Smartphones on a Plane? Give me Snakes Instead

On a flight back to Shanghai, I got into a lovely chat with a Shanghainese. Our lively discussion was interrupted by a self-important and thoroughly reprehensible Arabic businessman who refused to close his Excel sheet and Dell laptop despite the courteous cabin crew telling him to fold his tray for descent and landing. The Asian attendants were persistent but helpless at the d-bag. ...

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EVA Expo in Shanghai, November 2013

My cosplaying Shanghai friend invited me to the EVA Expo, which is on show at the Super Brand Mall, Pudong from November 16 to December 1. My Mandarin is pretty terrible but I'm pretty sure the Chinese name of that popular shopping center means 'I can't afford anything inside that building'. However, since the sun decided to show up and the tourists were out in droves Saturday November 23 (which meant great photo ops...

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Knoppix LiveUSB Basics: Bluetooth and Blueman Part 2

Continued from Knoppix LiveUSB Basics: Bluetooth and Blueman Part 1 Sending Files using the Bluetooth Device Manager 1. Before sending files to a Bluetooth device, configure Local Services by right-clicking the Bluetooth applet and clicking Local Services... 2. On the left panel, click Transfer. Select the Shared ...

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Knoppix LiveUSB Basics: Bluetooth and Blueman Part 1

Although Bluetooth has never been as reliable as a wired or RF connection, adding Bluetooth to an old machine is a simple way to extend functionality. This brief article discusses setting up Bluetooth on an old EEEPC701 with two generic Bluetooth dongles while running a LiveUSB of Knoppix 7.2. To set up Bluetooth and pair with a device in Knoppix: 1. Boot up to Knoppix. Launch Synaptic Package...

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Winamp Stories

Winamp is finally giving up the ghost and although I wasn't a regular user of Winamp even way back in the good old days of the Dotcom boom, it's a sad reminder that the world really does move on. I actually used the less attractive JetAudio MP3 player during the glory days of Napster. However, Winamp was installed everywhere I looked, from computer stores to workstations. It got to the point...

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WD TV Live and Linux Overview Part 2

Continued from WD TV Live and Linux Overview Part 1 To set up the WDTVLive for NFS and Samba shares: 1. Navigate to the Setup option in the media player user interface. 2. Click Network Settings. 3. On the Network Share Management item, check if Windows Share Server is On. 4. Check if the Workgroup name is the same as the workgroup of your Linux machine. ...

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WD TV Live and Linux Overview Part 1

Category: Linux The WD TV Live media player supports both Linux and Windows shares very well over a fast wireless home network. The user interface of the WD TV Live by default enables Samba/CIFS, which means that if you set up your Windows machine to share files then the WD TV Live will identify the folders immediately. Moreover, a properly configured Samba share in a Linux machine will also be detected....

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Look back: A Few Notes before openSUSE 13.1

Category: Linux OpenSUSE is due for release anytime now at http://www.opensuse.org so get on over there and install the latest lizard release! For a great interview of one of the openSUSE managers and a review of 13.1, head over to the Linux Action Show at Jupiter Broadcasting. If you've never tried openSUSE before or you're having second thoughts, read on. A few years back, a grey-haired gentleman...

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Creating a Clonezilla image and Samba Part 3

Continued from Creating a Clonezilla image and Samba Part 2 13. Once Clonezilla is able to find the Samba network storage for saving the image, the system will prompt to confirm the process. Press Enter. 14. Input a name for the saved image. 15. Clonezilla will begin creating the image. If you opted to verify the image, Clonezilla will verify the created files. Once the process...

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Creating a Clonezilla image and Samba Part 2

Continued from Creating a Clonezilla image and Samba Part 1 Booting up Clonezilla on the target device For this article, the target device to be imaged is an old EEEPC701. 1. For a faster backup process through the network, the netbook is connected to the router via an ethernet cable. 2. Connect the bootable Clonezilla LiveUSB to the netbook's USB port. 3. After booting into Clonezilla,...

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Creating a Clonezilla image and Samba Part 1

Category: Linux   Clonezilla can easily create a backup image of a hard drive and save it to an external device or networked storage. This article is a step-by-step guide to using Clonezilla to backup a netbook's hard drive to a Samba networked 1TB Seagate hard drive connected via USB to an ASUS DSL-N55U router.   Setting up the Samba Share...

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EEEPC701 + Knoppix 7.2 + Focuswriter = Dedicated Writing Machine

I like writing even if it's just narcissistic self-absorbed drivel like my daily journals or the novel I started in 2002 but never finished. The amount of writing I do leisurely, unfortunately, has dropped considerably in the last 12 years thanks to distractions such as work, foreign language studies, Linux and British TV shows.   Enter the unused 7-year old EEEPC701 I salvaged a few weeks...

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Not Really a Slax Linux Review

Category: Linux I remember mentioning Linux several times in a technical training class five years ago and telling everyone to give it a try. In retrospect, I think I could have done a better job being a Linux evangelist back then, but I do recall one incident involving Slax Linux. A trainee approached me and proudly said he ran Linux. He handed me a flash drive and I asked him what distribution he was trying...

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OneNote for iPad/iPod Password Change

Category: Tech Today If you've recently changed your password for Outlook.com (or your primary Microsoft account), don't forget to update your OneNote settings in your iOS app and the desktop version that comes with Microsoft Office or OneNote will no longer sync any added notebook pages.  The iPad and iPod app for OneNote really won't remind you to update your Microsoft login - it will just stop ...

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The EEEPC701 and Linux today Part 2: Finding the right distribution

Continued from The EEEPC701 and Linux today Part 1: 6 years later   The EEEPC701 came with Xandros in 2007 but the Internet at the time was abuzz with various Linux distributions modified for the 701's modest screen and humble hardware. I remember wondering if Eeebuntu or a variant of Crunchbang would be the best if I ever ended up buying a netbook. The toughest part, I recall, was...

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The EEEPC701 and Linux today Part 1: 6 years later

Category: Linux While training at Nova Scotia way back in 2008, a handful of co-workers and I visited a Future Shop branch. Equipped with a per diem allowance, they ALL purchased an Acer Aspire One netbook regardless of specifications. They had no idea about the keyboard, OS, display resolution, 3-cell and 6-cell batteries on the machines (one of them through sheer luck was issued a 6-cell...

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