Alex Rybicki .com

2009-12-21T04:40:00.000-08:00

So I was bored. who says baking cookies cant be fun?
It's a great way to make new friends :P

(the rest of the series can be found on my deviant art profile)

How big are the stars floating around in the universe?

2009-12-16T06:50:00.000-08:00

It's hard to fathom just how small we are.

Lance Armstrong @ Nevada City Classic

2009-06-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

So today (sunday) I got to see Lance Armstrong win the Nevada City Classic, in Nevada City, CA.

I recorded the last bit of the 2nd to last lap, final lap, and the victory lap. Skip to 1:50 to see lance.

I was basically at the bottom of the course, where they slow down around the 1st hairpin turn. At this part they would fly by at about 30mph.
There were a few times where Lance got a little too close for comfort, but for the most part I just locked the focus at 2 meters. :)

Heres a quick video of the end-of-race interview with Lance Armstrong recorded by the local newspaper, The Union.

The video above shows just over one complete lap. Its crazy how fast they are going! right where the video ends is approximately where I was standing. I could even see myself in the video :)

The Course was 1.1miles around thru the downtown city streets, for 40 laps. It was really awesome!

...and yes, Lance won the event...his first since returning from his 3 and a half year hiatus.

ncclassic.com for more info about the race.
Click here for a local news report covering the event. Sorry, they don't allow page embedding.

1964 Livermore Data Systems "Model A" Acoustic Coupler Modem, live demonstration

2009-05-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Notes from the creator of the video:

Circa 1964 Livermore Data Systems "Model A" Acoustic Coupler Modem, live demonstration.

Background: This modem was given to me ~1989 by the widow of a retired (IBM?) engineer. Computerhistory.org has a Model B dated 1965, and I've seen a ~1967 Model C written up in a magazine. (Interestingly, incorrectly identified as being only 110 baud.)

Even better than seeing it in a museum, I decide to hook the trusty Model A up and make it talk to something. After some trial and error, I manage to get it to talk to a terminal server at work and use it to connect to a linux box. It's ALIVE! So, 45 years after it's creation, this antique modem gets to send data to and from the modern Internet.

Linux Foundation Video contest winners announced

2009-04-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

On the 8th the Linux Foundation released their winner for their "We're Linux" Video Contest.
1st place was:
"What does it mean to be free?"

2nd place was my favourite pick, "The Origin"

Post of the Day - Dasher

2009-04-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today's post is an interesting program, to say the least. Dasher is an alternative interface for writing text, as opposed to using a keyboard. Like the matrix, it really has to be seen to be understood. Here is a quick video example:

It works well, its not as fast as touch typing, not by a long shot. But it is an alternative to small keyboards or devices such as cellphones, where the alternative would be single-finger typing or thumb-typing on a minuscule keyboard.

It can be installed in OSX, Windows and of course, linux.
sudo apt-get install dasher
or click this link apt://dasher

Project Homepage:
http://www.dasher.org.uk/

New NVIDIA linux driver released today

2009-03-30T12:34:00.001-07:00

Just a heads up. NVIDIA released a new stable video driver for Linux today. Version 180.44 fixed a few problems I was having with dithering and compiz, so it it recommended that if you are running a machine with an NVIDIA video card you grab the update.

To manually install the update:

download from this page To your home directory.
Hit Ctrl-Alt-F1 keys together to open a new TTY. Log in with your normal user name and password.
type: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop
type: chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-180.44-pkg2.run (for the 64bit version) (there is also no need to type the whole thing, just use bash's autocomplete. type up to the 'NV' and hit tab twice.
type: sudo ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-180.44-pkg2.run
follow the prompts within NVIDIA's display driver installer. Dont bother trying to download a precompiled version of the kernel. Just select to build a new version when it asks. Also, even if you are using the 64 bit driver, you will want to install the 32bit OpenGL libraries when it prompts.
type: sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start
log in. You should be using the new driver.

Just a warning though, with this install method, you will not be able to access updates to your NVIDIA driver via apt. And, this is a big one: Every time you update your kernel you will have to repeat the process. In fact, everything breaks. Just so long as you keep the NVIDIA driver in your home dir, it is not a problem though. Just repeat the process above and everything will work out fine.

Jaunty Beta | Ubuntu

2009-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that the Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04) beta will be released for testing at some point today. check this link for the downloads, once they are available:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/jaunty/beta/

For more info into the Ubuntu release process:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyReleaseSchedule

Jaunty Technical Overview:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyJackalope/TechnicalOverview

Post a Day - UNetbootin

2009-03-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Todays post is very much like the "Create USB startup disk" or usb-creator tool that has been included in ubuntu since 8.10. Using UNetbootin, you can use your USB key as a LiveCD with just about any popular flavor of linux. If you're like me, playing with many different distributions, and many different versions of linux, all those cds can add up quick. Sure you could vm them, but that doesnt allow for full use of your hardware, and also disallows modification of drives, which may or may not be a good thing.
UNetbootin will download the iso images for whichever distribution you choose from a list, or you can supply your own iso. UNetbootin can also be used to create bootable usb drives for such linux-distribution tools as Super Grub, Gparted, among others. You can even create your own custom boot using the linux kernel source.
The real advantage of creating a USB LiveCD though is being able to take your linux with you, plugging your 'computer' into any machine you happen to come across, and all your programs, settings, documents, etc are right there with you. Just remember to enable USB booting under your BIOS. Most recent BIOSs support this option.

Linux and windows flavors are available.

Project home Page:
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Linux video ad contest

2009-03-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

You may or may not know about a video ad contest The Linux Foundation is hosting. Currently anyone can vote now thru the 8th. to find out more about the contest, click here.

currently this is my favorite, but i haven't seen all of them:

The Origin... from Agustin Eguia on Vimeo.

Post a Day - Vim

2009-03-23T05:40:00.001-07:00

OK, so if you've used Linux for any length of time, you've needed to use text files via the command line....You can use $cat filename, $less filename or even $more filename to view files, but how do you actually edit a file? gedit works if you're within the ubuntu gnome shell, but what if you're stuck at the command line pre-session? That is where Vim comes in. Vim stands for Vi IMproved, because it was based on Vi, a UNIX text editor from the 70's.
Because its fully text based, navigation and editing is less then intuitive for the novice user. However with a little experience, it can be a huge boost to your Linux or even Unix command line forte.
A very helpful guide is build into Vim, reachable via the command line. Just type vimtutor, and you'll be creating, saving, editing, copy/pasting and even searching files in no time. The tutor takes about 10-15 minutes.
Unfortunately Vim is not a default package on the Ubuntu LiveCd, but it can be installed easily by typing:
sudo apt-get install vim

or by clicking this link:
apt://vim

Vim project page:
http://www.vim.org/index.php

Vim Cheat sheet:
type: action:
:q! ----quit without saving.
:wq ----quit, saving changes
i ----begin making modifications. esc key to exit editing mode.
x ----deletes char
w ----tabs to the next word

documentation can be viewed here

Post a Day - Truecrypt

2009-03-18T03:01:00.000-07:00

Ever watch the news and hear about so-and-so's laptop being stolen with hundreds of names and ssns or whatever? I kind of have to laugh, because people have no excuse not to use encryption. This is where truecrypt comes in. You can use truecrypt to create encrypted volumes. I dont want to get too in-depth with its features because well, there are too many. So I will just instead list some reasons why you should use it from the truecrypt.org website:

open-source. You dont have to take someones word for the fact that there are no backdoors. The code is right there to inspect.
Windows, linux and OSX compatible files.
You can create launchers on USB drives, so you dont even have to install it.

Quote from truecypt.org:

Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.

Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.

Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).

Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:

1) Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.

2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).

Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

Listen to this podcast to hear Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson talk about truecrypt's features.

Main truecrypt Project page:
http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads.php

Jaunty will have 3 new official themes

2009-03-18T01:36:00.000-07:00

According to softpedia.com (via digg), Jaunty now has an official package containing three new official themes. This is great news to me because my personal favourite theme dust is one of the three. This is the first step to being included on the LiveCD, and possibly even the default theme when 9.10 rolls around.
One of the major complaints I hear from a lot of people regarding ubuntu is the brown theme. While it sort of grows on you, I prefer a dark theme. Hopefully a new default theme will let people take a closer look at ubuntu.

To install the new theme in Jaunty (and only Jaunty or later), all you have to do is hit this link: apt://gnome-themes-ubuntu and then select it in the Appearance preferences dialogue.

Edit 3/29/2009: I've been using the Jaunty Beta since Thursday, and all three themes are installed on the LiveCD. They can be enabled via the appearance preferences menu. ( $gnome-appearance-properties ) Good times :)

Bash ls color meaning

2009-03-18T00:29:00.000-07:00

Every time you use the $ls command in bash, by default in ubuntu it returns the results in a color-coded fashion. But what do those colors mean? Well you can run the script below in terminal to list exactly what they are on your system. more then likely they are the default which are listed here:
Notice any trends? compressed files are listed in red, executables (anything listed with +x permission) are listed in green, media files are listed in purple, and audio files are listed in pastel blue. This can be very helpful when using ls to browse your filesystem.

global default normal file

Post a Day - Launchpad-update GPG script

2009-03-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

Today's post isn't groundbreaking, but it is very useful if you need it.
Since January, Launchpad.net Personal Package Archives (PPAs) have required GPG Keys in addition to the deb address. This can create problems for people like me who are constantly adding addresses to their sources.list and are too lazy to go download and import the GPG key. You will receive a notice similar to this any time you try to update your sources.list (apt-get update):

W: GPG error: http://ppa.launchpad.net intrepid Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 4874D3686E80C6B7

Fortunately, ubuntuforums.org user Blackgr created a very helpful and useful script that fetches and imports GPG Keys for any PPA in your /etc/apt/sources.list file that are missing.

Usage:
In terminal, navigate to the directory you've downloaded and extracted the launchpad-update shell script file.
sudo launchpad-update (name of your release for example: jaunty or intrepid)
so if you're running jaunty, you would type:
$sudo ./launchpad-update juanty

The script can be downloaded directly here.
Here is the original ubuntuforums.org thread. Post #42

Here are the contents of the script file: however, download from the thread post because he seems to update it every once in awhile. You can paste the following script into a file and make it executable using chmod +x filename.


#! /bin/sh
if [ "`whoami`" != "root" ];
then
echo "Please run with SUDO"
exit 1
fi
case "$1" in
hardy) RELEASE="hardy";;
intrepid) RELEASE="intrepid" ;;
jaunty) RELEASE="jaunty";;
*)
echo "Please select one of the following:"
echo "--"
echo "- hardy"
echo "- intrepid"
echo "- jaunty"
echo "--"
echo "Example: sudo ./launchpad-update intrepid"
exit 1
;;
esac
echo Release: $RELEASE
echo Please Wait...
for q in `find /etc/apt/ -name *.list`; do
cat $q >> fullsourceslist
done
for i in `cat fullsourceslist | grep "deb http" | grep ppa.launchpad | grep $RELEASE | cut -d/ -f4`; do
    wget -q --no-check-certificate `wget -q --no-check-certificate https://launchpad.net/~$i/+archive -O- | grep "http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/" | cut -d'"' -f2 ` -O- | grep "pub  " | cut -d'"' -f2 >> keyss
done
for j in `cat keyss` ; do
    wget -q --no-check-certificate "http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371$j" -O- | grep -B 999999 END |grep -A 999999 BEGIN > keyss2
    sudo apt-key add keyss2
    rm keyss2
done
rm keyss
rm fullsourceslist

Post a Day - Bootchart

2009-03-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

Todays post is an interesting benchmark utitlity that shows exactly what is going on in your system as you load linux. Bootchart writes its self to load just before grub, and then tracks i/o and hard disk waits as the system loads. Its very helpful in determining if theres anything you can do to speed up your boot process. Every boot it saves the data to a png image file in /var/log/bootchart/

It hasnt been updated in 4 years, but its still relevant and helpful in gaining an insight into the boot process. I used it as a benchmark to eventually get my system down to a 33 second boot time in Intrepid, as shown in the screenshot to the left.

Project page:
http://www.bootchart.org/download.html

Molten Iron throwing in China

2009-03-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

This is just crazy...

World Builder

2009-03-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

I thought this was pretty cool.

This award winning short was created by filmmaker Bruce Branit, widely known as the co-creator of '405'. World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

Post a Day - Usplash Smooth

2009-03-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Today's Post a Day Isn't a program in the strictest sense. Usplash Smooth is a modification to the Ubuntu boot-time splash loading screen. Normally there is a little orange bar that rocks back and forth, and the progress of the bar has no true representation of how far along the boot-process the system is acutally at.
This is where Usplash Smooth comes in. Now every time you boot, it saves the amount of time your system takes to load, and redisplays it in a smooth graphical bar. The first time you reboot the system it wont truly be a representation of how far along the process your system is, but on the second boot, it will show exactly how much time is remaining. It also modifies the shutdown progress.
Even though there is a slight performance hit, I still find it shocking when I boot a LiveCD without this progress bar. I've come to naturally expect it to be there. There was a rumor that something similar was going to be included in Ubuntu, but I have yet to see it on any of the Alpha builds.

To install Usplash Smooth, you need to incorporate the project's PPA into your sources list.
Full instructions can be found on the project page.

Project Page:
https://launchpad.net/~usplash-smooth/+archive/ppa

Post a Day - Net Activity Viewer

2009-03-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

Today's Post of the Day is Net Activity Viewer. Basically it is the GTK version of TCPView for Windows. It is an incredibly useful tool for discovering what ports are open, what programs are doing what on your network, and general snooping on your own ports. There are two modes that can be run, a normal 'user' mode, and one which requires root access, but gives a more detailed level of information.

Net Activity Viewer is available thru source forge. At the time I downloaded it, only the source code was available, however now it appears that both an i386 and x64-bit .deb binaries are available.

Project Page:
http://netactview.sourceforge.net

Post a Day - World of Goo

2009-02-28T13:54:00.000-08:00

Its the weekend, so its time for fun, right? Todays post is a game called World of Goo. While its not open source or free, it is a pretty awesome game available on the Linux platform. As the lack of quality games is a sticking point for some, the advent of developers building games for Linux is great.

World of Goo Trailer 2 Director's Cut
Uploaded by 2dboy

World of Goo is kind of like the old dos game Lemmings in reverse. The object is to move different goo-balls in such a manor as to have the remaining unused goo-balls sucked up by a tube.

I think the thing I love best about it is the original soundtrack, which the Author has made available free here.

The World of Goo Linux demo can be downloaded here.
World of Goo project page.

Post a Day - GNOME-Do

2009-02-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

Today's post is GNOME-Do. I have to say, the first time I tried GNOME-Do I didnt like it. I just saw it as another awn dock, and I dont like awn to begin with. awn is just too buggy for me.
The real power though of GNOME-Do is that it acts as a keyboard based interface for doing anything on your computer. You can do any number of tasks without even touching your mouse. There is no need to set up keyboard shortcuts, all you have to do is hit the Windows(aka Super) key and the Space bar. This brings up an auto-suggest box based on whatever you type. Say you want to open terminal, just hit (Super+Space bar) and then begin to type terminal. As you type, it will slowly give suggestions, until what you want is at the top of the list. Hit enter to do that task.
Its not simply limited to being a launcher though. With plugins, you can navigate the web, make tiny-urls, make skype calls, email contacts thru gmail, the list goes on. There are probably about 75 plugins currently available.
You probably wont like it at first, but it sort of grows on you.
It is possible to download via apt, but I suggest downloading from the project page. The current version available via apt is .6, however there were major improvements with the latest version .8, which is currently available only via the project page. There have been complications when installing on x64 bit systems. I used the deb file from the project page though and it worked fine. Getting the plugins package to compile was another story entirely...

GNOME-Do Project page:
https://launchpad.net/do

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5 | Ubuntu

2009-02-26T19:17:00.000-08:00

Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5 is hot off the presses, only a few hours old.
You can download it here.

Post a Day - Gwibber

2009-02-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

Gwibber is an open source twitter client, that also integrates well with RSS and a number of other online services, including digg, flickr, and facebook.
Personally it's my favorite twitter client, and I also use it for light-weight news RSS feeds (I use google reader for my main RSS reader). While it might not have the functions of TweetDeck, Gwibber does what it does well, and has the benefit of being open source.
I have it set up to notify me with Popup bubbles so I can run minimized, and with the new notify-osd notifications coming in Jaunty, the results are both useful and stunning.
The main window is highly customizable with themes.

Gwibber can be installed via apt
$sudo apt-get install gwibber
or click here:apt://gwibber

or the source can be downloaded from the project page.
https://launchpad.net/gwibber

I recommend downloading from source, as the project is very active, with modifications and improvements daily.

Feel free to follow me on twitter @alexrybicki

Post a Day - Meld

2009-02-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

So for my first Post a Day, Ive decided to feature Meld. Meld is a very useful tool for comparing to text files, much like the $compare command in bash, only it presents the files in a GTK Gui.
It highlights changes between 2 or 3 files or directories, and adds dynamic bubbles, showing just where that tiny modification was. The bigger the file, the more useful it becomes. See the screenshot for an example or simply install and try it out.

To install meld, just run $sudo apt-get install meld
or click here:apt://meld

note: you will need to enable the "Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)" for the above command to work. This can be done by selecting System>Administration>Software Sources - Then clicking the "Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)" check box.

The project page for Meld is
http://meld.sourceforge.net