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Just Another Tech Blog

Anything and everything having to do with technology, computers, science, and most of all... Linux! The documentation of my Linux endeavor.



Farming The Sun: $600,000 A Year

Saturday, July 29, 2006

"Here on Mr. Gartner's 200-acre pig farm, the fields are now covered with 10,050 solar panels, which soak up the sunshine and convert it into electricity. The ambient hum in the air is not the sound of insects but of transformers carrying a high-voltage current to the villages nearby. Mr. Gartner makes more than $600,000 a year."

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Saturday, July 29, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Flash Player 9 Heading To Linux

Friday, July 28, 2006

Adobe developer Mike Melanson has been tracking the development progress of Flash Player 9 for Linux users. A recent post on his Penguin.SWF blog listed the APIs being used in this version of the software.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Friday, July 28, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Little-known APT utilities for Debian desktop users

The Advanced Packaging Tool (APT) is a distinguishing feature of Debian-based systems. Most GNU/Linux users know it through the apt-get command, a utility that calls on the lower-level dpkg command. However, other APT-based utilities remain largely unknown to desktop users.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Friday, July 28, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Physicists May Hunt For Higgs Particle in an Evaporating Mini Black Hole

Thursday, July 27, 2006

"They must be eternal optimists. How else would you explain the plan by physicists to look for a hypothetical particle, the Higgs boson, by sifting through the remnants of an evaporating mini black hole, which itself may or may not exist?"

read more | digg story

*Original Source: New Scientist
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 27, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


LAMP Installation On Ubuntu 6.06 For Linux Noobs

Setup a working LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) server using Ubuntu 6.06. The guide, as the title states, is VERY noob friendly. Almost all configuration is done via GUI!

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 27, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Very Successful installation of IE6 on Linux (SuSE 10.0) Using WINE!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Today I completed my first very successful install of IE (version 6) on a Linux system. I had attempted this before, but had failed. As with last time, I used the Sidenet Wine Configuration Utility. This utility installs IE6 and WMP using WINE. To know what version to download, just input wine --version at the terminal, and see what output it brings up. My WINE version happened to be 20050725 (this number is the release date: July 25, 2005. Hey! This WINE version is one year and a day old! Dang... I really need to update). Anyway, download a version of the SWCU (that is what I will abbreviate Sidenet Wine Configuration Utility as) that is fitting to your version (as in, if you don't want to download the newest version, which I didn't, choose one that is know to work with your version of WINE. See "What's New" section of the SWCU page to find out what version will work with your WINE version). Ok... phew! I write too much... Anyway, once you have downloaded that, find out where you virtual C drive is present (you need to know this during setup). It may be located at the default ~c/ location, but I found out mine was located at /home/linnerd40/.wine/drive_c which is actually in a hidden file.... Ok, once you know that, extract the SWCU package and cd to the directory it is present in. Then, at the terminal, run

./setup

NOT AS ROOT! First off, you should never run anything as root unless instructed to do so, and second, the setup utility will not work when run as root. Then, answer some questions and choose which installation you want. You will need a working internet connection, as IE6 and WMP have to be downloaded. Then, a setup wizard (GUI) for IE6 should pop up. When it came up by me.... there was no text! So, I just kept pressing the default button, and... it worked! If I ever find out what the actual text is, I will let you know. That went very well, with no errors (or so I hope). Next came the WMP install, which didn't go as well. After the IE6 setup, wait a while and the WMP setup will appear. This, again, is done through a GUI, this time with TEXT! I went through, and selected the default options, and everything was going well, until the end, where it stated "Setup Failed" and some other MS crap. Oh well, I didn't need WMP anyway (MPLAYER all the way!). After that, IE6 launches... and there you have it. A working IE6 on Linux using WINE. If this worked for you.... CONGRATS! If not, I wish I could help, but I am not an expert with WINE. All I can suggest is to go trough the setup again, but with different options selected. Good luck! See screenshot above to see how IE6 looks running under WINE (yeah, crappy. Thought so too! BUT, it works... so Hey! Fine with me!).
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Debian to run on AMD64

"The next release of the Debian Project's Linux distribution will run on AMD's AMD64 processors for the first time, according to the organisation's Web site." This is actually quite exciting. I have often asked myself when debian will finally be released to run on AMD64 platforms, and now the Linux world need just wait a bit longer for this to finally come true! Read more.
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Matrix XP

Hilarious! Movie imitating The Matrix.... with a twist! Very amusing ending... Must watch.



Source
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 26, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Thunderbird Configured to Open Links in Firefox

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

As you may remember, in my last post I stated that my only problem with Thunderbird was its apparent inability to open links in Firefox. This problem has been solved! Solution: When in Thunderbird, do the following:
Edit->
preferences->
Select the "Advance" tab->
Select the Config Editor at the bottom of the window.

When in the "Config Editor" :
Right Click->
New->
String->
Name: network.protocol-handler.app.ftp ; Value: /path/to/firefox

Again:

Right Click->
New->
String->
Name: network.protocol-handler.app.http ; Value: /path/to/firefox

And once more:

Right Click->
New->
String->
Name: network.protocol-handler.app.https ; Value: /path/to/firefox

Of course, set the /path/to/firefox as the location of Firefox (in most cases /usr/bin/firefox). This should configure Thunderbird to open all links in a Firefox window (or Tab if Firefox is already running). Hope this helps for some people that were in my same situation! Many thanks to the kind people @ MozillaZine.org forums who helped me get this!
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | link | 13 comments |


New Picture of Quasar Emerges



In the distant, young universe, quasars shine with a brilliance unmatched by anything in the local cosmos. Although they appear starlike in optical telescopes, quasars are actually the bright centers of galaxies located billions of light-years from Earth." research reveals a new picture of Quasars, that also challenges views conceived in the past. Interesting read... (sorry, a bit difficult to summarize).

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Nigeria buys into $100 laptop concept

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative for the developing world is gaining ground in Africa, with Nigeria announcing the acquisition of one million laptops. Prices are, however, set to fluctuate. Still, the laptops will be the cheapest ever sold in Africa.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Patch for Linux Kernel 2.6.17.7 Released

The 2.6.17.7 stable kernel update is out. This one adds a relatively long list of fixes for problems with networking, sound, and several other areas.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


WOW!!! AWESOME PRICE DROPS!!!! @ NEWEGG!

EDIT: Hmmm.... looks like TigerDirect has better prices now... I don't know what is going on... a 3700+ costs $209 @ newegg.com and only $104 @ TigerDirect. Oh well, most processors have gotten really inexpensive... go with the one you want, from where you want!

Wow, prices on AMD processors have drop a ton @ newegg.com! I knew prices were going to drop, but when I saw and AMD X2 4200+ for $199, I was like.... WOW! Also, the X2 3800+ is only $169... I am seriously considering getting that! Anyways, check out the prices at newegg.com! w00t!
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


AMD's ATI acquisition may help Linux

Monday, July 24, 2006

AMD's acquisition of ATI Technologies, one of the top two graphics processor makers, may be great news for desktop Linux users.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Monday, July 24, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Fun With Thunderbird

"Why have I never used this before?" That was my reaction after my first use of Thunderbird, the opensource mail client/ rss reader from the creators of Firefox! For a while now I have been looking for a mail client to view my gmail account messages from. Kmail was no good, and other clients that I tried simply didn't cut it. Then I got to Thunderbird... true bliss. I love this program. Not only could I easily configure it to read my Gmail account, I can now also view all my RSS feeds from it too (I had been using Liferea which was awesome, but I wanted something "prettier" and something with email integration). To set up my account so it would read my Gmail, I simply followed the directions given my Google (you can find them here). Then, I simply imported all my news feeds from Liferea... and there I had it! A perfect way to view my email and my news feeds. The only thing I was not happy with was the default theme... I thought it rather bland... So, I just downloaded the "Tiger Mail" theme from the Thunderbird Themes page... and everything was looking MUCH better. In conclusion, if you have not used Thunderbird... do so now! You will love it! The only thing I still have to figure out, which is rather annoying... is getting Thunderbird to open links in Firefox... One would think this would be quite easy... yet it hasn't. I don't know, maybe it is just me. Anyway, GET THUNDERBIRD!!!!
posted by linnerd40, Monday, July 24, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


AMD Is Buying ATI for $5.5B

Sunday, July 23, 2006

UPDATE: IT'S OFFICIAL!

"ATI is battling with Nvidia Corp. to be the No. 2 maker of computer-graphics chips behind Intel Corp. Buying ATI may help Sunnyvale, California-based Advanced Micro in its efforts to keep taking market share from Intel, the world's largest semiconductor maker."

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Sunday, July 23, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Amazing Video of Compiz/XGL

A great video of the bleeding edge of copiz/XGL, an emerging technology that promises great things for the future of the Linux desktop.



Source | Digg this
posted by linnerd40, Sunday, July 23, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


I am BACK!!!

Hello readers!
I have returned! I will now resume my normal posting habits. Sadly, I have noticed my blog is down to 7 hits a day... PLEASE COME BACK READERS!!! Anyway, for those of you still here. Enjoy my blog!
posted by linnerd40, Sunday, July 23, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


AMD Throws Out Quad-Core Challenge To Intel

Saturday, July 22, 2006

AMD says that it will release true quad-core processors by mid-2007, distinguishing the chips from packaged two dual core design that Intel has announced will be released this year. AMD's quad-core product will differ from the Intel offering because it will four distinct processors on a single die rather than two dual-cores packaged together.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Saturday, July 22, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Novell ships Suse Linux 10

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Novel has unveiled Suse Linux Enterprise 10 the world's first major Linux distribution to offer support the Xen open source virtualization technology. More detailed posts coming up!

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 19, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Crackers learn from open source?

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Hackers are using techniques popularised by developers of open-source software like Linux to improve their malicious code, a researcher at McAfee has said. Also see http://trends.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/07/15/1331229&
from=rss on Microsoft FUD potential

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 18, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Anandtech: Intel's Core 2 Extreme & Core 2 Duo: The Empire Strikes Back

Friday, July 14, 2006

"We've all been waiting for this day, the day Intel lifts the last remaining curtain on the chip that is designed to re-take the performance crown AMD, and return Intel to it's days of glory."

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Friday, July 14, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


While your waiting...

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Hello to all! While I am currently a tad bit crippled in my blogging activities (see previous posts), I would like to redirect you to another blog. Check it out here: Linux and Open Source Blog. The posts there are awesome and should keep you going until I am back (if not steal your attention away from this blog entirely). Have fun!
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 13, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Most popular operating system in the world? Windows? Wrong...

More than 90% of operating systems in the desktop world does not mean Microsoft is entitled to be the King of Operating Systems! Who is? Read more!

read more digg story

*You may wonder how I write this post, since my last post states I would be at a lack of internet for 2 weeks. Wrong! Yay! I can get internet here where I am! Don't expect many posts though, my time on the computer is usually limited! Expect small posts via digg.com.
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 13, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Gone for 2 weeks!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Hello readers! I am leaving for 2 weeks... so don't expect any posts! I am going to "The Governor's School" for music... yeah, I am going to be stuck with very little internet access for 2 WEEKS!!!! How is a nerd to survive?! Anyway, I'll resume posting on June 23! Untill the... Farewell!
posted by linnerd40, Saturday, July 08, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


New Hard Drive!

Friday, July 07, 2006

Well, as you may know, one of my former hard drives crashed a while back and I have been stuck with just one hard drive for a couple weeks. Yes, I sent the hard drive back to where I got my computer... and I have never heard or seen anything of it again... hmmm... do I hear lawsuit? Naw, it was a refurbished drive anyways.. so I don't care. Ok. So, a couple days ago I ordered a new Seagate 20gigabyte 5400RPM (sad, I know) hard drive for $10 @ TigerDirect after rebates. Yesterday, I got the drive. And, eager to have a new drive to test Linux distros on, I set to work installing it. Well, I got it installed and then I realized.... oh crap, I only have one jumper (the one that came with the new drive). I frantically looked for the old jumpers from my setup before my last hard drive crash. No luck... then I realized... I had accidentally sent both jumpers with the hard drive when returning it to my computer vendor. HOW DUMB WAS THAT? Ok, no response to that please. A bit desperate, I took one of the jumpers from one of my optical drives. And, while pulling it out, it jumped out of my hand and into the most in-accessible corner of my case. Oh *expletive*. So, for the next half and hour or so, I tried to get the darn thing out of that little corner. Finally, using a bent paper clip, I got it out.. Phew! So... not wanting to loose the jumper again... I just set it back into the optical drive. My initial problem... still not solved. My only place left to turn: Computer Forums. I have been a member there for a little while now, so I asked the other members if you could run two drives with one jumper. Turns out, you can run two drives... with no jumper! What a relief... So just now, I have pulled out the jumper in the new hard drive and everything works fine! Now... I just have to mail in the rebate and get to work installing new distros on the hard drive! w00t! Thanks CF!
posted by linnerd40, Friday, July 07, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


New Ion Trap May Lead to Large Quantum Computers

Physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have designed and built a novel electromagnetic trap for ions that could be easily mass produced to potentially make quantum computers large enough for practical use.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Friday, July 07, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Linux Kernel 2.6.18 Release Candidate 1

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Linus Torvalds has announced the first release candidate for the upcoming 2.6.18 kernel. He noted that the changes are extensive, "the changes are too big for the mailing list, even just the shortlog." "Most architectures got updated, Most architectures got updated, ACPI updates, networking, SCSI and sound, IDE, infiniband, input, DVB, etc."

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 06, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


School Successes (OSS/Linux)

"You probably agree with me that running Windows XP on a 1.4GHz PIII would make that user unhappy. And yet that's the server for the Linux system driving 16 stations (they'll double that next year)."

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 06, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Desktop Linux Defined: SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10

A great, complete review of SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10. Points such as: installation, on the desktop, and Home/ Office use are all discussed. Review has many links to videos to watch the new SLED10 in action!

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Thursday, July 06, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Wardriving with Ubuntu and Google Earth

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

"Wardriving is fun. Going around the neighborhood and mapping all the wireless networks may be nothing more than a geeky hobby but it can sure teach you alot. And viewing the results in Google Earth is icing on the cake." And all of this.... with Ubuntu Linux! It just keeps getting better... wish I had a lap top...

Learn more!
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 05, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Atomic simulation most intensive computer program ever

The most computationally intensive computer program ever developed has been put to work simulating the quantum behavior of atoms.

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Wednesday, July 05, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


Linux Users, Get Counted!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Become a registered Linux user! Get counted at http://counter.li.org/. I registered today, and I am:

posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 04, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


GTK+ 2.10 Released!

"GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites."

GTK 2.10 adds significant new functionality while maintaining source and binary compatibility with GTK+ 2.8. Highlights of new features and improvements in GTK+ 2.10 are:
  • Printing Support

  • Recent Files Support

  • Drag and Drop Support in Notebooks

  • New Widgets and Call Renderers

  • Changes in the File Chooser

  • Changes in the Tree View Widget

  • Changes in the Text View and Entry Widgets

  • And MORE
Read full Release announcement here.
posted by linnerd40, Tuesday, July 04, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Linux Box

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Start with the ultimate AMD64 motherboard and build on it to create a masterpiece of your own... Linux syle!

read more | digg story
posted by linnerd40, Sunday, July 02, 2006 | link | 0 comments |


@Xi Computer: EXTREME COMPUTING POWER!

Saturday, July 01, 2006


The Xi MTower 2P64 Workstation, one of @Xi's many systems, is perhaps the epitome of "extreme workstation." The manufacturer, @Xi Computer is "The Leading System Integrator of Intel and AMD Based Workstations, Network Servers, and Rack Blade Clusters." and the "High Performance CAD Workstation & 3D Graphics leader." A look into their product line will confirm this. @Xi Computer is all about performance. The Xi MTower 2P64 Workstation is most likely their flagship workstation. To get a feeling of how extreme their systems are, the maximum configuration for the Xi MTowwer 2P64 Workstation can go up to: 8 AMD Opteron Series 8xx Dual-Core processors!!! 64 Gigabytes of RAM!!! Up to 9 146GB 15000RPM U3SCSI-320 Seagate Hard Drives!!! And Dual nVidia Quadro FX4400 (Genlock) 512MB Graphics Cards or Dual ATI FireGL V7350 1024MB Graphics Cards!!! I mean talk about extreme performance!!! The only thing lacking, and which I was surprised not to find in the configurator, was a Liquid Cooling system. Well, I guess if you can buy something like this (Max Configuration can exceed $50K), you can install your own liquid cooling system or have a professional install it. Another one of their systems, the Xi MTower 64 SLI Workstation, sports an AM FX-62 Processor, up to 4 gigs of DDR2 1000Mhz RAM, Quad SLI using Dual nVidia EVGA GeForce 7950 GX2s (Each 1024MB), and 15K RPM hard drives. This system comes with an optional Thermaltake Rocket External Silent Water Cooling System. Nice. Another one of @Xi's flagship systems is the Xi NetRAIDer 64 Network RAID Server, features multiple AMD-Opterons and up to 6 Terrabytes of RAID Disk Space. Wow. Check out the @Xi Computer website here.
posted by linnerd40, Saturday, July 01, 2006 | link | 0 comments |