I have been right here plugging away at several projects.
pyFollowBack.com My Twitter follow back service is going well. Everyone who join’s the service loves it. My own combined twitter account are now close to 200,000 followers, my own account @madberry has 21,509 followers and is growing strongly each month.
This blog is now a PR3 blog so I am happy about that. Thanks everyone for linking back and helping me to grow this blog.
I will be adding new sections soon. I have decided to pick two of my old hobbies back up. Electronics has always been my absolute favorite thing to do, it is extremely cool to be able to have a problem and design a circuit that solves it. I am looking forward to playing with some Arduino’s that will be coming in soon.
An other longtime hobby of mine is broadcasting, back home in the Netherlands I used to DJ with a pirate radio station(a station broadcasting without the necessary license) I did that for eight years. While I was doing this I had fun building studio’s and putting antennas on ten story buildings for this station. At this point I would direct you to a website with the history of the station, but the only website that exists about the station is in Dutch. I will be translating most of the information to English. When this is done I will place a link here so every one can read about it.
One of the drawbacks of working at a pirate station is the possibility of the Dutch FCC(RCD) coming in and taking your station of the air. The do this by confiscation of all station equipment, including antenna’s and expensive transmitters.
But there is also a way to becoming licensed to broadcast, okay you can’t broadcast music or any other entertainment but you are allowed to talk on the radio. You might have heard of the term HAM, no not the back-end of a pig, HAM’s do an exam to become a amateur radio operator. This exam gives you privileges to talk on certain frequencies to other HAM’s. It isn’t a license you get with a packet of gum in the store. You actually have to study for this one.
I won’t bore the ones that don’t care to read about it. In short HAM’s talk to other hams in this country and all over the world. Read more about this in the future category that will be created here.
Keep an eye on this blog for more Linux articles as well. I have a couple of ideas for articles and I need to get back to a regular schedule when it comes to posting on this and some of my other blogs.
I joined VPS.net in November of 2009 and I have been with them since. As I said they where a young start-up when I joined and there where some bugs that they needed to fix. The easy of which you can add and remove nodes, VPS.net uses nodes to describe a section of server resources allocated to you, was unbelievable.
The service provided by VPS.net has overall been good, there where a couple of situations where they could have handled there stuff better. Most recently I got migrated from Chi-C to Chi-A because the Chi-c cloud didn’t provide the service any more that VPS.net wants for it’s customers. This wasn’t entirely without cost for me, I am talking some extra costs for nodes etcetera.
There have been issues with servers going down, sometimes because of scheduled downtime, which I found out about to late. A couple of times the server went down because of SAN issues. I expect that this will be better in Chi-A, all of those problems where in the Chi-C cloud.
I haven’t had any problems getting a response back from support, or even a manager, when I started a ticket. I know some people have complained about this, but they might just have started a ticket when there was already an on going issue with a cloud. Checking status.vps.net helps when trying to find out if there is a service issue.
One of the things I really love is that they have a bunch of licenses that you can use for your server. This makes it really easy to get a cPanel license for a server for instance, or an R1Soft Backup license.
I love having complete control of all of the aspects of my server. I use VPS.net’s DNS servers which are hosted by Softlayer. They even provide a DNS plugin for cPanel to easily add domains to the DNS. One of my most favourite features are the FREE Comodo SSL certificates you can get via VPS.net, all you have to do is start a ticket.
In conclusion has there been downtime yes, but every time that has happened they either limited the downtime or compensated for prolonged downtime.
The ability to make your server scale automatically is golden.
In my opinion you can’t go wrong with the nodes from VPS.net.
That is it, the migration should now run and finish like planed.
Source: wiki.ubuntu.com/OneiricOcelot/Final/Kubuntu/Kmail2
I had this problem on a server of mine. In my case it was kdevelop that was held back. I removed the held package and the upgrade went through as expected.
dd is an application to make bit for bit copies of a hard drive, or anything else you need a bit for bit copy of. One of dd’s downfalls is that it doesn’t have a progress bar. Instead you are just staring at a blank screen, waiting for dd to finish copying your drive.
Today I ran into this problem again, I am copying a 80GB hard drive bit for bit. I need this copy to turn the server it was in into a virtual server. Saving me electricity and hardware.
The solution is quite simple we just have to pipe through another application to get the progress bar. Before we do anything install this application. Here is the code:
sudo apt-get install pv
Now we have that application installed we just need to change the dd command to include this application:
sudo dd if=/dev/sdd | pv | sudo dd of=/home/username/path-to-iso.iso
That’s it I can’t make it any easier than that.
Google yields a lot of results for different subjects and keywords, when you are looking for a result that can really be daunting. This is where +1 comes in. You friends and family can click the 1+ button on websites they like and this way recommend sites to you. In return you can do the same.
Check out +1 one these URLs:
Get the +1 button now
More info on the +1 button
+1 button API
Click my +1 button over there –>
It is time for another site revamp. I am not happy anymore with the way the site looks. I need to rethink the ad placements, and there are other things that need my attention as well. I am using way to much plugins I need to trim my use of plugins.When I have done all of that, then I can concentrate on creating new content.
I knew about Google Apps, I had even played around with it before. Although it seemed like a good product, I wasn’t really interested in using it. Recently I decided when I bought another domain to use Google Apps for it instead of my own mail server. I must say I like it, I like it so much I am now transfering e-mail for several domains to Google Apps.
This will enable me to easily setup the same e-mail prefix for all domains. I just point the domains DNS records MX part to Google’s MX servers and that’s it all domain mail will now go to Google Apps. Google Apps doesn’t only provide Gmail with you own domain, it also provides many other services. You can use Groups, Docs, Gtalk, Google Calendar and many more.
There is a free Google Apps version that will allow you to have up to 50 e-mail account with 7GB each. This should be enough for most, but if you need more you can always get the business solution they offer. It will cost you $50 a year per user, you will get 25GB space per user. The also offer additional apps. for business users. Like Google Video for Business, Google Groups for Business, BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook interoperability and much more.
For more information check out this website.
Note: I am in no way affiliated with Google or Google Apps. I am not receiving any payment for writing this.(although Google if you are reading this, feel free to use the donate button).
I have been working on pyFollowBack since November of last year. I originally wrote pyFollowBack for myself a lot of the services I was using wanted, in my eyes, to much money for this simple task when they all went premium. All the software had to do was un-follow people not following me, and follow back people who just started following me. I never expected any one else to be interested in the software at all.
How ever after running it for a while I got question from people how the could subscribe to the service. I decided since there was interest to make the service available to others. I am now working on version 2 of the software. I have created a public front-end by using Tornado web server, an easy way to tie the back-end software to a web accessible front-end. I was using SQLite, but have now switched to MySQL.
It has been a lot of fun figuring out how to best make a public version of pyFollowBack. Learning Python and using Tornado. Although it has taken some time away from my blogging activities.
to be continued…
To start we need to install update-manager:
sudo apt-get install update-manager
Then we simply run:
sudo update-manager -d
Before running the distro-upgrade we have to install all of the security updates found by update-manager. It is important to not skip this step:
Let this finish, if it prompts you to restart do so. Then run update manager again. Now hit upgrade to start your upgrade to Ubuntu / Kubuntu Natty Narwhal 11.04.
See the images below for a step by step:
sudo apt-get install getlibs ia32-libs
This getlibs package can do a lot more then you would expect go here for more information. In our example you could use it to install Skype or Adobe Air, how ever the below described method can be used for any 32 bit deb package. To force dpkg to install the 32 bit dependencies we have to use --force-architecture . Run the code below to now install the package.
sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture adobeair.deb
There are many talks on the website here are some of my favorites:
These are only a few examples, there are so many videos to explore. From tech. talks to performances, you will always find something that will inspire you.
What is new in Kubuntu 11.04:
Many small improvements and bug fixes are made. Some larger changes I will discuss below. There will be things I forget, or don’t even know about, if you have anything to add feel free to leave a comment below.
What I hope for every release of Ubuntu and it’s derivatives is better support for wireless network interfaces. Although a lot of cards and USB devices are supported by default, to many –mainly Netgear and Linksys devices– are still not supported. Netgear I love you but you need to get into the game. Opensource your drivers, or work with the kernel team to get native drivers for all of your wireless devices on Linux.
Release schedule for Kubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal:
03-31-2011 Beta 1 Released
04-14-2011 Beta 2 Released
04-28-2011 Final Release
As always you should not install the Alphas or Betas on a production computer. If the computer is important to you and you cannot afford any down time wait for the final release.
I believe the decision to stop SIP services was mainly made because of the system they where using, it was very network heavy and not efficiently design at all. They obtained Gizmo 5 at one point, they have announced they will be shutting down the service. This might be because of the newly found Google Voice SIP capability.
There have been no official announcements made by Google about this SIP capability, it is also not a full SIP service yet. At this moment the SIP service only allows SIP to SIP calls no termination to PTSN landlines or mobile numbers yet. Although my prediction is that Google will eventually implement this, after which we will see a beta announcement.
This could be very big and could eat into the profits of some major SIP players, potentially putting company’s like Voipbuster out of business. Granted that to do so they will have to implement a similar payment system, hopefully offering us 120 free days in several countries like Voipbuster currently does. They currently offer international calling in Google Voice, but having to call a number to get a call back or using an app., or website to do so is unpractical. Even though prices are lower than Voipbuster, which is the service I would be looking to replace, the free days still do it for me.
I will refrain from writing a how to on using Google Voice SIP until we know for sure the service will remain up. How ever if you want to try it for yourself here is the SIP address: +1GV#@sip.voice.google.com please replace GV# with your own Google voice number and don’t forget the +1. You should be able to terminate calls using a softphone to other SIP numbers.
Dixon Rams Ruby vs. Sierra Foothills Rugby
I shot a rugby game this Saturday. They had a great game and Dixon won. I have pictures on flickr for those who want to oder some of the photo go to flickr find the photo you wand note the title down and order your prints here. I did discover a problem with one of my CF cards it caused an error in the camera and I had t change cards to fix it. Luckily I was able to recover some of the photos taken on the defective card. We will be attending more rugby games in the near future. So if I didn’t shoot a photo of your kid this time I might at the next game. If you have any special requests please let me know, just walk up to the tall guy with the camera, I promise I won’t bite…..
We went to cheer on a friend, running her first 10k, on Super Bowl Sunday. She did great and finished faster then she thought she would(no she is not in this picture). While we where there I decided to snap some more shots. I put them on flickr in a set they are for sale, if you recognize yourself order a print by e-mailing me the@undiff.com or leave a comment on this post. Prints are affordable and shipping in most cases is cheap. Digital right are for sale as well just send me an e-mail for more information.The 2011 Davis Stampede was a lot of fun, I will be attending more events in the coming year check this blog for details. I need to fund some more lenses and selling prints seems to be a good way to do it.
I am currently looking into ways to create a website where these prints can be bought. Giving people the opportunity of ordering prints in various sizes and maybe even matted.
If you have any suggestions, wordpress plugins and a like. Please leave a comment.
Here are the rest of the thumbnails(To view all of them click on a picture and use flickr this page only shows a few of the total amount of pictures taken):
Stemmen is gemakkelijk je schrijft je in bij de wedstrijd hier beneden, je laat een comment achter hier is de tekst(zonder quotes A.U.B.): “I vote for Marcy & Berry van der Linden” of ”Dixon’s cutest couple is Marcy and Berry van der Linden” en je mag natuurlijk ook zelf wat verzinnen zolang onze namen er maar in voor komen.
Hier is de link:
In 1986 I discovered my dads Canon FT QL(see photo on the left) . My dad bought two lenses with the Camera and I think it came with the leather case you see in the picture, as far is I know it was bought before I was born in 1974. I loved this camera it thought me about aperture, ISO. I took a lot of pictures with this camera of different topics. One of my favorites to shoot was track and field action shots.This camera broke and I was unable to take any more pictures with it, I don’t want to sound melodramatic but it broke my heart. Back then we didn’t really have the money to send it to Canon, and the camera was about 15 years or so old making it unfeasible to get fixed.
Recently(first week of January) I bought a Canon EOS 20d(see stock photo on the left) it came with a 28-80mm consumer Canon lens. Reason for buying this camera is simple I want to get back into shooting photos, and what better way to do so then with a brand you know.
I found myself being really rusty in the understanding of aperture, ISO and shutter speed. So to remedy this I am now reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Petterson, a book I can really recommend especially for beginners but also for seasoned veterans wo have gotten a little rusty. It a great book to have on your shelf, be it digital or not. Bryan takes real world examples and translates it to words, in a way that is easy to understand for everybody. I am only on page 43 at the moment but I am not finding it hard, read this book isn’t dry, to read through at all.
I now find myself wanting better glass, a popular term for lenses on photography forums. Not because I a such an awesome photographer that I need better glass. I am just running into the limitations of my Canon EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6, the link is to version 2 of this lens. I have decided to not buy any glass that is consumer grade, I will save money a little longer and buy L glass instead.–I have to change that statement some of the lenses in the Sigma line-up look really good.– The overall quality of this pro grade glass is so much better, they are also graded better in online reviews. I think it is worth the extra money, it also makes it easier to go full-frame if I so desire later on down the road.
Zoals gezegt het is een routine operatie dus we hopen op het beste. Als er nieuws is dan zal ik dat via mijn blog laten weten.
Met uistekende prestaties van onder andere Daan Schuurmans en Theo Maasen, wordt Bellicher; De Macht van Meneer Miller een “must see”.
Hier is en kleine synopses van de Website:
“Vierdelige thrillerserie naar de boeken van Charles den Tex rond de persoon Michael Bellicher (Daan Schuurmans).
Hij is werkzaam bij een van de grootste communicatieadviesbureaus ter wereld.
Het is zijn werk om ‘feiten zo gunstig mogelijk te presenteren’. Hij heeft enkele ministers als klant.
Alles waar hij van droomt, lijkt dan ook binnen handbereik. Totdat hij getuige is van een moord, ten onrechte verdacht wordt en zijn onschuld moet bewijzen.
Michael blijkt zich midden in een internationaal schandaal te bevinden en zijn tegenstanders lijken er alles aan te doen om hem het zwijgen op te leggen.
Michael zal terug moeten vechten: niet alleen met mooie woorden, maar ook met daden.”
Wat het voor mij meteen deed, om het maar zo te zeggen, is het feit dat ik een computerscherm met hackerige dingen voorbij zag komen in de leader. Zo als de meeste van mijn vrienden weten ben ik een sukkel voor alles wat dan ook maar met hacken te maken heeft.
Ik heb de VPRO altijd beschouwt als de voorlopers als het om TV aan gaat. De meest inoverende website, de meest veel belovende TV programma’s, iets nieuws onder de zon als je van de gesneden koek TV even genoeg hebt. Het enigste waar ik als Linux gebruiker en Nederlander in het buitenland niet blij mee ben is dat ze voor hun Online distributie uitzendinggemist.nl en Microsofts Silverlight gebruiken.
Ik heb al eens in een Engelse post uitgelegt waarom ik Silverlight niks vind. Uitzendinggemist is een ding van de laatste tijd, omdat ik in America zit ben ik voor Nederlandse TV aanhankelijk van dat soort websites (Alle zenders hebben er wel 1). Ik heb een paar keer geklaagt dat de website soms nog al langzaam is. Daar doen ze natuurlijk weinig aan wij in het buitenland zijn immers een minderheid. Het andere probleem met dit soot shows is de beperkte houdbaarheid op de websites. Vanwege copyright nonsense kunnen ze deze serie maar een beperkte tijd online houden. Wat dan ook weer een probleem is want ik kom meestal pas achter een nieuwe Nederlandse serie als het te laat is. Wat dus betekent dat ik elders aan mijn Nederlandse fix moet komen.
Wat ik zou willen van de VPRO is een snelle server in Amerika waar ik, op een Linux vriendelijke manier, show kan kijken. Het liefdst via een MythTV plugin maar goed ik snap dat dat misschien iets te veel gevraagt is.
Ik zit nu 11 minuten in de eerste serie, ik zal vertellen wat ik er van vind as hij afgelopen is. vriendlijke