I do hope that the description was meant as cynically as I read it. It looks rather scary to me....
(from wordsandpictures, see the link on the right ->)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
He's watching!
Jesus! Night Light!
I do hope that the description was meant as cynically as I read it. It looks rather scary to me....
(from wordsandpictures, see the link on the right ->)
I do hope that the description was meant as cynically as I read it. It looks rather scary to me....
(from wordsandpictures, see the link on the right ->)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
EEE first pics on pffflog
External VGA monitor. Note: after sleep mode it starts in a different resolution, and firefox crashes as a consequence. Not very practical. Still, the fact that a linux laptop can work with hibernate in the first place is already an improvement.
Close up. Note that in these pictures I didn't have the battery in, for reasons unknown to even myself.
Videoskyping with mr tombert in person, and the battery in:
The space bar drama. On most models, the space bar is a little bit higher on the left side. Biggest concern in the EEE community is if it will hit the screen when closed, which has been both proven and disproven in several physicochemical experiments. Based on experience with similar actions in the past, I can advise against the fix based on heating the spacebar in water and bending with a fork.
Close up. Note that in these pictures I didn't have the battery in, for reasons unknown to even myself.
Videoskyping with mr tombert in person, and the battery in:
The space bar drama. On most models, the space bar is a little bit higher on the left side. Biggest concern in the EEE community is if it will hit the screen when closed, which has been both proven and disproven in several physicochemical experiments. Based on experience with similar actions in the past, I can advise against the fix based on heating the spacebar in water and bending with a fork.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Using apt-get from behind a proxy
in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/70debconf
add something like:
Acquire {
Retries "0";
HTTP {
Proxy "http://proxy.mystarhub.com.sg:8080";
};
};
Thank you linuxquestions.org!
add something like:
Acquire {
Retries "0";
HTTP {
Proxy "http://proxy.mystarhub.com.sg:8080";
};
};
Thank you linuxquestions.org!
Considering an external DVD (writer) for the EEE.
Because of its stylishness, the LG GSA-E50N might be a fitting DVD burner for the EEE. I have the impression that the white color of the LG drive might conflict with the rather gayish-perl-white color of the EEE, but you'd might have to be a woman or low on testosterone to notice it. The drive also comes in black.There is the small problem that you need a new libdvdcss to run some DVDs on the EEE. No problem that can't be solved, though.
EEE: enabling higher resolution of external monitor
External monitors wouldn't get resolutions higher than 1024*768 on the EEE. Although it is supposed to go automatically, it didn't happen in my case. The reason was found by checking the X-window log:
The allowed modes from the monitor are:
The solution: replace in /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
by:
Or use higher resolutions, depending on your monitor.
less /var/log/Xorg.0.log
The allowed modes from the monitor are:
The highest virtual mode in /etc/X11/xorg.conf was 1024*768, though, so in the log file one could read:
(II) intel(0): EDID for output VGA
(II) intel(0): Manufacturer: SAM Model: 1ba Serial#: 1212231993
(II) intel(0): Year: 2006 Week: 50
(II) intel(0): EDID Version: 1.3
(II) intel(0): Analog Display Input, Input Voltage Level: 0.700/0.300 V
(II) intel(0): Sync: Separate Composite SyncOnGreen
(II) intel(0): Max H-Image Size [cm]: horiz.: 38 vert.: 30
(II) intel(0): Gamma: 2.20
(II) intel(0): DPMS capabilities: Off; RGB/Color Display
(II) intel(0): First detailed timing is preferred mode
(II) intel(0): redX: 0.640 redY: 0.329 greenX: 0.300 greenY: 0.600
(II) intel(0): blueX: 0.150 blueY: 0.060 whiteX: 0.313 whiteY: 0.329
(II) intel(0): Supported VESA Video Modes:
(II) intel(0): 720x400@70Hz
(II) intel(0): 640x480@60Hz
(II) intel(0): 640x480@67Hz
(II) intel(0): 640x480@72Hz
(II) intel(0): 640x480@75Hz
(II) intel(0): 800x600@56Hz
(II) intel(0): 800x600@60Hz
(II) intel(0): 800x600@72Hz
(II) intel(0): 800x600@75Hz
(II) intel(0): 832x624@75Hz
(II) intel(0): 1024x768@60Hz
(II) intel(0): 1024x768@70Hz
(II) intel(0): 1024x768@75Hz
(II) intel(0): 1280x1024@75Hz
(II) intel(0): 1152x870@75Hz
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1280x1024" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1400x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1440x900" (width too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1600x1024" (width too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1680x1050" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1200" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "1920x1440" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
(II) intel(0): Not using default mode "2048x1536" (height too large for virtual size)
The solution: replace in /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1024 768
EndSubSection
EndSection
by:
Section "Screen"Or
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Virtual 1280 1024
EndSubSection
EndSection
Or use higher resolutions, depending on your monitor.
The EEE arrived
Sorry, too busy using my brand new german eee to blog about it!
There is no "warranty void sticker on the bottom", but one of the screws for the RAM is covered with a small "EEEpc" sticker.
Sound is relatively ok considering what they could have put in the small place.
I just noticed that my space bar is unequally high. OH my, how will I survive that!
Default Skype is 1.4 without video support, it is possible to install from the skype page, but apparently there is an official version in the repository from Xandros.
mplayer is installed by default. the ever important middle mouse button is emulated by pressing both the left and right side of the single button. page up and page down work via fn-up and fn-down.
Nice detail is that the place of the "windows logo key" is filled with a nice neutral "home" key. The German keyboard is not good for people that like to write html, the open and close brackets have to be written via fn-Y and shift-fn-Y.
There is no "warranty void sticker on the bottom", but one of the screws for the RAM is covered with a small "EEEpc" sticker.
Sound is relatively ok considering what they could have put in the small place.
I just noticed that my space bar is unequally high. OH my, how will I survive that!
Default Skype is 1.4 without video support, it is possible to install from the skype page, but apparently there is an official version in the repository from Xandros.
mplayer is installed by default. the ever important middle mouse button is emulated by pressing both the left and right side of the single button. page up and page down work via fn-up and fn-down.
Nice detail is that the place of the "windows logo key" is filled with a nice neutral "home" key. The German keyboard is not good for people that like to write html, the open and close brackets have to be written via fn-Y and shift-fn-Y.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Remembering the 80's. A useless PC speaker review.
Huge haircuts. Interior design involving geometrical patterns of red and yellow stripes, and black and white squares. A-ha. Commodore 64. Random uses of the word Turbo. Little books with stickers to put in your school diary (mostly involving the word "Turbo"). Not trying to use the number 2 as a replacement for the words "two" or "too". That is what the 80's were all about. That, and ghetto blasters. Ghetto blasters usually involved a cassette deck (or two next to each other if you were cool, or two behind each other if you were amazingly cool and had a Sharp ghetto blaster), blinking lights, and were easily spotted because of their sheer size. There is no such thing as a small ghetto blaster, no way. Huge is the word, and the bigger the ghetto blaster, the better the sound. There is even a physical explanation behind this, the waves have to go somewhere away from the actual speaker, which only works if the speaker is wrapped in a big, closed, box.
Where was I. Oh, then came the invention called "auto-reverse". In the day and age where the CD is already on its demise, this might need some explaining. Back in the days, music was to be heard either on a vinyl disc, which was inconvenient when being out and about, and could easily be scratched. Or you could get the music on small little device called "audio cassette tape". This was a piece of plastic with two rolls of tape in it that smelled funny. The best ones came from BASF. You would buy them empty and copy music from friends on it with their 2-speed tape copier. Stupid friends would buy Phil Collins tapes in the store. Life was simple, but you had to work for it. Auto-reverse ruined it, though. People you would now call "emo" would use it to listen to the Smiths over and over again, without even having to move their hands. This stopped the essential break you need when listening to the Smiths. The auto-reverse generation is now getting in power, and look what a mess the world is becoming. Just so you know where it all began.
After auto-reverse came the CD player, the mp3, and all other kinds of crap. People forgot about the basic theories of good sound, and invented lots and lots of stupid small speakers and did as if that delivered some great sound (sometimes this crap was called Bose, sometimes called 2.1,5.1,7.1,whatever.1). Of course, simple economics can tell you that one can never create 3 good speakers for the same price as 2 equally good speakers. As the amount of money one would spend on speakers would probably not change much, this meant that people started buying a lot of crappy speakers, thinking they were just as good as a few good speakers. Eventually, it would get pretty hard to even find a pair of good speakers, especially for a computer.
These times are over.
Being a person of the 80's, and looking for an improvement of my old and loyal labtec speakers, I searched for the best (I mean of course: biggest) computer speakers around, only to find that these actually exist. The actively-powered 20 watt rms Jaytec PHA-30 speakers, magnetically shielded for those who care. Only 60 euros poorer and a few days later (free shipping in Germany!) they arrived, in a box big enough to fit a flexible person. The goodness already started with the accompanying cables: a power cable without grounding, a thick cable to connect one box to the other, cinch-to-cinch and cinch-to-mini-jack cables to connect the speakers to anything that outputs sound. This starts off pretty well...
The size of the speakers is hard to describe, unless I would actually have measured them, which I didn't. They might way about 4 kilograms each, I have no clue. Below is a blurry picture of the boxes with next to them the almost 10 years old CD "much against everyone's advice" from Soulwax. Be impressed:
As you can see, the boxes come with 2 10 centimeter woofers, one tweeter, an opening for air, a cover to reduce its dust and coolness, and an impressive set of controls. The MDF has a nice fake wood finish which looks classy. As a side note: at some point they also sold the PHA-20, which had one woofer less, and was a bit smaller because of that. A closer look at the controls on the right speaker (the left speaker only has the metal connectors for the speaker cable):
The connectors at the bottom can be screwed outwards, revealing a small opening for the cable to the other speaker, just like in a real amplifier. There is an "s-output", the use of which I don't know, and since the speakers are made for real men there was no manual whatsoever. There is an on-off button with a LED, a replaceable fuse, sturdy knobs for volume, bass, and treble. Input goes via the cinch connectors, like it should be. There is no power adapter, so the 220V cord goes directly into the speaker. There is also a warning sticker for idiots, and a quality control sticker from the poor Chinese guy who put these things together for the German-based Jaytec company.
And how does it look on the table? Well, pretty nicely! My monitor is from the time when a 20 inch CRT monitor was a rarity, and actually 20 inch CRT monitors are again a rarity, without ever not being a rarity. It is clear, the speakers make even Windows XP look manly. I wonder how they will fit with my white (!?) EEE...
Where was I. Oh, then came the invention called "auto-reverse". In the day and age where the CD is already on its demise, this might need some explaining. Back in the days, music was to be heard either on a vinyl disc, which was inconvenient when being out and about, and could easily be scratched. Or you could get the music on small little device called "audio cassette tape". This was a piece of plastic with two rolls of tape in it that smelled funny. The best ones came from BASF. You would buy them empty and copy music from friends on it with their 2-speed tape copier. Stupid friends would buy Phil Collins tapes in the store. Life was simple, but you had to work for it. Auto-reverse ruined it, though. People you would now call "emo" would use it to listen to the Smiths over and over again, without even having to move their hands. This stopped the essential break you need when listening to the Smiths. The auto-reverse generation is now getting in power, and look what a mess the world is becoming. Just so you know where it all began.
After auto-reverse came the CD player, the mp3, and all other kinds of crap. People forgot about the basic theories of good sound, and invented lots and lots of stupid small speakers and did as if that delivered some great sound (sometimes this crap was called Bose, sometimes called 2.1,5.1,7.1,whatever.1). Of course, simple economics can tell you that one can never create 3 good speakers for the same price as 2 equally good speakers. As the amount of money one would spend on speakers would probably not change much, this meant that people started buying a lot of crappy speakers, thinking they were just as good as a few good speakers. Eventually, it would get pretty hard to even find a pair of good speakers, especially for a computer.
These times are over.
Being a person of the 80's, and looking for an improvement of my old and loyal labtec speakers, I searched for the best (I mean of course: biggest) computer speakers around, only to find that these actually exist. The actively-powered 20 watt rms Jaytec PHA-30 speakers, magnetically shielded for those who care. Only 60 euros poorer and a few days later (free shipping in Germany!) they arrived, in a box big enough to fit a flexible person. The goodness already started with the accompanying cables: a power cable without grounding, a thick cable to connect one box to the other, cinch-to-cinch and cinch-to-mini-jack cables to connect the speakers to anything that outputs sound. This starts off pretty well...
The size of the speakers is hard to describe, unless I would actually have measured them, which I didn't. They might way about 4 kilograms each, I have no clue. Below is a blurry picture of the boxes with next to them the almost 10 years old CD "much against everyone's advice" from Soulwax. Be impressed:
As you can see, the boxes come with 2 10 centimeter woofers, one tweeter, an opening for air, a cover to reduce its dust and coolness, and an impressive set of controls. The MDF has a nice fake wood finish which looks classy. As a side note: at some point they also sold the PHA-20, which had one woofer less, and was a bit smaller because of that. A closer look at the controls on the right speaker (the left speaker only has the metal connectors for the speaker cable):
The connectors at the bottom can be screwed outwards, revealing a small opening for the cable to the other speaker, just like in a real amplifier. There is an "s-output", the use of which I don't know, and since the speakers are made for real men there was no manual whatsoever. There is an on-off button with a LED, a replaceable fuse, sturdy knobs for volume, bass, and treble. Input goes via the cinch connectors, like it should be. There is no power adapter, so the 220V cord goes directly into the speaker. There is also a warning sticker for idiots, and a quality control sticker from the poor Chinese guy who put these things together for the German-based Jaytec company.
And how does it look on the table? Well, pretty nicely! My monitor is from the time when a 20 inch CRT monitor was a rarity, and actually 20 inch CRT monitors are again a rarity, without ever not being a rarity. It is clear, the speakers make even Windows XP look manly. I wonder how they will fit with my white (!?) EEE...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Replacing Apache with Apache2 and still trying to use mod_perl
Popular movies almost always get a sequel. The reason is clear, less creativity is needed to work out a story, and a high revenue is almost guaranteed. Did you know that there was a Grease 2? And there were several follow ups for Saturday Night Fever? I actually watched these movies (Grease 2 on New Year's Eve, what were they thinking), and I can tell you that it's not worth your time.
Fast forward to 2008. Your humble pimbert decides to instell Django on his webserver, only to find out that it actually expects Apache2. Debian's apt-get failed to warn me for this, though. I assumed that Apache2 might do the same things as Apache1, AND support Django, so why not install it?
Because it will kill you. Debian refuses to create a decent default configuration for mod_perl2 in apache2, because Perl wizards can figure that out for themselves. After reading about a 100 sites on various perl.conf values and parseheader parameters, Apache kept refusing to parse the virtual server connected to www.foo.com, no matter if a special virtualserver was defined for that or not. Anything else, say bla.foo.com worked fine, if defined as a virtualserver or if just caught by 000-default. Reinstalling apache1 only partly reduced the disaster.
Time for the automated backups of my Virtual Private Server to come to the rescue, reloading the image of the previous day and getting back to nicer things in life.
The following is to be read in the usual Hollywood-trailer voice: Apache2, just like the previous version, except crappier. A total waste of your time. You will hate yourself for even thinking about it. Soon, in a theater near you.
Fast forward to 2008. Your humble pimbert decides to instell Django on his webserver, only to find out that it actually expects Apache2. Debian's apt-get failed to warn me for this, though. I assumed that Apache2 might do the same things as Apache1, AND support Django, so why not install it?
Because it will kill you. Debian refuses to create a decent default configuration for mod_perl2 in apache2, because Perl wizards can figure that out for themselves. After reading about a 100 sites on various perl.conf values and parseheader parameters, Apache kept refusing to parse the virtual server connected to www.foo.com, no matter if a special virtualserver was defined for that or not. Anything else, say bla.foo.com worked fine, if defined as a virtualserver or if just caught by 000-default. Reinstalling apache1 only partly reduced the disaster.
Time for the automated backups of my Virtual Private Server to come to the rescue, reloading the image of the previous day and getting back to nicer things in life.
The following is to be read in the usual Hollywood-trailer voice: Apache2, just like the previous version, except crappier. A total waste of your time. You will hate yourself for even thinking about it. Soon, in a theater near you.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
News. Mac World Expo
A lot of important announcements on blogeee:
Asus's Splashtop, providing an UI with internet access and other possibilities, can be loaded on the eee from usb stick or SD, card. With this, the EEE can be used in the direct second after you pressed the on button, as explained by the dopey people in this video
Other important news:
A 8-9 inch screen version with the same form factor is in the works:
Pastel colors available for people without Y-Chromosomes!
That was all!!!
Oh, I forgot, Apple introduced some overpriced laptop without an optical drive. Never mind that.
And something more important to add: Asus has released loads of official accessories for the EEE, including 3G modem adapter, DVB-T stick, an access point, a skype phone, too much too much! I wonder if the linux drivers are/will be ready for all this goodness.
Asus's Splashtop, providing an UI with internet access and other possibilities, can be loaded on the eee from usb stick or SD, card. With this, the EEE can be used in the direct second after you pressed the on button, as explained by the dopey people in this video
Other important news:
A 8-9 inch screen version with the same form factor is in the works:
Pastel colors available for people without Y-Chromosomes!
That was all!!!Oh, I forgot, Apple introduced some overpriced laptop without an optical drive. Never mind that.
And something more important to add: Asus has released loads of official accessories for the EEE, including 3G modem adapter, DVB-T stick, an access point, a skype phone, too much too much! I wonder if the linux drivers are/will be ready for all this goodness.
Monday, January 14, 2008
How to not really kill your frozen computer
The Magic SysRq comes to the rescue! When you have one, that is. On a macbook, alas...
Anyway:
- Hold Alt+SysRq (aka PrintScreen)
- then successively press r, e, i, s, u, b
(No, that's not a joke, it almost worked for me an hour ago. Then of course it definitely hung).
Make sure to wait a bit between key presses, as some of these events are supposed to stop services, sync the disks etc... There are apparently other funny combinations, like Alt+SysRq+f that kills the most mem hungry process. Also some flag has to be appropriately set in the kernel conf.
More details there, and thanks to google, as usual.
Anyway:
- Hold Alt+SysRq (aka PrintScreen)
- then successively press r, e, i, s, u, b
(No, that's not a joke, it almost worked for me an hour ago. Then of course it definitely hung).
Make sure to wait a bit between key presses, as some of these events are supposed to stop services, sync the disks etc... There are apparently other funny combinations, like Alt+SysRq+f that kills the most mem hungry process. Also some flag has to be appropriately set in the kernel conf.
More details there, and thanks to google, as usual.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Setting up Bind on Debian Etch
Assuming you have the bind package, and trust comments on a forum that calls itself "linux-noob.com", you can get bind working in debian according to these instructions.
I tried, and I even got different MX records, the ones I configured. All this didn't help anything installing the stupid Zimbra package I wanted^C^C^C^C^C^C^C tried to install, though.
I tried, and I even got different MX records, the ones I configured. All this didn't help anything installing the stupid Zimbra package I wanted^C^C^C^C^C^C^C tried to install, though.
Happy 1200000000!
At 22:00, of the 10th of January yesterday, it became 1200000000 seconds unix time!
Bring out the champagne!
Bring out the champagne!
Monday, January 7, 2008
UTF-8 on debian, SSH on Opensuse
Why doesn't UTF-8 work decently on debian Sarge? Well, you can do something about it:
Just follow this worked-out step-by-step tutorial...
Or upgrade to Etch.
To be honest, both ways look pretty painful to me!
A wonder has happened for the even more crippled OpenSuse! It is actually possible to ssh to a machine, independent of how you installed it, the firewall will always block any of the services you are running, unless you manually deactivate them via the "firewall" option in Yast. Thank you for your wonderful system, OpenSuse people!
Just follow this worked-out step-by-step tutorial...
Or upgrade to Etch.
To be honest, both ways look pretty painful to me!
A wonder has happened for the even more crippled OpenSuse! It is actually possible to ssh to a machine, independent of how you installed it, the firewall will always block any of the services you are running, unless you manually deactivate them via the "firewall" option in Yast. Thank you for your wonderful system, OpenSuse people!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Collectable cars, Paris style.
As a kid, I used various stuff found in the kitchen and bathroom to burn my toy cars, but it never turned out to look so nicely as these:
I still think it's more creative to do it yourself, though.
From Popgadget
I still think it's more creative to do it yourself, though.From Popgadget
VLC sur PSP
People in France with a Freebox can watch TV on their PSP, but for the rest of the world there is still the possibility to watch streaming video over wifi or from the memory stick, without having to recode the format.
From pspfreeplayer
From pspfreeplayer
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