November 2007 - wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Arghhh - Help
by James Pluck 11 Dec '07

11 Dec '07

(I apologise for the spam if you've gotten this twice. I think the email I originally sent it from is not subscribed to this list). Hi all! I'm in a bit of a bind. We're experiencing very poor connectivity at the moment from Slingshot. We're lucky to be able to stay online for more than 3 minutes at a time. I've just called Slingshot support and a very bored woman who sounded like it was beneath her to even talk to me was very unhelpful. refused to run any checks on the line or check logs or anything at their end unless I tried an alternative router on the line. She basically wanted me off the phone as fast as possible - presumably so she could get back to her WoW game or Puzzle Pirates or something more important than actual customer support (I tell you - if we had someone who behaved like that to customers at Quicksilver they'd be on notice pretty bloody fast!) Anyway - does anyone have a spare adsl router that I could borrow for a day or so to do some troubleshooting and see if it is my problem or Slingshot's problem. I'm in the process of choosing another provider because we've not been hapy with the service from Slingshot for some time but I'd kinda like to work out if it's a hardware issue or a connection issue before we switch. If I had the knowledge and the skills I'd probably just bite the bullet and rewire the jackpoints in this house - the current phone wiring seems a little amateurish - but we've had no troubles with any telecommunications services up until a couple of weeks ago. I have a drum of cat 5 but no skills on how to use it - *sigh* anyways - if anyone has a spare serviceable adsl router they would be willing to loan me I would be most grateful! James. -- James Pluck PalmOS Ergo Sum "Dear IRS: I would like to cancel my subscription. Please remove my name from your mailing list..."

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 30 Nov '07

30 Nov '07

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday December 1st, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm We will be holding our SaturdayWorkshop at Te Whanau Pūtahi (http://zoomin.co.nz/nz/hamilton/enderley/-te+whanau+ptahi/?place/full_map) the community church at the end of Oxford Street. We'll have the usual tables, power, various ISO's, Internet, coffee and light lunch, etc.

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Fwd: Computerworld TopNews | Kiwicon demo uses PlayStation 3 to crack passwords
by Michael McDonald 29 Nov '07

29 Nov '07

Another interesting article Michael ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Computerworld TopNews <info(a)fairfaxbm.tx.co.nz> Date: 29 Nov 2007 13:17 Subject: Computerworld TopNews | Kiwicon demo uses PlayStation 3 to crack passwords KIWICON DEMO USES PLAYSTATION 3 TO CRACK PASSWORDS http://s0.tx.co.nz/at/tep34n611218j139974i196841f2c7091635a4t9s4z PS3 used to conduct over 1.4 billion MD5 calculations a second, says Kiwi researcher

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How To: Run the olpc's Sugar OS in Ubuntu
by Michael McDonald 29 Nov '07

29 Nov '07

Seems to run quite well. A bit strange at first. Michael ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply(a)google.com> Date: 29 Nov 2007 11:02 Subject: Google Alert - ubuntu OR OLPC How To: Run the olpc's Sugar OS in Ubuntu Wired News - USA Well, it turns out it's pretty easy to install the xo's Sugar OS as an Ubuntu virtual machine. Tom Hoffman has posted some instructions for installing Sugar ... <http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/11/how-to-run-the.html> See all stories on this topic: <http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ncl=http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/200…>

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Network latency simulation
by Glenn Ramsey 28 Nov '07

28 Nov '07

Hi, In order to test some software I am developing I need to introduce a network delay between a machine and the rest of my LAN. After a bit of web searching I discovered that this is supposed to be simple to do, you just set up Linux as a transparent bridge and use the iproute tools to simulate network behaviour. However I can't get it to work how I want. I have an old AMD K6/500 box with 2 10bT ethernet cards running Xubuntu 7.10. One card is connected to my office LAN switch and the other to a hub, like this: MachineA---switch---eth0/bridge/eth1---hub---MachineB I have installed bridge-utils and iproute and I have configured the bridge machine according to the bridge-utils documentation by removing the eth0 and eth1 entries and adding a br0 to /etc/network/interfaces : auto br0 iface br0 inet static address 192.168.1.251 network 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255 gateway 192.168.1.1 bridge_ports eth0 eth1 This works fine and MachineB can get an address via DHCP and see the rest of the network. Now I need to add a delay so that all traffic between MachineB and the rest of the network has some latency. In order to add a delay, according to [1] I just need to do this: $ tc qdisc add dev DEV root netem delay 100ms I have done this for various combinations of eth0, eth1 and br0 but it only seems to delay traffic to and from the bridge itself, not traffic being relayed through the bridge. Does anyone know how to set this up to delay traffic going through the bridge? Glenn [1] http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/Net:Netem#Emulating_wide_area_network_de… -- Glenn Ramsey <glenn(a)componic.co.nz> 07 8627077 http://www.componic.co.nz

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RandR
by Ian McDonald 28 Nov '07

28 Nov '07

Given graphics was focus of last meeting this might be of interest: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=927&num=1 Talks about RandR 1.2 and how to use it. -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Fwd: "Open Source DataTurbine Initiative" Biology lunchtime seminar tomorrow (fwd)
by Ian McDonald 25 Nov '07

25 Nov '07

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tony McGregor <tonym(a)waikato.ac.nz> Date: Nov 26, 2007 10:22 AM Subject: "Open Source DataTurbine Initiative" Biology lunchtime seminar tomorrow (fwd) To: cs-staff(a)cs.waikato.ac.nz > Open Source DataTurbine Initiative > > Tony Fountain, Paul Hubbard, Sameer Tilak, Ilya Zaslavsky > University of California, San Diego > > The vision of large-scale sensor-based Observing Systems, to address > the U.S. National Research Council's "Grand Challenges" for > environmental science, relies on robust cyberinfrastructure. Streaming > data middleware is an essential component of this cyberinfrastructure, > providing the foundation for reliable data acquisition and instrument > management services. The environmental science and engineering > communities are currently engaged in the early planning and > development phases of the next generation of large-scale sensor-based > observing systems. The Open Source DataTurbine Initiative is a new > NSF-funded project to empower these communities with Streaming Data > Middleware. > > Large-scale sensor-based observing systems face a number of > significant challenges in design and operations, including > heterogeneity of instrumentation and complexity of data stream > processing. These systems incorporate instruments from across the > spectrum of complexity, from temperature sensors to acoustic Doppler > current profilers, to streaming video cameras. They typically require > integration of instruments from various vendors and R&D labs. > Requirements on the cyberinfrastructure include scalable and secure > support for real-time data acquisition, instrument and data stream > management, and analysis and visualization. To address these > cyberinfrastructure challenges in a principled manner, we launched the > Open Source DataTurbine Initiative. > > DataTurbine is a robust open-source streaming data middleware system > that satisfies the core requirements for sensor-based environmental > observing systems. It is relatively mature and has been tested in a > variety of real-world streaming data applications. It facilitates the > development of complex distributed streaming data applications, > including real-time virtual observatories and telepresence > collaboratories. The Open Source DataTurbine Initiative combines > commercial-quality software support with an active and engaged user > and developer community. In this talk we share our vision and invite > domain scientists and developers to join the Open Source DataTurbine > Initiative. We also discuss our experiences and results from > real-world deployments of DataTurbine. Further details about the Open > Source DataTurbine Initiative can be found at: > http://www.dataturbine.org > > > When: Tues 27th Nov 12:00noon > Where: Room A.G.30 > > <<37 sem 271107 Fountain.doc>> > Vicki Smith > Administrative Assistant > Biological Sciences > The University of Waikato > Private Bag 3105 > Hamilton > > Ph 838 4148 > Fax 838 4324 > > -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Fwd: "Open Source DataTurbine Initiative" Biology lunchtime seminar tomorrow (fwd)
by Ian McDonald 25 Nov '07

25 Nov '07

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Tony McGregor <tonym(a)waikato.ac.nz> Date: Nov 26, 2007 10:22 AM Subject: "Open Source DataTurbine Initiative" Biology lunchtime seminar tomorrow (fwd) To: cs-staff(a)cs.waikato.ac.nz > Open Source DataTurbine Initiative > > Tony Fountain, Paul Hubbard, Sameer Tilak, Ilya Zaslavsky > University of California, San Diego > > The vision of large-scale sensor-based Observing Systems, to address > the U.S. National Research Council's "Grand Challenges" for > environmental science, relies on robust cyberinfrastructure. Streaming > data middleware is an essential component of this cyberinfrastructure, > providing the foundation for reliable data acquisition and instrument > management services. The environmental science and engineering > communities are currently engaged in the early planning and > development phases of the next generation of large-scale sensor-based > observing systems. The Open Source DataTurbine Initiative is a new > NSF-funded project to empower these communities with Streaming Data > Middleware. > > Large-scale sensor-based observing systems face a number of > significant challenges in design and operations, including > heterogeneity of instrumentation and complexity of data stream > processing. These systems incorporate instruments from across the > spectrum of complexity, from temperature sensors to acoustic Doppler > current profilers, to streaming video cameras. They typically require > integration of instruments from various vendors and R&D labs. > Requirements on the cyberinfrastructure include scalable and secure > support for real-time data acquisition, instrument and data stream > management, and analysis and visualization. To address these > cyberinfrastructure challenges in a principled manner, we launched the > Open Source DataTurbine Initiative. > > DataTurbine is a robust open-source streaming data middleware system > that satisfies the core requirements for sensor-based environmental > observing systems. It is relatively mature and has been tested in a > variety of real-world streaming data applications. It facilitates the > development of complex distributed streaming data applications, > including real-time virtual observatories and telepresence > collaboratories. The Open Source DataTurbine Initiative combines > commercial-quality software support with an active and engaged user > and developer community. In this talk we share our vision and invite > domain scientists and developers to join the Open Source DataTurbine > Initiative. We also discuss our experiences and results from > real-world deployments of DataTurbine. Further details about the Open > Source DataTurbine Initiative can be found at: > http://www.dataturbine.org > > > When: Tues 27th Nov 12:00noon > Where: Room A.G.30 > > <<37 sem 271107 Fountain.doc>> > Vicki Smith > Administrative Assistant > Biological Sciences > The University of Waikato > Private Bag 3105 > Hamilton > > Ph 838 4148 > Fax 838 4324 > > -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 25 Nov '07

25 Nov '07

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:30pm, TW.2.05 (http://www.wlug.org.nz/TW) 3D desktops.. compiz-fusion and Xgl?

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Linux graphics survey
by Ian McDonald 22 Nov '07

22 Nov '07

Given Monday's topic this is timely. I can't go to the meeting as will be in Auckland :-( http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=924&num=1 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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