Also in the news...

... racial profiling has crossed the boundary from the ridiculous to the simply absurd. A British MP says he has been detained and his baggage checked for explosives twice in the past year, once at JFK and once in Heathrow, while serving diplomatic duties including attending a counter-terrorism meeting put on by the US Department of Homeland Security. And no, it's not that he's extremely unlucky, it is that he's brown and a Muslim.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/7066944.stm

... the New Jersey Devils opened their brand new rink Saturday night after playing their first nine games on the road. They hosted the Senators, who promptly pissed in the Devil's corn flakes with a 4-1 win, including an empty netter. Fans booed NHL commish Gary Bettman and chanted "Hockey-Defence!", evidently feeling that post-lockout rule changes designed to reduce trapping and increase scoring chances were made just to screw them over. Well, Devils fans, its not all about you, and its your own fault for cheering for a team that had no idea how to play offense and now must adapt in a hurry to stay competitive.

... the Flyers are in trouble again after a third incident of a hit from behind into the boards left the Bruin's Patrice Bergeron with a concussion. The guilty party this time is Randy Jones. No word yet on his suspension. At this point it may be necessary to suspend the whole team before one of them kills somebody. At the very least an investigation needs to be launched as to why and how the coaching staff has not impressed upon the players (who should be able to read the rule book anyway) that it is illegal to hit a player from behind, especially into the boards. The cheap shots have to end.

http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=341397

More Ubuntu Testing

Looks like I will be able to go with a Linux-only system. After running more tests, it seems that I can do everything under Linux that I typically ask of my computer.

Getting a DVD to play was the most complicated part. Because DVDs are usually copy-protected using the content scrambling system (CSS), you need to use a workaround which has "uncertain legal status." Basically, you have to break the CSS encryption to play a DVD. Why would you have to break an encryption scheme to play content you own? An excellent (but sadly unresolved) question.

Anyway, you need something called libdvdcss2.
1. Go to http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-debian.html, at the bottom of the page are a couple of lines of code that contain the URLs for the codec and some Linux gobelty-gook.
2. In the top menu in Ubuntu, go to System > Administration > Software Sources.
3. Enter your admin password.
4. In the resulting window, go to the "Third-Party Software" tab. Hit "Add...". Copy and paste the code from the website. This will add libdvdcss2 to the "packages" available through the Synaptic Package Manager. Hit close in the software sources dialog and go into the Package Manager. Search for 'libdvdcss2' and install as usual.

With this in hand, Totem and Ogle both played copy-protected DVDs. I could have done without the work-around. You can also do a command-line install if you prefer, several forums have instructions posted to do it this way.

The good news is that DivX movies are no problem, the same codec pack I downloaded to play MP3s also works for the other common audio and video formats. My printer was recognized and installed automatically, which is a bit of a surprise because it did not plug-and-play in Windows, I had to manually install a driver to get it going in XP. My scanner was not recognized, but I bought it for school and hardly ever use it anyway. I'll just hook it up to a Windows desktop that I also have in the apartment and use it from there on the off chance that I need it.

As for antivirus, the feeling I get from various sources (including the official Ubuntu documentation site) is don't bother unless you are also running Windows. In that case, the antivirus primarily serves to get the crud off your Windows partition since hardly anything actually attacks Linux and a basic firewall should be plenty for most users. I looked it up on Wikipedia, there are a grand total of 9 worms and 14 viruses that infected Unix/Linux and none of them where able to spread very far. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_computer_viruses_and_worms

The only thing I have not tried that I regularly use is BitTorrent, but I don't see it being a problem.

Learning to love it?

I'm starting to feel the Ubuntu learning curve. Yeah, its not much different than Windows XP, but there a a few spots where it puts the same thing in a different place. For example, the system clock is in the top right corner, I keep looking in the lower right where it is in Windows. When I went to connect the wireless (which I find to be a pain anyway) it gives you the option to use either an ASCII or Hexadecimal WEP key (that is to say, the encryption key used by secured wireless networks). Maybe its because I'm a mechanical rather than an electrical engineer, maybe its because I have a cold and my head is a little thick, but when I saw the option of ASCII or Hex I went "whaaaa....?"

After a break and a bit more fiddling, I realized that the key for my router (Linksys WRT54GS) is in hex format. Duh. Well, duh now that I've had some time to think about it.

I do like the way Ubuntu has of switching between networks. All the available wired and wireless connections are in a drop-down menu in the upper right, which is basically the system tray without the typical Windows clutter. You just click on the one you want, and if it need a key or password you enter it in a pop-up window (if its your first time connecting). Which is nice. For some reason I have never understood, Windows treats wired and wireless connections as completely separate entities. Most of the time I had to manually refresh the wireless network list because Windows doesn't seem to want to set my home network to automatic and leave it that way.

When I run out of geeky stuff to do, Ubuntu does come with good games. Mahjongg, Sudoku, chess, a tetris clone, even a clone of minesweeper, etc., are installed by default and are offline games. Eat that Windows. Solitaire and Minesweeper doesn't really do it for me.

Rhythmbox is another interesting pre-installed app. It is a lot like iTunes and Winamp 5.5 in appearance. The playlist editing is a bit different from what I'm used to - I haven't quite figured it out yet. It shows track title, artist and album information by default, which doesn't leave room for a long playlist (in the main window anyway). When it was done playing my playlist, it started playing my library from the beginning (by artist), which was unexpected and annoying.

I have a firewall (Firestarter) running, next up on my list are anti-virus (yeah, there has been the odd virus for Linux) and BitTorrent.

Blogomatic for the people!

I now have Ubuntu running from my hard drive, via Wubi. The 7.10 version of the Wubi installer (a convenient Windows front end for doing the installation) is technically an alpha test, but I had no issues. Basically made my laptop into a dual-boot machine without a lot of partitioning and such. The alpha can be be downloaded from http://wubi-installer.org/devel/minefield/. While 'minefield' doesn't sound to promising, it lets me take a better look at Ubuntu than using the bootable CD. Word to the wise, Wubi asks for a username and password, these are used to set up your Ubuntu account, so be sure to remember them or at least write them down someplace.

Turns out my computer needed only 2 proprietary hardware drivers, one for the ATI graphics acceleration and one for the wireless chipset (Broadcom 43xx). I didn't bother with the soft modem driver. I'm long done with dial-up. Haven't set up the wireless connection yet, I assume it will be similar to the procedure I did the first time when I had just bought the router. If only I could remember how I did it then... anyhoo. The advantages of having a generic laptop (Compaq V2000) with equally generic hardware.

I've also put on a codec pack... how the heck is .mp3 proprietary, anyway? I suppose its one of those de facto standards like, oh, Windows! Snap! Pardon me while I geek out...

As Seen in the City

I saw a flatbed tow truck the other day with the slogan "We don't want an arm and a leg, we just want your tows." Seriously. Today a saw a similar tow truck (it may be the same one, hard to say really) with an ambulance on the back. It did not appear to be smashed up, for all I know it just had engine trouble. I just hope it wasn't responding to a call at the time.

In wacked out international news, the deputy mayor of Dehli was killed by a pack of semi-tame monkeys. In India, monkeys are sacred and they occur frequently in and around temple complexes were people feed them nuts and bananas to bring good luck. But apparently not even the hindu monkey god likes politicians.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7055625.stm

Which is odd, really because the god in question is associated with wisdom, valour, and strength, and is a friend to humans, at least according to Wikipedia, and so doesn't seem particularly likely to smite someone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman

Oh, random items, how I loath thee.

This post is really just a bunch of random items, so if you where expecting a point now would be a good time to direct your browser elsewhere.

The silly season has officially begun for Saint John road construction. In addition to putting a new exit ramp on to the main highway, which will come out near the malls (right in time for Christmas!), there have been small construction zones popping up along MacAllister drive, three different spots in the last week. Since this is my route home (without taking a very long detour), I could really do without this. Or at least they could put a sign further back so I can get into the proper lane, lately they have been putting the signs so close to the actual construction you'll see it before the sign.

PC World recently ran a list of the ten ugliest tech products of all time, including the first cellphone, Windows 1.0, the Nintendo Virtual Boy (think 3D goggles on steroids), and, yes... the Microsoft Zune! Yes! I'm not the only person who finds it hideous! Check it out...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137988-page,10-c,electronics/article.html

Ferrari has long since extended its venerable racing brand beyond cars. Its been possible to get a high end laptop in Ferrari Red (yes, the colour is a trademark, the paint formulation a closely gaurded company secret) complete with the rampant horse logo, for a few years now. The latest Ferrari-branded product... a Segway. I shit you not...

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9801748-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

And now for something totally priceless...


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Hey, it worked!

Well, would you look at that. You really can put an Ubuntu LiveCD into your machine, boot, and off you go (for a somewhat slow trial, at least). Now, I've heard some users had hardware problems... perhaps my laptop is old and generic enough that pretty much everything works. At least it recognized my network connection automatically, my home network is flaky enough without trying to sort things out in Linux. And (having backed up my key data) I'll be taking Ubuntu for a test drive for the next couple of weeks and see if it works for me.

Built Like a Brick Sh*thouse

Which is a Nova Scotian expression for overbuilt. Which is pretty much what my new TV stand is... I built it out of 2x4's - 40 feet worth - over the weekend. It isn't pretty, nor it is quite square (not all the way around, anyway), but I can sit on it with no problem. Considering my 27'' tube TV weighs in at perhaps half what I do, it is pretty solid. I balked at paying $200 for a ready-made stand when I paid $200 for the TV. The lumber cost me $15, so I saved a bundle. My limited carpentry skills notwithstanding, I consider it a pretty successful weekend project.

The new Jamaican Bobsled Team

Actually, the Jamaican Bobsled Team looks kinda good next to these guys. The New Caledonia Cricket Team has played in four tournaments in its six years of existence, and has yet to win a single game, including two 500-run losses to Papua New Guinea. I admit that I am not familiar with Cricket, but I'm sure that a 500 point, run, or goal loss in any sport is pretty bad.

Granted, the tiny French territory located in the south pacific north-east of Australia has a population of only 240, 400 and would be expected to yield very few top-level athletes of any sort. But wow...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonia_cricket_team

S.E.P.

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams wrote about a race of aliens who sought a way to make thier ships invisible. In time, they found that the amount of energy required to render even a small object physically invisible was nearly infinite. Instead, they hit upon a simpler soloution and developed a device that did not affect the actual visibility of an object, but instead influenced the mind of the viewer, causing them to think that it was Somebody Else's Problem (SEP) and therefore blocking concious perception of the object. I could really use one of those.

I could use it to counteract another odd effect, the Murphy field. A Murphy field maps areas where Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong will) is more or less likely to apply. Pt Lepreau seems to posses a number of powerful Murphy fields, such as:

1. It broke and we have no spare parts.
2. The parts we need are not here/not documented so we know what to buy/supplied by a company that no longer exists.
3. It is clear what needs to be done but no one has any idea which process it falls under or which department is responsible.
4. The only person who understood the thing is retired/on vacation/on training out of town.

Okay, maybe the SEP generator would not directly counteract the Murphy field, but it would give the person using it and possibly the people in surrounding cubicles a couple of days of peace and quiet in which to sort out what to do while the management types think it is someone else's problem and is asking them about it instead, probably in a long, boring meeting. Make the physics of cubeland work for you!

Alright, enough insane rambling. In other news, today marks one year of Rantings of a Mad Engineer. Hooray!

oh, jealousy

Yeah, this is the downside of living on the east coast... the big names never come here. A friend of mine recently got to see the New Pornographers live in Edmonton. I was dissapointed to see another slew of European dates on the band's website after a Canada/US tour that comes no closer than Montreal and Boston. Now, I don't expect anyone to play Saint John, but a Halifax date would be really nice.

The Llama, Immortal.

Yep, Winamp is still far from obsolete. Version 5.5 marks 10 years for my personal favorite media player (where were you in 1997?). Version 5.3 added goodies like DivX codec support and syncing to a PMP (portable media player), while 5.5 ups the ante with the ability to sync with miltiple PMPs, and support for Apple's AAC encoding. Yes, those of you lucky enough to have an iPod can use Winamp in place of iTunes if you feel so inclined.

Visually, the new Winamp has a 'new' interface, under the curious name of Bento (according to Wikipedia, bento is a meal served in a compartmentalized box, sort of the Japanese answer to take-out). Really, its just the old, separate, windows connected together so they share a single box, the default colours refreshed to the black, blue, and gray of Windows Memory Hog (er, Vista). Because apparently some people found the old interface confusing. I think flexible is a better adjective, but the new interface is not bad either. The library, which by default takes up much of the window, is much the same as its been for a dog's age now, but as this was never one of Winamp's strengths the decision is questionable. Personally I could do without the teeny tiny type face, but going to 'Bento Big' gave me a font I could actually read.

There is a web-based cover art feature, a la Windows Media Player, but the catalogue seems quite limited and error-prone at this point. An equivalent to cover flow, Touch-style, is a long way off. There is support for RSS feeds and an integrated browser, as well as a little pop-up that displays track information at the start of each song and fades away, like the new mail notification gizmo in Outlook.

I guess the obvious question is if the new Winamp is an iTunes killer. Um, no. Duh. Most people will just dumbly go along with the bundled software out of laziness or sheep-like docility. I'm a long-time Winamp user and this is a nice upgrade over previous versions, and I will most likely continue to use if for the day when I actually have an iPod. Because it still whips the llama's ass.

The biggest question is why.

And increasingly, the usual answer is "why not?" A couple of technology-related stories caught my eye today and caused me to ask both the question and the answer.

A common axiom for inventors is the one about building a better mouse trap. Well, someone has done just that, coming up with a mousetrap that kills mice using a combination of IR lasers (no, seriously, lasers) and carbon dioxide, which is toxic at about 15% in air. It then sends you a text message when it kills the offending rodent (I shit you not). So you can be cruel to an innocent rodent who is incapable of doing you any harm, and you can abuse your cellphone at the same time. Which means... you... are... a... loser.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9793681-1.html

The next one is a concept car that eliminates the need to reverse by having a rotating passenger car. It also makes parallel parking easier by rotating all four wheels 90 degrees and driving sideways (seriously, I could not make this up). What I'm curious to see is the brand new traffic violations you would get if this concept caught on.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/motoringNews/idUKNOA83822120071008

I then came across a third unrelated item. Apparently the new Australia tourism ads are causing quite a stir, at least according to Wikipedia. I saw one, featuring a man in a bar saying "your beer won't stay cold forever". I later found out that the reason I had not seen that one on TV is because it had been banned in Canada because the beer shown is not branded, which, believe it or not, violates some of Canada's broadcasting standards. The second part features Aussie model Lara Bingle (in a bikini, which is probably why I remember the commercial so well) saying "So where the bloody hell are you?" Apparently this one nearly got banned as there was some debate if the use of hell as a expletive was okay for primetime in Canada. I thought it was rather strong language myself, at least at first. Then I remembered that the phrase "bloody hell" also pops up in the second Harry Potter movie (rated PG), where it is said by a thirteen year old, no less. There's a certian logic in saying that if a kid can say it in a PG movie than a grown woman should be able to say the same thing on TV.

Zune! Zuuuuuuuune!

In technology news, the Zune (sounds like zoom) is still crap. Or, at least it looks like crap. The 4 and 8 gig Zune 2.0s will come in what Microslop euphemistically calls black, red, pink and green. More like pencil lead, over-ripe raspberry, screaming 12 year old, and baby puke. Apple did the right thing by toning down its garish colours into pastels, but once again the Zune misses the boat with four colours which are ALL ugly. Also, what is with the roundish squarish central button? With absolutely no marking on it to tell you what direction does what, you'll just have to guess until you get it right. Or activate the self-destruct so you can destroy this brick in a fun way and buy yourself an iPod. Oh, I should mention that there is a capacity gap in the line-up, too, between 8 and 80 GB. Sure, let's make a knock-off, screw it up, and market it as a 'killer'. Duh.

The Crave post (http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9789841-1.html?tag=bubbl_3) sums it up nicely:

" While the new Zunes seem like fun, they don't look like the iPod-pummeling horsemen of the apocalypse we were expecting."

So, as with Vista... Swing, and a miss.

Three fries short of a happy meal

At least that's how I was starting to feel by the time my seventh straight night shift was rolling around. The good news is the atom smasher is just about ready to go again, the work on my system is done, so I can go ahead and switch back to days. I have today off to try and get my head on straight and will go in Thursday and Friday. I'll likely still do the 12.5 hour shift if for no other reason then I've got management approval to work to overtime and can always used the money.

I've been watching Dogfights, a History Channel (or History Television as its called in Canada because broadcasting rules in this country are bizzare). It's about air combat from the second world war right up through to Vietnam and has some spectacular computer animation. I highly recommend it to all of those who, like me, grew up thinking Top Gun was the best thing ever.