Ever wondered how one is attached to things that even though you might postpone/forget it, someday or the other you get a chance to get back on things you love. Yes guys ! I am back in blogosphere.
Revamping a lot of stuff in office and some exciting things are shaping up.
For starters, I have been invited in a number of colleges this month to speak on LAMP architecture in an Enterprise, Ethical Hacking, FOSS in careers.
I am loving this ! 
Frequently while searching for strings or patterns in a log file in a Linux/Unix server, you will come across a situation where the log files have been compressed by logrotate.
root@spartan [~]# ls -al /var/log/exim_mainlog*
-rw-r—– 1 mailnull mail 190715738 Sep 10 08:18 /var/log/exim_mainlog
-rw-r—– 1 mailnull mail 77593857 Sep 7 04:06 /var/log/exim_mainlog.1.gz
-rw-r—– 1 mailnull mail 88615088 Aug 31 04:05 /var/log/exim_mainlog.2.gz
-rw-r—– 1 mailnull mail 72980206 Aug 24 04:07 /var/log/exim_mainlog.3.gz
Now if you want to search within the compressed files one would have to un-compress using gunzip or tar and use grep.
Better way is to use `zgrep`.
root@spartan [~]# zgrep ’string’ /var/log/exim_mainlog.1.gz
This would search for the pattern or string within the compressed archive without the need of un-compressing it. Sweet
Additional note, zgrep is available in the gzip package,
root@spartan [~]# whereis zgrep
zgrep: /usr/bin/zgrep /usr/share/man/man1/zgrep.1.gz
root@spartan [~]# rpm -qf /usr/bin/zgrep
gzip-1.3.3-13.rhel3
Came across this bug in the APIC implementation while installing Ubuntu 8.04 on the office machine,
Here is the fix,
a. While installing Ubuntu, if you come across this bug, after selecting the Language > Select F6. This should present you with a command line with a few options specified to the kernel such as ‘quiet’ ’splash’. Keeping a space after the parameter ’splash’ and put ‘noapic’ ( without the quotes ).
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=6974a440-4cdd-4486-b50a-9e2624757a79 ro quiet splash noapic
This will boot Ubuntu from the Live CD. After installation, you could face the same problem.
In order to permanently fix it you will have to add the ‘noapic’ parameter to /boot/grub/menu.lst
swapneel@eth1:~$ sudo vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
title Ubuntu 8.04, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=UUID=6974a440-4cdd-4486-b50a-9e2624757a79 ro quiet splash noapic
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic
quiet
The ‘noapic’ parameter is passed to the kernel. Save the file, reboot the machine and she should be ready to rock and roll !
Kate is my latest dazzling damsel. She is hot,small, beautiful, sexy and she runs Suse Linux 10 ooo laa la !!! w00t
I had been searching for a small notebook for daily usage at home and office. The thought of manhandling Keira which had been quite excessive recently with frequent man handling, bruises etc that she went through when I kept her on the table in a hurry or moved from one place to the other, crushing her between my arms. The thought has been unbearable.
The goal was simple, get a small and sexy notebook which I can carry anywhere and handle her the way I like.
People, hold your breath for the Sexy Kate:
Specifications below:
• Display: 10″ WSVGA LCD
• Operating System: Linux Novell
• Color: White, Pink, Black
• CPU: Intel® Atom™ N270 1.6GHz
• Graphics: Intel® GMA 950
• System Memory: 512 DDR2
• Hard Drive: 80GB SATA I
• Communications:
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet
Built-in 802.11b/g WLAN Card
• Dimensions: 10.23″(L) X7.08″(D) X 0.748″~1.24″(H)
• Weight: 2.3 lbs
More information from the manufacturer available at MSI Wind NB-Linux
Bought this sleek notebook primarily for the following reasons,
Advantages:
Slick ! Can carry it anywhere. It's a little larger than the size of a table tennis racket when placed inside the bag.
Runs Suse Linux 10. Seldom does one find a notebook with a major GNU/Linux Operating System. The one Acer ships with is an OS not heard much of, IIRC it boots in run level 3 ( Can anyone confirm that ? ) Bluetooth, WiFi works out of the box
A perfect solution for my daily Linux/Unix system administration needs.
Disadvantages:
The keypad requires getting used to.
Battery lasts for 3 hours with Wi-Fi enabled and brightness set in a room with lights.
Carry Case isn't that attractive.
Cost : The laptop cost me Rs.25,250/- inclusive of VAT. Pricing and other details can be found by contacting Sandeep @ +91 98454 6660
Apart from the above quirks, the notebook is a worthy contender for the much hyped ASUS eeepc .
This post is dedicated to Mr. Sandeep Tekriwal of Startnet Computers who preserved Kate in a sealed chamber with uber security provided by Mr. Nilesh, also from Starnet Computers
We have a box running Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 in office. The box began acting weird with random reboots and display problems but that’s another story.
While moving around logged in from the virtual console, I could see a lot of un-necessary services were started in runlevel 2 ( default runlevel in Ubuntu which boots to X Window System ).
Now, Redhat/CentOS has chkconfig –list and chkconfig servicename off to check and disable services.
Ubuntu has a package sysv-rc-conf which can be installed via APT,
sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf
sysv-rc-conf is a ncurses based program which allows to enable/disable services in all runlevels.
Enabling and disabling services becomes a walk in the park which would otherwise involve removing symbolic links from the respective /etc/rc.d/ runlevel directory.
Update: Alternative way to disable services is to use the default update-rc.d script.
update-rc.d cups remove
This will remove the symbolic links corresponding to the service name from /etc/rc.d/ directories from all run levels.
The App Store has a kick ass application to remotely control iTunes over a Wi-Fi connection. What better way to manage the music being played while you’re slacking around in one corner of the office while your Macbook sits some place else.
A slackers tool to control music, presenting Remote
Managing music in office over a Wi-Fi connection is now seen as coolness !
Cross platform: This Alpha release lays the groundwork for a release on all major platforms. Future releases will feature Linux, Windows and MacOS versions.
This has to be one of the best things to happen for users using Mac OSX. Amarok has been my music player on the GNU/Linux platform for years. iTunes lacked a punch when I shifted to a 13″ Macbook last year in September.
I already see instructions for getting Amarok 2 source installed on a Mac OSX OS. This is just what I wanted. w00t !
Found this kick ass Firefox addon
It allows viewing Flickr photo streams, Youtube etc in a full screen 3D view. The screen shot above shows my Flickr photostream in a 3-dimensional full screen mode. Coolness !
Update: Due to the narrow area for the content in this theme the screen shot doesn’t quite tell the story. You can view the original image at my Flickr account
I upgraded my iPhone from version 1 to 2.0 5A347 following the clear instructions at Lifehacker
The upgrade was seamless. The upgrade was totally worth it. I see the GUI much more responsive, Wi-Fi access/connectivity is much more faster. Battery doesn’t seem to be draining quickly with Wi-Fi turned On.
First thing I installed from the Cydia repositories is OpenSSH. A screen grab ( press Home button + Power button in the iPhone and a screen capture of the current screen gets saved in Camera Roll. Sweet !) of the Terminal shows the coolness the iPhone brings along,
eth1 is a machine in the Office network running Ubuntu Hardy 8.04. The best part about this is I can play a prank and reboot the machines in office and have everyone stumped. Muhhaaa
I am back to blogging after a long gap. It’s been one hell of a journey this past few months, I meant it in all good sense 
Lots to update and lots to do but that needs a different post.
