Updating udev
April 23rd, 2009
After fudging with partitions, sometimes the computer will make me reboot before I get dev nodes.
There has to be a way of forcing udev to rescan the partition layout. I need to find out how.
iPod Boot Codes
April 15th, 2009
After showing off my G1, a friend of mine came round with an iPod Touch (8GB) that he got to play with.
It seems its already been jailbroken, but to be honest we have no idea whats going on with it. One thing that is evident, is that the battery indicator shows whatever it feels like at the time.
I figured the device would have a diagnostic menu that might shed some light on what the battery is actually feeling, but after much googling, it seems that there isn’t a Diagnostic Menu on the new iPods at all. 
For those of you with an older ipod (with buttons on it) there is a fantastic boot-menu key sequence over at command-tab.com which is well worth bookmarking.
still alive…
April 11th, 2009
but sadly not eating cake.
Sorry i’ve not posted in a while. Been a little busy with some php stuff and also I got myself a HTC-Dream running Android.
I love the thing, completely and utterly (except for the lack of ram and crappy battery).
I would have posted about it sooner, but 1,000 words into my description of the user experience -written on the G1 whilst in the bath- I managed to hit cancel, and it kinda fucked me off.
But hopefully I should get round to posting something soon.
Gentoo/Layman/eix -update problems.
February 16th, 2009
`eix` is possibly the most handy tool in the (gentoo) world. Rather than having to use `emerge -s` to search through portage (or any of your overlays), `eix` keeps a database of the contents and returns search results up to 100 times faster than using emerge.
Sadly, it seems that if you add an overlay to gentoo (for example `layman -a jokey`) and then run `eix-update`, it does not include the newly added overylay, even though it re-scans the default portage tree and any other overlays you might have installed. This, is very annoying!
Windows 7, UAC & VMware
February 15th, 2009
Windows 7; Pretty Fish
The first thing that has to be noted is the absolute PITA it is to try and downland a copy of the new Windows 7 Demo.
The web page where you get the download link and a serial number (I found) to be really badly obfuscated; ActiveX being necessary to register for a serial number, meaning I had to use Internet Explorer on a windows box; which also meant using the proprietary Microsoft Downloader rather than something truly useful like wget.
Free and Open?
February 12th, 2009
I just came across this on the governments website, and you just have to be impressed.
Its entitled “National Insurance Numbers (NINOs): Format and Security: What to do if you suspect or discover fraud”, and in this current climate of identity theft, it kinda makes sense and its probably worth knowing what to do if you do suspect fraud.
Sadly, the only text left viewable on the page, states “This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000″.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/nimmanual/NIM39140.htm
instantlivecodes.com/
February 10th, 2009
Arguments over ‘whether you should have to pay anything at all to Micro$oft to use its on-line service` aside, I found myself needing to buy and xBoX360 Live Gold membership (for the bf).
I decided there is no point getting 3 months for half the price of 12, and I didn’t fancy walking down to the BlockBuster’s Video to pay over the odds.
I didn’t want to wait for delivery either, its a pain in the ass and I don’t trust the post. I don’t want to have to pay more for the sake of a piece of cardboard.
So after a little googling I payed £29.99 for a 12+1 Gold subscription to be “instantly emailed to me” via InstantLiveCodes.com.
Linux Source Swearing
February 10th, 2009
It was my attempt to track down some of the more amusing kernel source code comments I’d heard, that led me to thinking I’d broken the advanced tagline plugin (tho it wasn’t).
It was also this quest, that led me across this most fantastic graph, showing Linux Kernel Revision against #of swear words contained.
Many thanks to Mr. Holden of vidarholen.net for posting this (and amusingly he’s currently using the same theme we are 
)
Advanced Taglines
February 10th, 2009
I’ve just had some minor problems with the Advanced Taglines Plug-in I use on the site.
Suffice to say, it turned out to be a minor mix of Interface Design Issues, but mostly my own stupid fault for not RTFMing or even checking the page source to see where I was going wrong.
I asked the author about it and he was back in touch with an answer within hours, and he was spot on the money about it being my fault. Excellent support and my greatest thanks to the author.
If you want to add some randomisation to your sites Tagline, then Advanced Tagline by Kevin Morey is well worth the install 
CiBOX Monitor -Hidden Factory Menu
January 24th, 2009
A couple of years ago, I got paid for some programming with a CiBOX C1905 19″ Monitor.
When I first got it, I thought it was the dogs-danglies, however after using it for a little while, two inconsolable problems came to light.
Personally I dislike wide-screen monitors. I spend a lot of time typing and whether it be paragraphs of text or lines of code / config files; all of which (especially if you hope it to be printable) have a habit of being in portrait; eg: Scrolling Down!