Linux & Opensource - Thoughts, Uses, Ideas ... and hopefully more.

Which type of "nerd" are you?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:48:00 +0000

A clever Venn diagram to help you determine which type of “nerd” you are:

Run Windows 7 for 120 Days Without Activation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:17:00 +0000

If you'd like to keep multiple Windows installations running for software testing or go-to backup purposes, Windows 7 can be run without an activation key for up to 120 days.

The command line code (slmgr -rearm) that could be entered at the end of three different 30-day periods to give Vista 120 days without activation works just the same in Windows 7, and Microsoft even confirms the work-around to PC World, calling it a "grace period" for new users.

In the meantime, those who aren't quite comfortable grabbing Windows 7's final RTM build from less-than-legal sources, or waiting until Oct. 22 for the official release, have about one hour left to download the Release Candidate.

Windows 7 Will Run 120 Days for Free [PC World]

10 super-cool Linux hacks...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:53:00 +0000

This collection should help you impress your boyfriends and girlfriends, evoke a smile with your peers or even your boss and help you be more detailed and productive when it comes to system administration tasks...

Click here to learn how.

Google v/s Microsoft v/s Yahoo ?!?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:59:00 +0000

Corporate Hierarchy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Windows 7 Beta Shutdowns Begin

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:56:00 +0000

If you're still running the Windows 7 Beta, it will start shutting down every two hours, which is Microsoft's way of reminding you to install their Windows 7 Release Candidate — at least until March 1, 2010, when your PC starts the bi-hourly shutdowns once more. In the meantime, check out how much 7 will cost when it drops on October 22.

VirtualBox 3.0 Beta Adds Gaming-Level Graphics for Virtual Machines...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:52:00 +0000

It was gonna happen soon - just couldn't figure who would be the first, but, it seems like VirtualBox took the lead. I use the words "took the lead" because it doesn't seem too likely that Vmware or Xen intend to enter this particular corner of virtulization - happily serving the servers and workstations.

VirtualBox 3.0 has an early beta out that introduces OpenGL 2.0 and Direct3D support.

The graphics support for Windows, Linux, and Solaris guest machines are not just the main features in the upcoming 3.0 release, but also a lot of other fixes and tweaks, including a streamlined settings window, better synchronization of shared folders between Linux and Windows host/guest setups, and continued optimizing of virtual processors. The OpenGL and Direct3D additions will, of course, depend heavily on your hardware, and how much video memory you allot to your virtual machines, but it should clear up quite a few compatibility problems.

Hit the link to read up on VirtualBox 3.0 beta 1 and grab a free binary for Windows, Mac, or Linux systems.

The Ext4 file system

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Ext4 file system (4th extended file system) is the next generation of journaling file systems, retaining backward compatibility with the previous file system, ext3. Ext4 was released as a functionally complete and stable filesystem in Linux kernel 2.6.28.

One of the most evident advantages of ext4 for end users is the drastic reduction in time taken to do an fsck operation of your hard drives. The other advantages of ext4 file system over ext3 are - it provides better performance and greater reliability. Also it increases the maximum file system size to a whooping 1 exabyte. Compared to this, ext3 supports a maximum of only 16 TB of file system size.

To learn more about Ext4, follow these links ...

Improving Disk Performance...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:20:00 +0000

I found this rather old article on Linux Mag, but found it quite useful even now...

Many Linux users, like computer users generally, are speed freaks. We buy the latest hardware (or the latest hardware we can afford) in an effort to trim a few seconds here and there. In the case of desktop users, this is done for personal benefit, but for server computers, the benefit is improved server performance, which can be very important for a busy server.

In general, the same optimization principles apply to both types of system, although some performance measures are more important for some applications. A server isn’t likely to need the latest and greatest video card, for instance, but a desktop system that’s used for gaming or other video-intensive tasks might.

This column focuses on just one class of performance optimization: hard disks. Hard disk performance affects many different aspects of system operation, including boot time, program launch time, file load and save times, program compile times, and swap efficiency. A poor configuration can produce very sluggish performance, making even a brand-new computer feel like one that’s several years behind the times. A good configuration, on the other hand, can help you get the most out of your computer, and perhaps even extend the useful life of a middle-aged computer.

Read More...

Are you ready for a downtime?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:17:00 +0000

I just had a downtime yesterday night, and I haven’t slept properly yet, which kinda prompted these thoughts.

I guess that we system administrators have no concept of normal hours, an 8 to 5 job, a normal life with friends and family - no siree we are those guys that lurk in dark, unseen, arctic data centers. As a system administrator, I’ve seen a good share of downtimes, but I think that downtime needn’t be a pain in the ass.

We sys admins have a small flaw (as I like to think of it), and that would be that we are not exactly the best guys to keep documents upto date - huh what’s that I hear, you actually did, good for you mate, that will help you definitely to manage your downtimes better. BUT, if you fall in the category like me where I haven’t really kept my documentation super good, it would be a good idea to plan, prepare and finally execute.

I guess we can’t exactly plan, a downtime occurred what’s to plan? Well, at that point of time, bleary eyed and half asleep/awake it’s better to collect your thoughts and think of what you want to do. Remember in the case of a very important system, it would be a good idea to have a backup of some configuration files or settings that might possibly get lost. It would be a good idea at this point of time to lock the doors and focus on the task that you’ve planned and prepared. Distractions in the case of an extremely important system result is a high risk of making mistakes.

Off-course, prevention would be the best policy but we live in an imperfect world. Even Google had their share of downtime.

Over-Cautious...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Click on the image for a larger view...

Kinda reminds me of my office co-workers :-))

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:09:00 +0000

Click on the image for a larger view...

Upgrading Woes :-))

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:27:00 +0000

Credit goes to XKCD
Click on the image for a larger view...

I'm a Programmer :-))

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:14:00 +0000

Click on the image for a larger view..

The Internet is Full :-))

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:47:00 +0000

Click on the image for a larger view...

Flow Charts made simple...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Credit goes to XKCD
Click on the image for a larger view...

Linux Kernel 2.6.30 Released

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Linux kernel 2.6.30 has been released. The list of new features includes NILFS2 (a new, log-structured filesystem), a filesystem for object-based storage devices called exofs, local caching for NFS, the RDS protocol (which delivers high-performance reliable connections between the servers of a cluster), a new distributed networking filesystem (POHMELFS), automatic flushing of files on renames/truncates in ext3, ext4 and btrfs, preliminary support for the 802.11w drafts, support for the Microblaze architecture, the Tomoyo security MAC, DRM support for the Radeon R6xx/R7xx graphic cards, asynchronous scanning of devices and partitions for faster bootup, the preadv/pwritev syscalls, several new drivers and many other small improvements.

There's a little Da Vinci in us all IT guys :-))

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 02:59:00 +0000

In Pictures (...errr Screenshots) Fedora 11

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:08:00 +0000

The popular Linux distribution Fedora (you know, the one that isn't Ubuntu) has just released a new major version, Fedora 11.

...and everyone loves pictures, so here's a screen-shot tour of Fedora 11.

Duh ?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:58:00 +0000

Credit goes to XKCD
Click on the image for a larger view...

Oh woe...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:02:00 +0000

Click on the image for a larger view...

Sudo Power...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:55:00 +0000

Credit goes to XKCD
I guess some of you might have genuinely come her to learn more about sudo, you can find it here.

Software Engineering Explained

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:42:00 +0000

I found this really humorous image from http://www.codinghorror.com/
Click on the image for a larger view...

How to Install Google Analytics on Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:39:00 +0000

Wouldn’t it be nice to know how many people actually visited your blog each day? Blogger doesn’t currently offer any native blog analytics but fortunately there is Google Analytics — available for free.

Here's a great post on http://www.eblogtemplates.com/ on how to configure it for Blogger, but it can also be done for any other website. The article will show you how to add Google Analytics to your Blogger blog. It’s a fairly simple process and doesn’t require any technical skill at all.

Google Analytics is a great tool that will show you all sorts of useful information about how people found your blog, keywords they searched on to find you, where they came from and even how long they stayed. You’ll learn more about where your visitors come from and how they interact with your blog. This is a must tool if you are trying to build a profitable blog otherwise you are flying blind!

Click to learn more and configure it for yourself

PC-BSD Release: PBI Builder 2.2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:32:00 +0000

For those of you who use PC-BSD, Version 2.2 of the PBI Builder software has been released! This version greatly improves the reliability of building PBI files from a target application in the FreeBSD ports tree. This version has also been made easier to perform the initial setup, and port updating has been improved by using portsnap automatically.

Link