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Weak and Powerless

Posts tagged with "Fun"

A song for the deaf

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A friend and I were discussing how productive is to post not much more than a few words and a song I like, either represented by a video or by the lyrics.

Well... we will see...

GNOME is getting on my nerves

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It all started when I downloaded a new Linux distribution to install in my PC. It was all perfect at the begining. At least it was quite a lot of stuff new to learn, but... to be honest, GNOME, a very popular desktop environment in linux, quite disappointed me.

To everyone else not using linux, a Desktop Environment is the most complicated concept you can fit in your brain when you hear that in linux there are a lot of ways of representing and manage the windows in a graphical way... In other OSes, namely MacOS and Windows, there is only one graphical way to talk to the user, the former a lot better than the latter one. Linux is somewhat in the middle (kind of). As a part of the you-are-free-to-do-with-your-pc-whatever-you-want philosophy, not found in neither the Mac or Win worlds, a lot of people decided that the existing options of graphical outputs in Linux were not acceptable to their needs, and so, the window managers and desktop environments appeared. Both form the perfect complement to the so-called window server and thus, offer the most flexible and customizable OS in the market.

One of those couples (window manager + desktop environment) is GNOME, the one I am throwing flames today. Hehe. Although it shares some of the ideas of the Macintosh User (Usabilitiy) Guidelines, it is not a clone of it, neither it has the power the mac UI has. Yes, as one of the guidelines says, Usability is essential, and yes, it is simple to use and understand. So simple, that is is impossible to do many things with it. Note that I left out the word "advanced". Ordering the windows can become a problem if you don't install some extra software. Yes. I know that customizing the window behaviour is not a DM's work, but the doctor told me not to use the mouse that much! I need keyboard shorcuts to move the windows around, to open applications, to handle devices. If it is about usability, seems that the concept could have multiple definitions, if you consider the experience and capabilities of the user, and not the designer whishes.

Look at this wonderful Web Browser called Opera and make an example from it. It has what every user needs in a quite simple interface. if you want to use the mouse, you have the gestures, but if you want to use the keyboard your have a whole miriad of shorcuts so powerful that would make mac and windows users blush in shame. That's what I am asking for in my GNOME and I find that for every new capability it would need to download more software.

I used GNOME Bittorrent client for a while. And yes, for quite basic stuff is just perfect, but then I found that in one particular torrent I had to do some hash checking (mathematical comparision of data) and... guess what! There is no checking in that software! Propietary and boring OS (hehe mac and win) are out of question here; you must download / buy extra software to do... well.. anything, but why does GNOME have this kind of inconsistencies being an open source project? Could be that taking that usability goal to the extreme is counterproductive?

I do not know. GNOME is nice, visually (OpenOffice looks more than great!) but its simplicity seems to be a drawback, more than an advantage. I think I am heading back to KDE, as it is not my ideal to complicate more my computing life using simplier or smaller Window Managers that are difficult to understand.

Veni, vidi, inrideo

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I don't think I have words to this... I just surfed a bit and, there it was! a nice jewel in these days.

Made me laugh a lot

http://blip.tv/file/340692

Enjoy.

De los placeres y el ser

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Un placer es aquello que nos mantiene vivos. Muchos placeres nos empujan más y más allá. ¿Pero vale la pena vivir rodeado de placeres?

Read more...

Fountains

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Today I found myself in the shower, throwing water with my mouth, trying to emulate a fountain. After laughing a bit I thought... Do I know any fountain? Of course I do, but I can't remember where.

Hours later I started a search for the fountains I know. I can't remember the ones I saw in Barcelona or Münich, but I do remember the ones in Torino.

This text it's just a way to thank that lovely city. I'll be there again. I just do not know when. But I will!


The first fountain I met in Torino, in my early days there, was one little, very small fountain for drinking water, It was somewhere in Piazza San Carlo, but I can't remember the direction the statue is looking, so I can't really say which side of the piazza it's the fountain. I suppose it's the side showed in the photo.



The other of the other ones is unimportant, just because that little fountain was the first of its kind that I saw. (hihihi... )

This is another one I met. Not quite impressive at that time, but now it shines with it's own light... well.. not quite, but almost. This is Fontana Angelica in Piazza Solferino. (I finally know how the name of this fountain!)


Copyright © Davide Cerboneschi - davdinrete@libero.it
http://xoomer.alice.it/giochi_di_luce/Home.html



This is the fountain in Parco Valentino. Quite nice after all this Olympics hype. I never saw it like this.



The next two are two water-mirror style fountains. Fontana del Po and Fontana Dora are very close to Piazza San Carlo. If I remember, somewhere around was a nice music shop, where I bought the Play CD of Moby. That was the first CD I bought in Italy!




And last but not least, the fountains in Piazza Castello! I love this place. There I saw for the first time in my life an spectacle of flags. I really felt like in the medioeval Italy!



Mmm... Those were quite happy times.

More pics of Torino in my Photo Album

Note to self - VMware installation

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Being a little bit egoist here, I found that I forget quite easily some details of the things I do in Linux. The last one was related with the VMware Workstation installation.

To install VMware, follow the steps (grealty resumed into a few lines):

  1. Check that kernel-source, gcc (and/or gcc-c++) and make are installed. I think I will never forget to install those, as I use them a lot. The kernel-source packages must match the installed kernel! running YOU will find the proper packages.

  2. Download the latest vmware-any-any patch. (Probably available at cvut). This is needed because it's higly probable that compilation errors might appear when running the vmware-config.pl script. The last error I got was from a confligting defined variable in the kernel source against the vmware client code

  3. Be sure to have the vmware rpm ready and anxious to get installed

  4. Prepare the kernel to recive new modules: remember the
    make mrproper
    (for cleanup),
    make cloneconfig
    (for cloning the kernel and configuring it to the current version) and
    make modules_prepare
    (well... it's self explanatory)

  5. With a prepared and happy kernel, the rpm installation can be done by the typical
    rpm -ivh PACKAGE
    where the package here it's, of course, the vmware file.

  6. After this, I normally do a step I think it's not really necessary. I like to run
    ldconfig; SuSEconfig
    sequence, just to see how happily my PC works :wink:

  7. Now the update. I've seen it tarred and gzipped, so a
    tar -xz -f vmware-any-any-update.tar.gz
    will do the work. Changing to the vmware-any-any-update directory (I wonder... that any-any name), and executing
    ./runme.pl
    will do the rest, even call vmware-config.pl for me. When this is done, answering a few questions it's all it's needed for completing the procedure. The default options are fine for my SuSE 10.1 so if any compilation error occurs, be sure to check this and the vmware-any-any-update version.

  8. Configure the three network devices (bridged, NAT and host-only); that it's normally just accepting the default options.

  9. Mount the USB system to access those devices from the Virtual Machine. As root:
    mount -t usbfs /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb



And that's it... at least as I remember. I'm not sure where did I get this "any-any-update" info, but I'm sure it's not that difficult to get. Wait... I found it in my history (I love opera :wink:)


I decided that when I see it fit (and achievable or worthly), I should translate some of what I write in english to spanish, or viceversa. This is one of those cases.

--- Versión en español ---

Para instalar VMWare, seguir los siguientes pasos de la receta (resumida en pocas líneas):

  1. Verificar que los paquetes de kernel-source, gcc (y gcc-c++) y make están instalados, pero creo que no hay problema con eso pues los uso mucho y no creo que los olvide. Los paquetes del kernel source deben encajar con la versión del kernel instalado! Correr YOU sería una buena idea en este momento para asegurarse.

  2. Bajar la última versión del vmware-any-any-update (Probablemente disponible en cvut). Esto lo necesito para evitar algunos errores de compilación en el proceso. La última vez salió un error de una variable en conflicto por estar definida tanto en el kernel como en el cliente

  3. No olvidar tener listo el rpm de vmware (hihihi)

  4. Preparar el kernel para recibir nuevos módulos: No olvidar:
    make mrproper
    (para limpiar, o eso me dijeron),
    make cloneconfig
    (para clonar el kernel, configurándolo a la versión correcta) y
    make modules_prepare
    (para preparar en sí la utilización de los módulos)

  5. Con un kernel listo y felíz, la instalación del rpm es cosa de niños:
    rpm -ivh PACKAGE
    donde PACKAGE es obviamente el archivo del VMware.

  6. Después, lo que hago no es realmente necesario... solo me gusta hacerlo por poner el pc a hacer algo:
    ldconfig; SuSEconfig
    . En teoría eso actualiza las variables del sistema, entre otras cosas.

  7. Ahora la actualización. Como viene en tar.gz, ya se sabe que está comprimido y unificado, pero tar nos ayuda fácilmente con ese trabajo.
    tar -xz -f vmware-any-any-update.tar.gz
    hace todo el trabajo. El resto se hace cambiando al directorio creado por tar para vmware y ejecutando
    ./runme.pl
    . Esto inclusive llama vmware-config.pl por mi. Cuando todo haya pasado, solo falta responder unas preguntas. Las opciones preseleccionadas que trae el script funcionan perfecto en mi SuSE 10.1, así que si algo falla (como errores de compilación, yo supongo), este es el primer sitio a revisar, junto con la versión del any-any-update.

  8. Configurar los tres dispositivos de redes (es otro módulo montado en el kernel), bridged, NAT y host-only. En general es al estilo windows: yes, yes, yes, yes P:

  9. Montar el sistema USB para tener acceso a estos dispositivos en la máquina virtual: como root:
    mount -t usbfs /dev/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb




Y listo... ahí la instalación correcta del vmware... antes que se me olvide.

Sagittarius. The future it's in my hands.

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Meet my Astrologer Bot. She's a quite beautiful image on my screen (just call her *AstroBot*, stars and everything), telling me how lucky my life is; how important I am to the world, how my wandering star it's the proper and unique way that links me to this metha-para-espiritual-bioenergetic-materialistic world. My goodness!! What in heavens am I thinking? Why am I studying computer science or programming or software engineering? Does it have something to do with me? I sould be priest or something like that... my vocation it's dedicated to the truth! I shall not avoid my destiny.


Sagittarius

As a future-oriented Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the zodiac, you are considered the most prophetic of the signs because you have the urge to understand the meaning of life. Also the most mobile sign of the zodiac, you explore beyond physical and mental boundaries, and thrive on freedom and liberty.

Jupiter, the planet of luck and expansion, is the ruler of Sagittarius, and brings optimism and joy to life. Jupiter is also associated with a person's spiritual beliefs and philosophic standards.

Sagittarius is the third fire sign. This fiery influence is like a candle in the dark, lighting the way to knowledge and wisdom. You walk through life high-spirited and openhearted, always seeking the truth. You are farsighted and goal-directed and are gifted in grasping general principles.

Sagittarius rules the ninth house of the chart, the section associated with the exploration of the intellectual mind or the physical world. Therefore, this house stands for religion, philosophy, higher education, as well as long journeys.

Sagittarius is a mutable sign, making you a communicator and teacher. Since you have the natural ability to gain profound insight into scientific and spiritual fields, you feel that it is your mission to contribute your knowledge on to the world.

One of your main strengths, dear Sag, is that you achieve your goals through the power of positive thinking. Your happy-go-lucky, future-oriented nature opens many doors for you. You are direct, honest, and jovial, which makes you a very humane and amiable friend, lover, and coworker.

Of course, you also have some weaknesses; due to your disposition, your head is often in the clouds, and you are oblivious to reality. You also run the risk of being hypocritical, and get so opinionated and dogmatic that you impose your "truth" upon others. You also don't tolerate any kind of restriction, and develop restlessness and unquenchable wanderlust.



P.S. I wonder what "wanderlust" is.



Unfortunately, I may be better not writing this today! My words can be like the combined poisonous tongues of Voldemort, the wicked Wormtongue and the lady who wants to kill 101 dogs. Beware of me when down! Alas! for my friends and loved ones if they talk to me in the wrong moment, at the wrong place, for I shall have no mercy and my long words will punish them until doomsday ends.


You're not in the mood to mince words today, spurred on as you are by the alliance of the Empress and the Tower. Anyone who dares to criticize you will suddenly find themselves on the receiving end of a few home truths. You don't really have the confidence to win this dangerous war of words, dear Andres, but you just can't stop yourself from "telling it like it is." Let's hope your loved ones will forgive you. As for work, the Empress's influence is helping you to approach your daily tasks logically and patiently. You have a very analytical and rigorous mind, which should bring you much satisfaction by the end of the day. Don't worry, you'll get everything done!



I now wonder... How many like me out there?

Carlos Martinez Rivas

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Los poemas de este nicaragüense se llevaron mis ojos cuando el hombre bajo la pluma empezó a ofrecerme algunas letras abandonadas en algún sitio en internet.

El poema que puse algunos días fue uno de aquellos textos que me llevan lejos, me viajan por otro mundo y me elevan por el cielo lleno de colores.

Sigo aún buscando un libro titulado "La insurrección solitaria", infructuosamente revoloteando las estanterías de la Librería Nacional en Bogotá, sin ningún resultado.

Hace mucho tiempo que no disfrutaba tanto una poesía.

Sony Ericsson usb-serial cable

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I noted recently in one of the last projects that some people were interested in using a DCU-11 usb-serial cable to plug their phones to a linux box. At that time I did not know how to make that possible, but after a little e-search I found how to mount the cable in my SuSE 10.1 (Kernel 2.6.x). For all those interested I will tell my story :wink:

First when the cable was connected nothing happened, so I knew I had to go a little bit deeper. dmesg showed that "something" usb was connected, but not linked to any device in the system. I left the research there because of other projects, but when I came back to install my scanner I was shocked when two devices were found, and one of those was something like "ArkMicro USB-UART Controller". I knew that was the generic usb-serial converter because ArkMicro was the name given for the company that makes those chips in the installation driver for Windows. Along with the name, there was also the hex number for the vendor and the product! so that was a relief. After a google search and a su, I tried:
# modprobe usbserial vendor=0x6547 product=0x0232

And no problem! I could check that the cable was there in /dev/ttyUSB0, but I have to check the modem connection yet.*

I could not do that because I went to pick my new P800 at the store and as I have just arrived, I'm still playing with it, but I have to say that the support for the SyncStation seems perfect, but I could not find the phone with any of the syncronization programs that came with SuSE. Well... going a little bit deeper doesn't harm anyone.


* I read somewhere that the ArkMicro driver for this cable will be supported in the kernel in the next version (2.6.17), so it won't be too long before everyone can use the cable almost with no problem.

Deteriorata

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In a mockery of my ex's favourite (and boring and stupid) "poem" I shall present you with a nicer and more realistic version:


The following poem was not found in an old Baltimore church:

Introduction

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.....
Deteriorata! Deteriorata!

Go placidly
Amid the noise and waste.
And remember what comfort there may be
In owning a piece thereof.

Avoid quiet and passive persons
Unless you are in need of sleep.

Ro-tate your tires.

Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself
And heed well their advice,
Even though they be turkeys.

Know what to kiss.....and when!

Consider that two wrongs never make a right
But that THREE.........do.

Wherever possible, put people on hold.

Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment
And despite the changing fortunes of time,
There is always a big future in computer main-te-nance.

Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.

Remember the Pueblo.

Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle and mu-ti-late.

Know yourself.
If you need help, call the FBI.

Exercise caution in your daily affairs,
Especially with those persons closest to you.
That lemon on your left, for instance.

Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls
Would scarcely get your feet wet.

Fall not in love therefore;
It will stick to your face.

Gracefully surrender the things of youth:
The birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan
And let not the sands of time
Get in your lunch.

Hire people with hooks.

For a good time call 606-4311;
Ask for "Ken."

Take heart amid the deepening gloom
That your dog is finally getting enough cheese.

And reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot
It could only be worse in Milwaukee.

Chorus

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.

Therefore, make peace with your god
Whatever you conceive him to be---
Hairy thunderer, or cosmic muffin.

With all its hopes, dreams, promises and urban renewal
The world continues to deteriorate.

GIVE UP!

Reprise

You are a fluke
Of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not
The universe is laughing behind your back.


Performed by National Lampoon on "National Lampoon Radio Dinner," a 1972 recording by Blue Thumb Records. Lyrics by Tony Hendra.

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