tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:51:43 +0000WindowsEmailLinuxhttp://www.dougstechblog.com/noreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)Blogger12125DougsTechBloghttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-2899027372041337830Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:04:00 +00002011-12-07T21:09:33.751-08:00 THE VI text editor is found on every Unix/Linux system, and it's also been ported to MS Windows. I used to have a manager who pronounced it like the verb vie. He would say, "Can't you just edit that with vie?", and we engineers would have our little chuckle. Most users call it by the individual letters: "V.I.". However, to be fair, it is just an abbreviation of visual, so vie is http://www.dougstechblog.com/2011/12/thunderbird-and-vi-shortcuts_7724.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-922331066854513316Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:01:00 +00002011-10-22T10:28:25.667-07:00 SO, ON A single day, last May, I graduated from: CRT low-def TV to 32" flat-panel HDTV, an old VCR to DVR, 3Mbps/400Kbps AT&T DSL to 20Mbps/6Mbps Comcast cable Internet. And from wired analog landline to — no landline at all. After years of wired phones and answering machines, I got on the bandwagon. I already had a cell phone, and so did my wife. But I wanted an extra phonehttp://www.dougstechblog.com/2011/10/technology-bandwagon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-2089031191142139641Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:32:00 +00002010-02-26T23:32:52.034-08:00 A recent survey released by the US Commerce Department gave some startling stats. For those of us who spend all of our waking lives directly connected to the Internet, it's hard to believe that — get this — "30 percent of all persons do not use the Internet anywhere". Wow. And one of the main reasons offered for steering clear of the Internet? "I don't need it." They don't need thehttp://www.dougstechblog.com/2010/02/who-needs-internet_8783.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-1667446141400654575Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:39:00 +00002009-08-29T13:47:03.779-07:00Some (many?) email users still get their messages downloaded via POP3 protocol into Outlook Express or other such client. This usually means the messages are then deleted from the server. Now the only place to view those messages is on one computer. Want to read messages later, when you're somewhere else? Forget it. Your ISP-provided webmail shows an empty Inbox. Yes, you can tell OE http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/08/using-imap-email-and-backing-it-up_29.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-3909504821719779221Sat, 30 May 2009 01:42:00 +00002009-08-20T21:42:19.138-07:00 If you are using Ubuntu Linux, you might be wondering why vi (er, vim) doesn't save searches and other things into a history file, or why it ignores your syntax colors (which show different colors for different elements of C or bash code, for example). Yes, you moved your .vim* files from another box. Yes, it's vim version 7.2, not 5.7. Dang thing don't work. Then you run vim --version http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/05/what-happened-to-my-vi_5199.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-1330754210730401227Sat, 02 May 2009 23:22:00 +00002009-06-29T21:41:34.749-07:00LinuxDid a very smooth upgrade from Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex (8.10) to Jaunty Jackalope (9.04). So far, it's definitely better and has given no trouble at all. Cheer #1 — Sound is fixed! Yay! In 8.10, no matter how you configured sound, you might get it working, sort of, and then after 48 hours — no sound. Adobe Flash sound stopped. Realplayer sound stopped. Every other sound, including thehttp://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/05/3-cheers-for-904_8396.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-8671138377212921512Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:55:00 +00002009-06-29T21:42:09.094-07:00LinuxWindowsA friend's Dell PC had got the Blue Screen of Death last month, and he called me up. No big deal I thought, just boot up the console from the XP CD and run a few commands. But this bootup error — some arcane stuff about a BAD_POOL_CALLER — I had never seen before. And nothing I tried would fix the problem. Of course my friend did not have any recovery CDs for his 2003-era PC. Or if he did,http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/04/crunch-bang_8739.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-1582930244798765033Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:01:00 +00002009-06-30T10:51:28.785-07:00LinuxEmailWindowsWhen MIME standards were established in ca. 1996, it wasn't long before most email programs could send various kinds of attachments, such as documents and photos. (And soon, troublemakers, spammers, and criminals started sending infected executables in this manner.) But something else happened in the years since then: digital cameras and increasing image file sizes! Your friend snaps a dozen 2MBhttp://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/04/mogrify-that-image_5974.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-4724214521761846469Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:59:00 +00002009-06-30T10:51:48.448-07:00You're writing a C program and forget how to call stat(3). No problem man 3 stat But you get this: No manual entry for stat in section 3 Whuhhh? That function's been around since the Stone Age (ie, 1971). Turns out that the C man pages are not loaded by default during the Ubuntu desktop install. No problemo. You can get 'em here (as root): apt-get install manpages-posix-dev http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/03/ubuntu-where-art-thou-c-man-pages_9740.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-268093438098379160Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:13:00 +00002009-06-30T10:52:35.291-07:00LinuxUbuntu Linux 9.04 (code name Jaunty Jackalope) is due in the last week of April. The ingenious version numbering is well-known to Ubuntu folks -- year.month. If it slips, they will call it 9.05, but that won't happen. Have you have ever received a postcard of a jackalope? I have. Went on the fridge door for about, oh, 3 years. Still have never actually seen a live one. Heh. Anyway, here's http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/03/waiting-for-jackalope_2736.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-1487879731369094527Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:50:00 +00002009-06-30T10:53:01.533-07:00YOU KNOW WHEN technology is using you, not the other way around. Consider the hammer. How many times have you fixed a hammer? Debugged a hammer? Reconfigured a hammer? Probably never!!! But software and Internet technogies are much more layered and complex than a hammer. *** Here are some (sort of) funny Unix commands that do nothing: cd . sleep 0 cat < /dev/null http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/02/testing-is-this-thing-on_6952.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6632036879664959015.post-4369857855893646404Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:23:00 +00002009-06-30T10:53:15.378-07:00 Look for Tips and Tricks, from Linux to Windows and beyond.http://www.dougstechblog.com/2009/02/new-tech-blog-coming-soon_5029.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Doug McCasland)0