The current Ubuntu desktop

The Emerald theme is Human Tiger, or the african savannah meets Cupertino :p

My faux Os X

Right now using the Mac 4 Lin theme, with the Dream Accurate Emerald theme, for window-less borders, and drop shadows, this one, from the Lauri Taimila site.

Some screen shots of the settings as I set them right now, there is a screen shot of the Ubuntu desktop using that theme, here.

Disable CAPS LOCK on Gnome

Actually, on what ever you might be running X Window on.
I hate the CAPS LOCK key, a lot.

What I did was adding this:

## -----------------------------------------------

## Disable CAPS LOCK
/usr/bin/xmodmap -e "remove lock = Caps_Lock"

## -----------------------------------------------

to the file '/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc', before this line:

# invoke global X session script
. /etc/X11/Xsession

Couple of links I found regarding this:

Disable and Enable Caps Lock in Ubuntu
Disable capslock ?
How to remap the Caps Lock key as another Control key

Importing iCal (Os X) Calendars to Evolution

I have many calendars onto my iCal.app, color coded and used to differentiate work projects, activities, etc, so it was really important to have all of them, with the data (doh!) and that I could keep the same color coding transfered as well.

On the Os X box, open iCal, select the Calendars you want to export from the top left, and then:

File -> Export

By default, it will be exported to the Desktop, with the same name as the Calendar, as and ics file. Transfer all the exported Calendars, the ics files, to the Linux box with the Evolution you want to import the data to...

So, to import them to Evolution, keeping the color, here is what I did, open Evolution, goto to Calendars (Ctrl + 3):

- First, create the Calendar on Evolution:

File -> New -> Calendar ('On This Computer', from the drop down menu, set a name like the Calendar you are importing, and set the color too)

- And then, import the actual Calendar onto Evolution:

File -> Import -> (The Wizard pops up) -> 'Import from a single file'

Navigate to the ics file, the Wizard should auto recognize that it is an ics file, and set the selection accordingly on the drop down menu, if not, set as an ics file. I had a problem with the Calendar for birthdays I have manually set, Evolution thought it was a vcf file...

Actually, it is not a Wizard, but an Assistant :)

Select the Calendar you have just created from the list, and Import the ics data to it.

Presto.

Ubuntu on the Compaq Presario F700 (4)

This is what it is not working for me at the moment.

-Suspend & Hibernate:
Using the latest kernel at the moment (2.6.24-19-generic) both suspend and hibernate work, but, USB does not work after using them.

Using the kernel from the install (2.6.24-16-generic) suspend works, but hibernate doesn't; the USB problem persist.

This is known issue: USB mouse/keyboard do no respond after resume from suspend-to-RAM on x86_64 systems with >4GB RAM, and, for the problems I'm having, it happens with less RAM -I have 1 GB installed-, and on 32 bit too.
The solution seems to be to upgrade the kernel to another version, but that version happens to be having problems with the NVRAM's NIC 2.6.27 e1000e driver places Intel ICH8 and ICH9 gigE chipsets at risk


- Atheros WiFi card:
No matter what I tried, so far I haven't being able to actually use it.
The card it is recognized, but I can't connect to any AP, not one, period.

Ubuntu high resolution console

(I like to post in one place all the necessary steps to enable the high resolution console on Ubuntu, I'm fed up fishing the different posts here :) )

Edit the file '/boot/grub/menu.lst' with the desired resolution as the 'vga' value, look for the line with the entry 'defoptions'.
A some how safe value, for modern monitors and laptops LCDs, might be 'defoptions=vga=791' which will give you a 1024x768 console.

After that execute:

sudo update-grub

This will re-generate the file '/boot/grub/menu.lst', you can check that the changes were made (they are made to ALL the kernels installed on the box)

Then, add 2 entries, a 'vesafb' and a 'fbcon' to the /etc/initramfs-tools/modules file, once edited, it has to be like this (there might be ohter entries on the file, leave them be!!):

## -----------------------------------------------
## High resolution console
vesafb
fbcon
## -----------------------------------------------

After that execute:

sudo update-initramfs -u

Then, in the file: '/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer', comment the 'blacklist vesafb' entry; once edited, it has to be like this (there are other entries on the file, leave them like they are!!!):

## -----------------------------------------------
## High resolution console
## blacklist vesafb
## -----------------------------------------------

And, finally in the file '/etc/modules', add an 'vfesafb' entry, once edited, the file has to be like this (once again, there might be other entries on the file, leave them be!!!!!):

## -----------------------------------------------
## High resolution console
vesafb
## -----------------------------------------------

Then, after all that, if you want to, you can disable the GDM, so your box boots onto text mode, you can login as usual, and if you want to, issue:

startx

To start the full Gnome desktop as usual.

If you want to disable the graphical login, issue:

update-rc.d -f gdm remove

Other posts related to this one:

- CentOS 5 console customization - Yeah, it's for CentOS, but somehow related
- Fight font uglyfication (console)
- Adventures in Ubuntu Land
- Of services & servers on Ubuntu

EDIT - 08/02/2009
Corrected a few typos that got thru the first time

Update - 02/04/2009
Posted a procedure to do this on Jaunty Ubuntu high resolution console (3)

Tango screenshot (with Ubuntu)

Everything went smooth with the install, still fighting with the Atheros WiFi card tho.

Ubuntu on the Compaq Presario F700 (3)

The thing is in the making.

The old (the original that came with the laptop) hard disk drive with Vista pre-installed is out, and the new, larger one for Ubuntu is A Ok.

Pulling the HDD out it is the easiest hardware related "stuff" I have done on a laptop on a loooong time... 2 screws, then pull, 4 screws for the HDD's cradle, and the SATA adapto, presto, five minutes tops.

It is actually already installed, I'll post some screenshots later, installing Ubuntu was a piece of cake, everything went smooth, took less than 20 minutes for the install per se.

The biggest problem at the moment seems to be getting the god damn Atheros WiFi card working.

Winter is gone: So long & thanks

No matter what, it is over. From now on, everything is up hill.
Any day now, we'll be hitting 30 degrees or more, and then, it is over for over for good... Hello summer.

Ubuntu on the Compaq Presario F700 (2)

(With the help of a new SATA HDD... :) )

New HDD! Fun! Fun! Fun!
Getting a new SATA HDD for the Compaq, so I can keep all the Windows Vista/ work stuff untouched, and ready to use in case I need it in a flash.
Yeah, guess I could double boot, but I hate it, and the 80 GB for 2 different OSes would be a tad too small (with all the mp3, videos, etc...), besides, this way it is a lot tidier, all things in the proper place.

If everything goes well, I might get the drive tomorrow, which is actually a bump, since it is a 120 GB one.
I really, really like to get Ubuntu (for starters) really running on this Compaq

Music right now (11)

Sonic Youth - Washing Machine - The Diamond Sea

Taming the bush (2)

The first step has been done.
The jungle and the waste land might become a fainted memory, some day soon.

The current setup

On the left (and below the table), Orbis Tertius; on the edge of falling down, Tango, and on the right Thor (or at least, its screen!).

It is, plain a simple, an effing mess at the moment...

Synergy drops

One thing I have noticed running Synergy with the server on Os X, and the client on Vista, is that if unplug the AC on the Vista side, and start to use on batteries, it starts to drop the connection, pretty, pretty often.
It doesn't matter how much battery left it has, the drops begins as soon as I unplug the AC.

I'm not sure, but I doubt that this is a Windows problem, I mean, the Compaq's WiFi NIC does work pretty well, with a very good signal strength all around, pretty much all the time.

Vacation planning (4)

(I'll move this from Roman numerals to simple digits on this one, because the thing would end up a mess :D )

The train enters the picture!
Talked to a cousin of mine living in NYC, the simple and most effective way of getting around Washington to Boston (if you are not in hurry, or on bussines) it is by train! Or maybe bus, so, he recomended me a train called Acela (which has nothing to do with "gacela", but with "excellence" and "acceleration")

As far as buses go, he pointed me toward Bolt Buses, but, for the little I searched, there is not a direct one from Washington to Boston.

Importing contacts from Outlook to Evolution

This was a totally Linux weekend around here, not Vista nor Os X, Ubuntu was all there was available, and, to feel more "at home" transfered some of the data from my other boxes...

Importing data, in this case, the contacts, is not hard at all, specially with the latest Evolution version, and on my case, super easy because I ise IMAP for all my email, so no need to tranfer all of them each time I access my email forma another box.

But, it seems like I have done something wrong, because ended up with a lot of duplicates (actually cuadriplicates) for each of my contact.
So, to get things back on track, what I did was:

1- Close Evolution.
2- Move the wrong Address Book data files out of the way:

cd ~/.evolution/addressbook/local/system/
mv * ~/Desktop/

3- Start Evolution again, and then re-import the Contacts.

To transfer the actual Contacts from Outlook itself, I choose the "CSV route", on the Windows box imported all the Contacts to a CSV file, copied that to the Linux box, and then, on Evolution, selected:

1- File -> Import
2- Click on Forward
3- Select "Import a single file" -> Forward
4- Filename, navigate to the contacts.CSV file that you created on the Windows box.
5- Select "Outlook CSV or Tab" -> Forward
6- Import Location, select "Personal" -> Forward
7- Wait till imports everything.

This worked perfectly for me, on the latest Evolution that comes with Ubuntu, and the imported data from an Outlook 2002.
There are other ways, that involved programs (for Windows) like Outport, or using Thunderbird as middle man; again, as I don't have the need to export the actual emails, I did not find a need for using those, tested Outport to transfer the Calendar, but that is another subject :D

Zip on Vista: sucks

Yeap, just like that, it takes for ever to unzip files, I don't know why, and this has been like this from day one, apparently, the Service Pack 1 should have taken care of this... But, I did install the Service Pack, and I haven't noticed any improvement whatsoever.

I mean, take a look at the screenshot... 4 minutes and a half to unzip an 800 KB file... That's like way too much...

Last shot before Spring

In the end it did not rain, but it certainly got cooler.
For this week, it seems like the spring really arrives, and the temperature will start to raise, not on the highs, but the lows will start to get milder and milder as the days go by.

So, it is for real now, good bye winter, this year was rather palsy, but, nevertheless, I'll sure going to miss you.

Orbis Tertius joy ride

Last night plugged in and took Orbis for a spin, haven't used it in a while now. Turned off all my other boxes, and decided to use Orbis for a while, perhaps the whole weekend.

Guess I am sort of a "computer amish", but the truly stark, low brow hardware from this box, a Pentium II @ 330 MHz, with 512 MB of RAM, seems rather good enough to handle what I'm throwing at...

Got the box to download Bit Torrents, handle email with Evolution, and browse the web with Firefox, yep, it is slow, specially Firefox, but is is certainly usable.
There are lightweight alternatives for everything I'm currently using, yes... But on this one, I like to test the whole thing using the Ubuntu plain vanilla versions.
Perhaps later I'll replace the default Gnome with OpenBox.

The Bit Torrent was a total surprise, quite stable, and it doesn't suck all the resources, downloading a couple of films (The panic in needle park & Rushmore) I can't get anywhere around here.

Another shot at silencing Thor

Second shot, trying to silence Thor. Actually, the first time was more a cleaning effort than a "silencing" one.

It looks like this time, things are going to end pretty much muted.

Music right now (10)

Belle & Sebastian's The Boy with the Arab Strap.
The best one, IMHO, would be "The Roller Coaster Ride".

CentOS 5 console customization

(Actually, these should work on any other CentOS version as well :) )

Installed another minimal CentOS 5, this time, on Odin, my trusty Compaq 1200 povera beauty.
The install was amazinlgy fast, it took less than 10 minutes, mighty fast considering that the laptop has a Celeron @ 700 MHz with 300 MB of RAM.

These are a couple of thing I did after finishing the install, to make the box more confortable.

- Enable high resolution console :

As root, edit the file '/etc/grub.conf', and add 'vga=XXX' to the line that begins with kernel. On Odin, I have to use '788'.
Get other values here: VGA Boot modes to set screen resolution
I have read some reports that this does not work on CentOS 5, but I had no problems with the stock kernel from the CentOS 5 install CD (2.6.18-92.el5).


- Console font :

I don't like the default font -I don't like it at all, but that has nothing to do with CentOS per se, the default console font on all the distros I have used sucks-.
So I have set it up to use the console font I love, the same one I use on the Ubuntu's console.
As root, edit the file '/etc/sysconfig/i18n', and change:

SYSFONT="latarcyrheb-sun16"

to look like this

SYSFONT="Lat2-Terminus16"

To load the new font, as root again, issue:

/etc/init.d/functions start

This will load it only on the TTY you are executing it. After a reboot, it will load the new font on all the TTYs.
There are more fonts on the '/lib/kbd/consolefotns/' directory.


- Set cursor to a blinking block :

I love the prompt cursor to blink, and also, to be a blocky, massive thing, not the feable semi-hypen that it is by default.
Take a look at the Cursor Appearance in the Linux Console doc, to see what you can do.
On my case, to transform the default underscore blinking cursor onto a blinking block cursor, and to make it happen on all TTYs -even after a reboot- had to do this, once again, as the root user:

/bin/echo -e '\033[?6c' >> /etc/issue

The spring is raising, flames to follow

In the end, it looks like we will not even get any rain at all during the weekend, but, on top of that (or because of that), the temperature will not drop either.
There is no way out, the winter is really dying, the MF heat is just around the corner, once again.

Funny coding

A link to some really hilarious stories, anecdotes and jokes regarding funny programming comments, stupid tricks and innocent (and not so) mistakes.

What's the funniest code you've ever read?

Music right now (9)

A effing powerful & amazing record. Period.

The best song, the most powerful one, if I have to single out one, it has to be "Some Kinda Hate".

OsX86 with a twist

Just read about a new USB dongle, called Efix that allows you to install, totally hassle free, Os X on a plain vanilla -if your hardware is supported- PC.

EFiX Dongle Perfectly Transforms PC to Mac

The advantage is that you don't have to spend hours Googling for instructions on howto install from pirated DVD ISOs, and that you are not forced to get yet another one of those ISOs every time there is an update released.
I did a little OsX86 testing, when my iBook past to another Universe, it was on a sh*tty Toshiba, and perhaps for that, I did not like it at all.

Would the Psystar crowd sue this fellas too? :p
Or would Apple sue both of them?

Open the CD tray using Terminal

This might come pretty hand, once I get my beloved Happy Hacking Keyboard because, unlike the Mac Pro Keyboard, the Happy Hacking does not have a dedicated key to open/ close the CD tray on the Quicksilver.

Open Terminal, and execute:

drutil list

On my case I have only 1 CD ROM unit:

% drutil list
   Vendor   Product           Rev   Bus       SupportLevel
1  SONY     DVD RW DRU-700A   VY02  ATAPI     Vendor Supported

Then, to open the tray, you can type:

drutil tray eject 1

If like me, you only have 1 CD ROM installed, you directly type:

drutil tray eject

There is more information for drutil on its man page, a little snip:

     tray command
                Performs a tray/media related command. Note that some drives
                do not have trays, and some have trays but may lack motorized
                eject or inject capability.

                Tray commands:
                open     Opens a drive's tray, if no media is present and the
                         drive has a tray capable of motorized eject.

                close    Closes a drive's tray, if the drive has a tray capa-
                         ble of motorized inject.

                eject    Ejects media from the drive, if the drive has a tray
                         capable of motorized eject. If no media is present,
                         this is equivalent to open.  If media is present and
                         can be unmounted, it will be unmounted and then
                         ejected.  If media is present but cannot be
                         unmounted, the eject will fail.

Thor's desktop

My current desktop for my Quicksilver beauty, Thor.

I was a little kid, 7 years old or so, and I was totally in love with Farrah...
Ever since I had a thing for blondes.

Effing Spring is coming

Just around the corner, and with it, the heat, once again.
This week will be topping 20 degrees, but, if we have any luck, the week end will bring a little rain, and a drop, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

Outlook gripes

Being using Windows Vista for about 5 months now.
So far, and spite all I heard about it, I find it to work well, be stable, and useful; and, it doesn't look that bad.

My only gripe it is not with Vista per se, but I really find Outlook to be a piece of sh*t, maybe it is the version I have (Outlook 2002), I'm not sure, but I haven't found an email client as unstable as Outlook in quite a while, perhaps it is because I use IMAP, every email I get, which is bigger than 3 MB makes Outlook stutters, if not completely freeze for a couple of minutes.

And there is, of course, the not so rare total crash...

More Power(book) problems (II)

The thing with the AC Power Adapter keeps going South, I'm afraid.
Last night, the cable started to smoke, and smell like hell, so I have to unplugged it, and use the AC Power Adapter from my late and dead iBook, for what I read, it is perfectly safe to use an iBook AC Power Adapter with, or on, a PowerBook, but if the PB's batt gets totally drained, this AC won't charge, since it delivers less wattage.

Anyways, at least I still can use the PB.

Bloody Mary

A couple of links for a Linux distributions aimed to be used on plain vanilla WiFi routers, the SOHO kind, perhaps, actually, more of the 'HO' side than the 'SO' side.

Turn Your $60 Router into a User-Friendly Super-Router with Tomato
Tomato Firmware

Spic and span

well, sort of actually, maybe not that much... Well, at least it is way cleaner that it was before.

Thor was getting effing louder and louder, and it was a royal PITA to be around, so give it that day off, not even turned on today, and spliced it open, and cleaned the hell out it and oiled the fans a bit to see if it helps a bit with the wind tunnel effect.

By far, the stinkiest part, full of dust gunk all around was the CPU's heat rubber skirt.

After the Nirvana

Well, after a glorious weekend, the temperatures started to climb little bit, but, it seems like after today's rain, guess what, the temperature will drop towards this weekend.

Another one of those days for MSN

Had some effing annoying issues to connect today (again)

Vacation planning (III)

More info for the New Year's holiday:

Filadelfia
Washington
Boston

Messenger ist kaput

Messenger seems to be having some issues... At the moment, I cant connect with either Miranda nor Adium.

Da Intarweb freaky picture show

The tin foil cat is watching every keystroke that you type!!

Quick and dirty ipchains

Yes, that old... ipchains, you read it well.

# Firewall configuration written by lokkit
# Manual customization of this file is not recommended.
# Note: ifup-post will punch the current nameservers through the
#       firewall; such entries will *not* be listed here.
:input ACCEPT
:forward ACCEPT
:output ACCEPT

# Loopback
-A input -i lo   -s 0/0    -d 0/0                                         -j ACCEPT

# Ping
-A input -i eth0 -s 0/0    -d $DEST            -p icmp --icmp-type 8      -j ACCEPT

# Allow everything LAN
-A input -i eth0 -s $LAN   -d $DEST 0:65535    -p tcp                     -j ACCEPT
-A input -i eth0 -s $LAN   -d $DEST 0:65535    -p udp                     -j ACCEPT

# SSH
-A input -i eth0 -s $SRC1  -d $DEST 22         -p tcp -y                  -j ACCEPT
-A input -i eth0 -s $SRC2  -d $DEST 22         -p tcp -y                  -j ACCEPT
-A input -i eth0 -s $SRC3  -d $DEST 22         -p tcp -y                  -j ACCEPT
-A input -i eth0 -s $SRC4  -d $DEST 22         -p tcp -y                  -j ACCEPT

# DNS 
-A input -i eth0 -s 0/0 53 -d $DEST 1024:65535 -p tcp                     -j ACCEPT
-A input -i eth0 -s 0/0 53 -d $DEST 1024:65535 -p udp                     -j ACCEPT

# Close down
-A input -i eth0 -s 0/0    -d $DEST            -p udp                     -j DENY
-A input -i eth0 -s 0/0    -d $DEST            -p tcp -y                  -j DENY


# EoF #

Play Count (9)

Nothing has changed, at least on the top played ones, as I'm anal on getting the play count to be the same across the board, it will take me quite some time, but I guess I can make it.
It took a month to go over my collection, that is, the collection that was the least played, now I have listened to every single song at least 8 times (and counting).

The local group

An amazingly blurry picture of the setup, as of right now.

Damn DLink & AirPort

Today armed myself with strength, and decided to give it another shot at getting Trantor, my PowerBook beauty, to connect to my DLink 614+ wireless router.
Failed again.

This is the second time that I invest a lot of hours onto this problem.

What a royal PITA this thing is, no matter what I try, even leaving the router wide open does not work (the PBs AirPort does work, as I' able to connect to other networks)
I have followed the advice I found on these 2 Apple Forum posts, to no avail.

- Apple airport card does not connect to encrypted network
- Getting your d link 714P+ to work, dont buy a new router quite yet!
- Airport Will Not Connect at Home -- But Connects Elsewhere !!??!!

The worst part is that Tango, the Windows Vista Queen of the house has no problem whatsoever to connect to the same DLink (and other wireless networks, of course)

Judith reloaded

Friday night did a little dumpster diving, and found a working box lying on the street, the box is a complete piece of sh*t, but, nevertheless, I got it home, clean it a bit, and test it.

Everything seemed to be working Ok, including its whooping 2.5 GB HDD, the CPU is way too slow, 166 MHz, and it only came with 16 MB of RAM. The definition of speed (circa 1990 :D )

So, I gutted the hell out of it, trying to scrape what I can to make a better Judith.

For the kick of it, tried a couple of Linux installs on the monster... CentOS 5 & Ubuntu Server, both failed miserably, I guess due to the CDROM, but I'm not sure.
Didn't try that hard, it was late, and I don't have any specific need for the box (with either OS) at the moment, guess I'll give it a go with OpenBSD tooo.

About spannungsbogen

Besides my mouse fetish, I have quite a keyboard fetish too, I have been scouting ebay like crazy these last few months, looking for the best keyboard, until recently, when I finally got it!

A Happy Hacking one, the sad thing is that I'll have to wait till I goto the USA for New Year's to get it, till them it will collect dust on the suburban house of a relative of mine.

Incidentally, I found a local clothing company called Happy Hacking too, the local ones design nerdy t-shirt, which look rather nice.

Happy Hacking (the argentinian one, that is)

Weather Nirvana, once again

The old winter not only didn't died, but it also came back with a hammer, and on top of that, today rained.
An amazing winter day, specially since, to put the cherry on top, its also Saturday.

Music right now (8)

Nick Cave - No more shall we part - Sweetheart Come

Anything by Nick Cave is good, but this one is certainly one of my favorites.

Come over here, babe
It ain't that bad
I don't claim to understand
The troubles that you've had
But the dogs you say they fed you to
Lay their muzzles in your lap
And the lions that they led you to
Lie down and take a nap
The ones you fear are wind and air
And I love you without measure
It seems we can be happy now
Be it better late than never

Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come to me

The burdens that you carry now
Are not of your creation
So let's not weep for their evil deeds
But for their lack of imagination
Today's the time for courage, babe
Tomorrow can be for forgiving
And if he touches you again with his stupid hands
His life won't be worth living

Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come
Sweetheart, come to me

Walk with me now under the stars
For it's a clear and easy pleasure
And be happy in my company
For I love you without measure
Walk with me now under the stars
It's a safe and easy pleasure
It seems we can be happy now
It's late but it ain't never
It's late but it ain't never
It's late but it ain't never

The winter is not dead

There is hope, still. All is well.
Not too sure tomorrow will rain, tho, but, like I said, there is still hope.

The old winter refuses to die

Amazingly (and luckily!!!) the winter it is not dead yet!
I'm not sure that'll be getting those rains on Saturday, but nevertheless, the lows are quite nice.

Gilda stopped by

Wow, I haven't post an Os X screenshot on a long time.

Outlook: color coding emails

Most of the work emails I get are from other machines, and many, many of those are from a Nagios instance running on some Linux box somewhere.
So, I can easily predict what an email from a given machine, reporting such and such thing, would look like.
On all my boxes I had my email client with some sort of color coding setup to differentiate emails from difference importance, origin, etc, etc.

I did the same on the Outlook 2002 I have on my Vista laptop Tango, I can't believe how complicated the whole thing is on Outlook, I mean, for such a stupid thing as adding color based on the sender or a keyword on the subject...
I'll post the screen shots here, in case I have to do this again with more rules, or to edit the current colors.

Go to 'View' -> 'Current View' -> 'Customize'




Click on 'Add', set a name for the rule, and the click on 'Condition' to set the email address or the keyword to set the color of the email.