Sudo Belludo
By Alex Witherspoon | July 2, 2009
So often I am called to fix things, I thought it fitting to make the SUDO Bell.
#FTW #ROFL #Awesome
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Linux Game Server Release Delayed
By Alex Witherspoon | June 29, 2009
I have been working hard to get the LGS package out the door, but personal life comes first, and it seems the picture below says it best. LGS has had some remarkable progress, but has remained largely a single man operation which slows things down.
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VideoWeblog EP13 – The Geek Pad
By Alex Witherspoon | June 21, 2009
I am moved into a new apartment in Portland Oregon. I am located in the Pearl district, which is sweet, and the area is awesome.
Also, Check out this 3d version of my room:
And Check out LinuxGameServer.org a growing project to build a open source, gui controlled free, awesome game server platform.
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Bike Engine Mod V2 – A Cooler Mini-Chopper Project Writeup
By Alex Witherspoon | June 18, 2009
I began working on a new bike upon the loss of my previous one. I had some new goals in mind, to make this bike, cooler, run better, and cost less. Ultimately this is the path I went down, how I got through each step.
I began looking for parts. It was key to me to find something that stood out since all these kits seemingly were made from only a few source factories in China. I decided to go with a cool ‘looking’ yet economical bike. I chose this model for it’s steel frame, which is stronger and will handle the vibrations better by absorbing and flexing instead of breaking. I also chose it out of price, being $75 at the time of purchase, with free shipping made it a prime candidate.
http://www.amazon.com/Men%2592s-Bayview-Cruiser-Bike%252d-Black/dp/B000OV4XGM/ref=pd_sbs_sg_6
I also chose a smaller motor, that reportedly had better construction, and was a better option in general. I found this out to be completely correct as the parts came wrapped well, and in good order considering the price.
So Here are the initial pictures after the unit was finished:
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Programming Is Almost Over, and A New Bike Project is Coming…
By Alex Witherspoon | June 9, 2009
This post is auto publishing itself, and as it does so, I am leaving early from a test today. That test is programming, as the premier worlds fastest and best programming test taker, I am offering my services in the great Portland Area for a mere, O(log N) dollars per hour. Yes, that is right a exponential pay rate, say hello to Bill Gates #2
Having had succesffully built a motorized bicycle, I am now going to get started on my second model. I have not found, and do not plan on finding my old machine, but I did learn much from the first build, and I intend to carry that through into the new revision.
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Apple’s WWDC 2009 – MacBook Brand Fades, for Snow Leopard
By Alex Witherspoon | June 8, 2009
No more rumors, the one and only Apple Developer Conference came and went. New Phones, New Names for the laptops, and most importantly, the concept of low cost apples, has been thrown to the wind. In what appears to be a daring move to re-affirm the Apple’s Brand identity of an exclusive pricy and slick brand new low end laptops from Apple will now run a small $1400 depending on your local.
Apart from the laptop line, which mainly underwent brand cleansing than any profound upgrade, the iPhone line went through a less than stellar update. While the device has yet to be clocked for new CPU speed or Architecture. It has been reported that the updates have been minimal from preliminary sources. The main updates are being held back by the limitations of ATT and the 3G network available bandwidth. This limitation has also stemmed from the decreased spending budgets on backbone and secondary providers networks for the internet services in the united states limiting the potential of the phone by limiting the available bandwidth.
While the Official iPhone refresh maintains to be less than exciting, the price makes the device makes it a fantasy for more working people in this economic time. While many project the economy recovering at this point, the reality is that many people are still lagging behind and are just now beginning to feel the repercussions.
So with the news, I will end with the prospect that if you want a new iphone, just hack a 3G and save a few hundred dollars.
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Motorized Bicycle Project; Here and Gone
By Alex Witherspoon | June 7, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4NO7H1SwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFgYrM2wv6w
I started about 3 weeks ago on a project of projects. I wanted to motorize a bicycle and make the ultimate in town commuter bike. The plan was simple enough, to take a small motor, and mount it to a bicycle frame, and set it up with a clutch system and independent drive system that would keep the original pedaling functions of the bike intact.
I started out with a 26-inch bike, and started with a fairly complete kit. I started with a kit from here: http://www.bikeberry.com/black-80cc-motorized-bicycle-engine-kit-epa-certified.html
Using this kit I built a bike with the ability to self propel. It was a mixed project involving much engineering to make it work. I finished the bike as of June 4th 2009.
I was enjoying the engine and it’s ability to jet me around town. It was a huge help to get me were I needed to go, while getting roughly by my early calculations about 120MPG. In what seemed to be a commentary on the times we live in, and the society we are interact with, I was quickly rewarded with a set of broken locks, and no bike. I had locked the bike up in Portland, OR. thinking that a U-Bolt and Cable lock combined would pose a decent threat to would be bike borrowers.
My reflection on the matter is that clearly it was wanted, and there is not much I could have done, it had two heavy locks on it. Bad times to have things of value right now when people are ditching morals to try to improve their situations. You Win some Lose some.
In conclusion, it was a fun project, and hopefully the new owner is enjoying the ride. Time to find something else to do, like finish my finals for college.
Resource about installation of Bike Motor.
Gasbike-Bicycle-Motor-Wngine-Kit-80cc-Installation-Manual
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Old Host, more Servers- Bluehost.com FTW
By Alex Witherspoon | June 5, 2009
Hello and welcome to AlexWitherspoon.com it is exactly as it appeared all of 24 hours ago, and that was the plan. After a successful DNS migration, and some back end server work services are being prepped for a new venture concerning the LGS Project. Stay tuned, and keep watching LinuxGameServer.org for details. Sometime in the next 10-15 days something should be released that will revolutionize game hosting.
On a personal note, I am working to finish up school, and then should resume my Podcasts, with a new direction, and better content. with freshman year of college coming to an end, I am looking forward to summer more and more.
A recent venture includes me helping host the FullSignull Podcast, hosted by the venerable, Trevor Smith and Andrew Cyr. Due to their recent jump into Video, I offered my services to help get the larger file sizes out onto the web. If you are into gaming, and the general tech savvy news, it is a great summery from some down to earth realistic people. Besides that, they agree with me in that Metal Gear Solid is THE best game, ever.
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FullSignull Podcast Gets a Hand
By Alex Witherspoon | June 2, 2009
To help out some friends in need the latest episode of the FullSignull Podcast is being hosted here at AlexWitherspoon.com The implications of this are that the FullSignull Podcast can now be seen in sparkling video format instead of the venerable audio only format. There have been a few pains here and there with speed to download, but be assured this is being looked into, after all the Fans have already downloaded more GBs of data than I have fingers and toes.
Shortly the full size will be ready for download. Stay Tuned!
Make sure to check out and subscribe to FullSignull.com in iTunes!
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Ben Witherspoon; A Story Of 25%
By Alex Witherspoon | May 18, 2009
Ben Witherspoon or ‘Buddy” was an interesting person, with all respect it is hard not to be when you live to a ripe older age. Further still it is harder when the person in question has had the broad range of experiences involved with military service overseas, and the witness of the digital age overwhelming the past.
It would make sense to identify my relation to this person, and my perspective, as it is an important distinction that I am not that guy who waited for the larger tip pizzas and tried to take them before Ben could, rather I was his grandson. Son of Steve Witherspoon, who was Brother of Jeff Witherspoon, and Son of Laura Witherspoon, and related in some other fashion to John Witherspoon, signer of the declaration of independence. It was safe to say these independence blooded individuals were no less driven than the original and certainly Ben was driven in a similar way.
As Ben matured through life, I eventually came into the picture, and so the earlier years were not part of my time. I was privy to the man who though became somewhat buried into his film studies and sports fan endeavors to notice too much else. He however proved to provide a perspective enriched with the exotic admiration of cultures. Of particular interest was Asia, and the rich culture it possessed. Ben had served in Korea, a military sacrifice he met along with his brothers who served in World War II. Ben would tell you while he did serve, and did give his time, it was an experience he enjoyed. Not because of the fighting, but because of the world he had been allowed to visit. He felt the culture of Korea, and Japan were beyond interesting.
While all this cultural exploration was in itself an amazing thing, as it commonly is with many people who become exposed to a different understanding of life, Ben was known for another pursuit, one quite possibly driven by his curiosity and the incredible importance of lineage that was expressed in Asian culture; genealogy, and family lineage.
As the wealth of knowledge seemed to reach a level of confident understanding, Ben must have come to the realization that memories, are as fragile as the bodies that carry them. Along with several other family members, Ben worked to research and verify records tracing back the lineage as far back as our countries history could take us. Unlike some strains of human families, the record was not so clear for the Witherspoon Clan, and required an immense tracing of information, and a sense of knowledge that in genealogy comes from the living breathing family and their family verbal record.
Family strands fascinated Ben, he would always try to find the connection, the raw human connection in DNA that all Witherspoons in practice share some common threads of. One common question he would always re-examine during family get together events would involve that percent, depending on affiliation some percent of DNA should be shared, and he always tried to find the traces, seemingly finding the links that would mark, and infuse the Witherspoon heritage in someone. It was always a hope that those Witherspoon traits would help accelerate some sort of sport abilities, but I digress. (though I did pitch a mean fast ball in Baseball, the kind that generally sent kids to the hospital, but I digress again) Ben would always ask me, “Alex I do not know where my 25% is in you, but I am sure it is there somewhere.”
It was an interesting statement to me, because over the years I have come to find the answer. I never did end up telling him, but he would never have believed it anyways. I did after all talk to computers, and those might as well have been alien/God technology in the world of Ben. Ben and I both shared an innate inability to do Math. The oddity is that we both use numbers in an incredibly green driven enterprise to squeeze, and pinch every penny, and even when that penny was a withered raison, we would use that to still fabricate yet another money tree, and from that repeat until, well we don’t stop actually. It is a common but shared mentality that each and every event in the day can be calculated with precision as an impact of checks and balances. From this accounting viewpoint a waste can quickly be found and eliminated, or a cheaper alternative can be found. I would go into further detail of the enterprising schemes we both shared, but that would not make good business sense at this time.
There is some math that might decide the scaling factor of likeness between the two, but I would not know it. We both struggled, even both failed in the same Algebra II class in High School, ironically in the same classroom at Wichita East High. We shared yet another slice of pie, in that we both keyed in, and both are huge fans of Asian culture. When I say fans, I think we both realized we could not actually participate completely, but we both tried to surround ourselves with immense collections of Asian ’stuff’. Yes swords are on the list, numerous times. I would like to think it is not a necessity to study Asian culture specifically, but rather the shared inclination to dwell and bask in different cultures to understand, acknowledge, and try to better understand our world.
Some I have mentioned this to have responded, well those are generalized things that any two people could share. I would tell them I would like to think that was a thread that found it’s way back to Ben, as he had hoped, and hopefully his 25% didn’t entirely fade and go away after-all. It is easy to let the fact that I do know my way around a wrench, a hammer, a saw, a rivot gun, a ramset, a welding torch, a voltmeter,a motherboard, and numerous other Bob The Builder implementations cloud the fact that I do share some sliver of the pie, some 25% with this man. I can say that perhaps, what did miss out, was the Witherspoon? inclination towards sports. For that divine right I leave my two brothers Andrew, and Adam. But if this is really all about genes, 4 boys does provide a good sampling of basic genetic probability, Perhaps Austin and I will simply carry the other traits along.
I would say more if I could, but the above is all I can say in complete confidence, the rest now remains the memory of others, hopefully as Ben would have liked it, to find a way to migrate and survive the test of time through the history of our family, through stories, words, pictures, and videos.
It is a new project of mine to render what skill-sets I do have to aid in this project of Genealogy, and hopefully as time allows I will create a web based site for the Witherspoon timeline to live on. The location of the site will be at http://AWitherspoon.com and will allow for the recording of the photos, memories, and growing family archives. The goal of this project is to soundly plant the form foundations of the Witherspoon name in record, and work to document the growth of the current generations to allow for the preservation of information in the coming years.
This is the Tribute Video Andrew Witherspoon put together for the Funeral for Ben Witherspoon.
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