My MacBook is continuing wending its way to me from Shanghai; it should arrive sometime before Wednesday (there is even a chance that it will be delivered this morning). More interesting than the fact that I decided to buy a MacBook (as opposed to a Thinkpad or Sony Vaio or any other model of laptop) [...]
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Everything old is new again. It is all about returning to a simpler time - a time where a cell phone was just a cell phone, camera, and MP3 player.
This story is also know as "How My Thinkpad Broke Horribly," "USB Killed My Music Collection," or "Lenovo's Support Convinces Me to Stop Buying Their Laptops."
I first used a wired Mighty Mouse on a friend's MacBook Pro. Excited about the possibility of getting the wireless model (because, let's face it, everyone loves wireless peripherals), I searched the Internet for information about whether anyone had gotten it working on Linux. While I found some long how-tos describing how to get the [...]
While the legal reasons why Gaim is changing its name to Pidgin are somewhat interesting, more thought-provoking is the fact that they were preventing version 2 from the application from being released - which finally explains why there were quite so many beta releases (six in total):
Getting a settlement with AOL has taken FAR FAR [...]
I am not sure why the webmaster for the Cambridge music venue T. T. the Bear's Place feels that they are competent to tell me what Internet browser I should be using when they cannot spell, have not realized that using Internet Explorer 5.0 is akin to directly sending all of your banking information to [...]
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
In recent weeks, I have repeatedly been tempted by various smartphones. I have not bought one yet, since I am sort of picky.
The most important feature for me is undoubtedly Linux compatibility. There is no point in buying an expensive phone if it will not synchronize with my laptop (since my primary intention would be [...]
An essay on why I am not going to buy another iPod in the near future. First in a series on the state of Linux support (or lack thereof) in the digital audio player market today.
I have noticed that every couple of months, I need to reinstall in order for my computer to feel fresh and new. Since the only alternative solution I could think of was to buy a MacBook, I dumped all of my data to my external hard drive and did a fresh installation of Edgy Beta.
Before [...]
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
From the changelog of the latest Ubuntu package of MonoDevelop:
monodevelop (0.11+svn20060818-0ubuntu2) edgy; urgency=low
* debian/patches/gtk-sharp-2.10.dpatch:
+ Fix a annoying unhandled exception with gtk# 2.10. Thanks to Martey Dodoo
for pointing at the patch (Ubuntu: #58649)
— Sebastian Dröge <slomo@ubuntu.com> Mon, 4 Sep 2006 22:23:01 [...]
More than a thousand words on how to get binary ATI drivers working in "Edgy," the Linux distribution that will become Ubuntu 6.10.
More accurately titled, "Trying to Work with MonoDevelop."
Robert Scoble claims that fonts are the reason why Linux has failed to make inroads in the consumer computing market. I think it is clear that other factors, including security, are more significant.
Inspired by Apple's Time Machine, I ruminate on backup.
The problem with Gaim is not that its code base is immature or that it is lacking features, but that its development team is unable to adequately communicate with its users.
Despite the fact that I only started using Ubuntu 6.06 ("Dapper Drake") less than a month ago, I have quickly become bored with it. While the six month release schedule ensures that development happens quickly, it is necessary to upgrade to the latest development version in order to receive the newest packages. Since I like [...]
Since I am not in school anymore (and therefore no longer have homework), I feel that I should be keeping productive by doing more programming. Unfortunately, my move to Linux presents a bit of a conundrum - in order to ensure that the largest possible audience can run my creations on their computers, it is [...]
On July 1, I decided that Windows was just not working for me. Yes, having a plethora of possible applications to install appealed to me, but I feel that no operating system has a monopoly of having things "just work." Here are just of a few of the annoyances I experienced while using Windows:
Previously, I wrote about the Calvin & Hobbes RSS feed I was scraping from UComics. Unfortunately, UComics replaced the image that was placed in the RSS feed with a Flash file. While I have updated the RSS feed, I am still a bit angry, since the Flash utilized on UComics is Flash 8. Since Flash [...]
Yes, another boring technical entry involving some problem I had with Linux that you probably do not care about. This one involves the utility tar and large (2 GB+) files.
One might think that the fact that I have become a member of the Sprint Ambassador Program (which entitles me to a free Samsung A920 phone and 6 months of absolutely free service) might cause me to blog about how wonderful the Sprint Power Vision network is. Unfortunately for Valentine, McCormick, & Ligibel, the marketing [...]
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
A week or so ago, I switched from using Gentoo Linux to the latest devlopment version of Ubuntu Linux. Scheduled to be released in April 2006, "Dapper Drake" contains the latest "unstable" development versions of various Linux software. The music player I use, Rhythmbox, was updated to use version 0.10 of the GStreamer media playback [...]
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Getting the fingerprint sensor on the IBM Thinkpad T43 to work in Linux.
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Apparently, the short letter I wrote in response to Wired's article "The Digital Audiophile's Toolbox" (part of a series on audiophiles and high-quality digital music) was worthy enough to be included in an article displaying some of the feedback that Wired Magazine had received. It is not as cool as actually being published in the [...]
(01:20:17) [redacted]: or do you just not use linux in real life but stump for it everywhere?
As I noted in my last entry, it is difficult for me to write about the day-to-day occurrences in my life. Simply put, this is not that kind of web log.
Still, I noticed today as I was attempting to [...]
The IBM Thinkpad has always been a good choice for Linux users who want a portable computer. Support for its integrated biometrics and hard drive protection could make it an even better fit.
One would think that the Nokia 770 (announced last week) would be right up my alley. Among its features:
Wireless internet (802.11b/g)
Bluetooth
The open-source goodness of Linux
However, its lack of a QWERTY keyboard and short battery life make it unattractive to me. I hope it succeeds, but I will be holding out for the Nokia 780.
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The Ubuntu 5.04 LiveCD is great, but it has one fatal flaw: the screensaver prompts for a password. Luckily, using the magic of Unix TTYs, you can get around this.
Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to switch to tty1.
Run "sudo -s" to switch to root, the superuser. Unlike normal sudo commands, you do not have to enter a password [...]
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If there is one lesson that everyone should learn about computers, the title of this post is it. I do not really want to leave Linux again, but I feel that it is the right thing to do at this point in time. I may very well return to Ubuntu at a later point (I [...]
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Outfoxed looks really cool (via Waxy Links), but unfortunately, Outfoxed only runs on Windows (since most of Outfoxed is a Firefox extension, the user interface works, but the MDDB server needs to be built if you are using Linux, which is annoying to those used to the traditional fire-and-forget method of installing Mozilla extensions. If [...]
One thing that has bothered me lately is the spelling of grey. Traditionally, I have always spelled it "grey" with no problems with any electronic spellchecks. Unfortunately, for some reason the Unix American English dictionaries do not include "grey" in their listings, preferring instead "gray." While my mind has no problem recognizing both of these [...]
One of the best things about Mozilla Thunderbird is that it runs on a variety of operating systems. Another is that its extensions are also cross-platform, so if you switch operating systems (say, from Windows XP to Ubuntu Linux), you can simply re-install the extensions you know and love.
I decided I might as well take [...]
Slashdot reports on an attempt to convince users of Redhat Linux and Fedora Core to download and execute malicious code disguised as a security update. Like phishing scams, it seems several spam email messages were sent claiming to be from the "Redhat Security Team," and directing users to www.fedora-redhat.com (the real Fedora website is www.fedora.redhat.com) [...]
Thursday, September 16, 2004
It is neither a matter of hatred for Linux, nor of any particular affection for Windows. It is (unfortunately) simpler to use Windows. While I could spend the time figuring about how to fix external displays (which flicker on and off about three times a second under my current xorg.conf), wireless (which works, but must [...]
Sunday, September 5, 2004
Spent entirely too much time this weekend dealing with Linux multimedia troubles. Eventually, after reinstalling xine and installing totem and mplayer, I decided on a whim to install RealPlayer 10. Not surprisingly, it refused to load. I uninstalled it and despondingly clicked on a Quicktime file. To my amazement, it worked. Since RealPlayer is unable [...]
One of the reasons that I use Linux is because I am addicted to updates (another is that I am a masochist, as previous events will show). Waiting several years for new features (much less bugfixes!) is ridiculous. Sometimes, one pays a price for being on the cutting edge.
About a week and a half, I [...]
The lack of new posts is a result of work that was supposed to be finished this week. About two weeks from now, I am supposed to do a presentation at school for my job. I was supposed to submit a draft this week, but it is still not finished. Since I had received a [...]
The "corefonts" package makes installing Windows fonts like Verdana on Linux systems easy. However, the corefonts ebuild does not include Tahoma, the font used in Windows XP buttons, menus, and dialogs. As a result, I decided to install them manually.
The fonts will not be recognized unless special files exist in the directory. To make these [...]
The lack of blogging this weekend was caused by my decision to reformat and reinstall Gentoo (and not by fears of litigation) after gxine and mplayer gave up the ghost. Except for the massive amount of time it took, the only casualties were my "dot files" (which scp did not copy), which included all of [...]
Earlier this morning, I realized that I was disappointed in the mileage that I was getting out of Linux. I decided that I had a number of options:
Quit: Backup all of my data, format the drive, and reinstall Windows, living the cruel but beautiful world of Linux behind forever.
Start Over: Backup all of [...]
When I decided to switch to Linux, I was only slightly concerned about finding suitable applications. For web browsing, I figured that I had it covered. Mozilla Firefox, simply the best browser on today's market, had the advantage of running on Linux as well as Windows (good ol' cross-platform compatibility strikes again).
My previous experiences with [...]
Since both my old computer (a HP Pavilion 522n) and my new laptop (Dell Inspiron 9100) have 60 gigabyte hard drives, I decided to simply copy everything over on the old computer to a folder in my home directory. As I watched hundreds of Windows DLLs scroll by that I would most likely never need [...]
From Slashdot this morning comes news that Real Networks has completed an agreement with Red Hat and Novell in order to expand their Linux presence. Real will license their Helix Player under the GPL, and Red Hat and Novell will include the Linux version of Real Player 10 in the enterprise versions of their software.
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I dual-boot. My 60 gigabyte hard drive is split into five partitions:
a NTFS partition, for Windows XP
an ext3 partition for Gentoo Linux
a swap partition to improve performance in Linux
two FAT32 partitions for sharing documents and multimedia between the two operating systems
As the above list shows, the structure of my hard drive would be a lot [...]
From Slashdot comes an article from MacWorld UK about a malicious Macintosh program disguised as the not-yet-released Mac Word 2004. From the article:
A Macworld reader alerted the magazine to the malware after he downloaded the file from Limewire. The reader told Macworld: "I downloaded the file in the hope that perhaps Microsoft had released some [...]
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
I'm am posting this from twm, because I did not have the foresight to emerge a better/newer/shinier windowmanager before emerging gnome 2.6. But you did not want to hear about that, and more of half of you, unable to understand what the heck I was talking about in the last sentence, have probably walked [...]
This past weekend, I installed Gentoo (stage 1 installation) on the ext3 partition. It took a really long time (Celerons do not compile very fast), but I am almost satisified with my system. Currently running Gnome as my windowmanager, but I may try Xfce later. With some fiddling, I have been able [...]
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This is a long entry, involving all of the nine circles of Windows Hell (DLL hell, Activation Hell, Windows Update Hell, File Associations Hell, etc.), so bear with me.
I received the USB Cuecat that I bought on eBay in the mail last Friday afternoon. Even though the Cuecat uses USB, it still functions in [...]
Saturday, February 28, 2004
From the Scobleizer comes a link to Plaxo, which makes a plugin for Outlook and Outlook Express that allows for automatic updating of contact information. Seems nice, but no extensions for Mozilla Mail or Thunderbird yet. Still, any company that has a blog (and it's a real blog, with Movable Type! No Trackback, [...]
Thursday, February 5, 2004
Instapundit attempts to support his allegations against the BBC by using this Slashdot article, about the BBC's fallacious implication that the MyDoom virus was written by a Linux advocate.
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Perhaps I am still bitter about that Super Bowl commercial, or my bias against people from North Carolina was particularly virulent today. Either way, I found it necessary to respond to this post on the "importance" of Apple.
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Just installed my new wireless keyboard/mouse combo: the Logitech Cordless Navigator Duo. The fact that I can now sit so far away from my computer that I cannot see what I am typing tickles me pick. I hope that it is compatible with the version of Mandrake Linux that I have installed on [...]
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
I saw this Netcraft article about humorous solutions to SCO's DDoS problem a few days ago. At the time, I thought the third solution (with its idea of SCO "slashdotting Slashdot" and its nuclear solution to "the problem in Redmond."
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Robert Cringely has posted his predictions for the world of technology in 2004. As always, he has interesting things to say. Whether or not they will happen, of course, is another story; Cringely is visionary, but he is too optimistic sometimes. Anyway, read on for my take on the individual predictions: