W1ldT4ng3nt.net - Blog

Neglecting my blog... again

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:20:46 -0500

One of these days my blog here is just gonna up and leave it's key on the kitchen counter with a goodbye note. I suppose I owe an explanation. Lately, my time has been spent with another, younger, more attractive site. My latest venture is another site for myself, to promote my business: Justin Hayes Consulting. Yes, I guess that means I'm sorta cheating on this site, but I am all for polygamy :) I still love them both.

Anyway, in other news... traffic here is up, big time. Welcome visitors, take a look around, and enjoy your stay :) Seems many people are interested in how I got Ubuntu working on my laptop. Google, and several other search engines I'd guess have gotten wind of that, and now many searches are directing to it. I'll have to thank FeedBurner for the detailed stats :)

Rosetta Stoned

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 01:41:48 -0500

Got to be one of Tools best songs (and that says a lot because they have many great ones.)

My favourite part of all has to be this one, about 8:40 into it (its an 11 minute song OMG!)

Overwhelmed as one would be
Placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and read you all
The details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see
But I forgot my pen
Shit the bed again
Typical

Right-click and save as to hear this part of the song

Anyway, I just felt like putting that out there. I just love this song. It's so deep. Here's the full song (Pray no one sues... *knock on wood*) and the lyrics after the jump.

Alright then,
Picture this if you will

10 to 2AM and actually heating up
The old box of Krispy Kremes at my
Need-to-know post just outside of
Area 51 contemplating the whole
"Chosen people" thing but just then
A flaming stealth banana split the
Sky,like, wide open never really
Expect to see it in a place like this

I think, I think, I'm gonna gonna
Die but something right inside my
Birkenstocks began fuming
Holy fucking shit...
(holy fucking shit..)(x4)

Then the x-files beings who were like
Some kind of blue-grey Jackie Chan
With Isabella Rossellini lips and breath that reeked
And they're wicked-shot terrorists all by making the sound
Abananadabanana
So when I opened up my bug eyes, my gaping jaw and my..
Sweaty L. Ron Hubbard upper lip and all I could think was...
I hope Uncle Martin here doesn't notice that I pissed my fuckin pants

So alive in this way
Like an apparition
And you had me crying out
Fuck me
It's gotta be
Deadhead chemistry
The bottom covering the top of me.
It's got me seeing E motherfucking T.

And after calming me down with some
Orange slices and some fetal spooning
ET revealed to me his singular purpose
He said,"You are the chosen one.
The one who'll deliver the message.
A message of hope for those who choose to hear it,
And a warning for those who do not."

Me, the chosen one.
They chose me
And I didn't even graduate from fucking high school.

You'd better...
You'd better...
You'd better...
You'd better listen.

Then he looked right through me
With somniferous almond eyes
Don't even know what that means
Must remember to write it down
This is surreal
Like the time they floated away
See, my heart is burning
Cause this shit never happens to me

Can't breathe right now
It was so real,
Like I woke up in Wonderland
Also a bit terrifying
I don't want to be all alone
When I tell this story
And can anyone tell me why
It was a repeat experience
Will I ever be coming down?
This is so real
Finally, it's my lucky day
See my heart is racing
'Cause this shit never happens to me

I can't breathe right now

You believe me don't you?
Please believe what I just said
See them telling children
And this wasn't all in my head
See they took a hold of my hand
And invited me right in
Then they showed me something
I don't even know where to begin

Strapped down to my bed
Feet cold and eyes red
I'm out my head.
Am I alive? Or'm I dead?
Can't remember what they said
Goddamn
Shit the bed

Overwhelmed as one would be
Placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bear and read you all
The details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see
But I forgot my pen
Shit the bed again
Typical

Strapped down to my bed
Feet cold and eyes red
I'm out of my head
Am I alive or'm I dead?
Sunkist and sudafed
Gyroscopes and infrared
Won't help the braindead
Can't remember what they said
Goddamn
Shit the bed

I can't remember what they said to me
Can't remember what they said to
Make me out to be a hero

Can't remember what he said
Mom, help me
Can't remember what he said

Don't know
Won't know...
Goddamn, shit the bed

Funny stop-motion animation

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:13:47 -0500

Just thought I'd plug my friend Dan's first stop-motion animation. So watch some G.I. Joes duke it out, it's hilarious :)

W1ldT4ng3nt.net is mine for 2 more years

Thu, 4 Jan 2007 03:21:11 -0500

This is just a quickie:
I've renewed my domain for 2 more years, so it's not going to expire until January 2009 :D If I'm still around by then *knock on wood* I'll probably do another 3 year registration.

EDIT: Just realized, this is my first post of the New Year! Happy New Years everyone that reads my blog! (all two of you.)

Getting Ubuntu 6.10 working on my Asus F3Jm

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 17:33:43 -0500

Let me preface this by saying this notebook is perfect, at least that's what it seemed like before I got it. I'm not saying it's not great, it is, but it did have a few issues with Linux, but the good news is, they were easily fixed. Overall, I'd still recommend this laptop, even with the extra effort needed to make it work. That aside, here is how to get Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft installed and working on an Asus F3Jm (most likely will work on any other F3 series notebook as well.)

To start off... install Ubuntu :) I did it with the alternative CD using the text-based installer, because this is what I'm used to, but you should be able to use the livecd installer too. I'll assume if you're reading this you either already know how to install Ubuntu, or you've already installed it and now you can't figure out why your wireless or sound isn't working.

After installing, I enabled all the extra repositories in /etc/apt/sources.list by removing all the single hash (#) marks to uncomment them. I then installed all the available updates, and then nvidia-glx for the graphics card, and configured X.

sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

You can accept the defaults for most of the stuff. Make sure you select nvidia instead of nv for the display driver. No need to write monitor sync values to the config file, these aren't needed for the LCD monitor.

This should have installed the kernel restricted-modules, but in case you decided not to install the nvidia drivers, you will need to install them to get your wireless card working:

sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules

Reboot and your wireless should work now.

The biggest issue I had was with the sound. At first, it didn't work at all, so you must add the following to /etc/modprobe.d/options and then force modprobe to reload it.

sudo cat "options snd-hda-intel model=uniwill-m31" >> /etc/modprobe.d/options
sudo update-modules

The next problem you will find is that although your sound works on your internal speakers, the headphone output does not work. This is a problem with the alsa drivers that I fixed by updating to alsa 1.0.14rc1. Start by changing to a directory you can download and unpack some files to, then do this:

wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-lib-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-utils-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
tar -xjvf alsa-driver-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
tar -xjvf alsa-lib-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
tar -xjvf alsa-utils-1.0.14rc1.tar.bz2
cd alsa-driver-1.0.14rc1
./configure --with-oss=yes --with-cards=hda-intel
make
sudo make install
cd ../alsa-lib-1.0.14rc1
./configure
make
sudo make install
cd ../alsa-utils-1.0.14rc1
./configure
make
sudo make install

Then run alsaconf and select your sound card. Finish up by adding a line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base:

sudo cat "options snd-hda-intel model=z71v position_fix=1" >> /etc/modeprobe.d/alsa-base
sudo update-modules

Just reboot now, and your headphone output should now work! (Be warned, your volume will be at 100% after installing alsa!)

Now... let's fix just one little minor annoyance, and that is the trackpad disable button not working :) This is very easily fixed, just open up /etc/X11/xorg.conf in your favourite editor and find the section beginning with "Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"" and add "Option "SHMConfig"" below the other options. The section should resemble this now:

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Synaptics Touchpad"
	Driver		"synaptics"
	Option		"SendCoreEvents"	"true"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/psaux"
	Option		"Protocol"		"auto-dev"
	Option		"HorizScrollDelta"	"0"
	Option          "SHMConfig"
EndSection

What this does is allow you to change the xorg config without restarting X. Of course, you have to restart X after putting this option in, so go ahead and hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace ;) Your disable trackpad button should now work.

That's basically it... there's only one annoyance left, and that's the wireless completely dying and requiring a reboot after resuming from suspend. Still haven't found a fix for that.

Christmas: The Aftermath

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 17:25:13 -0500

Ok... uh... I GOT THE LAPTOP! Alright, guess that's one way to just get that out of the way :) This thing just rocks... I re-installed Windows (default install was crap), and then proceeded to install Ubuntu Linux 6.10 Edgy Eft (LP isn't going to be happy...) on it. I've spent most of the morning and all afternoon so far configuring it. Still need to do a bunch of work on Windows, including installing games.

Carrying on... I also got Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter :) (oh what a surprise, harr! :P), a $20 gift certificate for a local mall, $90 cash from various relatives, some clothes, assorted chocolates, and.. oh, get this... 4 Bacardi Breezers (rum coolers), and a 1 litre bottle of Vex (vodka cooler :D). From my parents. Overall, a good haul, but I would have been happy with just the laptop ;)

Holy wow, Christmas is only 9 days away!

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 20:03:55 -0500

Time sure flies huh? I for one am looking forward to Christmas for the most part (especially getting that laptop :D), but I'm also a little disappointed because I am not spending it where I really want to be, or with the people that matter most to me (you know who you are). Oh well, maybe next year...

Anyway, I've got a metric ton of e-cards to send.. ah screw it, no I don't. Just a few people, but by golly they're going to get their cards!

Oooh! I should make a Christmas theme for the site :P

My Christmas list!

Wed, 6 Dec 2006 09:41:42 -0500

Just thought I'd put together a little Christmas list I can direct my family and friends to, and perhaps even generous strangers out there :) (Ya.. right, like anyone else reads my blog...)

Asus F3Jm This is my Christmas gift to myself :P
This thing is just amazing for a laptop of this price (note: site is American), with a Core Duo 1.86ghz (could be upgraded later), 1gb of RAM (with only one SODIMM, so I could put another in too!) and a GeForce 7600 with 512mb of dedicated graphics memory. I will be buying this with money earned from various jobs for a substantial discount from my previous employer.

Ok, let's start with actual gift ideas now.

Since I'm getting an awesome laptop, I'm going to need an awesome laptop bag to protect my investment. Enter Tom Bihn bags:
Brain Bag with Brain Cell (size 1) (both in Steel colour preferably)
These bags are simply the best out there. They will go through hell and back, and protect your stuff in the process. They come highly recommended. Ya, it's pricey, but definately worth it to protect expensive portable electronics.

Moving on to other less expensive things...

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter Spotted this in a shopping bag after my parents came home yesterday ;)
What? I'm a sucker for pretty graphics :)

Halo
I had a copy of this before, but I lost the CD, and the key, and I've missed it ever since. Drunken Halo is a lot of fun by the way, try it sometime ;)

Tool - 10,000 Days
Alright, you could get me any Tool album and I'd be happy, because Tool rocks, and I don't have any of their CDs (I'm pretty sure this is a sin).

A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
Uh huh... more Maynard :) This is my favourite APC album, and I don't have it (I'm going to hell for sure).

Oh man, how could I forget, I need a new mouse for my gaming :D
Microsoft Habu
Ya.. it's a Micro$oft mouse, but the internals are all Razer. This mouse is simply the best mouse you can get for gaming. Microsoft ergonomics (say what you will about their software, I think their peripherals are still great), with Razer's legendary internal electronics.

iriver S10 MP3 player
This is simply the coolest little (VERY little) MP3 player I've ever seen. You can get it with up to 2gb of memory (plenty for me), and it plays almost all formats under the sun (the ones that matter anyway). It also doesn't rely on proprietary syncing apps, or Windows Media Player to load it up with music, it's recognized as a USB storage drive.

Ya, that's about it, I'm really easy to please. Wish I could come up with more stuff for this list, but really... I'm open to just about anything, but safe bets are DVDs, t-shirts with funny and/or witty comments on them. Hell, I even like the downright geeky ones! Speaking of geeky, ThinkGeek is a good place to shop for me :)

So... to all you secret santas out there... you have some idea what I want :)

Ever have one of those moments...

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 21:34:16 -0500

...where you kick yourself for not doing something at an advantageous time, that could have brought your fame, or fortune, or both, or something else valuable to you?

I'm having one right now, realizing that I could have bought two PS3s and sold them on Ebay and make thousands of dollars profit, even considering the $1300 initial investment.

Ya, I'm a dumbass idiot (let's not be too harsh now...)

Let's assume I could have sold each for $5000, that's $10000 minus the $1300 spent gives me $8700 to spend on the laptop I've been after for a while (the reason I have $1300 on hand) - $1700. A 24" 30" LCD - about $2000. And to power that behemoth, a GeForce 8800 GTX, which is $850 or there abouts. That still leaves me $4150, so why not throw in about $2000 for a new Core 2 Duo computer, and even that's fairly modest, I could go higher...

Point I'm trying to make here is, I had an opportunity to buy all the things I want right now, and STILL have change to maybe buy a PS3 for keepers. And I hate myself for not exploiting it.

* None of these measurements should be considered totally accurate on account of my being too lazy to calculate taxes into them or even look up actual prices.

Blogged with BloGTK.

Putting an end to another chapter of my life

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 20:55:48 -0500

Yesterday, with deep regret, I finally put an end to the hobby forum I ran for Warhammer 40,000 for two and a half years; The Smoking Bolter. The final closing thread is here.

I hadn't mentioned more specifically why I had to close the forum besides it's recent stagnation. Truth is, I haven't got the time to properly run a large forum anymore, and I didn't think it fair to the members and staff that supported it for me to do a half-assed job at it. I have an education, and a future career to worry about, and it doesn't leave a whole lot of time for my hobbies. It is a sad thing to do, but unfortunately, I had to do it.

RIP The Smoking Bolter.

Blogged with BloGTK.