cat * > /dev/null

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

2009-10-09T11:31:00.003+01:00

A nova versão do Ubuntu está preste a sair. Neste momento ainda se encontra em versão beta, no entanto para todos os que quiserem ajudar a testar e fazer report de bugs, podem fazer o download em http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/karmic/beta.

Os Partidos Políticos Portugueses e o Vegetarianismo

2009-09-21T14:08:00.004+01:00

O Centro Vegetariano há cerca de algumas semanas questionou os vários partidos políticos portugueses sobre assuntos do interesse da comunidade vegetariana portuguesa. Aparente até ao momento em que o artigo, que se encontra no site, foi escrito, apenas o Bloco de Esquerda se prontificou a dar conhecer a sua opinião, posições e propostas a todos nós. Resta também realçar que o Bloco de Esquerda é também dos únicos partidos que se pronunciou contra as touradas ou outro tipo de violência animal disfarçada de espectáculo ou arte.
Seria curioso e enriquecedor para a democracia portuguesa também conhecer a posição dos restantes partidos acerca deste assunto, fico e ficamos a aguardar.

Podem ler o conteúdo da resposta do BE ao Centro Vegetariano em: http://www.centrovegetariano.org/Page-20.html

BE contra os Rodeios: http://matportugal.blogspot.com/2008/09/bloco-de-esquerda-tambm-contra-rodeios.html

Swap partition and hibernation in Ubuntu

2009-09-10T00:00:00.005+01:00

Hello lads,

today i was having some trouble hibernating my laptop after resizing of the swap partition, because Ubuntu was telling me that it couldn't find my it.
So what happened was that the partition identifier changed since the resizing of the partition, not the common identifier like /dev/sda5, but the UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) which is now used to identify the partitions in "modern" Linux.

So this was how I fixed it:

I used fdisk to know discover the name of my swap partition

$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd53d826f

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1824 14651248+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 7562 7821 2088450 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 1825 7561 46082452+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 7562 7821 2088418+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Looked up the UUID of the partition

$ sudo vol_id --uuid /dev/sda5
415df585-960f-49ca-b056-6202c1daac39

Edited my swap line in /etc/fstab, which is the file responsible for tracking devices, mounting points and other stuff (generally speaking)

$ vim /etc/fstab

Changed the swap line to look like this, and saved the file

UUID=415df585-960f-49ca-b056-6202c1daac39 none swap sw 0 0

Note that I used the UUID given by vol_id command

Then updated /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/resume with the UUID i got above

RESUME=UUID=415df585-960f-49ca-b056-6202c1daac39

This file is responsible for telling where to look up for the saved desktop state, generaly the swap partition, when the machine resumes from hibernation.

Finally I updated the boot-up scripts by doing

$ sudo update-initramfs -u

After this we can either restart the computer or just run

$ sudo swapon -a

to active all swap spaces available.

Et voilà I was done, and the hibernation worked!

Compiz giving me a headache

2009-07-10T10:31:00.002+01:00

A while ago after disabling compiz to do some troubleshoot on some applications, I got some trouble trying to enabling it again, I was constantly getting the following message:

/usr/bin/compiz.real (core) - Error: Could not acquire compositing manager selection on screen 0 display ":0.0"
/usr/bin/compiz.real (core) - Fatal: No manageable screens found on display :0.0

after some googling I came to this solution:

- run in the terminal
gconftool-2 --set --type=bool /apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager false

- logout/in and we're ready to re-enable the wonderful desktop effects!

Vim in hexadecimal mode

2009-06-30T16:30:00.003+01:00

To set your favourite text editor to edit your files in hexadecimal you may use in normal mode:

:%!xxd

and to get back to ascii mode:

:%!xxd -r

Dump terminal output to a file

2009-05-28T14:37:00.003+01:00

Easy way to redirect the output of a command to both file and terminal:

bash$ my_command 2>&1 | tee my_log.txt

Great =)

Killing processes started in the current terminal

2009-05-25T17:09:00.008+01:00

Imagine you're running some application, lets call it "foo", using an unix user shared with your work colleagues, and this application is also launched by them at the same time you're working. So along the time you may have several instances of this application, several processes with distinct PIDs. And all the sudden you need to kill all the instances that you previously launched but you need to avoid to kill the ones being used by your fellow colleagues. This is one way to do the trick.

Start by retrieving your tty (teletypewriter),

bash$ tty
/dev/pts/4

And then kill the process "foo" for the current "tty" you're using,

bash$ kill `ps -le | grep foo | grep "pts/4" | cut -d" " -f6 `

PS: If know a way to include the retrieval of the tty inside the grep command let know =)

Rename all files in one folder

2009-04-29T14:44:00.006+01:00

This is a little tip for you, and a remider for me :P

bash $ for i in *;do mv $i `echo $i | sed 's/pattern/newpattern/'`; done

Ubuntu 9.04

2009-04-26T10:11:00.003+01:00

Have you noticed a image on the right of this blog saying that Ubuntu 9.04 is out?!
Well it is, so go and check it out, it has a lot of new stuff, is has a faster boot time than ever, and it's free, and open source!

So move your bottoms and download it!

CodeCodex

2009-04-14T09:39:00.004+01:00

Good site that i found the other day when i was searching some solutions for some code i was doing at work.

CodeCodex is a online shared code repository for people that don't want to reinvent the whe

(I love quoting site descriptions)

What is CodeCodex?

CodeCodex is a wiki for finding and improving code. Stop reinventing the wheel. Use CodeCodex to:
Browse and use pre-written code.
Learn new algorithms and methods for common programming tasks.
Use code in your own projects and submit new code for the community.
Improve performance of code in the repository and the organization of the library.

What's different about CodeCodex?

CodeCodex isn't just another code repository; it's a place where developers can actively engage with others to improve quantity and quality of the library. CodeCodex is the first online code library that captures the infinitely iterative nature of a wiki and uses it to constantly increase the quality of the library.

http://codecodex.com/
http://codecodex.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Java (Java category)

If you're into software coding you can help improving this site sending your own solution and algorithms!

How a small weekend project can become a great trip to Portimão

2009-03-31T13:52:00.000+01:00

Why do we use Vim!?

2009-03-30T09:33:00.002+01:00

http://www.viemu.com/a-why-vi-vim.html

This is a very interesting article talking about why people use or should use Vim as a programming text editor.

Mac vs MS

2009-03-25T11:35:00.003Z

JAVA-TV

2009-03-15T10:03:00.001Z

"Java-TV.com is a directory of videos, interviews and tutorials focused on software development activities with the Java™ programming language."

Give it a look.

http://www.java-tv.com/

Tetris Master playing invible Tetris!

2009-03-13T10:54:00.003Z

This guy is unbelievable! Watching this video is breath taking.
Just image the amount of time this guy had on his hands to reach this level of playing.

Blue Man Group (?)

2009-03-10T14:05:00.000Z

Rival Schools - United by fate

2009-03-10T11:57:00.013Z

Great album!!

How to disable your touchpad in Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)

2009-02-20T16:34:00.005Z

Today i found myself in the need to disable my laptop touchpad after ruining for various times my work by touching and taping it involuntarily with my arms while typing. So i googled it!

After finding some solutions over the net, which don't work now with the new xorg because of the almost empty xorg.conf, due to the great autodetection mechanism now implemented :) , i've found this excelent post in the ubuntu forums.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=6077309&postcount=121

After following this post i just installed gsynaptics from the repositories and searched for the option to disable the touchpad, it was piece of cake!

The big bonus on this was that the enable/disable touchpad button in my laptop now works like a charm :)

The sunny days are back!

2009-02-19T13:04:00.003Z

And i'm stuck in the office :x

Enough is enough!!

2009-02-11T12:47:00.003Z

Certainly I was not born to handle all this rain...
Stop the rain before it stops you!!

Obama socialist?!

2009-02-05T13:42:00.003Z

Someone said that Obama is a socialist...
Here
Here
Here

Curiosidades da Frutose

2009-01-23T12:51:00.008Z

Encontram alguma coisa estranha!?

Imaginary numbers...

2009-01-20T14:38:00.002Z

"Homens da luta para a Câmara de Lisboa"

2009-01-19T11:26:00.001Z

Este vai mesmo em português!

http://clix.expresso.pt/os_homens_do_megafone_concorrem_a_camara_de_lisboa=f491827

Quake 3 on iPhone

2009-01-18T12:17:00.003Z

WOW this one i wasn't expecting!!
Some guys are porting Quake 3, one of the most played FPS of all time, for the iPhone.

Check out some screenshots:

Project site: http://code.google.com/p/quake3-iphone/

RocknRolla

2009-01-08T09:54:00.004Z

I just love movies with a British accent!
RocknRolla is IMO a great movie. If you liked Snatch from the same director (Guy Ritchie), probably you'll like this one too.
It's a film about mobs, scams and crooks. It has a really good soundtrack, shady characters and a dry sarcastic humour. Some characters even remember me of Boris "Bullet dodger", as they keep on not dying!

Go and see this movie at a theatre next to you!!

2009-01-06T09:52:00.000Z

From: http://xkcd.com/242/

2009-01-01T22:14:00.003Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS!!!
Hope 2009 be even a better year!

Linux shoe store

2008-12-22T21:15:00.005Z

This has blown me away laughing :D

seen here

Need help find open ports and its process owners on Linux?!

2008-12-20T20:35:00.009Z

Try this:

sudo lsof -i
sudo netstat -lptu

If Programming languages were Religions

2008-12-18T12:01:00.003Z

I red this at the Portuguese Java User Groups (PTJUG), and could not help to share it here.

I must say that i'm a Java and Python programmer, and a convict atheist :)

*C* would be *Judaism* - it's old and restrictive, but most of the world is
familiar with its laws and respects them. The catch is, you can't convert
into it - you're either into it from the start, or you will think that it's
insanity. Also, when things go wrong, many people are willing to blame the
problems of the world on it.

*Java* would be *Fundamentalist Christianity* - it's theoretically based on
C, but it voids so many of the old laws that it doesn't feel like the
original at all. Instead, it adds its own set of rigid rules, which its
followers believe to be far superior to the original. Not only are they
certain that it's the best language in the world, but they're willing to
burn those who disagree at the stake.

*PHP* would be *Cafeteria Christianity* - Fights with Java for the web
market. It draws a few concepts from C and Java, but only those that it
really likes. Maybe it's not as coherent as other languages, but at least it
leaves you with much more freedom and ostensibly keeps the core idea of the
whole thing. Also, the whole concept of "goto hell" was abandoned.

*C++* would be *Islam* - It takes C and not only keeps all its laws, but
adds a very complex new set of laws on top of it. It's so versatile that it
can be used to be the foundation of anything, from great atrocities to
beautiful works of art. Its followers are convinced that it is the ultimate
universal language, and may be angered by those who disagree. Also, if you
insult it or its founder, you'll probably be threatened with death by more
radical followers.

*C#* would be *Mormonism* - At first glance, it's the same as Java, but at a
closer look you realize that it's controlled by a single corporation (which
many Java followers believe to be evil), and that many theological concepts
are quite different. You suspect that it'd probably be nice, if only all the
followers of Java wouldn't discriminate so much against you for following
it.

*Lisp* would be *Zen Buddhism* - There is no syntax, there is no
centralization of dogma, there are no deities to worship. The entire
universe is there at your reach - if only you are enlightened enough to
grasp it. Some say that it's not a language at all; others say that it's the
only language that makes sense.

*Haskell* would be *Taoism* - It is so different from other languages that
many people don't understand how can anyone use it to produce anything
useful. Its followers believe that it's the true path to wisdom, but that
wisdom is beyond the grasp of most mortals.

*Erlang *would be *Hinduism* - It's another strange language that doesn't
look like it could be used for anything, but unlike most other modern
languages, it's built around the concept of multiple simultaneous deities.

*Perl* would be *Voodoo* - An incomprehensible series of arcane incantations
that involve the blood of goats and permanently corrupt your soul. Often
used when your boss requires you to do an urgent task at 21:00 on friday
night.

*Lua* would be *Wicca* - A pantheistic language that can easily be adapted
for different cultures and locations. Its code is very liberal, and allows
for the use of techniques that might be described as magical by those used
to more traditional languages. It has a strong connection to the moon.

*Ruby *would be *Neo-Paganism* - A mixture of different languages and ideas
that was beaten together into something that might be identified as a
language. Its adherents are growing fast, and although most people look at
them suspiciously, they are mostly well-meaning people with no intention of
harming anyone.

*Python* would be *Humanism*: It's simple, unrestrictive, and all you need
to follow it is common sense. Many of the followers claim to feel relieved
from all the burden imposed by other languages, and that they have
rediscovered the joy of programming. There are some who say that it is a
form of pseudo-code.

*COBOL* would be *Ancient Paganism* - There was once a time when it ruled
over a vast region and was important, but nowadays it's almost dead, for the
good of us all. Although many were scarred by the rituals demanded by its
deities, there are some who insist on keeping it alive even today.

*APL* would be *Scientology* - There are many people who claim to follow it,
but you've always suspected that it's a huge and elaborate prank that got
out of control.

*LOLCODE* would be *Pastafarianism* - An esoteric, Internet-born belief that
nobody really takes seriously, despite all the efforts to develop and spread
it.

*Visual Basic* would be *Satanism *- Except that you don't REALLY need to
sell your soul to be a Satanist...

Taken from:

http://www.aegisub.net/2008/12/if-programming-languages-were-religions.html

Localizz TMN

2008-12-10T19:41:00.007Z

This is a bit of advertisement but it's also to announce my first big development at work! :D

Lorem ipsum

2008-11-30T00:30:00.003Z

Lorem ipsum et eruditi dolorum sententiae est, ius oporteat inimicus conclusionemque ea. Ex quodsi eripuit senserit nam, ex vocent constituto sit. Et vel summo nominati corrumpit, elit fugit legimus his an. Utamur percipitur disputationi an mei, an elitr saperet vivendum sed, iudico animal scripta id vel. Eos ei solum tantas vivendo, eu eos mandamus consetetur argumentum. Ut pro dolor animal.

I'm doing some web development so I was looking for some dummy text to place inside the web templates I'm doing. I came across some sites and realised they all had the same type of dummy text to exemplify the content, like the above, so I questioned myself "Is there any site that generates this nonsense text?". And the answer to my question was, "Yes there is!!".

In fact this piece of random text, is not that much of a nonsense, and it is based on a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, which makes it more than 2000 years old! Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500, truly amazing!

You can find a website that tells the whole story and generates some Lorem Ipsum for you, at http://www.lipsum.com/

Other place, and maybe a more fancy generator, can be found at http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/generator3

Daniel Tammet one of the great Savants

2008-11-22T14:12:00.005Z

Yesterday David, my work colleague, told me about a BBC show he watched some time ago about savants. This show in particular was about Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant who has fantastic mathematical and linguistic learning facility. After all the things David told me about this man, i was really curious about what he could do, and watched the entire show at youtube. And i can tell you, this guy is amazing! He knows seven different languages and can learning one in about a week, like he did with Icelandic to be interviewed on national TV. But in fact he's even more skilled at maths, as he can make huge number calculations only using his mind, and used his memory to recite 22,514 digits of pi.
But the more curious fact about this guy, is that beside the fact that he has all the autistic characteristics, he is still capable of maintaining social relationships, which is not common on a person who suffers from autism.
You also see some other cases, like Kim Peek, the men that inspired the movie Rain Man, that can read, well i would call it "absorb", a page of a book in 8 to 10 seconds, and use his photographic memory to "store" its content.

You should follow my advice and watch this show, it will worth every minute, and i bet you will be as amazed as i was.

1/5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOc...
2/5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfoGsX...
3/5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7oEdE...
4/5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqLzoi...
5/5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMz3gj...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet

CodeIgniter - a PHP web framework

2008-11-20T10:08:00.006Z

Last friday at Sapo Codebits i had the chance to get involved in a project that uses a PHP web framework. Well, this is quite a novelty to me, since i don't do any web development for about 3 or 4 years, and the last time i did it, it was for a university project using PHP in the most horrible way i've ever seen, sticking all the code directly in the html file.

These new web frameworks out there (CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Django, Ruby on Rails, etc.), give a refreshing way to build your applications. Using the MVC model, you can separate what is background operation from what is presented to the user. This might not be new for you, but it is for me :) .

CodeIgniter is in my opinion a pretty good web framework, and ables you to develop a simple application from scratch very quickly. It is oriented to performance and small footprint, and it is ideal for people that don't want to loose a lot time configuring everything and be forced to restrictive syntax rules like in CakePHP.

Starting to develop is very simple, you just download the tar.gz or zip file, extract it, and copy it to your web directory root, modify a couple of files to reflect your database configuration and site url, and your ready to start some really awesome code typing!

The site has some video tutorials that i truly recommend if you what to try it, and good and clean documentation. It has also links to tutorials and more videos made by community users, with contents ranging from initial setup and basic introduction to web 2.0, ajax, and advanced features.

Oh and i forgot to mention that CodeIgniter is Open Source, so you can download it, use it and modify it if you like. Well for me this is quite important :)

I recommend it! Give a look at:

http://codeigniter.com/

http://codeigniter.com/tutorials/

http://codeigniter.com/user_guide/

http://codeigniter.com/downloads/

Sapo Codebits 2008

2008-11-12T15:01:00.002Z

Indeed, it starts tomorrow!! And i'll be there!

Windows Vista in 2 minutes

2008-11-09T19:26:00.003Z

Pretty simple way to install Windows Vista on your machine.
He had some problems at the beginning but everything went fine afterwards.

Today's ephemerids

2008-11-09T15:54:00.004Z

Well, just some of them...

1888 - Jack, the Ripper, makes his fifth victim: Mary Jane Kelly.
1918 - Germany becomes a Republic (see Weimar Republic and Reichstag).
1948 - Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazilian football coach.
1989 - Fall of the Berlin wall.
1995 - Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes creator , retires and dedicates himself to panting.
2004 - Internet browser Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was launched.

Note: all links point to Portuguese sites.

Make magazine

2008-11-09T13:59:00.004Z

Have you heard of Make magazine?!

From the site:

About MAKE

MAKE Magazine brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. We celebrate your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

Published as a quarterly since February 2005, MAKE is a hybrid magazine/book (known as a mook in Japan). MAKE comes from O'Reilly, the Publisher of Record for geeks and tech enthusiasts everywhere. It follows in line with the Hacks books and Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks, but it takes a highly visual and personal approach.

Our premiere issue showed you how to get involved in kite aerial photography — taking pictures with a camera suspended from a kite — and how to build an inexpensive rig to hold your camera.

This is a really cool magazine and site for people that know something about electronics, are just curious about it, or just like to watch some insane stuff that you can do, for example, with mint cans (like me!).

These are some examples of what these guys are doing,

A lunch box guitar:

Something i can't quite understand what it is :P

And many more.

Take a look at the site, it has lots of videos, pdf tutorials, and give it a try in one of the weekend projects!

http://www.makezine.com/

Rednecks for Obama

2008-11-06T13:07:00.005Z

This picture just made me laugh.
So this is the change they were talking about!

Shouldn't these guys be voting for Mccain?!

20 month old kid and IPhone

2008-11-05T10:38:00.004Z

I'm really not a iFan but this videos surprised me a lot.
It's fun to see such a young kid interacting with a sophisticated device.

Fernando Afonso must be a great dad! :D

Mouse Pad Warmers?!

2008-11-01T23:16:00.003Z

Some hours ago i thought to myself "Man! my hands are really cold! They're always cold when i'm at the computer, there should be something to keep my hands warm!". And then i thought "I'm certain that some idiot (a person with great ideas) invented something to handle this situation".

Well it's true someone has invented a USB Mouse Pad Warmer!

You can take a look for yourself.

I'm not sure if this object is practical, but if it keeps my hands warm maybe i'll give it a try.
Anyway in my opinion it's a great idea!

Happy veganism day!

2008-11-01T11:12:00.003Z

Since the fiftiest anniversary of the Vegan Society (UK vegan and vegetarian society) in 1994, that in the 1st of November is celebrated the «world vegan day».
So for all of you out there that are vegan or vegetarian, HAPPY VEGAN DAY!!

More information at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Vegan_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacto-ovo_vegetarianism

Ubuntu Linux 8.10 is out

2008-10-31T09:54:00.003Z

In case you have noticed, because you've been out of internet service, don't have friends or still believe that a computer is box with a monitor and some ordinary windows ( :P ), the new version Ubuntu Linux is out. It came out yesterday afternoon, and it's available for download for free!! «True story!» (Quoting Barney from "How i met your mother").

If you dont know what Linux or Ubuntu is, or you've gone to the dark side of the force again, here are some links to consult:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux
http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu

The downlink for the new version is http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu

Project Euler

2008-10-29T11:33:00.004Z

If you like challenges and solving problems related to mathematics and computer science, this may be the site for you :)

http://projecteuler.net/

"Project Euler is a series of challenging mathematical/computer programming problems that will require more than just mathematical insights to solve. Although mathematics will help you arrive at elegant and efficient methods, the use of a computer and programming skills will be required to solve most problems.

The motivation for starting Project Euler, and its continuation, is to provide a platform for the inquiring mind to delve into unfamiliar areas and learn new concepts in a fun and recreational context."

I have solved some problems myself, but i really don't have the time at this moment to do more, but anyway i recommend it!

Pillow Fight Club

2008-10-28T13:00:00.003Z

On the 1st of November, grab your pillow and go to Alameda Dom Afonso Henriques, Lisboa, and join the Pillow fight flash mob!!!

More information about this event here (Portuguese).

Site of event:

Programming Language Examples Alike Cookbook

2008-10-27T10:01:00.001Z

This is a great project allocated at sourceforge, that i consult frequently while at work or doing some code at home.
Quoting the project description is the best way to describe it's aim.

"Following the great Perl Cookbook (by Tom Christiansen & Nathan Torkington, published by O'Reilly; you can freely browse an excerpt of the book here) which presents a suite of common programming problems solved in the Perl language, this project aims to implement the solutions in other programming languages."

At the project site you can consult lots of code examples on many languages, most of them are scripting languages, like Perl (obviously...), Python, Ruby, Groovy, Haskell and so on... Recipes like, reading file contents, string operations, hastables operations, regular expressions examples, etc.

And if you want to contribute in some way, like adding your favourite language, you can do it also by accessing the discussion lists.

You can access the site here and take a look at the great day-to-day examples, very useful in my opinion.

Hi all!

2008-10-27T09:58:00.000Z

Hi everyone,
this is yet another blog of a guy that have plenty to do, but still has time to write some nonsenses and some useful information for someone out there that is willing to waste (or invest...) some time reading this.
Enjoy!