Tuxkids

I added a few blocks to my tuxkids Drupal 6 site tonight to show different ways a blog might be spiced up a little. First, the block on the right called Twitter chrisindallas is an example of a piece of custom php code that can add functionality to Drupal.

First, I found the URL to my Twitter feed at the bottom of my Twitter profile page. I could have also subscribed to the feed with all my friends. Once I copied that, I entered it in the aggregator module that is part of Drupal core by going to Administer->Content management->Feed aggregator. There I created a new feed called Twitter chrisindallas and pasted the URL and set the Update interval to 15 minutes.

Next I created an empty block under Administer->Site building->Blocks Then, I borrowed a piece of php code from the Drupal website. Instructions on setting up the code are there. Make sure you set the input format to php and update your cron tables to run every 15 minutes. That way your tweets will be fresh.

I also found a del.icio.us widget that uses Javascript on the del.icio.us website. This very small piece of Javascript can be placed in a empty block just like the Twitter php code. The main difference is that the input format need to be changed to Full HTML. I didn't add a title to the block because widget supplies its own.
Next I added another twitter widget. This time it is a Flash badge that is a little more colorful that blue text on a white background. I got the code from Twitter. Place it in an empty block and you are ready to go.

Several more Twitter badges can be found on their download page.

I also added a tag cloud using the Tagadelic module for Drupal 6. This common widget is simply a list of all tags used with an larger fonts given to the most used tags. After decompressing it into sites/all/modules and enabling, a block is added with php code from the Drupal website.

The last badge I added is also Flash, but this one has some animation. The Flickr badge can be found at http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne This one required the input format be be set to php code.

There are a lot more things you can do to dress up your blog. A list of 50 is available in the Mashable article.

I am taking some time to set up this Drupal site to be more blog like. What does that mean? Well for me, there are several things that scream blog to me when I come across a web site. Obviously, there is the content itself, but many of the blogs I have enjoysed have blocks that tell the reader something about the blogger.

Here are some things I have seen on blogs I like:

• clean design with dark letters on white background
• links to the bloggers friends and influences
• feeds from Flickr, Twitter, del.icio.us, etc.
• lots of inline images
• free tagging and a tag cloud
• addition of javascript gadgets

This is a start. I plan on expanding on this list as I develop this idea.

So far, I have added my twitter feed to this blog. I also plan on adding some other feeds and dressing the site up a little while keeping a clean design.

The site xolotl.org an article on blogging in Drupal 5 that has some great suggestions. The site is a good example of a Drupal blog itself.

Some other sites that I have found, although not a complete list:

•  ImageSpace -- Nonprofits andWeb 2.0
• AylesburyLIFE
• @FIRST_LIGHT
• net squared
• seanreiser.com
• zivtech.com

I have long been looking for an solution to stream videos across the network the the kids' television. A co-worker is a big fan of Windows Media Center and suggested I look at that solution. The downside of that, besides having to use Windows, is that say I use an X-box 360 or other media extender, I have to have a Windows Media Center PC on to stream the video.

MythTV is appealing, but will have to wait. I think a good MythBox needs a quiet, small form factor case that fits in with the components like DVD players, etc. Thanks to Pat Davila from The Linux Link Tech Show, I have a line on an affordable case and motherboard for a future MythBox project.

I first heard about the Neuros OSD as an open source hardware project. This appealed to my inner geek, so I started looking around for one. I found one at a closing CompUSA heavily discounted, which was an even bigger incentive to pick one up. The Nueros web site currently has a link to J&R electronics, which has the OSD on sale for $159.

You might ask "What is open source hardware?" Well, like many embedded devices, the Neuros OSD runs Linux. You might be familiar with the Linksys WRT54G and it's open source firmware. Unlike the WRT54G, Neuros has released the schematics. An explanation of Neuros' Open Source philosophy can be found at the Neuros wiki.

Neuros describes the OSD as "One Device to Archive, Organize and Easily Play All of Your DVDs, VHS, and Video media." It is the Easily play part that I am interested in for my kids.
I may have set my expectations low when I went shopping for the OSD. The package is very attractive and has a substantial feel to it. I was also very impressed with its contents. They have included all of the cables, etc. needed to get the OSD connected to your TV and even included an IR Blaster to connect the OSD to.

Since my main need for this appliance is to play back recorded videos, I chose to simply connect the video out cable to a TV and connect the Ethernet cable to my LAN. This allows me to stream video from my Buffalo Linkstation NAS.

The OSD comes in an attractive case that looks at home sitting on top of you TV. There is a stand that sets the box at an angle, which gives it a futuristic look, but the remote works better when the box is setting flat on a surface. The unit is absolutely quite with no fan. This is a nice feature compared to the Xbox 360, which is pretty noisy for watching movies.

I have watched several video podcasts in DivX, Xvid and WMV format. I also tried a Quicktime file, but that doesn't seem to be supported. The video seems a little dark, and sometimes there is some lip sync problems. However, the video streams perfectly across the network and there are no pauses or buffering delays.

One of the coolest features is the ability to watch YouTube video directly on the OSD. This is very popular with kids. There is search capability to find videos. The videos stream quite well across our broadband connection.

The firmware appears to be very stable and quite intuitive. It has some nice features to bookmark long paths so that once you have found your videos, you can easily get back there at a later date.

There is new firmware available, which I have not tried yet. The new firmware requires more Flash memory than is available with the OSD, and the recommended way around this it to permanently install a 128M Compact Flash card in the slot. In the next installment, I will review the new firmware. Later, I will hook up a camcorder and DVD player and review the recording capabilities of the OSD.

Tuxkids is not necessarily a site for kids, but rather a site with information for parents on getting their kids using open source and free software.
Some of the areas that interest me are in overcoming the obstacles of using Linux rather than Windows for things like music and gaming. I'm also interested in getting my kids to do more with the computer than going to Barbie.com. Also, I'm a complete gadget geek, so I may veer off in that direction from time to time.
I should probably start by explaining why I think Linux is a good OS alternative to Windows. The first big advantage of Linux is internet safety. While your unpatched Linux box can be owned like any other computer, a Linux computer has a large degree of invulnerability to the spyware, viruses or other malware that your kids are picking up while surfing Myspace, Facebook or their other favorite sites.
That's not to say that Linux will always be impervious to malware, but as long as over 99% of those nasties are aimed at Windows, why not isolate your kids by getting them off Microsoft?
The second big reason for me to run Linux on my kid's computers is cost. I can take an old hand me down computer and breath new life into it with a fully modern operating system that requires way fewer resources to run than Windows Vista or even XP. Also, you don't have to load it down with expensive resource hogging antivirus suites that don't work anyway.
There is also the cost of the Windows license. Now granted, most of those old machines that you pass down to your kids were probably purchased with a copy of Windows XP, but maybe the hardware came from a friend or workplace, and now there is some doubt whether the Windows installed on that Pentium 4 is legal.
With Linux, there's no question.