Yes! Exactly what I need: http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker
Description of the problem: http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/44184-taskbar-buttons-auto-order.html
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
How to Compile VLC under Fedora 14 64-bit
You want to watch a video clip. In Fedora 14 64-bit. This is how you do that.
sudo yum install lua-devel fribidi-devel
Obtain the source tarballs for:
When configuring a52dec, use the following configure command:
Before configuring libmad, edit the configure script, and around line 19100, there is a line that says:
Remove that line before configuring. Thanks http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/getting-make-***-%5Ball%5D-error-2-during-make-command-for-libmad-0-15-1b-743580
sudo yum install lua-devel fribidi-devel
Obtain the source tarballs for:
- vlc
- libmad
- ffmpeg, and
- a52dec
./configure --enable-postproc --enable-gpl \
--enable-shared --disable-static
When configuring a52dec, use the following configure command:
env CFLAGS="-fPIC" CPPFLAGS="-fPIC" ./configure \
--enable-shared=yes --enable-static=no
Before configuring libmad, edit the configure script, and around line 19100, there is a line that says:
optimize=$optimize -fforce-mem
Remove that line before configuring. Thanks http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-software-2/getting-make-***-%5Ball%5D-error-2-during-make-command-for-libmad-0-15-1b-743580
fixmbr on Windows XP
My Windows XP computer broke this week when I was installing Turbo Tax 2010. It got stuck upon booting after the screen said “Verifying DMI Pool Data…”. After googling around for answers, I tried to reset the CMOS, upgrade the motherboard BIOS, but nothing worked.
The last thing I tried (by default, because I stopped trying once the problem was solved) was fixing the Master Boot Record or MBR. The Windows XP Recovery Console can fix this for you, when can be loaded by booting to a Windows XP installation CD. There is a built-in utility called fixmbr which will fix your MBR for you. See http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_fixmbr.mspx for more information. Remember to enter “1″ when the Recovery Console asks you “When Windows installation would you like to log into”. You’ll also need to know the Administrator password.
The last thing I tried (by default, because I stopped trying once the problem was solved) was fixing the Master Boot Record or MBR. The Windows XP Recovery Console can fix this for you, when can be loaded by booting to a Windows XP installation CD. There is a built-in utility called fixmbr which will fix your MBR for you. See http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/bootcons_fixmbr.mspx for more information. Remember to enter “1″ when the Recovery Console asks you “When Windows installation would you like to log into”. You’ll also need to know the Administrator password.
Compiling Firefox on Fedora 12 64-bit (x86_64)
Mozilla doesn’t distribute 64-bit binaries for Firefox. If you want a newer version of Firefox (i.e. >3.5) on Fedora 12 64-bit, you’ll have to compile it yourself. Here’s how to do that:
- Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases and download the source tarball for the version you want.
- tar -jxvf firefox-3.x.y.source.tar.bz2
- cd mozilla-i.j.k
- ./configure –enable-application=browser –disable-necko-wifi –enable-official-branding
- make -j4
- sudo make install
- You have to enable the “browser” when configuring
- You have to disable the necko-wifi option when configuring, on Fedora 12
- You have to enable the “official branding” in order for your browser to be called “Firefox” instead of “Namoroka”
Initializing static vector or list in C++
Here’s a typical way of initializing a static vector or list in C++.
http://efreedom.com/Question/1-780805/Populate-Static-Member-Container-CPlusPlus
http://efreedom.com/Question/1-780805/Populate-Static-Member-Container-CPlusPlus
Exclude subdirectory when creating tar ball archive
When using GNU tar (commonly found in Linux distributions) getting tar to exclude a subdirectory can have some tricky pitfalls. Perform the tar command like this:
Note the following:
tar -zcvf mytarball.tar.gz --exclude "/home/user/directoryToTar/subdirAToExclude" --exclude "/home/user/directoryToTar/subdirBToExclude" /home/user/directoryToTarNote the following:
- The
--excludemust become before the file list of things to tar - The directory to exclude must be surrounded by double quotes
- The directory to exclude must be a full system path (i.e. not a relative path, such as ./subDirAToExclude)
- The files to include must also be a full system path (i.e. not a relative path, such as ./directoryToTar)
How to Get Ctrl-Alt-Backspace Working in Fedora
Check the checkbox at System > Preferences > Keyboard > Layout > Options > Key sequence to kill the X server. Thanks http://www.ghacks.net/2010/09/20/get-back-ctrl-alt-backspace-in-fedora-and-ubuntu
Traversing California
Being from the San Francisco Bay Area, and various members of my family at some times living in Southern California, my family and I have made countless trips up and down the state. The default route is on I-5, the Golden State Freeway. While the 5 has it’s certain style of fun for a mini road trip in my opinion, many people cringe at the idea of 4 hours on a boring, straight, flat, crowded freeway with nothing to look at but cars, trucks, and cows. The common alternate routes (101, 99, and maybe even the 1) are generally known, but below are also some known and lesser known routes to get from the Bay Area to LA, or vice-versa:
Interstate 5 – This is the default route most people will think of, and it is the shortest route and often the fastest way to get where you’re going. Most Californians will already know what this trip is like, but sometimes I actually find this route entertaining, even if the freeway is packed and you have to do what my friends call hopscotching, or passing the majority of the cars in the right lane, or if the right-lane passers are still too slow, sometimes passing those cars ironically in the left lane. It’s sometimes relaxing to just sit back, lock in the cruise control, and pass cars and trucks in a systematic manner. Maybe because it allows me to pretend I’m a professional truck driver.
U.S. Route 101 – Believe it or not, I took a course called “The American Highway” in college, and one of the classroom discussions was about which route to take between Southern California and Northern California. The two debated choices was the default I-5 and the more scenic 101. Many people defended the 101, but interestingly, many recent reviews almost unanimously disregard the 101 as an option. The 101 is a nice scenic drive, going through Santa Barbara and through the central coast region. It’s definitely a longer drive both in distance and time, and may have some crowdedness at some points. I guess people don’t think the extra hours justifies the change in scenery.
CA Route 99 – Californians are also familiar with the 99, which splits off from the 5 right after (or before) the Grapevine, and parallels the 5 through the central valley. This route enters and exists nonstop city after city starting with Bakersfield all the way through Manteca and beyond. If you’ve ever driven down the entire length of E. 14th Street (aka International within Oakland), driving the 99 through the Central Valley reminds me of the E. 14th drive. You’re on it for the full distance, while the locals only merge on and off for a short distance to get where they’re going. After all, why would anyone drive the entire length? Up until recently, I remember this route being annoying with signals, traffic, and slowness. However, when I took this highway recently, there’s no more signal lights, must of the highway is 3 lanes in each direction, and the highway can actually have substantially less traffic than the 5, despite the 5 being the Interstate designed to bypass the route serving the many central valley cities. Since the 5 is only two lanes in each direction through the central valley, annoying people that think they can cruise in the passing lane can definitely ruin a road trip on the 5. On the 99, these annoying people still exist, and there’s plenty of people passing on the right, but since there’s an additional third lane, that makes it easy to pass the passers in the slow lane. For this reason, making the drive on the 99 might be more efficient, even despite the extra 30 mile routing over the 5. In addition, the tighter curves on the 99 add to to the funness factor. :)
CA Route 1 – Ahh, the Pacific Coast Highway, the Cabrillo Highway, whatever you want to call it. What’s in a name, when you have hundreds of miles of twisty turns and ocean views that people dream of. Definitely do this drive at least once in your life, and budget a good full day for this drive.
U.S. Route 395 - Okay, now that we’ve gotten the mostly-known routes out of the way, let’s cover the more obscure ways to get home from Southern California. The 395 splits off of the 15, but the 14 also merges into the 395, and this route will take you on the Eastern side of the Sierras, through some of the most scenic areas in California. You’ll feel like you’re on the backside of California (well, you are, literally), and you’ll thank yourself that you made this drive, avoiding the cars, trucks, traffic, and cows in the Central Valley. You can only do this drive during the summer, unless you want to drive all the way to CA Route 88 via Kirkwood. During the summer months, cut over to the Bay Area either through Yosemite and CA Route 120 (you might have to pay a $20 Yosemite entrance fee), or drive a little further north to CA Route 108, and be prepared for some awesome windy (and privately secluded) mountain roads, and even some lingering snow even in summer months, near the peak, almost at 10,000 feet elevation.
CA Routes 33, 198, and 25 - So, you’ve done the 5, 101, 99, 1, and even the 395. What else is left? Well, if for some reason you can’t or don’t want to drive on a freeway (or if you’re just looking for a new fresh route), and want to traverse California, you can take the 33, 198, and 25. The 33 starts out in Ojai (near Santa Barbara) and immediately climbs up over the the mountain range separating Northern and Southern California through some very twisty turns, great views, remoteness, and solidarity. The 33 will then drop you off at the base of the mountains, into the Central Valley. You’ll parallel the 5 on the West Side Highway (if you’ve ever wondered what Westside Connection was rapping about, this is it). The 33 is actually a pretty nice secluded highway with almost no traffic, but just as straight and flat as the 5. Unfortunately, the speed limit is 55, although I’d doubt the CHP regularly patrol this road. On the way, you’ll pass through Blackwells Corner, the last place that James Dean was seen alive before dying in a head-on collision a little further down the road on U.S. Route 466 (the same road that my dad literally grew up on). The 33 will actually continue up through the Central Valley, partially being cosigned with the 5, and eventually leading you to Tracy. However, if you want to continue completely on a byway to the Bay Area, take a left on CA Route 198 through yet another very windy and scenic highway, and take a right on CA Route 25, leading yourself through another scenic highway winding somewhere between the 101 and the 5, through alternating straightaways and curves. When you arrive, you’ll know that you’ve taken a route traversing California that few others even knew existed.
Interstate 5 – This is the default route most people will think of, and it is the shortest route and often the fastest way to get where you’re going. Most Californians will already know what this trip is like, but sometimes I actually find this route entertaining, even if the freeway is packed and you have to do what my friends call hopscotching, or passing the majority of the cars in the right lane, or if the right-lane passers are still too slow, sometimes passing those cars ironically in the left lane. It’s sometimes relaxing to just sit back, lock in the cruise control, and pass cars and trucks in a systematic manner. Maybe because it allows me to pretend I’m a professional truck driver.
U.S. Route 101 – Believe it or not, I took a course called “The American Highway” in college, and one of the classroom discussions was about which route to take between Southern California and Northern California. The two debated choices was the default I-5 and the more scenic 101. Many people defended the 101, but interestingly, many recent reviews almost unanimously disregard the 101 as an option. The 101 is a nice scenic drive, going through Santa Barbara and through the central coast region. It’s definitely a longer drive both in distance and time, and may have some crowdedness at some points. I guess people don’t think the extra hours justifies the change in scenery.
CA Route 99 – Californians are also familiar with the 99, which splits off from the 5 right after (or before) the Grapevine, and parallels the 5 through the central valley. This route enters and exists nonstop city after city starting with Bakersfield all the way through Manteca and beyond. If you’ve ever driven down the entire length of E. 14th Street (aka International within Oakland), driving the 99 through the Central Valley reminds me of the E. 14th drive. You’re on it for the full distance, while the locals only merge on and off for a short distance to get where they’re going. After all, why would anyone drive the entire length? Up until recently, I remember this route being annoying with signals, traffic, and slowness. However, when I took this highway recently, there’s no more signal lights, must of the highway is 3 lanes in each direction, and the highway can actually have substantially less traffic than the 5, despite the 5 being the Interstate designed to bypass the route serving the many central valley cities. Since the 5 is only two lanes in each direction through the central valley, annoying people that think they can cruise in the passing lane can definitely ruin a road trip on the 5. On the 99, these annoying people still exist, and there’s plenty of people passing on the right, but since there’s an additional third lane, that makes it easy to pass the passers in the slow lane. For this reason, making the drive on the 99 might be more efficient, even despite the extra 30 mile routing over the 5. In addition, the tighter curves on the 99 add to to the funness factor. :)
CA Route 1 – Ahh, the Pacific Coast Highway, the Cabrillo Highway, whatever you want to call it. What’s in a name, when you have hundreds of miles of twisty turns and ocean views that people dream of. Definitely do this drive at least once in your life, and budget a good full day for this drive.
U.S. Route 395 - Okay, now that we’ve gotten the mostly-known routes out of the way, let’s cover the more obscure ways to get home from Southern California. The 395 splits off of the 15, but the 14 also merges into the 395, and this route will take you on the Eastern side of the Sierras, through some of the most scenic areas in California. You’ll feel like you’re on the backside of California (well, you are, literally), and you’ll thank yourself that you made this drive, avoiding the cars, trucks, traffic, and cows in the Central Valley. You can only do this drive during the summer, unless you want to drive all the way to CA Route 88 via Kirkwood. During the summer months, cut over to the Bay Area either through Yosemite and CA Route 120 (you might have to pay a $20 Yosemite entrance fee), or drive a little further north to CA Route 108, and be prepared for some awesome windy (and privately secluded) mountain roads, and even some lingering snow even in summer months, near the peak, almost at 10,000 feet elevation.
CA Routes 33, 198, and 25 - So, you’ve done the 5, 101, 99, 1, and even the 395. What else is left? Well, if for some reason you can’t or don’t want to drive on a freeway (or if you’re just looking for a new fresh route), and want to traverse California, you can take the 33, 198, and 25. The 33 starts out in Ojai (near Santa Barbara) and immediately climbs up over the the mountain range separating Northern and Southern California through some very twisty turns, great views, remoteness, and solidarity. The 33 will then drop you off at the base of the mountains, into the Central Valley. You’ll parallel the 5 on the West Side Highway (if you’ve ever wondered what Westside Connection was rapping about, this is it). The 33 is actually a pretty nice secluded highway with almost no traffic, but just as straight and flat as the 5. Unfortunately, the speed limit is 55, although I’d doubt the CHP regularly patrol this road. On the way, you’ll pass through Blackwells Corner, the last place that James Dean was seen alive before dying in a head-on collision a little further down the road on U.S. Route 466 (the same road that my dad literally grew up on). The 33 will actually continue up through the Central Valley, partially being cosigned with the 5, and eventually leading you to Tracy. However, if you want to continue completely on a byway to the Bay Area, take a left on CA Route 198 through yet another very windy and scenic highway, and take a right on CA Route 25, leading yourself through another scenic highway winding somewhere between the 101 and the 5, through alternating straightaways and curves. When you arrive, you’ll know that you’ve taken a route traversing California that few others even knew existed.
2010 San Francisco Giants – World Champions!
I haven’t blogged in a while, so what better time than now? I’ve always liked baseball growing up, but my team has always been the Oakland A’s. I’ve always liked the SF Giants also, as my favorite National League team, but during the late part of the 2010 regular season and the 2010 postseason, I’m somewhere in between a fan and a bandwagon fan. But still, following the SF Giants through the race with the Padres, then the series with Atlanta, Phillies, and the finally Texas was a whole bunch of fun. I was wondering what was was more exciting – the 2010 NBA postseason or the 2010 MLB postseason, and I will have to admit that the Lakers’ run was awesome. However the Lakers win all the time, and the SF Giants only have one World Series Championship to date, so I suppose the Giants’ championship may be more special.
I’m thinking back of the exciting moments in in the last month or two, and here is a record of them.
Closing out the regular season:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=300928126 – The last game I was at.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301003126 – The Giants clinch with a win by Sanchez. Jonathan really won it for himself, with a triple, and scoring the NL West clinching run, batted in by another Sanchez. After this, people joke that Jonathan Sanchez should pinch run.
I’m thinking back of the exciting moments in in the last month or two, and here is a record of them.
Closing out the regular season:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=300928126 – The last game I was at.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301003126 – The Giants clinch with a win by Sanchez. Jonathan really won it for himself, with a triple, and scoring the NL West clinching run, batted in by another Sanchez. After this, people joke that Jonathan Sanchez should pinch run.
NLDS: http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301007126 – Timmy’s 14 strikeout complete game, and Cody Ross’s game winning RBI. However, the umpire incorrectly called Buster safe on his steal of second, and this allowed the Giants to get the winning run instead of be stuck in a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301008126 – Although the Giants lost in the 11th, this was still an exciting game, with Matt Cain shutting down the Braves through 6 innings. Atlanta fights back and shows no fear against the beards Romo and Wilson, forcing extra innings. It looked like the Braves were almost out out relievers after Atlanta’s closer Wagner gets injured in the bottom of the 10th, but a solo shot in the top of the 11th saves the game for Atlanta.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301010115 – Giants lead from the 2nd through the 8th, but lose the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Wagner, Atlanta’s closer, was still injured from the previous day, so in the top of the 9th with the Giants losing by one and down to their last strike, Freddy hits a clutch single up the middle, to extend the game out. Freddy then scores the winning run, thanks to an error by Conrad
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301011115 – An incorrect umpire call in the top of the 7th allows the Giants to take the lead instead of merely tying it up. Cody Ross homer and series clinching RBI. Every game in this NLDS is decided by one run.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301008126 – Although the Giants lost in the 11th, this was still an exciting game, with Matt Cain shutting down the Braves through 6 innings. Atlanta fights back and shows no fear against the beards Romo and Wilson, forcing extra innings. It looked like the Braves were almost out out relievers after Atlanta’s closer Wagner gets injured in the bottom of the 10th, but a solo shot in the top of the 11th saves the game for Atlanta.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301010115 – Giants lead from the 2nd through the 8th, but lose the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Wagner, Atlanta’s closer, was still injured from the previous day, so in the top of the 9th with the Giants losing by one and down to their last strike, Freddy hits a clutch single up the middle, to extend the game out. Freddy then scores the winning run, thanks to an error by Conrad
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301011115 – An incorrect umpire call in the top of the 7th allows the Giants to take the lead instead of merely tying it up. Cody Ross homer and series clinching RBI. Every game in this NLDS is decided by one run.
NLCS:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301016122 – Philly and SF match each other inning for inning, except for the 5th with one of Cody Ross’s two homers
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301017122 – Although the Giants lost, Cody Ross got another HR
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301019126 – Cody Ross gets another game winning RBI
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301020126 – The most fun game in the entire run, in my opinion. Four lead changes. Tied in the 9th, starter Oswalt tries to be a hero by volunteering to relieve. Buster dominates him by going deep into the count, repeatedly fouling off pitches to right field, and finally dumping one fair in right to send Aubrey to 3rd with 1 out. After that, Uribe comes through with a walk-off sac fly, the most exciting sacrifice fly I’ve ever seen, ending the game and allowing the Giants to go up 3-1 in the series. Oswalt fails to win the close-out game he starts, two days later.
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301021126 – Halladay fights back in the rematch to stretch out the series to 3-2.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301023122 – Jonathan loses it and ruins his focus for the rest of his season. Uribe’s shot in the 8th breaks the stalemate and wins the game and clinches for the Giants.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301016122 – Philly and SF match each other inning for inning, except for the 5th with one of Cody Ross’s two homers
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301017122 – Although the Giants lost, Cody Ross got another HR
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301019126 – Cody Ross gets another game winning RBI
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301020126 – The most fun game in the entire run, in my opinion. Four lead changes. Tied in the 9th, starter Oswalt tries to be a hero by volunteering to relieve. Buster dominates him by going deep into the count, repeatedly fouling off pitches to right field, and finally dumping one fair in right to send Aubrey to 3rd with 1 out. After that, Uribe comes through with a walk-off sac fly, the most exciting sacrifice fly I’ve ever seen, ending the game and allowing the Giants to go up 3-1 in the series. Oswalt fails to win the close-out game he starts, two days later.
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301021126 – Halladay fights back in the rematch to stretch out the series to 3-2.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301023122 – Jonathan loses it and ruins his focus for the rest of his season. Uribe’s shot in the 8th breaks the stalemate and wins the game and clinches for the Giants.
2010 World Series: http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301027126 – Giants score 6 runs in the 5th and 3 runs in the 8th (with help from 2 errors from DH Guerrero) to ruin the hopes of a Game 1 pitchers’ duel between Lee and Lincecum. Three doubles in a row for Freddy.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301028126 – Matt Cain shuts down the Rangers. Renteria hits the game winning solo HR in the 5th to break the 0-0 tie. Seven runs in the 8th, after four walks in a row. Twenty runs in the first two games in the World Series, a record.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301030113 – The Giants were one pitch away from sweeping (3 run home run by Moreland in the 2nd)
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301031113 – Bumgarner shuts down Texas, throwing pitch after pitch of differing speeds and locations. Bumgarner surprises everyone with his performance, even his own manager. Game 7 probably would have been started by him, not Sanchez. Freddy demonstrates his defensive skills throughout the game.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301101113 – Aubrey Huff experiments in the World Series with his first career bunt, to advance Cody and Uribe. Renteria settles the Lee/Lincecum Pitchers’ duel by clinching the 2010 World Championship and the 2010 World Series MVP with a three run shot in the 7th. Cliff Lee makes two mental errors against the wishes of Ron Washington and Bengie Molina which costs his team the championship and costs himself probably millions of dollars in his next contract with NYY: he should have pitched Game 4 and he should have pitched around Renteria after getting behind 2-0 in the count. Instead, Renteria joins Berra, DiMaggio, and Gehrig in a very exclusive club of those who have two World Series clinching RBI’s.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301028126 – Matt Cain shuts down the Rangers. Renteria hits the game winning solo HR in the 5th to break the 0-0 tie. Seven runs in the 8th, after four walks in a row. Twenty runs in the first two games in the World Series, a record.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301030113 – The Giants were one pitch away from sweeping (3 run home run by Moreland in the 2nd)
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301031113 – Bumgarner shuts down Texas, throwing pitch after pitch of differing speeds and locations. Bumgarner surprises everyone with his performance, even his own manager. Game 7 probably would have been started by him, not Sanchez. Freddy demonstrates his defensive skills throughout the game.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=301101113 – Aubrey Huff experiments in the World Series with his first career bunt, to advance Cody and Uribe. Renteria settles the Lee/Lincecum Pitchers’ duel by clinching the 2010 World Championship and the 2010 World Series MVP with a three run shot in the 7th. Cliff Lee makes two mental errors against the wishes of Ron Washington and Bengie Molina which costs his team the championship and costs himself probably millions of dollars in his next contract with NYY: he should have pitched Game 4 and he should have pitched around Renteria after getting behind 2-0 in the count. Instead, Renteria joins Berra, DiMaggio, and Gehrig in a very exclusive club of those who have two World Series clinching RBI’s.
Without the umpire incorrectly calling Buster safe on that stolen base, without Wagner getting injured, without Freddy’s clutch single being down to the Giants’ last strike, without Atlanta’s Conrad making that fateful error in the 9th, without the incorrect umpire call at second in Game 4 of the NLDS, without the Phillies manager letting Oswalt come in for the 9th potentially adversely affecting two games, without Freddy’s defense skills in Game 4 of the WS, without Lee refusing to pitch Game 4, or without Lee not listening to Molina about pitching around Renteria, the Giants may not have gone all the way.
Congratulations to the 2010 San Francisco Giants! This Giants Postseason has been very fun, and it has brought my family together as we’ve been watching many of the games together each night.
Congratulations to the 2010 San Francisco Giants! This Giants Postseason has been very fun, and it has brought my family together as we’ve been watching many of the games together each night.
Fedora 12 and apache httpd .htaccess password protection
By default, the Fedora 12 (yum) version of httpd does not “AllowOverride”, which doesn’t allow for password protecting in .htaccess files. You can allow this by editing the /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf file and changing “AllowOverride None” to “AllowOverride All” in the <Directory “/var/www/html”> section. See http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/howto/htaccess.html#troubleshoot for more details.
CDT, EGit (git) and Eclipse 3.6 Helios Classic on Fedora 12 on a web proxy
I had a hard time installing CDT and EGit on Eclipse 3.6 Classic on Fedora 12, and I finally figured out how to do it. Here’s what finally worked:
- Download Eclipse classic 3.6.0 from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads
- setenv HTTP_PROXY http://your.proxy:80
- setenv http_proxy http://your.proxy:80
- Start eclipse.
- In Eclipse, go to Help | Install New Software…
- Click “Add…”.
- Add in the EGit update site; the update site URL is not http://www.eclipse.org/egit/download but you can get the update site URL there.
- Install EGit, and restart eclipse. Installing EGit will automatically add the CDT to the “Available Software Sites”.
- In Eclipse, again go to Help | Install New Software…
- Click on the “Available Software Sites” blue link.
- Scroll down the list until you see the CDT update site (http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/helios). Check that checkbox, and click “OK”.
- On the “Work with:” combo box, do NOT type in the cdt site. Instead, use the combo box (the arrow) to choose the CDT update site.
- Install CDT, and restart eclipse.
“Move” command on taskbar of Windows 7
In Windows XP, you can move a window by right-clicking the task on the taskbar. This is useful if you want to make a window reappear that has been moved off the screen. In Windows 7, there’s no longer the “Move” option when right-clicking. Now, to get that option under Windows 7, you can simply use shift-right-click to get the “Move” option. Weird.
Default font for emacs on Fedora 12
If you are having trouble setting the default font for emacs on Fedora 12, here’s a simple fix:
- Open emacs
- Options | Set Default Font…
- Choose the font and click “OK”
- Options | Save Options
Run shell command in background within PHP
In PHP, if you want to run a shell process and don’t want to wait around for it, use shell_exec, and make sure the output of the command is piped to /dev/null. If you don’t have the output piped to /dev/null, then the shell command won’t be ran in the background.
Example:
Note that this won’t work if you run this PHP script in a web browser. This will only work if you run the PHP script on the command line.
Example:
<?php
$command = "./runLongScript.sh";
echo "Running: $command\n";
shell_exec("$command > /dev/null &");
echo "After shell_exec\n";
?>Note that this won’t work if you run this PHP script in a web browser. This will only work if you run the PHP script on the command line.
View Fonts in Gnome
In Gnome, if you want to view what fonts are installed, run the program gnome-specimen.
Adobe Flash Player on Linux 64-bit
I’ve been trying to do this for years, and finally got it to work today. This is what you do:
1) Download the plugin here: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_64bit.html http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_square.html
2) Untar the plugin
3) Copy the plugin to ~/.mozilla/plugins
4) Restart firefox
Flash magically works! Yay, now I can watch YouTube videos!
1) Download the plugin here: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_64bit.html http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/flashplayer10_square.html
2) Untar the plugin
3) Copy the plugin to ~/.mozilla/plugins
4) Restart firefox
Flash magically works! Yay, now I can watch YouTube videos!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
X Forwarding on Fedora 12
If you're having trouble with X forwarding, if you do a "ps -ef | grep Xorg" and see a "-nolisten" flag, then you need to allow X forwarding. This is how you do that:
On former Fedora releases and RHEL, you can use gdmsetup to allow X forwarding. There is no more gdmsetup with Fedora 12, so follow the directions below to forward X (See Old School X Forwarding):
http://www.rootninja.com/get-x11-to-forward-in-gnome-on-fedora-12-or-13
In summary, in the /etc/gdm/custom.conf file, add in the following line, under the [security] section:
After this, I had to reboot my machine; killing X wasn’t enough. Then, do the following:
xhost +remoteMachine
ssh remoteMachine
tcsh
setenv DISPLAY yourlocalmachine:0.0
xlogo (to test things out)
Update on August 19,2014: I just tested this out on my Fedora 19 system, and this solution still works. So this probably works on Fedora 13, Fedora 14, Fedora 15, Fedora 16, Fedora 17, Fedora 18, Fedora 19, and probably on Fedora 20 too.
On former Fedora releases and RHEL, you can use gdmsetup to allow X forwarding. There is no more gdmsetup with Fedora 12, so follow the directions below to forward X (See Old School X Forwarding):
http://www.rootninja.com/get-x11-to-forward-in-gnome-on-fedora-12-or-13
In summary, in the /etc/gdm/custom.conf file, add in the following line, under the [security] section:
[security]
DisallowTCP=falseAfter this, I had to reboot my machine; killing X wasn’t enough. Then, do the following:
xhost +remoteMachine
ssh remoteMachine
tcsh
setenv DISPLAY yourlocalmachine:0.0
xlogo (to test things out)
Update on August 19,2014: I just tested this out on my Fedora 19 system, and this solution still works. So this probably works on Fedora 13, Fedora 14, Fedora 15, Fedora 16, Fedora 17, Fedora 18, Fedora 19, and probably on Fedora 20 too.
Encryption on Fedora 12
If you have an encrypted drive set up on Fedora 12, you might have problems booting. It sometimes doesn’t take your password, but other times it does. You can fix it by editing /etc/grub.conf and adding the following to the end of your kernel startup line:
rhgb vga=0×318
That will force a graphical boot, which will correctly accept the password. From https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F12_bugs#encrypted-password-for-text-boot
rhgb vga=0×318
That will force a graphical boot, which will correctly accept the password. From https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F12_bugs#encrypted-password-for-text-boot
Davicom Tulip NIC, ISOLinux 3.75, and Fedora 12 Install
If you have a Dell Dimension desktop from around the 2002-2003 era, you may have a network card with a Davicom Tulip chipset, possible the CNet Pro200WL PCI Fast (10/100 Mbps) Ethernet controller. On the back metal panel, it will say “CNet” on the back. When you try to boot to a Fedora 12 or Centos 5.x installer CD/DVD, you will get a message that says “Plug and Play Error”. The installer will then continue to a certain point, but will never completely install. Even with the complete Fedora 12 installer DVD, the installer will think that it will have to go out to the network to retrieve all of the installation packages.
This error is further described here: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=446469
My solution: replace the NIC with another NIC, and the Fedora 12 installation was able to successfully complete, with the complete Fedora 12 installer DVD. It might have also been possible to remove the Davicom NIC and not have a network card at all, and then still be able to install Fedora 12 off of the DVD. Here’s the irony: the Davicom network card was causing problems in the Fedora 12 installer which made the installer incorrectly think it had to use that very same card to download the installation packages. Maybe the NIC was just causing problems because it wanted attention.
This error is further described here: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=446469
My solution: replace the NIC with another NIC, and the Fedora 12 installation was able to successfully complete, with the complete Fedora 12 installer DVD. It might have also been possible to remove the Davicom NIC and not have a network card at all, and then still be able to install Fedora 12 off of the DVD. Here’s the irony: the Davicom network card was causing problems in the Fedora 12 installer which made the installer incorrectly think it had to use that very same card to download the installation packages. Maybe the NIC was just causing problems because it wanted attention.
Cisco vpnclient 4.8.01.x on Fedora 12
I had to get Cisco’s vpnclient working on Fedora 12 today, and there were a few tricks, so I thought I’d post what worked for me. I only had vpnclient version 4.8.01.0640 but the directions may work for 4.8.02.x as well.
Untar the vpnclient software, then perform the following instructions, found in this blog posting:
http://www.lamnk.com/blog/domain/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-hardy-heron-804
Then perform the following instructions, found in this blog posting:
http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-jaunty-jackalope-and-karmic-koala-64-bit
Note that you may get patch errors in the above steps, but the compile should still work despite the patch errors. After this, make sure you have the 32-bit version of glibc installed, which is available via yum. After that, you should be able to compile and run the vpnclient software.
Untar the vpnclient software, then perform the following instructions, found in this blog posting:
http://www.lamnk.com/blog/domain/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-hardy-heron-804
Then perform the following instructions, found in this blog posting:
http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-jaunty-jackalope-and-karmic-koala-64-bit
Note that you may get patch errors in the above steps, but the compile should still work despite the patch errors. After this, make sure you have the 32-bit version of glibc installed, which is available via yum. After that, you should be able to compile and run the vpnclient software.
Gas Price Map
On my road trip to Southern California this weekend, I was thinking it’d be great to have a map that shows you all of the cheapest places to buy gas, along the route you’re traveling. I’ve been using http://www.gasbuddy.com for many years now, but the default page only has textual information for gas prices and addresses. I thought about creating a mashup and placing these prices on a mapping display, and in researching this mini project, it turns out that this feature already exists! I didn’t realize that until today, so I thought I’d share the link. This would be handy on a road trip, or even finding cheap gas in a foreign local city, such as Fremont.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
http://www.gasbuddy.com/Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
Pi Day
Today is Pi day, because it’s 3/14 (also my house’s birthday). However, the Bible says that the value of Pi is something different: 3.
Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high. A line of thirty cubits would encircle it completely. (1 Kings 7:23)
Time-Proven Hardware Fix
My tech support accomplishment for the day: fixing my mom’s digital camera:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t589473-canon_sd1000_display_black_while_camera
In summary: smack it hard with palm of your hand. Works great now.
http://www.fixya.com/support/t589473-canon_sd1000_display_black_while_camera
In summary: smack it hard with palm of your hand. Works great now.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Cisco VPN 4.8.01 on Fedora 14 64-bit (x86_64) Linux
Thanks to http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-jaunty-jackalope-and-karmic-koala-64-bit/ and http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/with-kernel-2624-you-will-need-a-patch-to-install-cisco-vpn-client/ and http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/how-to-install-cisco-vpn-client-on-ubuntu-hardy-heron-804/ and http://www.lamnk.com/blog/vpn/with-kernel-2624-you-will-need-a-patch-to-install-cisco-vpn-client/
- Untar the vpnclient-linux-x86_64-4.8.01.*.tar.gz file
- cd vpnclient
- sudo ./vpn_install
- You will probably get failures. If you get failures:
- wget http://projects.tuxx-home.at/ciscovpn/patches/vpnclient-linux-2.6.24-final.diff
- patch < ./vpnclient-linux-2.6.24-final.diff
- wget http://lamnk.com/download/vpnclient-linux-4.8.02-64bit.patch
- patch < ./vpnclient-linux-4.8.02-64bit.patch
- sed -i 's/^CFLAGS/EXTRA_CFLAGS/' Makefile
- wget http://lamnk.com/download/vpnclient-linux-2.6.31-final.diff
- patch < ./vpnclient-linux-2.6.31-final.diff
- sudo sed -i 's/const\ struct\ net_device_ops\ \*netdev_ops;/struct\ net_device_ops\ \*netdev_ops;/' `find /usr/src -name netdevice.h`
- sudo ./vpn_install
- sudo /sbin/service vpnclient_init start
- sudo yum install glibc glibc-devel glibc.i686 glibc-devel.i686
- copy *.pcf files to /etc/opt/cisco-vpnclient/Profiles directory
- vpnclient connect site-name (site-name is the same as site-name.pcf)
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