It is December 14, 2009. The holidays are upon us! My thoughts are on a time over four years ago, also in winter. It was when I decided to go back to school and earn a college degree.
After careful research of many on-line Computer Science programs I selected Baker College as my school. It is now a few years years later and, as of today, I have completed the last of my required hours to earn a B.S. in Computer Science.
I wanted to write this blog post to personally thank everyone who has helped get me to this point. Looking back, the academic workload combined with a full time job has probably cost me a lot of social “free” time and even a relationship or two. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, hit me over the head to make me do my homework, or otherwise encouraged me to finish my degree. There are a few people I would like to personally thank as well..
Erica – You may be my ex-wife, but thank you for always encouraging me to finish what I start (even if our marriage wasn't one of those things).
Carrie – Thanks for the encouragement, even though our relationship didn't quite make it.
Samuel T. - You're a great friend and a source of infinite wisdom. I appreciate you listening to my rants over the past few years.
Jeremy B. – Thanks for the intellectual conversation and for being a friend.
Jeremy S. – I have to give props to the best damn programmer I know. Thanks dude!
Doug P. – We don't talk much anymore, but thanks for encouraging me to go back to school.
Brandi S. (bs) – Thanks for the encouragement and not laughing at me too much when I had issues with my Philosophy of Ethics course. :)
Anthony H. - Thanks for the never-ending encouragement, sir. It means a lot.
Lee F. - Thanks for helping keep me on track when the combination of work and school became too much to handle.
Steve & Marie – By far the oldest (in duration, not age!) friends I have. Thank you both for helping get through some tough times and for always being there. Merci beaucoup!
Richie W. -- Thanks for the non-stop flailing. I'm sure it helped...something.
Emilie - Thanks. :)
Also, to my family: I have missed out on countless family functions and important events for the sake of academic success. The past four years have been unbelievably challenging. Thank you for being there.
I'm sure there are many names I should add to this list. There are just too many to list. You all know who you are! So, thank you.
Jeff
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
A new site.
Just finishing up the implementation of The Pink Sink. The store carries a full line of handmade soaps, lip balm, and other gift items. Admittedly, it is the first "pink" site I've ever done, but I think it turned out nicely. Head over and check out their product line. The "Gifted Chicken" product line is cool for us guys. I mean, who doesn't need some Zombie Survival Soap for when the Zombies attack?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Disable PC Speaker in Linux
Just a minor annoyance. The PC speaker "beep" on my laptop is annoyingly loud. I always disable it after I install Linux.
Either via sudo or as root:
Using your favorite text editor, edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add the following line to the file:
blacklist pcspkr
Save and Exit.
It will be disabled on your next reboot. In the meantime, you can 'rmmod pcspkr' to disable it immediately.
Either via sudo or as root:
Using your favorite text editor, edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add the following line to the file:
blacklist pcspkr
Save and Exit.
It will be disabled on your next reboot. In the meantime, you can 'rmmod pcspkr' to disable it immediately.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Compiling Chromium on Linux Mint 7 - Gloria
I was working on compiling Chromium on Linux Mint 7 (Gloria) and found that the nifty script provided by Google only supports "Ubuntu" by checking the Linux version via "cat /etc/issue". A quick hack and it supports Mint (x64 and most likely x86 as well).
Download modified version here: install-build-deps
Otherwise, just download the original version directly from Google, open it in your favorite text editor, search "Ubuntu" and add an appropriate entry for "Linux Mint". It should be self explanatory.
The rest of the instructions you can follow verbatim from the Google Chromium Dev Site.
Your next step will be to get the code either via tarball or SVN.
All the info you need is here: Chromium Developer Documentation - Get the Code
I'm currently grabbing the source via SVN and will post up any additional helpful details.
Btw, if this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment. I would love to know someone is actually reading my blog. :)
UPDATE: 1:55AM 8/11/09 -
The build was successful. The latest dev build is unstable, as expected. However, there is a *lot* of promise here for a great browser. Load times are unbelievable. No flash or other plugin support yet, but I think this is a preview of something great.
In any case, the build instructions (using the modified script I provided above) work fine on Linux Mint 7 (x64). The instructions provided on the Google link are also precise. Have fun!
Screenshot of GMail running under Chromium on Linux for good measure..
Download modified version here: install-build-deps
Otherwise, just download the original version directly from Google, open it in your favorite text editor, search "Ubuntu" and add an appropriate entry for "Linux Mint". It should be self explanatory.
The rest of the instructions you can follow verbatim from the Google Chromium Dev Site.
Your next step will be to get the code either via tarball or SVN.
All the info you need is here: Chromium Developer Documentation - Get the Code
I'm currently grabbing the source via SVN and will post up any additional helpful details.
Btw, if this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment. I would love to know someone is actually reading my blog. :)
UPDATE: 1:55AM 8/11/09 -
The build was successful. The latest dev build is unstable, as expected. However, there is a *lot* of promise here for a great browser. Load times are unbelievable. No flash or other plugin support yet, but I think this is a preview of something great.
In any case, the build instructions (using the modified script I provided above) work fine on Linux Mint 7 (x64). The instructions provided on the Google link are also precise. Have fun!
Screenshot of GMail running under Chromium on Linux for good measure..
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wiring your house for Ethernet
Everyone is doing the wireless thing these days.
I have decided to wire my house with CAT 6 Ethernet and ditch the poorly performing WiFi network I have now. The main reason is because I am having problems getting a stable connection with the second building I have a wireless bridge configured to. It works most of the time, but it is on the fringe of useful signal strength.
CAT6 cable is cheap, so I decided to go that route. While working through the process I have learned a few things that I want to share.
Need to run Ethernet cable outside? No problem.
I don't do this all the time, so I wasn't sure what was available in the way of cabling. It turns out that flooded, direct burial, CAT-6 cable is available on E-Bay for a reasonable price. I found 200ft for about $50.
I bought standard issue UTP CAT6 to wire inside the house. (E-Bay, again)
Other things you'll need to wire up your house:
Keystone jacks (CAT6 "approved" for gigabit speeds) and wall plates. These can be bought in all sorts of configurations.
Patch panel - These are relatively cheap but highly recommended. It gives you something easy to terminate all of your wiring from your wall jacks to in a central location and allows for easy cable diagnostics to that point.
Keystone punch down tool - Cheap, and any geek should have one. You can punch the wires down without one, but do it right. You'll thank me later.
Crimping tool for Ethernet connectors - Must have to install connectors on the ends of your cabling. E-Bay or your local electronics retailer should suffice.
Cable tester - Self explanatory. Not required but highly recommended if you value your sanity.
CAT6 connectors - Buy more than you need. You'll likely mess up a connection or two as you get the hang of using the crimper. They're cheap.
Gigabit switch - Cheap and widely available. Run patch cables from the patch panel to the router.
Router - Does not have to be gigabit necessarily since you will only be using this for IP address assignment and routing to the Internet. Your ISP will be your bottleneck, not the 100mbps router.
You could combine the router and switch and just use a router, but I find it easier to have a separate switch. A high quality switch will rarely need to be power cycled. Everyone knows that most consumer grade broadband routers have issues at times.
That way you can stash the switch in an out of the way place near the patch panel and run a single cable from the switch to the router that connects you to the Internet.
All devices on the switch will communicate with each other via the switch at gigabit speeds and Internet traffic will find its way through your router.
I'm still working on physically wiring my house. I'll update this post with pictures as I complete the project.
I have decided to wire my house with CAT 6 Ethernet and ditch the poorly performing WiFi network I have now. The main reason is because I am having problems getting a stable connection with the second building I have a wireless bridge configured to. It works most of the time, but it is on the fringe of useful signal strength.
CAT6 cable is cheap, so I decided to go that route. While working through the process I have learned a few things that I want to share.
Need to run Ethernet cable outside? No problem.
I don't do this all the time, so I wasn't sure what was available in the way of cabling. It turns out that flooded, direct burial, CAT-6 cable is available on E-Bay for a reasonable price. I found 200ft for about $50.
I bought standard issue UTP CAT6 to wire inside the house. (E-Bay, again)
Other things you'll need to wire up your house:
Keystone jacks (CAT6 "approved" for gigabit speeds) and wall plates. These can be bought in all sorts of configurations.
Patch panel - These are relatively cheap but highly recommended. It gives you something easy to terminate all of your wiring from your wall jacks to in a central location and allows for easy cable diagnostics to that point.
Keystone punch down tool - Cheap, and any geek should have one. You can punch the wires down without one, but do it right. You'll thank me later.
Crimping tool for Ethernet connectors - Must have to install connectors on the ends of your cabling. E-Bay or your local electronics retailer should suffice.
Cable tester - Self explanatory. Not required but highly recommended if you value your sanity.
CAT6 connectors - Buy more than you need. You'll likely mess up a connection or two as you get the hang of using the crimper. They're cheap.
Gigabit switch - Cheap and widely available. Run patch cables from the patch panel to the router.
Router - Does not have to be gigabit necessarily since you will only be using this for IP address assignment and routing to the Internet. Your ISP will be your bottleneck, not the 100mbps router.
You could combine the router and switch and just use a router, but I find it easier to have a separate switch. A high quality switch will rarely need to be power cycled. Everyone knows that most consumer grade broadband routers have issues at times.
That way you can stash the switch in an out of the way place near the patch panel and run a single cable from the switch to the router that connects you to the Internet.
All devices on the switch will communicate with each other via the switch at gigabit speeds and Internet traffic will find its way through your router.
I'm still working on physically wiring my house. I'll update this post with pictures as I complete the project.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
DD-WRT and freedns.afraid.org
I am currently using a Netgear WGR614v8 router running Firmware:DD-WRT v24-sp2 (03/27/09) mini.
I recently decided sign up with one of the many available dynamic DNS services. One of the supported services in the DD-WRT firmware is freedns.afraid.org. I really liked their user interface so I signed up.
Much to my dismay the initial login attempt from the router failed. After confirming my user ID and password were correct, I did a bit of searching.
Here's the secret:
When configuring the options in the DDNS configuration screen of DD-WRT you have to make a slight adjustment to the hostname field. You have to include the hash value for your site after the actual hostname.
Note the hostname field.
Now, you may be asking "Where do I get this mysterious hash value?" Easy!
Just log into your account at freedns.afraid.org, click on "Dynamic DNS" on the left hand side of the screen. Hover over the "Direct URL" link and copy the shortcut value to the clipboard. This will give you something like this:
http://freedns.afraid.org/dynamic/update.php?UUZGxRSVRTTUl25VUmMTozA
The part we care about is the value after the "?" in the query string. Now, just modify your Hostname value in DD-WRT to look like: myhostname.com,hashvalue and then save the settings.
That's it.
I recently decided sign up with one of the many available dynamic DNS services. One of the supported services in the DD-WRT firmware is freedns.afraid.org. I really liked their user interface so I signed up.
Much to my dismay the initial login attempt from the router failed. After confirming my user ID and password were correct, I did a bit of searching.
Here's the secret:
When configuring the options in the DDNS configuration screen of DD-WRT you have to make a slight adjustment to the hostname field. You have to include the hash value for your site after the actual hostname.
Note the hostname field.
Now, you may be asking "Where do I get this mysterious hash value?" Easy!
Just log into your account at freedns.afraid.org, click on "Dynamic DNS" on the left hand side of the screen. Hover over the "Direct URL" link and copy the shortcut value to the clipboard. This will give you something like this:
http://freedns.afraid.org/dynamic/update.php?UUZGxRSVRTTUl25VUmMTozA
The part we care about is the value after the "?" in the query string. Now, just modify your Hostname value in DD-WRT to look like: myhostname.com,hashvalue and then save the settings.
That's it.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Linux Mint 7 "Gloria"
I finally made a permanent switch to Linux here at the house. Debian was my first Linux distribution so I have always had a soft spot for Debian based distributions. I think Ubuntu is one of the best desktop environments for the new Linux user.
A few months ago I was checking out distrowatch and noticed a distribution called Linux Mint.
Linux Mint (current version 7 as of today) is an Ubuntu based distribution that makes Linux even easier to get going on the average user's desktop. Several media codecs come pre-installed. The "Main Edition" includes DVD playback out of the box, should your country of residence permit its usage. Please check the download page for more information.
Excerpt from distrowatch:
It has become my distribution of choice for my desktop machines here at home. The look and feel is very slick and things seem to work rather well out of the box. It is so closely related to Ubuntu that any troubleshooting you need to do can be researched by looking for Ubuntu references. Linux Mint 7 (Gloria) is based on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty). It is available in x86, x64 and with GNOME, KDE, XFCE, or Fluxbox.
I'll try to write more on Mint later, but time is short this evening.
If you're interested, I think it is worth checking out.
A few months ago I was checking out distrowatch and noticed a distribution called Linux Mint.
Linux Mint (current version 7 as of today) is an Ubuntu based distribution that makes Linux even easier to get going on the average user's desktop. Several media codecs come pre-installed. The "Main Edition" includes DVD playback out of the box, should your country of residence permit its usage. Please check the download page for more information.
Excerpt from distrowatch:
"Linux Mint is one of the surprise packages of the past year. Originally launched as a variant of Ubuntu with integrated media codecs, it has now developed into one of the most user-friendly distributions on the market - complete with a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, a web-based package installation interface, and a number of different editions. Perhaps most importantly, this is one project where the developers and users are in constant interaction, resulting in dramatic, user-driven improvements with every new release. "
It has become my distribution of choice for my desktop machines here at home. The look and feel is very slick and things seem to work rather well out of the box. It is so closely related to Ubuntu that any troubleshooting you need to do can be researched by looking for Ubuntu references. Linux Mint 7 (Gloria) is based on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty). It is available in x86, x64 and with GNOME, KDE, XFCE, or Fluxbox.
I'll try to write more on Mint later, but time is short this evening.
If you're interested, I think it is worth checking out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)