GRLUG at BCCS

Posted on November 23, 2009 by brousch

Darrin Sculley gave us a tour of the multi-seat Ubuntu Linux lab he put together for the Byron Center Christian School. What an incredible facility those kids have!

Darrin built each computer using parts purchased over the Internet. There are seven stations, each of which is equipped with a quad core AMD Phenom CPU, 8GB of RAM, two 32GB SSDs in RAID0, and four video cards. Each station drives four 23″ 1080p monitors, keyboards, and mice for four students. The use of large, slow fans in the computers keeps the ambient noise in the room incredibly low.

The multi-seat set-up is achieved via some complicated settings in X11 and GDM. This configuration makes better use of both computing resources and funds compared to the traditional one computer per student. In fact, Darrin estimates he saved $10,000 compared to a lab based on Windows and single-user computers.

Darrin has also re-tasked the school’s old P4 computers into an additional Ubuntu Linux lab.

Darrin has created a really nice facility at BCCS, which is even more impressive considering he’s only been working with Linux for nine months. Way to go!

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In Search Of: A New Post-Meeting Hangout for GRPUG

Posted on November 5, 2009 by brousch

After GRPUG meetings, many of us have gone out for dinner and drinks at the Grand Rapids Brewing Company. It has been quite empty when we arrive, usually between 7:30PM and 8:00PM. The service has been getting slower each week so we have begun the search for a new post-meeting hangout. If you have any suggestions for a fairly quiet place to get a beer and a bite near the Calvin College campus, please let me know.

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George the Geek

Posted on November 5, 2009 by brousch

We were watching the Star Trek The Next Generation episode “I Borg” at dinner last night. When Hugh (a borg) started talking, George pointed at him and called him “robot”.

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GRPUG Meeting Summary 2/11/2009

Posted on November 3, 2009 by brousch

We had six people in attendance.
Since I neglected to line up a presentation or presenter, we continued hacking on the web site that we started at the last meeting. We’ve settled on using the Django framework and Google App Engine to host the site. We’ve also started using the Blueprint CSS Framework.
I hunted around for web sites from other Python groups for some inspiration, but didn’t come across anything impressive. Most of them seem to be using vanilla MoinMoin or Plone and did not have much more than meeting information.
Ryan took the reins and very quickly created a basic site and a Django base for us to build on. We came up with the following features for the web site, broken out into Django apps:

  • The home page listing the next meeting, an introduction to the group, and a group activity feed pulled from various parts of the site and external feeds
  • RSVP for meetings so we know when we can start
  • Information about current members and how to become one
  • A form for topic requests
  • A link or embedded version of the GRPUG planet
  • A book section including our dead-tree library, books available to review, and book reviews we’ve written
  • A page with more detailed information about GRPUG
  • A meetings section showing past presentations and topics as well as what is coming up

You can follow our progress as we pretty it up and add features to the GRPUG Web Site.

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GAR-Cast for 11/1/2009

Posted on November 2, 2009 by brousch

I know I haven’t done a GAR-Cast in a while, but it is hard to get him to sit still for any length of time. Last Sunday we were sitting on the couch and I happened to have the EeePC handy, so we created this. If you compare it to the older ones, it’s amazing how many more words you can understand. To set the scene, Duncan is on the floor to his left, I am to his right, and Momma is sleeping on the couch across the room.

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