Entries Tagged 'Linux' ↓

Lately, I have been trying to catch up on my DVDs backups (meaning, backing up all of my DVD movies onto my computer hard drives). During this process I found out two things. 1) My old DVD burner/reader was dying and couldn’t read a single DVD and 2) once I got it replaced, CDRDAO would crash every time I tried to make an ISO of my DVD.

I found a quick and easy way to get CDRDAO to work on my machine, build it from source. Most of the time, people will consider building from source to be complex or time consuming, but it really isn’t. If you use Debian, Ubuntu, or a distro that has a utility that resembles apt-get, then building from source is simple.

Just do the following:

apt-get build-dep cdrdao
apt-get –build source cdrdao
dpkg -i cdrdao*.deb

After you have completed that, you can now use K3B to write your DVD ISOs, or any other program that uses CDRDAO. I hope this helps anyone else with the same issue I was experiencing. Which at first had me thinking K3B was just constantly crashing, but I later discovered it was CDRDAO.

Work:
Today, I got to play around with some really cool stuff. I got to work with AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). I have been wanting to get my hands on AJAX for quite a while now and work gave me an excellent opportunity to use it. Admittedly it was for a small task, but nonetheless, I find the use of it just astounding.

In our Homeowners Quoting application, we had the need to update a drop down with new values based on an entry the user made a few questions aboves. Instead of posting the page, I wanted to provide a seamless HTTP request to retrieve the new values of the select box so the user could only pick valid data. Using AJAX made this task easy as can be and it works wonderfully.

At first I had a few issues with defaulting the value or changing the selectedIndex, but it soon got worked out after I let my mind wander and relax from the problem at hand. I plan to do a lot more with AJAX over time to improve the seamless abilities of checking report statuses, ordering reports, retrieving agent names, etc all while the user continues to work on the page. This way they see no lag and they do not have to wait on the page to submit and to load the next form.

At Home:
At home, I have been working on developing a UI for “rdesktop” (Remote Desktop) for Linux users. Sure, we have the console application, but wouldn’t it be cool if we had a GUI like there is for VNC? I think it would be. I have made a really basic one in GTK, but I would like to write out a fully detailed version in C++ using KDevDesigner and KDevelop. Both of these require a slight learning curve for me, as I have never used them, but I am sure I can grasp it in a short amount of time.

Future projects for the Linux Desktop (for me at least), will be a Checkbook utility that suits my needs and my future wife’s needs. I also plan to setup a Picture Organizer with Tagging and a variety of other sorts so my wife can easily find the pictures she would like to print and print them at the push of a button. I realize some of these programs may already exist, but lets face it, it is much more fun to write them yourself as you gain the appreciation and satisfaction of knowing you accomplished a goal.

Concluding Thoughts:
Everyone should own the “AJAX in Action” book, even though it does have a TON of typos especially in the code segments where they left out closing braces and brackets. They also have a few grammar issues and spelling issues, but these can easily be looked over by the simplicity of the wording and explanations. With that said, I give the book roughly a 3.7 out of 5 stars, as it had an exact example of what I needed to do at work. Enjoy.

My Newest Computer:
It’s take three months, but I finally got my new beast running Linux on AMD64. That’s right, 3 months. Now, I must say, I have not been working on it for three months straight, but rather off and on as I have had time between work, sleep, and eating (not necessarily in that order).

Unfortunately, Debian’s AMD64 release was still in the alpha staging so I went with a similar distro called Kubuntu. I am entirely thrilled with some of the streamlining those guys did. Things work a lot like Debian, but are far more graphically appealing.

Currently, I am not ready to take any pictures of my new computer setup, so I will give you a few specs instead. I am running a 3.8 GHz AMD 64 processor with 2 GB of DDR PC400. Attached are two DVD+RW drives that can burn at 16x and 9 IDE HD of various sizes from 40 GB to 250 GB in the end totalling near 1 TB of storage and 1 SATA HD ranking in at 250 GB as well. For my video card, I went all out with a eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT. My goal is to eventually get a second one as well to run SLI and possibly try out a 4-monitor display on Linux.

I plan to get pictures as soon as I have time to finish some of my upcoming mods, however, I haven’t purchased the parts let so it will still be a few weeks (maybe a month) before I have anything ready to show.

The Job:
My job at Central Insurance is going very well. I am getting close to finishing my first project due to hit production by the end of this first quarter (or so we hope). We will have all of the states we write business in out on production hopefully by the end of the second quarter.

Kami and I:
Kami and I are doing wonderful. We are thoroughly looking forward to the Wedding Day that is quickly approaching. Everything is planned, including the honeymoon, and everything is paid for. My hair cut appointment is set for the morning of the 4th and my suit has already been purchased and fits wonderfully.

The best part about it, is her parent’s continuously ignore her, which only brings us closer together. I find it utterly amazing how much comfort we find in each other and how easy it is to talk with each other of the stupid things we see everyday. To quickly catch everyone up on things, Kami’s Mom and Dad are ignoring Kami because she decided to move out. The primary reason to move out was to relieve stress and feel more relax, but on a subconscience level she moved out so she could say she knew what it felt like to live on her own, to be independent, to have to pay rent, etc. It has given her more responsiblity and experience that she will know and understand later on in life whenever we have kids at that age. I for one feel this will pay off as then we both can speak from a first-hand experience on what it is like to move out and be on your own.

Kami and I went to her parents home one day to pick up the stools I had one of her younger brothers build for me (I paid him of course). She walked over to the counter and started to chat to her mom who was doing the dishes. Throughout the one-sided conversation, Kami blantly stated: “The rehearsal dinner is at 6:30 PM at the Village Cafe and we need to know if you plan to attend by the 21st.” Kami’s mom’s response was “Fine.” to everything she said. It was obvious she wasn’t “really” listening and it became more apparent when we were told a few weeks after that she stated she was never invited to the Rehearsal Dinner to other family members.

There are more examples, but I am not feeling the energy to write them all out. But nonetheless, her parents have done us a great favor by acting this way, as it has made this much easier for the both of us. The two of us are having a wonderful time ignoring their attitudes and focusing on the day of the wedding, as once that day comes and progresses, we will then have an entire 9 days of complete seclusion.

Conclusion:
Well I think that is enough for tonight. I am getting tired, and I have a lot of work to do in the morning so I will be needing my rest. Hopefully, I will be able to write more often now that things are begining to slow down a bit.