:: Games - Need For Speed - Undercover ::

Just a very quick post about Need For Speed - Undercover: THE GAME IS A VERY HIGH AMMOUNT OF CRAP! Yes, I said it. I had installed the damn thing and decided to give it a try tonight. Maaaaan that's really crappy. Why? Let's begin (and end) by the game control. My M$ Sidewinder Precision Racing Wheel becomes very crappy when I try to use to control the car. The steering wheel is too damn sensitive. I even brought the "sensitivy value" on the game to 0%, but it sucks just as before. And no, don't tell me it is my steering wheel or my windows settings to be blamed. I was playing Race Driver: GRID 2 minutes before trying NFS-UC. On GRID the controller works perfectly, so... once again EA Games and the sucking franchise called Need For Speed desapoints me.

Oh well, the best game they ever did was called NFS-Most Wanted.

OK, NFS-UC already uninstalled. Less useless space being wasted on my hard drive.

See ya and remember, keep away from NFS-UC

:: Linux - Slackware 12.2 is out ::

OK, just a quick post to help spread the word: Slackware 12.2 was released yesterday. Those looking for more information please refer to its official site --> http://www.slackware.com <--

I already downloaded the first two disks (CD) using torrent. Those willing to install Slack 12.2 and use KDE should download the first three disks (CD) or the DVD. Of course, I encourage everyone to buy a slackware box from its store :)

OK, see ya!

:: Linux - Amarok-2.0-rc1 - Part 2 ::

Yeah, right! I thought my amarok+mysql install was clean, nice and dandy. But I was proven wrong. Of course it couldn't be that neat. Mysql-5.1.28rc is (or will be) the "new frontier". So when I was trying to access my photos on gallery2 (yes I have one of those running at home) it just didn't work. Gallery2 wasn't able to connect to mysql. So I tinkered here, there... no good. I restarted Apache (which was running since last morning)... ok I TRIED to restart it. It complained about some mysql libraries. Of course, dumb ass! The apache and php I have installed were compiled against the old mysql.

So I thought "Damn! I have two options: 1- Keep the old version of amarok; 2- use the new mysql and amarok, but then I would have to recompile apache and php" So no, I took another route ;) I decided to try that "embeding/patching" approach the amarok guys describe on that site (last post), but to use it with mysql-5.0.67 (the version I had before messing with amarok). So I just set some stuff here, other there; used the same mysql.SlackBuild script I used yesterday... and crossed my fingers.

OK, mysql compiled nicely, without any problems. Now I had a new mysql-5.0.67 package. Then I jumped to compiling amarok. As I expected, it didn't complain about mysql embeded, compiled nicely... and another package done. Now I had the old mysql (a bit changed) and the new amarok installed. I tested amarok and it was OK (so far). Then it was time to test my gallery2, which also worked.

So... there you go! I will test Amarok a bit more, when I get the time. If I find anything bad, I will let you (and the amarok guys) know ;)

See ya!

:: Linux - Amarok 2.0rc1 ::

OK, today I remembered to try a new svn version of Amarok. Why trying the svn version? Well, because I don't want to run another "old" KDE app (that is, related to QT3). K3B is quite enough for me. And since amarok shouldn't damage anything (an unstable version of k3b can waste cd/dvds)... why not?

So I downloaded it and went to the compile stage. But then I got a "nice" surprise. Now (I was running amarok-1.86) needs a so called mysql embeded. Crap! I had mysql installed, but that wouldn't suffice. So I had to download mysql-5.1.28rc, than apply a patch from Amarok (as it seems) and then build it. For more instructions, please read here.

So after some time tinkering with the build script referenced on the link above, I created my mysql.SlackBuild script and had it compiled, packaged and installed. Then it was amarok's time. So now I have both installed, just still couldn't test amarok.

As I said to some guys on #amarok, I just hope the stable version of mysql-5.1.x (perhaps 5.2.x?) will be released before amarok ehehehehehee

:: Linux - KDE-4.1.3 ::

OK, better later than never, right? The post is late as was the packages making. Anyway, last week I got KDE 4.1.3 packages done for Bluewhite64. If you'd like to test it, please go here -> http://data.linux64packages.net:8080/bluewhite64-current/kde-4.1.3/ <-

It took me longer to release these packages because I was a bit dumb by then *LOL*. Thing is I had messed with my system in order to install an application (don't remember the name) which required QT-3. Even by telling it to use '--with-qt-dir=/usr/lib/qt-3.3.8b' the damn thing wouldn't compile. So I had to create some symlinks.... and the thing is I forgot to remove those symlinks. Result? Well, kdebindings-4.1.3 wasn't enjoying those symlinks, thus giving me a "nice" headache. I finally found the reason of my headache (my stupidity). I removed the symlinks, put everything back to normal and voila, kdebindings-4.1.3 was compiled, thus allowing me to release the whole set of packages.

And as a bonus (or loads of bonuses), this time I released the kde-l10n set of packages too. So if you are not a lover of the English language, you can choose another. Hopefully your "mother language" will be there :)

Please let me know if everything is OK or not.

On another note, today I was trying to compile pinentry against QT-4, but that wasn't possible so far. Why recompiling that? Well, pinentry, on BW64 (and Slackware too) has the "pinentry-qt" program, which, as far as I understand, is used by KMail and Dolphin (or Konqueror on KDE-3.x.x) to work with encrypted files (or to sign messages/files/etc). But pinentry LOVES qt-3 :( So that's one of the reasons I have to keep qt-3.3.8b installed on my system.

My computer just finished compiling, packaging and installing k3b-1.95 (from SVN). Let's see if that will be one less app to require qt-3 from me ;)

I'll let you know when I have more news .

See ya

:: PC - Eight Cores ::

OK, I was out of touch the whole weekend. That's because I traveled to another city on a freelance job. This guy hired me to install a Dell Poweredge 1900 for his company. At first I didn't pay much attention to the hardware. All I did was installing Bluewhite64 on that server and Slackware on the firewall (an Athlon XP 2400+). When the installations were done, the computers were rebooted, and then I got amazed. The server has two Xeon Quad-Core processors, that is... EIGHT PROCESSORS. That was very nice, eight Tuxes showing up on the top of the screen :)

So, two more machines under my wing, one running Slackware 12.1, the other running Bluewhite64 12.1.

After the first day of work (yes in fact there were some minor details left for the next day, but for that I would need some information the guy) my client showed up and asked "Are you done for today?" I said "Well, yes but..." then he told me I could drop that and I should go with him and his girlfriend to a party. To my full amazement, the party was full of models (or very beautiful girls). Don't worry! I am married and I behaved very well. I swear by Yoda' soul that I haven't touched anyone :P But I have to admit that my mouth fell to the ground when one of them entered the place. Damn that girls is beautiful. I tell you, that was the most beautiful girl I have EVER seen in my life... well, at least one that wasn't a JPG or AVI file *LOL*. And I was told her boyfriend is something like Schwarzenneger. OUCH! So I had more reasons to behave myself ;) And before I forget, there was a very beautiful photographer there too. Nope, not my client hehehehehe a friend of his. Wanna know what made her ever nicer? She bought an ASUS EEPC and she kept Linux installed on it (not as many brazilians who buy those kind of computers, remove Linux and install Window$ XP). She even told me she was enjoying Linux, because it was lighter, faster and prettier than Windows :) Yeah, suck that up, Balmer :P

Other than those news... only one hell of a rain all the weekend long. Crappy! Or should I say creepy!?!

OK, let me concentrate on my slackbuild scripts for agg and gnash :) As soon as I have those alright I will create packages for BW64. Go me! :P

:: Linux - rtorrent on Bluewhite64 ::

I don't remember exactly when it happened, but a friend of mine who barely uses Linux once said I should try rtorrent (a bittorrent client), since I was looking for a better client for CLI (console, command line). I gave it a try and WOW, it is good!

So today (almost one year after I first tried rtorrent) I decided to upload the packages I made for my Bluewhite64 machine to the repository. And since I am a nice guy, I also uploaded the libraries the program depends on. If you are interested on it, just follow the links bellow:

rtorrent
libtorrent
libsigc++

OK, I did my good deed for today ;) Now let me find some cookie to eat :D

Changing the subject just a little bit...

It's very nice being able to contribute to the Opens Source/Free Software comunity. Even if the contribution is small like those of mine (creating packages or writing mini-howtos). Things like these make life better, funnier. OK, that might be solely my view, the view of a nerd/geek. People who just buy/use other people's/company's software probably don't feel what we, the ones contributing, feel. Well, perhaps not everyone contributing feel the same way I do, who knows! Yep, perhaps I am just another crazy guy around the corner *LOL*

Later I might upload qcomicbook (a hell of a nice software to read comic books on your computer) to the respository too ;)

See ya

:: Linux - KVirc 3.4.2 - Part 2 ::

OK, since Douglas's presentation was good enough to make me jump into the "patching land", I wrote/created a small patch that can make your life much easier if you want to compile kvirc-3.4.2 on Bluewhite64 against QT-4 (like I did). So, just use kvirc-x86_64-libs.diff.gz and be happy. How to use that? Decompress kvirc-3.4.2.tar.(gz or bz2) and do this:

cd kvirc-3.4.2
zcat PATH-TO-THE-PATCH/kvirc-x86_64-libs.diff.gz | patch -p2
sh ./autogen.sh
./configure (use the options you like best)
make
make install (you need to be root for this last one)

Isn't that easier than the weird explanation I gave on the other post? ;)

:: Linux - TcheLinux ::

Yesterday I went to an event from the TcheLinux group. I knew about their existence for some time already, but I never took the time to check on the group and perhaps be part of it. Want to know about them? OK, just click that link on the begining of this post and be happy ;)

The event was for free, or... almost that. People only had to bring 2kg of food (like beans, rice, etc). As they said, the presentations were of beginer and intermediate level. I liked the ones I attended, but in special I really enjoyed the one about Patches (writing/managing patches). Oh, sure, the whole event was about Open Source/Free Software (for those who might be wondering if they were talking about rocket science :P). Really thanks to Douglas Landgraf (sorry buddy, but first time I saw your full name I read "Douglas Gandalf" *LOL*) for the "quilt" tip. That's a very interesting software that I had never heard about. Oh, OK, part of the fault is mine since just now I began to really put a bit of energy on helping the Free Software/Open Source comunity ;)

Tomorrow I should create that patch for kvirc-3.4.2 (just for those interested on compiling it on Bluewhite64).

Ah! Last friday I bought a new keyboard. No, it's not fancy or shiny. It's just a black keyboard, quite cheap, but I am enjoying it. Good "typing sensation", soft, good response, quite "noiseless" hehehehe (not that this would matter much nowadays that my computer isn't close to our bed room) and BLACK ;) .

OK, see ya!

:: Linux - KVirc 3.4.2 ::

Well, after some long time (at least for me) KVirc got a new release (on 14/10/2008): version 3.4.2. As far as I read it is more of a bug fix release. So, I got the source code to see if I could get it to compile on Bluewhite64. I saw on their site they have packages for Slackware and Slamd64, very nice. But no, they don't have it for BW64. So... there I go again ;)

First I tried to compile it against qt-3.3.8b, that didn't work. OK, most of the blame could fall on me since I am keeping qt-3.3.8b and qt-4.4.3 "living in harmony" (or not so) on the same system. After some time getting punched on the nose I decided to get brave and try compiling KVirc against QT4. What would do the magic is using "--enable-qt4" on the "./configure" step. I did that, no problem. But when it came to the "make" part of the fun I got loads of errors. Talking to HelLViS69 on #kvirc channel, I got some nice tips to try and fix those first errors.

So the first tip was to erase the file "src/modules/help/index.moc"; after that I restarted to compile and got another error. The next tip told me to include a line on "src/modules/logview/logviewmdiwindow.h":

#include QKeyEvent //there should be a "<" before QKeyEvent and a ">" after it

Then, another (and last) error showed up. The tip was to edit the dialog.h file and add:

#include QDesktopWidget //there should be a "<" before QDesktopWidget and a ">" after it

That did the trick. KVirc-3.4.2 is now compiled and packaged for Bluewhite64. Remember, I did that against QT4. I still haven't got the time to test it, but as soon as possible I will do it and report here.

Right now? Oh, I am downloading KVirc 4 (beta?) and will compile it too *LOL*

See ya

:: Linux - KDE 4.1.2 ::

OK dokey, here I am, still alive, yes! ;)

Don't worry people, everything is alright on my side of the globe. I've just been quite busy. Oh sure, I forgot to tell you that my son is already born. Yep, most of my being busy has to do with family. The kid is great, he is a beutiful baby and, for now, looks like his father *LOL*. But don't worry, he will be better as time goes by ;)

On the geek/nerd part of my life, KDE 4.1.2 was released on October 3 and on that same day we had packages for Bluewhite64. Indeed, thanks to Coruscant for the quick compiling and packaging hehehehe

But then today I decided to check on KDE-4 dependencies and I found out most of them had newer versions. So I downloaded them and recompiled the whole dependecy tree. After that, yes, a new compiling of KDE 4.1.2 (so it would match/use the new stuff). Right now I have already uploaded all the deps to BW64 repository and I am already re-uploading the KDE 4.1.2 packages.

For those who care to know, Coruscant took 71min to compile and package the deps, against 131min for KDE.

OK, I am tired and need some rest. See ya!

:: Movies - The Dark Knight ::

Sure, this will not be the first nor the best blog post about The Dark Knight. But, since I have been writing a bit about movies I watched AND I watched this particular movie on last Saturday (yes, ladies and gents, yes, the movie finally arrived in my city), I had to come and post about it, right?

Firstly, yes I am a big fan of Batman. I don't remember when I first saw one of "his" comics, I just know I was really young. Most likely I didn't know how to read by that time.

Secondly, yes I purposedly chose a movie poster with the Jocker, because he is the man of the movie. Yes, yes, everybody talked about Heath Ledger's performance, how good it was, bla bla bla, that he deserves an Oscar, bla bla bla.

Bla bla bla my ass! He does deserve a freaking Oscar! "A freaking Oscar"... please pay attention to the bold words... and his performance: FREAKING! I do think Jack Nicholson did a wonderful job when he played the Jocker. But what Ledger did is hard to be beaten.

Aaron Eckhart was amazing as Harvey Dent too. Congratulations Mr. Eckhart, very good job. It was very nice to see "the other face" of Harvey Two Faces. I mean, what Harvey Dent was before becoming Two Faces. I wish there was more of Two Faces on the movie......oops, SHUT UP, PUNK!

Maggie Gyllenhaal is another story. Sorry lady, but your work, at least on this movie, was not good. Perhaps the script writers, or the director, or it is someone else to blame, but Rachel Dawes was not nice on this movie. No, I don't think Kate Holmes did an oustanding job when she played Rachel. But surely she was prettier ;)

Too bad the theater/cinema here in my city sucks so bad. The sound quality (???) is terrible. Even my TV set at home has better sound (and it is a simple one). I have to remember and send an email to the guys who manage that cinema (or even better to one of the newspapers in the city) complaining about that. The movie is about 2h30min and I didn't see/feel the time passing. The Dark Knight is not one of those movies which takes loooong to finish, nor one of those which ends too quickly. It was made in the right measure. I won't talk much about specific points of the movie to avoid spoiling the fun for those who haven't watched it yet. But one little thing I can say: yes guys, Christian Bale could have used other techniques to avoid people finding Bruce Wayne is the Batman. That kind of voice he does when wearing the black suit... just doesn't sound right. Hey, I do like his work, but that voice is not nice. Perhaps he could fake a stronger voice, a deeper one... but that thing he did? Ouch! Yes, thanks to the sound quality at "our cinema" the problem is even worse. Crap!

Now I will wait for the DVD, so I can watch again. If the cinema didn't suck so bad, I would watch it again there. Since it does... WAIT, Kenjiro, WAIT!

Oh yeah, the way the Batpod was introduced on the story, that was great!

See ya!

:: New writer ::

Just a very quick post to let you guys know my cousin might join me on this site/blog. Soon enough I hope he will be posting around ;)

Remember, buddy, you can post about ANYTHING! Just don't shock people too much, ok? *LOL*

See ya

:: Linux - Timing KDE 4.1.1 compile ::

OK, as promised to psychicist and to you guys, here goes the result of my "experiment". First I compiled KDE 4.1.1 using 'make -j4' and it took 136m3.569s (136 minutes and 3.569 seconds); then I tried 'make -j8' and it took 126m16.009s (126 minutes and 16.009 seconds).

Now, you tell me. What's best, '-j4' or '-j8'? ;)

Ok, enough geek talking for today ;)

Ah, sure! I promised the URL for you to download KDE 4.1.1 packages for Bluewhite64, right? There you go: http://data.linux64packages.net:8080/bluewhite64-12.1/kde-4.1.1/kde/

Have fun!

:: Linux - KDE 4.1.1 ::

Oops, I did it again!

No, I am no fan of Britney Spears *LOL* OK, I admit some years ago i thought she was hot, but not anymore :P

This post is about KDE 4.1.1. It was released yesterday and since yesterday I have the packages for Bluewhite64. Yep, I did it. Right now I am uploading the packages to BW64's repository. As soon as everything is on the server I will let you know (and post the direct link).

Since I had some small problems while compiling kdewebdev (because of tidy), I couldn't time the compile process correctly, and since me and psychicist want to know if there is a difference from compiling stuff using 'make -j4' or 'make -j8', I am recompiling everything ;). Right now I am running the compile with a 'make -j4'. After that I will compile everything again with 'make -j8'. Yes, call me crazy, nerd, geek or whatever, but we do have to find that out ;)

Anyway, that's what Quadcore CPUs are made for, right? :) Not for people who only use M$ Office, play solitaire, use MSN and read their email with that crappy M$ Outlook.

Go Open Source!

:: Movies - Vantage Point ::

Yet another good movie: Vantage Point. My cousin got this movie on the video store, watched it and said it was pretty good. So he lent me DVD and I took it home to watch with my wife as soon as our little princess would be sleeping. Well, I said this before: pregancy is tough stuf. My wife was tired and didn't hold on much longer, so she was asleep before the middle of the movie.

NO, NO, NO! Vantage Point is not boring. It's really a good movie, as my cousin said. I really enjoyed the way the story is told. All characters are well played. Too bad I have become a smartass when it comes to movies. I could guess some small parts of the movie, but that didn't spoil the whole fun.

Hey, Dennis Quaid, beware, you are getting old, man ;)

And.. hmmmm, hmmmm, hmmmm watch out for that girl (Ayelet Zurer).

So, here is another of my "movie advices" hehehe This a very good one. Go for it!

:: Movies - Wanted ::

No, no, I am not "Wanted, daed or alive!". I am talking about the movie Wanted, which I watched last Saturday night.

To be begin with, people, remember it is based on a comic book. Yes, the movie is a bit crazy; it is a mix of Sci-Fi and Action; but it is good. At least, in my humble opinion (IMHO), it is a very good movie. Although the story is not that much creative, I liked the story telling. I won't say much more than this. I could, yes I could. But I am not willing to spoil the movie for those who haven't watched it yet. Here in my city it hasn't reached the cinema yet :( Yep, crappy cinema, crappy cinema!

Oh, James McAvoy did well on this movie. I have seen him on The Chronicles of Narnia, but I really don't remember him. Sorry, fellow! To tell the truth, when I saw that image (this one on the left) in front of the cinema (yes, the movie poster is there for a month already, but the movie hasn't arrived) I thought "ouch, that must be an action movie and I bet the main character is a big, tough guy." Hahahahaa, it was really interesting seeing James McAvoy in the main role. Good job.

Uh.. What? Do you really think I should talk about Angelina Jolie's role on this movie? Well, let's be quick: she is a damn great actress. Ah yes, of course she looks great. Those who know me.. well, they know I am a big fan of Mrs. Jolie. Enough said ;)

If you can (as in "yes, there is a decent cinema in my city/tow", stop reading this and go watch the movie :P

:: Movies - The Fountain ::

Man... that's a crazy movie! I watched it last night. My wife was too tired so she couldn't watch it to the end. I held on and did it. Well, I don't know but.. perhaps I would have to watch it again to measure it better. I liked the movie, since I have some level of spirituality (or so I believe). You have to watch it with an open mind and willing to try and find hidden meanings. Good job from Hugh Jackman. I like Rachel Weisz, but this role didn't ask much of her skills.

Well, since the movie ended almost at 2 in the morning... I am quite tired/sleepy now. So... here ends my report ;)

:: Movie - Jumper and Chaos ::

What's up? I am alright here. Well, this quick post is to talk about two movies I watched recently (one on last Sunday and one last night). Respectively, Jumper and Chaos.

Despite of Arthur - a friend of mine - saying the Jumper was bad, I tried it... and I really enjoyed it. Very good movie. Very good special FX and the story is good, at least for my taste. OK, it's not one of those movies which might be chosen to try an Oscar, but it is good, PERIOD.

I just think - my wife thinks the same - Hayden Christensen might have some problems with his voice, because as far as we remember it was a bit better when he played Anakin Skywalker hehehehe But it's ok, he did well on this movie too.

I don't remember Arthur saying anything about Chaos, but I bet he would say it is not that good too. I liked the action, the story and it almost surprised me, really. A good job by Ryan Phillippe and also Jason Statham. Sorry, Wesley, not that you are not a good actor, but the role didn't require much, right?

Well, I liked these movies and I recomend them to you.

As soon as I get time to watch more movies, I will comment. I am sorry if I haven't writen as much as you would like, but if anyone thinks I whould write more about the movies, just let me know ;)

:: Quick updates ::

Hi there! Just some quick updates on what's been going on. I updated some information on my blog. I noticed some errors here and there (there might be more *grin*). I also took off some crap and added some more ;) As you can see the "Wonder women" section is gone (no, not because my wife told me so *LOL*, I just felt like deleting it). And no, I haven't turned to the Pink side of the Force. I also added the Hardware list, that is... to list the current hardware inside Coruscant; I changed the OS (Operating System) which is no longer Slackware Linux for some time. But don't worry, Bluewhite64 is just like Slackware, I am only running on 64bit wheels now (for some months alreay).

And I'd like to say that playing Call of Duty 4 on a Nvidia 9600GT is so much better than on a 6800GT *LOL*. Holy graphics! yes yes, I know a 9800GTX or 9800GX2 or 280GTX would be better. And yes, I am accepting donnations of that kind, thank you very much!

Other than that... job is the same, income is the same, bills are the same (or worse some times) but we finally chose the new boy's name. Don't worry, I'm not telling :P

OK, see ya for now!

:: Some nice gadgets ::

OK, it's nothing new, not at all. But today I got myself thinking about some nice gadgets we are now used to. Take cell phones for a start. Not too long ago they were "gadgets for fancy and rich people". Nowadays any punk can have one. No, nothing against punks, at least not against the good ones ;) . I have a Nokia 7060; I can listen to radio on it, take pictures and EVEN make/receive phone calls *LOL* Some fancier (and not cheaper) cell phones can store loads of data, work as a MP3 player, record videos, etc, etc.

Now one of the most usefull things I have: a USB key or, as we call it in Brazil, a pendrive. No, I don't have those "big" pendrives. I only have two which can store 1GB each. I have one for serious things (like job things) and another for whatever I want to use. Damn they are usefull.

Do you remember those crappy floppy disks? Believe it or not, there are people using those crappy things, even today. Yep, I swear! Before my last PC upgrade I even had a floppy drive on my PC, just in case someone would come with one of those disks asking me to open some file. And to think I believed they would start to die in 1995, when the Iomega Zip drives landed in Brazil (in fact they showed up here a bit earlier). But nooooooooooo! Since zip disks were expensive, the damn floppy drives survived.

Then came the CD-R and CD-RW disks. OK, now I was certain the floppy would die. No, damn it! They were stronger than a tank. People kept using them. Not everyone could afford a CD burner, and... every damn PC was still coming with a floppy drive. Then came the DVD burners, and hey, they are quite cheap these days. But what I believe is really, FINALLY killing the floppy crappy drives are the USB keys/pendrives.

OK, pendrives are not as cheap as a floppy disk but... wait a minute! You don't need a special burner to write to a pendrive. All you need is a USB port and you are ready to go! Plus, the amount of data you can store on them? The access speed (read/write)? Bye, bye floppies, you are late to arrive in hell.

What else? Webcams? hmmmm no. Well, at least they are not usefull TO ME. I do have one (remember that mini-howto I created on the linux section?) which my father gave us. But I used it... just a few times. It's there "sitting" on my desk, next to my monitor, just "taking dust". Wireless (or cordless) mouse/keyboard? No thanks! I don't like them. Why? Well, I only use my mouse and keyboard when I am actualy in front of my monitor, that is on my desk. So I don't need to go far. I just HATE when the batteries of a keyboard or mouse goes off. I just can't imagine myself playing on the computer then the mouse or keyboard dies. I would go "MOTHER PEEEEEEEEEE!!!!". No, no thanks. And oh! my corded mouse is lighter than any cordless mouse I saw till now. So... NOOOOOO THANKS!

Another great thing, but it wouldn't be categorized as "gadget" is Virtual Machine. Yep, it's not a gadget since you can't touch one. Well, that's the way I see it. But hell Virtual Machines are usefull. Me, for example. I have hmmmmm four or five VMs on my Linux box. I have two Slackware Linux, a Windows XP, a OpenBSD and a NetBSD virtual machines installed inside my Bluewhite64 Linux. What good for is all that? Well, I can learn about those OSs, I can use them for tests, to work, etc and I don't need four or five separate computers. No, I am not dumb! If I wanted to run all those OS at the same time, I would need five computers. With VMs, I only need one. Ok, it has to be quite a powerful computer to have all those VMs running at the same time, but... even then it is cheaper than having five computers ;)

So, is all this post kindda silly? Hmmm perhaps, but I was in the mood to write it anyway ;)

:: Linux - KDE-4.1 is out, and I did my part ::

That's it! KDE 4.1 was released on July 29 and since that very day I am running it. Only today I had time to post. Another good reason to post is to celebrate the fact that I am giving back a little to the free software community. How? Well, I got KDE 4.1 source codes (and the dependecy softwares), compiled everything, created the packages for Bluewhite64 Linux and... waited. After talking to arny, the maintainer of the distribution, he gave me access to upload the packages to his server. So, if you want to test my packages, check here.

Call me silly, but I am happy for being able to help a little bit.

:: Quick update on the nerd side of the Force ::

Last week a friend (and soon to become a customer) asked me if I could create a server for him. I said I could do it, no problem... then in the middle of the talk he said he would need a VPN... and I almost froze. Crap, I never had to create a VPN! But I said, "yes, I can do it."

So this last saturday I spent a great deal of time reading about how to setup a VPN. Yes, since I work with IT I had read about VPNs, how they work, etc. However, I had never "made one". So now was my time. Suffice to say I read about OpenVPN and "got my hands dirt". I created a Virtual Machine with VirtualBox, installed Slackware 12.1 on it and after less than an hour of testings and changes of configuration I had my "server" running.

Then I tested the VPN using my dad's computer (Windows XP), and it (the VPN) worked perfect. Then I called my friend and told him to test it over the Internet... PERFECT too :)

So today he sent me two computeres (one which will be his file server and the other will be the VPN server).

Go me! :P

:: Being a nerd rocks ::

Yep, being a nerd does rock! News from the front? Yesterday I downloaded, compiled and installed Linux kernel 2.6.26, quite fresh from the forge. Yeah, I had some problems to fight, but they were quite "small". It had been some time since my last kernel compiling, so I was a bit rusted ;) . My first mistakes led me to a system without DVD support *LOL*. So I couldn't read DVDs nor write them. But now everything is cool.

Today's news are about KDE 4.1. I don't remember the exact date but, last week I installed KDE 4.0.85 (a 4.1 wannabe). Today I found out KDE 4.1 rc1 (4.0.98) is out. Yep, it was released today! So I already downloaded the source codes and Coruscant is already working hard to have it running :) Till this very moment I have the following modules compiled, installed and with the respective packages (for Bluewhite64 or Slamd64) created:

kdeaccessibility-4.0.98-x86_64
kdebase-4.0.98-x86_64
kdebase-runtime-4.0.98-x86_64
kdebase-workspace-4.0.98-x86_64
kdelibs-4.0.98-x86_64
kdemultimedia-4.0.98-x86_64
kdepimlibs-4.0.98-x86_64
kdeutils-4.0.98-x86_64

... and the time elapsed since the bigining of the compiling has just reached 1hour ;)

Let's see how good (or bad) is this version. From what I "heard" on the #kde channel, the so lovely keyboard shortcuts are still not working. CRAP!

:: Linux - KDE 4.1 beta 2 ::

Yesterday I was thinking of posting about my experience with KDE 4.x, but given the workload I forgot about it. Today I read bart's blog... and he posted about the whole mess surrounding KDE 4.x. So, here go my impressions about the subject.

It took me sometime to really go after KDE 4.0. I just "noticed" it was released when I read on a mailing list about Robby Workman making packages of it for Slackware Linux. Well, I downloaded those packages and installed on my Slackware 12.1. Well, well... it was a bit nice... but there were lots of stuff missing. And no, bart, I am still not talking about Amarok or K3B. One of the most important parts of KDE, at least for me, is Kontact (a Personal Information Manager, which has email client, personal organizer, etc, etc). That really shocked me, since Kontact is part of KDE3 (and I use KMail since what... KDE 1 or 2, can't remember). Plus... there were some bugs, I couldn't compile K3B and KVirc to work with QT4.x. CRAP!

Then I let time pass by. At least once a week I would check www.kde.org for news about KDE, since I had heard it would be a bit better when version 4.1 was out. So now KDE 4.1 is out. OK, the beta version, but it is already usable. OK, it should not be TRUSTED, since it is a beta version. Since nobody did the favor to compile KDE 4.1beta 2 for 64bits (at least not the packages for my distribution (Bluewhite64), which is an unofficial "Slackware for 64bits") I decided to do it myself. I got Robby Workman' SlackBuild scripts, did some editting and that's it. I compiled all the dependencies + the whole KDE thing, and now I have KDE 4.1 beta2 running on my Linux box.

Talking with people at #kde (irc.freenode.net) I found out there were people running k3b without problems. But then wait a minute. I had talked (over email) with one of k3b developers and he told me they still didn't have a stable release of the program which would work with QT 4.x. I had been checking www.k3b.org on the same days I was checking www.kde.org, and there were no news about that. Then the guys at #kde told me people were running the old (in fact current) version of k3b. The trick? Just keeping QT3 and kdelibs3 installed on their system. So I did the same. Kept those packages installed and tried k3b on KDE 4.1beta2 and that's it.. it works (yep, I did burn a CD and two DVDs already).

Then I tried compiling Amarok for KDE 4. Some guys told me it was crashy, with loads of bugs... and yes, it is, since it is a beta version too. But I got it to compile with minor problems (which I solved) and I have been listening to my MP3 without much problems (one crash here, another there... but it is bearable).

The really aching problems FOR ME:

1- Global shortcuts are not working, at least the ones I needed *LOL*;
2- Amarok's shortcuts don't work too. I hear this version (KDE 4.1 beta2) still has those issues, but I also hear some (if not all) those problems have been solved on the SVN version;
3- when I log out of KDE and go back to the console there are LOTS of lines printed out. Sometimes that even changes the characters on that session. Believe me, it is harder to read that than japanese or sindarin *LOL*
4- well, k3b is still not ready for it, but that's not KDE's fault;

I watched a lecture where Aaron Seigo said their plans for KDE 4 was so that the Desktop would be more usefull. He compaired what we have on our desktops nowadays (or by that time), Windows XP, KDE 3, Gnome, etc with what they (the KDE team) saw should be the future. The usual Desktop style is... HIDEN. Usually we just see our desktops when we turn on our computers and log in, right? After that we fire up our programs, start working/playing and we usually just go back to the desktop when we are about to turn the computer off. So, the desktop is really not that usefull. OK, I know there are plenty of people out there who LOOOOOVE to save their files on the Desktop. Bad, bad you! Such a nasty desktop you have *LOL*

So, how different is KDE4.1 from that description? Not that much different in my opinion. As I see, Compiz-Fusion's Desktop is more usefull. You can write stuff on the back of a window, you can do other fancy (and even usefull) stuff, etc. KDE 4.1 has some fancy stuff and that's it, as I see. Perhaps I haven't tried it that hard. Perhaps when I am more used to it I will see what Aaron promised. But so far...

However, despite all I wrote on this post, I am enjoying KDE 4. :D

Awaiting for your comments, bart.

:: Does it suck being useless? ::

Well, I don't know. But I do know that being unemployed sucks! Was I fired? No. At least NOT YET. A good friend of mine got fired today. Why? Well, most likely because of this posts's title. Was he useless? No, far from it. HIS BOSS IS USELESS.

Most people know how these things work, right? You have a job, where you "lead" some people. You know nothing (or barely nothing) about the job; when people need you, you say something like "the system is down, I can't help you right now" (when in fact the system is working perfectly); you do shit, but you blame some of those you lead. Then you realize someone on your workgroup does know a lot about the job; worse, you would like all the people on your workgroup would kiss your ass, but you realize that same person doesn't do such things.

What happens then? Well, you have someone on your workgroup who works more than you, knows more about the job than you and is not an ass kisser..... YOU FIRED THAT PERSON, right?!?

Yeah, I am not in a good mood today because of that crap. I just hope that person's boss realize the kind of employee they have on that department (the chief of the dep.).

Optimus, my friend, may the Force guide you on finding a BETTER JOB, with a decent boss (IF you won't be the boss this time :P ).

Changing the subject just a little bit...

Nova, as soon as I can I will write you telling how this "table soccer" is played and I will add some pics of people play it. Oh, perhaps I manage to make a video of it ;)

:: New challengers ::

"Ó nóis de vorta!"

Ontem de noite tive a visita do Hallen, meu primo. Já era tarde pra caramba, mas resolvemos dar uma jogadinha de futebol de botão. Ele resolveu jogar com o time dos Thundercats, e realmente o caboclo anda bem destreinado. Mas, tudo se resolve com o tempo e treino né hehehehe O placar de ontem foi Malvadeza 1x0 Thundercats.

Hoje ele e os pais vieram almoçar aqui. Depois da "bóia" a gente "bateu uma bola de novo". O cidadão já deu uma melhorada, mas o placar foi Thundercats 0x2 Malvadeza. Então o pai dele resolveu jogar, pra matar a saudade de décadas sem encostar numa palheta. Pra facilitar a vida dele resolvi jogar na "regra do passe", que era a que ele e meu pai jogavam no tempo de guri. Putz, o velho Oda joga direitinho mesmo, só está faltando mais treino. Placar final: Malvadeza 2x0 Thundercats (ele resolveu jogar com os botões que o Hallen estava usando antes).

Bom, como depois fiquei sem parceria pra jogar (meu pai biscate ainda não se prestou a mostrar os dons), resolvi passar mais um pouco de Jimo Silicone na mesa e dar uma lustrada usando a furadeira. Beih, o negócio ficou lisão!

Agora a tardinha o Optimus apareceu antes de dar uma chegada na namorada (já é namorada? hehehehe). Demos uma jogadinha pra esperimentar o "gramado recém cortado", e notamos que melhorou mesmo. Optimus abriu o placar fazendo um golasso, pena eu não lembrar qual foi o jogador que perpetrou o crime hhehehehe. Pouco tempo depois veio a vingança do Malvadeza. Jogamos mais um tanto, e ficou nisso mesmo: Malvadeza 1x1 Autobots.

Acho que no próximo final de semana já dá pra gente tentar jogar com o pessoal da AABB. Vai ser uma fiasqueira, mas... fazer o que né ;)

Mudando de assunto...

Essa semana resolvi recompilar o MPlayer no Linux, pois eu precisava converter uns arquivos RMVB para AVI. O MPlayer/mencoder estava sem suporte a esse tipo LIXO de arquivo... então o jeito foi uma "mão na massa". Putz! Resolvi testar um parâmetro de compilação que teoricamente faria o compilador usar mais de um processador ao mesmo tempo. Para meu gigantesco espanto, compilei o mplayer em violentos 1min 42seg. Olha, só pra terem uma idéia do ganho de velocidade, quando eu compilava no meu antigo Athlon 64, isso levava algo em torno de sete a dez minutos (não lembro com exatidão). Então... é um puta ganho MESMO.

E, após o suporte a RMVB estar habilitado, converti duas temporadas inteiras de CSI (46 episódios) em mais ou menos 20h. Ou seja, rápido MESMO! Ah claro, isso se deu pelo fato de eu ter usado a "técnica" de converter três episódios simultâneamente a cada "rodada" hehehehee

Viva o multicore :D

:: Novas contratações ::

Pois é, meus goleiros eram antigos, de madeira (mesma idade dos meus jogadores) e estavam fora das medidas oficiais (regra gaúcha). Daí eu e o Optimus ficamos sabendo (graças ao pessoal da AABB) do Bazar Mimo (Porto Alegre). O pessoal lá tem de tudo que os botonistas podem precisar. Então encomendamos (por email) três goleiros novos (dois pra mim, um pro Optimus) e quatro bolas, tudo para a regra gaúcha. Encomendamos na segunda-feira à tardinha e hoje de manhã o material já chegou.

Que dúvida, né. Avisei o Optimus que os goleiros haviam chegado e ele já correu lá pra casa. Armamos a mesa para um amistoso, pra testar os goleiros. Final da partida, Malvadeza 1x1 Autobots.

É treinando que "nóis mióra" hehehehe

Amanhã pretendo colocar um esqueminha de amortecimento nas bordas da mesa, pra diminuir o impacto dos botões na borda.

:: Futebol de botão - Parte 2

Feito, feito, feito o brique! :) Minha mesa de botão já está lá em casa, devidamente "instalada", marcada e estreada hehehe

Abaixo algumas fotos do novo "estádio de futebol":

1-Foto aérea hehehehe

2- Foto com um escalímetro de 30cm sobre o "campo", pra dar uma noção do tamanho da bagaça

3- Meus cinco times devidamente posando para foto:

A quem interessar possa, os times são (da esquerda pra direita e de cima pra baixo):

• Malvadeza (nosso atual esquadrão que joga BattleField 2 juntos)
  
• Thundercats
• Diluidores (nosso antigo clan de Star Craft)
  
• Decepticons (Transformers)
  
• Rebel Alliance (Star Wars)

4- Jogo inaugural: Malvadeza vs Autobots

Placar final: Malvadeza 1x0 Autobots

Ah sim, como o Optimus foi mais rápido que eu e escolheu colocar o símbolo dos Autobots no time dele, me sobrou os Decepticons para aquele meu 5º time hehehehe

Agora o bicho vai pegar lá em casa :)

Era wilson por hoje.

:: Futebol de Botão ::

É tigrada, só por hoje eu vou postar em português. Até porque eu não sei se fora do Brasil conhecem/jogam futebol de botão. Isso mesmo, aquele "joguinho de guri". Ao que parece agora virou esporte, pois até federação tem e tal.

"Mas o que diabos o Kenjiro tem a ver com isso?". Primeiro que SIM, EU TIVE INFÂNCIA. Não sou da geração apartamento/carpete hehehehe. Dentre todas as coisas que fiz quando era guri, eu joguei futebol de botão. E, como pessoa decente que sou, guardei alguns dos meus brinquedos de infância. Não por saudosismo, mas sim por pensar que um dia poderia passar aquelas "relíquias" adiante, ou seja, para meus filhos. Bom, os Super-Heróis que eu tinha (Marvel e DC Comics) eu já passei pra minha filha. Os jogadores de botão eu ainda tinha guardado, pois ela ainda é muito pequena pra jogar e entender como a coisa funciona.

Um belo dia, nem lembro o porquê, eu e o Optimus entramos no assunto de brinquedos e brincadeiras do tempo de guri.... e acabamos falando em Futebol de Botão. Daí eu disse que ainda tinha os meus guardados, conversamos um pouco sobre o assunto, ele queria ver os jogadores, mas eu não lembrava onde a caixa estava hehehehehe Um mês depois eu achei a tal caixa. Comentei com ele, porém eu não tinha mesa pra jogarmos. Então ele me contou que aqui em Santa Maria tem um grupo que se reune pra jogar Futebol de Botão, que até campeonato rolou aqui na "city". Putz, beleza! Já temos um lugar pra jogar. Mas, o bom mesmo seria poder jogar em casa, não é? Dei uma pesquisada na Internet e o valor de uma mesa no tamanho oficial ficava entre R$250,00 e R$370,00. Putz, caro hein! (fora frete)

Entrei em contato com o pessoal que joga botão aqui na cidade, descolei a dica de uma marcenaria que fez as mesas pra eles e fomos lá, eu e o Optimus. Pedi o orçamento pro tiozinho e caí duro quando ele me deu o preço de R$270,00. Notar que esse valor é SEM PINTURA. Na real, a pintura não é realmente necessária. A marcação das linhas, eu e o Optimus fazemos sem stress. Então procurei outra marcenaria, pedi orçamento e.... e.... R$142,00 (também sem pintura). Óbvio que mandei fazer né hehehehe Amanhã, sexta-feira, a dita deve ficar pronta.

Beleza, agora vamos poder dar uma treinada antes de nos metermos a jogar com os veteranos hehehehe Não creio que iremos nos meter em campeonato ou coisa do gênero. É só diversão, anti-stress, hobby mesmo. Mas jogar e passar vergonha é meio fod@ né hehehehehe

Impressionante, até eu e o Optimus conversarmos sobre o assunto, eu NEM SABIA que eu tenho 58 botões. Bom, desses, 3 estão já meio detonados. Digamos que já penduraram as chuteiras hehehe E dos 55 restantes, vários estavam empenados. Não, não empenaram com o tempo. Vieram empenados "de fábrica" mesmo. Tentei dar uma lixada nos botões "com torsão", mas a coisa não estava adiantando. Então resolvi apelar! Achei uma parede lá em casa (pós-reforma) que está sem pintar, só no cimento mesmo, e mandei ver. Fiquei lá, "lixando" os jogadores no cimento. E não é que adiantou mesmo? No cimento eu lixei oito vezes mais jogadores do que tinha endireitado na lixa, e gastei a mesma quantidade de tempo. Claaaaro, depois de usar o cimento, passei os jogadores numa lixa fina para dar o "acabamento". Só posso dizer que todos os meus jogadores já voltaram da fisioterapia em boas condições hehehehe

E por falar nisso, o Optimus comprou um time pra ele, ali na Loja Macedo. Dos 10 jogadores, 5 já vieram com problemas físicos heheheehe Ele mandou a tropa toda lá pra casa para serem internados e passarem por sessões de fisioterapia. Dois deles já foram recuperados hoje, amanhã devo recuperar os outros três hehehehe Afinal de contas, sábado devemos estrear o Estádio, então o povo tem que estar em forma, mesmo que sem preparo físico e faltando muita técnica ahahhaahaha

Bom, era isso por hoje.

:: Old skills, new challenges ::

Hey bart, thanks for re-inspiring me. Yes, seriously. At the beginning of this week I was talking to Udontknow (on IRC) and he told me a bit about NetBSD and OpenBSD; how "strong" they are, with more "seriousness" on the developing (compared to Linux), etc, etc. He even went as far as showing me some lines of a firewall script, which really made my mouth fall open. Yep, those firewall lines looked simplier than the ones we have in Linux (iptables).

Well, after all that chat I was thinking "what the hell? I have a damn powerful computer, why not testing that crap, just to see what happens?" So, there I was, on Tuesday, downloading NetBSD and OpenBSD CD images for a later try. Later that same day I fired up VirtualBox on my Bluewhite64 and tried installing NetBSD first. Well, I was not that happy or lucky. I got lots of errors when I reach the decompressing part of the installation. Since it was quite late, I decided to try it on the other day. I was not very lucky (nor happy) on Wednesday. I even got as far as really installing the OS. It was running, but something seemed a bit awkward. Plus, when I tried to download some other piece of software, I was disconnected from the server, EVERYTIME, after downloading about... 200KB. DAMN!

Try this, try that... and I decided to try google. There, on the first link I got my answer. Visiting this site, the fourth post, I found the solution. Beautiful! So now I reinstalled NetBSD on that VM, downloaded some more software without a single problem... and I have even installed OpenBSD too.

Why did I say bart re-inspired me? Because when I decided to install Net and OpenBSD I felt, again, the same feeling I got when I first installed Linux on my PC, back in 1997. The feeling of adventure, of the unknown territory! OK, it won't be THAT unknown, since now I have some strong grasp of the *nix way of doing things. Plus, now I won't need to reboot my computer to access another OS (which is working right and dandy), to access the internet and look for clues. Now I will have two (or more) OS running at the same time. I hope this time the learning will be faster. And it does need to be, because now I don't have that much spare time as when I was single and didn't have to work *LOL*

So, bart, I got the feeling of adventure and even thought about posting something. Then I saw that post on your blog... and decided "yes, I do need to post something!".

And I so agree with you, we need to get our skills "un-rusted". I go a bit further. We need our skills challenged! I DO understand you when you say your job is a bit boring. Things are quite the same here. Lots of "using windows" and really, really little challenge.

So, let the challenge begin!

Oh, in regards of your last comment here on my site... well, too bad I was in kind of a rush and I didn't bookmarked that forum where I got the "golden tip" about the drivers I had to download to make that friend's computer to work nicely with Windows XP. But if you decided going for XP instead of "suffering" with Vista, let me know and we might refind it ;) Yes, Vista runs with 1GB of RAM but... as you said, it's quite slow. IF you don't need Windows that much, it might not be a big issue for you. But since my friend ONLY uses windows.... *LOL*

:: PC - Supporting hardware ::

What for today? What about talking about companies who suck when it comes to giving decent support to their costumers? Ah, you've seen this "movie" before, right? We all did, unfortunately.

Let's begin by recalling the fact that I gave up on M$ Window$ Vi$ta 64 because some drivers, for the hardware I now own, simply SUCKED. The most important "sucker" of that moment was NVidia's driver for my 6800GT video card. After taking Vi$ta 64 off my comp and installing Vi$ta 32 bits, the comp is running fine. Oh, yes, remember that I only use Windows as my video game, because it has no other uses for me. In fact, once on my LILO (Linux Loader, that is the Boot manager) there were two options: Linux and Wintendo. Now it is Bluewhite64 and Vistendo *LOL* (and I think I am funny ;P )

Then today I took on the mission of helping a friend to rid his computer of the cumbersome M$ Window$ Vi$ta Home Ba$ic. "What's the problem with Vista, Mr. Kenjiro? You just said you run that crap on your computer!". Yes, I do. But then, ladies and gents, I have 4GB of memory. My friend's computer has only 512MB. Can ANYONE tell me why these damn computer assembly companies insist on pushing this kindda configuration on people? Please, Vista barely runs on 1GB of memory, let alone 512MB. So, his salvation would be to take Vista off and install Window$ XP. And that's exactly what I did. The installation went nice. His computer is a HP Pavillion a6220br (Pentium D, 512MB of RAM, 250GB HD, etc). Then the whole storm began. HP didn't give him (or the store where he bought the PC) the proper CDs. Yeah, no install CDs. "OK!" I thought "we can always download the drivers from their site..."

MY FUCKING MISTAKE!

On HP site there are no drivers for that particular computer, for Windows XP. What a crap! OK, I understand M$ is pushing Vista down the throat of everyone. And then, the computer makers/assemblers are trying to push it down their customer's throats. I wouldn't bother that much, if they would try and push those craps... if the hardware they are selling is decent enough to support the demands of such an operating system. As I said, Vista barely runs decently on a 1GB computer... how they expect it to run on a 512MB PC? Man... the computer was sooooooooo slow. When I took that crap (Vista) off and put Windows XP... I swear I could almost hear the computer saying "Thanks, kind sir, for relieving me of such a burden" *ROTFL*

I had to use Everest to find out which was the motherboard's brand (Foxconn) and to identify all the rest of the hardware. Then my driver hunt began. On Foxconn site there are lots of drivers for that particular motherboard. They went as far as making the Video and audio card work. But then, the ethernet card would not work, not even by miracle. I had to do lots of searching on google, till I found a forum about hardware which led me to some obscure links and sites... but finally "I found the light!". Those links led me to the correct drivers.. and now my friend's computer is running really smoothly, WITHOUT THAT HEAVY WEIGHT VI$TA :D

So, here is the lesson of the day:

1- Check very carefully all the information about the computer you are about to buy;
2- NEVER, EVER, EVER, try to run Vi$ta on a PC with less than 2GB of RAM. You will only be try to add layers of patience to your life *LOL*

OK, enough for today. Damn, this driver hunt tired me! :(

:: Games - Assassin's Creed ::

OK, just a quick post about this very nice game. Got it last week and decided to give a try. Give a try? Yes, because the game is supposed to be played on a PC with a better Videocard than the one I have (6800GT). Anyway, since I was feeling brave, I tried. And damn it has been a good try :)

OK, I can run it with maximum graphics and effects, but even then the game is really beautiful. Never heard of this game? Well, try this: think of Prince of Persia (the latest so far), then picture it with lots of people walking around the city. Then picture a very big map, lots of streets, alleys, buildings (which you can climb, jump from one to another). OK, that's a very rough explanation of what the game is, but I think it's a working one ;) For a better idea of the game, try some trailer or even some video on YouTube.

So far I have been having fun with this game. Nice story, very good gameplay, graphics, sounds, etc. Ah, a little tip: the game is kindda hungry, so you better have at least 3GB of memory ;)

The only thing I didn't like on this game is the fact that the main character is an Assassin and he wears WHITE CLOTHES. Not very much usefull when you should be stealthy, rigth?

Give it a try! You won't regret ;)

:: PC - Vista 64, no thanks ::

Yeah! Right after assembling the new encarnation of Coruscant I installed BlueWhite64, as you already know. Then... since I am A LITTLE addicted to playing games on my PC, I decided trying Vista 64 on it. I got this DVD from my friend (who was not using) and gave it a try.

Well, since I was quite busy at home, I didn't have too much time to really use/test it. Then, when I finally got that time, I decided to test BF2 (Battlefield 2) on it. Result? A "nice" crash. Yep, with bluescreen and all that crap that only M$ can provide you. OK, I noticed the graphics were weird, so I uninstalled the NVidia driver (suposedly stable) and installed the latest beta driver. It worked fine... for some time. On Vista (2D graphics) it was really fine. No more bugged screens as I was getting with the "stable" driver. Then on BF2, it lasted like 2 minutes before exploding again.

So, the drivers for Vista 64 still suck! Then I went to video encoding, that is converting AVI files into DVD-Video. Could I do it? No, no, no. My Nero 7 Premium wouldn't work properly on Vista 64 (so M$ tells me with one of those "nice" messages of theirs).
Bottom line, I wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING using that crappy "OS". So this weekend I talked to the same friend, returned his Vista 64 and he lend me Vista 32bits. Since he is not really using it (he still runs WinXP)...

I installed it yesterday, installed BF2 and installed Nero 7 Premium. Last night I already encoded one video and this morning I tested BF2 for about 15min without a single bug or crash.
OK, I know it is not all M$'s fault. But they always play some part on the crap, don't they? :) NVidia and the other guys making drivers... please you either do something decent, or you simply don't do anything.

Enough of this. I've got a laptop (not mine) which needs a WinXP reinstall.

:: PC - Microsoft and its bullshits ::

Well, it happened by accident. Last week I found out MSN doesn't allow you to send messages containing certain URLs. For instance, I was trying to send the link for those pictures on the last post to a friend, then I got a message saying it couldn't be delivered. OUCH! I tried it again, and again... tried some other URLs, but they worked. Googlepages's URLs are blocked!

I don't know if any other URLs are blocked, but I know those ones are. Doubting me? Try sending a message to a friend with the following URL --> http://www.googlepages.com <-- then tell me the restults ;)

I tried using Live Messenger; a friend tried using amsn; and another using Kopete.

Happy now? I am not! M$ and its bullshits all over the Matrix... errrrr.... internet and market ;)

:: PC - The new Coruscant and about Linux x86_64 ::

OK, as promised on the last post, here go two pictures of the new encarnation of Coruscant:

Coruscant front

Coruscant side

So, what do you think? Weird enough?

About Linux... as I said before... or at least I think I did, I am running Bluewhite64 on my computer. It is an unofficial port of Slackware for the 64bits architeture. The thing is I was willing to compile and create packages for BW64 of KDE4 (and its dependencies). I did it. But since some programs I do need don't compile under QT4, like K3B (a software to help burning CDs/DVDs)... I had to go back to KDE 3.

Oh well... I spent a good amount of time on this task on the weekend. But ok, it wasn't a wasted time. I learned a bit more about the process. Now all I have to do is wait for the K3B guys to port it to QT4... and then.. bye bye KDE3 ;)

OK, I am in a rush to go home. See ya!

:: PC - Coruscant is back to life ::

All in the multiverse rejoice! *LOL* Coruscant, my computer, is back to life. All the parts arrived, I have already assembled them and my dear tool for fun and work is already working fine AND FAST.

So, for those possibly interested to know, bellow I will list the specs Coruscant had since it's creation, finishing with the shining new ones:

2002 - Coruscant is created: ASUS A7N-Deluxe (motherboard), Athlon XP 1500+, 512MB DDR 333MHz, NVidia MX440 64MB (AGP), HD of 40GB, 17" CRT monitor LG 777Fn+ and a "generic" power suply;

2004 - about this time came the first upgrade: Athlon XP 2400+, 1.5GB DDR 333MHz, NVidia FX 5900XT 128MB (AGP), 2 HDs of 40GB each, same monitor and a SevenTeam 520W power suply (stronger and more decent than the predecessor);

2006 - next upgrade, arriving at the 64bits era: ASUS A8N-E (motherboard), Athlon 64 3500+, 3GB DDR 400MHz, NVidia 6800GT 256MB (PCI-Express), 2 HDs SATA-2 (250GB and 320GB), 19" LCD (LG) and same power suply;

2007 - only the monitor is upgraded: I sold the 19" LCD and bought a 20.1" widescreen LCD (also LG);

2008 - last upgrade (so far), arriving in the multi-core era: ASUS P5K-SE (motherboard), Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600), 4GB DDR2 800MHz, same video card, same HDs, same monitor, same powersuply, new case.

As soon as I can, I will post some pictures from the past and the present encarnation of Coruscant.

So, Nova, how computer freak am I now? :D

:: PC - Computer in a coma ::

Yes, dear friends, my computer is now in a coma. Don't worry, nothing bad happened to it. Coruscant is not working because of me. I just disassembled its CPU, motherboard and memory banks, then I sold them :)

Why did I do it? Well, just for the sake of an upgrade :D Yep, new parts are coming. So, my ASUS A8N-E, AMD Athlon 64 3500+ and 3GB DDR 400 are out; my ASUS P5K-SE, Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600) and 4GB DDR2 800 are coming.

I don't know when everything arrives (bought from another city of Brazil), so Coruscant will be offline for some time. I hope this will take only one week, but it can take two. ONE WEEK, PLEASE! hehehehe

Some might be thinking "What the fuck! Why do you need a Quad Core?". Well, despite my "gaming addiction", I will put this beautiful thing to real and good work. I was already 'playing' with Virtualization on my "old" computer. Most of the time (when WORKING on it) I would have three Operating Systems running at the same time (two Linux and one Windows XP). Now I will be able to do much more of that sort ;)

If you do a quick and short math, buying this baby is far cheaper than buying/assembling/keeping four separate computers. I will use those VMs for testings, building/installing servers for clients (which later will be "transported" to their real servers), etc. Of course, my gaming will get some extra power, but that's not my main concern, it is working. REALLY!

When everything is working again I will let you know. For now I will use my wife's comp... or my dad's ;)

Oh, sure! For those who never saw Coruscant before, here go two pictures taken 1 minute before it went offline wednesday night:

1- Desktop (desk, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and case)
2- Inside the creature (Coruscant open for the "kill"; yes, it was a little dirty)

OK, see ya.

:: Not only here, as it seems ::

Hello there again.

Yesterday I was reading some stuff on /. (slashdot) and I stumbled on a post talking about a guy who used to work as a producer on a CNN show (news for the matter). Then I decided to look a bit deeper and reached the guy's blog: Deus Ex Malcontent

To make things short... he worked there and then got fired because of his blog. Yep, ouch, that sucks!

That reminds me of the case of a girl (I believe her name is Sonia, Soninha) who used to work on Brazilian MTV. One day she said, on an interview (for a newspaper or magazine) that she used Marihuana. Baaaaaaam, she got fired. OK, I am not OK with drug users, but ... firing some right of that bat because of that? Creepy, to say the least. And hey... that was MTV, the Music Television "network", which spreads (or used to spread) lots of clips of a bunch of drug users, who also happen to sing/dance/play. Interesting, isn't it?

Yep, the time for good people to do the right thing is not over... but WE are quite late on that. Let's move are sorry asses and do something. Even if it is "small things" like spreading the truth around.

My "new readers" are not aware of it, because everything was in portuguese, but I have been trying to do such things here, on my blog/site. No, I am no big reporter or someone who has been dealing with news/media as the guy from DEM (Deus Ex Malcontent), but I try.

Well, that's enough for now. Let me do something else ;)

:: Movies - Chun-Li movie? ::

Indeed! Just read about it. OK, as far as I know, it is not that "new news", but...

What really caught my attention is the fact that Kristin Kreuk (Lana in Smallville, for those who don't know) was chosen to play the leading role, that is... Chun-Li. For those thinking "what the hell is this Chun-Li?", she is one of the characters of the VERY FAMOUS Videogame Street Fighter 2. Another interesting thing is... Chun-Li is not one of the main characteres of that game. The main chars are Ryu and Ken... but... ok ok. After seeing that crappy movie where Guile was played by Jean Claude Van Damme.... oh my.

I do like Kristin. Thinking a bit... and taking her chinese heritage in perspective... she might do well (the looks). But then I do hope she takes LOTS AND LOTS of Kung Fu classes. It's one thing to "play some martial art moves" in Smallville. It would be ANOTHER THING doing martial arts move as a character who ROCKS in Kung Fu (or was that Wushu?), like Chun-Li.

Anyway, I think the movie can't be as bad as Van Damme's one, can it? *LOL*

:: New life here? ::

Well... we could say... PERHAPS. Yes, as you all can see there is a "little" change going on here.

As I said on my last post (in portuguese), long time ago I used to post here in two languages: portuguese and english. Then I decided to post only in english... and then I got back to posting only in portuguese (pt_BR, nerd stuff). And so... I began wondering about posting again in english.

Why? Well... I have lots of "english speaking" friends, who unfortunately don't know portuguese. Then... I do have even more brazilian friends, of course, but many of those do know english (even if it is just a little). Let's say that I would like to help them improve those english skills ;) And of course, mainly, I want to improve MY english skills. Some of my american/british friends would be glad to correct me when I make any mistakes. And yes, you are FREE to correct me. I am usually OK about criticism (contructive ones are best received), corrections, etc. Like Gambá correcting me on a missing word on my last post ;)

So... welcome all those who are new to my site/blog. And welcome back to all those who were already visitors here. I hope you all enjoy the stay.

Ah, yes... there might be days I won't be on a "english posting mood". But whenever you want to know about something on my site, please just ask. I can translate from portuguese to english or the other way around ;) JUST ASK.

And oh... Welcome Allison, I hope you are reading this ;)

May the Force be with all of you! (this sounds so much better in English *LOL*)

:: Coincidence? ::

Not really! Até porque os que me conhecem e sabem das minhas "crenças" sabem que não acredito em coincidências. Pois é... qual não é minha surpresa ao ver ontem (agora não lembro se foi no Fantástico ou naquele outro da Record) uma reportagem sobre atropelamentos e o escambal. Não, não estou querendo me achar o "tocha" por ter postado antes sobre problemas de trânsito hehehehe

Agora de manhã mesmo, quando estava vindo pro trabalho, só não atropelei uma tabacuda-boca-berta porque eu estava prestando atenção no que estava fazendo (dirigindo). Mania que esse povo imbecil tem de PRIMEIRO descer da calçada (para atravessar a rua), DEPOIS olhar para os lados. Deu tempo de eu dar uma diminuida na velocidade (que nem era alta) e puxar pro lado um pouco. Claaaaaro. Como eu não estava fora do limite de velocidade, deu tempo de fazer isso e ainda, no meio da "manobra" olhar para os retrovisores pra ver se não tinha algum carro/moto do lado direito.

Outro dia me escapei (bem dizer na mesma situação) de "pegar uma loira" única e exclusivamente porque eu vi os peitos dela sairem de tras de uma árvorezinha hehehehehe Como acabei sendo hipinotizado pelo peitoral... me dei conta que atrás deles vinha uma mulher hhahahahahaha então fiz a mesma manobra (diminuir, puxar pra direita...). Eta povinho lascado.

Como eu já disse pra minha esposa, a GIGANTESCA maioria das pessoas que são atropeladas são boca-bertas ou não sabem atrevessar a rua (o que bem dizer dá no mesmo).

Mudando um pouco de assunto... estou pensando em voltar a uma prática antiga com relação ao site. Eu comecei o site em português (pt_BR). Teve uma época, logo após minha iniciação na Force Academy, que eu mantive o site em dois idiomas (portugues e inglês). Claro, dá um trabalho da poha! Então teve uma época que eu deixei o site só em inglês (porque a maioria do povo que frequentava eram meus amigos da FA). Daí esse movimento decaiu e subiu o de amigos brasileiros, então voltei ao pt_BR. Mas como tenho vários amigos americanos que gostariam de ler meu site, mas não sabe xongas de pt_BR... resolvi meio que voltar o site ao bom e velho inglês. Até porque boa parte (senão todos) que freqüentam meu site manjam um pouco de inglês também e não teriam dificuldade de acompanhá-lo. Mas veremos, veremos. Digamos que primeiro eu vou fazer uma "pesquisa de mercado" *hahahaha* pra ver se tem futuro voltar ao bom idioma ;)

Enquanto isso, quem quiser pode dar pitaco.

Ah sim, vou manter meus mini-howtos de Linux em português, pra ajudar a galera que está recém engatinhando ;)

See ya!

:: Traffic ::

Epa, não, não estou falando de tráfico de drogas ou coisa assim. Me refiro ao tráfego no trânsito mesmo. Puta que pariu! Tem cada anormal dirigindo nesta cidade (e claro, no resto do Brasil também), que não me adimira os acidentes que ocorrem nas estradas.

Concordo com meu pai, muitos acidentes nas estradas devem ser causados por anormais que tem MUITO POUCA EXPERIÊNCIA na direção, principalmente dirigindo na estrada. A gente vê cada coisa que tá doido.

Se tem uma coisa que me deixa de cara... sãos putos(as) que estão na sinaleira/semáforo/farol... a poha da sinaleira abre (verde) e os atormentados mentais ficam ali.... parados... levam SEGUNDOS pra se dar conta do que está acontecendo. Poha! Nego está ali... tem que ficar de olho pra hora que o bagulho abrir... já ir adiante, pra nao atrapalhar quem está atrás né? OK, às vezes a pessoa se distraiu fazendo alguma coisa... isso acontece com todo mundo. Mas TODAS as vezes que eu fico atrás de alguém numa sinaleira... é isso, é nego se atolando, pqp!

Quero só ver... hoje tem show da Ivete Sangalo ali em Itaara (pra quem não sabe fica bem perto aqui de Santa Maria, na "serra"). Quero só ver a quantidade de "arrecadação" de carteiras de motorista, carro guinchado e o escambal que deverá rolar na volta do show (tem um posto da Polícia Rodoviária Federal na descida). Espero mesmo que não haja acidentes com os bêbados que virão do show. Seria melhor ainda se não houvesse bêbados dirigindo né, mas daí já é querer demais num país cheio de gente mal-educada como o Brasil. Se os bêbados ainda morressem sozinhos, OK, sem stress. Mas geralmente esses putos ferem outras pessoas (ou matam mesmo).

Mudando um pouco de assunto, para coisas mais amenas...

Final de semana passado eu assisti The Number 23 (O Número 23). Baita filme, valeu a pena MESMO. Ontem comecei a assistir The Ninth Gate (O Último Portal). OK, o filme já é "meio velho", mas eu não tinha assistido. Estou gostando do filme. Ah sim, usei o gerúndio porque não terminei de vê-lo ontem. Estava tão cansado e com sono que não agüentei, parei mais ou menos na metade. Então hoje eu termino, mas está sendo bom. Espero que não me decepcione no final heehehehe.

Por falar em filmes "velhos", catei vários pra assistir, tudo coisa que eu ainda não tinha visto. Cellular, Crank, War, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", Snatch (ok, esse eu já tinha visto) e mais alguns por aí.

Ah, já dou uma dica.. não assistam In the Name of the King (Acho que deve ser Em Nome do Rei, em pt_BR). O filme no início até estava legalzinho... mas daí eu vi Burt Reynolds como rei... puta merda, me trincou os ovos. OK, eu gostava do Burt Reynolds nos "Agarra-me se puderes", mas pra filme de fantasia/medieval é fod@ né.

Hmmm pra hoje de noite já terei Smallville s07e12 e Lost s04e03. Pena que o Heroes está paradão :(

Então era isso por enquanto.

:: After one month... ::

Ê laiá! Um mês bem certinho sem postar poha nenhuma hein!?! Nego ocupado é outra coisa hehehehe

Bom... esse mês foi, digamos assim... tranqüilo. Consegui resolver aquele "probleminha" a que me referi no post anterior e tudo mais. Buenas, como ainda não tenho direito a férias, o jeito foi curtir a praia graças ao carnaval. Ou melhor, graças ao feriadão do carnaval. Sim, pois quem me conhece sabe que Carnaval não é minha praia hehehehehee. Carnaval pra mim segue sendo sinônimo de putaria, bebedeira, drogas e gente morrendo nas estradas. Infelizmente é assim que vejo a coisa toda. Ah sim, e gente (semi-)pelada nos desfiles que é pra gringo olhar e babar.

Acabamos pegando um pouco de "enchente" lá em Santa Catarina, o que nos valeu um retrocesso de uns 50Km até acharmos um hotel pra passar a noite, mas tudo tranqüilo (da nossa parte, é claro). Não deve ter sido nada legal a experiência de quem sofreu aquela chuvarada toda NA PELE.

Estava legal a praia. Bonita, sem um horror de gente (pelo menos onde estávamos). As crianças se divertiram pra caramba hehehehe. Pena eu e meu termos de voltar mais cedo por conta do trabalho (é a gente teve que voltar na terça-feira de carnaval, pois tínhamos de "pegar na enxada" já na quarta-feira à tarde).

Também foi legal nossa "visita" a um restaurante que agora não lembro o nome. Creeeeedo, nunca comi tanto camarão na minha vida hehehehee O prato até não é tão caro, dada a quantidade de camarão que vem na porção. Algo "espetaculor" mesmo! :)

Mudando um pouco de assunto... Resolvi deixar de ser vagabundo e comecei a aprender Python. É sim, a linguagem de programação. Claaaaro estou engatinhando ainda... mas comecei né ;) E o "pior" é que a linguagem não é lá tão difícil não. Bom... pelo menos o básico é bem fácil. Vejamos quando eu chegar nas coisas mais... elocubrantes ;) E sim, estou aprendendo sozinho, por conta, na macheza, etc ehehehehehe

Fora isso... ah, deixa pra lá. Falo de jogatina num próximo post. Agora bateu preguiça hehehehe Só vou dizer que estou jogando Call of Duty 4 e Need For Speed - Pro Street.

See ya!

:: Long time, long time ::

É criançada amiga... realmente já faz um longo tempo desde minha última postagem. Quando foi mesmo? Hmmmm deixa eu verificar.... Nossa! 17 de Outubro. A very long time ago.

Novidades? hmmm não muitas pra ser sincero. Algumas pequenas reviravoltas no âmbito profissional... só espero dar jeito na situação MUITO BREVE.

Voltei a jogar Neverwinter Nights! Essa sim é uma boa novidade hehehehe. Voltei como Mestre e como jogador. Alguns amigos estão jogando no server... que eu joguei antigamente. Bom.. na verdade eu consegui o MOD junto aos desenvolvedores... do server onde eu joguei em 2005. Agora montei nosso próprio server... onde 95% do povo é brasileiro hehehehe. Mas claro, como sou um cara legal e não sou ingrato, convidei os gringos pra voltarem ao bom Reino que jogamos por tanto tempo.

Espero estar desenvolvendo uma história legal pra galera. Bom... daqui a pouco vou pra casa... e hoje tem putaria (leia-se jogatina de NWN com a galera).

T+