I had the privilege of being one (of many) coauthors on an academic paper for the open access journal Frontiers in Plant Genetics and Genomics. The paper is titled The iPlant Collaborative: Cyberinfrastructure for Plant Biology.
I had the privilege to lead the team that updated The Official Ubuntu Book for this sixth edition. The book continues to serve as a quality introduction for newcomers to Ubuntu, both the software and the community that surrounds it.
ISBN-13: 978-0132748506
Link to the Amazon.com page for the book.
My Ubuntu Forum Council term expired yesterday, but seeing as it was April Fool’s Day, I didn’t bother posting until today.
I have been a part of the Ubuntu Forums since April 2005 and on staff since March 2006. Since December 2006 I have been a member of the Forums Council and for the last year I have been council chairman. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving in all of these roles. I have become increasingly busy with real life responsibilities, and since my term has expired, I have chosen to allow others to take on the privileges and responsibilities of leadership. I’m still a staff member, but expect to be much less active.
I’ll still be around the forums, and certainly the wider Ubuntu community, but not in the same capacity. I have been an official Ubuntu member since August 2006 and intend to remain one and have been privileged to serve the wider community in other ways as well over the years. Best wishes to the Ubuntu Forums Council for continued growth and service to the community, and thanks to all for the trust placed in me over the past several years.
I have purchased computers in the past from System76 (and been extremely happy with them) because they offer Ubuntu pre-installed. I’ve heard so many people praise ZaReason that I wanted to check them out. I just bought a (highly customized) Limbo 7110. So far, I am really happy, although I should confess I only received the system a few hours ago.
I’m also happy with how easy it is to migrate my entire setup using Linux (well, Debian-based, anyway). For those unfamiliar, here are the basic steps, with the same operating system and version installed on each computer (I have Ubuntu 10.10 on both of mine):
On the old computer, enter:
sudo dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list
Save the file and transfer it to the new computer along with your data (copy everything in /home, including all hidden files/folders that begin with a dot).
On the new computer, ensure that you have the same set of software repositories enabled (you can copy /etc/apt/sources.list or use another method as you prefer). Then, enter:
sudo dpkg --set-selections < pkg.list
to mark the packages for installation and:
sudo apt-get -u dselect-upgrade
to install them. Wait.
Reboot when done. Voila, your computer has been cloned. I make a lot of customizations and have a ton of data and non-default packages. Even so, the entire process took me less than three hours. My new system is set up identically to my old one, but faster and with more storage and memory. Rock on!
I learned from my editor this morning that Ubuntu Unleashed 2011 edition is going to receive a second print run. Yay!
I don’t really enjoy watching myself on film, but you might. I was recently interviewed by informIT and this short video is the result. I talk about Ubuntu, my books, and more.
Ubuntu Unleashed 2011 Edition & The Official Ubuntu Book, 5th Edition
I am the sole editor and contributor of new content for the just-released Ubuntu Unleashed 2011 Edition. This book is intended for intermediate to advanced users.
I like to write. I write for a living. However, working with words to craft sentences is not all I do. My job title is “Senior Technical Documentation Specialist.” Documentation includes more than verbal descriptions. Sometimes, I need to create the perfect diagram.
My job provides me with a MacBook Pro and software. While I often use Dia for diagramming on Linux, at work I use OmniGraffle Pro. Both are quality programs for creating diagrams quickly and easily with good results. They are both similar to Microsoft’s Visio.
I recently had the privilege of reading OmniGraffle 5: Diagramming Essentials by Ruben Olsen.
This may be the strongest title I have read from Packt Publishing. In the past, I have been quite hard on them for poor editing and weak expression of ideas. This is not the case here. The book is well written, clear, and filled with useful information.
I sat down over the last week and worked through all of the book’s examples after reading through the text. I learned a number of new tricks and shortcuts that will make using the program easier and more enjoyable.
The book begins with an introductory chapter that helps ease the novice into using OmniGraffle for the first time. The chapter includes an extended, step-by-step walkthrough to help the new user create her first diagram. It ends with a set of guidelines that everyone should learn for creating quality visual diagrams. This chapter is the base on which the rest of the book is built. The author leads the reader through stencils and templates, including how to import and use those built for Visio. Then he directs attention to shapes, tools, editing, and making diagrams look good. The book contained no filler or fluff, every page was useful and clear.
If you use OmniGraffle and want a written resource to help you learn it better or for the first time, this book is worth a closer look.
Disclosures: I was given my copy of this book free by Packt Publishing as a review copy.
Cooking for Geeks is one of the most fun books I have read in a long time. I don’t get lost in the kitchen, but I’m certainly no great chef either. What this book does that is different from typical cookbooks is that instead of presenting a list of recipes, it talks about the science behind combining foods to create tasty dishes.
The book starts with an introduction to the kitchen; to tools, equipment, organization, and a way of thinking about them that is clear and easy to understand in the geek mindset. What does that mean? Those of us who call ourselves “geeks” have a certain way of looking at the world. We like to break things down to their components. We are not satisfied with only knowing what things do, but we want to understand how and why things work the way they do. That is what this book excels in teaching.
Chapter topics include science-based discussions of flavors, ingredients, temperatures, cooking time, and more. These things are directly related in the text to results. The information is presented in a manner that is easily understood by people used to changing one parameter over iterations of a process to discover what effect that one parameter has on the outcome. I like it.
This is not a reference book, which is what I consider most cooking related books to be. You don’t pick it up and say, “Let’s look for a nice dessert to make for when Aunt Mardella comes to visit.” Instead, you get something more valuable; the ability to look in your cupboard to see what you have, understand how those things could fit together to make something wonderful, and pull something together based on your understanding of the ingredients, processes and interactions available. That rocks! For this reason, the book receives a very high recommendation from me for anyone interested in learning about the science behind cooking (and there are some very interesting recipes included as well, so if that is what you are looking for, you won’t be disappointed either).
My wife is a talented cook. She read the book after asking me why I was reading about cooking. She is not a geek, and she also loved the book. She found the information enlightening. After years of doing things “because this is the right way” she was thrilled to know some of the reasoning behind those “right ways” and to learn several new ideas and methods.
Disclosures: I was given my copy of this book free by O’Reilly as a review copy, I also write for O’Reilly.
The Ubuntu Forums’ Code of Conduct has received minor adjustments many times over the years, usually without notice. Most changes have either been trivial or additions to encode long standing forum culture.
Yesterday, after many weeks of discussion and rewriting, a new version of the Forum Code of Conduct was posted. There are no real changes to the substance, but how we express the content is significantly improved.
Major changes include lengthening the Introduction to include all the major points and distilling the rest to two sections, one for General Policy and one for Posting Tips.
We think the community will find the updated version clearer and more efficiently expressed.
You can read the Forum Code of Conduct here.
I am a husband, father, reader, writer, researcher, occasional website designer and administrator, and all-around geek. I am also a musician who plays the guitar and the bass; I have played as a studio musician for other artists. I am an avid and voracious reader, speak several languages, have worked as an information consultant on topics including culture, language, religion and computers, and spent several years running a small business in North Africa.
This is where I write occasional notes about things I want to remember or about stuff that a friend or acquaintance might find interesting; kind of like a Twitter feed, but with more than 140 characters per post.
You can email me at matthew AT matthewhelmke DOT com with any comments or questions.
I spend more time posting on Google+, and you can also find me occasionally hanging out on Facebook, and Twitter. You will even find me on LinkedIn and on Amazon.com.
