Day: February 12, 2008

New tracks for Rock Band available for download via XBox Live have been announced: Complete Control by The Clash, Truth Hits Everybody by The Police and Teenage Lobotomy by The Ramones. They’re available for 160 Microsoft Points each for 440 Microsoft Points for the set of three.

My friend Paul has opened an online store aimed at making life easier for Canadian Linux users: Big Box Linux is a place where you can buy computer parts and peripherals that are known to work with Linux. The site has a feature that lets you select parts based on which distro they’re known to work with. Big Box Linux ships anywhere in Canada.

Photo from BlogTO.
Click the photo to see its original article.

BlogTO, one of the local city blogs here in Toronto (“T.O.” is local shorthand for “Toronto, Ontario”) has posted an article about Linuxcaffe, a local spot that combines coffee, community and open source code. In addition to coffee, pastries, sandwiches and all the other stuff you’d expect to find at a local indie cafe, Linuxcaffe also boasts free Wifi, laptops for rent, space for community gatherings from techie user groups and workshops to art openings and live music.

In the article, BlogTO interviews Linuxcaffe’s owner David J. Patrick. Here are a couple of questions from the interview:

What’s different about the linuxcaffe than other cafes in Toronto?
Everything! Because I’m a filmmaker, with broad theatre experience, but almost no restaurant background, linuxcaffe has no preconceptions. The joy of open source has affected every aspect of the operation, using nothing but free software and enjoying real contributions from the community. Our trade secret is that we have no trade secrets.

Who is your typical customer?
We are lucky enough to be frequented by several distinct communities; the locals and dog-walkers, who pick up a dark organic coffee on the way; neighbourhood folk who seek out home made healthy food (we offer nutritious vegan and gluten-free alternatives); we attract all sorts of students and creative types with the free WiFi; and many of our open source interested customers will come from surprising distances to learn more and hang with like-minded enthusiasts.

In what way does the cafe interact with various tech communities in the city?
I’m a board member of the Toronto Linux Users group and linuxcaffe is host to several open source programming user groups. We are a magnet for Linux newbies and those looking for tech support, and we share all of the code we develop in-house.

For more about Linuxcaffe, read the rest of the BlogTO article or visit their website. They’re located at 326 Harbord Street (at the corner of Grace and Harbord, directly south of Christie subway station). Their hours are:

• Monday – Friday: 7ish to 11ish
• Saturday: 10ish to 11ish
• Sunday: 10ish to 5 p.m.