meck's blog

I just came across a cool video showing art from a totally different angle. Check it out, if you have a minute to kill:

As I have already mentioned in an earlier post, I installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my computer... and I am quite happy with it.

However, some things have changed since previous versions. For instance, you now cannot move a window to the other desktop by just dragging it. I guess they removed the feature to not confuse inexperienced users.

Since I used that functionality a lot (and also the desktop switch with the mouse wheel) I looked for a way to get it back. Here are the shell commands I ended up with.

gconftool -t string -s /apps/compiz/plugins/vpswitch/allscreens/options/next_button "Button5"
gconftool -t string -s /apps/compiz/plugins/vpswitch/allscreens/options/prev_button "Button4"
gconftool -t bool -s /apps/compiz/plugins/wall/screen0/options/edgeflip_move "1"

No, I am not talking about the animal in the picture, but rather about the latest and greatest Ubuntu release. When it comes to cats and operating systems I usually think of several Mac OS 10 versions such as Panther, Tiger and Leopard, etc... I am just guessing, but I think the Ubuntu team had exactly that in mind on their search for an animal starting with the letter "L". And I personally think it fits, because the new look, the integrated Ubuntu One Music Store and the window controls being at the top left actually remind me of those great Apple operating systems.

What do I think of Ubuntu sort of copying Apple technology? So far I am happy with it. Maybe this would change, if Ubuntu started to copy the unpleasant things as well such as trying to narrow down user options to push its own products. I think a software company has to find the right balance between client and company interests. Of course, different clients have different interests, so that balance highly depends on the client himself... but I am getting a little bit off topic here :)

You probably know this problem: Since the Internet got big with all the interactive websites that require registration you have been using more or less the same tiny set of passwords over and over again. Maybe you already had some sort of strategy like using the strong passwords for more confidential websites and weaker passwords for websites you didn't care that much.

Maybe once in a while you chose to invent and remember a new password, because you were already becoming to feel that this overall approach wasn't right. News about web servers being attacked by hackers and stolen user/password information may have made you feel worse until you finally decided that you'd have to use an individual password for each website!

But how to remember that many passwords???

The obvious solution is a list where you write them down. A single sheet of paper locked anywhere in your home would be secure, but not very convenient. Just imagine you have mobile device you want to use outside of your home. Taking the password sheet with you and loosing it could result in a disaster! Read more about a different approach which turned out to be the ultimate solution for myself after the break.

I remember very well reading in computer magazine about the latest game with amazing graphics, extreme humour and brutality: "Duke Nukem 3D". Then, a couple of months later I had that game on my computer - with the aid of a class mate who was one of the first lucky guys to own a cd burner. And it really rocked! Not only the single player mode was fun with all that monsters and prostitutes... we had the best gaming nights with the multiplayer mode! OK, the aiming wasn't really realistic, you basically only had to get the horizontal direction right. But maps were cool - one had even a moving subway. And the main character Duke was soo cool - not to mention his sayings. You didn't have to speak English very well to realize that...

This was about 12 years ago.

In a previous post, I talked about how to use D-Bus to get information about network status changes. Now, since I have been using a private VPN with my Ubuntu as a client, I came across another scenario, where a script using D-Bus could help: The VPN works fine, but sometimes just disconnects. It does not happen very often, but when it happens, it is annoying and I'd like to see it reconnecting automatically. Moreover I'd like to stay in the VPN whenever I have a network connection available. Unfortunately, I didn't found any option within the NetworkManager to manage this. I ended up in writing this script which can be invoked like autovpn <VPN_NAME>, where <VPN_NAME> is the name of the VPN which is displayed in the NetworkManager under VPNConnections. You can even run it automatically on system startup by placing it in "Startup Applications". It does two things:

It tries to connect the VPN whenever it detects an active internet connection.

It tries to reconnect the VPN, whenever it disconnects unintentionally. The number of attempts is limited to 5 and there is artificial delay of 5 seconds between attempts.

I have been using regular expressions within my Python projects for a while now, but I've never felt the need to use a full-featured parser generator. This changed yesterday and I had a look at PLY, a pythonic implementation for Lex/Yacc. Being used to parser generation in Java using ANTLR or Cup I came across some remarkable differences which I want to point out for you after the stop. You will also see a small calculator code snippet.

I did not go 'wow' when I read this news today. What I find remarkable though is: The Swiss people decided to do so during a poll - not the politicians. Maybe I should drop some prejudices about this country... So what does it mean for us? We'll probably save some minutes at the border. I guess not very much, because the control procedure has not been very complicated from what I have experienced so far.

Actually I have known about it for about over two years now, but I have never really tried it. One reason was a stupid thing at my university we call quota :-)
Lately I came about a blog entry of a guy introducing the new features of the latest Ubuntu release. He also mentioned, that Rhythmbox was able to play Last.fm audio streams and I quickly decided to register and see how it works...

... and now? I have spent much more time on watching his campaign than I have ever done with any German candidate. In fact, he's one of the political figures I am now most familiar with. And not only because I watched the general election campaigns, but also the primaries and the battle with Hillary. Her voting yesterday reminded me of how long I have been doing this. I don't know exactly when it started. However, I know who's to blame for getting me addicted and I also remember a bit the first video where I think ten Democratic candidates were standing next to each other including John Edwards :-)

The question is now, what I'll do after this is all over and there is no more shocking clip about Sarah Palin. I guess, my hits on the CNN video website will become less, but I if go there, I will check out how Obama is doing in office.