martinlefebvre.com

DVD drive firmware version under Linux

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:33:50 -0500

Well, Blizzard apparently shipped a bunch of "faulty" DVDs of the last expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. However, many people resolved the problem by upgrading their dvd drive's firmware. That made me wonder how to check the firmware version under Linux... Well, a quick look at the hdparm manpage gave me the answer quickly: All I had to do is run (as root) hdparm -I /dev/hdd. At the top of the output, I could see: ATAPI CD-ROM, with removable media Model Number: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-110D Serial Number: EJDL602101WL Firmware Revision: 1.17 Bingo!

What's in my bag?

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:51:15 -0400

Well, HPR does it, so why shouldn't I? What's in my bag? too much crap... I dunno why, but I have this obsession with trying to carry my personal AND work laptops everywhere... which would be fine if my personal machine wasn't an old Toshiba Tecra 8000, where 8000 seems to represent the weight of the damn thing...

Good thing to know about Internet Explorer.

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:52:51 -0400

Recently, I decided that the best way for me to not be wasting time on forums at work was to add these sites to my browser's proxy exception list, which would cause the browser to try and not use our proxy to access these sites... Resulting in an expected failure. While this worked fine with Firefox, I discovered that while it worked after I added said sites to Internet Explorer's exception list, if I shut down the browser and reopened it, the sites were gone. Little did i know, but soon discovered through googling around, that when a Windows machine is on a Domain, the list of proxy exceptions within Internet Explorer can be controlled by the domain controller... If a site is not on it's accepted list of sites clients are allowed to bypass, IE will just drop it when it starts... I guess I have to revert back to not using IE at all then... Which is not much of a problem.

Remember, remember the 13th of November

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:54:42 -0400

The 13th of November... The date for the next WoW expansion. With half of the classes broken, and my beloved Warlocks screwed beyond recognition - it's true... there's nothing left that separates us from any other caster class other than we can't beat any of them anymore - this is going to be one messed up experience for everyone...

Beautiful stoly in the news...

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:59:41 -0400

I was going over some of the news bits I have missed in the past few weeks when I found this one: Quebec government sued for buying Microsoft software. In other words, the Quebec government is being sued for exploiting a loophole in our laws that allows them to buy software directly from proprietary vendors such as Microsoft, if there is no alternative. The issue being brought up by Facil, the Quebec Open Source Association, is that open source alternatives such as OpenOffice and Linux, were never even considered by our government... What a shame.

More command line stuff to come

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:07:08 -0400

In the near future, I will be posting new stuff on commandlinegeek.com. Currently working on a series of articles on how to build an office productivity suite for the command line, with abilities to do spreadsheets, calendar, mail and document processing.

Welcome to my new design.

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:19:49 -0400

Since I started working as a PHP/Web Developer, I have been focussing on developing a web site that would try and showcase my skills and experience. Up until recently, my old design had stuck and I was satisfied with it while I was getting my new skin ready. Unfortunately, I broke my old design by not paying attention to where I was uploading test files, resulting in a blank page for the past week or so. So, what better time to introduce my new design? Please update your RSS feed URLs, or drop me a note by using the "Contact" section!

How to generate SSH keys

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:10:56 -0400

SSH keys are a nice way to speed up ssh connections. They also allow better scriptability and security for ssh access. To setup your ssh keys, follow these easy steps: ssh-keygen -t rsa Press enter to enter an empty passphrase, and enter to confirm it. ssh user@remotehost "mkdir ~/.ssh" This will connect to the remote host you want to login to, and create the ~/.ssh directory (if it doesn't exist). scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub user@server:.ssh/authorized_keys This will copy the public key to the next server.

How to enjoy some good metal music while coding

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:30:34 -0400

I recently (ok... today) discovered Heavy Metal Radio, and this has to be one of the best source for metal music I have ever come across... This is added to my bookmarks for sure!

Can I post from a WAP Phone?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:22:41 -0400

Apparently so!!!

Easily empty logfiles

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:14:03 -0400

Under Unix, log files sometimes do get rather big... The best way I have found to empty a huge log file is to run: echo "" > /path/to/logfile

Sens heading off to IIHF

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:53:57 -0400

Well, we must have been doing something right in Ottawa: 4 players are heading off to the world championships... GO SENS GO!

Why people hate Warlocks

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:10:48 -0400

I noticed while playing PVP that people HATE Warlocks. The multiple DoTs, the fear, the buff-removal abilities of the Felhunter, or the Succubus' Charm and Soothing Kiss are many of the reasons why YOU hate fighting me as a Warlock, and why I LOVE playing one.

DOS/Windows to unix file conversion

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:39:22 -0400

An easy way to convert DOS/Windows text files to Unix-compatible text files is by using the 'col' command:col -bx < infile > outfile

Minor SlackBuilds Update

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:30:00 -0400

I have made a minor update to the slackbuilds repo. Ratpoison has been updated to version 1.4.3.I also redid the .info files to use the MAINTAINER tag instead of AUTHOR, and modified it to use the TAG="VALUE" format.

Goodbye Phones

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:25:00 -0400

Well, today was my last day working the phones for my employer. Starting monday, I will be doing PHP development full time. I know, a year ago I said the same thing, and I ended back on the phones. Well, I have learned from that experience and I plan to not let this happen again. Wish me luck, and happy coding!

Use your vim habits in Firefox with Vimperator

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:32:00 -0500

Vimperator is an extension for Firefox that makes it function using commands similar to Vi-like text editors. Check it out at http://vimperator.mozdev.org.

Bashgallery logo

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:01:46 -0500

Here is a call to anyone reading this blog with skills in graphics designed: I need a logo for bashgallery. I am horrible at graphics design, even with the great tools we have under Linux. I want a logo for my baby application so that I can have it on the website, and maybe other stuff. I don't have anything to offer in return, except maybe credits for the logo and a huge amount of gratitude. If you would like to help me on that, if you are good with Gimp, and would like to support my project, please send me your ideas at martin@phpmasters.org.Thanks in advance.