Weekly roundup

Like last week, these are some interesting posts I found around the web, along with some commentary from me.

• things I don’t have that many do — Lists like these always make me reconsider whether I really need certain things in my life. Of course, I have most of the items listed, but I had this in mind when I got my hair cut shorter recently, and when considering other purchases. I worry a little about Leo not having health insurance, though.
• GitHub Notification: Happy to help with maintenance — I was very happily surprised to get a response from my “looking for maintainer” ad within a day.
• AMD acknowledges plans for ARM-based embedded chips — The processor space is getting interesting…
• Should I Upgrade to Ubuntu 13.04? — Yes, they could have added more features, but I’m happy they focused on fit and finish. It’s noticeably faster, even running on a USB stick, so I’m considering upgrading from 12.04 LTS.
• B&N NOOK Color gets official CM10.1 nightlies (Android 4.2) — I considered getting one of these tablets just to run Cyanogen Mod (back before I decided on Nexus 7). I’m happy that these can stay useful longer; who knows what garage sales they’ll show up at…
• Sony bring stock Android to Xperia Z smartphone with AOSP Project — Good to see larger involvement in Android open source.
• iPhone 4 “antennagate” settlement checks arriving in the mail — Funny, I tried to get a bumper, and it never really worked out. Not that I’ve had huge problems, though.
• BitTorrent Sync Keeps Your Files In Sync, Skips the Insecure Cloud — Really interesting idea; could be great for personal music libraries, etc. Not sure how it would work on tablets and phones, though.
• How an Energy Audit Saved My Family $2,400 a Year — A coworker had a similar experience once. Heating oil is something to watch out for. Stories like this make me nervous when considering housing options.
• KISSDB: Tiny database — Very short code, seems like it could be useful. I’d love to see example uses.
• Monty changes roles, goes big with MariaDB–and gains Wikipedia as a user — Oracle’s role in MySQL (and OpenOffice) make many people wary; good to see this fork gain momentum.
• Can I Get DRM-Free Movies and TV Shows Without Pirating? — Pretty much sums up the state of things. I’m still unhappy about a TV season I bought in iTunes; I’m avoiding purchase of digital video unless they’re free from DRM, and you should consider doing the same. Rental is an okay option (e.g. Netflix, etc), but doesn’t seem like the end of the conversation.
• Chicken meets egg with Facebook, Chrome WebP support — I’m really hoping WebP and WebM can catch on. It seems very reliant on finding a good scheme of browsers declaring what formats they understand, and a good option for users.
• Why “The Gap” Is the Personal Finance Number That Matters the Most — I read a treatment of this a few years ago, and it’s still something I keep in mind today.
• Genius ideas – Imgur — Reminded me of last week’s MacGyver tricks.
• Lee.org – [Feedly] Comment Stuffing by Sockpuppets — Makes me unsure of Feedly, and happy that I’m using Tiny Tiny RSS.
• LeVar Burton on Why ‘Reading Rainbow’ Was Cancelled (Media Beat 2 of 3) – YouTube — I already knew that No Child Left Behind was bad, but I didn’t know it’s what killed Reading Rainbow. Interesting discussion, although I don’t think an iPad app is going to reach the kids who need it. Good for teachers (and teachers-to-be) to watch. :)