed picking up subtle little things he’s thrown in the book that I didn’t notice before. For instance, Rudy von Hacklheber addresses Enoch Root at one point as “Enoch the Red” – and only ONCE. Enoch’s referred to that in other books (names withheld to avoid spoilers) – how does Rudy know that Enoch goes by that name? Rudy explains that “Certain familial connections are involved” but then he goes on to say “the connections are very involved – I would have to write a whole fucking book”. I just picked up that Stephenson DID write that “whole fucking book”, along with others. I’d never have picked up on that tidbit if I hadn’t decided to dive into Cryptonomicon again – and if I hadn’t read other Stephenson works since. Very subtle connections, yet it’s something that once I noticed, I can’t “unnotice”. It makes the entire story richer for me, and I can’t help but wonder what other little secrets are buried in the story for me to find, much like bars of gold in a submerged U-Boat’s hold.

I’ve got to detour here and comment for a moment on the technology that makes this re-reading a lot easier than it used to be. EBooks have been a huge game-changer for me – particularly, Amazon’s offerings, and the Kindle and Kindle apps. It’s pretty damn incredible to buy a book via a website, and have it automatically appear on my Kindle, my iPad, and my iPhone at the same time. I can read a few chapters on my Kindle as I’m chilling with a cold beverage on the patio, then put things away and pick up reading on my iPhone during a boring meeting, and finally haul the iPad to lunch and log a chapter in between jamming food in my mouth-hole. The fact that I can buy once and get the same content everywhere, with last-read position sync’d (and bookmarks and annotations) is a killer app for me. That also makes re-reading a book extremely easy, as I can just “pluck” it right out of the Amazon cloud and pick it up again and start reading. Print is neat, and there’s nothing like the feel of a good hardcover book, but the convenience of an ebook just flat out spanks the old tree-based book for me – so long as my device has power. ;)

Anyhow, re-reading a book more than once – at what point does it get weird? The third reading, the fifth? Or are the folks I get the surprised looks from just people who don’t devote a lot of their time to reading in the first place? Drop me a line in the comments, I’d love to hear other people’s experiences with this topic.