Sep/090
Ubuntu Global Jam — Chicago
We've finally agreed on a venue and, so, the Chicago Ubuntu LoCo ("Local Community") will be meeting for the Ubuntu Global Jam this Sunday, October 4th at the Schaumburg Library from Noon until 9 pm CDT in the Rassmussen South room. For those of you who are unaware of the purpose of the Global Jam, details from the столовеUbuntu Wiki:
The Ubuntu Global Jam is an incredible opportunity for the Ubuntu community to unite together around the weekend of 2nd - 4th Oct 2009 to work together to improve Ubuntu. Everyone is able to contribute to the Jam, and everyone is welcome and encouraged to get involved. Curious about how to make a real difference to Ubuntu? This is a great chance to make that difference.
The Ubuntu Global Jam incorporates events that have been organized over the world to get Ubuntu contributors and fans together to have a great time and improve Ubuntu. Each event has one or more of our four themes:
* Bugs - finding, triaging and fixing bugs.
* Testing - testing the new release and reporting your feedback.
* Documentation - writing documentation about how to use Ubuntu and how to join the community.
* Translations - translating Ubuntu and helping to make it available in everyone's local language.
* Packaging - work on Ubuntu packages and improve them
* Other - other types of contribution such as marketing, packaging, advocacy etc.
The Schaumburg Library is located on the southwest corner of Schaumburg and Roselle Roads.
Aug/091
Ubuntu in VirtualBox
I travel nearly every week to my clients' offices. I have recently become quite keen on the idea of videoconferencing with my wife and children each night, as a means to span the miles between us. Skype is the software I've settled on, as the most promising open-source competitor (Wengo) didn't instill much confidence. The firm I work for blocks Skype installation through its use of McAfee's enterprise product -- a fact which makes me a saaaad panda! (If this turn of phrase is foreign to you, might I suggest viewing the South Park episode from which it emanates?) (Tangentially, my firm is also staunchly anti-open source, as evidenced through our open source software policy -- a fact which makes me an equally bereaved bear!) I digress ...
The solution to my predicament? Sun's brilliant VirtualBox open source virtualization package running the latest Ubuntu release -- currently 9.04 (or "Jaunty Jackelope," as they call it). The installation of VirtualBox took a bit on my lappy, but it went fairly seamlessly. The only hitch was that the installation of the VirtualBox Host-Only Network adapter in Windows XP SP3 broke my wireless networking. (It may well have broken all networking, but I didn't try plugging a cable in to check.) The solution to this was fairly simple -- disable the newly installed adapter! It seems that VirtualBox doesn't need this adapter enabled in order to provide the virtual OS networking. (I've no idea what this adapter is used for at the moment. Perhaps I'll figure this out as I work with VBox a bit more.)
The only Ubuntu image I had lying around was a Hardy (8.04) disc I burned some time ago. I added a new machine to VBox, installed Ubuntu from the disc, updated to Jaunty using apt, and installed Skype from the Medibuntu repository. So, I've got a virtual Jaunty up and running and, I must say, it is bloody fantastic! Good show, Sun!
May/090
DD-WRT on the WRT54G v8
DD-WRT is, by far, my favorite third-party firmware for the Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I, personally, have three of these on my network -- one as the primary access point and router and two as bridged repeaters -- on which I have used several versions of dd-wrt. (I've also used Sveasoft and Hyper-WRT on these devices.)
Previously, I have endured spectacular failure when trying to flash version 8 devices.
Given that the preponderance of WRT54Gs on shelves now are version 8.x, this realization bodes well for me in future purchases.
May/090
Core Dumps in Ubuntu
I resolved this year that I would take time to pursue one of my passions -- computer science. As such, I am learning how to write applications for Linux. I've just spent 30 frustrating minutes trying to figure out why on earth my deliberate segmentation fault in the small C program I have written is not producing a core dump in Ubuntu 9.04. It turns out that Ubuntu disables core dumps in Bash by default. The fix is simple enough -- use the ulimit command to enable core dumps.
bash$ ulimit -c 100
In this case I have enabled core dumps and given them a limit of 100 blocks. Problem solved! Hopefully this makes it into the search engines and helps someone else frustrated by this same issue.
Apr/091
Jewellry
I simply had to share this sketch. It's from a delightful British sketch comedy series called "A Bit of Fry & Laurie." Stephen Fry is so very funny in this bit. His wordplay never ceases to make me laugh out loud. Without further ado, I present to you A Bit of Fry & Laurie - 2x03 - "Jewellry".
