Technoblogical

PDFTK Builder

2011-07-12T09:49:00.000+10:00

Angus Johnson has a graphical front-end to PDFTK released as GPL, located at http://www.angusj.com/pdftkb/#pdftkbuilder. I have migrated the sources from Delphi 7 to Lazarus/Freepascal, and exposed further PDFTK functionality, including multibackground, multistamp, attachments, and shuffle. Source and Binaries: http://weblog.henrytheadequate.com/pdftkbuilder.php PDFTK: http://www.pdflabs.com/

Backppc and the USB Drive

2010-03-28T16:18:00.000+10:00

BackupPC is, well, "BackupPC is a high-performance, enterprise-grade system for backing up Linux, WinXX and MacOSX PCs and laptops to a server's disk." (BackupPC Website) I have been using BackupPC at work for some time, but this is not about that. Neither is this about the advantages of BackupPC, of which there are several. No, this is just a basic setup for backing up to a USB device. This

Five Minutes of Ubuntu 9.04

2009-04-26T10:35:00.007+10:00

Hardware: Acer Aspire 5315CPU: Celeron 550 2.0GHZRAM: 1GBHDD: 80G SATAVideo: Intel GMA X3100 (GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller rev 03)Wireless: Atheros AR242x PCI Express (rev 01)LAN: Broadcom NetLink BCM5906MAudio: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)Ubuntu 9.04LiveCD: LiveCD booted to a desktop with all devices detected ok. Wireless lan was detected, Entered the

Five Minutes of Kubuntu 9.04

2009-04-25T16:02:00.004+10:00

Hardware: Acer Aspire 5315CPU: Celeron 550 2.0GHZRAM: 1GBHDD: 80G SATAVideo: Intel GMA X3100 (GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller rev 03)Wireless: Atheros AR242x PCI Express (rev 01)LAN: Broadcom NetLink BCM5906MAudio: Intel 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)Kubuntu 9.04LiveCD: LiveCD booted to a desktop with all devices detected ok. Wireless lan was detected, found my

QOTY

2009-04-19T10:32:00.002+10:00

It wasn't until ten years ago that they replaced trial by ordeal here with trial by lawyer, and that was only because they found that lawyers were nastier. - Terry Pratchett, "The Fifty Elephant"

5 Minutes of World of Goo

2009-03-08T08:50:00.002+10:00

Limux versionIssues found in first five minutesNoneFive Minute GoodnessGooey goodness. Looks, plays, sounds just great. If I liked this kind of game I would be right into it.Score7/10 I just think it deserves a seven.Windows VersionIssues found in first five minutesOnly runs as administrator.Five Minute GoodnessGooey goodness. Looks, plays, sounds just great. If I liked this kind of game, and

5 Minutes of Elive 1.9.23

2009-03-05T05:13:00.002+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97Elive 1.9.23 (Unstable)Installation: This is another livecd install. The CD boots quickly enough. The install is pretty damn slow, but dead easy.I use the unstable version because stable requires a

5 Minutes of SimplyMepis 8.0.00

2009-03-04T05:44:00.000+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97SimplyMepis 8.0.00Installation: When I installed Fedora from the Live CD and found it to be incredibly slow, I blamed myself. This hardware, I said, is just not up to running a modern livecd.Then I booted

5 Minutes of Knoppix 6.0.1

2009-03-03T05:40:00.000+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97Knoppix 6.0.1Installation: Outrageously good. The livecd boots faster than most hdd installs. System booted, installed to hdd, and rebooted to hard drive install in less time than the Fedora livecd

5 Minutes of Slackware 12.2

2009-03-02T06:14:00.000+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97Slackware 12.2Installation: Text mode installer. I accept all defaults, even re-using the disk layout from previous distro (Fedora 10 - article). This proves to be a mistake because, although the

5 Minutes of Fedora 10

2009-03-01T08:53:00.004+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97Fedora 10 - Live CD InstallInstallation: Mind-bogglingly slow. Yes, some of you are probably thinking I'd have to be insane to run the livecd from a laptop cdrom in only 256MB of Ram. But it's what I had

5 Minutes of OpenSuse

2009-02-28T09:00:00.003+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB, Ralink chipsetLAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97OpenSuse 10.3 Not the latest, but it's what I had available. What's the point then, you may ask. Shut up, I may respond.Installation: Comprehensive. Discovered all Hardware. I had problems with "Addon CD"

5 Minute Comparison - Ubuntu 8.10 and Debian Lenny

2009-02-27T07:36:00.007+10:00

Hardware: Dell Latitude C610CPU: Mobile P3 - M 1133MHzRAM: 256MBHDD: 20GVideo: ATI Radeon Mobility M6Wireless: TP-Link TL-WN321G USB Ralink chipset (Only had this during the Ubuntu install)LAN: 3Com 3c905cAudio: Intel 82801CA/CAM AC97Debian 5.0 (Lenny)Installation:Accepted all defaults. Installed flawlessly. Detected all hardware. KDE installed after with apt-get.Issues found in first five

Crapware

2009-02-17T16:17:00.003+10:00

When did the Adobe Acrobat Reader become an enormously bloated piece of crapware? I think it must have been sometime around about when they dropped "Acrobat" from the name..Scene - Adobe board room.PHB #1: So, let's make the Acrobat Reader an enormously bloated piece of crapware.PHB #2: Great idea. It'll need a new name though... Something really clever and creative...Yeah, that's probably what

Oneliner

2008-04-08T17:10:00.004+10:00

The boss asked me to monitor the internet for changes.Naturally, as a Linux user, I can do it with a single command:tail -f /var/log/internet | mail ceoOr should that be /dev/internet ?

Temporary

2007-09-26T21:42:00.000+10:00

But is this technology of which we are so proud real? I mean, I am not saying it is all illusion... Actually I am saying it is all illusion, but not in the way you probably imagine.No, television, heavy industry, computers, aircraft, are all made of the same matter and energy as the rest of the universe. (Well, most of it. I'm not. I'm made of thoughts and desires. The rest of you are matter

Do Not Cover

2007-09-23T16:11:00.000+10:00

The Laptop hard drives I've seen all have a tiny hole in the housing, with a sign saying "Do Not Cover".I covered. Nothing happened. Imagine my disappointment.

Dell and the Penguins

2007-05-03T22:01:00.000+10:00

So, Dell will be offering Linux pre-installed on some of their PCs. Again.I've been waiting to comment on this. Have been reading a lot of interesting posts. There's quite a bit of positive, even triumphant stuff being written. And certainly the developers, packagers, and distributors deserve all of the success it is believed this move will bring them.The optimist in me cheers. The optimist

Ten Things You Didn't Know About Open Sauce

2007-04-23T22:06:00.000+10:00

One of the world's leading advocates of the open sauce bottle movement, Brian Bahlendorf gave a talk at the Digital Freedom Expo at the University of the Western Cape on Thursday, entitled "Ten things you may not know about open sauce".Unfortunately he was extensively misquoted by James Archibald in this article.Here, then is the real gist of the thing.Open Sauce predates Closed Sauce: Well,

KDE4 gets HOTTER Hot Nude Stuff

2007-04-01T07:27:00.000+10:00

Since KDE 3.3 was released in 2004, KDE applications have used the KnuDELibs library KNewPorn to implement a simple interface for downloading and installing nudie pictures from a centralized server. Its successor, KNudeStuff 2 (KNS 2), is gearing up to give KDE 4 users new options for uninstalling content, content synchronization, the ability to rate content directly from the application

Delphi for PHP

2007-03-28T22:50:00.000+10:00

Delphi for PHPYes, folks, Delphi for PHP. What will those boffins at Borland (sorry, Codegear) think of next? I am really hanging out for "Delphi for QBasic". "Delphi for Command.com". But don't get me wrong - I am a Borland fan from way back, being quite intimately familiar with Delphi versions from two to five, and CBuilder versions from five all the way up to five. I say "intimately", but

Ant Farms

2007-03-13T22:42:00.000+10:00

I repaired a friend's computer recently. Not my friend, but you know, somebody's. Ok, she is my wife's friend, if you really must insist on getting every little detail, but frankly I think just saying "Not my friend, but you know, somebody's" sounded much cooler and now you've gone and ruined the whole thing and maybe I should just forget it and run away to some place quiet and calm far far far

Ctrl-D to Quit

2007-02-25T13:54:00.000+10:00

As a programmer most of my time is currently spent working in C and DCL (on VMS), bash scripts, and PHP/Javascript/HTML, with a little CBuilder and Delphi thrown in.Occasionally I use Python, but not for software development. I use Python as a calculator.Here's a typical session:# pythonPython 2.4.4 (#2, Jan 13 2007, 17:50:26)[GCC 4.1.2 20061115 (prerelease) (Debian 4.1.1-21)] on linux2Type "

Warning to Windows Users

2007-02-12T10:40:00.000+10:00

If you use Microsoft Windows on a public network your computer may already be under the control of somebody else - and for once I'm not talking about Microsoft here. I am referring to nefarious malware authors, spammers, script kiddies, etc. If you download and install software from the internet your computer most likely is so compromised.The odds are much higher than you probably imagine.And,

Millions of Penguins

2007-02-03T10:13:00.000+10:00

The Debian project has thousands of contributors - package maintainers, documentation writers, programmers, and possibly even an infinite number of monkeys. Who can say for sure. I mean, I could, if those damn monkeys would stand still for a moment and let me count them.Likewise, the Linux kernel has thousands of contributors. Ditto Firefox. Software projects have proven themselves extremely

University Guy Steals Microsoft's Invention, In Advance

2007-01-28T14:59:00.000+10:00

Oh, the shame. The Ignominy. The several other words I just picked at random from the dictionary.On one side we have Microsoft, poor, innocent, predatory monopoly Microsoft inventing a brilliant new way of doing programming stuff. Poor poor Microsoft scrapes together just enough cash to file a patent application in the hope of someday profiting from its genius engineers.On the other side, an

10 Reasons not to get the 10 reasons not to get Vista article

2007-01-22T13:31:00.000+10:00

"Cogs Can Think" has published a rebuttal to APCMag's "Ten reasons not to get Vista", but it seems as though the author has never truly looked up "rebuttal" in the dictionary. Of course, neither have I, but there you go.As pointed out almost unanimously in the comments the Cogs rebuttal failed to rebut. Therefore it falls to I, as Windows advocate #1, and in the hope of getting one of those

Super Grub Disk

2007-01-04T23:04:00.000+10:00

KDE has this thing where you can select which operating system you wish to reboot into. When logging out there is a drop-down labeled "Restart Computer". Click and hold this and you'll see a list of options for rebooting, depending on your Grub/Lilo configuration. This option itself is configured via the KDE Control Center (System Administration/Login Manager).The other day I thought it

Free Laptops from Microsoft

2006-12-29T12:08:00.000+10:00

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061227/microsoft-free-ferrari/ reveals that certain bloggers are receiving free high-end laptop computers from Microsoft.So where's my free laptop, Mr Gates? Here on my extremely popular Microsoft shill site I am saying nice things about MS all the time, as I'm sure both of my readers would gladly attest.For example: http://benhay.blogspot.com/2006/11/

Weekly Debian Nubiles #6

2006-12-19T11:06:00.000+10:00

Did you ever get the feeling that maybe all of the adults have left the Debian project for greener pastures (ie Ubuntu)? When you read about developers deliberately sabotaging the release of Etch (http://blogs.turmzimmer.net/2006/12/18#20061211 - see also here) do you just think "Oh well, another candidate for the famous Linux Hissy-Fit Award" or do you possibly begin to wonder if this points

Weekly Debian Nudes #5 - because it doesn't need to be weekly to be called weekly

2006-12-09T23:23:00.000+10:00

Let me tell you a story. It is not about a man named Jed. Well, it could be - what with all those thousands of Debian developers out there, one of them might be called Jed. You never know.But for now, let's just assume that this story is not about a man named Jed. Instead, let us pretend it is about a bunch of guys who think it might be kinda neat to put together some software from various

Yay Sun!

2006-12-07T22:15:00.000+10:00

Listen.If I had a dollar for every time Sun announced that they were going to release Java under an open source license, I would be able to buy a really nice lunch instead of this nasty sandwich.And every time they so announce there is this huge "Yaaaay for Sun!!!" cry from all and sundry. The thing is, saying it is not doing it. Doing is an entirely different thing to saying. You get that,

It's Alive!!

2006-11-29T06:34:00.000+10:00

Make-live is a brilliant new method of making stuff live without all that messing around in hyperspace. (<-- non-sequitur HHGTG reference. Sorry) Or, to put it another way, make-live is a brilliant new method for creating a zombie army of flesh-eating slaves.Or, to put it a slightly less wildly inaccurate way, make-live is a brilliant Debian application for creating an up-to-date Debian live

Installing Nvidia Drivers in Etch

2006-11-20T07:54:00.000+10:00

For some time now the Nvidia drivers have been missing from the Debian Etch repositories.Naturally it is possible to use Nvidia's own installer, however I prefer to avoid bypassing the package management system where possible, and you should too. Because I say so, and I am right.Here's how:apt-get install module-assistantNext you need an Unstable repository available. This is done by editing

The Thing About Beagle

2006-11-17T07:26:00.000+10:00

Beagle is a desktop search tool for Gnome. I thought I might give it a go, because sometimes I need to find things. Since I am using KDE I also installed Kerry, which is a KDE front end for Beagle. All of this can be accomplished in Debian as follows:apt-get install kerryPhew, that was tricky. I can see why those windows guys find Linux sooo difficult. It is waaaaay easier to go to some

Vista Crippleware

2006-11-16T21:53:00.000+10:00

Vista DRMPeople are going to want to buy this crap? Does nobody else have a problem with paying for deliberately crippled software?

Microsoft Firefox

2006-11-15T08:45:00.000+10:00

http://www.msfirefox.com/Excellent new product from Microsoft. I wonder if they make a version for Linux.I particularly like this bit: " Tired of slow image rendering? Microsoft Firefox 2007 can deliver online pornography at blazing fiery speeds. By using a proprietary dynamic algorithm, anything that remotely resembles a tit or a boob will download up to 10 times faster!"

Weakly Debian Nudes #4

2006-11-10T14:45:00.000+10:00

Nothing happened this week. Sorry.But that never stopped me before, so let's begin with the strange rumour that Novell is having Microsoft's love child. This kind of thing is completely unwarranted, and the people spreading these fabrications - bloggers, analysts, so called "Novell Spokespersons" - really need to, well, knock it off. Novell have enough going on at the moment without having to

Weekly Debian Nudes #3 - or "How to flog a dead horse"

2006-11-03T12:26:00.000+10:00

And here, once again, flying in the face of common sense, of good taste, comes the legendary Weekly Debian Nudes, determination in every line of its features, like a superhero who has accidentally strayed onto the wrong blog.Yes, despite the fact that the genuine Debian Weekly News has been published this week, and despite that fact that the reader has no doubt woken up to the realization that I

Deb Help Me Now

2006-11-02T23:23:00.000+10:00

Our last best hope for docsThere is a vast array of documentation installed with your typical Linux distribution. There are the ancient and venereal - uh, venerable - manpages, which are kind of like the Vorlons of documentation (<-- obscure Babylon 5 reference). There are the more recent info pages, which are kind of like that fake Vorlon in that episode with the fake Vorlon in it.Finally,

Assume the Position

2006-10-31T09:55:00.000+10:00

http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2006/10/29/microsoft_vista_eula_analysis/This guy is out of his tree if he thinks users will rise up as one and reject Vista on the basis of this insanely restrictive EULA.Mark my words (I always wanted to say that), you are about to see millions of users bend over as one and intone the time-honored Litany to Microsoft - "Do it to me, Billy, one more time!

IRC Funny

2006-10-31T08:30:00.000+10:00

http://duncan.mac-vicar.com/blog/archives/140It's funny because it's funny. Or is that too technical for you?

Weekly Debian News #2

2006-10-27T08:39:00.000+10:00

And once more the glory of the Weekly Debian Nudes bursts onto your screens, like a particularly colorful pimp, resplendent in its purple sports coat and orange suede shoes.Firstly, from the mailing lists, comes the news that I still steadfastly refuse to read the mailing lists. Please insert rant about how newsgroups are soooo much better right about here. I would do it myself, but fear such

Raw Surfing - To Porn Or Not To Porn

2006-10-26T19:03:00.000+10:00

Surfraw. You know you want to.No, this is not about naked websurfing, although I suspect such an article might be a whole lot more popular. An idea for the future perhaps...But for now, let us consider Surfraw, a handy command-line program for finding stuff online. No, no, not porn. Well maybe a bit, but not nearly as much as the title of this post suggests. Sorry about that.In Debian (Etch

PHP Programming Tips #1 - Regular Expressions

2006-10-22T07:44:00.000+10:00

preg_match: ( int preg_match ( string pattern, string subject [, array &matches [, int flags [, int offset]]] ) )The test returned positive. You are indeed the father. Change your name and move to a different state immediately.preg_match_all: (int preg_match_all ( string pattern, string subject, array &matches [, int flags [, int offset]] ) )You have run out of states, and will be lynched by a

StoneMonkey and CrackVulture

2006-10-21T07:41:00.000+10:00

By now we're all pretty bored with the whole Debian renaming Firefox thing. Surely. I have resisted the urge to add my own worthless opinion. Until now.Personally I have no problem at all with what the Debian guys are doing. Except for one bit. There is one bit that bugs the hell out of me, and it is this. Here is the part where I divulge the thing that is bothering me:"Iceweasel"? What

Weekly Debian News #1

2006-10-20T08:18:00.000+10:00

Debian-News.net - Debian NewsAs a regular reader of the "Debian Weekly News" I must say that I am very sad to see it go.I laughed at the MLM (Mailing List Morons) and their zany antics, wept at the plight of all of those poor poor orphans, and rejoiced at the news of new packages arriving in the night (presumably delivered by the stork).So, it is with great pleasure that I hereby step up to the

Research Results

2006-10-12T12:35:00.000+10:00

about:predius » Blog Archive » Fucks per programing language and license.Clearly there is some very important research going on in the field of software development.I think C# results would be a lot higher, if C# programmers knew how to use a keyboard.

Funny Stuff

2006-10-07T16:57:00.000+10:00

» Microsoft gives adware pusher an MVP award | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.comNow That's what I call innovation. If this guy gets an MVP just for distributing adware, what's in store for the next guy who creates a mass-mailing worm that delete's all your word docs? CEO? Maybe an MBE?Onya Microsoft.

Linux Today Blog

2006-10-04T08:10:00.000+10:00

Linux Today Blog"...I am pleased to announce that we are offering more: a collection of blogs from a wide variety of community members that will offer insight and knowledge...""...For the past few months, I have been extending the invitation to join our blog to associates and friends in the community that I felt would have the best messages to share..."So, how come they didn't invite me? I am

Extension Hell

2006-09-25T12:23:00.000+10:00

I read somewhere that Openoffice.org will get extension support. Actually, that's not entirely accurate - I read everywhere that Openoffice.org will get extension support.My response, instant, and clever, and really really insightful, is **cringe**At their best extensions are a mixed blessing, fraught with all sorts of fraughtful things. Fraughtful is a word I made up, just for this

Testing VS Unstable

2006-09-05T16:43:00.000+10:00

I have been using Debian Testing on the desktop for a couple of years now, both at home, and at work. Naturally for servers I use Stable.Recently I upgraded my home desktop to Unstable.My impression on the difference between Testing and Unstable, based admittedly on a fairly short association with the latter, is that Unstable breaks more often, but Testing stays broke for a heck of a lot

Stupid Things People Say

2006-09-03T10:19:00.000+10:00

Why Ubuntu Got It All Wrong - Linux Forums: "For Ubuntu to upset major players in the desktop arena such as Microsoft and Apple they need to start behaving like a professional company and provide for the needs of their customers as opposed to what the company thinks they need."Yeah, cause that's what Microsoft does. DRM, Product Activation, etc, etc, are exactly what the customer needs.Morons.

Linux Kernel 2.6 Rocks, Apparently

2006-08-31T09:21:00.000+10:00

OSWeekly.com - Why Linux Kernel 2.6 RocksOSWeekly discovers the 2.6 kernel. Must be a Slackware user.

Signs

2006-08-20T12:10:00.000+10:00

Standing at the counter of a local electrical retailer I noticed some mp3 players hanging on a rack. The fine print said "Compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux".Later I bought a new monitor at the computer store. The fold out install guide included a paragraph on setting up X on Linux to work with the monitor.Checked the documentation for the monitor I bought last year - no mention. Ditto for

Ebay absurdities

2006-07-24T00:16:00.000+10:00

eBay.au: Acer Laptop (item 280010649916 end time 30-Jul-06 10:04:52 AEST):Oh, and while I'm on a "mock ebay" thing, I just love this bit: "The computer has only ever been used for word processing". That's got to make it worth waaaaay more than if it had been used for spreadsheets, or web browsing or, shudder, downloading mp3s.Also, it was owned by a little old lady who only drove it to church

I'd Buy That For A Dollar

2006-07-23T15:38:00.000+10:00

eBay.au: Microsoft Windows XP Professional OS (item 120009958959 end time 24-Jul-06 18:15:36 AEST)Here is a copy of Microsoft Windows XP Professional for sale on ebay without the COA. In other words, what is being sold is the physical media, and not a license to use the the operating system.Value of blank CD: $1Current bid, with 24 hours to go: $26 + $4 postage.Morons Actually, cancel that - an

Suse Linux 10.1 - Adventures in Wireless

2006-07-10T00:03:00.000+10:00

So, Fedora Core 5 was on the new machine for a whole day. Sure, it has some good stuff, but is kinda broken, on account of not providing the kernel source, or at least headers for the installed kernel.So, I whipped out my lovely gold Suse Linux 10.1 CDs, all shiny and slim and beckoning me to wrap them in my.... Ahem...Anyway, I wipe the saliva off my shiny new Suse Linux 10.1 CDs, and before

Dealing With Comment Spam

2006-07-08T09:01:00.000+10:00

"Anybody know how we get an RSS feed for this blog? I am not very tech savvy and would really like to get updated info on this blog. Thanks!"At first glance this appears to be a reasonable request, however it is one of the more subtle forms of comment spam. Why? Because the guy calls himself "Hair Removal Products", and includes a link to some nasty site selling hair removal products as his

Tech News 20060706

2006-07-06T19:03:00.000+10:00

I bought a new cordless phone, and it came with a free memory stick. Also I had to buy some new headphones for my mp3 player because the old ones shat themselves. Shat is a technical term, derived from Shatner, as in that guy off Star Trek.In other news Microsoft have announced an all new product called "Windows". Apparently it is a kind of a dumbed-down MSDOS for people who can't type.***

I Am So Great

2006-06-29T10:12:00.000+10:00

I am really great at computer stuff. I amaze myself. Like, for instance, the other day I found the Escape key! I keep pressing it, but the door to my cell won't open.

Who was that masked man?

2006-06-27T00:08:00.000+10:00

Installing Suse 10.1Most of the time I like to download via bittorrent, but I didn't this time.I always check the MD5SUMS of ISOs before burning CDs, but I didn't this time.If the installer has a function to validate the CDs I always use it, except for this time.So, it should come as no surprise that CDs two and five were cut from corrupted ISOs, causing the install to bomb.So, now I have to

Drinks Too Much

2006-06-26T22:18:00.000+10:00

Holy Cow Batman! My new tenant must have been quite a bit more than slightly drunk to have bid on this here pile of fetid dingos kidneys. ( <-- shamelessly stolen from Douglas Adams, because I am too lazy to make up my own stuff)Perhaps you should click on over and explain the horrible horrible mistake he has made.

Tech News - 20060625

2006-06-25T10:51:00.000+10:00

I think I shall buy some more RAM. Also, a second monitor, and possibly some chocolate.In other news scientists have discovered that the warp coils do not, in fact, need realigning every second fucking episode. Also, Microsoft have apparently admitted that winfs will never fly, but that's not exactly news to anyone, so it probably doesn't belong here.

Fedora Core 5 - Adventures in Wireless

2006-06-21T00:01:00.000+10:00

Well, I received my new system today - P4, SATA, 1GB, 160GB, etc etc - and thought I'd try out a few distributions before copying my Debian install over from the old drive.So, in goes the first Fedora Core 5 cd. I installed it.Sorry, expecting more detail? Try here.Following the install I booted into a Gnome desktop at a glorious 800x600, on account of the NVidia card not being recognized.

Ode to Democracy

2006-06-20T21:35:00.000+10:00

Consortiuminfo.org - ODF, MS and MASS: Now you see the dots (and now you don't)Ho hum. Graft and corruption in America. Sandard operating procedure, as far as I can see. Is there a more openly corrupt political system?I suppose it's a good thing they're so open about it, because then at least people know where they stand - government by the rich, for the rich.

Blog Rental

2006-06-19T17:23:00.000+10:00

Here I am again, renting my blog to some unsuspecting victim tenant.This time it is Recommended, a blog I really admire. So, you've got to ask yourself why? Why bid on this most unattractive piece of real estate?Once again, here is the description I use to elicit tenants:"This blog gets one or two hits each day and is rarely updated. You would have to be some kind of moron to rent space on this

Reality

2006-06-19T17:18:00.000+10:00

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. - Philip K. DickActually, reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, drops an enormous anvil on your head. Or was that the coyote?

Bill Retires!

2006-06-19T06:35:00.000+10:00

So, Bill Gates is retiring. I was going to say something about rats deserting a sinking ship, but then I didn't.According to Google, Billy boy was born in 1955, which makes him... calculating... calculating... older than me. So there!Bill, or "William the bloody" as he is known to his friends (<-- gratuitous Buffy reference) is best known for his missionary work with the starving children in

Conversation

2006-06-10T07:36:00.000+10:00

"Daddy, what does G O O G L E spell?""Google.""Is that a real word?""No, it's not.""Is that what babies say? Google."

Dell: Sod off

2006-06-08T22:17:00.000+10:00

I work for a company that employs approximately three hundred people. We have a couple of Dell rack mount servers, as well as some DEC/Alpha servers, and other stuff. Stuff is a technical term. It means, "I am too lazy to be specific". We also have 50+ client machines, plus a small bucket load of vt420s and the like.Sometimes we buy Dell, sometimes HP, sometimes white box. Of all the people

No Title Required

2006-06-07T17:24:00.000+10:00

This Post is totally for Lorraine.

Automatix for Ubuntu

2006-06-04T10:40:00.000+10:00

If you're using Ubuntu Breezy (aka 5.10) or Dapper (6.06) there's a handy script you might want to take a look at. Automatix is this neat thingy that does stuff to your Ubuntu system to make it work better.See how good I am at describing it.Or you could just listen to Arnieboy: "This is a graphical interface for installation of a lot of apps on Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu BREEZY AND DAPPER (DOES NOT

Stupidities

2006-04-28T10:33:00.000+10:00

I use Konsole under KDE (KDE 3.5.2 on Debian, to be exact). It is sweet. It is neat. Those developers sure are clever chaps, especially that guy Pete.But then there's the bit that makes me laugh, and shake my head in wonder - actually, kind of a reverse-wonder - and say "WTF were you guys thinking".Hey, look, I can click "Settings/Save Sessions Profile". This is great because I generally

On Backups, Ubuntu, and Shoes

2006-04-25T16:52:00.000+10:00

Last Thursday night there was a power outage, following which my PC was unbootable. This is not necessarily a good thing.It turns out the motherboard is cactus, which is a technical term meaning FUBAR, which is a technical term meaning that the item in question has failed. This will require the replacement of motherboard, RAM, CPU, case, and possibly the video card. I am hopeful that it will

Why Porn is Good

2006-04-24T18:37:00.000+10:00

It is Blog rental time again. I would like to welcome Mike from The Crikey Files to my little corner of nowhere. Hey Mike, you do realize I have no readers, right?Mike is Australian, and some would say that's reason enough to have him featured here. However, there is more. For instance, he has "crikey" in the title of his blog. Also he says "crap" a lot, which is most admirable indeed.He

BloGTK

2006-04-23T14:07:00.000+10:00

The Wordpress post editor does not work terribly well for me. It is slow, particularly on backspace. Of course this does not matter in my case, since I never make mistakes.Unfortunately that is not the only problem. It is also in the habit of randomly replacing

with
, which screws up my paragraph spacing. Of course you don't see that it has done this until the post has been

Born Free Mort

2006-04-23T09:52:00.000+10:00

http://haacked.com/archive/2005/08/03/9210.aspxI am Mort, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore.Morts of the world unite! Throw off the oppressive influence of those arrogant elitist bastards who think they can look down on us just because they can handle pointer arithmetic. Assert your god-given right to crappy code. Revel in the halls of mediocrity.Stand proud and tall - or short, if

Being Root(ed)

2006-04-12T11:47:00.000+10:00

I've never been totally comfortable with calling the administrative user "root", not because of prior Windows experience, but because, well, in our slang "root" means "to have sex with".Thus, in Australia you may hear somebody described as a "wombat" because he "eats, roots and leaves". Our slang is so damn subtle.User: The book says I need to be root?Me: **snigger** Yeah, root.I am so damn

No Title Required

2006-04-10T08:06:00.000+10:00

apt-cache show bum**chuckle**I am so damn juvenile.

Microsoft's Open Source Olive Branch

2006-04-07T23:10:00.000+10:00

Microsoft's Open Source Olive BranchThere's blood on that there olive branch. I wonder how many companies Microsoft have beat to death with it. That's just the kind of guy I am.

On Changing to Wordpress

2006-04-07T14:33:00.000+10:00

Recently I moved Henry the Adequate from a blogger weblog here, to his own domain (http://henrytheadequate.com), hosted at nearlyfreespeech.net and using wordpress as the blogging engine. I think I just used up my hyperlink quota for the next week, but, well, tough - this is important.I am not going to tell you how to set up Wordpress because, seriously, it is dead easy and described quite well

Do Consumers Trust Microsoft

2006-04-04T17:23:00.000+10:00

Do Consumers Trust the Microsoft Brand? - Lifestyle News - DesigntechnicaApparently people don't trust Microsoft. Who would have thunk it.

The Operating System FAQ

2006-04-02T16:17:00.000+10:00

How can I protect my Windows computer from Viruses, spyware, adware, malware?Open the case. Remove the network card, floppy drive, modem, and cd/dvd drives. Fill all USB and Firewire ports with some kind of silicone based sealant.My computer has an integrated network device and/or modem, which cannot be removed. What now?Fill them with some kind of silicone based sealant.How can I protect my

Which is better - vi or Emacs?

2006-04-02T07:27:00.000+10:00

viThat's right folks. All your tech questions answered here, and at no extra charge.

Blog Rental Time Again

2006-04-01T23:20:00.000+10:00

It would please me if both readers could pop by my new tenant, Crazy Like a Fox. She is much more interesting than me, and gets waaay more hits.Don't even bother coming back. Nothing happening here. Move along folks.

Ghost for Linux

2006-03-30T10:43:00.000+10:00

Ghost for LinuxThis is a hard drive cloning/backup utility based on Linux. It comes as a bootable CD. You can clone directly to a new drive, or to an disk image. Images can be backed up to and restored from a server.Ghost for Linux is Free Software, licensed under The GNU General Public License, Version 2, which means you are all free to download, copy, share, modify, redistribute modified

Quote of the Day

2006-03-29T08:41:00.000+10:00

It should be noted that no ethically-trained software engineer would ever consent to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Basic professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad could be given as a parameter.- Nathaniel Borenstein

Can Microsoft Be Trusted

2006-03-27T00:04:00.000+10:00

Short Answer: No.Long Answer: Microsoft can be trusted to be Microsoft.You're welcome.

Is Linux Ready For The Desktop?

2006-03-26T12:51:00.000+10:00

Yes.

The Strange and Mysterious Blog Rental Experience

2006-03-25T08:14:00.000+10:00

Presumably people are just not reading the bit where it says "This blog gets one or two hits each day and is rarely updated. You would have to be some kind of moron to rent this blog."Yes, your favourite non-tech blog is once again up for rent, and I have four bids. Of these my favourite is nitevilla.net. But, given the above truths, should I be renting to my most liked, or most disliked blog?

ajaxWrite Word Processor

2006-03-24T19:06:00.000+10:00

www.ajaxwrite.com"The look, feel, and functionality of Microsoft Word, in a completely web-based AJAX platform."Does it really have the look and feel and functionality of a real word processor? Yes, sort of. For example, it has a splash screen, just like a real non-web word processor. Of course this is a bad thing. A very very bad thing. Splash screens are evil.Once you get started it certainly

A Bit of a Blow

2006-03-18T23:18:00.000+10:00

No, this is not about porn. Pity really.There is a cyclone headed for the North Queensland coast - around about this spot right here, actually. Cylones are severe tropical storms. They are loud, and destructive, and wet. Also, damned inconvenient at times.A tropical cyclone warning looks something like this:IDQP0005Australian Government Bureau of MeteorologyQueenslandTropical Cyclone Warning

Welcome to the Wilderness, Rob

2006-03-14T08:31:00.000+10:00

I have selected a tenant from the five bids. You will see a thumbnail just below my profile on the right.Strangely enough Rob in China is not a moron - or does not appear to be, so his decision to bid on this blog is mysterious indeed. Rob describes himself thus: "I report those weird, wacky, odd, and strange news stories that don't get much mainstream coverage and then I add my own special

Renting My Blog

2006-03-13T13:19:00.000+10:00

So, to continue...I set up Technoblogical for rent on Blogexplosion, using the following description:"This blog gets one or two hits each day and is rarely updated. You would have to be some kind of moron to rent this blog."That seems pretty clear, now doesn't it.So far I have four bids. Henry the Adequate has three bids, and has been available to rent approximately twice as long.I am not saying

Renting Blogs

2006-03-13T11:46:00.000+10:00

Battle of the Blogs offered whole minutes of fun. The next thing you can do with Blogexplosion is blog rental. Here you can rent space on your own blog out to another blogexplosion member. And here you can buy space on somebody else's blog.Payments are in Blogexplosion credits, with blogexplosion taking ten percent. Rental can be anything from ten to five hundred credits. The rental period is

Quote of the Day

2006-02-27T09:36:00.000+10:00

Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter.- Eric Raymond

Quote of the Day

2006-02-21T16:29:00.000+10:00

One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs.- Robert Firth

Some Interesting Statistics I Just Made Up

2006-02-20T20:06:00.000+10:00

There are approximately two billion weblogs in existence. Henry the Adequate is one of those. Henry receives approximately two thousand hits per day. Henry the Adequate wins approximately the same number of Battle of the Blogs battles as it loses. Therefore Henry is an average weblog. Therefore Henry receives an average number of hits per day. Therefore there are approximately two

Quote of the Day

2006-02-19T13:22:00.000+10:00

The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it's too late.- Seymour Cray