I wonder if it will let me program in Emacs through dictation?

UPDATE: Darn! I have Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9.5, which does not work. Boo. Back to VMWare, then…

• modprobe trident
• modprobe snd_trident
• Be very very thorough with alsamixer settings. For some brain-dead reason, all the important stuff is muted.

On Technorati: linux, ubuntu, laptop

everything that a Linux device driver author would need in order to create Linux drivers, including a full copy of the O'Reilly book, "Linux Device Drivers, third edition" and pre-built copies of all of the in-kernel docbook documentation for easy browsing. It even has a copy of the Linux source code that you can directly build external kernel modules against.

Totally cool.

E-Mail from Don Marti

On Technorati: linux

Random Japanese sentence: ネコはネズミを捕まえる。 Cats catch mice.

It's really a geek haven. Computer books fill the windows and the shelves. Laptops are out, open, and plugged in. Assorted penguin buttons are on sale.

It's a great place to run into people. On the way in, I chatted with a biologist who's working on bringing the ideas of open source to genome research. I'm sitting across a geekette with mad AIX skills. David, the proprietor, is always fun to chat with about everything from the local geek scene to the latest chocolate concoctions.

I think I've found a good home for my get-togethers. I want to get to know a lot of people, and I want them to get to know each other, too. It's difficult to entertain at the Graduate House because of the security restrictions and the way our suite is laid out; I don't have enough space to entertain. Hosting get-togethers at the Linux Caffe promotes something I believe in, offers people more variety and choice, and makes it easier for me to focus on people.

Let's make that happen. Next Friday, I'll have a get-together here. I hope to eventually turn that into a lecture series, so that I get to learn about interesting things from very interesting people. Perfect... =)

On Technorati: linux, toronto, geek

On Technorati: linux, gnome

Random Japanese sentence: 猫はテーブルの上で眠った。 The cat slept on the table.

On Technorati: wireless, linux

Random Japanese sentence: 私は猫を家の外に出した。 I let the cat out of the house. Watashi wa neko o ie no soto ni dashita.

I want a wireless card because I'm getting tired of working in my room. I want to be able to work in the common room of Graduate House, at cafes, or even at friends' places.

However, Linux-supported wireless cards are hard to find. I walked all along the computer strip on College with the hardware compatibility list on my laptop. I couldn't find a single PCMCIA card or USB device that was listed as supported. <sigh> That's what I get for needing previous-generation technology. It's just not sold any more.

I need a serious computer surplus / junk shop like HMR back home, I guess. One of those places where they're still selling beat-up 486s. But no, Canada's tech junk has been shipped to the Philippines and other developing countries. Mumble.

Why do I bother with Linux, then? The programs I use are native to Linux and Unix-like systems, and they're updated more frequently than their Microsoft Windows counterparts. Besides, it's just so darn hard to set Microsoft Windows up the way I want it to be. I love scripting. I love programming. Finding and downloading Emacs, Perl, Python, Ruby, and all these other things is a major hassle under Windows. And let's not even start talking about the shell. Sure, I could use cygwin, but it's just not the same...

Maybe I should just update my Ubuntu laptop and use that for hardware compatibility testing. Those Ubuntu folks do strange magic. =)

Anyone who can tell me where I can buy (or even better, anyone will give me) a Linux-compatible wireless networking card will get a bunch of cookies and my gratitude.

Random Japanese sentence: 「このねこは、やっぱりとてもきれいですよ！」と、とても年取った、おばあさんが言いました。 "And it is indeed a very pretty cat!" said the very old woman. [kono neko w, yappari totemo kirei desu yo!] to, totemo toshitotta obaasan ga iimashita.

On Technorati: linux

That's one of the things I really admire about him. He promotes Linux and open source not because someone's paying him or because he hates certain proprietary software companies, but because he believes it can make people's lives better. Free software can help schools spend money on more important things, like facilities, textbooks, and teacher salaries. Open source software can help people learn and grow. He wants people to discover it, so he'll go ahead and stand under the scorching sun and talk about Linux to people who don't see why they shouldn't just go and pirate software.

It's a thankless job among people who don't appreciate it as anything beyond an opportunity to get another signature for their visit sheets, like the way many people attend seminars only for the certificate. But there's always the chance that he'll get a kid interested in free and open source software, and who knows what will happen then?

I love him even more for doing it, and I wish I could be there to help. Dear reader, here is a man who cares about the world and does something to help it, even when other people are apathetic or pessimistic. This is one of the reasons why I think he's just so amazing, and I wanted to share it with you.

On Technorati: linux, dominique, mushy

Would be tempted to do something similar if I also had a stack of Ubuntu CDs.

Or—evil thought!—sneak into Microsoft dev event with button that reads "Ask me about what I geek out about" and a bag full of Ubuntu CDs... ;)

(Convert the world one geek at a time! ;) )

On Technorati: linux, open source, advocacy

Unfortunately, Compaq's QuickRestore System Recovery CD makes one NTFS partition that occupies all of the space on the hard disk. PartitionMagic would've done the trick, but its hefty price-tag just isn't worth this one-time use.

Linux to the rescue. I'll be installing Ubuntu on Marcelle's laptop anyway so that he has a relatively safer system for browsing the Web and posting blog entries. When he's in a strange network, he can use Linux to protect himself from the worms and malware that would just love to reinfect his computer.

Ubuntu's based on the popular Debian GNU/Linux distribution, and among other things, it contains a tool for resizing NTFS partitions without losing any data. You don't even need to defragment your hard disk before resizing it. I had to run chkdsk from the Windows recovery CD to take care of a persistent error in the filesystem before I could use ntfsresize, but resizing it was easy after I took care of that problem. I followed the suggested usage in http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html and set up the partitions just the way I wanted them.

Hooray for Linux! Microsoft Windows might not anticipate my need to organize data the way _I_ want to, but free software gives me the tools I need to do what I want.

今やノート型コンピューターは弁当箱と同じくらいが一般的だ。 Now note computers are as common as lunch boxes.

John Sturdy writes:

If only I had known about Ubuntu being able to do the resize for you — I've just spent a rather sore week setting up an uncooperative Windows machine as dual-boot, using a variety of tools including Partition Magic, parted, and others!

On Technorati: opensource, linux

On the other hand, Linux was a breeze with Ubuntu Linux, a slick Debian-based distribution backed by Canonical. My copy came from Jerome Gotangco, Ubuntu documentation guy for the Philippines.

Setting up wireless was just a matter of plugging my DWL-650 in. D-Link really screwed up with that card by using the same model number for cards using completely different chipsets, but Ubuntu automatically found and loaded the module I needed.

Because we don't want the next-door Internet cafe to sponge off our wireless access, we protect our router with a simple MAC address filter list. I couldn't figure out where to find my MAC address in the graphical network configuration tool, but a quick whiz through dmesg turned up the magic numbers I needed to add to my router's filters. After I plugged that into the router's web-based configuration tool, set the ESSID in Ubuntu's friendly network admin interface, and activated the device, I was off and running.

Great stuff, huh? Now if I can just get it to work under stock Debian...

コンピューターは、たちえ緩慢にせよ大きな変化を引き起こした。 Computers caused a great if gradual change.

On Technorati: ubuntu, linux

Dad got me an iPod Photo (30GB). After I formatted it to FAT32 using Windows, it mounted easily under Linux. I used the excellent bbdb-vcard-export.el to export my address book to lots and lots of VCF files, which I then copied into the iPod Photo.

I downloaded a couple of speeches and podcasts for my spiffy new iPod. I'm looking for audio books and poetry. Would anyone have a freely distributable archive of Shakespearean sonnets in MP3 form? If not, I'll probably try using a synthesizer to make instant e-books, or I can record them a poem or two at a time...

Downside? Adding new photos requires iTunes, which means I need to use either Windows or a Mac. I guess I'll really be bringing the Vaio with me.

Also, I'm really looking forward to ipodlinux fully supporting the iPod Photo. I'd love to run Linux on the device! I need to figure out how to flash the bootloader on and how to recover from mistakes. If I get that working, then I can help hack...

我々は問題解決と情報整理のためにコンピューターを使う。 We use computers to solve problems and to put information in order.

On Technorati: gadgets, emacs, linux

Fedora Core's net-install support lags far behind Debian's. I don't know if it's even possible to start the installation process using boot/root floppies, so you really need to either burn a CD or set up pxelinux. Fortunately, I'd set up a DHCP and TFTP server on my Lifebook before, so I knew it could be done.

After some trouble getting the Vaio to acquire the DHCP address and pick up the boot files, I was relieved to see the familiar text dialog-based installation screen. I'm currently waiting for the 71MB stage2.img file to download. There are no progress indicators, and I'm getting rather nervous. I can't seem to drop to a shell to find out how far along the installation is.

I like the Debian net install far more. Plenty of progress indicators keep you in the loop so that you're not worried about interrupted network connections or sudden hangs. Come to think of it, going for Debian instead will make it far easier for me to migrate my configuration.

Bah. So much for Fedora Core. ;)

そのコンピューターは非常に役立つ。 The computer is of great use.

On Technorati: opensource, linux

猫はじゅうたんをひっかき始めた。 The cat started scratching to scratch the carpet.

On Technorati: linux

うちの猫は大変海苔が好きである。 Our cat is very fond of sea weeds.

On Technorati: opensource, linux

Filipino software developer wins IBM Linux Scholar tilt

Posted 00:33am (Mla time) Mar 24, 2005 By Erwin Lemuel Oliva INQ7.net

FILIPINO software development talent shines once again.

Jan Stevens Ancajas, a student of the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, was among the grand prizewinners of the 2004 IBM Linux Scholars Challenge, INQ7.net learned Wednesday.

Ancajas was among 20 winners from all over the world in the yearly challenge hosted by the computer giant IBM.

The Filipino developer's program entry described as "Dynamic DNS solution for a campus network" was cited as one of the best software programs developed by a student.

This IBM-hosted contest solicits entries from students all over the world. Each winner will receive an IBM ThinkPad T-Series with Linux and will also have the opportunity to qualify for one of the three Summer 2005 internships at the IBM Linux Technology Center.

Wow! =D Congrats!

(Oooooh, envious...)

E-Mail from Miguel A. Paraz

On Technorati: philippines, linux, opensource, advocacy, contests

Debian users can apt-get install kakasi kakasi-dic. There's an Emacs interface, a Perl module (Text::Kakasi), and a Ruby library.

On Technorati: japanese, emacs, linux, ruby

Squeak! Squeak!

Datacomm guy, college student—Keio University. Wife teaches English and computer technology.

- Alan Kay Project — teaching children with Squeak

Squeakland, Play with Squeak, squeak.or.kr, small land, croquet (3d environment for Squeak), Tweak (nextgen of Morphic), but stick with the versions available today.

I want. =)

On Technorati: tlug, linux