Adam

How to Replace XP with Linux

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Many people are curious about linux, or maybe have even tried linux at some point. There is a huge difference between people trying linux, and people using linux. Hopefully this article will sort of ease your transition into using linux, either as a full time OS or even just enough to get around if you ever encounter it. Once you are familiar with software on one OS, its tough to move on but with this article I hope to list out some linux software that replaces many of the XP programs I once loved and how to run certain irreplaceable Windows software on linux.

The version of linux used here is Linux Mint, which is built off Ubuntu.

(Image provided by Wikimedia Commons. Authors Larry Ewing, Simon Budig, Anja Gerwinski)

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Reference Managment in Scientific Papers

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Citing references in papers has always been a tough nut to crack. Everyone has their own preferences and style when it comes to writing, and different scientific journals all have their own specifications for how to cite references. Some people swear by LaTeX and BibTeX, others use word and Endnote.

While writing my thesis, I’ve come across a set of applications that I believe can be useful for almost any and everyone who is writing a paper.

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Overhanging Desk Work Light

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The SheekGeek office doesn’t have very good lighting and because of this, working on things at my work desk is always tough.  I’ve tried a lot of different solutions to this problem such as the lighted helping hands set-up, sitting a small fluorescent light on top of my parts organizer, and even hanging the lamp from a couple of the bins on the top row of the parts organizer.  None of these provided a good solution.  The fluorescent lamp was rather blinding, and with every solution, my hands cast shadows on what I’m working on.  This lead me to finally come up with a great working solution to my problem that casts no shadows.

A couple of years ago when I wrote for Hackaday I did an article about the Hacker’s Soldering Station. Since then, that station became too bulky and impractical for my office.  I needed something that was easier to move, or possibly break down to take up less space.  I looked around at what I had on hand and slapped together this quick fix that is the perfect solution for my needs.

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Custom PVC Banner Holder for about $15

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For a while now, we have been doing our museum shows, Geekfests, and Makerfaires. At each event, we always have a problem displaying our 8 foot SheekGeek.com banner. For years we’ve basically taped the banner to the front of our table but no one can really see it, especially when we get busy and there are several layers of people in front of the table. In recent event we’ve been taping it behind the table on a wall. This doesn’t always work because we aren’t always in front of a wall. When we do luck out and get a wall behind us, we can’t always use it to tape up the banner. Looking for a portable solution to hold the banner behind us at a table, we found a few designs for a PVC banner holder.

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How to Make a New Swarm of Solderless WASP Kits

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Recently, we noticed our stock of WASP and WASP Solderless kits were running a bit low. Just in time for the World Maker Faire (be sure to stop by and say “hello”), we thought you might be interested in seeing what goes into making a new swarm of WASPs. This article is complete with lots of pictures showing every step.

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