Absolutely brilliant: AlienBBC

I posted earlier my discovery of the Squeezebox, which streams audio files on your laptop to your audio system, in my case the Bose system, over your WiFi home network.

That is truly wonderful, but only works for files resident on the host computer. What about Internet audio streams?

Well, as usual if you ask the question "what will it take" rather than "can I" you get an answer that works. In this case it is

AlienBBC

http://www.x2systems.com/AlienBBC/

It is absolutely brilliant. It captures the BBC streaming audio and routes
it to the SlimServer, where it appears as the first entry on {Internet
Radio}

AlienBBC is a plugin for SlimServer/SqueezeCenter, the software platform used by the Slim Devices line of networked music players.

It is primarily designed to allow the user to listen to BBC Radio streams but also adds the ability to listen to any RealAudio stream. Currently, it is capable of parsing and playing the following resources:

* All the main BBC Radio 'Live' streams
* The BBC 'Listen Again' Audio on Demand content
* All Available BBC Radio 2 Content
* All Available BBC Radio 4 Content
* The BBC7 Audio Archive
* The Available BBC Local Radio Stations
* Radio 5 Live Audio Archive
* Some of the ABC Content (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
* A number of other streams, suggested by AlienBBC Users

In addition, the code will also parse any 'AlienBBC Playlists' (formerly 'AlienStream' playlists) available, and provides a more robust environment for the playing of those streams.

AlienBBC functions on Linux, MacOS/X, and Windows platforms.

There were some startup problems. Archived files were truncating after
about five minutes of play, while live play files were not.

Going on line at the slimserver forums:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/

led to a dialog that solves the problem. Depending on your version, there
are various "*convert.conf" files containing a *-bandwidth 100000* command
line option. Deleting these solves the problem.

In my case it was

/usr/local/slimserver/slimserver-convert.conf

I backed this up and then made the recommended -bandwidth option deletion.

And then the world was at peace.

Happy Boxing Day.

Getting it together: Bluetooth file system

Heh. This was initially posted as a reference to the BLEUtooth system...

Shows my bias. Sorry about that, make it BLUEtooth.

I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time trying to get things sorted away and in place. Very much a whack-a-mole kind of existence.

This fall I got a new cellphone after several years, a Nokia E90. Truly sweet. It can take a microSD chip and act as a thumbdrive. In doing so you have to disable the rest of the phone so that it works only as a thumbdrive on the end of a tether.

Bummer.

Of course I want more: Technicolor Mental Telepathy.

OK, can't go there yet, but how about a Christmas wishlist? How about a wireless mounting that will let me do all normal things without all the wire and tether and other folderol?

===========================
It turns out that you need three things:

the FUSE kernel module

the openftp project

the openfs project

With those you can accomplish exactly the desired outcome.

I plugged the following into Google:

mount bluetooth file system as drive

and immediately found FUSE:

http://fuse.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/

FUSE is a system that adds a module to the Linux kernel to enable file mounting and transfer with various arcane systems, including the Nokia Bluetooth system.

Further googling led me to OpenOBEX:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openobex/

which provides the infrastructure, in particular the openfs system:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=8960&package_id=178407

This in turn depends on obexftp. SuSE 10.2 offers obexftp on its distribution disk, but not the compilation headers, so you need to download the original source from the site above.

You will also need the development package for python, since obexftp in turn depends on that.

Some excellent references include:

http://www.siltala.net/2007/07/25/mounting-a-nokia-phone-a-little-bit-easier/
http://davesource.com/Solutions/20070520.T-Mobile-Nokia-E65-Ubuntu-Linux.html#obexfs

-----
I know this sounds complicated, but it is progressively so and very doable.

At the end you have a system that will easily mount the phone as a drive, from which you can open , copy, move, rename, delete, and execute files directly without having to fumble around with wires and more especially not have to disable one part or another of the phone to access the information.

Here are some example routines that make it a single keyword snap:

===========================================================
mnt_obex
will mount the phone as /mnt/nokia_e90/:

#! /bin/bash
#
# License: LGPL v3+ (see the file LICENSE)
# (c)2001-2008 C. Andrews Lavarre
# email : alavarre@ids.net
#
########################################################################
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify #
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by #
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or #
# (at your option) any later version. #
# #
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, #
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of #
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the #
# GNU General Public License for more details. #
# #
# The GNU General Public License is posted at #
# http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt #
# You may also write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., #
# 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA #
########################################################################

# This routine was modified 071223 by C. A. Lavarre (Andy).
# It mounts the Nokia E90 as a drive at /mnt/nokia_e90
# Usage:
# mnt_obex
# Mount the phone as a directory
obexfs -b00:01:02:03:04:05 -B11 /mnt/nokia_e90/

Obviously, you will substitute your own drives vice /mnt/nokia_e90, MAC address for 00:01:02:03:04:05 and your channel for 11 in the -B parameter. Look at the references for more detail.

===========================================================
umnt_obex
will unmount the phone

#! /bin/bash
#
# License: LGPL v3+ (see the file LICENSE)
# (c)2001-2008 C. Andrews Lavarre
# email : alavarre@ids.net
#

########################################################################
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify #
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by #
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or #
# (at your option) any later version. #
# #
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, #
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of #
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the #
# GNU General Public License for more details. #
# #
# The GNU General Public License is posted at #
# http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt #
# You may also write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., #
# 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA #
########################################################################

# This routine was modified 071223 by C. A. Lavarre (Andy).
# It unmounts the Nokia E90 as a drive at /mnt/nokia_e90
# Usage:
# umnt_obex
# Unmount the phone as a directory
fusermount -u /mnt/nokia_e90/

===========================================================

open_todos
will bring up the ToDo list spreadsheet directly from the phone

#! /bin/bash
#
# License: LGPL v3+ (see the file LICENSE)
# (c)2001-2008 C. Andrews Lavarre
# email : alavarre@ids.net
#

########################################################################
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify #
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by #
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or #
# (at your option) any later version. #
# #
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, #
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of #
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the #
# GNU General Public License for more details. #
# #
# The GNU General Public License is posted at #
# http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt #
# You may also write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., #
# 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA #
########################################################################

# This routine was modified 071223 by C. A. Lavarre (Andy).
# It mounts the Nokia E90 as a drive at /mnt/nokia_e90
# then opens the todo.xls file from Nokia 2G with oocalc for refinement
# Arguments:
# Usage:
# open_todos
# Mount the phone as a directory
mnt_obex
# Copy the file to the Desktop so that it will be backed up
cp /mnt/nokia_e90/E:/action/todos.xls /Desktop/
# Call CALC to modify
oocalc /mnt/nokia_e90/E:/action/todos.xls &

===========================================================

close_todos
will save the spreadsheet to both the Desktop and the phone and then unmount the phone.

#! /bin/bash
#
# License: LGPL v3+ (see the file LICENSE)
# (c)2001-2008 C. Andrews Lavarre
# email : alavarre@ids.net
#

########################################################################
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify #
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by #
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or #
# (at your option) any later version. #
# #
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, #
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of #
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the #
# GNU General Public License for more details. #
# #
# The GNU General Public License is posted at #
# http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt #
# You may also write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., #
# 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA #
########################################################################

# This routine was modified 071223 by C. A. Lavarre (Andy).
# It closes the todo.xls file from Nokia 2G and saves it to the /Desktop
# then unmounts the Nokia E90 as a drive at /mnt/nokia_e90
# Usage:
# close_todos

# Copy the file to the Desktop so that it will be backed up
cp /mnt/nokia_e90/E:/action/todos.xls /Desktop/

# Unmount the phone as a directory
fusermount -u /mnt/nokia_e90

===========================================================

Squeezebox

I have a new toy:

      http://www.slimdevices.com/

Squeezebox is a device that connects to the WiFi Network and streams
audio from either the computer or the Internet.

It requires a server you must install [slimserver] to work with the computer

The system consists of the box, the SlimServer, and SqueezeNetwork.

== The Box ==
The box is ultimate simplicity.

== The Server ==
The server is easily installed if you know the answer.

Basically, you need to install an RPM, install an
startup script, and especially, open ports on the firewall.

Once up the server can be used to control the box, including creating
playlists and searching for music on the computer, on Internet Radio
music streams, and on SqueezeNetwork.

=== Internet Radio ===
Internet radio offers to connect:

    Live365 Internet Radio
    Live Music Archive
    Slim Picks
    Podcasts
    radioio.com - no boundaries.
    Radio Guide - RadioTime
    SHOUTcast Radio
    Switch to SqueezeNetwork
    Tune In URL

Clearly a lot to explore.

==== Live365 Internet Radio ====

I have found interesting content on Live365
Internet Radio by Browse genres. There seems to be a difference in
behavior whether you connect through the server or direct from the box.
Going from the box asks you to log in.

== BBC Radio ==

I enjoy [BBC Radio 3]. But for reasons of licensing they cannot provide a
raw feed, rather have to play through [RealPlayer]. This runs with
[Opera] and [Konqueror] but not [Firefox].

More geek stuff - VMWare Bridging

I have successfully installed VMWare WorkStation 6.0 on a Fujitsu P1610
running Linux SuSE 10.2.

I need to bridge to my WiFi adapter ath0, which is my gateway to
the internet. VMWWS did not allow this:

+ I could not bridge to the installed WiFi modem /dev/ath0. VMWWS only
allowed bridging to the installed Network Interface Card (NIC)
/dev/eth0.

I spent a week working through this with VMWare support. They finally figured out that the madwifi driver ath_pci does not support reserved header lengths. Removing that reservation from the source code for the driver, then recompiling and rebooting solved the problem.

The rest of this are the details:

================================

The wifi modem is the Atheros 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi. The Atheros website directed us to the MADWIFI website:
      http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=82936&use_mirror=umn&filename=madwifi-0.9.3.1.tar.gz&50711065

which gives the driver.

There are two files in the ath_pci source code that need patching:

+ ../ath/if_ath.c needs to have a section commented out that allows reserving the length of the header:

     #ifdef USE_HEADERLEN_RESV
     dev->hard_header_len += sizeof(struct ieee80211_qosframe) +
     sizeof(struct llc) +
     IEEE80211_ADDR_LEN +
     IEEE80211_WEP_IVLEN +
     IEEE80211_WEP_KIDLEN;
     #ifdef ATH_SUPERG_FF
     dev->hard_header_len += ATH_FF_MAX_HDR;
     #endif
     #endif

+ Additionally there is a patch to the net80211/if_athproto.h header file that comments out a header definition and then undefines it (in case any other program has defined it):

Change

     #define USE_HEADERLEN_RESV 1
to read

     /*#define USE_HEADERLEN_RESV 1*/

Add the line

     #undef USE_HEADERLEN_RESV

+ Then remove the old module with modprobe -r ath_pci, recompile the driver and reload it with modprobe ath_pci

All this works, although you have to reboot. Unfortunately, it did not run. It failed with the message:

     /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/libgtkmm-2.4.so.1: undefined symbol: gtk_builder_error_quark

I googled and found that running it with an environmental variable results in it running correctly.

See

     http://www.vmware.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=679894

The command is

     VMWARE_USE_SHIPPED_GTK=force vmware &

So this is unrelated to the modem issue.

The effect of this is to have VMWare open with a Gnome theme rather than the KDE theme. Minor issue...

So I shut it down, reran the configuration to connect to ath0. I did notice this time the warning:

     WARNING: could not find
     /tmp/vmware-config0/vmnet-only/.smac_linux.x386.o.cmd for
     /tmp/vmware-config0/vmnet-only/smac_linux.x386.o

I wonder if that is the source of the GTK problem.

I then started it with the above variable.

It works!! I was able to get to the Internet.

Good work.

======

A few words of caution. I patched the source for the first installed driver cited above. That worked. I previously tried patching the latest version of the driver, which failed with the kernel making all manner of complaints about not agreeing on the version of a host of driver (*.o) files. So it seems you must patch your kernel if you are going to use a different version of the module than that originally installed. I hate patching the kernel as I inevitably screw it up and end up with an unbootable system and have to reinstall the whole OS.

Patching the original source worked, I have better things to do with my time. :-)

Where do we go?

I've been very busy for the past three months, 
continuing to try to get it all together, so the blog has taken the 
back seat.

So, what is the objective? Actually, to get to a status in which I can do what I want to do and still make enough money to make doing what I want to do possible.

So, rather than posting profound thoughts and insights on how to solve world hunger, I think my time here is best spent just passing on the simple little things I learn from life on a daily basis, probably mostly related to Linux and software and computers and technology.

So, despite my earlier ambitions of using this for my philosophical exercises (although that may occur from time to time), I now think it will just be pure geek stuff. So those of you who may have bookmarked it for the former purpose may wish to nuke your bookmarks, as the rest will be boring techie stuff.

For example:

=========== Scribus Installation ===========

Today I was encouraged to finally dabble a toe in the pool of Desktop Publishing (DTP). A colleague had sent me a document in .pub format, the proprietary Microsoft publisher format.

Being defiant of things proprietary I found

     www.scribus.net

Scribus is a Free Software Desktop Publishing program for Windows, Linux, and Mac.

Scribus does not support importing Microsoft Publisher documents. There are no current plans to add support for it. The reasons are here:

     http://www.scribus.net/index.php?name=FAQ&id_cat=3#q19

I first tried installing with YaST on SuSE 10.2, but it failed with a missing module:

     scribus: symbol lookup error: scribus: undefined symbol: art_free

I googled the error and found

     http://archives.mandrivalinux.com/cooker/2007-03/msg05712.php

which says:

     Fixed the problem by updating libart_lgpl2

I then went to YaST software updater and entered

      libart

and updated all the installed modules. I then ran scribus and it runs a charm. No problem.

Meanwhile, I had also installed it on Windows on VMWare on Linux, again no problem.

I'll play with it over the next few days, but in the meantime it seems like a very robust alternative to proprietary DTP.

Sweet.

Musings

Hank the Siamese cat is slowing down. He is nine years old - 63 cat years. Hey, I'm 64 - but he hasn't the availability of a cat-gym or the desire to chase ladies running around in their underwear.

(Running, guys, running... As in road races...)

So he is spending more and more time snoozing.

I'd hate to lose him. He had a physical last week, seems to be just fine for his age, no complaints, but just not the kitten he once was.

Regarding a book I am reading - Passionate Marriage, it is an interesting book, about 25 pages compressed into 500 pages. So very slow going. But the bottom line is that you have to become differentiated, i.e., dependent on your own commitments and perceptions and principles.

Well, duh.

But it also talks about "normal neurosis", in that we are all slightly crazy, so should just understand and accept that.

To which I add, we are all slightly in emotional pain, with some undercurrent of disappointment or betrayal or hopelessness, but also hopefully embued with an enduring sense of hopefulness.

The most healthy among us may still not be deliriously happy, but we know there is a pony out there somewhere and expect to find it.

So you just have to keep looking. And not give up, or settle for second best.

Surrender is not an option.

It just won't work.

We can run, but we can't hide.

We can run, but we can't hide. We need to face up to reality.

It would be really nice if we didn't have to face all the problems that exist.

Just take the kids sailing or go to a soccer game.

Unfortunately, it is not going to happen that way. "Thinking about it tomorrow" won't work.

So let's get a grip. Please read this:

Was Obama Right?

Everybody counts, everybody wins

Pleasant enough day.

Went to church. Had asked the rector what happened to the birthday blessings, they seem to have disappeared.

The signup sheet had places for Sick (to which I added a friend in pain) and then Thanksgivings. So I added "Andy Birthday"

The reader was Lil. She sort of did a double-take but then moved on in perfect stride: "And we give thanks for Andy's birthday."

>:-) So there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Birthday's are special. It is your one opportunity in the entire year to be appreciated for no other reason than that simply because you exist.

Other recognitions require a host of work and accomplishment aforehand.

But God loves each and every one of us for no more reason that
that simply we exist. Birthday recognitions are a recognition of this
fact.

We need to recognise birthdays.

End Spiralling Taxes??

I see I tend to post about once a month. Maybe that is a natural cycle. Are we getting close to a full moon? Oops. Yes, 2 May.

:-)

Anyhow, a recent correspondent inspired the following idea: What if we established escrow accounts for departmental managers to retain unexpended funds and rewarded them for the growth of those escrow funds, while reducing the budget to the level of the actually expended funds.

Here is the thought in detail:

> More taxes for Newport , at this point is akin to believing that pouring
> ever more amounts of water into a sieve is an effective way increase its
> ability to transport water.

What is absolutely amazing to me is that people will sign up to the concept that more taxes are inevitable.

I've stated before, with examples, that all forms of government that I've ever seen are totally bloated. (Duh, I'm not the first to notice this...)

Let me loose on the local budget and I'll bet you a bundle I could slash it in half, without raising a stink from anyone, because they'd say, "well, yes, he's right." And because there would be far and away still enough perks in the budget to satisfy all comers.

(Budget users are usually not overly greedy people, they just don't want to see their personal ox gored, at least not unless everyone else's ox is being obviously and equally gored, and as long as they still have a reasonable amount of an ox left over...)

I dare anyone who has had any proximity to a government budget of any kind, be it federal, state, or local, to deny the existence of the end-of-period frantic "Use it or lose it" mentality:

"We need to obligate this money or we won't get the same amount next year."

Well, duh. If you don't need it this year, you prolly won't need it next year, so how about saving it?

Well, because then "Your budget, Mr. Manager, won't be so big, and people will think you are not good at feeding at the public trough for 'our children' (or whatever other expediently politically correct slogan is available) so you might get fired."

:-( Hence spiralling budgets and taxes.

How about a change in mentality to protect and promote those who reduce their budgets?

For example: how about establishing departmental escrow accounts? Whatever is not spent remains under the control of the manager, but is transferred from operating funds to an escrow account, which can be invested under a ruleset to accrue interest and be available for future emergency expenditures, but at the same time be removed from the "budget".

(There are already methods for establishing multiyear funds, but these still do not provide an incentive for saving. They just defer the end-of-cycle panic to the out-years...)

The "budget" would then be based on the actual expenditures, but the incentives and promotions would be based on the growth of the escrow fund: the less he spends, the more he saves in his escrow account, the more he is rewarded.

Don't take the savings from him, since that will demotivate him, rather reward him for saving it.

Then the central government can reduce his budget according to the size of the escrow and collect the interest on the escrow, but still reward him for fiduciary stewardship AND save money.

Then set some maximum threshold and special controls for the consumption of the escrow, perhaps using the CPI or some other device so that responsible use can be made of the escrow, but still allow punishing budget expansions (or growth in expenditures beyond some reasonable threshold) and continue to reward frugality...

The end effect would be the following:

+ The actual expenditures would be reduced
+ The escrow accounts would grow
+ The actual budgets would shrink, and with them the taxes.

And there would be a huge sigh of relief from the 99.9% of managers who hate the current system but don't have any other way of dealing with it:

Hey, managers are people too. They need to get ahead and feed their families. So why not let's figure out a way to let this happen and protect the public?

And, most importantly, the true public needs would be met, without bloat.


Too bad the founding fathers were not clever accountants. They got almost everything right, except budgets. I'm not an accountant, but I recognize bloat, and bloat is no friend of mine.

RSS Feeds

I am really getting geeky. Figured out how to add this blog page to RSS feeds.

It took me a couple of hours of Googling. Surprised that blogspot doesn't point it out up front.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (and various other interpretations). RSS is a text-based format, a type of XML.

RSS files (which are also called RSS feeds or channels) simply contain a list of items. Usually, each item contains a title, summary, and a link to a URL (e.g. a web page). Other information, such as the date, creator’s name, etc., may also be available.

An item’s description may contain all of a news article, blog post, etc., or just an extract or summary. The item’s link will usually point to the full content (although it may also point to what the content itself links to).

Well, I spent several hours figuring out how to build the RSS file, tried adding it to this page, it didn't work. And then I found that:

Blogspot provides an Atom feed. Append /atom.xml to the end of your Blogspot URL to get your Atom feed. For example my blog (this page)

http://genietvanhetleven.blogspot.com/

has an Atom feed at

http://genietvanhetleven.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

It's that simple. Then add the latter URL to your RSS reader and it immediately lists the six postings so far.

Cool.

There are numerous RSS readers out there. Mozilla's Thunderbird email client has a section for newsgroups and blogs incorporated directly into the client. That is where you enter this URL.

Illegal "Diplomacy"

http://feeds.opinionjournal.com/~r/wsj/opinion_journal/~3/107122423/

Very interesting. This is available at my WSJ OpinionJournal feed in the upper right hand corner.

Representative Pelosi has run afoul of a two-hundred-year-old law, and indeed, a millenium-old (or older) tenet of common sense:

Something about not blind-siding the boss.

Recommended.

My Status with Linux

I recently read an article discussing Vista. It displayed considerable angst at the new offering.

I have learned better.

Successive versions of MSWin have added little if any functionality since WinME AFAICT. Conversely, they seem to have added hosts of maddening little idiocies that drive me nuts, for which there are no solutions.

When I loaded XP in 2002 and it started phoning home without my permission that was the end of the line; the straw that broke the camel's back.

By contrast, with Linux it is such a pleasure to have a machine that does exactly what I tell it to do or that at least asks permission, instead of executing a host of condescendingly stupid alternatives.

I have now bought two very expensive new machines in the past four years.

I do not turn them on even once before putting a Linux setup disk in the DVD drive.

Blowing off an investment? No. All that overhead is nothing more than the cost of doing business. Add it to your tax deduction at fair market value. (Disclaimer: Suggestion, I am not a tax advisor... :-)

Rather, doing so is recognizing a fundamental law of nature: There is no such thing as a free lunch.

All that suckerware is just that. And my crawling through it to delete it is a waste of time. So just nuke it all to start and then begin afresh with a new Linux distro setup disk.

Let me suggest that you investigate Linux Format, a UK magazine that each month publishes a "live DVD" with a different Linux distribution:

http://www.linuxformat.co.uk/

My favorite distribution at present is the SuSE series, currently at 10.2 (I have 10.1 installed), but have used Mandrake / Mandriva and Fedora Core. All surpass any version of the mainstream OSs in flexibility, usability, availability, reliability, and obedience, IMHO. SuSE issues a point update every six months, not every six years.

Any of these Linux distros offer at least two "desktops" - eye candy environments: KDE "looks like" MSWin, Gnome "looks like" Macintosh, but their applets can all be installed on the same machine. And of course, all other Linux software can be installed on either desktop framework.

However, beneath the eye candy is a raft of higher functionality.

Have you tried Firefox? Thunderbird? KHotKeys? Kwrite? Kate?

Konqueror blows away the legacy file and internet managers. It offers both file and Internet functions in one app, plus tabbed windows, multiple panes, direct internet connectivity, and a host of connection protocols far beyond ftp and http, e.g., smb, buetooth OBEX...

OpenOffice is fully compatible with MSOffice for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. It even now executes VBA macros. It has a DB function that I have not yet investigated. But then there is MySQL, cited below.

GIMP is a Photoshop clone. I use GnuCash in lieu of Quicken. Stellarium is brilliant. Rosegarden MIDI and score editing, XMMS audio player and equalizer, Audacity sound ripper and editor, K3b cd/dvd burning, Codeine/Kaffeine video players, Ekiga videoconferencing, GAIM instant messaging, the list is endless of highly useful, easy to use, reliable, robust, and powerful applications, all free as in speech and beer.

Stability? I honestly can't remember the last time I rebooted this machine. It's been weeks for sure, prolly the last time I had to shut it down to go on business travel. But since it is almost Easter, I guess I may do so tonight, just for old times sake.

File system? A raft to choose from. You can use FAT if you must, but then there are ext-2, xfs, and a host of others. I've used ext-3 and Reiser. All of these keep "journals" so that if you do have a crash before the data are saved you can recover. And they back themselves up, AND they error check and defrag themselves. So gone are the days of having to endlessly error check and defrag your disk. It just happens, in the dark of night while you are alone with your dreams.

Viruses? Generally fuggedaboutit. First, a well disciplined permissions protocol prevents access to critical files. Secondly, executables are all in one kind of a sandbox or another. Nevertheless the ClamAV virus search, cleaning, and protection system seems robust, although to date all it has found are old macro virii in old Windows DOC files and its own test files.

Development? Mono mimics .net. Then there is BASH, Perl, PHP, TC/TCL and a raft of other languages designed to do things simply. The flagship of web servers worldwide is LAMP: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. All open source and highly flexible, extensible, and usable. Not to mention the W3C standards for CSS and HTML. I have to write special CSS routines to accommodate MSIE, while the Rest Of The World read the authorized CSS styles just fine. XML seems to be an emerging standard for database formats, embraced by the LAMP community. A 'way cool app is Notebook:

http://notebook.wjduquette.com

This is an XML personal Wiki and database where you can easily store all your stuff. You can easily create a functional decomposition of your life and store away all those little snippets of information that you hate to lose and keep them a click away. I vaguely remember a proprietary Win app, InfoSelect I think, that sort of did this, but this is open and you can edit the DB with a text editor, which you could not do with InfoSelect.

The alleged "driver" issues are mostly solved except for perhaps the most arcane hardware. My Nvidia display, WiFi, printers, and USB peripherals work out of the box. Some folks, notably Nvidia, and others are now providing Linux drivers for full functionality, and the ndiswrapper protocol is doing a wonderful job of taking care of the rest.

There is still a problem with fringe proprietary software, mostly synchronization with PDAs and such hardware, e.g., Timex geek watch synchronization, Garmin GPS jock gear synchronization, Rosetta Stone language software, etc., but for those very arcane and limited applications there is VMWare as a full x86 hardware emulator into which you can install up to Vista, or CrossOver Office, which provides an enhancement of the Wine API to run Windows apps directly. Then there is Win4Lin, Wine itself, and others. I can transfer files between my Linux file system and my Nokia 9300i using Bluetooth OBEX but still haven't cracked the calendar, todo list, and contacts synchronization yet. Funambol and multisync promise this Real Soon Now (RSN)...

And on and on and on.

So you *can switch.

And most importantly, IT DOES WHAT I TELL IT TO DO AND NOTHING ELSE WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION!

Obedience is good. I paid for this machine, it belongs to me, not some faceless corporation in the far far west.

So do yourself a favor by taking a look at Linux, especially the SuSE and Ubuunto distributions. And, importantly, Linux Format and SourceForge.net as excellent sources of up-to-date information on the latest developments.

Linux has not only arrived, it is clearing the brush and weeds of obfuscation and frustration from the Desktop forest.

Young British Mother in Iranian Hands

Just think of that phrase and all it intones.

And it is true.

This is a young mother from the British Isles, serving her country to the best of her abilities, indeed as the master (coxswain) of her little RIB ship, who now has been converted into a pawn for international brinksmanship between Iran and the Rest Of The World.

They have dolled her up in their image of a woman, with shawl and all. Paraded her before the camera and terrified her into making intonations on video in which her body language and eyes tell us all that she is pleading for her life and NOT conceding.

We have been here before: Hanoi Hilton and beyond.

How can these maniacs be so oblivious to the truth? Of what incredible cruelty are these monsters capable? How stupid can they be? How can they possibly see that such inanity might possibly benefit their cause?

Only, and singly only, by their perception (or hope) that we will succumb to emotional pleas instead of the rule of law.

I am desperately concerned for the welfare of Seaman Turney and her family and her crewmates. I have been there.

But those of us who sign up for the defense of the Nation know, or should know, these are the risks we willingly undertake.

So, shed no tear for us, nor for Seaman Turney, nor for her crewmates. We all knew for what we signed up.

We are the first line of defense against tyranny.

The current Iranian regime has no regard for individual rights, compassion, or truth. They have proven this through this charade.

The Rest Of The World dare not succumb.

Where there is a bully attacking you, challenge him first, and if he will not recant, punch him in the nose.

Really hard.

He will go down hard, with a lot of his blood all over the place.

You can then, and only then, offer a hand and help clean him up.

God bless Seaman Turney and her shipmates. Blessed is she who suffers for His sake.

God bless us all.

Today's "Events", or "NON" events

I am rather concerned about what our lawmakers are doing to earn their pay.

In some cases, little or nothing.

In some other cases, creating more work, rather than actually solving problems.

I would prefer they pay attention to detail about reducing the national debt, reducing taxes, reducing greenhouse gasses, dealing with immigration issues, eliminating world hunger, and a host of other things.

Things that are far more important to us all than queuing up a hugely expensive and futile test of the Constitutional Separation of Powers over whether the boss has the right to fire one or more of his subordinates.

Surely our massive Civil Service Corps can find more than sufficient means to examine this navel in great detail to determine whether individual rights have been violated. Why should they need to involve legislators?

Surely, omnimpotent senators and representatives have better things to do, like solving problems that really do affect all of our lives.

Like:

Doing their job. SOLVING Problems, not creating more problems.

Political witch hunts are not for what we have hired them to do.

And make no mistake, they are our employees.

We can fire them, in due course.

Progress however slight

OK, I've been doing a lot of learning. Probably the most important first step is to develop a good template. I have yet to find a comprehensive tutorial for doing this, but am making progress, however slight.

I've found

thrbrtemplates.blogspot.com/

which has the three column format I crave.

But I need time to absorb it all.

I did today figure out how to set my picture. The picture at the top is of me in the aftermath of an awesome experience we had of screaming south for three days on the horns of a gale. It is an image of what I am all about, living life to the fullest, in the most kindly and wholesome way.

Geniet van het Leven is Dutch. Make the absolute most of every moment of your life.

Much of who I am is at www.lavarre.org but this seems to be a more viable and dynamic medium with the hope of reaching more people, so I shall be migrating that content here.

Watch this space.

Beginnings

Well, here I am in the blogosphere. A new experience, and doubtlessly to be a new learning experience. But that is why we are here: to enjoy life, to learn, and to make the world a better place for our having been here.

Watch this space.