Using Exclamation marks in Google Command Line

As I found out in my previous post, you can't just add an ! into your post without getting a bash error. You can sort of escape them with a /, but then they both show up (like this: /!), which is silly. You can get around this by first, making sure that you use single quotes around your post and then adding a $ right before the quote that begins your post:

google blogger --title 'this is a blog post' $'this is an exciting blog!'

Testing out the new Google CLI

Wow, Google keeps surprising me with new toys. I know I could just log into the GUI, but this is just too cool(bang)

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

We've had the chance to install Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" on several machines now. Except for one particular model of Dell, the experience has been wonderful. The boot time is great--less than 10 seconds on reasonably new hardware. The new default visual theme is refreshing and beautiful. It "just works," which is more than I can say for the aging Windows XP at this time, even when used with older hardware that it should "know about."

In fact, this release has been so good, that I've now reinstalled my personal notebook computer with a fresh copy of Lucid.

There are some downsides, such as the lack of customization in the login screen (a problem that has carried over from the previous release, Karmic Koala) but the trade off for speed and stability is well worth it, and I'm sure the missing options will be reintroduced in time.

For fun, I also tried installing Debian Squeeze, and was not as happy with the outcome. The Ubuntu team really does do a lot of work to make Linux more user-friendly. I also tried Linux Mint 9 Isadora, which is based off of Ubuntu Lucid Lynx, and it seems quite formidable in its own right.

Of note--I particularly like the inclusion of the new Thunderbird 3 email client. It has some amazing features, but its attempt to autodetect the settings for my mailbox was a failure, and I had to manually set the options the correct way--a task I don't think a normal user would have been able to do, since it involved turning off features that were turned on that in past versions of Thunderbird never were turned on. On the positive side, I love the new "Smart Folders" and the improved search capabilities.

Community Computer Center

Susie and I have opened a new business with an emphasis on Free Software. It is called the Community Computer Center, and is a "brick and mortar" store which sells GNU/Linux-based desktop and laptop computers, does computer repairs (including Linux conversions), and teaches a variety of classes from "introduction to computers" up to database design and programming.

We are also making Open Computing into our businesses' official blog, and its posts will be featured on the home page of our site, communitycomputercenter.com

Working Video - Intel 82810 CGC, Lucid Lynx, emachines T1105, BenQ FP553

I had a lot of trouble with this video configuration:

I'm reviving an old emachines computer, model T1105. It has onboard Intel 82810 graphics, and I have it plugged into a BENQ 15" flat panel, model FP553.

I installed Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, and as it boots up, I see something vaguely resembling a boot graphic (the words Ubuntu 10.04 centered on the screen with dots under it), then the screen flickers between black screen and a text console login prompt for a few seconds, until it finally leaves me at a login prompt.

After much struggling, and attempting to add a better PCI graphics, card, just to find out that the system became unstable with random reboots (probably because of the low wattage PSU in an emachine,) I reverted back to using the onboard card and attempted to solve the problem.

I installed all the latest updates using sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get install to grab the kernel that was held back in the regular update. Still no good, then I generated an xorg.conf manually by doing this:

sudo Xorg -configure

It dumps the conf into your user's home directory as xorg.conf.new, so we copy it back like this

sudo cp ~/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Then, I edited the xorg.conf:

sudo pico /etc/X11/xorg.conf

WARNING: Do not perform the below operation if you are using a CRT monitor. I am adjusting the refresh rates to radically different values, and it could harm a CRT monitor. This is only proven to work with the BENQ FP553.

I found the section labeled Monitor, which looks like this:

Section "Monitor"

#DisplaySize 310 230 # mm

Identifier "Monitor0"

VendorName "BNQ"

ModelName "Benq FP553"

HorizSync 50.0 - 54.0

VertRefresh 48.0 - 49.0

Option "DPMS"

EndSection

So that is the default for this monitor right now. I am pretty sure its wrong, because the vert refresh rate only allows a 1 hz variance between 48 and 49! Well, I decided to just open it up, by changing the HorizSync to 20.0 - 94.0 and the VertSync to 38.0 - 79.0, so my final section looks like this:

Section "Monitor"

#DisplaySize 310 230 # mm

Identifier "Monitor0"

VendorName "BNQ"

ModelName "Benq FP553"

HorizSync 20.0 - 94.0

VertRefresh 38.0 - 79.0

Option "DPMS"

EndSection

Saved my changes, ran sudo /etc/init.d/gdm start, and voila! It works.

There is a cleaner way. I should narrow it down to the correct specs. But i'm happy for now.

One Thing Linux Doesn't Support (Yet)

Today I got a phone call that helped me realize one thing that Linux can't do, at least not yet:

"Hello Sir, I am calling from [unintelligable speech], to help improve the performance of your computer."

"Ok."

"I will tell you how to do this. The first thing you need to do is turn your computer on."

"It is already on."

"Then I will have you click on Start."

"I don't have a Start button."

"... You have a Macintosh?"

"No, I have Linux."

"Excuse me?"

"I have Linux."

"You have a Linux?"

"Yes."

"I am sorry sir, we only provide technical support for Windows computers. Goodbye."

Calling Microsoft

I had to call Microsoft to activate my copy of Windows XP Pro (too many re-installs), and I was surprised at how HORRIBLE their user interface was. When you call, the first thing you hear is a error loud chime. The same sound you hear when you try to do something that is not allowed. Then, after answering a couple questions, you are asked to read off about 40 digits. After each set of 6, there is another (different) error chime. I won't even mention that there is no way to shorten the call by answering the questions prematurely .. but that's another topic.

So, I figure, either someone designed the call-in program who had never really used Windows to any large extent (and thus did not recognize that the sounds would put fear in the hearts of their callers (maybe a Mac user!)). Or, they did it on purpose to try and scare off the software thieves.