Creating a hard link to a directory/folder in mac os

Install Piffle: 

   brew install coreutils

The you can just create the link: 

    sudo gln -d existing_dir new_hard_link

Deleting is a different story: if you go about it the usual way to delete directories, you'll delete the contents. So you must "unlink" the directory:

    unlink  new_hard_link

F.lux for Ubuntu 15.x - blocking out blue light to improve sleep and reduce headaches

Getting strained eyes from looking at your screen too long? F.lux adapts your screen display to the time of day by blocking out the blue light. Blocking out blue light supposibly has lots of benefits including improved sleep, reduced adhd symptoms and many more. See this page for more info. Installing f.lux on ubuntu is easy:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:blackmage/f.lux; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install -y fluxgui

If the gui fails for you, you can get it to work via terminal: xflux You might also want to give Redshift a try.

Dell xps13 (2015) - updates and bios flashing

I got a new Dell xps13 (2015), thinking it would work with linux as well as my beloved old xps13. Unfortunately... that was not the case...

After struggling with OpenSuse installers and lack of touchpad fixes (my favourite distro of all time), I felt defeated and installed Kubuntu.

I must admit a lot of things worked out of the box with ubuntu. Except for:

- flashing screen
- touchpad going crazy
- repeated keys
- battery draining fast
- kernel panics



I struggled for days to find a way to update the firmware (I use grub as a bootloader and had turned UEFI off somehow to be able to boot usb disks). Then, when I had given up, I stumbled upon this extremely easy method: http://askubuntu.com/questions/100945/how-do-i-update-the-bios-of-a-dell-laptop

1. Download the WIndows/DOS BIOS installer for your hardware from dell.com
2. Download the latest SystemRescueCD and burn it to a blank CD or install it to a USB flash drive. http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_How_to_install_SystemRescueCd_on_an_USB-stick
3. Copy the Windows/DOS BIOS installer to a FAT formatted USB stick or the one that you installed the SystemRescueCD on.
4. Boot from the CD or flash drive.
5. Choose to boot from FreeDOS in the floppy images menu.
6. Make sure you do NOT load HIMEM and EMM386 memory managers.
7. Change to the USB stick (typically C: if you do not have any FAT partitions on your HDD). Remember to change, just type: "C:"
8. Run the installer

The touchpad is still abit crazy. Each time I scroll, a right mouse click happens. Why? Sometimes the mouse gets stuck in "clicked" mode. And I see some flashes around my screen... I hope a new update of either ubuntu or dell bios fixes this soon. 

UPDATE

I couldn't take it anymore, so I did a fresh install after the firmware upgrade. All was fine, until I installed chrome and oracle java 8. The computer seems to flip on everything with java... I'll keep you updated what I figure out, installed openjdk 1.8 for now and removed chrome. Will investigate further.  

UPDATE2

The kubuntu updates seem to have fixed the  jumping cursor problem. Finally! 

Remaining issues: the system is unstable, it crashes often when I click on the wifi icon; vlc doesn't work properly due to a qt5 problem (haven't figured that out yet); battery seems to drain when I close the lid; I I close the lid with external monitor connected everything flips and keeps running... 
 

Internet speed test from terminal

wget -O /dev/null http://speedtest.wdc01.softlayer.com/downloads/test10.zip

> to download a 10M file. 

install hp network printer in linux

If you know the network address of your printer it is very to install it through cups. If you don't have the network address try to ping it first or ask your network administrator.

Install hplib on your system, it should be included in the repository and it includes a very useful hp command line tool.

>> hp-makeuri yourip

This will give you a url like such:
 
hp:/net/HP_LaserJet_600_M602?ip=xx.xx.xx.xx

Go to cups and add a printer. Choose any of the protocal types and give in the above url. Voila! It is as simple as that!

Installing OpenSuse 13.1 on Dell XPS13 Ultrabook

Following up on my original OpenSuse 12.3 installation on this fantastic laptop, I decided to perform a new install of the latest OpenSuse (13.1). As usual I kept my home partition and reformatted my /.

Everything works out of the box. Even (and finally) the multitouchpad. Full resolution even when my external screen is added. WiFi worked immediately. Also the screen brightness adjustment keys work (perhaps due to my fix that was still in place, see here).

Only pitfal so far: my webcam is not responding and cheese stays black. Will find a fix for that : ) I could use it in a google hangout yesterday though, don't know where this sudden lag comes from.

Follow fixes for the webcam here.

Installing Picasa 3.9 on OpenSuse Linux through Wine (and fixing google web logon)

I love using picasa from Google, as I miss the multiple select tool in Digicam. Altough facebook upload is still missing (I think at least), I wanted to reinstall picasa. Unfortunately, google discontinued the linux version, so I installed the latest version with wine.

1. Download picasa 3.9 (or latest version) for windows and open it with wine:

  wine picasa39-setup.exe

2. This actually already works quite good, except for the google login features, which is quite essential if you want to share your pictures. To fix that, you need winetricks to install ie6. On OpenSuse, this is already included in Wine. If you have an older wine version, you might want to look for it separately.

3. Download msie60.exe, place it in /root/.cache/winetricks/ie6

4. If you have a 64 bit system, you need this extra tweeking step:  

  env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.google/picasa/3.0/ winetricks ie6

Otherwise, on 32 bit systems, just use winetricks ie6

Running graphical applications through ssh

I wanted to run Weka on our office's shared server, which is accessible by command line ssh.

I therefore used:

xhost +hostname

ssh -X hostname

Hopla, that's it!

Fix for brightness adjust bug on Del XPS13 Ultrabook with OpenSuse Linux

After installing OpenSuse Linux on my new Dell XPS13 Ultrabook, as I read on a bug report here. I discovered that the brightness adjust controls did not work. See my full post on the installation here.

I was able to fix the brightness buttons by running this command as su (also works after reboot):

/bin/echo 0 > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness

Restoring multiple deleted files from dropbox

When I arrived at work this morning my university folder was empty. Oeps...
Apparantly some syncronisation error happened when I copied my files to my new laptop, and reorganised them. When I turned on my old laptop at home it the evening, it deleted everything from Dropbox.

Luckily, Dropbox maintains a history of your files so you can recover them up until a month ago (longer if you are a Pro user).

You can log into Dropbox.com and restore the files one by one. Unfortunately, this will take forever.

The solution. I found a script offered by Dropbox. One you install Greasemonkey plugin for Firefox or Tampermonkey for Chrome, you can just run this script: JSBox. It will give you the option to mass recover your files through the web interface!

This little script gives you some nice little options:

After installing the extension or logging in using the fake server, just browse your files as usual.
If you click this option, a new Modal box will open with a text box containing the contents of the file. Just make your modifications and click Save to submit the changes and automatically sync it with your all your computers.
You can click the link Open in new window to work in a new Window with the file.
 Restore groups of files
Another useful missing feature for Dropbox is to restore groups of files when you accidentally delete them.
When you click your events page after installing this extension (or on the fake server), you will see a special link next to the deleted events feeds:
 Just click this link and in a few seconds, all the files deleted on this event will be restored.

Source: http://www.dropboxwiki.com/JSBox

I just ctrl-A selected all the folders, right click, restore. That saved my day today!

Installing OpenSuse 12.3 on the new Dell XPS13 Ultrabook

Check out the install for OpenSuse 13.1 here.

I just got the Dell XPS13 Ultrabook. It looks amazing... It feels very sturdy with the Aluminium exterior and is just very cool.

Just a short sidenote about the XPS13 before I go into installation details... When I turned it on I noticed an extremely irritating high-pitched sound that would not go away. It varied a little bit every second. I tried all possible things to find the error (turn off wifi, switch to other screen etc). Nothing helped. So I sent it back to Dell and they changed the motherboard and the fan. It came back yesterday and I was all exited... only to still hear this noise... I read around on the internet and it must be a design thing, perhaps an electrical wire that is not properly insulated. Now, I must admit, I have extremely sensitive ears so that might contribute. Also, woman's ears are able to hear higher pitched sounds then men, so perhaps the designers or technicians did not hear it. Still... it immediately cought my attention. Anyway, I have am trying the laptop now, and I must admit, seeing it without that horrible windows makes me feel alot better about it.
UPDATE: after installing Linux and peforming the BIOS system stress test the hight-pitch sound went away... thank god!

I created a bootable USB stick from the OpenSuse website, with version 12.3, 64-bit on it. Now my colleage told me that despite my love for OpenSuse, I might consider installing Ubuntu on it, since it has a dedicated release for this laptop. Well, after considering that for about 5 minutes, I put my USB stick with OpenSuse in the XPS13 and rebooted. Press F12 on startup to access USB booting.

How to install OpenSuse:

- Choose install
- Follow the instructions: be sure to completely erase any windows partition.
- I choose and ext4 filesystem, which is the default option and added some extra software for development.
- Wait a moment
- Done

Now how well does it work?

- Network (incl WiFi) functions without extra configuration.
- Power button gives the logout/power off menu, which is fine for me.
- Suspend seems to work properly.
- Second screen with KRandR works fine.

Only issue I could find so far is that the Brightness adjust does not work (see this bug report). I will implement a fix in the coming days, and will post it here, so be sure to come back!
UPDATE: I was able to fix the brightness buttons by running this command as su (also works after reboot):

/bin/echo 0 > /sys/class/backlight/intel_backlight/brightness

Cool effects with Fujifilm X10 firmware 2.0 update

I just update the firmware of my Fuji X10 camera and discovered some awesome built in advanced effects!

If you go the the advanced menu (rotating button on the top Adv.), you get select the new filters. I just took some very quick snapshots (it's about midnight so the room was dark). To get an idea of the new filters.


Miniature - creates top and bottom blur for diorama effect:




Toy camera - creates shaded borders as taken by toycameras:





Dynamic tone - creates a fanatasy effect by dynamically-modulated tone reproduction:

Partial color:

 
Other effects include:

- POP color: empasises contrast and color saturation
- high-key: enhances brightness and reduces contrast for lightenig tone reproduction

Second new feature in the second version of Fuji X10's firmware is the Quick Menu, already available on the X-Pro-1. Press the raw button for a bunch of usefull shortcuts:

Get full instructions on how to upgrade your Fuji X10 camera's firmware here. It's really easy. Basically, you just download the .dat file and place in on a formatted SD card. Then you turn on the camera while you are holding the back-button.

Have fun!

Gratis Nieuws - Nederlands Dagblad

Gratis Nieuws - Nederlands Dagblad

Disable touchpad clicking/tabbing on linux

Here is a handy trick to disable your touchpad clicking, which always happens accidentally with my wrists.

synclient -l

This lists all the touchpad features.

You can control everyoption with synclient:

Code:

$ synclient PalmDetect=1 (to enable palm detection)
$ synclient TapButton1=0 (configure button events)
$ synclient TouchpadOff=1 (disable the touchpad)

Garmin Forerunner 405 Connect to OpenSuse linux

I just got my Garmin Forerunner 405 gps watch and it looks great, a little bit on the chuggy side for my wrist, but ok, what can we expect ;-)

I wanted to connect to linux to download my first workout.

lsusb did not recognise the stick at first. Only when I installed garmin drivers found at software.opensuse.org, it would recognise the stick.

Ok, so now what...
I downloaded and compiled gant, from: https://github.com/jamesarbrown/Gant

 make clean

make clean

make

Now to pair the device:

./gant -f mydevname -a auth405

Make sure your watch in settings has pairing on. This creates a tcx file, that you can import on endomondo, or garmin connect. 

The result:

Now I am just experimenting and seeing if I can get a browser plugin to work... http://software.opensuse.org/package/GarminPlugin looks promising...

Kobo Touch ebook reader

After considering somewhat all ebook readers, I just got a kobo touch ebook reader.

It supports all type of file formats (including pdf, epub, mobi and cbr which are the ones I use). Has wifi. Is superlight. If you look around it's even cheaper than the kindle. Advantage is that you are able to rotate the screen, which is a feature that is no longer available on the kindle. The system is quite stable, and battery life is ab. 1 month. It even has a social app to connect to facebook if you are into that.

And not to mention... it's superfun and nice to read... easy on the eyes... I love it!

Consider the Kindle Touch as an ebook reader

Seriously considering getting one of these:

The low price makes it a perfect option to stop printing out my pdf books... A friend of mine showed me his and I was seriously impressed by the e-inkt. It has 2Gb of storage (no sd slot), of which 1.2Gb at least free for books. It has touch, so you can annotate. The page turning speed is not that fast, but it is the book-reading experience... I read some other reviews and although I was also doubting the Kobo touch (both seem to be quite slow, slower that the kindle 4 which on the downside lacks good pdfs support and touch). 

I guess these days you should just look at an ebook reader as a cheap device that you take everywhere. It's not a tablet, but great to stop printing out what you have to read... Passing by the store later on...

----
Update: ok, noticed this nice gadget is 25 euros cheaper in the UK. Luckily I'm visiting a friend in Southampton next week... will pick one up there... 

MyBook Live for Linux/OpenSuse

I just spent a few hours reading up on the best way to connect my new 2T MyBook Live, NAS.

I first tried to mount the network hard disk manually, that when ok, except I couldn't get the permissions right.
I fiddled with fstab... couldn't get the permissions quite right... Installed smb4k... reading worked fine... no writing, even though the files are correctly chmodded...

So... then I fixed it in 1 minute...

Open Dolphin (file browser), click on network (in the places window). Add network folder -> Microsoft Windows Network Drive (even though the MyBook works with Lenny linux). Fill in the IP addres of your NAS (check this in your router table). And voila... done... omg... IT IS THAT EASY...

Old text based computer game - Kirsta Computers

I just did something I have been meaning to do for some time now... I dove into my computer file archive and dug up files of 3 floppy disks with games from Kirsta Computers.

My favourite is KCA1.exe, an text-based adventure game.


The other files are some classic maze game, backgammon and patience...

I used dosBOX to play them on my OpenSuse machine. I have put the original exe files on my site. Enjoy!


Download them here.

Sorry, Kirsta, I hope you don't mind me giving it away for free, but I don't think you're selling it anymore...

Installing OpenSuse 11.3 (64 bit) on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop

I just did a fresh install of OpenSuse 11.3 on my Dell XPS 1530. This machine used to run OpenSuse 10.3 (see this post: http://dorienherremans.blogspot.com/2010/08/opensuse-110-installation-guide-on-dell.html).

I kept the /home partition, so a lot of the settings and the desktop where already custom. I love it. Even my internet favorites are kept!

Anyway, first evaluation:

- Touchpad fix: no need for it this time. Works great.
- Ethernet: works great
- Wireless: will need some drivers for the BCM card etc
- Sound: seems to work ok
- 3D: will need NVIDIA drivers

Let's fix the wireless first.

Just a note. i am using the bcm wireless card. If you have an intel card, it will probably work out of the box. Fire up a console as su and type:

cd /lib/firmware
install_bcm43xx_firmware

to install the correct firmware. You need to be connected to the internet for this to work.



Add some additional repositories to Yast. Especially Packman (http://en.opensuse.org/Additional_package_repositories), so that you can install the following packages:

- ndiswrapper

Mmmm... last time I used kndiswrapper as a UI for ndiswrapper, that worked great. Seems that there is no release available yet for 11.3. Mmmm... ok, we'll have to do it manually...

Download the (64 bit!) .exe driver from Dell, you can find it here: http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R151517.EXE

Go to the directory where you want to keep the driver and:
unzip -a R151517.EXE

Install the driver:

cd DRIVER
ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
ndiwrapper -l
modprobe ndiswrapper

For the first time now. I see my WIFI light burning! I first had to flick the switch on and off.

iwlist scanning
It is scanning! That's a good sign!

Now we can right-click on the KNetworkManager icon to connect over wireless. Yoehoe!



Now for 3D effects

Install the NVIDIA drivers. You can do this via Yast:

X11-Video-NVIDIAG02


Voila, after a X11 reboot, 3D should be enabled and you should be able to turn on 3D desktop effects.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I must say, this all went a lot smoother than with the 10.3 release.

Thanks OpenSuse community, still my fav distro!