March Madness is here and and what better way to keep track of the action than with a scoreboard tracker at the bottom of your screen. Check out the image below:
This is accomplished by combining a python script with the conky variable scroll. The python script will get the data, parse it and put it into a acceptable format for conky to handle the display. I've talked about conky earlier and using displaying the last instant message.
Copy the following code and save it as bottomscore.py
#!/usr/bin/python import urllib # Open html page fweb = urllib.urlopen("http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/bottomline/scores")
# Open data storage f=open('bottom.dat', 'w') f.write(raw) f.close() f=open('bottom.dat', 'r')
# Parse each line, get game, create str, append str for line in f: if line.find('_left')>1: gamestr=line[line.find('=')+1:-1] score= score + gamestr + ' | '
f.close() print score
My conky script is as follows. Save this
#avoid flicker double_buffer yes
#own window to run simultanious 2 or more conkys own_window yes own_window_transparent no own_window_type normal own_window_hints undecorate,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager, above
#to prevent window from moving use_spacer none minimum_size 1400
TEXT ${color e0e0e0} ${scroll 2847 ${execpi 60 python ~/scripts/bottomscore.py}}
Remember to edit your .conkyrc to run the right path to bottomscore.py. You may need to edit certain parameters for your screen resolution but this should give you a good start. Any questions, post a comment. Pro Tip:To run multiple conky screens:"conky -c .conkyrc2"
For a few months now I wanted to try mpd mainly out of curiosity. Music Player Daemon (mpd) is a music server and mpc will be the client used to interact with the server. This how to will look at a localhost server of mpd.
Prereqs: Enable universal repositores in /etc/apt/sources.list
Installing & Configuring Software: In terminal:
sudo apt-get install mpd mpc paprefs
Next we need to set up Pulse Audio.
Go to System->Preferences->Pulse Audio Preferences Check "enable network access to local sound device" & "Don't require authentication"
Set up mpd.conf (use your favorite text editor)
sudo gedit /etc/mpd.conf
Add the following to the config file:
audio_output { type "pulse" name "Local MPD Output" }
In the mpd.conf file, look for "music_directory" and change the corresponding path to your music directory.
Next, we shall build the database.In terminal, type:
sudo mpd --create-db
Finally, restart mpd by:
sudo /etc/init.d/mpd restart
Using mpc: mpd/mpc is higly scriptable so I recommend create some bash files for yourself. You will find the manual to mpc here: http://linux.die.net/man/1/mpc
Many times when MATLAB is started there is a certain program that you want to work on. In order to work on this program, the current directory or path of that program must be changed or set. This little script here will prompt the user for the module to work on and then add that directory to the path listing. When MATLAB is terminated, that path will not be saved.
% startup.m
% Set Production Directory prod='~/MATLAB/Production/';
% Prompt user for module name module=input('What module do you want to work on? ','s');
% If module is set, add to top of path. Otherwise don't add if ~isempty(module) path([prod,module],path); end
Place the startup.m in your MATLAB work directory.
Today I had a mind blowing realisation that any geek would appreciate. Not sure if its well known but it soon will be. The number 42, which in case you didn't know, is the answer to everything, the universe and life, referring to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (see here).
Next year, October 10, 2010 will be here and it can be written as 10/10/10. Or removing the slashes, 101010 which converting from binary to decimal form is 42. Woah. Yeah, woah. Will the answer to life appear on October 10, 2010. I dont know, but someone will make mad money making t-shirts.
I think the meaning will come from the web comic xkcd.com. In case you did not know, the ordinal values of xkcd add up to 42.
Doing a little homework for ME 7040, I discovered that there is more to transposing a matrix than just rows becoming columns and vice versa. I was doing a simple stress, strain, displacement analysis of a beam under static load. The code snippet in question is when the elemental stiffness matrix needed to be calculated by:
k = int(int(B'*D*B,r,-0.5,0.5),s,-0.5,0.5)
B is a 3xn matrix of shape functions and D a 3x3 relationship of Modulus of Elasticity and Poisson's ratio. There is obviously more to this code, including the calculations of stress and strain and the writing of an output file.
Running the code using the prime ('), the code took 143.106 seconds to run. I was initally confused by how long it took because the matrices were not that large. I then heard about the function transpose() and decided to use that. In code form:
k = int(int(transpose(B)*D*B,r,-0.5,0.5),s,-0.5,0.5)
This took only 19.735 seconds to run. So digging a little further, the operator ', also checks for complex conjugates of the matrix as well.
In conclusion, if you know that you are not dealing with complex numbers, you may want to use the transpose function and not its operator.
Tip: To time the running time of your code, put tic on the top line and toc on the last line.
At the university I attend, it is mostly all about Windows and there is no support for linux so many things have to be done by the user to get anything done. However, most linux users are used to trying this on your own. Here I will show you how to successfully transfer files from your linux box at home to a windows computer at work/school. Linux commands refer to Ubuntu. Please see your distro's guide on installing packages.
If the linux box is behind a router, please open the port corresponding to ssh. Default is 22. For more information please visit portforward.com.
To test the installation of ssh type:
ssh localhost
If everything works, then that should be up for setting up the linux box.
Configuring Windows:
After downloading setup.exe from the link above, double click to run. The important part of the installation is "Selecting Packages" diaglog box.
Expand the Net tree by pressing the +. Scroll down and look for openssh and click on "Skip" to change it to "Install". You will notice a check box under column B. Click Next when finished and complete the installation.
Operating the Windows Box:
After installation, open cygwin and a terminal will appear. The syntax for scp is:
Recently, I removed the gnome-panels, added awn, and had a conky bar at the top. However, I missed having a system notification of when I would receive a message via Pidgin. So I browsed the pidgin wiki and create somewhat of a hack to display the last IM that received from Pidgin. This method is probably not the best way however I had some diffuculty.
The DBus method that listens for the received messages was chocking conky and not allowing the conky script to load correctly. So I had to create two files. getim.py would run at startup, listen for a new message and then write that message to a data file. lastim.py would be executed within conky and check the data file for the new message. I know its not real efficient and redundant but it just works. If you have any brilliant ideas please let me know.
Here is the getim.py file:
#!/usr/bin/python
# ----- GETIM.PY // LISTEN FOR AN RECEIVED MESSAGE ------------# ################################################################ # MOST OF THIS SCRIPT WAS TAKEN FROM THE PIDGIN DEVELOPER WIKI# # PLEASE VISIT http://developer.pidgin.im/ FOR MORE INFORMATION# ################################################################
def conky_im(account, sender, message, conversation, flags): reg = '<(.|\n)+?>' # REGEX FOR HTML TAGS message = re.sub(reg,'',message) # REMOVE HTML TAGS sender = sender.split("@")[0] # GET GCHAT NAME message = message[0:24] # LIMIT TO 25 CHARS file = ' ' # LOCATION OF DATA FILE fim = open(file,"w") IM = sender + " said: " + message fim.write(IM) fim.close()
import dbus, gobject, re from dbus.mainloop.glib import DBusGMainLoop dbus.mainloop.glib.DBusGMainLoop(set_as_default=True) bus = dbus.SessionBus()
My first experience with Radiohead, besides hearing Creep on the radio, was my brother playing The Bends album for me. At first I wasn't a real fan, probably because the first song I heard I didnt like so didnt give them the time of day. I would randomly listen to their songs here and there but it wasn't until this past year that I came to appreciate them more. I find myself listening to them the most and never get tired of them.
I decided to compile a list of top ten Radiohead songs with a link to a video and a listing of their lyrics. I bolded lyrics that particulary strike a chord with me. Enjoy!
There There
in pitch dark i go walking in your landscape. broken branches trip me as i speak. just because you feel it doesnt mean it's there. just because you feel it doesnt mean it's there.
there's always a siren singing you to shipwreck. (don't reach out, don't reach out) steer away from these rocks we'd be a walking disaster. (don't reach out, don't reach out)
just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there. (there's someone on your shoulder) just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there. (there's someone on your shoulder)
there there
why so green and lonely? heaven sent you to me.
we are accidents waiting waiting to happen.
we are accidents waiting waiting to happen.
Karma Police
Karma police arrest this man, he talks in maths, he buzzes like a fridge, he's like a detuned radio.
Karma police arrest this girl, her Hitler hairdo is making me feel ill and we have crashed her party.
This is what you get, this is what you get, this is what you get, when you mess with us.
Karma police I've given all I can, it's not enough, I've given all I can but we're still on the payroll.
This is what you get, this is what you get, this is what you get, when you mess with us.
For a minute there I lost myself, I lost myself. Phew, for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself.
For a minute there I lost myself, I lost myself. Phew, for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself.
House of Cards
I don't want to be your friend I just want to be your lover No matter how it ends No matter how it starts
Forget about your house of cards And I'll do mine Forget about your house of cards And I'll do mine
Fall off the table, Get swept under Denial, denial
The infrastructure will collapse Voltage spikes Throw your keys in the bowl Kiss your husband goodnight
Forget about your house of cards And I'll do mine Forget about your house of cards And I'll do mine
Fall off the table, And get swept under
Denial, denial Denial, denial Your ears should be burning Denial, denial Your ears should be burning Denial, denial
Fake Plastic Trees
A green plastic watering can For a fake chinese rubber plant In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man In a town full of rubber plans To get rid of itself
It wears her out, it wears her out It wears her out, it wears her out
She lives with a broken man A cracked polystyrene man Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery On girls in the eighties But gravity always wins
And it wears him out, it wears him out It wears him out, it wears him out
She looks like the real thing She tastes like the real thing My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling I could blow through the ceiling If I just turn and run
And it wears me out, it wears me out It wears me out, it wears me out
And if I could be who you wanted If I could be who you wanted All the time, all the time
Paranoid Android
Please could you stop the noise, I'm trying to get some rest From all the unborn chicken voices in my head What's that...? (I may be paranoid, but not an android) What's that...? (I may be paranoid, but not an android)
When I am king, you will be first against the wall With your opinion which is of no consequence at all What's that...? (I may be paranoid, but no android) What's that...? (I may be paranoid, but no android)
Ambition makes you look pretty ugly Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy You don't remember You don't remember Why don't you remember my name? Off with his head, man Off with his head, man Why don't you remember my name? I guess he does....
Rain down, rain down Come on rain down on me From a great height From a great height... height... Rain down, rain down Come on rain down on me From a great height From a great height... height... Rain down, rain down Come on rain down on me
That's it, sir You're leaving The crackle of pigskin The dust and the screaming The yuppies networking The panic, the vomit The panic, the vomit God loves his children, God loves his children, yeah!
Everything in its Right Place
Kid A, Kid A Kid A, Kid A Everything Everything Everything Everything in its right place In its right place In its right place In its right place
Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon
Everything Everything Everything Everything in its right place In its right place In its right place Right place
There are two colours in my head There are two colours in my head What, what is that you tried to say? What, what was that you tried to say? Tried to say Tried to say Tried to say Tried to say
Everything in its right place...
True Love Waits
I'll drown my beliefs To have you be in peace I'll dress like your niece To wash your swollen feet
Just don't leave Don't leave
I'm not living I'm just killing time Your tiny hands Your crazy kitten smile
Just don't leave Don't leave
And true love waits In haunted attics And true love lives On lollipops and crisps
Just don't leave Don't leave
Just don't leave Don't leave
High and Dry
Two jumps in a week, I bet you think that's pretty clever don't you boy? Flying on your motorcycle, watching all the ground beneath you drop You'd kill yourself for recognition, kill yourself to never, ever stop You broke another mirror, you're turning into something you are not
Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry
Drying up in conversation, you'll be the one who cannot talk All your insides fall to pieces, you just sit there wishing you could still make love They're the ones who'll hate you when you think you've got the world all sussed out They're the ones who'll spit on you, you'll be the one screaming out
Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry
Oh, it's the best thing that you ever had, the best thing that you ever, ever had. It's the best thing that you ever had, the best thing you have had has gone away.
Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry Don't leave me high, Don't leave me high, don't leave me dry
Idioteque
Who's in a bunker? Who's in a bunker? Women and children first And the children first And the children I'll laugh until my head comes off I'll swallow till I burst Until I burst Until I
Who's in a bunker? Who's in a bunker? I have seen too much I haven't seen enough You haven't seen it I'll laugh until my head comes off Women and children first And children first And children
Here I'm alllowed Everything all of the time Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time
Ice age coming Ice age coming Let me hear both sides Let me hear both sides Let me hear both Ice age coming Ice age coming Throw it on the fire Throw it on the fire Throw it on the
We're not scaremongering This is really happening Happening We're not scaremongering This is really happening Happening Mobiles skwrking Mobiles chirping Take the money run Take the money run Take the money
Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time
Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time
The first of the children
Bodysnatchers
I do not Understand What it is I've done wrong Full of holes Check for pulse Blink your eyes One for yes Two for no
I have no idea what I am talking about I am trapped in this body and can't get out Ooooohhhh
You killed the sound removed backbone A pale imitation With the edges Sawn off
I have no idea what you are talking about Your mouth moves only with someone's hand up your ass Ooooohhhh
Has the light gone out for you? Because the light's gone for me It is the 21st century It is the 21st century It can follow you like a dog It brought me to my knees They got a skin and they put me in They got a skin and they put me in All the lines wrapped around my face All the lines wrapped around my face And for anyone else to see And for anyone else to see
I'm a lie
I've seen it coming I've seen it coming I've seen it coming I've seen it coming
We're not scaremongering This is really happening Happening We're not scaremongering This is really happening Happening Mobiles skwrking Mobiles chirping Take the money run Take the money run Take the money
Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time
Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time Here I'm allowed Everything all of the time
After seeing the amazing comeback by Jason Lezak in the 400 free relay last night, I was eager to watch it this morning and relive the experience. However, I was disappointed when I clicked on "play video" and was unwelcomed with:
I run linux and am very very happy with it, but there are times where I feel almost neglected because of the operating that I use. Who knows, maybe there could be some discrimination suit against them.
But seriously, can someone enlighten me as to how hard it would be for them to make it available on linux systems?
Now you can find out specifically what everyone in the world is doing. Twitter has released its new search page. So of course, mad people are reading fourlovesfour.
As some of you know, I have just returned home from a year of Volunteering in Chicago. As I reflected on this past year at the end of year retreat, I wrote this little essay:
When looking back at what I wrote at orientation for “Who am I” I noticed a few things. Many of the items listed were things and people who I loved, schools I attended, and even TV shows I enjoyed to watch. Yes all these things shaped me, but they weren't who I was. Like many of the things listed, their importance are bounded by time. Time seems to be the hardest part to accept, especially for someone who's undergraduate career was so technical and could predict failure over time in a design based on certain initial conditions. When I look around at the physical world, I believe everything is defined by an equation. Some are algebraic, while others are non-linear time independent polynomials which with some work can be solved and the result can be known beforehand. There is comfort for me in knowing this and it almost gives me a sense of power to have this ability.
My mind analyzes everything and systematically gives me results of perfection or how things should be. I grew up in a pretty safe environment and things always went my way. My brothers paved a wave for me growing up and I had a self confidence that sometimes bordered on cockiness and controlling.
I entered this year pretty excited about the work I was to do at St. Rita and I enjoyed every moment with those Rita men. Coaching flag football and swimming allowed me to see and listen to them outside of school. Being the sacristan of the chapel allowed me to show the students that mass is not always boring and what the parts of the mass actually mean. Retreats were my favorite part of my job, especially the senior kairos retreat, because of the transformation that I saw in them over four days.
Enough about what I did and my work. Being in ministry I know that I wont see the result of the work that I did which leads me to what I learned about myself, or more importantly how I changed. I mentioned earlier how I like to know or solve everything. I loved to hold the steering wheel of my journey with both hands. In my commitment statement during orientation I said I wanted to better understand myself through my community and to grow in faith, a faith which was already strong.
My community and this volunteer year has taught me something that is 22 years too late: Patience. Its the same thing that I wrote on my stone at mid-year. I know that everyone has trouble in their life but listening to my house mates at dinner and at community meetings was what I needed. Also going through some personal rejections myself helped. How about the patience that Amanda showed when Ms. Lee forgot to put the Christmas gift list in for her clients. The patience of Brett in dealing with students who misbehaved and the development of his prayer life. Claire's patience with applying to graduate schools, the service club and the cancellation of the much anticipated car wash. Jeannie's patience in dealing with the frustrations of turning a room with boxes full of books and dusty shelves into a welcoming library. Finally, the patience of Susan in dealing with those bratty eighth graders and the train so she could finally come home.
Patience fort me was something that I needed but I would not have been able to receive it with out a strong faith. With out my faith and patience, I would not have been able to deal with the losses and rejections that I had in my future goals that I thought were perfect. Fr. Tom, our site supervisor in one of his homilies said, "if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” It was almost as if it was just me and him and he was saying to directly to me. I began to think about my own life and realized how things won't always go the way you want it to, even though all the initial conditions are perfect. My mind, no matter how technical or practical it is, cannot possibly grasp the understanding of the future and its relation to time. Time seems to have the final word and the best way to deal with it is with patience.
At St. Rita's commencement I heard the following quote which will help me come down the mountain of this volunteer year: “When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness; Faith is knowing one of two things will happen. There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”
It was fun year, now welcome to the good life I guess.
Last night, Death Cab for Cutie played at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park in Chicago. Although I wasn't allowed in because of my camera I was still able to listen to the entire show clearly, while I took pictures around the park. Here is the setlist from last nights show. I am pretty sure this is accurate and in order:
1. Bixby Canyon Bridge 2. The New Year 3. Photobooth 4. Crooked Teeth 5. Long Division 6. Grapevine Fires 7. A Movie Script Ending 8. Company Calls 9. Company Calls Epilogue 10. Soul Meets Body 11. I Will Follow You into the Dark 12. I Will Posses Your Heart 13. Cath... 14. No Sunlight 15. Sound of Settling 16. Marching Bands of Manhattan
Encore 17. You're Bruise 18. Title and Registration 19. 405 20. Your Heart is an Open Room 21. Transatlanticism
Overall I think it was an excellent concert despite the fact that I wasn't in the pavilion.I heard the concert with ease and took mad pictures. Let me know if any of these are wrong.
The following is a talk I gave at one of the St. Rita Novena masses about the Augustinian Volunteer program. Enjoy reading and please let encourage anyone you know to a year of service:
The Augustinian Volunteers have sites in Bronx, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Lawrence, MA, which is outside of Boston, and San Diego, CA. Two international sites in Peru and South Africa. Our headquarters is in Philadelphia, PA in the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova.
As Augustinian Volunteers we are no different than any other volunteer program with the service we perform. We serve others in various sites including schools as teachers, teacher's aids, campus ministers, coaches, mentors, after school programs, in youth ministry, social services (such as serving in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, delivering food, teaching English as a Second Language, working in immigration centers) and various other locations.
If you were to ask us for the reasons why we decided to volunteer, we would say reasons like giving back, or to serve others, or to learn more about ourselves, or that we had this desire to serve for a year. All reasons which reveal the truth about being Christian. As Pope Benedict says, "Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction." It is in the interactions we have this year that we become able to better understand and to know ourselves. Whether its helping a 13 year old mother pay for school, teaching a student how to solve a problem, being with a student who just lost a parent, or teaching the fundamentals of a sport, we come to recognize who we are as Christians.
What makes the Augustinian Volunteer program so unique is its spirit in the Augustinian tradition. A tradition built upon the practice of living in community. Together, the six of us live in a house in the south side of Chicago. There we share in each other's faith, hope, affections, ideals, feelings, thoughts, activities, responsibilities, failures, and praises. Together we live with the foundation of one mind and one heart intent upon God in all that we do. Furthermore, our community is supported by the Augustinian Community here at the St. Rita monastery. Together with the Augustinian community, the volunteer community, and the respective work sites, it is hoped that as the volunteer helps the lives of others that their lives may be enriched as well.
We all can truly agree that although there has been many challenges and obstacles that have come into our lives this year, it has been the experiences with each other and sharing in the lives of each other that has allowed us to conquer individual and communal challenges.
The Augustinian Volunteers accept men and women between the ages of 21 and 29 years of age with a college degree or equivalent work experience. Volunteers should be committed to a Christian lifestyle, have the ability to live with others in a community-like settings and possess a desire to serve others. A desire which reflects St. Augustine's own restlessness to know God.
If you or someone you know has a desire to serve others in a powerful and rewarding way, please encourage them to learn more about the possibility of volunteering for a year with the Augustinian Volunteers. Some people say that volunteering is taking a year off from your life and the real world. Well there is nothing more real about the experiences we have had this year and to come to know who we really are. So please encourage young people you know to look into the Augustinian Volunteers. In tonight's bulletin there is a website address for more information and how to apply. Myself and the other volunteers will be available after mass tonight if you would like to talk to any of us about our experiences. Thank you, and may God continue to bless the Augustinians, both religious and lay people in the work they do.
Many times on youtube I find concert videos or acoustic shows that I want to keep for later. Using the Firefox plugin VideoDownloader, I can download these videos as flv files but these flv's are not as portable as mp3. So I searched for a way to convert flv to mp3 and found help on the Ubuntu forums.
After looking at the script and looking at my flv files, I noticed that it would be very inefficient to do each file individually. Therefore, I modified the script to convert a whole folder of flv's. I will show the whole script itself and how to run it, but first lets install some programs that we need in order to convert the flv's.
sudo apt-get install ecasound mpg123 lame ffmpeg
The script itself is the following:
#!/bin/bash # FLV to MP3 #flv2mp3.sh
FLV_FILE=/home/ditto/Videos/ cd $FLV_FILE
for vid in *.flv do ffmpeg -i $vid -f mp3 -vn -acodec copy /tmp/temp.mp3 ecasound -i /tmp/temp.mp3 -etf:8 -o ${vid/.flv}.mp3 rm -f /tmp/temp.mp3 done
exit 0
I save my scripts in a ~/scripts and don't forget to make the script executable.
chmod u+x flv2mp3.sh
Run as follows:
user@home:/scripts~$ ./flv2mp3
Let's take a closer look at the code.
FLV_FILE=/home/ditto/Videos/ cd $FLV_FILE
FLV_FILE is the location of the flv video files that we want to be converted. In the next line, the directory is changed to the location of the videos.
Next, we will look through the files in that directory, only using the .flv files. Notice:
for vid in *.flv
Next we will convert the video to mono audio and create a temporary mp3 called temp.mp3
Since the audio by default is mono, we will then convert it to stereo, output it into the current directory, and save it as an mp3, while keeping the basename. The file is renamed by ${vid/.flv}.mp3
After installing 8.04, I never had a chance to test wireless until now. I was always plugged the ethernet in under my desk. I notice one time at home that Fn-F2 was not enabling my wireless radio. I checked hardware drivers in System->Administration->Hardware Drivers. My Broadcom B43 wireless driver was in use but no enabled. When I clicked enable, it would install drivers and prompt for a restart. After a restart, it was again unchecked as enabled.
I looked on the ubuntu forums and google to see if anyone else was having problems. I found this tutorial but the last step was causing me trouble so I decided to modify it for you.
First, you can find out what Wireless Card you have by typing
lspci
Mine is:
Broadcom Corporation BCM4309 802.11a/b/g (rev 03)
I like to keep everything I download to install in a properly named "Installs" folder
So lets begin. This will allow us to build the driver
sudo apt-get install build-essential
Now make the Installs directory and download b43-fwcutter which will allow us to extract firmware for Broadcom driver
sudo mkdir ~/Installs cd Installs wget http://bu3sch.de/b43/fwcutter/b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2
Now we are going to extract and compile
tar xjf b43-fwcutter-011.tar.bz2 cd b43-fwcutter-011 make export FIRMWARE_INSTALL_DIR="/lib/firmware"
Now we are ready for the firmware and to properly install it.
wget http://downloads.openwrt.org/sources/broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 tar xjf broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0.tar.bz2 sudo b43-fwcutter -w /lib/firmware broadcom-wl-4.80.53.0/kmod/wl_apsta.o
After that, restart the computer and your radio should be working. Make sure, that in the BIOS, the wireless device is set to on/fn-f2. You can load BIOS by tapping F2 while the computer is turning on.
On April 24, Ubuntu 8.04 codename Hardy Heron was released. The 8 refers to the 2008 and 04 because its the fourth month of the calendar year.The installation was flawless and the only techie thing I did was make a /home partition so that I could save my home directory for future updates. I also wrote over my Windows partition, so there is no way I can use windows apps except through wine.
The installation continued with a couple of questions about username and password, timezone, and a few others. After I rebooted, I was immediately prompted with the option to enable restricted drivers for my ati video card and broadcom wireless. Then wireless and desktop effects worked like a charm. Of course you need to install advance settings.
New with Hardy is a simple configuration gui which can be installed with:
sudo apt-get install simple-ccsm
Installed with Hardy is Firefox 3 beta 5 and also the default bittorrent client Transmission. Also, playing music has been a breeze except for of course protected m4p files. Restricted codecs can be installed by Aplications->Add/Remove then look under all available apps and type in 'restricted'.
So far, I have been using many of the default applications for my needs. Pidgin instead of Kopete, Transmisison instead of qbittorrent, Rhythmbox instead of Exaile. I haven't decide which email client to use, Thunderbird or the default Evolution. For now, I just keep gmail.com open on a tab in Firefox.
F-Spot is a program I wish I used before to organize my photos. It has a great import tool that will tag your pictures. Also, you can export directly to sites like Flickr and Facebook.
Linux is so much easier for me to use and its exciting to support open-source. Linux is no longer an alternative to Windows. It is my OS!
Update: I forgot to mention the awesome feature of Wubi which installs Ubuntu as a program on Windows. Perfect for anyone who is unsure about trying Ubuntu and does not want to mess with partitions or losing data. Pass it on!
Today I came across a script written in Python to download all of your Twitter updates. This has a lot of possibilities for me since it will be in xml format, which will allow for many transformations. Perhaps create a nice time-line, as the author references, or create tags for myself to see how often I do something. I am very excited to see where this will lead.
I expect to customize the script for my liking and compatibility. Stay tuned for updates.
So today marks the three year mark as a member of Last.fm, formerly audioscrobbler.com. I know there was a long period of time when I didn't have the plug-in hooked up, so my tracks played number is definitely a little lower than normal. Anyway, here are the top ten artists for the past three years, averaging about 11 tracks per day.
1. Coldplay* 2. Death Cab for Cutie 3. Pearl Jam 4. Led Zeppelin 5. Radiohead 6. Incubus 7. Red Hot Chili Peppers 8. Foo Fighters 9. Counting Crows 10. Collective Soul
* - Coldplay was left playing over the weekend in my office.
I love how twitter can update my facebook status but it would be even better for it to update my away message for gchat and aim while on kopete. The most important finding for me was the dcop command for kde programs. The usage of the command is as follows:
Once I figured that out, I surfed around the Twitter API for my favorite scripting language wrapper, python. So after install python-twitter, I created a script that will check my Twitter status every minute and update by away message for kopete.
#!/usr/local/bin/python import twitter, os, time
while True: api = twitter.Api() user = "" statuses = api.GetUserTimeline(user) stat = [s.text for s in statuses] stat = str(stat[0]) os.system("dcop kopete KopeteIface ... ... setAway \"" + stat + "\" false") time.sleep(60)
So just have this script load at start up and your away message will change even when you aren't there. I know this isn't the best way to code it, but it works :P
This is accomplished by combining a python script with the conky variable scroll. The python script will get the data, parse it and put it into a acceptable format for conky to handle the display. I've talked about conky earlier and using displaying the last instant message.
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