The Musings of Chris Samuel

• Dangerous discovery – I can get onto the Uni wireless system from outside the #coffee shop on Bouverie Street.. #
• Court orders council to play King Cnut + protect expensive beachfront homes from coastal erosion http://bit.ly/buiv1W #
• I wonder if #Google know about googlee.com.au and their wildcard A record ? #
• Just made a Twitter list for #CFA alerts and safe announcements for region 13 (Dandenong Ranges) http://bit.ly/bW7WDt #
• Oops, try this link for my #CFA Region 13 (Dandenong Ranges, Yarra Valley) incidents/safe twitter list – http://bit.ly/adZNcu #
• As of 11:41pm last night (Tuesday) it appears the #CFA have fixed the duplicate GUID problem in their RSS feed! #
• Have a Nokia #N900 and you find wifi stops working until reboot? You're hitting this bug: http://bit.ly/aCg8pD #
• Nokia #N900 wifi bug fixed in forthcoming firmware release, meantime workaround from the xterm is: killall -9 eapd #
• Court finds in favour of common sense in #iinet case – movie industry vows legislation to avoid it http://bit.ly/9ovXjZ #
• BBC: Vegetative state patients can respond to questions http://bit.ly/dmO0Bz (some, not all, patients) #science #medicine #
• Today is the first anniversary of #BlackSaturday when 173 people died in Victoria's #bushfires. http://bit.ly/9vrjYI #
• Spent last few hours battling OpenWRT upgrade, mostly caused by a power board that had (unknown to me at the time) failed #
• Read these comments from #iinet judgement on behaviour and misrepresentations of AFACT http://bit.ly/9AWicm via @sourcefrog #
• Yay – caught another email harvester that was grabbing emails for spammers via my Project #Honeypot setup! #
• Oh brilliant – suddenly I can no longer authenticate to the Universities email system – I hate #microsoft #
• ..and now it works again! #
• yay – Exchange has lost the ability to authenticate me again #fail #
• ..and it's working again, again.. #
• SMH: "Feel sorry for Kiely, but pity more his female colleagues" – http://bit.ly/c089Ki #
• Amusing – H.264 encoder in Final Cut Pro is apparently not licensed for commercial use – so much for the "Pro".. #patents #
• Today is the first anniversary of #BlackSaturday when 173 people died in Victoria's #bushfires. http://bit.ly/9vrjYI #

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• My registered #myki doesn't show up on my account but if I try and register the card it says it's already registered! #
• 'The filter shouldn’t be a thing, it should be a person. They’re called “responsible”. They’re called parents.' http://bit.ly/7oLDUx #
• Aha, solved my own issue, it appears the #Myki site doesn't work with Konqueror, just #Firefox – another website #fail #
• Dear #lazyweb, what's best way to upload pics to #Twitpic from #N900? Web site works but that uploads full size image. #
• Oh great, now spammers have started putting their rubbish into the display-name of the From: line of emails #
• "SecurityFocus reports that #IE6 has 396 known unpatched vulnerabilities, #IE7 has 15, and #IE8 has 32" http://bit.ly/87tGBI #
• #Google #wardriving whilst streetviewing, plus #wifi mac address to location API + Python code – http://bit.ly/5LumgQ #
• #davmail 3.6.3 out with GUI setting to force ActiveSync updates so now thunderbird->exchange->#N900 works! davmail.sf.net #
• Got call back from #Myki about problem with website but wanted my home address or Myki pin to verify ID – closed case with neither #
• "Scientists 'losing climate fight'" – good points about why skeptics have won despite the facts – http://bit.ly/86E9U3 #
• Amazing photo of fine structure in solar corona during eclipse – http://bit.ly/4nmsIw – via @astronomyblog @finestructure #
• According to their blog the backdoor in e107 CMS systems affects all version 0.7 releases – http://bit.ly/4nS9on #security #
• WhisperingWulf: Design and build of a silent personal cluster – Jon Tegner on ClusterMonkey – http://bit.ly/8aJ396 #hpc #
• #SpamAssassin 3.3.0 released – almost 18 months since 3.2.5 came out! http://bit.ly/9TqBpX #spam #perl #
• oops – "I thought 'that's an f'ing shark!' I kicked at it and in the process I fell off the board." http://bit.ly/9Nbo7b #
• If #KVM says virtualisation disabled in BIOS of your #Dell #Latitude, and it is enabled, then check this http://bit.ly/9LdCmb #
• Looks like #myki interferes with Melbourne Uni staff cards, have to remove it from my wallet to get into the building now! #
• Lovely cartoon on Conroy's Great Firewall of #Australia http://bit.ly/agVHal #censorship #nocleanfeed #
• #Australia breaking more high temp records than low temp for last 50 years, and difference is increasing http://bit.ly/adjznc #
• #Oracle Exadata2 DB server based on #Sun hardware runs #Linux not #Solaris, according to spec sheet http://bit.ly/cjh25T #
• Grin – @ear1grey's 2005 April Fool on the #Apple #iPad is now on front page of Google image search http://toast.tw/100jar #
• This is the 2005 April Fool #Apple #iPad blog by @ear1grey http://bit.ly/9fPlFp #
• RT @BreakingNews Study linking vaccines to #autism 'dishonest,' 'irresponsible,' British Medical Council rules http://bit.ly/94a32V #
• Can't find any mention of #HPC or #Lustre on any of the Oracle presentations about takeover of Sun http://bit.ly/c1oACI #
• Sigh – the old #Sun webpage just goes straight to the #Oracle website now.. #
• Februrary 24th – Vindaloo Against Violence – http://bit.ly/cyBhs0 – via @abcnews #melbourne #anti-racism #food #
• Very good spoof of a generic TV news item by Charlie Brooker http://bit.ly/cnZkQK (via @makenosound @sabman) #humour #
• bah! "This video contains content from #bbc, who has decided to block it in your country." http://bit.ly/ctdrEl #fail #
• Next @linuxusersvic meet – "Using django to make web apps" + "Simulating the formation of stars" http://bit.ly/bnitI4 #linux #
• Know a good place in #Melbourne to get USB -> microUSB cable without paying the extortionate rate of mobile phone shops? #
• ShopBot looks like it has best info on micro USB cables – http://bit.ly/csDziJ – cheapest is $15, much better than $50! #
• Just learned that Bill McLaren, the voice of #rugby, died on 19th January http://bit.ly/clDHCu http://bit.ly/9wPtM9 #
• Today's random fact, both Gone With The Wind and Star Wars sold twice as many tickets as #Avatar – http://bit.ly/9gsQJ6 #
• Excellent riposte to the #XKCD #Mars Rover strip – http://is.gd/7n9SG – via @marsroverdriver + @barbylon #
• On thinking (and reading) further on Amazon vs McMillan – have no desire to buy something I cannot own, so no ebooks for me #
• Another nail in the coffin of #HPC at #Sun/#Oracle ? Rich Brueckner is looking for work http://bit.ly/c5nTc3 #
• H.264 covered by more than 1,000 #patents held by 25 patent owners – plus any undeclared – http://bit.ly/91hzKR #
• #CFA emergency #bushfire warning for Paton Road, Emerald "expected to impact between the hours of 05:00 PM – 07:00 PM" #
• #CFA emergency #bushfire warning for Stewart Road, Emerald "expected to impact anytime within the next two hours" south #
• Fingers crossed for @markbate who's had to evacuate in Emerald #
• Yay, @markbate got out OK to a friends place. #
• CFA has downgraded Emerald #bushfire down from "emergency" to "watch and act" #
• Yay! Rain at last! Hopefully this will get to the fire at Emerald too. #
• Amazing orange sky out there… #

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It’s hard to believe that Sun Microsystems, on whose workstations in the Computer Science lab at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth I first really learnt to hack^W play with UNIX systems (and no, I wasn’t studying CompSci!), is passing into the annals of history to become just another brand in the Oracle monolith. They’ve even delisted there SUNW^W JAVA symbol from NASDAQ (hat tip to Arjen for the link).

As Alec’s wonderful filk said:

We had Joy, We had fun,
We were fork()ing on a Sun,
but the joy is all gone,
’til the processes are Done [1].

shutdown -r now

From Valerie Aurora on POSIX semantics:

It may not be POSIX, but the programmer’s intent is clear – no one ever, ever wrote “creat(); write(); close(); rename();” and hoped they would get an empty file if the system crashed during the next 5 minutes. That’s what truncate() is for.

Today is the public holiday commonly called Australia Day but really it’s only a good day for those of us who arrived since last 1787, for those who came before it’s been a bit crap. OK, a lot crap. So today instead of participating in the usual ritual of barbie and beer Donna and I went up to the Belgrave Survival Day event, celebrating the fact that we still have people from the oldest continual culture in the world around!

A nice day, we were a bit late in getting there so we missed the earlier talks and dances but we did get to hear some good indigenous bands play and had a wander around to look at the displays and talk to people. If you want to know a little more about why these things are important have a browse of the ANTAR website.

Along with folks like the Samba project I’ve joined the Great Australian Internet Blackout, so the first time (and only the first time) you visit the site you’ll get the notice about the protest. Here’s why the proposed mandatory filtering is a bad idea from the Great Australian Internet Blackout website:

• It won’t protect children: The filter isn’t a “cyber safety” measure to stop kids seeing inappropriate content such as R and X rated websites. It is not even designed to prevent the spread of illegal material where it is most often found (chat rooms, peer-to-peer file sharing).
• We will all pay for this ineffective solution: Under this policy, ISPs will be forced to charge more for consumer and business broadband. Several hundred thousand dollars has already been spent to test the filter – without considering high-speed services such as the National Broadband Network!
• A dangerous precedent: We stand to join a small club of countries which impose centralised Internet censorship such as China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The secret blacklist may be limited to “Refused Classification” content for now, but what might a future Australian Government choose to block?

If you’re using Wordpress with a theme that supports widgets then participating is as easy as adding a text widget (or using one you already have) and add the single line of HTML to activate the blackout.

To paraphrase Kryten from Red Dwarf, it has just two minor flaws. One, it won’t work, and two, it won’t work. Now I realise that, technically speaking, that’s only one flaw but I thought it was such a big one it was worth mentioning twice.

• Tridge automating #chocolate tempering with pyRoast http://bit.ly/4VYEsE #cooking #python #
• Neat #gdb hack – how to change what a file descriptor in a running process points to – http://bit.ly/7HNfMu #
• I've been wondering what to use my old #OpenMoko #Freerunner for – I think #MythMote might be it! http://bit.ly/4J7GVr #
• #MythMote is a remote control for MythTV that runs on #Android and uses the frontend "telnet" port http://bit.ly/4J7GVr #
• UK paper The #Independent thinks copyright infringement OK if it is doing the stealing http://ff.im/-esbvf (via @adriana872 @barneyc) #
• #VLSCI announces first call for applications for #HPC projects by life-science researchers in #Victoria http://bit.ly/8ciF2q #
• I'm on the programme committee again for Virtualization Technologies in Distributed Computing (VTDC) http://bit.ly/5dMNMO #
• Submission deadline for Virtualization Technologies in Distributed Computing (VTDC10) is 1st March! http://bit.ly/5dMNMO #hpc #
• Just been eating fresh blueberries from a friend who has been growing them in her garden, absolutely wonderful! #
• Nooo….. #Kraft will get #Cadburys after all! The board to recommend offer to shareholders. http://bit.ly/5q71WK #
• Naica Cave – the crystal cavern – looks like something from Hollywood, but it's very real – http://bit.ly/6zdBOK #
• 1.0.0.0/8 and 27.0.0.0/8 transferred to AP-NIC for real allocations according to @teamcymru bogon list – via @cefiar @jerub #
• for last few months thought I had data plan with #Vodafone but though I was told it was done it never happened, big charges #
• Given I'm very miffed at #Vodafone can anyone recommend a good low-cost no-contract 3G voice+data SIM only plan ? #
• With #Vodafone you only see the real info with the PDF bills: I am on a data plan but with an extra $40 charge I didn't ask for! #
• Yay, my donated MX helped catch an email harvester via Project Honeypot http://www.projecthoneypot.org/ #
• Hooray for #Vodafone – they have corrected and refunded the extra plan I didn't ask for – phew! #
• So Globus 5 is now out and yes – all the web services stuff from GT4 is gone. wonder what ARCS are going to do now ? #
• So the EU has given the go ahead for the #Oracle takeover of #Sun – http://bit.ly/8SfUUM (via @sijoe) #
• downloadin the yet-to-be announced #KDE 4.4 RC2 packages for Kubuntu #linux #
• Off to @donna_williams Footsteps of a Nobody show at the Woodbin Theatre in #Geelong at 8pm #autism #
• At the Woodbin Theatre in Geelong setting up for Footsteps show tonight with @donna_williams #
• http://twitpic.com/zc4vk – Setting up on stage at the Woodbin Theatre, Geelong. #
• Last night was thinking it would be great to have #navit on the Nokia #N900, this morning it appears in maemo-testing! #
• #KDE KOffice Based Office Viewer Launched for Nokia #N900 – in maemo-devel – http://bit.ly/6TBzEC #
• Samba4 talk at #lca2010 claimed "MS AD domain controllers do no validation of updates from other domain controllers" – oops #
• The claim on MS AD security from the samba4 talk at #lca2010 was relayed here – http://bit.ly/6iDqUH #
• Just downloading the .deb of #BibblePro 5 after paying for the upgrade, looks like they do native AMD64 builds at last! #
• Painless upgrade to #KDE 4.4 RC2 in Kubuntu PPA, working very nicely so far! #linux #ubuntu #
• http://twitpic.com/zifok – Went to see Earl play bass in Kryptonite Sandwich at Warrandyte #
• Velociraptor relative evolved venom 128M years ago – first report of venom in ancestor of birds – http://bit.ly/8nbhOk #

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• Interesting #N900 bug, if you create a tag for a picture but make a typo you can't delete it #
• "Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over" http://bit.ly/5RacT9 #facebookfail (via @penguinoid @arusbridger) #
• hooray for @metrotrains ComEng trains with aircon that breaks at 43C – it's damn hot in here! #
• RT @thecaffiend wants everyone who reckons their latte art rocks to email me a sample: editor@beanscenemagazine.com.au BIG COMP!BIG PRIZES! #
• for those who don't know @thecaffiend is involved in the #Melbourne #Coffee Review blog – vital reading if you live here! #
• now installing the #Maemo 44-1 update on his #Nokia #N900 – fingers crossed! #
• First day of work at #VLSCI; novel feeling to work for an entire day on a project without interruption or distraction! #
• I like the fact that the #Maemo updater on the #N900 prompts you to use the backup tool before installing the updates! #
• According to the ABC #Melbourne has had its hottest January day for 150 years http://bit.ly/7rz7QX #
• 11:48pm and still 30.7C outside according to my (sadly non-networkable) inside/outside thermometer – can haz cool change now plz? #
• 6:30am and still 30C outside here in #Melbourne! #
• If UK MoD believes '#Gurkhas are amongst the best and the bravest' why only pay those who retired before '97 1/3rd the pension? #
• Monday night/Tuesday morning was hottest night for #Melbourne for well over 100 years (since 1902) http://bit.ly/85EO2I #
• UK arbitrary stop-and-search powers ruled illegal by European Court of Human Rights http://bit.ly/7sc4lS (via @fooishbar) #
• Trying to set up DavMail (davmail.sf.net) to talk to the Melbourne Uni Exchange server with mixed results #
• #Marillion perform #Grendel, London '83 – so cool and almost 30 years old! http://bit.ly/4JPUAV http://bit.ly/5aKCBv #
• Score so far with #davmail and UniMelb Exchange: email both ways, read-only calendar + LDAP for contacts – pretty cool! #
• 10 #phones compared for usability: #N900 with #maemo wins, #iphone second, #android comes in 5th – http://bit.ly/5rDqbD #
• Wow! #VMWare bought #Zimbra from #Yahoo! http://bit.ly/76Jbrh #
• The BerliOS software development site appears to have been compromised – since 2005 http://bit.ly/5zWdUf #
• Nice blog by @cdsmart on how #Microsoft demonstrate that #Linux is easier to use than #Windows – http://bit.ly/5axBFX #
• New #N900 firmware seems really nice, now sync's with Melbourne Uni's Exchange 2003 server! via @PeterMaemo #

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Taken the plunge and upgraded from Wordpress 2.8.6 to 2.9.1, so if you’re seeing issues with the site leave a comment here, or if that doesn’t work catch me on Twitter.

• irony++ : racist FB group by Aussie schoolkids on immigrants not speaking English populated by schoolkids who can't spell #
• Magnitude 7.2 #earthquake in Solomon Islands – http://bit.ly/4ZT5Rs #
• Amazing what rubbish you find when sorting out files, log files of DEC Alpha SC cluster filesystem crashes for instance! #
• AdvFS Domain Panic; Domain sc_cluster_backup Id 0×3f337551.010416d7 #
• "This domain should be restored from backup tapes, or you can use the salvage tool to pull what files it can find off of this domain." #
• That message was from September 2003, before you start to panic() #
• BBC: Mars' ancient lake beds spied by Nasa probe – http://bit.ly/5n0SsM #
• Dear #SuperMicro – why do I need to disable passive FTP to be able to download from your FTP server ? #fail #
• Random fact: the worlds largest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has almost 30 acres of glass windows that need cleaning #
• ABC: #Australia bakes through warmest decade on record http://bit.ly/8itOD3 #
• Why is it that you only spot the obvious typo *after* just as you hit send.. #
• BoM "Increasing global mean temperatures [...] are consistent with other independent indicators of climate change" http://bit.ly/7Dbrtb #
• Here's the direct link to The Planetary Societies page to send a birthday message to Buzz Aldrin – http://bit.ly/7xtlyE #
• Looks like the concession and real #myki's look different, but the letters sent to lots of people say concession #
• All this #uksnow makes me nostalgic, well remember opening the door in Great Malvern to see someone ski down the road! #
• In other news the forecast for #Melbourne is 28C Thursday, 36C Friday and 34C Saturday – no chance of #uksnow here.. #
• Been clearing out my office ready for my last day tomorrow, wow it's looking empty! #
• Apparently my #N900 has finally arrived! Only took the USPS and Australia Post almost a month for a 5-10 business day job #
• wow! RT @NASA Another major snow blanket! Great Britain covered in today's image from NASA's Terra spacecraft. http://bit.ly/88WtAR #
• First impressions of Nokia #N900 – it rocks – and contact import from KDE works great using vcard v3! #
• It's my last day at #VPAC today, on Monday I'll be starting at the #VLSCI project! http://bit.ly/7fMcNP #
• OK – who is going to the @linuxusersvic BBQ tomorrow ? #LUVBBQ #linux #luv #
• 'Bachmann to Obama: Don't let terrorists "lawyer up"' – http://bit.ly/6SdbLB – after all who needs human rights in the USA! #
• So that's it, I'm now officially unemployed until Monday! #
• "Behold The Android Powered Microwave And Washing Machine!" http://bit.ly/64gJRU #
• I'm enjoying a very nice glass of 12 year old @bowmore1779 whisky, part of my leaving gifts from the good VPAC people. #
• Happily Jabbering away on my #N900 – wow it rocks – even better than I was expecting! #
• Wow, this is amazing – Rodrigo Y Gabriella cover Metallica's Orion – on acoustic guitar! http://bit.ly/5QSjEO #music #
• US officials covered up details on scores of deaths in immigration detention – http://bit.ly/87rly3 (via @BreakingNews) #

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