We do this by running the gnome-appearance-properties as the gdm user, and launch it through dbus-launch which sets up the appropriate environment variables for us. In short: fire up a terminal window and run:

gksudo -u gdm dbus-launch gnome-appearance-properties

You are asked to enter your password, after which you will be given an appearance dialog, but not just any appearance dialog: Changes here affects your GDM / Login screen, including background image, controls and colors.

Close the dialog when you’re done, and that’s all there is to it! Your next login will be prettified to your liking.

~$ wtf is snr
SNR: signal to noise ration

~$ wtf is yhl
YHL: you have lost

~$ wtf is tmi
TMI: too much information

It also includes a computer terminology dictionary, so you have acronyms from API (application programming interface) to NAT (network address translation) to ZFOD (zero-filled on demand).

Install the bsdgames:

apt-get install bsdgames

The article mentions that, “Despite the crucial importance of these devices and the absence of comprehensive federal oversight, medical device software is considered the exclusive property of its
manufacturers, meaning neither patients nor their doctors are permitted to access their IMD’s source code or test its security.”

The SFLC proposes that “medical device manufacturers to make IMD source-code publicly auditable”, which “…improves software reliability and security through the identification and elimination of defects that might otherwise go unrecognized by the core development team”.

It’s frighting to know your life could be in danger, and all because of proprietary source code.

Read the publication here:
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2010/transparent-medical-devices.html

Look at our Windows temp:

C:\>dir /s %temp%
Total Files Listed:
1033 File(s) 168 727 251 bytes

I have 168 megabytes of temp files, some older than two months, around the time this PC was reinstalled. It looks like the graveyard for a favorite roguelike.

Let’s check our Ubuntu temp files:

du -hs /tmp
60K /tmp

Ubuntu clears your /tmp on boot, a fantastic design that just makes sense, don’t you think?

I have remoted onto servers with temp directories so large, it hangs the window manager trying to list the contents. Servers that host production databases. Servers with paid operating systems. A side-order of hot-sauce with my plate of suck, please.

It’s okay though, you can always use batch files to clear the temp on boot. Ah, the little things that makes Linux such a pleasure to use.

Are you aware of the privacy issues revolving around Facebook? From the vulnerability where you could view all your ‘friend’ live chats [3], to the Russian hacker who stole millions of account logins, and selling them online [4]. All sorts of silly is breaking out: someone “was fired from her job for making jokes on her Facebook page about taking drugs” [2], now that’s just bad judgment, but if she vocalized those words would it have been any different?

The latest and greatest regards, or disregards, privacy. Privacy is not just the need for secrecy, it’s the state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion, says our dictionary.

It makes sense when posting online, that you are aware of the public scope, and context, your words are intended for. At least, you should be. What you don’t think about is who uses your words and actions for their own devices. I’m going to cover a bunch of concerns I have, and I’ll be quoting from the Facebook privacy policy too. Yes it sounds excruciatingly exciting doesn’t it? Don’t fret, a melted brain is the least of your worries.

Let’s begin with meta data, which is “data about data”. It’s usually embedded into media like music and photos. Your music files contain meta data like artist, album and title info. This goes the same for photos. Most digital cameras, including phone cameras, store details like dates and camera/phone model info. Granted its arbitrary info, but as long as you are aware of that info, you made the choice to upload your photos with that info attached. Phones with GPS devices even include your location in the meta data, it’s called geotagging, and it can get you robbed [6] (with some clever social engineering).

Facebook knows about this, their privacy policy states that “If you do not want us to store meta data associated with content you share on Facebook (such as photos), please remove the meta data before uploading the content.” [1, section 2]

This is fine if you upload photos with that knowledge, but if you did not know that, does it constitute invasion of private information?

Here’s another scary thought: “[Facebook] may retain the details of transactions or payments you make on Facebook…”, that “We may institute programs with advertising partners and other websites in which they share information with us…”. Basically they track your activities through third parties, advertisers and application makers, sharing those tracking details with each other.

With that in mind, Facebook says: “If in any of these cases we receive data that we do not already have, we will ‘anonymize’ it within 180 days, meaning we will stop associating the information with any particular user.” [1, section 2], so if they don’t have that data then they don’t “anonymize” it. Hmmm.

Furthermore, “We may collect information about you from other Facebook users” [1, section 2], and “We may also make information about the location of your computer or access device and your age available”. They sure say ‘may’ a lot. Facebook also doesn’t guarantee that third parties conform to the agreement. [1, section 4]

It’s common sense not to put anything online you don’t want the internet to see, because someone will, eventually. What does matter is that by sharing information, you’re aware of where it gets put, how it gets used and who owns it. Transparency. Human right dictates freedom of choice, and in December 2009 when Facebook privacy policy defaults changed, those rights died for many users. [7]

Profile photo, pages and friend lists defaults became public, and like most people, if you did not change these yourself the world knew who you are. I bet this happened without you realizing, am I right? To boot, status updates, shared photos, videos and links also became public (unless you changed those privacy settings before or after). I can browse photos and videos of people who were completely invisible to me before. Feel violated yet? Of coarse it’s your choice what you post, but people still share, even without knowledge of the privacy plumbing.

Facebook info is immutable, “Even after you remove information from your profile or delete your account, copies of that information may remain viewable elsewhere…”, as is the nature of the internet, and “Certain types of communications that you send to other users cannot be removed, such as messages…” [1, section 2]. Messages are private to your account, so why can’t they be removed? Are they dumped in a message graveyard when you hit that little ‘x’, waiting in zombie-stasis for some hungry Mega-Corp to buy Facebook and resurrect your old messages, for their shady spamming needs?

Okay this is getting ridiculous, I can’t keep quoting the privacy policy, but a lot of it really bugs me. Say for example Mega-Corp, owned by Mr Big Cheese, wants more money than they’re already making from exporting children in boxes, along with the clothes they sewed in the sweatshops, makes an offer and buys Facebook. Mega-Corp now owns your personal details, they want you as a figure in their advertising campaign, because “If the ownership of all or substantially all of our business changes, we may transfer your information to the new owner…” [1, section 6]. If someone makes Facebook an offer, do you think they will sell, if enough money is involved?

So it comes down to this, the bottom line, D-Day. Quit Facebook Day. www.quitfacebookday.com is happening on May 31st 2010. The site has more details on why some of us are quitting Facebook, and alternatives you can look into. Some people won’t care what Facebook does with their profiles, and privacy. But I do. Not everyone will get this, and this line on the site says it well: “When there’s a market need, it’s not long before better options appear. In our minds, the best thing to do is to contribute to that need – and that’s what Quit Facebook Day is about.”

I hope your brain isn’t leaking out, at least you are a little more aware of the privacy issues, and why some people don’t agree with the beast. Twitter and Last.fm are also transparent alternatives I enjoy. I’m done with changing privacy policies that I don’t agree with. Thanks if you’re still reading, be free to ping me here, or on the other sites I visit.

References
1 http://www.facebook.com/policy.php
2 http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/firing-dispatcher-for-facebook-drug-joke-was-right-wisconsin-council-claims/story-e6frfku0-1225870794794
3 http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/05/05/video-major-facebook-security-hole-lets-you-view-your-friends-live-chats
4 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/connect/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501833&objectid=10640757
5 http://gigaom.com/2007/11/06/facebook-beacon-privacy-issues
6 http://pleaserobme.com
7 http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=196629387130

Links
Quit Facebook Day (http://www.quitfacebookday.com)
Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebooks_zuckerberg_says_the_age_of_privacy_is_ov.php)
The Facebook Privacy Debate: What You Need to Know (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_privacy_explanation_debate.php)
Why Facebook is Wrong: Privacy Is Still Important (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_facebook_is_wrong_about_privacy.php)
My Contrarian Stance on Facebook and Privacy (http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/05/my-contrarian-stance-on-facebook-privacy.html)
Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256701215465596.html)

Now anyone cries wolf over missing choices, which seems to be the opposite extreme of being sensible on the net, know that you can make a difference by getting involved on the forums, and suggest those choices to the moderators next year. It’s a community thing after all ;)

Here are the winners with a summary of runner ups. Some figures are rounded for readability in the text; Graphs show accurate poll results.

Desktop Distribution of the Year
Ubuntu won 30% of the votes, nearly double the votes of runner up Slackware, at 17%. A sign that Ubuntu adoption is growing still, by both new and elite users. Fedora follows with 10%. Next but certainly not the least, Debian and Linux Mint trail at 9 and 8 percent.

Server Distribution of the Year
Debian took this round with 24%, Slackware is close in second place with 22 pecent. CentOS (16%), Red Hat EL (13%) and Ubuntu LTS (12%) are grouped in the teens. We can see a wider spread of votes here for server distros.

Security/Forensic/Rescue Distribution of the Year
BackTrack took 44% with SystemRescueCD on it’s heels at 32%. The remaining thirteen entries, smoothwall, Helix and RIPLinux included, all received below five percent of votes.

Database of the Year
MySQL topped at 61%, almost three fold the votes of runner up PostgreSQL, which got 23%. Apart from sqlite which received 8%, the other eleven entries shared the remaining votes, each under three percent.

Office Suite of the Year
No surprise OpenOffice ruled with a whopping 91%; being the default office suite in Ubuntu possibly adding a big chunk to that number. KOffice came second with 4.5% and Gnome Office and Go-oo behind just under 2% each.

Browser of the Year
Firefox flamed the rest with it’s 65% votes, and surprisingly Chrome comes in at 14%. It’s used more than both Opera (9%) and Konqueror (2%) combined.

Desktop Environment of the Year
It’s a close call, with Gnome leading 42% to KDE’s 40% (strictly a 1.59% difference). Xfce is third with 11%.

Window Manager of the Year
Compiz weighs in at 23%, followed by KWin at 20%, and Fluxbox with 16%. Some tiling window managers made it too, xmonad (1.8%), awesome (2%) and Ratpoison (0.5%) to name a few. MetaCity got 6% despite it being the default WM in Ubuntu. Guess folks love eye candy!

Messaging App of the Year
Pidgin leads with 49 percent, enter Kopete and Skype with a (round) 12% each, Skype with two plus votes. Interestingly Empathy has only 5.5%, and XChat ranks one vote below it.

Mail-Client of the Year
Thunderbird rolls in to crush with 54%, Evolution (15%) and Kmail (11%) following behind. Mutt and alpine also make an appearance, with 5% and 2% each.

Virtualization Product of the Year
VirtualBox got 354 votes, that’s 67%, VMWare is next with 15% and KVM and Xen trailing at 7% and 6%.

Audio Media Player Application of the Year
Amarok is the most used at 39%, chased at a distance by Rhytmbox with 17% votes. Audacious (9%) and Songbird (8%) follow in the back.

Audio Authoring Application of the Year
I must mention these entries are not directly comparible, as each serves a different purpose, but for our audio authoring tools, Audacity makes noise with an overwhelming 77%, LAME far behind with 8% and Ardour two votes below that at 7%.

Video Media Player Application of the Year
Videolan (VLC) tops with 46% and mplayer not far behind it with 36%. Xine, Totem and kaffeine follow 6%, 5% and 4.5% each.

Video Authoring Application of the Year
As with our audio authoring, not all video tools can be compared one-on-one, but as for what us users use: FFmpeg crunches ahead with 22%, Avidemux next with 17%, and mencoder and Kdenlive tie at 14%. Blender drops in at 8%.

Multimedia Utility of the Year
GStreamer wins 33% of the votes, digiKam on it’s heels with 26%, and XBMC (15%) and MythTV (14%) following behind.

Graphics Application of the Year
GIMP beats the others with a stunning 66%, Inkscape got 13%, Blender 6% and ImageMagick behind with 4%. Note we’re mixing raster & vector editors here. I wonder if GIMP will lose votes now that it’s not the default editor in Ubuntu Lucid, only time will tell.

Network Security Application of the Year
Nmap Security Scanner came in at 30%, Wireshark following with 23% and ClamAV follows with 11%.

Host Security Application of the Year
SELinux secures pole position with 39% of the votes, entries chkrootkit (17%), AppArmor (12%), Rootkit Hunter and Tripwire (10%) are next in line.

Network Monitoring Application of the Year
Nagios counts 51% member usages, runner up OpenNMS has a reversed 15%. Zenoss had the next most votes at 6%.

IDE/Web Development Editor of the Year
Eclipse is most used at 23% with Netbeans coming in at 16%. Bluefish and Geany tie at 10% of the votes.

Text Editor of the Year
vim got a big 35% chunk of the votes, while gedit only received 16%. Kate (10%) nano (9%) and emacs (8%) made the top 5. Seven percent goes to vi, and joe and pico both got one pecent.

File Manager of the Year
Nautilus received 25% of the votes, Dolphin (20%) and Konqueror (19%) is close behind. Thunar and Midnight Commander tie at 50 votes each with 8.5 percent.

Open Source Game of the Year
Battle for Wesnoth conquers with 15.5 percent, Open Arena and Nexuiz come next with 9%, followed by Frozen bubble (8%) and SuperTux (6%). The other eighteen entries fall under 5%, with fans of Nethack, SuperTuxKart and Frets on Fire ranking at 3.6 percent.

Programming Language of the Year
Python received 28 percent votes, while C, C++ and PHP got a rounded 14%. Java trails behind at 9%, and Perl at 8 percent.

Backup Application of the Year
Command line tool rsync tops in at 49%, deservedly so. tar follows at a distance of 14%, and Clonezilla at 9 percent.

Open Source CMS/Blogging platform of the Year
Popular WordPress sets the bar at 45% of the votes, it’s a close one between Drupal (23.6%) and Joomla!(22.8). The remaining votes split between the twelve other entries, Alfresco at 2 percent being the more popular choice.

So, what to make of all these results?
It’s a nice snapshot of what Linux people are using right now. It obviously doesn’t speak for the entire community, but it does include users across various distros, countries and ages.

Just because an app scored low, doesn’t mean that it’s bad, just unknown. In this vein I saw many apps listed that I never heard of, and I bet some of them are great, too! I plan to try some of those out, gmusicbrowser being the first on my list.

Here is the link to the poll forums

VirtualBox now supports Virtual PC .vhd drives, so I created a new VirtualBox machine, added the old .vhd file as a slave drive, and did a direct data transfer from old drive to new. It worked a treat and the new VM is an exact copy of the old, but runs off the native VirtualBox .vdi file.

You will need: VirtualBox, your old Virtual PC .vhd file, a bootable Live CD or an ISO of one.

Create a new virtual machine with a blank drive the same size (or bigger) as the old drive; Attach the old drive to the VM as a slave.

Now boot the Live CD on the VM, I used an Ubuntu Live CD. Once in, load up a terminal and lets get cracking:

List the drives, to see their device mappings:

sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 2147 MB
Disk /dev/sda doesn't contain a valid partition table
-
Disk /dev/sdb: 20 MB
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 601 20425+ 4 FAT16

We can spot our our .vhd to copy is sdb, and the new drive sda doesn’t have a partition table. So we direct copy from sdb, to sda:

sudo dd if=/dev/sdb of=/dev/sda &

The ampersand “&” will run the command in the background, print out the process id, and return control to the terminal. If the disks are large (10GB+) it might take a few minutes. To print out progress, send a USR1 signal to the process, using the id it printed out:

kill -USR1 1234

You’ll know it’s done when dd prints out the final stats (and the dd process has died, too). Shut down the VM, remove the old .vhd drive and you’re done. Happy Boxing!

Boot the Ubuntu Live CD and enter the friendly terminal. List your drives to get the device name for the problem drive, match it up by size and partition list:
sudo fdisk -l

Mine is /dev/sda1, now we use the file system repair command, fsck:

sudo fsck -C /dev/sda1

-C show us a progress indicator, otherwise you’re flying blind, and those spinning slashes are so fun to watch 8)

That should fix it.

Why does it happen? Well.. um my stupid mistake was to fiddle with cables while the PC was running, and the PC crashed hard. This left locked files on the drive, probably the music I was playing at the time.

WoG is a physics-based puzzle game, and was the best xmas present I received in years! The game theme subtly and subversively suited to real life, with game-play I haven’t experienced since the Star Control and X-COM days! It’s great fun!

Get the demo, get hooked, and support 2D Boy!