misc « Unnaki

Another fantastic production of the Blender Foundation. Sintel Open Movie is a newly premiered film developed with Blender 3D and other open-source tools.

Discover & enjoy it now: http://www.sintel.org/

Posted in linux (most likely Debian), misc | 1 Comment »

Monkey Island is back…and back for good! It seems that there’s a Monkey Island mania out there. And I think it’s great! In the previous post I wrote a year ago, LucasArts was announcing the re-make of “The Secret Of Monkey Island”. Well, not only that re-make was launched but also they made a re-make of “Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge”. And it is available now.

On the other hand, Telltale Games launched a NEW Monkey Island game called “Tales of Monkey Island”. Brought to us in five “short” chapters instead of a “long” game, as it’s usual for the company. They have all been released now and I must say they highly exceeded my expectations. Bringing a new, fun, playable and state-of-the-art Monkey Island game to life. This might be the result of being developed by a company founded by ex-LucasArts employees.

I think it’s great that Monkey Island is back. It is one of my favourite games of all times. I love adventure games, They were gone for a little while; replaced by action games like shooters (i.e: Counter Strike) or sports games (i.e: Need for Speed). I hope this will help moving the direction of game companies towards developing Adventure-like games.

Links:

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland2/

http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland

Posted in games, misc | No Comments »

Bubble Translate: An excellent extension for Google Chrome

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

This extension provides of a really simple an elegant way of translating web pages to your language. It uses translate.google.com services to translate, and the way it does it is simply excellent!. Just keep Ctrl key pressed while selecting the text you want to translate and it will display the translation in a bubble in-line.

Also it provides a menu to select the translation of the entire web-page or to open a form (like the one in translate.google.com) for real-time translation.

Highly reccomendable.

You can found the extension here: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/jlhlebbhengjlhmcjebbkambaekglhkf

And Google Chrome, here: http://www.google.com/chrome/

Posted in linux (most likely Debian), misc | 1 Comment »

Remember Goto statement?

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

One programmer in anger says to the second programmer:
- “Go to Hell!”

The second programmer replies, in obvious repulsion:
- “Ugh, you used goto!”

LOL

Posted in java, misc, php, programming | No Comments »

Playing Tales of Monkey Island

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

I’m currently playing the new MI game: Telltale Games’ Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.

So far, so good. I really like it. I am happy. :D

Posted in games, misc | No Comments »

Upgrading Ekiga Softphone version in Ubuntu

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Ubuntu (specially 8.10 Intrepid Ibex) comes with a very old version of Ekiga Softphone. In order to solve this we have a personal site at Launchpad, the PPA for Troels Liebe Bentsen.

Just follow the instructions described in this page: http://wiki.ekiga.org/index.php/Snapshots at the bottom of the page under the title “Ubuntu”.

Beware to use the information found at the PPA for Troels Liebe Bentsen page. That is:

1) the repository information for your Ubuntu version (for Intrepid use: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tlbdk/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main & deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tlbdk/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main)

2) the repository signature found here.

Posted in linux (most likely Debian), misc, ubuntu | No Comments »

Monkey Island is back!

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Today is one of the happiest days of my (digital) life. I found out two really great news on the net. After 20 years from the premier of the game, Monkey Island is back! Not just with one game but with six!

First of all, LucasArts is re-launching “The Secret Of Monkey Island”, the first game of the saga with a completely new look. Check it out:

You can find more info at: http://www.lucasarts.com/games/monkeyisland/

Secondly, the company Telltale Games is launching a completely new 5-chapter game based on Monkey Island. It will debut July 7. Check it out at: http://www.telltalegames.com/monkeyisland

This is probably my favourite game of all time. This game was my entry-point to the computers world. And, probably, the reason I became a software developer. I always wanted to develop games, but my professional life took me in another direction. However I don’t loose my hopes on starting developing games sometime in the future! (Maybe when I retired. Hehe)

Posted in games, misc | 2 Comments »

Interesting way of defining Java exceptions

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

java.lang
ArithmeticException	You are trying to use your computer to solve a mathematical problem that you cannot solve yourself. Read up on your arithmetics and try again.
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException	See IndexOutOfBoundsException. The difference is that this exception refers to more than one finger.
ArrayStoreException	You have used all your arrays and need to buy more from the array store.
ClassCastException	You need to stay in the class or caste you were born into. Java will not accept dailits acting as kshatriyas or noblemen pretending to be working class. Note the spelling mistake (of caste) that was introduced in Java 1.0 and has not been corrected for backwards compatability reasons.
ClassNotFoundException	You seem to have invented your own class. There are also caste systems that are not yet implemented in Java, most notibly the balinese caste system. For example, if you are a wesia, use the indian counterpart vaishya.
CloneNotSupportedException	You are a clone. Find the original you, tell him what you want to do and then kill yourself.
IllegalAccessException	You are a burgler that are running a Java program during a burglery. Please finish stealing the computer, leave the premises and try again.
IllegalArgumentException	You have tried to protest against a previous exception.
IllegalMonitorStateException	Please turn your computer screen back on.
IllegalStateException	You come from a state that is not yet recognized by the UN, possibly Kurdistan or Palestine. Get a real citizenship, recompile your java code and try again.
IllegalThreadStateException	One of the screws in your computer is threaded the wrong way. Please contact your hardware vendor.
IndexOutOfBoundsException	You have put your index finger in an unacceptable place. Reposition it and try again.
InstantiationException	Not everything can happen instantly. Please be more patient.
InterruptedException	Tell your colleagues, room-mates etc. to leave you alone while you are working.
NegativeArraySizeException	You have created an array with negative size. This can cause information to be lost and in the long run the Universe will be destroyed. Be happy that Java noticed what you were doing and DON’T DO IT AGAIN.
NoSuchFieldException	You are trying to have a picknick on a field that does not exist. You can also get this exception if you try to visit an airfield that in fact does exist, but has been classified as top-secret. I’d give you examples, but then I’d have to kill you.
NoSuchMethodException	Don’t use that method! Please, do things like we have always done.
NullPointerException	You do not own a dog. Get one, for example a brittany spaniel, and try again.
NumberFormatException	You are using outdated units of measurement, for example inches or pints. Convert to SI. There is a known bug that causes this exception to be thrown if you are very short or tall.
RuntimeException	You cannot run fast enough, possibly due to obesity. Turn off your computer and go out and get some exercise.
SecurityException	You have been deemed a threat to nationaly security. Please sit still and wait for the authorities to come and get you.
StringIndexOutOfBoundsException	Your panties have shiften out of place. Adjust them and try again. You can also get this exception if you are not wearing any panties at all.
UnsupportedOperationException	You are trying to have an operation that for some reason, ethical or otherwise, is not supported by Java. Examples of this include unneeded amputations, for example circumcisions. Please stop abusing your body and do not remove pieces of you child, damn it!

See more at: http://rymden.nu/exceptions.html

Posted in java, misc, programming | No Comments »

Help me get Incubus to my city!

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

View all Cordoba events on Eventful

Posted in casi humano, misc, music | 2 Comments »

Vacations

Monday, March 30th, 2009

I hadn’t wrote anything lately. The reason, I was tired, I needed some vacations. So now I got them and I’m back fresh as a lettuce (as we say in Argentina. Hehe).

Posted in misc | No Comments »

Simple yet absolutely important steps to keep your Windows OS working decently

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

1-Partition your hard drive in two drives

What:
Partition your hard drive in two drives. In the first partition (C:) install Windows and all the programs (Excel, Word, Adobe, etc); and in the second (D:) put your home directory A.K.A My Documents folder (your documents, your music, your pictures, etc).

How:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial116.html

Why:
it is highly probable that you will need to format your hard disk, because Windows suddenly stopped working or a system file got damaged or simply because Windows gets too slow after a few months. So you will need to format your hard drive, having this partition layout you will avoid losing or backing up all your data because you will be formatting and reinstalling Windows on the C: drive. Once you get the OS up again, you will find your data intact on D: drive.

2-Keep Windows updated

What:
Install every patch and security updates available.

How:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/windowsupdate/learn/windowsxp.mspx#ELB

Why:
Windows is really unstable, unsecure and unreliable yet the most used desktop OS (for now. he he). That’s why probably more than 90% of viruses, trojans and malware target Windows. That lead us to step #3…with capital letters.

3-INSTALL AN ANTI-VIRUS!!!

What:
Install an anti-virus. Keep it updated on daily basis. Run it every 10 days.

How:
I will recommend two of the best anti-virus available for free:
Avira http://www.free-av.com/
Avast! http://www.avast.com
I recommend (if you can) go and get the paid versions of these which have a few more features. Or get a paid anti-virus such as Kaspersky (http://www.kaspersky.com/) or NOD32 (http://www.eset.com)

Why:
Here you will find independent comparatives of Anti-Virus software: http://www.av-comparatives.org/
And I repeat: “Windows is really unstable, unsecure and unreliable yet the most used desktop OS (for now. he he). That’s why probably more than 90% of viruses, trojans and malware target Windows.”

4-Don’t use Internet Explorer

What:
Don’t use Internet Explorer instead use another web browser.

How:
Get Firefox!

Why:
Internet Explorer might be the worst software created ever! Is buggy, slow, insecure, it uses ActiveX (which is one of the many ways of getting infected) and it doesn’t follows any of the standards of HTML, CSS, JavaScript,…

5-Install a few admin tools

What:
Install a few admin tools to keep your system as fast and clean as you can.

How:
Download and install CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/):”…CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner…”. Run it once per month approx.

Download and install Defraggler (http://www.defraggler.com/). This is a tool similar to Windows Defrag, but it is better, faster, light on resources and it lets you decide what files to defrag. Run it once every 3 or 4 months.

Why:
Windows registry sucks! Apps add a lot of data to the registry but they don’t control it, leaving it there even if it is unused (f.i. when the app is uninstalled).
Windows file system sucks! After a few months of use, files get fragmented everywhere and this slows your computer down.
Windows temp files sucks! Windows Automatic Updates will generate hundreds of megabytes of temporary files that are not used after installation. Some apps do this as well.

6-After a year start with step #1

What:
After a year or so start with step #1.

How:
Read this post.

Why:
No matter what precautions you take or how careful you treat Windows, it will simply get slower, slower and slower…

Posted in misc | 1 Comment »

Uncompress Files Online

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Recently I found myself in-front of an stranger’s Linux box. I needed to unrar a file from my email account but I didn’t have any unrar tool installed and I couldn’t install one. I googled a little and I found this wonderful web page.

http://www.wobzip.org/

an “online uncompressor”. It supports many file types (7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZHCHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS) and files up to 100MB.

Hope you find it useful too!

Cheers.

Posted in misc | 2 Comments »

The Clean Energy Project is alive!

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

Harvard University’s The Clean Energy Project is alive!!!

For all of you out there that doesn’t know what the hell I’m talking about, let me say that The Clean Energy Project is a volunteer and distributed computing project that uses BOINC to find new materials for the next generation of solar cells and later, energy storage devices (see here for more).

I always wanted to help in this project but since it was created there haven’t been much action, but now I’m glad to have found that it is on-rails under the World Community Grid umbrella.

If you still don’t have any idea of what I’m talking about, please take a sec and visit the links in this post to find out about BOINC, The Clean Energy Project & the World Community Grid.

There are a lot of projects that needs your help to continuing their work. All you have to do is install BOINC and donate some of your CPU idle time. :)

Cheers!

Posted in misc | 1 Comment »

Installing Transmission torrent client as a service in Ubuntu Hardy

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

I have a PC that I use as server running Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and I wanted to install a command-line torrent client and run it as a service to download & seed stuff with no need of a monitor or X attached to it (because I don’t have any of them :P ). So after trying a few clients I decided to stick to Transmission, Ubuntu’s default torrent client.

To get this working, this is what I did:

1) In order to use it as a service, you have to download transmission-cli package which has the transmission-daemon & transmission-remote bins.

2) Before this, I added a new apt sources to the /etc/sources.list because Ubuntu’s sources has a very out-of-date version. So open /etc/sources.list and add the following lines:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bortis/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/bortis/ubuntu hardy main

Then update & install.

3) You should now have the client intalled. But to use it as a service / daemon, go to:

http://trac.transmissionbt.com/wiki/HeadlessUsageDebian

http://trac.transmissionbt.com/wiki/HeadlessUsage/General
and follow the instructions.

Remember to set the correct permissions to the TRANSMISSION_HOME & TORRENTFOLDER directories to allow writing & reading to the user you set in USERNAME.

I had some problems with transmission populating the default config file “settings.json”. What I did was to manually create the file and add this default content:

{
    "blocklist-enabled": 0,
    "download-dir": "\/shares\/internal\/PUBLIC\/Torrent\/work",
    "download-limit": 100,
    "download-limit-enabled": 0,
    "encryption": 0,
    "max-peers-global": 200,
    "peer-port": 51413,
    "pex-enabled": 1,
    "port-forwarding-enabled": 1,
    "rpc-access-control-list": "+127.0.0.1",
    "rpc-authentication-required": 0,
    "rpc-password": "",
    "rpc-port": 9091,
    "rpc-username": "",
    "upload-limit": 40,
    "upload-limit-enabled": 1
}

You can find out what options for this config files are available at:

http://trac.transmissionbt.com/wiki/EditConfigFiles

Hope it helps, cheers!

Posted in linux (most likely Debian), misc, ubuntu | 4 Comments »

Hola Blog World!

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

Este es mi primer blog, de hecho, mi primer post (ever!). La idea es probar WordPress y vaya que me ha impresionado hasta ahora. Mas adelante definire las categorias y demas. Por ahora alcanza con probar un poco cada cosa…

Posted in misc | No Comments »