I will provide instruction on how to fix the latter first, because usually gunzip should be installed by default. To create the proper file linking we will use the ln command, which is used to create links to files. So, all you have to do is first make sure you are logged in as root, then run the following command:

ln -s /usr/bin/gunzip /usr/bin/uncompress

Once this has been done try running the command you executed last when you received the “sh: uncompress: command not found” error. I last encountered this error when I was installing the Valve Source gaming dedicated server – SRCDS, and I was executing the following command – ./hldsupdatetool.bin.

Now, if you do not have gunzip installed, just login as root and use yum or yast to do so. Below is how you can install gunzip using yum.

yum install gzip

Wouldn't you like to be a kitten?

The woman’s bra, by definition is a clothing item used to provide support for her breasts. But, in many cases it serves secondary purpose as a “storage compartment”! You know … like the pocket on your pants. Over the years I have seen women use their bras to store money, notes, business cards. Lately, though, I have notices that this trend is changing. Unlike men, women don’t usually wear belts, at lease not ones that can be used to clip or loop things on, i.e. knifes, keys … mobile phone cases.

So, about that changing bra storage compartment trend. I have noticed that now instead of money and business cards getting pulled out of there, cell phones are either protruding from the cleavage or performing a balancing act under one of the straps. I suppose that for some is a genius idea. This way they carry one less item in their hands with their keys, wallet and whatever else, that should be either in a clutch or a purse. By the way, why not buy the cleavage caddy purse.

My personal views about this style – same as it is for wearing sweat pants with writing on the behind, pajamas or slippers at stores or outside the home – not appropriate.

• ASP.NET SOFTWARE DEVELOPER – SUBURBS
• Software Developer
• C# Software Developer
• Software Development Business Analyst
• WEB DEVELOPER Job
• P HP / Web Developer

Employers, list your available jobs on TitanFusion.net Job Board for $1 per day.

For starters, you should first see what hard drives and partitions are available. A real quick way to see the available hard drives in your system is to run the command fdisk -l. The results will give you some helpful information about the drive(s), as well as information on the partitions.

List of hard drives on the system.

I should point out that your hard drive or drives might be identified on your system as hd or sd. If you have multiple drives they will be identified by a letter, i.e. hda / hdb, or sda /sdb. The partitions on each drive will be identified numerically, i.e. hda1 /hda2, or sdb1 /sdb2. You can see this in the screenshot above.

Here is how to mount a hard drive in Linux.

First thing you should do is create a directory where the drive or partition will be mounted. In my case, I use the second hard drive for backups so I created a directory called backups. I set the permissions to 755, although others would recommend 777 – full read and write access for everyone. In my opinion that is a security risk, especially on an Internet accessible server. The command to create the directory and set its permissions is:

mkdir /path/dir name <= mkdir /backups
chmod 755 /path/dir name <= chmod 755 /backups

Now that we have the target directory, it is time to mount the hard rive partition. In my case the second hard drive has only one partition. It encompasses the entire hard drive.

mount /dev/partitionId /path/dir name <= mount /dev/sdb1 /backups

You partition should be permanently mounted now.

Here is how to unmount a hard drive in Linux.

To unmount a hard drive or a partition in Linux, the command is the same as when you are mounting the same, except you have to add a u to the front of the command. It becomes umount.

umount /dev/partitionId /path/dir name <= umount /dev/sdb1 /backups

Keep in mind that although when we refer to the procedure we use the word unmount, the actual command does not have n in the beginning.

I’m streaming Blade Runner from Netflix right now. I’ve seen the movie in its entirety before, but I don’t think I have ever actually sat down and watched the movie. I suppose I will finally know what exactly this film is about.

Here is a line I found pretty funny at the time when Leon Kowalski, played by Brion James, was pummeling Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford: … wake up. It’s time to die! Moments layer he was shot in the back.

By the way, Blade Runner is considered a cult classic, and it is almost, if not, always rated 5 stars.

I love 80′s movies. I often prefer the special effects and animatronics to today’s CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) environments.

Mark this date in your calendars – Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – October 1st 2010. Below is a live action trailer of the game. Update: By the way, UbiSoft has been granted a trademark, by the USPTO, for the name Ghost Recon: Future Soldier?!?

Don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll. Reflect on your best and not so great moment of playing any of the Ghost Recon games in the comments below.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

After spending few minutes searching on the Internet, I wasn’t able to find much information on the problem. Next I decided to look for API documents and other help information published by Google. Seeing that the Google Buzz button works by sharing via Google Reader, the best place for the answer was in the Google Reader help docs . I found this post – Adding a ‘Share in Reader’ link to your website or blog.

The solution to the problem is very simple and logical. As “title” – the title of the item you are sharing, is to “url” – the address of the item you are sharing, “srcTitle” is to “srcUrl”. In which case the former is the name you want to use for the source of the item, and the latter is the address to that source.

... &srcurl=123&srctitle=numbers ...

The use of “srcUrl” is completely optional for your Google Buzz button, but keep in mind that if you do use this URI parameter, then you should probably also use “srcTitle”. Otherwise people will be seeing ”null” in their Google Buzz feed, and some of them might not like that and start deleting buzzed/shared item and eventually completely stop sharing your content.

By the way, you can set the “src Url” and “srcTitle” to anything you want. In my case, I am contemplating between setting them to to my blog’s home page or to the author’s post archive. I suppose the latter would be more crucial/useful when used on blogs or websites with multiple authors!

I

Why, why, why is this part of our food? I recently noticed that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is one of the main ingredients in maple syrup. Why? Am I buying maple syrup or am I buying maple flavored corn syrup? I’m so tier of reading the ingredients on various products’ packages and seeing high-fructose corn syrup listed. It seems that this “poison” is part of the ingredients of almost everything. Last time I was surprised to see HFCS as an ingredient was when I read the label on a Heinz ketchup bottle, where I discovered that it made 40% of the product!

Yes, high-fructose corn syrup is a cheap sweetener alternative to sugar, but its long term negative effects to Americans greatly outweigh its sweet qualities or its monetary benefits to the price of our consumables. The results can be seen in the public’s health care bills. I only mention Americans because I haven’t heard of any other country using high-fructose corn syrup in the quantities or the extend it is being used in the United States. Personally I rather pay an extra dollar or two for a product, but know that whatever my children, my family or I are consuming has real sugar in it, and our organs or DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) won’t be changing or suffer some other undesirable or health hazardous effects over time.

I recently heard of some study, which was conducted by an Asian organization, it had concluded that American men, who consume large amounts of soda, have a greater risk for prostate cancer. This is not a surprise. Soda has been part of our life for over a century now, but this was never a problem before. What has changed is the fact that in the last 15 or 20 years HFCS has become the main ingredient in soda and many other product. Maybe it’s not the amount of soda being consumed. Maybe it is the amount of a very common ingredient that is inescapably being deposited in our bodies via the food we consume!

• Follow your favorite bloggers on Skribit and see their recent activity
• Sort suggestions by status, hotness and more
• Merge similar suggestions
• Ignore suggestions by user and IP (Internet Protocol or Intellectual Property) address
• Reduce clutter with new comment and suggestion spam protection
• Customize your the URLs for your Skribit blog and user profiles
• Easily share suggestions through Twitter and Facebook with a click

I do find the Skribit service interesting, and as I have see it on other sites, it can prove a valuable tool. By the way, I first came cross Skribit on Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger blog.

Bonus: There is also a promo code – ackbar42 – which you can use by Jan. 27th, 2010, to upgrade your account to Skribit PRO at half-off the cost for 1 year.

Enjoy!

I received an awesome present – my first ever business cards. What made them awesome was the fact that the company’s name was MY company’s name – Innovadix.

xbox 360, logo, controller

My XBOX 360 is kaput! It’s at the point where it won’t even turn on. Well, it does, but it immediately powers off everything but the Red Ring of Death (RRoD). It sucks. I have been having some issue with the Xbox for some time know. Recently I wrote about how I was experiencing some xbox video problems. Well, about a week or so ago, I lost video on it completely. The TV knows that there is something connected to it, but all I get is a black screen. Amanda came across a tutorial on how to check what might be wrong with the Xbox 360, through getting it to show an error code. Well, the error code I repeatedly received was 0102, which indicated that the Xbox has no idea what the problem might be.

We have had the system since 2005. So it is definitely out of Microsoft’s manufacturer warranty. I figured there isn’t much to loose by trying some of the hacks and fixes people have described on the Internet. Since it was already broken, what could happen? Brake it even further than it is? ….. hahaha, funny, now that I write this after the fact. What can I tell you … I have  indeed managed to brake a broken Xbox 360!

Back to the Xbox 360 hack on the World Wide Web. After reading number of issues and fixes described by Xbox owners, I decided to go with the 360 Hot Air Gun fix. Supposedly if the CPU and GPU, and some times the RAM chips are heated up, with a Hot Air Gun, to the point where the solder melts, it possibly can resolve the problem with the cracked solder joints and lack of conductivity between the chips and the xbox motherboard. Unfortunately for me this fix did not work, and “broke” the Xbox 360.

It will be easier for me just to go out and get a new Xbox 360 around Christmas than to keep trying to fix a 2005 Xbox 360. Hopefully newer models do not have the same issues. Although, I thought about simply picking up a new Xbox 360 motherboard from eBay, but I see that there are Xbox 360 Elite motherboards with the same issue, 4 year latter! I will most likely post this one on Craigslist for $50 or so to help contribute toward the cost of replacing it.

Wordpress in Bulgarian.

There are many Bulgarian communities around the world. To my knowledge the largest one is right here in Chicago. I’m not counting Bulgaria, because that’s a whole country! Bulgarians make many contributions to many web sites, science, industries and technologies. We have also made significant invention contributions to computers and aviation, as well. Something to be proud off.

On a side note: Here is an instructional video on how to properly wash your hands, filmed by students from ITE College East:

Personally I think step 4 is not necessary. Maybe more applicable when in hospital settings or out in the field.

Back to the subject at hand: At work we also have a new refrigerator that makes ice. Unfortunately, it does not mechanically dispense it. A person has to reach into the ice box and take out individual cubes. I wash my hands before doing that, because I know it is neither ethical nor healthy to take out ice with dirty hand. I have hear and read about the ice in restaurants.

Earlier as I was walking toward the fridge to get some ice, I remembered what I observed yesterday and realized that that very same person could also be consuming the ice. Knowing that he doesn’t wash his hands I can, without a doubt, be hapless he doesn’t wash his hands before taking ice, either. And for that matter any other person that takes ice out of the communal ice box.

Cold drinks … I guess that’s the end of that!

P.S. Please, do use the ass gaskets. They are there for a reason. Oh, and cast your vote in the coworkers’ hygiene poll below, and sound off in the comments.

What is DNS prefetching? – It is the process of requesting domain name and IP (Internet Protocol or Intellectual Property) address resolution used in links, images, documents and other content linked to from a page a web surfer is currently browsing. Theoretically, by taking care of the name resolution before a surfer desires to navigate to a file or another page from a link on the current page can save fractions to X number of seconds. Name resolution being out of the way the surfer should arrive at its next destination faster. The former is my definition and understanding of DNS prefetching. In my experience, at leased in Google Chrome, I am able to see performance improvements.

I needed to know how can I tell if it is on or off. In Google Chrome it is in the options menu and it can easily be turned on and with a simple check-mark click.

Google Chrome DNS prefetching option.

But, in Firefox this is not a function in the options menu. At leased not at this time.

What the heck? I have been a Verizon customer for over 10 years now. I have had Verizon land line numbers, I’ve had Verizon DSL. I have also had and still have multiple mobile lines with Verizon, but apparently none of this is a factor. What happened to customer appreciation for brand loyalty. I can tell you what happened to it. It is gone, if it ever existed! From my experience with Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and other companies, a customer’s loyalty is only tracked as long as that customer doesn’t change their number, address or service. More on that in a future post.

Unlike AT&T we have not ever had any problems with the service, but I do wish Verizon did show back some love to loyal customers when the rare call from them comes.

I could care less when people utilize their middle finger to express some sort of emotions. But, I do find it inappropriate when amongst professional peers. Despite the fact that the environment is a party, people do notice what others at the event do and say. They do talk amongst themselves and after the party, as well as almost always there is someone recording audio or video or images. Then they get posted and someone writes something about what You did, even those who do not share opinions via writing, still form an opinion about You based on your actions. All of these do affect your reputation and your company’s reputation, because when amongst professionals you do represent your company, and there is an even higher stake when you are the founder!

Reputation + business = money The better the first the more of the last!

The finger + a camera = douchebaggery

Please, do share the reason for your answer in the comments after this post.

You can find more information about the TechCrunch party even here.

Beer and Fireworks = Bad Combination

The idiot morons in my neighborhood are already starting with the fireworks. WTF?! It’s only July 1st! There are 3 days left before I have to endure the random and unnecessary thumping of fireworks. Which, the previously mentions idiots, last year were setting off randomly throughout the night for a month after July 4th. When you are trying to sleep and when you have small children it is very inconsiderate and rude to be woken up, multiple times during the night, because the mentally lacking in capacity neighbors can’t control themselves. I was finding leftover fireworks in my yard for two months after July 4th, but it was more discouraging and enraging when I found the fireworks debris on the roof of our home.

Fittingly, here is a video dedicated to fireworks idiots. Enjoy!

P.S. I like fireworks, I like watching fireworks shows. When we were on out honeymoon in San Diego, I watched a fireworks shows that was coordinated between 12 different locations throughout the city. I could see 9 of those. It was great. It was awesome. But as a home owner, I prefer to keep explosives that I’m not in control of, and knowing that if  something happens no one is going to take responsibility for, away from my property and loved ones.

Meebo home page now featuring a background ad.

Meebo has finally started to monetize its home page. I like the design. Unlike many monetized backgrounds on popular web sites, their is more integrated, in style, with the content on the page. Good job.

At this time the add is for the Toyota Prius – 3rd generation.

Meebo does have some other products and services to complement its main function – integrating various instant messenger networks and protocols on the same web site. My favorite of their products is the Meebo notifier.

The Meebo notifier is a small app that sits in your system tray and it stays connected to the Meebo network, allowing you to exit your browser. The memory footprint is small, so it is not resource hog. In addition to providing notification when contacts come online and when new IMs are received, you will also be notified when any of the added accounts, like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail, have new emails. A feature, which can be disabled if you don’t care much for emails. Lastly, the notifier is not an Adobe AIR app. Something, which to some extend, I find to be beneficial.

One thing I would like to see Meebo support is micro-blogging services, like Twitter, Identi.ca or Jaiku.

By the way, Meebo powers the chat room on this blog.

So, do you use Meebo? If you do, where do you use it? If you don’t, do leave me a comment regarding the reason.

Whois domain record: Meebo

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt

I’m all for “Made in America”. There are American made products that can be competitive in China, but we have to remember that Chinese workers work for very little, long hours, and under conditions that will not be allowed in America. These and number of other factors, like unions, cost of living, health care, taxes, etc. are affecting the cost of manufacturing these “competitive” products for the Chinese market. Because of the labor laws, or lack there of, and inexpensive manufacturing cost so many products are made in China and so many American jobs are outsourced to that country and its serfs! What makes a big difference in why the more expensive American made products/exports will sell and succeed in foreign and overseas markets is quality. American made products are better made, they last longer, they perform better and they are more desired (when they can be afforded).

xbox 360, logo, controller

Over the weekend I had some lack of video from my XBox360. Nothing that some heat couldn’t fix. Apparently most problems with the Xbox360 are fixed by that which kills PCs – heat.

I have an XBox360, which is one of those that was born with bugs and “genetic” issue – meaning an early version – one from the early ones, made before the red ring of death became evident  and all the various versions started to come out. Luckily, I don’t abuse and rarely spend massive amount of hours playing it, thus I don’t have very many problem with it! Other than the occasional screen flicker and the constant refusal of the DVD-Rom tray to actually stay closed after attempting to close it. Apparently the DVD drive gets a bad taste from DVD discs and refuses to work with them. HAHA. My solution for the latter is to place my thumb on the drive tray and prevent it from coming back out, then pushing the open/close button again!!

This past weekend I experienced something new – the XBox booted fine and there was audio, but no video. The digital TV detected an active video source, but there was no picture. At first I was going to disassemble the XBox to look for problem myself, because the warranty had expired a long time ago. But then I decided to wait for Monday and call Microsoft and possibly sent it back.

After researching the problem in the global knowledge fix and repair database, i.e. the Internet, I was able to determined that 1) it might not be worth the money spend to sent it in for repair, and 2) the issue could be related to the heat sync on the video chip. Something about the x-clamp (see x-clamp fix video at the end of the post). A problem which is most commonly fixed by wrapping the Xbox in a towel causing it to overheat. I again considered taking it apart and performing the x-clam fix, because I wasn’t willing to wrap the XBox in something to cause it to overheat and possibly cause heat damage to other components. Before proceeding, I simply opted out to just turn it on and let it run heat up. I’ve noticed how hot it can get! About 20 minutes later I came back to check on it. I turned the XBox off and back on. Voila, there was video again! Problem fixed.

Now if that darn DVD-drive tray could stay closed, it would be great.

Whois domain record: Microsoft, YouTUBE, XBox

I blame it on the Portillo’s food we had for dinner the night before. Amanda thinks that it’s either the food or the flu. Although, thinking about it, it could be also something from Alexandar’s daycare. He had similar symptoms on Saturday. He was fine on Friday, but he started Saturday not feeling well, occasional  diarrhea and being sensitive to the touch. The culmination was at 1:30 AM when his dinner came out the same way it went in. The rest of the Sunday he was fine again.

Same here, we feel fine today.

“Yoo”?!!? WTF is that. First of all – I have a name, and that person is well aware of it. Second, a similar response or something in the lines of “What’s happening” will be more in line of the “topic” of what should be a dialog, but a lot of times ends up being a monologue for many people.

If it takes someone more than half a second to a second to provide a response, which at this point in their life should be automated, then don’t bother responding. It won’t be the first time. Same applies if you have to think about responding or not in the first place!

In my opinion, the time limit rule for comebacks also applies in this case.

BTW, most of the time, my verbal response to the lack of one in cases of “Good morning”, “Good afternoon”, “Good day” or “How is it going?”, is “That good, huh?”.

What topped everything was when he was done with his calculations he asked me if I would like to guess how much it would be. So, knowing about how much things cost, what others have paid, and how much we wanted to spend, I said:

$15,000

A little bit more. - He retorted!

$16,500 – I said.

A little bit more. - He retorted, again.

$18,000 - I replied.

A little bit more. – Was his answer once again.

At that point I became annoyed and I said – “We are past the “A little bit more” point. We past it $1,500 ago!“. So he gave us his figure – $36,000 and few hundred more!!! What the heck? That number does NOT even qualify for a “much more” response. It’s double what I said, plus another $6,000.

That number is unacceptable, even if the windows are guaranteed for the life of the house, and to be replaced for free if an object ever happens to go through one.

To cream that, he spend the following 15 or so minutes somewhat refusing to leave and trying to get us to place an order. At least for some of the windows, which he estimated at just above $4,000 – for 3 small windows.

The cherry was when he told us that if we don’t place an order that evening and he has to come again, so we can place an order, we will not be eligible for the 20% first time discount. Huuu?!! Everyone else I have ever done business with, worked with, worked for, as well as it being a standard in doing business, gives discount on the first order, NOT on meeting for a first time.

Unbelievable!!

Pressure sales do not work on me. I come from a family with generations of entrepreneurs and business owners of various types. As well as, I married into one of the same type. Needless to say, both my wife and I are on the same path. Same applies for my sibling.

I have the options, skills and knowledge to do things myself. Just like I have been doing for many years. But, in the last few years, available time has become a factor.

Anyways, as my Mom always tells me – “Be cheap on the expensive thing.”. In my opinion $36,000 is at a premium for hand full of windows and two sliding doors.

I find it to be revealing as far as plot and Terminator canon changes. Something I wasn’t expecting, making it even more desirable to see. At least to me.

Will you see Terminator 4: Salvation in the theater or on DVD? Let me know in the poll below.

Something my cats can’t seem to comprehend. By the way, how many cats do You have?