- wlug - list.wlug.org.nz

Where Ubuntu 8.10 will head
by Ian McDonald 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080220-next-ubuntu-release-to-be-cal… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Google sponsors improvements to Wine
by James Pluck 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

A very good article on Ars Technica about the support that Google has been providing to improve Wine making Dragon Naturally Speaking and Adobe software work under Wine on Linux. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080219-google-intoxicates-linux-user… -- 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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Microsoft Opens Up Proprietary Office Document Formats Too
by Ian McDonald 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

>From Wininfo daily: With the open versions of its Office document formats receiving mixed reviews from standards bodies, Microsoft announced late last week that it would also open up its older, proprietary Office documents formats. This change is part of an ongoing bid to get the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to accept its newer Open XML document format as a standard. As of last Friday, the specifications for Microsoft's proprietary Word, Excel, and PowerPoint binary document formats (as used in versions 97-2007 of the products) were published to the Microsoft Web site. (They were previously available by request only, though few are aware of this.) Microsoft has also created a translator for moving documents between the older binary formats and the newer Open XML formats, which it has published on the SourceForge Web site. As with the Open XML formats, the binary document formats are provided to the public under Microsoft's Open Specification Promise (OSP), which provides an open license for others to use the formats without fear of patent infringement or other legal issues. Thus, developers could use the specifications to make their own applications and services completely compatible with documents created by Microsoft's most widely used Office applications. The big question, of course, is whether these moves will be enough to convince the ISO to standardize Open XML. Microsoft's new formats failed ISO accreditation during a fast-track proposal late last year, but the ISO will have a Ballot Resolution Meeting later this month to address the company's revised proposal. According to reports, national standards bodies that participated in last year's ISO balloting submitted more than 3500 comments about the Microsoft bid, though once duplicates were removed, the number was closer to 1000. Microsoft's revised bid will apparently address every one of those comments. To comment, click here. -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 19 Feb '08

19 Feb '08

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IanMcDonald has organised Mike Culver from http://www.wlug.org.nz/Amazon to talk about what Amazon is doing with web services. Please note this is at MS4 G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) not the usual location. Please note this is a Wednesday, not the usual night. But it's still 7:30PM Mike's details are available at http://evangelists.wetpaint.com/page/Mike+Culver+NZ+Australia+Feb+2008

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is tomorrow!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

There is a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting tomorrow: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IanMcDonald has organised Mike Culver from http://www.wlug.org.nz/Amazon to talk about what Amazon is doing with web services. Please note this is at MS4 G.02 (http://www.waikato.ac.nz/contacts/map?MS4) not the usual location. Please note this is a Wednesday, not the usual night. But it's still 7:30PM Mike's details are available at http://evangelists.wetpaint.com/page/Mike+Culver+NZ+Australia+Feb+2008

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MeetingTopics.2008-02-20
by Darryl Cousins 18 Feb '08

18 Feb '08

Hi, Re the meeting on Wednesday with speaker Mike Culver. I've not been to a WLUG meeting (resident in Thames) and I would just like to check protocol that attendance is open to all interested parties. Namely, myself. :-) Regards to all, Darryl Cousins Python coder Zope3 developer

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Google launches Open source blog
by Ian McDonald 13 Feb '08

13 Feb '08

http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/ -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Sun buys Innotek (makers of VirtualBox)
by Ian McDonald 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

http://www.cnet.com/8301-13556_1-9870157-61.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=254… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Re: [wlug] Root exploit
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

I was a bit confused before but now it is total Regards John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > > * depends on whether your distribution includes certain > > modules or not: ubuntu's kernel is not vulnerable, > but most other distros are. > > > Curious, since this machine actually runs a fairly > standard ubuntu install and clearly was vulnerable. > > zcat(a)mandela:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release > DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu > DISTRIB_RELEASE=7.10 > DISTRIB_CODENAME=gutsy > DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 7.10" > > zcat(a)mandela:~$ uname -a > Linux mandela 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Fri Feb 1 04:59:50 > UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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Root exploit
by Bruce Kingsbury 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

zcat(a)mandela:~$ ./vmsplice ----------------------------------- Linux vmsplice Local Root Exploit By qaaz ----------------------------------- [+] mmap: 0x0 .. 0x1000 [+] page: 0x0 [+] page: 0x20 [+] mmap: 0x4000 .. 0x5000 [+] page: 0x4000 [+] page: 0x4020 [+] mmap: 0x1000 .. 0x2000 [+] page: 0x1000 [+] mmap: 0xb7fbe000 .. 0xb7ff0000 [+] root root(a)mandela:~# OUCH!!!! Exploit is here; http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/5092 Instant temporary fix (zaps the live kernel with a NOP in the appropriate place) is mentioned here;http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=464953#14 Actual code for fix; http://www.ping.uio.no/~mortehu/disable-vmsplice-if-exploitable.c

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job vacancy - systems programmer
by John McPherson 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Global-Pix.com runs several websites, including the Marathon-Photos.com site. In 2007 we photographed more than 1 million athletes in over 250 events through 30 countries - taking more than 3 million images. Due to expansion, we are looking for a Systems Programmer to join our small development team based at our office in Hamilton. In this position, you would help maintain and program our back-end systems. While there will be some system administration tasks to be done, the majority of your time will be spent working on software features. The following skills are essential: * several years' programming in python (or similar scripting languages) * Linux system administration * an understanding of networking (configuration, DNS/bind, diagnostics, etc) The following skills are desired, the more the better: * Server internals (eg RAID, SATA, UPSes) * Debian GNU/Linux administration experience * distributed LAN management - LDAP, SMB, SSH * C or C++ programming * SQL (preferably postgreSQL) * basic image processing * video formats/processing Salary is negotiable based on your skillset and experience. Our office has a small and friendly atmosphere close to the centre of the CBD. Please send email to vacancies(a)global-pix.com to apply or request further information. -- John McPherson

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Upcoming WLUG committee meeting (1 week today)
by Meeting Reminder bot 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

As per the WLUG charter, please note that there is a WLUG executive committee meeting one week from today. If you wish to get an item on the agenda for this meeting, please email it to secretary(a)wlug.org.nz. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Venue: JamesPluck's place (31 Aberfoyle Street) # Previous Minutes # Treasurers report # Correspondence # Matters # Server status # General business

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Re: [wlug] Perpetual motion??
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

I was not trying to be controversial or odd just found it in slashdot and thought it an interesting read Regards John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > On Feb 10, 2008 11:11 AM, <jaytee(a)clear.net.nz> wrote: > > Here is the link. What do you think? > > > > http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/300042#t > > Regards John > > Go google perpetual motion or read: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_motion > > You can't violate the basic laws of physics. As to the > motor accelerating when a magnet was put near it - that > makes sense because you have energy from moving the > magnet... > > Open source is very solid, let's not look like a bunch of > strange people by debating whether you can have perpetual > motion or not, whether man landed on the moon etc.

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Perpetual motion??
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

Here is the link. What do you think? http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/300042#t Regards John

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Virtulisation for Ubuntu roundup
by Ian McDonald 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

Good article here: http://www.techthrob.com/tech/linux_virtualization.php -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Another good interview with Linus Torvalds
by Ian McDonald 05 Feb '08

05 Feb '08

Long, but good. http://lwn.net/Articles/267764/rss -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Key mobile Linux platform out in March
by Ian McDonald 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

http://www.news.com/Key-mobile-Linux-platform-out-in-March/2100-1039_3-6229… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Ubuntu 8.04 features/Alpha 4
by Ian McDonald 03 Feb '08

03 Feb '08

Good article here at Ars: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080202-first-look-ubuntu-8-04-hardy-… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Nokia buys Trolltech (Qt/Main KDE developers)
by Ian McDonald 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

I personally think that this is good news: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080128-nokia-buys-trolltech-will-bec… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Yahoo takeover by Microsoft and implications for open source
by Ian McDonald 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

You've all probably read by now that Microsoft is proposing to take over Yahoo. Here is an article on implcations for open source: http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9862772-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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WLUG Fixit Meeting is today!
by Meeting Reminder bot 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

A reminder, the WLUG Fixit Meeting is today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday February 2nd, 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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Good interview with Linus Torvalds at LCA
by Ian McDonald 01 Feb '08

01 Feb '08

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;444282619 -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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WLUG Fixit Meeting tomorrow
by Meeting Reminder bot 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

A reminder; the WLUG Fixit Meeting is tomorrow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday February 2nd, 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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WLUG wiki site errors
by graham dixon 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

Hi John, >From memory there were several - I do not recall others but one which is 100% reproducible is www.wlug.org.nz/rsh(1) and the ?nocache option is not making it work for me. (I may be applying that incorrectly.) As an extra piece of information - I notice this morning that the URL appears to be trying to draw the page for ssh when I was asking for rsh. Hope this helps. cheers Graham ===================================== Message: 2 Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:26:14 +1300 From: "John R. McPherson" <jrm(a)wlug.org.nz> Subject: Re: [wlug] WLUG wiki site errors To: Waikato Linux Users Group <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz> Message-ID: <20080126032614.GA18484(a)wlug.org.nz> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 {snip} > Over recent days I have had several of > ================================== > Fatal PhpWiki Error lib/CachedMarkup.php (In template 'browse' < 'html'):257: Error: Pure virtual > Hi, do you know which page(s) you were on that caused this? It seems that a previous version of phpwiki has made some cached pages that the current version doesn't like, for some reason. If you can figure out the page again, try it again but add a "?nocache" argument to the url and let me know if that fixes it. If it does, then it's definitely a problem with phpwiki's own caching, and I guess we can just remove all the cached pages from the database... John McPherson Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

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We run them in! French police deal blow to Microsoft
by Michael McDonald 31 Jan '08

31 Jan '08

An interesting switch to Ubuntu by the Gendarmerie http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03x6w Perhaps not too surprising as the EU and Microsoft are not the best of buddies. Michael

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Putty.exe vs. VNC vs. XWindows
by Zientek, Selene 30 Jan '08

30 Jan '08

Putty.exe vs. VNC Vs. X Windows??? Would anyone have any disadvantages or advantages of the subject above? Any thoughts would be very helpful? CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attachments originate by electronic mail from Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania, First Priority Health, AllOne Health Management Solutions, Inc. and their subsidiaries/affiliates ("BCNEPA"). Both this document and any attachments are intended for the sole use of the addressee indicated above and may contain proprietary, privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that any use or disclosure of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify the sender by reply email and delete the original message immediately. Thank you for your cooperation.

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New features in Gnome 2.22
by Ian McDonald 29 Jan '08

29 Jan '08

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=980&num=1 Roll on Ubuntu 8.04! -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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WLUG wiki site errors
by graham dixon 26 Jan '08

26 Jan '08

Hi, Not sure who this should be send to and I can't see any suitable contact on the WLUG site - so can someone please forward to a relevant person. Over recent days I have had several of ================================== Fatal PhpWiki Error lib/CachedMarkup.php (In template 'browse' < 'html'):257: Error: Pure virtual ================================== when searching on the wlug site. cheersGraham Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

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Calendar/file view
by Ian McDonald 24 Jan '08

24 Jan '08

I found this quite interesting: http://arstechnica.com/journals/linux.ars/2008/01/23/project-nemo-when-file… Who says opensource doesn't innovate? -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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KDE 4 review
by Ian McDonald 21 Jan '08

21 Jan '08

There is a very thorough review and article on KDE 4 here: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/kde-40-review.ars/1 -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting tonight!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 18 Jan '08

18 Jan '08

There's a WLUG meeting tonight: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual WLUG BBQ at Lindsay's place, 3 John Webb Drive, Glenview (http://zoomin.co.nz/?search/index&type=ADDRESS&q=3%20John%20Webb%20Drive%2C…) 3pm until about 7pm BYO steak, beer, etc.. WLUG will provide snacks and soft drinks.

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Anyone got a recent copy of Sol 10 stable +intro
by Anthony Cull 18 Jan '08

18 Jan '08

Hi wlug Im Anthony, I have a sparc netra X1 and would like to upgrade it to the latest stable release of Solaris 10... Yes I know linux works on sparc.. but hate to say this but the options are less than good. I might be prompted to join wlug and contribute my experience with *nixes over the last 5 years. I am moving from Levin to Te Aroha and thought contributing my knowledge to a local community would help. Previous EXP security & dev tester for Julex Live CD project. -- Anthony Cull cullanthony(a)fastmail.fm -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Does exactly what it says on the tin

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REMINDER: WLUG meeting is tomorrow!
by Meeting Reminder Bot 17 Jan '08

17 Jan '08

There is a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting tomorrow: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual WLUG BBQ at Lindsay's place, 3 John Webb Drive, Glenview (http://zoomin.co.nz/?search/index&type=ADDRESS&q=3%20John%20Webb%20Drive%2C…) 3pm until about 7pm BYO steak, beer, etc.. WLUG will provide snacks and soft drinks.

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Re: [wlug] REMINDER: WLUG meeting is tomorrow!
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 17 Jan '08

17 Jan '08

I am hoping to make it to the BBQ tomorrow. Regards John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > Also, can I get a rough idea who is coming ? > (Please let me know if you're coming off list) > > > On Fri, 2008-01-18 at 06:26 +1300, Meeting Reminder Bot > wrote: > > > There is a Waikato Linux Users Group meeting tomorrow: > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > ------------ Annual WLUG BBQ at Lindsay's place, 3 John > Webb Drive, Glenview > (http://zoomin.co.nz/?search/index&type=ADDRESS&q=3%20John > > %20Webb%20Drive%2C%20Glenview%2C%20Hamilton) > > 3pm until about 7pm > > > > BYO steak, beer, etc.. WLUG will provide snacks and soft > > drinks. _______________________________________________ > > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

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Re: [wlug] Saturday Workshop
by jaytee＠clear.net.nz 17 Jan '08

17 Jan '08

Phew! it is quiet. The last time I spoke with Bruce He seemed fairly determined for the workshop to go ahead. All the best John ----- Original Message Follows ----- > Hi all, I'm interested in attending this event, but wanted > to confirm that it is going ahead, as the list has been > 'vewy vewy quiet' lately. > > Regards, Glenn > > -- > See my blog at > http://snap-happy3216.blogspot.com > _______________________________________________ > wlug mailing list | wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz > Unsubscribe: > http://list.waikato.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/wlug

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Sun buys MySQL
by Ian McDonald 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

http://www.osnews.com/story/19170 -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Saturday Workshop
by Glenn Enright 16 Jan '08

16 Jan '08

Hi all, I'm interested in attending this event, but wanted to confirm that it is going ahead, as the list has been 'vewy vewy quiet' lately. Regards, Glenn -- See my blog at http://snap-happy3216.blogspot.com

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SimCity code released under GPL v3
by Ian McDonald 12 Jan '08

12 Jan '08

http://www.osnews.com/story/19152 And it's native Linux code too. -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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WRT54GL - vulnerable for Session Riding and Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
by Peter Reutemann 12 Jan '08

12 Jan '08

Just came across this vulnerability of the Linux-based WRT54GL... - news article: http://www.heise-security.co.uk/news/101650 - original vulnerability report (by Tomaz Bratusa): http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2008-01/0063.html Cheers, Peter -- Peter Reutemann, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Waikato, NZ http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/ Ph. +64 (7) 858-5174

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WiFi Radar
by Ian McDonald 12 Jan '08

12 Jan '08

For those battling problems with linux and WiFi like this guy: http://www.cnet.com/8301-13880_1-9848471-68.html?tag=bnpr this might be an interesting piece of software (WiFi Radar): http://wifi-radar.systemimager.org/ This might be a useful piece of software for those that don't want to play at the command line - I find NetworkManager quite frustrating personally. -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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KDE 4 release and screenshots
by Ian McDonald 11 Jan '08

11 Jan '08

Some nice examples of how KDE 4 looks here: http://www.news.com/2300-7344_3-6225734-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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ANNOUNCE: WLUG meeting is one week away
by Meeting Reminder Bot 11 Jan '08

11 Jan '08

The Waikato Linux Users Group have a meeting in one week from today: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual WLUG BBQ at Lindsay's place, 3 John Webb Drive, Glenview (http://zoomin.co.nz/?search/index&type=ADDRESS&q=3%20John%20Webb%20Drive%2C…) 3pm until about 7pm BYO steak, beer, etc.. WLUG will provide snacks and soft drinks.

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DNS problem
by Michael McDonald 11 Jan '08

11 Jan '08

Like Jamie, I've been having problems with my Dynalink RTA1320 modem/router. I ended up replacing it with a Linksys AG300. That seemed to fix the problems, but ... about once per day access to the Internet gets cut off. It's easy enough to restore functionality. All I have to do is (a) power off/on the modem/router, or (b) disconnect/connect, or (c) add my ISP's DSN servers to the network tables on my computer. In other words, it appears to be a DNS problem. The question is what's happening? I've put my ISP's DNS addresses in the router/modem's setup (makes no difference). When DNS name resolution via the router fails, all computers on the network fail to access the Internet. The timing of the problem doesn't coincide with the monitored with the monitored burglar alarm "phoning home". Any suggestions on what the problem is or what to try next? Michael

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Linux/VMWare/Windows engineer needed
by Ian McDonald 10 Jan '08

10 Jan '08

If this sounds like you and you'd like to work as part of the new systems team at Datacom then have a look at: http://it.seek.co.nz/users/apply/index.ascx?Sequence=20&PageNumber=1&JobID=… -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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Picasa upgrade and Google repositories for Debian/Ubuntu
by Ian McDonald 09 Jan '08

09 Jan '08

Read more here: http://www.linux.com/feature/123818 -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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State of Ogg Theora/Video for Linux
by Ian McDonald 05 Jan '08

05 Jan '08

http://www.linux.com/feature/123869 -- Web: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Blog: http://iansblog.jandi.co.nz

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DVD creator software
by James Pluck 03 Jan '08

03 Jan '08

Hi all! I'm in a bit of a bind. I'm trying to create a dvd out of some home movies we've made of our foster son so we can give them to his birth parents and his grandparents as part of their Christmas gift. However, the only software I can find is commercial and I can't afford it - let alone know how to use it. I could do with some hints, please I need software that will allow me to create a DVD that is a mix of approximately 10 video clips (in MOV format as that is the only format for video that our digi-cam uses) and a slideshow of approx 50 photos - so it's definitely less than a DVD's worth of footage. FOSS software preferred but I will try shareware or commercial if I have to. Any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. Cheers James. -- A Mathematician named Klein Thought the mobius strip was divine Said he "If you glue The edges of two You'll get a cool bottle, like mine!"

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Explanation of Samba/Microsoft deal
by Ian McDonald 27 Dec '07

27 Dec '07

Good article here: http://www.linux.com/feature/123721 -- Web1: http://wand.net.nz/~iam4/ Web2: http://www.jandi.co.nz

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Technology in 2008 (Economist)
by Michael McDonald 23 Dec '07

23 Dec '07

Interesting forecast from the Economist. Predicts more use of Open Source. http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10410912 Michael

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Java or Python?
by Chris O'Halloran 18 Dec '07

18 Dec '07

I am looking for some thoughts/opinions on the merits of these two languages. Over the years I book a few books on Java including Java in Nutshell Java Foundation Class Java for Scientist and Engineers The latter being the most useful to me. However, I've never really got the hang of how it all works. I don't have a formal programming background In recent times, I've come across Python and lately stumbled upon SciPy,ipython, NumPy and matplotlib.sourceforge.net. I've also noticed that Python has PyQt that enables you to use the Qt and poss KDE for widgets and gui interface. KDE is the desktop of choice for me and QT Designer are all "sudo apt-get install " away. Both Python and Java are cross platform which a plus. What I would like to do is put together small applications often using complex numbers and array for the engineering work that I do. Sometimes importing csv text files containing data from measurment devices. I have always thought Java was the tool for this but lately, I've noticed how easy it is to make things work with Python. especially the interactive "try a line of code, did it do what you wanted?, no, try this, ah, that works" I'm thinking that Python might provide the fast feed back approach that gets you enthused about actually coding than the steper learning curve of a more comprehensive language and not actually knowing where to start with a gui or even just how to get the IDE to use the classpath you want. I'd be interested if people had thoughts or comments on the merits. Cheers

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