compiling boost with -fPIC

sudo ./b2 -a variant=release cxxflags='-fPIC' --prefix=/usr/local

EPS in latex

In linux add this to preamble

\usepackage{epstopdf}

Then
\begin{document}
\includegraphics{figure.eps}
\end{document}

and run

$pdflatex -shell-escape yourfile.tex

This will convert the eps file to a pdf that latex can digest!

Enjoy

Ubuntu 10.04 and the new button layout

I do not understand the reasons behind ubuntu people changing the location of the menu buttons from left to right.

I have been using ubuntu since the old days of Breezy and always have the minimize/maximize/close buttons on the right. Is there any reason to suddenly change such default?

In any case, you can change them back see here http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/13535/move-window-buttons-back-to-the-right-in-ubuntu-10.04/

ALSA not working!!

Getting error like this all the time are so annoying

ALSA lib pcm.c:2211:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM dmix:NVidia

if you have compiled alsa from source and can see the volume control, etc, but still speaker-test is showing all of the weird errors about device not found, or unkown PCM then it is probably the ~/.asoundrc file

The file will have a line that points by default to ~/asoundrc.asoundconf comment this line, and you should have your speakers back to life :)

No sound from speakers, but headphone ok

I just upgraded ubuntu from 9.04 to 9.10. I hate upgrading, I like a clean install. In any case, the speakers sound stopped working, while headphones work!

After some investigation, left over pulse audio config files where causing problems, a fix is to remove them

cd
rm -rf .pulse*

tada! done works nicely

Good tutorial on how to add disks to linux

http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Adding_a_New_Disk_Drive_to_an_Ubuntu_Linux_System

Gnome Keyring! Why? and how to change it!

In a world of having at least 10 different passwords to remember, you gmail password, your hotmail password, you school/work password, your yahoo password, your random passwords, your friends passwords, etc. Suddenly, Gnome Keyring decides to have an uneasily changeable password.

Why do we need a gnome keyring password? I do not get it. Gnome is based on simplicity, ease of use, clarity and all of those very nice high values. Suddenly, Gnome Keyring pops up with "Please enter keyring password"

What if I no longer remember that old password. What if I decided to give my laptop to a friend and changed my password to some easy one they can remember. Well, guess what, they can't access the Internet, because the keyring password is a different story.


Here is how to change your password on ubuntu 9.04

rm ~/.gnome2/keyrings/login.keyring

On earlier versions of ubuntu, follow this http://mexpolk.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/ubuntu-change-default-keyring-password/

ahhhh gnome keyring!!

Boot existing Vista from virtualbox on ubuntu

this is a great tutorial on how to do this http://www.qc4blog.com/?p=483

mpeg2encode on debian/ubuntu

Have ever waited for a lot of time on convert *.jpg output.mpeg and then it told you convert: Delegate failed `"mpeg2encode" "%i" "%o"' .. dahhhh

get mpeg2encode from here http://www.mpeg.org/pub_ftp/mpeg/mssg/mpeg2vidcodec_v12.tar.gz untar, make and you are done!

Disable system beep in linux

remove the module
sudo rmmod pcspkr
then blacklist it


add this to the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
blacklist pcspkr

Done!

some netstat

to show active connections

netstat -nat

to show open ports

netstate -tulp

will have some more of these later!

some vim nice stuff

code completion
Make Vim an IDE
Lots of advanced stuff to know

libf2c.so: undefined reference to `MAIN__'

Alright.. so problems with libf2c with debian, ubuntu, etc, getting too much of libf2c.so: undefined reference to `MAIN__'

ok, just link with the static library "libf2c.a"

sudo rm /usr/lib/libf2c.so && sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libf2c.a /usr/lib/libf2c.so

Done!

Latex Figure and \label

Always put the label after the caption, otherwise floats wont be referenced in text !!!!

just ridiculous :s

clear fonts on ubuntu

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=208396

Finding the top 10 largest files in linux

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-do-i-find-the-largest-filesdirectories-on-a-linuxunixbsd-filesystem/

Google Codejam

I totally forgot that I've signed up for Google code jam (http://www.google.com/codejam/) and I've missed the qualification round... sigh!!

Next time hopefully I'll remember and not miss the qualification round

Matlab icon

So, I can find it somewhere

Adding a line at EOF to a bunch of files at once

Some people use horrible IDE's to write some horrible C/C++ code that will give many nasty warnings in gcc/g++ because of a missing line at the end of file

here is how to add a line to the end of each file


for f in `find . -type f | grep ^.*.c`; do echo -e "\n" >> $f; done


It could be a more sophisticated line of bash, but this will do for the mean time

Installing Matlab on Linux

Unfortunately, Matlab is not free!! and i currently only have Matlab 7 R14 student version. In any case we'll install Matlab on linux..

step 1: insert the CD into the CD-ROM
step 2: go to /media/cdrom (that is in ubuntu)
step 3: sudo ./install_unix.sh
this will run a "nice" installer, it'll prompt you for a root directory for matlab files. If you keep your /home partition separate from the / partition then install matlab somewhere in /home so you don't have to install it every time you feel like getting a new linux version, otherwise /usr/local/matlab sounds like a good choice.
The script will also ask you if you want to create symlinks in /usr/local/bin or whatever directory in the $PATH, it is a good idea to say 'y' so that you don't have to put the full path name every time you feel like Matlabing :)
step 4: install gawk so Matlab will hopefully work, and you also should have java installed preferably java-sun, not the gcj; sudo apt-get install gawk
step 5: go to where ever you installed matalb, say /usr/local/matlab and enter the bin directory /usr/local/matlab/bin and run ./matlab this will ask you for the serial number, enter your serial number and enjoy Matlabing for the rest of the night!!
* Notice that a "student license" is only good for one computer :(

Have fun!