SouthEast LinuxFest 2010

I thoroughly enjoyed the second annual SouthEast LinuxFest.  I met several of my on-line friends and gained a wealth of information from the sessions. A tip of the hat to all the hard working organizers and speakers. Great job!

This year the event was held at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. In 2009 it was held at Clemson University.

The hotel accommodations were great. The Marriott had large meeting rooms and the staff seemed to be there when needed and invisible when they weren't needed.

There was a great crowd on hand for Saturday's events. The crowd on Sunday was slim. I think next year it should be Friday 1PM through Saturday evening. I would leave Sunday as a travel day.

The session schedule was varied and packed. There were 6 tracks on Saturday and many Birds of a Feather (BOF) meetings. Below is a list of the sessions I attended:

• Friday afternoon - UbuCon: Jono Bacon, Rick Spencer and gang demoed Quickly, the python rapid development tool
• Saturday 9AM - Bradley Kuhn: GPLv3: Better Copyleft for Developers and Users
• Saturday 10AM - Jon "Maddog" Hall: A Personal History of Free Software (see my video link below).
• Saturday 11AM - Nick Owen: Securing your network with open-source technologies: Tips & Tricks
• Saturday 1PM - Cat Allman: Getting Started in Free and Open Source
• Saturday 2PM - Doug Vann: How Drupal is expanding the role of OpenSource in Government, Private Industry and Beyond!
• Saturday 3PM - Michael DeHaan: Datacenter Automation Strategies With Puppet
• Saturday 4PM - Jay Pfaffman: LTSP as a New Model of Ubiquitous Computing for Schools: Fact or Foolishness?
• Sunday 9AM - Alan Hicks: Introduction to the 802.11 MAC

If you are interested in Linux/Free and Open Source Software I highly recommend attending SouthEast LinuxFest 2011. Stay tuned to the SouthEast LinuxFest website http://www.southeastlinuxfest.org.

Here is a video clip I put together from my favorite SouthEast LinuxFest 2010 session. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb26slhtT1Q

Matthew Godbold High School Graduation Party

Matthew Godbold graduated high school in 2010. A party was held to celebrate his achievement. A good time was had by all. Enjoy Donna's photo album.

Renovation 2010 - Lighting Purchased and ThinSet Removal

We purchased our under cabinet lighting, 2 sconce lights for the foyer, 1 hanging light for the foyer, 1 hanging light for the dining room, 1 dome light for the foyer and 2 dome lights for the hallway. Everything but the sconce lights are Quoizel. Most of it was in stock at Charleston Lighting and Interiors and was on sale during their annual outdoor tent sale.  The remaining items will be in Saturday May 8, 2010. This was the highlight of our weekend (pun intended).

Our electrician should be in Wednesday to start phase 1 of the electrical work.

We met with our tile installer on Saturday. Among the many things discussed it was confirmed that we must remove the thinset from the slab flooring.

We spent several hours Saturday and Sunday removing thinset from the slab floors. What a PITA. We have tried several methods. The most promising and least labor intensive is using a  pneumatic hammer with a chisel installed. It is very slow going and dusty. We only completed an 1/8th of the floor. I plan to visit AAA Rentals to look for some better tool. Ever forum post I've read mentions how hard it is to remove thinset is and there is no silver bullet. In our case the thinset and the flooring have become one. It is hard work regardless of the tool.

Our 18x18 inch tile is in.  There are 2 pallets weighing 1500 lbs each. Too much for my Ford Ranger.  The installer will pick it up soon. We still need to locate and purchase our decorative tile for the foyer. We are looking for some 3x6 and 3x3 pieces in glossy black.

That's it from the dust bowl. 

Renovation 2010 - Remaining Floors Prepped

We removed the vinyl flooring, adhesive, and quarter round molding from the laundry room, ironing room, and half bath. We are ready for the electrician, painter, tile layer, and cabinet installers.

Laundry room

Ironing room

Renovation 2010 - Floor Prep and Appliances Delivered

We spent the weekend prepping the floors. Our appliances were delivered Saturday and will hang out in our garage for a few weeks pending flooring, cabinets, and painting.

We removed the vinyl flooring from the kitchen, carpet from the dining room and ceramic tile from entrance and hallway. The old ceramic tiles were laid directly on the slab and did not want to come up. I had to use a 4 pound sledge hammer and a chisel. This was the most physically challenging job I've had since filling in the swimming pool a few years ago. Below are two videos and several pictures documenting the weekend activity. 

 

 

Convection wall mounted oven.

Stainless steel counter depth refrigerator.

Wall mount oven. 

Range top.

Entrance with ceramic tile removed. 

Hallway with ceramic tile removed. Quarter round molding removed and tape to the wall.

Dining room with carpet removed. 

Kitchen with vinyl flooring removed. 

Vidoes segments shot with a Canon HF20. Video created in Blender on Ubuntu 9.10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9W1G_OL3Wc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5afEfKRYw

Renovation 2010 - Tile Finally Selected

After several weeks of shopping we have selected our tile. Palmetto Tile Distributors at 4639 Rivers Av has the widest selection and the best showroom in the Charleston SC area. See below a photo taken at the Palmetto Tile showroom of our possible tile configuration for our foyer.

Charleston Battery Sunrise on Good Friday 2010

I awoke 5AM Good Friday to travel from Goose Creek to downtown Charleston in pursuit of a picturesque sunrise. My first stop was on top of the Charleston Visitor Center parking garage. I didn't like the scene from that vantage point. Too many ugly rooftops. My next stop was California Dreaming restaurant dock. The James Island connector bridge ruined my view there. My last stop was Charleston's East Battery. I set my tri-pod and camera to film a beautiful sunrise. Getting up before dawn makes my day off from work a little longer and witnessing the sun in all its glory puts everything into proper perspective. A fantastic start to a long weekend. Happy Easter everyone.

Charleston Battery Sunrise on Good Friday 2010

Charleston East Battery Homes on Good Friday 2010

Shortly after sunrise I secured my Canon HF20 video camera and tri-pod on to the bed of my Ford Ranger pick-up and filmed the historic homes of Charleston's East Battery. The music is The Charleston from the Internet Archive.


View Larger Map Charleston East Battery Homes on Good Friday 2010

Cooper River Bridge Run 2010

The Cooper River Bridge Run is the best organized and the best conducted 10-K race in the world. It includes world-class competition in a unique setting with unparalleled participant satisfaction. It broadens community cooperation and participation in healthy events throughout the year. The Cooper River Bridge Run serves as a model of health motivation for other communities throughout the world.

Below are two YouTube videos I put together. The first one features the wheelchair racers and the second features the run's race leaders. Check them out in HD if you have the bandwidth and horsepower.
Wheelchair racers
Leading Runners