in the study

Well, it took rebuilding my HTPC, countless forum post readings and finally just trying something to figure out installing Android on the board was quite easy.  I don't have any pictures or anything, just search Google for a video of the IGEPv2 booting.  Mine doesn't look much different.  I'll have to say it isn't worth much right now since the current kernel doesn't have wifi enabled - my next project after Step 2 CS next Monday. 

The process of installing it was quite simple.  I just used Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit by following the instructions on the Andoid dev page for compiling on a 64-bit machine.  Once that was all setup, I went to Project Rowboat, downloaded donut and compiled it.  Used the same tool-chain from the Rowboat project to compile the kernel for it and prepared the card as suggested on the Ubuntu Wiki page at http://wiki.myigep.com/.  Inserted the MicroSD card and waited for about 5-10 seconds before the Android logo appeared it booted.  Very simple, yet very obtuse finding the instructions.

Along those lines, I also built and installed Ubuntu 9.10 on it.  The performance was a bit sluggish compared to android which just flew.  I'll have to play around to figure out what OS I'll end up with but given I want it in the car and I'm ultra familiar with Java, I'm leaning to Android.  When I get a chance I'll post pictures.

So, it has been quite the week.  Nothing has gone according to plan or expectations.  One week ago today, my best friend's mom died after an extended illness.  It was one of the most surreal experiences, knowing for so long the day was coming but finally experiencing it.  Facing the finality of life and being reminded of it's briefness.  Remembering all of the fun times we had together, trips taken and the many lessons learned through shared life-experiences.  It has been a blessing to be included in their family for so many years and was a blessing to be able to share such a precious time at the grave-side service with them.

Thank you, Mrs. Brown, for the part you played in making me the man I am and I look forward to seeing again . . .

So, it has been a couple of weeks since I've really posted anything to my blog.  Apparently it was harder coming down to earth (i.e. realworld) then i thought.  I've been trying to distract myself with various projects.  I've purchased a IGEPv2 board as a carputer for my truck which I'm rebuilding.  It has been a long process trying to do it from Memphis and while in Medical school but this summer looks promising for getting it running for the first time in about 10 years.  Wow, it's been a long time.

Anyway, I'm currently working on building Android for it.  I'm using the HTPC I built over Christmas (runs a Core i7 860) so the builds are very fast.

My second toe still has a bruise from the hike.  It looks quite lovely.  Doesn't hurt or anything but it will be a while until it heals.  

Well, I'll post some more pictures of my projects later, but for now, enjoy the picture of the IGEPv@ and what will become it's case :)

Tired and sad.  Two words to describe how I feel right now.  What a wonderful month of learning and adventure.  So many amazing things and people.  How cool it was to discover so many individual with similar interests.  I'll be posting more tomorrow from the hike, but I'll post a few photos from the hikes right now.

Day 19 --

Everyone split-up today and went different directions enjoying the beautiful weather.  Some went bordering, others hung-out at camp and enjoyed the sunshine while others went for a hike on Rainbow Trail almost getting to Mt. LeConte.  The snow became knee deep and thus they had to turn around but they really enjoyed the beautiful views.

I on the other-hand went home to do laundry and rested for most of the day.

Day 20 - 

Today we went to The Lost Sea and did the wild cave tour.  It was great fun.  Our guide, Shane, was really enjoyable and really tailored the tour for our group.  It was funny to hear him really enjoy having a tour of adults rather then children.  The lake in the cave is huge.  In the 70's they went diving with sonar and couldn't identify any walls or floor.  Thus the floor is deeper then 3500 ft and the back wall is farther then 3500 ft.  That is a huge cavern.

After finishing we went to a place call Joe's for the best burgers in Sweatwater, TN.  The burgers were really good.  They were really good.

Well that's all for now, enjoy the pics.

All good things must come to an end and certainly the lectures went out with a bang.  We had 3 lectures spanning from 8am to 4:30 pm with 3 breaks (one for lunch).  It was a marathon session but very interesting.  The lectures were over Space Medicine, Toxicology (i.e. venomous and poisonous animals) and making a Wilderness Medical Kit.  It became one of our first beautifully sunny days and during our few breaks we made sure to enjoy it.  All the pictures of us today were on the front porch of Tipton Lodge where we had all our lectures and was the headquarters of all our scenarios.

Day 16 was a day full of lectures as will be day 18.  Day 17 was our final day of scenarios.  The posts are a day late and a bit short in content because as a camp we exceeded the daily bandwidth allotment and I didn't take time yesterday to write.  Yep, no internet yesterday so I couldn't post anything about Day 16 or 17.  It made me lazy :).

On day 16 we had lectures for a bunch of different topics.  We learned about Dive Medicine, a recent medical trip to Haiti, preparing to lead a wilderness expedition, making a medical kit and lots of random facts.  Some of the most intriguing were from the dive medicine lectures.  Did you know:

Please note all the injuries are simulated (i.e. no real blood).

After a long weekend we are starting our final week of lectures and scenarios.  The month has flown by and it is starting to sink in that we are finishing up.  Only 3 more days after today and so far the course has been great and I'm sad to see it ending.  I've met a bunch of great individuals and have learned a tremendous amount about wilderness medicine.