2009-11-25

Duplicate emails and Evolution

Troubled with Duplicate emails in your inbox, in Evolution ?
You need the brand new remove-duplicate plugin, it slices, it dices, and it comes free with your own patch set, and make file.

Currently, upstream is working on this - Bug 587011 - evolution-kill-bonobo unable to build remove-duplicates

2009-10-14

Android on Fedora

Samsung Should be soon launching Galaxy in market ( android based phone ). Android as such, looks very attractive to me, due to its developer friendly nature. If you wonder, why not an iPhone, I am biased towards linux, and a long read can be seen on reddit

To start with, I downloaded Android 1.6 SDK , and followed the install instructions

While install the Eclipse ADT plugin, you might encoutner a few nasty error message as see below


Cannot complete the request. See the details.
Unsatisfied dependency: ... org.eclipse.equinox.p2.iu/org.eclipse.wst.xml.core/0.0.0
Unsatisfied dependency: ... org.eclipse.equinox.p2.iu/org.eclipse.wst.sse.core/0.0.0
Unsatisfied dependency: ... org.eclipse.equinox.p2.iu/org.eclipse.wst.xml.ui/0.0.0
Unsatisfied dependency: ... org.eclipse.equinox.p2.iu/org.eclipse.wst.sse.ui/0.0.0


To fix these, ( instructions from android-sdk-on-fedora-10 )

* enable "Eclipse Ganymede updates repository", from Help->software Updates->Available Software->Manage Sites->Tick "Ganymede Update Site"
* Search for "WST Common UI" from search box, tick it, and click on "Install"

Once the above is done, you can go ahead and install ADT plugin ( This may take some time ).

I also did run android emulator, which automatically picked by my internet connection, and worked pretty well with it.

Samsung Omnia HD ( Gt i8910 )

In short, this phone sucks, atleast to me.

Really annoying

* default firmware shipped with the phone is buggy ( web browser crashes on stop )
* WPA wifi connection is not supported
* VPN is a major pain in the ass
* any files/data received via bluetooth are saved to inbox, and cannot be directly saved to a user specified location ( You can access it from file system using a 3rd party file manager )
* Birthdays/appointments are not listed on "Home Page" ( alteast 24hrs in advance )
* Not very hackable
* Samsung sales team is not very helpful
* Windows only SDK ( Yes, to install the same on linux would be a major pain, in comparison to Android )
* Phone case/scratch guard are not easy to obtain
* Photo contacts are not listed as thumbnails, but as icons on "hover"
* 3D home screen navigation is not configurable
* lack of ogg/flac support with default install

* Adobe PDF - Terrible user interface, lacks full screen support ( Picsel viewer is way better )
* Horrible keyboard layout ( When using alpha-numeric kbd, the "Ok" button is on the top left corner, needing a massive shift )

Not particularly

* Opera has not been released for S60v5
* Phone needs to be modded to install most application ( Needs HelloXX2)
* No centralized application market, barring Ovi ( which is nokia ), and Samsung App store which lacks S60 apps ( on last check )
* Lacks kinetic scrolling

The Pros

* GPS/AGPS
* Super wide/big AMOLED screen, with auto-brightness setting, readable in broad daylight
* Accelerometer , and auto-orientation.
* Proximacy ? sensor will auto-lock/unlock the phone when you place next to you ear, or move it away from yourself.
* Easy to use scroll bar ( feels natural )
* HD Games from gameloft ( for ~USD 5 ), and are pretty good.
* Sports tracker ( from Nokia ) is rather amazing piece of software
* Podcast support
* Roadsync ( fro connecting to Office email via MS exchange )
* Route99 for Navigation ( Is far better than google maps )
* Supports for PIPs, and QT
* Support for high quality divx files ( and flv )
* QuickOffice, and Officereader ( 3rd party ) allows one to read MS office, and OpenDocs on phone
* Support for multiple, and custom alarm
* Support for displaying multiple timezones
* Support for zip file, in default install
* MTP support
* A very nice dictionary
* Business card reader

2009-06-09

BSNL inet connection and security

it SUCKS. longer story


Modem

The modem provided is DNA A211, which by default uses user/pass admin/admin, and the console interface can be accessed by Wireless !

It most likely uses linux kernel 2.6.8 , with probably gnu based stack. I am not able to see the sourcecode being publishes anywhere on the website.

The modem needs a reboot every day, I am still not able to figure this one out, to maintain a stable connection.

It does not provide automatic signal strength for wireless ! Nice way to suck my UPS dry when it runs on batteries.



BSNL:

We can only change your plan, during next billing cycle.

2009-05-08

xchat-GNOME Fullscreen

You love to chat over irc, irc is your life, and you need your irc client to support fullscreen ! look no further, xchat-gnome require a trivila patch to support fullscreen. For further information, check out fullscreen support (xchat-gnome)

Yes, xchat-gnome needs your love.

rpm, rpmbuild and macros

When building rpms, avoid using root account. Fedora11 by default does this. For the rest, create ".rpmmacros" in your home directory, with the line below

%_topdir %{getenv:HOME}/rpmbuild


for added bonus, people using multi-lib capable architecture ( x86_64), should add the line below to rpmmacros

%_solve_name_fmt %{?_solve_pkgsdir}/%%{NAME}-%%{VERSION}-%%{RELEASE}.%%{ARCH}


reference:
how-to-patch-and-recompile-source-rpm

rpmbuild

When building rpms, avoid using root account. Fedora 11 by default does this.


http://sadiquepp.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-patch-and-recompile-source-rpm.html

2009-03-25

Receiving files from Phone to computer




duh ! To receive files from phone and other bluetooth enabled device to a laptop running linux, enabled "Receive files ..." option from file sharing preferences in gnome.

Notes: Bluetooth on Fedora

2009-03-22

sqlite over libgda

I have learnt

* DDL ( data definition language ) varies from one implementation to another.

* it is easier and faster to maintain for one (database) backend , rather than across many.

* libgda is good when you are designing a application to manage databases.

* libgda is an overkill, when all you need to do is to maintain a small database.

* sqlite is fast, small, well documented, and has an active support over irc.

* to restrict db related code to as few files as possible.

* sqlite is an excellent resource to look up implementation of ".import" command.

* using git ( or any othe vcs ) saves a lot of time.

rt2860 on Fedora11

For people missing out on wireless driver on Asus Eee 1000H, rt2860 has made it into stagging, and is not part of Fedora11. To build the same, download the latest snapshot from here, using "snapshot" link.

once done, extract the same and append the line below to Makefile

obj-m := rt2860sta.o

run the command below to build, and install the driver

$ make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd` modules modules_install

To load the driver, once built, use the command below

$ modprobe rt2860sta

2009-02-16

Close male friend

A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around so much. She sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, you're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way. This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired.

When a man rapes a woman, it is against the law. When a woman rapes a man, the law is the instrument she uses.

Well, then, since it is not immediately obvious, allow me to explain.

Women have much more power in relationships than men do. Not just by social convention (which, believe me, is power enough), not just because others are more sympathetic to their side of any story (which, believe me, is also more than power enough), but via the full weight and majesty of the law.

Let us construct, in our heads, a hypothetical scenario. I shall use you and I as examples, just give some sense of the impact of these events on people's lives.

Let us suppose that we meet, by chance, in some gathering place in some city where, at some time in the future, we both reside. I am tall, handsome, muscular, well-dressed, and confident; you are pretty, intelligent, charming, and you get my jokes.

Nature takes its course.

About a year later, you decide that I am a good catch, the best of your available options, and you would like to be married. You drop hints, but I demur. I like you well enough, but you want children and I do not. Not to mention that I am still considering my options and am unready to enter into any sort of lifelong pact.

(This is the branch point. This is where we tell the story of what you could legally do, were you so inclined.)

You simply stop taking your birth control pills, without a word to me. This is not a crime, because legally, I have no right to know. They are your pills, and it is your body.

After a couple of attempts which I did not know were attempts, you become pregnant. You may have attempted with other men as well. Let's leave that matter unresolved for the moment.

You do not tell me until you start to show. This is also perfectly legal.

Once I figure things out, I offer to pay for half the termination procedure. You decline to undergo one. This, too, is legal. The law allows you the "right to choose". I, however, have no such right.

I do a little snooping, and discover unused quantities of birth control pills in the bathroom cabinet. Since they come in those neatly dated little wheel-things, I am easily able to deduce the exactly day you stopped. I terminate our sexual relationship post-haste.

You are angry and accuse me of putting you in this delicate situation and then abandoning you. I demur, arguing that you placed yourself in this situation. Negotiations deteriorate.

I demand a paternity test, not feeling very trusting at this point. You refuse. You can do that. You have the legal right, it's your body, I cannot force you to undergo amniocentesis.

You give birth to a daughter, and name her Zoe. I am named on the birth certificate as the father, simply because mine was the name you gave when they asked. I was not even there.

Now, I have refused to marry you. I still have that right, in most situations. (Look up "common-law" marriage, a law that allows a woman to force a man to marry her.)

So you legally demand that I provide you with the benefits of marriage anyway, to wit, a large portion of my income. You have the legal right to do this. It's called "child support".

In court, I demand a paternity test, but am denied one. You see, because I offered to pay for an abortion, I acknowledged the child as mine. And my name is on the certificate. And, most important of all, the very court that is ruling on the matter receives a cut of all child support payments. (Bet you didn't know that, did you?)

Legally, the money is for Zoe, but the checks come to you, in your name. You can spend them however you like, with no oversight whatsoever.

I'm not even sure Zoe is mine.

Now I'm in a bad situation. But the story does not end here.

The tanking economy causes budget cuts, and my cushy job as an engineer at a major defense contractor is lost. The only thing thing I can find to replace it is a job hawking cell-phones in one of those mall kiosks. This is not, however, grounds for reducing my child-support payments. The initial amount of them was determined by my income at the time, but legally, they are a right belonging to Zoe, and determined by Zoe's need, so my income is not a factor.

Now I cannot pay. I am a "deadbeat dad", according to society. And the newspaper my photo is published in. And the website my picture is posted on.

My failure to pay tanks my credit rating, too, with all its attendant woes.

The economy loosens up a bit, and I reapply to my old firm. They're keen to hire me, but they can't. With a record of delinquent child support payments, I cannot pass the background check. Now my career is blighted, too.

Many years have passed at this point, and I'm in deep trouble. Broke, no career prospects, poor credit, spotty criminal record (failure to pay child support is a misdemeanor in some jurisdictions), depressed, no means or confidence to attract another woman even if I could ever trust one again.

But the story doesn't end here.

Desperate, I manage to find some pretext to visit you, and I steal some of Zoe's hair from her hairbrush in the bathroom. I pay for a lab test out of my meager remaining resources.

Zoe isn't mine.

I take you to court, and lose. Yes, lose. Because I had already been paying child support, I am the publicly acknowledged father. (If you do not believe this could possibly happen, I sympathize. It's crazy. But google "joseph michael ocasio" and prepare to be shocked.)

Okay, end of scenario.

Look where we are. My life is indeed ruined. At no point did I have any power to stop it (except by remaining celibate my entire life). At every point, what you did, you had the legal right to do. You didn't have to "get away" with anything. You could write a book about it, and nothing would change, because it was all legal.

The only thing protecting most men from this fate is nothing but women's lack of inclination to do this. They are entirely in her power.

Would you accept being in an 1700's-style marriage, where your husband owned everything, and had the legal right to beat you, simply because he was a "nice guy and wouldn't do that"?

That is precisely what men are being asked, no, expected, to accept.

Is it any wonder we are distrustful and suspicious to the point of paranoia? It's our only defense. The law will not protect us. The law is against us, straight down the line.

Think about it. Try to imagine how that might feel.

From : http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/7x78v/what_do_modern_men_want_in_women/c07omtc

2009-02-14

Atheists and Anger

...

I'm angry that so many parents and religious leaders terrorize children -- who (a) have brains that are hard-wired to trust adults and believe what they're told, and (b) are very literal-minded -- with vivid, traumatizing stories of eternal burning and torture to ensure that they'll be too frightened to even question religion.

I'm angrier when religious leaders explicitly tell children – and adults, for that matter -- that the very questioning of religion and the existence of hell is a dreadful sin, one that will guarantee them that hell is where they'll end up.

...

From : http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/atheists-and-an.html

2009-02-13

Muslim outrage

By Craig

At first, the Muslims were outraged by cartoons but I didn't speak up because I wasn't an artist.

And then the Muslims were outraged by history books and news but I didn't speak up because I don't read much.

And then the Muslims were outraged by women who weren't completely veiled but I didn't speak up because I'm not a woman.

And then the Muslims were outraged by the practice of other religions but I didn't speak up because I'm not very religious.

And then the Muslims were outraged by the existence of Infidels so when they came for me … there was no one left to speak up.


From : http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/02/despite-apology-angry-muslims-outraged-their-religious-feelings-pair-held-for-insulting-islam.html

GitLab runner on Windows with bash shell on windows contianer on Docker

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