2008-11-13

My first Linux script contribution - Thursday, November 13, 2008

Hey, this is the first script that I am posting for the Linux community.

The comments explain pretty much all that I know about it. Please, please, please read the file until you see the line that says:
#### End of mandatory reading
It contains important information - such as the one (so far) known bug.

Here it is: Beeps (It's the only file inside the archive.)
Is it pointless? Probably.
Is it fun? I had fun with it.

Enjoy!

2008-10-05

First "real" Post on this site; Here's the deal - Sunday, October 5, 2008

Okay, all those posts labeled as "Archive-type" are actually posts that were on my Yahoo! 360 blog, but since I have had so many issues with their blog hosting system, I have switched to Google's system (Blogger).

I hope it works out better than Yahoo!'s.
That's all for now!

Technical Difficulties Sunday, October 05, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

Well, I failed to post on Friday as I said I would, and I apologize for that.

I tried to post both then and Saturday, but with no luck. Now I am posting using a different web browser to see if it works. 


I may switch my blog to another blog-hosting site.

Praying - Thursday, October 02, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

I have to admit, I'm not usually as religious as I feel I should be. Tonight is a bit different. What I have just done might make this an important day in my history. If I've done what I think I've done, I will be ecstatic to know that spare time in my last four years has not been spent poorly. (There are (at least) two companies that will most likely not be happy if I have done what I think I have done.) But I have to wait to know for sure. I will find out tomorrow at school. I plan to post tomorrow either way, revealing my findings if I have succeeded.

To all a good night.

My registrations - Friday, September 19, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

Hello, anyone who reads this blog (that probably means no one) -

I am active on the Internet in a handful of spots; if you want to find me, (even if you don't,) here are some profile pages of mine:

Hacker Learning Network

LinuxQuestions.org

Linux Forums

Ubuntu Forums

Hardware Logic

Facebook

Instructables

And here are two of my badges:


Linux Registered User # 474194
Ubuntu Registered User # 22896

Have fun.

A sad sight to see - Sunday, September 14, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

It really is sad to see how ignorant people are these days.

Just take a look at the site http://home.comcast.net/~SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html

Almost all of his information is inaccurate, irrelevant to his argument, or both.

He apparently didn't read his sources very well (at least not the ones that I read).

He states clearly in his site:

No I do not hate Firefox


However, here is part of his site (removed parts not relevant to my post) that is farther down the page:

Emailing Rules:


3. Non-Windows Users - Do not send me any emails! I honestly do not care about what you have to say.

4. The Examples are NOT the Sources! Do not send me any emails about the Examples!
5. Excuses will NEVER be added to this page! Do not send me any emails including any excuses.
6. I have heard just about every argument imaginable and I am extremely tired of repeating myself.
7. Do not send me long useless emails giving your opinion on each Myth, I really don't care.
8. Do not claim to know or imply my intent, only I can state this.

Now if you have a testimonial or an intelligent comment and not something that 20 other mindless fanboys have not already knee-jerk ranted about feel free to email me: OptimizeXP@comcast.net

Notes - Non-Windows users and Fanboys are apparently illiterate.

Okay... Then why is Microsoft itself behind a Linux firewall?
Obviously, this is one of those people that has no varied, real-world experience with computing.
My guess is that this person has never even tried Linux, much less anytime recently.

Also note how this person tries to dismiss anything that goes against their thoughts, not even giving them a chance. The reason is probably that they just don't want to admit to being wrong, whether or not they are. Sure, the vast majority of the population dislike being wrong, but anyone that is not a coward will admit to it (if they are).

Google runs on Linux. Last I heard, Microsoft is behind a Linux firewall.
Software developers other than Microsoft do exist - for excellent reasons.

Final thoughts: I will probably be "blacklisted" if my blog is found by the owner of Firefox Myths. Cowardly, eh?

The Mojave Experiment - Thursday, September 11, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

Okay, I've been browsing the website of The Mojave Experiment, and found out what I already knew: Ubuntu still triumphs over Vista.





First video: Security

The Mojave Experiment brags about how Vista gets fewer malware infections than XP SP2 in the same time period. No kidding, anything would! Besides, malware coders probably get tired of dealing with easy stuff like Windows.

It also talks about parental controls. It wasn't clear to me in the video if Vista could block specific websites, but I know that Squid and Dansguardian combined on Ubuntu can. As for the restricted logon times, it would probably take a little more work to do the same thing in Ubuntu, but not much. Just make two scripts; one to disable and one to enable the child's account, and schedule them with cron, at, or gat (a front-end for cron and at).





Second video: Compatibility

I have not experienced compatibility issues with Ubuntu, but in my experience with Vista, "compatibility mode" doesn't work with any of the five to ten programs I've tried. XP's compatibility mode worked better for me than this - it had a success rate of about 50%.

As for the hardware, The Mojave Experiment talks about having the following statistics:

Cameras = 500+

Printers = 2000+

Media players = 150

As for Ubuntu, the numbers are less, but when you consider that you can set the cameras and media players to be read as a "mass storage device", I'm guessing it really would boost that number. Also, for any hardware, you could always just use "NDISwrapper" and use the Windows driver. Lastly, these are just the ones that have been submitted - for instance, the "Cases/Cooling" on the Ubuntu HCL only has 6 items - this is obviously far, far from accurate.

Cameras = 361

Printers = 212

Media players = Not specified





Third video: Organization

The Mojave Experiment highlights three things in this video: the search capabilities, the 3D Flip function, and the file previews.

I'd say that Ubuntu is a fair amount behind in the search department, way far ahead in the 3D effects department (via Compiz-Fusion), and on-par to slightly behind in the preview function.





Fourth video: Windows Media Center

Elisa (a download for Ubuntu) has all the features of the player parts of Windows Media Center, while MythTV has more features (according to what I have read) than Windows Media Center does for the recording side of things.

As for the "panoramic stitch", the photo he showed after the stitch was not panoramic - but you could do what he did or do a "panoramic stitch" in Gimp.





Fifth video: File Backup

Honestly, I can not speak about file backup on the Linux front: I have never used such features. However, of all the versions of Windows I have encountered, none that I have tried System Restore with have worked.





Sixth video: Gadgets

Ubuntu has gadgets of its own, though I have never used them.

Microsoft asking for it; Information to be released - Sunday, August 31, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

Microsoft is barking up the wrong tree, as the saying goes.

Look at the linked page:
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/

If they were to win a lawsuit like that, I am predicting that there would be lots of riots. 
(Okay, protests, not riots.)




Also: 

Look back here at the beginning of June, 2009. I plan to post some batch files I finished in April or May of 2007. 

I will also explain why I am not posting them now.

A few reasons why Linux is better than Windows - Thursday, June 19, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

Here are my main reasons why Linux is better than Windows (numbered for clarity, not order):


As-is, without needing any downloads/updates, features of the operating system (by default):

1. Free/Illegal to make "unfree"/ISO image available online (legal)/Encouraged to make copies and distribute/redistribute.

2. Drag-and-drop to reposition the placeholders for open windows on the taskbar.

3. Contains virtual desktops.

4. Get two CDs of the operating system shipped to you at absolutely no cost by providing a name and address.

5. Huge amount of dedicated (and "official") community forums/support.

6. Contains an office suite.

7. Multiple languages selectable at boot time.

8. Low minimum system requirements.

9. Contains package management software.

10. Single CD install

11. Can be tested (fully functional) without installing

12. Can hot-plug PS/2 keyboards and mice

13. Contains Perl (Practical Extraction and Report Language)


Note:

--Ubuntu (one of the latest-and-greatest of Linux) had all of these features by December 2007
--Windows Vista Ultimate (the latest-and-greatest of Windows) had none of these features by December 2007



Make your switch today!

Linux(es) on a flash drive - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 (Posted on Su_2008-10-05 as Archive-type post.)

I now have persistent KNOPPIX (bootable), Back Track 2 Live CD (bootable), and Damn Small Linux (QEMU in windows) installed on my 4GB USB flash drive. It took a while to get all of the settings right, but it was worth the time. I can't find any way to use an emulator to boot the drive (not a disk image) from within Windows. 

Yes, I like Linux better than Windows, but I am still much more familiar with Windows. I have only started with Linux less than a year and a half ago, whereas I have used Windows since January of 2000. 

The main reason I prefer Linux over Windows is what I have to pay for the latest and greatest of each - if I want Vista Ultimate, I would have to pay $300-$500 depending on where I shop. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, DSL, KNOPPIX, (which I use,) and most other versions of Linux are available for download for $0. That's how I decided, considering that support for Linux is excellent.