Robbie's scripts & such

Ubuntu mini tips and tricks

2009-10-26T22:30:00.001-07:00

This is a list of little pesky tricks I have been using to solve problems: 1. Make a shell-script with relative paths run the same no matter where it is launches from - i.e. change the working directory to the path of the script itself:
# /bin/bash
cd `dirname $0`

2. Enable CRONTAB log to its own file:
#cd /etc/rsyslog.d/
#sudo touch ./cron.conf
#sudo *editor* ./cron.conf
ADD: "cron.* -/var/log/cron" /var/log/cron being the log-file
#sudo touch /var/log/cron
#service rsyslog restart

3. Firefox32 can't find "libqtcurve.so":
-download http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/i386/gtk2-engines-qtcurve/download
-extract it using "sudo dpkg -x gtk*tab* ./gtk2" from the directory you downloaded it.
-press f5 to reload the current directory
-open the gtk2 directory we made, go into the lib directory
-f4 to bring up a terminal
-"sudo cp *current-location*/ /usr/lib32/"
-go up one level, go into the share directory
-"sudo cp *current-location*/ /usr/share/"
-restart firefox32, it should work great

4. Mount a disk on startup
-type "sudo crontab -e"
-add this line: "@reboot mount *device* *mount-point*"
For me this is: "@reboot mount /dev/disk/by-id/dm-name-pdc_dhbhddfagc4 /Data" which mounts my 4th partition, /dev/disk/by-id/dm-name-pdc_dhbhddfagc4 to /Data. Note that your partitions are probably under /dev/sda* or /dev/hda* - use "sudo fdisk -l" to list your disks.

5. Install microsoft fonts
-type "sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts"
-your done.

Ubuntu cheatsheet pages

2009-10-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

In my research to fix problems, I have often run across one page which does an excellent job of providing a solution to my problem. Often, this page is actually official Ubuntu documentation, but usually I have a hard time finding it. Detailed here is a list of extremely useful URLs and what they are about:

AMD64/FirefoxAndPlugins	extremely useful page showing how to install 32-bit firefox and java on x64 Ubuntu
Fonts	Fonts page includes large .fonts.conf text, for making all those pesky fonts look sharp, clean, and windows-like

CronHowto	Handy reference on setting up CRON tasks.
How to mount disks

Hope this helps someone, and if not, I know I will be going back through this list when I need help.

-Robbie

Runescape HD on (K)Ubuntu

2009-10-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

One of the games I play is Runescape. It is a 3d Java MMORPG, and has both software-rendered(SD) and hardware-rendered(HD) versions. One of the problems I have so far had in switching my main computer to Ubuntu is that I couldn't get HD working - SD takes up way too much CPU and is not nearly so nice graphics wise. I would simply get a "Graphics mode not supported" error.
I did some research, and found that the problem is that I was using a 64-bit version of Ubuntu. Runescape only works on 32-bit Java, at least on Ubuntu.

So, what I did is as follows:
1. Installed the KUbuntu 9.10 RC from Here
2. I used the "Hardware drivers" control panel to install a proprietary graphics driver - NVIDIA in my case
3. I then followed the tutorial for installing 32-bit Firefox and plugins here.

I restarted, then opened up a terminal and typed "firefox32 &". Firefox 32bit started, and I was able to run Runescape.

There are two "issues" at this point:
One, you are probably going to want to create a shortcut to "firefox32 &" if you use it a lot.
Two, there is a minor issue involving the GTK libs - Firefox 32 is looking for the 64 bit libs and failing to load them, so the chrome is a bit blocky. I tried one fix, but haven't gotten anything working yet.

Hope this helps someone!

Linux Cheetsheet

2009-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is a simple cheatsheet of stuff I am using a lot, administrating a CentOS4 server. Also some stuff I use with Kubuntu on my laptop.

Tar
Syntax: tar *options* *zip-file* *files to add*
Common options:
- c=create, x=extract, t=list, r=add more files to an archive
- z=Gzip
- j=bzip2
- v = dunno, but used in a lot of commands
- f=filename. Put at the end of the options

Vim
Syntax: vim *filename*
When your in VIM:
*ESC* brings you to command mode
I brings you from command mode to insert mode
:w write file from command mode
:q quit from command mode
:q! quit without saving from command mode

Find
syntax: find *folder* *options*
-name '*pattern*' - Name pattern, * is OK.
-(i)regex 'pattern' - (case insensitive)regular expression.
-size *number*[kMG][+-] - searches for files with *number* size(suffix k, M or G for kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes), and if you add a + or - you will get all files larger or smaller than size respectively.

Chown/Change Owner
syntax: chown [-R] *newowner* *filenames*
The -R option makes Chown change the permission on files that are in the sub-directories of the directory that you are currently in.
*newowner* is the name or alias you want the files to change to
*filenames* are the file(s) that you want to change permissions on.

My comiclist

2009-09-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is my comic-list - that is, the list of comics which are automatically downloaded for me. I will be adding comments where appropriate - use it how you will.

Name	Updates	Color	Comment
Derideal	Unknown	Yes	[Review] Cute little comic, sketchy, Sci-fi story. A new favorite.
TwoKinds	Weekly?	Yes	First furry comic I found, I honestly liked the earlier comics. Its getting better now, but around 2007 I think it was way too pervy. Furry/human romance adventure.
8 Bit Theater	MWF	Yes	Pixel comic, I lost the story recently.
CampCalomine	12 days avg.	No	One of RHJunior's comics, generally a rant about "going green" "clean energy" and such.
comics-com-bc	Daily	No	BC from comics.com
CrimsonDark	Weekly	Yes	Scifi-adventure, 3d rendered. Nice looking, but once a week is slow.
CtrlAltDelete	MWF	Yes	Its CtrlAltDel. What can you say.
Dandy & Co	MWF	Some	Funny Calvin & Hobbes like story, but far better. Comic relief, deep storylines... It has a lot.
DMFA	4/week	Yes	Bright and shiny colors - really good coloring. Good, deep storylines, funny punchlines. My second favorite Furry comic.
Dominic Deegan	Daily	No	Really deep storylines, poor artwork - but who cares - quantity over quality
DreamKeepers - Prelude	Weekly	Yes	An introduction/backstory to the DreamKeepers graphic novels. Which are awesome.
El Goonish Shive	5 days avg.	Grayscale	Sort of lost its train a couple years back, but it seems to actually have a story now...
ExterminateUsNow	Weekly	Yes	Short and funny, characters based on Sonic and the gang.
FauxPas	Daily	Yes	Decent storylines, daily, color and all... not a comic I look forward to, but a decent comic.
Full Frontal Nerdity	Weekly	Yes	Gaming fun from the creater of Nodwick.
FoxFire	Once in a while	Yes	Scifi/fantasy story from Turnsky, inspired by DMFA, though in a different world and with some different rules.
FreeFall	5 days/week	Yes	Classic humor, though it has good story behind it
GoblinHollow	10 days avg.	Grayscale	Another of RHJunior's comics. Fantasy stuff, with goblins and a family running a gaming establishment.
GoblinsComic	Weekly	Yes	Fair color, unique characters, battles and such. D&D world, good storylines.
HardOnions	18 days avg.	Yes	Should change the name, it migrated from rants to a superhero story with humans.
Housepets!	MWF	Yes	A fun little comic, nothing special but still fun.
KevinandKell	Daily	Yes	Essentially a furry newspaper strip. Quite a bit of converting-current-events-to-comic-form.
Looking For Group	Weekly	Yes	Richard is awesome!
MegaTokyo	Weekly	No	What the heck? [I lost the storyline way back when.]
NipAndTuck	11 days avg.	Grayscale	Yey another of RHJunior's comics.
Nodwick	Weekly	Grayscale	Nodwick, D&D based comic. Fairly interesting, I have found myself looking forward to the next update at times.
Ozy and Millie	Finished	No	Over. A simple newspaper type comic, Calvin-style.
Poisoned Minds	MWF	Yes	Mutated from a funny and rediclous present-day type scenario to a future story with AIs and such. Quite a good story now.
Project Future	Weekly	Yes	Spinoff of DMFA, set in the same basic world.
Quentyn Questor Space Ranger	8 days avg.	Yes	A recent RHJunior comic, Sci-fi and making fun of varius things; Star-trek being one.
RealLife	MWF	Yes
Saberina Online	4/month	B/W	The oldest Furry webcomic I have seen. It is referenced almost everywhere, some of the dialog is fairly mature, but nothing is shown. I found it addicting when I first downloaded and started reading it.
SchlockMercenary	Daily	Yes	Good storylines, large archive. Its a good sci-fi story about a bunch of mercenaries.
Sequential Art	MWF	Grayscale	A little comic, nice clean lines and minor shading. Some making fun of Portal, but all in good taste.
Six Pack of Otters	Unknown	No	Not quite sure anymore. Read it once, haven't seen anything out of it.
Slightly Damned	Weekly	Yes	Cute little story with characters starting out between heaven and hell, escaping back to the real world, and starting adventures.
SlyggyFreelance	Daily	Some	Long, hard to follow. Huge amounts of story, and I got lost at one point. I -think- I understand the story now, but I can't say.
Spikey	MWF	No	A little comic, poor art, not sure where its going. Notable only because about half the time my downloader grabs it, it ends up with a blank file.
Starfire	Weekly	Yes	Little comic, not much story yet, may be interesting.
TalesOfTheQuester	12 days avg.	Yes	RHJunior again. Fantasy story, a fair amount of backstory. Good read.
TallyHo	22 days avg.	BW	RHJunior(Yup, again). Little comic about a fox and a hound, fairly funny.
The Broken Mirror	Not updating	Yes	I'm not sure. I forget quite why I put it on my list, and its not updating now.
TheNoobComic	Weekly	Yes	The adventures of a noob in the world of an MMORPG, making fun of all the major ones. A good story.
SuburbanJungle	MWF	Some	Grabbed it a while back looking for new stuff, not very impressive.
Tundra	5/week	Some	Daily newspaper comic, lots of jokes.
VGCats	11 days avg.	Yes	Its sort of... odd. All I can say about it.
The Whiteboard	MWF	Grayscale	Funny paintball furry webcomic. I like it, some spots are way too funny. Good archive.
Worlds Without End	Not updating	No	Found in someone's sig, read and liked the story, its not updating though.

Derideal

2009-09-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

I just ran across this comic - Derideal. Its not that far into its story, having only 119 pages so far. Its a "web-graphic-novel", that is, its a webcomic that "acts" more like a graphic novel than a strip-comic. Updates are unknown at this point.

Plot wise, it seems to be set in a dystopian future, where one mega-corporation owns the city that the story takes place in. This corp seems to be doing some genetic research, and created the two protagonists(who are cat/human hybrids) for research purposes. Midway through the story, the two escape, and at the time of this writing are under the care of another group of scientists, though these don't appear to be malicious.

Art wise, its done in a very sketchy, simple anime style, most of the pages in color. The text-boxes are done in character-unique colors - each character's lines all are in one color text-box - which I quite like. The only real thing that bugs me here is that the pages are compressed a bit too much - distortion is quite noticeable on text-boxes.

Overall, I like it. I downloaded, read it all, and added it to my update-script;
It's a keeper.

Technical info(for my scripts):
-------------------
Grabber:
$CONFIG['start'] = 1; //starting comic #
$CONFIG['end'] = 120; //ending comic #
$CONFIG['looptype'] = "CNUM"; //type of loop to use
$CONFIG['datetype'] = 1; //padding/date-format
$CONFIG['savedir'] = $CONFIG['startsavedir']."derideal"; //directory to save to
$CONFIG['comicurl'] = "http://www.derideal.net/data/images/comic/der_"; //main comic image url
$CONFIG['comictype'] = "jpg"; //extension to try first
$CONFIG['error'] = ''; //first line of error page

Updatescript:
$CONFIG['comic'] = "Derideal"; //name of comic
$CONFIG['url'] = "http://www.derideal.net/"; //comic page
$CONFIG['find'] = "http://www.derideal.net/data/images/comic//"; //piece of file to get
$CONFIG['comicurl'] = ""; //only used if not absolute path
$CONFIG['savedir'] = "../derideal"; //dir to save to

New blog.

2009-09-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

My original plan was to build myself a CMS system on my own website, and use it as a blog and guides/reviews list. Sadly however, the last few times I have built something to do it, I ended up getting sidetracked, so I decided to just go with the flow and create a proper blog. Eh, at least I can edit the source and add what I need. Hopefully.