Got my pc fixed and got to recommend Guake Terminal

Posted on January 27, 2013 by josimba

The hiatus was due to my main computer having a power supply issue (it died) and me being too broke to by a new one.

Well I took an old pc from my family removed the Windows OS and put Lubuntu on.  Can’t believe how much I missed it.  But It’s been a few months so I’m wondering how much I forgot in the meantime.

Well I needed a terminal to replace the defualt Xterm that comes with Lubuntu.  I wanted something that looks good and isn’t too hard to read.  Well I just went to the Lubuntu software store and tried out Guake.

desktop 1_001

Guake slides down your screen from the top whenever you hit F12.  You can adjust the window’s size so it only takes up so much space.  It would be nice if I can make it slide from the sides instead for when i’m copying code or commands from websites or pastebin but for now I’m happy (the transparency option in the prefences only makes it so it shows your desktop through the window and not the other active windows).

Guake Preferences_002

Posted in Linux, Lubuntu, terminal | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Linux Mint Review

Posted on November 27, 2012 by josimba

Now that I have an external cd drive I can go nuts and install other Linux distros to my netbook and figured I’d give Linux Mint a whirl.

Pretty glad I did because its scaled way better than Ubuntu or Lubuntu ever did:

As you can tell it’s all fitting very nicely in there.  With Lubuntu and Ubuntu I’d say I was losing 20% more of my screen as the menu bar was taking up way more room.

Its still uses the same commands from what I can tell in the terminal since its debian based so it’s not like I have to learn anything new here either.

With Ubuntu using all these new cumbersome interfaces like Unity I had already jumped to Lubuntu for a more lightweight feel.  Now I feel that Mint is my next stop as it’s working great right out the box and looks much better (And I’m even using the old version 10 when version 14 is still out there).

If I had more time I would be using Arch on everything but since I don’t get to sit around and dabble in linux all the time I need a system that’s pretty user friendly sadly.  Something I can just sit down and tinker with when I feel like it and not because I have to to keep it running efficiently.

All in all if you like Ubuntu but want don’t care for the new looks or the newer features they’re pushing on you try MInt.  Its pretty much the same @#$%.  Just in a different package.

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Linux Links (Quickie post)

Posted on November 10, 2012 by josimba

Here are the sites I scope out when checking out Linux stuff on the internet:

Nixie Does Linux - Simplistic and friendly youtube channel where Nixie reviews apps and gives beginner level tutorials.  Perfect for people jumping into Ubuntu or a more user friendly Linux distro.

OMG! Ubuntu - The only real blog I check out.  I just like how I can filter articles by review, opinion, etc.  Planet Ubuntu is pretty good but lots more opinion pieces than I would care for.

The Unix and Linux Forums Facebook page - Its not very active but occasionally they post a pretty cool picture or article.  I just like having it interrupt my news feed from time to time.

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Emulator station

Posted on November 8, 2012 by josimba

Just a quick snapshot of my netbook connected to my tv so I can play earthbound again. If you’re using Ubuntu or in my case Lubuntu you can get the ZSNES software from the Ubuntu software corner or download it from the command line

apt-get install zsnes

I have was able to turn my first monitor off but couldn’t get the resolution just right on my tv to go full screen. I’ll probably have to tinker with that.

20121107-220054.jpg

Posted in Lubuntu | Tagged , | 1 Comment

DD-WRT (Get some linux in your linksys)

Posted on October 20, 2012 by josimba

Been having a lot of problems with my network at home.  From simple internet browsing to streaming video on my iPhone I had to constantly renew the IP or toggle airplane mode on and off to fix a constant dropping/lagging connection.  Constantly getting NAT errors on my Xbox and having Netflix constantly crash I was dreading buying a new router (cuz I’m broke).

Well I looked into DD-WRT and Tomato.  These are Linux based firmware which you can install over your typical Router’s firmware to get a better experience.  In my case this was a test to see if my router was physically defective or if it was something possibly buggy with the Linksys software.   Well after installing I happen to be streaming youtube videos on my iPhone while I type this up on my laptop on wireless.

If you want to do this yourself I suggest you read this Need to know guide first before you continue.  The section under #1 is the steps to the process but read #2 first as it goes over things to watch out for.  It warns you to wait the proper amount of time in-between steps and to make sure you download the right version.

You can do the database search for your model of router and download the software it finds for your model.  BUT as #2 says make sure its the correct model type in the filename.  Apparently the model search isn’t the most accurate sometimes.

Here are the steps copied directly from the DD-WRT forum in the first link:

Set your computer to a static IP of 192.168.1.8. (or to whatever subnet the router is on) Disable all firewalls and security. Disable wireless on your computer and only have the router connected to the flashing computer by the ethernet cable between the two.

Hard reset prior to flashing. Wait. Check for password page on re-login and change password.
Flash firmware.  Log into your router and go to the Administration tab and then browse and upload the DD-WRT firmware


Wait…at least three minutes. Lights should return to normal. See important2, below. Failing to wait is how most people brick their routers.
Do a power cycle of the router. (Unplug the cord, count to 30 and plug it back in.)
Wait for the lights to return to normal usually about 2 minutes.
HARD reset again. Wait. Check for the password page and re-login to change the password
Then you can reconfigure your settings manually by browsing to 192.168.1.1 in your browser

Hello root old friend. Nice to see someone reliable in charge for once.

Once configured set your computer back to automatically obtain IP addresses
Important: This 30-30-30 hard reset works fine for Asus router, but you do have to power cycle after the reset….however, the RT-N16 model you do the 30/30/30 using the WPS button instead of the Restore button.

It’s honestly pretty easy to setup but it’s also pretty easy to brick your router I’m sure.  Please be very careful.  Also watch this dude’s youtube video first if you’re unsure.

Not the biggest deal but my Linksys E1000 never showed me the exact frequencies of the channels. Not a big deal but pretty neat.

Stats are rad

Posted in DD-WRT, Linux, Networking | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

PHP without downloading anything

Posted on October 14, 2012 by josimba

Recently my home computer’s power supply died and I’ve been left scrambling for a replacement.  I found my old Dell Inspiron B130 and installed Lubuntu easily enough but sometimes it is difficult getting LAMP setup so you can test out some code.  Whether its some permissions errors where your PHP documents are or something wrong with your Apache configuration it can be time consuming and I really didn’t feel like setting this all up again when I can get my desktop up and running soon enough with another power supply.

Also I have my work computer which is pretty decent but I’ve never setup LAMP on a Windows operating system nor am I really allowed to do that on a work machine.  So I searched online and found WriteCodeOnline.

Not only is it an editor but it will display your results as well.  If you need to create functions that pull from a SQL database or file manipulation this probably won’t work for you but if you’re needing to do all that it’s safe to assume you have LAMP setup.

It also can do javascript as well but I’m not familiar with javascript so I can’t say if it will fit your needs.

But I can say this should meet the needs of people just needing entry level practice for PHP.

Posted in php, Windows | Tagged , | 1 Comment

iPhone bookmark icon

Posted on October 7, 2012 by josimba

I wasn’t too happy with the icon I get when I set the bookmark for my site onto my iPhone home screen so I went to the internet to see how to make it better.

I found all I needed here.  All I had to do was go to the root folder on my website and add the icon I wanted as a 60×60 png file to it.  Thankfully with GoDaddy all I needed was to launch my domain

And use the FTP tool

to put the icon I named “apple-touch-icon.png” onto the root folder of my wordpress site.

Now when I go to send my site to my home screen on my iPhone I get a much better looking icon.

I’m pretty sure whoever designed it won’t mind i’m using it………

I use Linux so I’m not used to having to “buy” stuff

I put all my bookmarks into a folder.

Posted in iPhone, Linux, server | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Control your Xbox with your iPhone

Posted on September 27, 2012 by josimba

You don’t need to use your controller to navigate on your Xbox. For all I know everyone already knows about this but I never heard of it before so I’m bringing it up.

Download “My Xbox Live”

Once you’re signed in navigate to the Quickplay tab and click on the link to Connect to your Xbox. It will give you instruction to perform on your Xbox. Go to Settings, Console Settings, and then set the Xbox Companion setting to Available.

Then you can start launching apps on your Xbox!

When you launch your video apps it will bring up a mini controller as seen below which you can use instead of the Xbox controller. Handy if you don’t want to drain the battery on your controller or you have it set to auto turn off after a bit and hate having to constantly turn it back on again.

Now I’m using my iPhone to control my Xbox. Cross platform support.

Posted in iPhone, xbox | Tagged , | 8 Comments

SSH from iPhone to Ubuntu machine

Posted on September 25, 2012 by josimba

You can google how to setup SSH on your home pc if it’s running Ubuntu or check one of my earlier posts here.

There was a few iPhone apps for using SSH but I found the first one that was free worked perfectly for testing purposes. There is some lag between entering commands but I’m not actually in desperate need to ever run commands from my phone. The app is called SSH Mobile Free. I can’t afford to buy stuff.

I had to reset the port forwarding on my router due to a power outage but once that was done it was clear sailing.

SSH Mobile Free is ………. Free. But probably not the best if you’re impatient

Home screen. Click on “Sites” to get started

Enter in your information. Please make sure you don’t just use port 22. Even on Linux you’ll get some intruders if you do. I know from experience.

Success!

There is some lag when entering commands. Best to use this app to troubleshoot connection issues when you have problems connecting to your computer from other computers.

Posted in iPhone, Linux, ssh, Ubuntu | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

shelr – Sharing your terminal activity

Posted on September 18, 2012 by josimba

As seen on OMG Ubuntu – [How To] Record And Share Terminal Screencasts Quickly this is an awesome way to show people how to process something on the terminal step by step in a video.

I wasn’t going to repost the steps as its pretty easy and its already covered in the above link BUT there is one step I didn’t feel was very clear. Could just be my A.D.D. that got in the way but I’m just going to summarize it here as I did it wrong at first.

[sourcecode]sudo add-apt-repository ppa:antono/shelr[/sourcecode]

[sourcecode]sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install shelr[/sourcecode]

Here is where I went to their website and setup my account so that you can get your API code which you’ll need later to send videos to the website under your account (unless you want it to be anonymous)

At this point you can start recording

[sourcecode] shelr record [/sourcecode]

You can end it anytime with ctrl D or esc

Then you’re ready to send it to the shelr website. Again you can send it anonymously or you can link it to an account if you choose to set it up

It will prompt you to enter your API code which you can find on your profile if you hit the “edit profile” button.

You upload your last video with

[sourcecode] shelr push last [/sourcecode]

It will at this point prompt you for a name, a tag, and finally an API code.

This is where I screwed up and typed it wrong.

So if you need to fix/update it simply hit

[sourcecode] shelr setup [enter API code here] [/sourcecode]

My first test

Posted in command line, Linux, terminal | Tagged , , | 1 Comment