Archive for the 'Tech' Category

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Backup : Ubuntu Intrepid

Published on March 18, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments

Well, when it comes to twidling around with Linux installation, I am a newbie. Usually my experiments end up with me not knowing how to reverse the side effects. I have no choice other than to live with the problems created. But periodically I have to do a complete reinstall of my system to keep it running well (also because after a certain point I cannot bear to see all the broken application, dead links and innumerable errors). Earlier it was a pain to do complete reinstall, because I would lose all my configuration files unless I explicitely saved them. Thus began my search to discover a backup tool for ubuntu.

I stumbled across this thread which says that all you need to do is to make a tar of all your files, thus saving the present state of ubuntu. If a restore is required, just expand the archive. This can be done on a running system too. Just restart after the exoansion is done, and the ubuntu gets restored to its state when the zarchive was created.

However, archiving all the files requires a lot of space. Also it takes time to everytime archive all the files. An alternative option I came across was to sync the files. I have used this method to create a backup of all my files. Sync is much faster than creating tar archive because sync only copies the files that have been modified since the last sync operation.

I have opted to backup only my /home/anu folder. This is what needs to be done.

rsync -av /home/anu /media/Downloads/syncUbuntu

rsync is the command used to sync the files. /home/anu is my user directory. I have an externally mounted USB drive. It shows up in /media with the label Downloads. I have created a new folder syncUbuntu within this drive to contain my sync files. Now all I have to do is run the above command and my files get sync with the files already present in the syncUbuntu folder.

The first time that you run the command takes time as all the files have to be copied. However the next time onwards the process requires hardly a few seconds. It is a great way to backup the system. And now I know I have all my files backed up to be called upon whenever needed.

To make the process easier, I created an alias in the bashrc file. I named it backup. This is the line that I added

alias backup=’rsync -av /home/anu /media/Downloads/syncUbuntu’

To backup my files, I now need to type backup in my terminal and I’m done.

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Set Proxy For Picasa In Ubuntu

Published on March 10, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments
Ubuntu logo

Ubuntu logo

I am behind a proxy server and needed to set the proxy for picasa to work on my Ubuntu Intrepid. The instructions have been recorded below :

  • First you need to start the registry editor of picasa
    • /opt/picasa/bin/wrapper regedit
    • The above should do. However my picasa wrapper was located at a different place, namely
      • /opt/google/picasa/3.0/bin/wrapper regedit
    • Check yours and run the command appropriately
  • Navigate to the following user key
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings
  • Now we need to add a few entries. They are
    • ProxyEnable
      • REG_BINARY
      • 01 00 00 00
    • ProxyOverride
      • String value
    • ProxyServer
      • String value
      • Server:Port
        • For example I had to set 144.16.192.247:8080
  • Thats it, done. The change should be immediate.
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My .vimrc File

Published on February 16, 2009 in Tech. 3 Comments

Spurred on by my recent experiences with the vi editor, I havedecided to shift from gedit to vi. The insert, command and visual notion was a bit difficult to get hang of at the beginning, but with some practice I am getting the hang of it. There’s so many more features in it than I have used till now. It needs a bit of getting used to.

The first thing I did was to customize my .vimrc file to suit my programming style. I like my code to be syntaxically coloured, indented and prefer spaces over tabs. Also I keep the width of my tabs to 2. I must mention here that most of my programming habbits are because of Udit Sajjanhar – the one semester that he was our TA for the course of compilers.

So here is my vimrc file :

" do not keep a backup file
set nobackup

" wrap off
set nowrap

" tabs are only 2 characters
set tabstop=2

" auto indent uses 2 charaters
set shiftwidth=2

" spaces instead of tabs
set expandtab

" set auto-indentation on
set autoindent

" expand command line using tab
set wildchar=

" show line numbers
set number

" fold using markers
set foldmethod=marker

" powerful backspaces
set backspace=indent,eol,start

" highlight search terms
set hlsearch

" dont wrap words
set textwidth=0

" history
set history=50

" 1000 undo levels
set undolevels=1000

" show partial commands
set showcmd

" show matching braces
set showmatch

" auto-detect the file type
filetype plugin indent on

" on the syntax by default
if has("syntax")
syntax on
endif

" When editing a file, always jump to the last known cursor position.
" Don't do it when the position is invalid or when inside an event handler
" (happens when dropping a file on gvim).
autocmd BufReadPost *
\ if line("'\"") > 0 && line("'\"") <= line("$") |
\   exe "normal g`\"" |
\ endif

Here’s the file in case you want to download it : vimrc

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My Ubuntu Intrepid + LAMP

Published on February 9, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments
Ubuntu logo

Ubuntu logo

Until quite recently I was working on Windows XP, when I had this urge to shift to Ubuntu once again. I got hold of wubi for Intrepid and my system was running the gnome in another 5 minutes.

Now while I was in windows, I had a wamp server installed. The first thing I set myself to do was to install the LAMP, and reconfigure the system to include the wamp www directory as the default directory instead of the /var/www. Here is what I did -

  • Installed SSH client (so that I could connect remotely to my Ubuntu) : sudo apt-get install ssh
  • Install the mysql-server : sudo apt-get install mysql-server
  • Install the apache2 webserver : sudo apt-get install apache2
  • Install php5 : sudo apt-get install php5 libapache2-mod-php5
  • Install php5-mysql support : sudo apt-get install php5-mysql
  • Restart the apache2 webserver : sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
  • Install phpmyadmin : sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

And it was done. The LAMP installed. Not to configure my dafault directory

  • I navigated to/etc/apache2/sites-available
  • Made a backup of the default file : sudo cp default default.bk
  • Edited the default file : sudo vi default
  • I changed the default document root to the www directory created by my wamp server

Yay, my site was up and running. When I navigate to http://localhost I could see the wamp index.html. I clicked on phpmyadmin and it worked. The phpmyadmin that I installed on Ubuntu was presented. It’s almost like having installed wamp server on Ubuntu.

But I would like to make a few ponts over here :

  • I do not yet know how to add more than one directory to the default directory list. Will do that.
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Which Is The Smartest Smart Phone

Published on February 4, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments
Sony Ericsson

Image via Wikipedia

I love gadgets. I want the best and the latest of those. Which is why the very first mobile that I bought was a N72. Well, it wasn’t the best one at that time, best it was the best option available to me. It was the cheapest amongst the N series of Nokia.

I’ve been using N72 for two years now. The time has come to pass on this mobile to dad and look for a new, better one. But this time around I will not be settling for a lesser phone looking at the price tag. Dad is ready to spend money this time on which ever mobile I fall in love with.

Thus began my search for a new one. The Nokia N96 has always been amongst the news. Nokia being a reliable provider, easier to get serviced in case of any problems. Infact, I think of Nokia among mobiles as Maruti is amongst cars. N96 should be a priced possession. It has large screen, slides the keypad below, slides above to reveal music controls. But it has its drawbacks too. It lacks a qwerty keyboard, and has the same look as my N72. However, it is one of the mobiles I am considering. At present this phone costs around 36K in Hyderabad.

Moving on further, I came across the Samsung Omnia. Released just a few months ago, it has stunning appearance. Completely touch screen, but lacks the Apple‘s flick features. The usual features of a smart phone are all available in this one. Though a weak battery life of just 5 hours talktime, makes it a not clear favourite of mine. Mom liked this phone and was ready to buy it immediately. 30K is the price of this one.

And then comes the absolute beauty, the Sony Ericsson Xperia. As far as I have looked about it, it is the most talked about. The latest phone in the market, it has been quick to attract the attention of everybody interested in smart phones. It has Windows Mobile operating system. Touch and qwerty keyboard are both interwined to provide a great experience. Apple’s flick features are also present in this gadget. The qwerty keyboard slides to the left side. I almost fell in love with this phone. The only drawback is its weight. It’s the double of my N72 in weight. Xperia is priced at 42K in Hyderabad at the present.

But these are only three. I would like to look at more options before settling for one. I have browsed for Blackberry, and none of them impressed me. Motorola doesn’t have anything to offer either. I am running out of options. But I shall keep looking. I have got another 3 months to decide the phone that I would like to finally buy.

I shall keep posting the features of all the phones that I shortlist. Hope to find a good one soon.

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Getting Gmail To Work On N72

Published on February 4, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments

Whats the use of a N72 if you do not utilise all of its features. So I thought of getting my gmail activated on mobile. I found a set of instructions using imap or pop to connect and retrieve the messages. But they were always giving me web server not found error, and it was really annoying.

However, after a few more searches, I found an alternative way. This one might be costlier (I have no idea), but it pretty much emulates the gmail, so no complains. This is how you can get mails on your phone -

  • Goto the following location on the mobile http://www.gmail.com/app
  • A file needs to be downloaded. Give the required permission to do so.
  • After the file is downloaded, it will ask you install the application. Just agree and install the gmail application.
  • Now enter the menu and goto the My Own section. The gmail application can be accessed from here.
  • Just enter your username and password to log into the gmail.

Done ! It was so easy I couldn’t believe it. The application also retrieved the labels that I have created on the gmail. There are options to selectively view the mails in each of the labels too. Its just wonderful. Now I shall be able to access my gmail from any part of the world without the need of a computer.

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Change Firefox Location Bar Search Engine

Published on February 4, 2009 in Tech. 2 Comments
Google Search

Google Search

I have been using firefox for quite a long time now and have got used to its location bar search action. Recently, I did a few plugin installs and uninstalls and somehow managed to mess up the configuration such that the location bar search failed. It would display a neterror message and an error page instead of the google search or the I’m Feeling Lucky result. Upon searching for some time, I came across the fix.

Its pretty simple. All you have to do is this -

  • Type about:config in the location bar and press enter.
  • In the filter text box shown, type keyword. Alternately, you could try searching for the keyword.url option.
  • Modify the value of this key to this – http://www.google.com/search?btnI=I%27m+Feeling+Lucky&q=

That’s it ! We are done. Once again the search feature from location bar works. Also you could have any other search engine instead of google by appropriately modifying the value of the key.

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Win 7 Beta :)

Published on January 20, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments
Windows

Windows

Its hard to resist myself trying out the latest software’s available. And when it comes to windows, it becomes almost irresistible. But the last experience with Vista had taught me to be extra careful when trying out the newer editions of Microsoft’s operating systems. It was an experience I would very much like to forget.

As a result, I had decided not to jump into the fray and try out the Win 7. Everyday I would read about it in blogs, and yet I confined myself to Win XP. But the threshold of my patience was tipped over when my brother asked me if I have installed the new OS or not.

I have to try it – I decided and immediately got myself a key from the windows downloader. The downloading took some time, and then I was on to installing the new OS.

I chose to have dual boot option, so that I am not at loss if Win 7 proves out to be disappointing. I mounted the image file using daemon tools and started the installation. After choosing Custom Installation mode, selecting the drive in which to install the new OS, the familiar Vista installation screen flashed. Files were copied, extracted, the system restarted, did some more installation stuff, another restart and I was finally ready for the new desktop.

The very first impression is that you have Vista back ! The look and feel is exactly as it is of Vista. The same Aero effects, same Start Menu and even the control panel. Apparently this version has better security, and has a nagging habit of asking for permissions for even more simpler operations.

At the moment my experience with Win 7 is quite limited. I still have to explore a lot of features, do a lot of stress testing and all. I hope to be able to write a more complete post in a few days, specially about how Win 7 is different from Vista (though they look just the same).

But just to point out the one most obvious and interesting feature – Win 7 requires lesser hardware standards than Vista, it for instance can work with 512 Mb RAM, with 1 Gb being Recommended (it was 1 Gb and 2 Gb respectively for Vista). Win 7 scores first ! :)

I really hope this version turns out to be good, I don’t want to revert back to the boring look of XP after the experience of Aero. I might otherwise as well shift permanently to Ubuntu + Compiz.

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Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirate's Life For Me

Published on September 20, 2008 in Tech. 0 Comments

Google has released a new lingo – Pirates. Save the Settings page and then navigate to google search to see the new homepage.

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Bashrc Alias

Published on September 5, 2008 in Tech. 0 Comments

Using linux as a full time operating system has its own up side. I am now learning the basics of using the terminal as opposed to gui for everything. The latest thing I have learnt is to create alias for commands in terminal.

Say there is this folder hidden behind a hierarchy of folders. You access it quite often. Wouldn’t it be simple to have a simple customised command to directly jump to this folder rather than having to type the complete location everytime. Well, the alias does it.

To set an alias all you have to do is open the ~/.bashrc file. Goto the end of the file and you’ll find a section for alias. Just add a line like

alias la=”ls /etc/apt/”

That’s it and you are done. Now whenever you enter the command la in the terminal, it will list all the files of /etc/apt/.

This is a lame example, but you get the idea, don’t you.

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