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!
Jan/090
Happy New Year!
I certainly hope that 2009 will find me more actively updating the blog here!
Jul/071
Where Are “The Friendly Skies”?
I thought I'd share a recent experience I had flying United. While I suffer delays almost every week, early last month I ran through a remarkable series of delays -- remarkable even for United. So bad were both the delays and the customer service I received, I was moved to write a letter to the Chairman of the Board at United. The letter details the nightmare and can be found here.
Jul/070
Addon Domains at HostGator
This site is, as I've mentioned previously, hosted on a Linux server I rent from HostGator. I ran into a bit of trouble when using "addon domains" with their service which I have meant to document for some time now.
I read the knowledgebase article at HostGator Support on setting up addon domains which warns at the top of the article:
"Before you can add an addon domain you must change the name servers for the domain name to the ones provided for your hosting account. You cannot create an addon domain if your DNS for the site you are trying to add hasn't propagated yet."
I was exact in following these instructions and waited 3 days for the DNS changes I had made at GoDaddy (where I purchased and manage the domains) to propagate. Ultimately, they did not.
The solution to the problem was to setup the addon domain at HostGator, via the cPanel, immediately after making the DNS changes to the domain. I'm not sure if this is an issue unique to GoDaddy domains -- I imagine it is not. It seems that the documentation provided by HostGator is inaccurate in this regard.
