Engadget has a comprehensive and indepth review of the Sony PlayStation Portable/PSP.

Retro innovation - Commodore64 on a Joystick.

PCMagazine - Ten to AvoidThe Worst Products of the Year. The only one that doesn't ring true is the eMac but it is a PC magazine afterall.

More wikipedia goodness - Apple Newton.

Compact PC - Kim Young releases updated Sumicom mini-PC. The size of a drive bay. Awesome.

Great - Simple guide to LaTeX.

Interesting - MetroPipe Portable Virtual Privacy Machine. A virtual Linux secure machine that fits on a USB key and runs as a virtual machine.

A similar homebrew effort utilising WindowsCE to create a PortableCE.

Increasing privacy fears fuel efforts to improve anonymity - Tor anonymous Internet communication system.

Useful Windows tips - Windows Explorer Hacks.

One day I'll look into Plone and when I do I'll need some good documentation - The Definitive Guide to Plone.

Don't try and get to clever with Tech Support - Google Blog responds to a query about their Christmas banner.

Serious nostalgia - TV Cream's Top 100 Toys. Mostly English toys from the 70's and early 80's.

Office cubicle toys - The Cubes.

Web based emulatotr - Virtual Apple 2 - Online disk archive. Unfortunately its Windows / IE only due to the need for an ActiveX control.

Detailed and comprehensive - Great Microprocessors of the Past and Present.

Never underestimate the importance of good backups - Backing up your MySQL data.

Basic guide to getting stuff installed and getting information on various types of Unix and Linux systems

SGI Irix

Use the Software Manager via the Toolchest to add and remove packages or use the 'inst' command

For example to install the Multi-processor libraries for Irix, download the appropr iate package (in this case 6.x_mpt_1.3.tardist), untar it, run the inst command as root, select from and point to the local dirctory containing the untarred files, se lect list to view the items to be installed, select conflicts to check for conflict s or dependencies, select go to install and then quit to exit inst.

You can query the installed packages and their versions using the 'versions' command (eg versions | grep perl)

You can find out about SGI hardware via the 'hinv' command

Compaq Tru64

Use the Graphical System Manager (/usr/bin/sysman) or use the 'setld' command (/usr/sbin/setld -l )

For example to update the Fortran compilers or Tru64, download the appropriate pack age (in this case DFA541.tar contains an updated Fortran compiler), untar it, run /usr/sbin/setld -l ./, select the install options and follow the prompts.

You can query the installed packages and their versions using the 'setld -i' command (eg /usr/sbin/setld -i | grep perl)

RedHat Linux

Use the Graphical Gnorpm package manager or use the 'rpm' command (rpm -i )

For example to install Opera, download the package (opera-static-5.0-1.i385.rpm), become root, use rpm -i opera-static-5.0-1.i386.rpm to install it.

Debian Linux

Use the 'apt-get' to get a package from the network (apt-get install will install from a source listed in /etc/apt/sources.list ) or 'dpkg' for a local file command (dpkg install ). 'dselect' will also give you a front end on package management (but I get lost in there to easily). Theres a fairly definitive guide to apt-get here.

IBM AIX

Use the Graphical or command line version of 'smit'.

On an X interface 'smit' will invoke the motif style GUI version of the tool which will allow you to configure all aspects of the AIX system including the installation of software. Via a telnet or serial console session the ASCII version of the tool is invoked which gives you many of the same options just in text-only mode.

SUN Solaris

Use 'pkgadd' or the Graphical System Manager to install software (/usr/sbin/pkgadd -d ). Note that patches should be applied using patchadd rather than pkgadd

You can find out about SUN hardware using the 'showrev' command which can query hardware and software (eg showrev -a)

Booting from another drive

Boot into PROM monitor, and perform the following commands:

setenv SystemPartition scsi(0)disk(2)rdisk(0)partition(8)

setenv OSLoadPartition scsi(0)disk(2)rdisk(0)partition(0)

setenv root dks0d2s0

Then when you load the miniroot in the install process, you will be pointed to the drive you want(obviously the disk and root must be set to the correct IDs, not necessarily the above).

Also, if you ever need to do a one-time boot off an alternate drive, you can boot the PROM monitor and issue the following command:

boot -f dksc(0,2,8)sash dksc(0,2,0)unix root=dks0d2s0

This is useful if you are installing/configuring multiple systems using a build disk.

 

Disk Clone Script (use with extreme caution it)

This is taken from the google cache (the original page no longer exists).

Information on the script taken from the original web page is here followed by the original script (save to file, chmod +x it and then run it).

The Solution -- SCSI Cloning

The modern SGI models (O2's, OCTANEs, and Origins/Onyx2's) all feature sled-mounted internal SCSI drives that get their ID number from the slot that they are placed in. Better yet, with the exception of the R10K/R12K O2) all the machines have an available internal slot for a second disk (in the high-end O2 the larger CPU takes up the second disk slot).

With a little scripting it's possible to use the second disk slot to build a ``clone'' of the system disk in 10-15 minutes. This cloned disk can be moved to another machine (thus allowing rapid duplication of a ``lab's worth'' of system disks) or kept on hand as a backup in case of disk failure.

One of the many advantages to this is better security. The sysadmin can bring up a single workstation and configure it as necessary (closing the ``deadly 7'' open accounts, installing tcp wrappers and ssh, turning off unnecessary services, etc) before it is placed on the network. Clones of the system then inherit the secure configuration without going through a ``window of vulnerability'' during the network installation/configuration.

The dupit Script

My cloning script is named "dupit'' (the name borrowed from a script with a similar function that was in use internally at SGI). Without options the script makes a copy of the current system disk (drive 1) on drive two (though the destination drive can be specified with the -d flag. The script also:
Repartitions the drive so that the swap partition is 256 MB. The default can be changed by editing the script, or the user can specify any size in MB using the -s flag.
Turns off networking on the new system (so that the admin can reconfigure it once the new workstation is brought up. The -c flag will defeat this and make the cloned disk an exact copy of the current system disk (useful when making a backup system disk).
The script runs correctly in both single-user and multi-user states, though I usually use single user mode to help insure the duplication (most of which is accomplished using xfsdump) goes smoothly. When using it to install lab machines, I usually make a single ``test machine'' with the dupit script installed at /etc/dupit that is left running in the lab for students and faculty to use. Once I'm sure the test machine works as designed, I then use it as a ``master'' to create clone disk(s), which I can install in other workstations. Bringing up a cloan is as simple as booting, login in as root and configuring networking. Since all machines have dupit installed, I can ``rebuild'' a crashed disk from any working machine in the lab.

The Source

#!/bin/sh
# the magical, mystical dupit script
# All new sh version by D. Southard
# comments to dsouth@nd.edu

# Defaults
KLOANDEV=dks0d2s0
SWAPMB=256


#
# Get the options/parameters to the program
#

while getopts cs:d: i
do
case $i in
c) EXACTCOPY="yes"
;;
s) SWAPMB=${OPTARG}
;;
d) KLOANDEV=${OPTARG}
;;
*) echo "the magical, mystical, dupit script"
echo "all new by Dale Southard <dsouth@nd.edu>"
echo "Usage:"
echo " dupit -c [-s <swap in MB>] [-d <cloan's dks?d?s?>]"
exit 1
;;
esac
done


#
# Sanity check the destination drive
#
if ! [ -c /dev/rdsk/${KLOANDEV} ] ; then
echo "The destination device must exist <dks?d?s0>"
exit
elif [ ${KLOANDEV} != ${KLOANDEV%s0}s0 ] ; then
echo "The destinaion device must be lun 0 <dks?d?s0>"
exit
fi
umount /dev/dsk/${KLOANDEV} > /dev/null 2>&1


#
# Create the temporary fx script file
#
FXSCRIPT=/var/tmp/fx.script
rm -rf $FXSCRIPT

echo "${KLOANDEV} standard root" >> $FXSCRIPT
if [ $SWAPMB != "" ] ; then
SWAPBLKS=`expr $SWAPMB \* 2048`
echo "${KLOANDEV%s0}s1 followspart8:${SWAPBLKS} swap" >> $FXSCRIPT
echo "${KLOANDEV} followspart1:remainder xfs" >> $FXSCRIPT
fi


#
# Repartition the drive based on the script
#
/usr/bin/fx -x -s $FXSCRIPT
rm -rf $FXSCRIPT


#
# Create the file system and mount it
#
/sbin/mkfs_xfs /dev/rdsk/${KLOANDEV}
if ! [ -d /mnt ] ;then
mkdir /mnt
fi
mount /dev/dsk/${KLOANDEV} /mnt


#
# Dump the source drive to the destination drive
#
hostname `cat /etc/sys_id`
xfsdump -J -l 0 - / | xfsrestore - /mnt


#
# Copy the volume header files.
#

VOLHDR_FILES=`dvhtool -v list | grep -v File | grep -v Current | grep -v sgilabel | grep -v '^$' | awk '{} {printf "%s ",$1}'`

for VHFILE in $VOLHDR_FILES; do
rm -rf /var/tmp/$VHFILE
dvhtool -v get $VHFILE /var/tmp/$VHFILE /dev/rdsk/dks0d1vh
dvhtool -v create /var/tmp/$VHFILE $VHFILE /dev/rdsk/${KLOANDEV%s0}vh
rm /var/tmp/$VHFILE
done

#
# If we are making an exact clone, skip the rest
#
if ! [ ${EXACTCOPY} = "yes" ]; then

#
# Turn off networking on the new disk
#

echo "off" > /mnt/etc/config/network

# If your site needs anyting else removed/turned off
# (ssh_host_key, AFS/DFS, etc) this would be a
# good place to do it.

fi


#
# Done.
#

echo " "
echo "You're done. shutdown, move the disk and configure networking."
exit 0

Adding / Preparing Disks under IRIX

From http://www.uwsg.iu.edu/usail/peripherals/disks/adding/sgi.html

Adding Disks under IRIX
Once the disk has been physically installed and the machine has been rebooted, the hinv command can be used to check if it is recognized:

# hinv | grep Disk
Disk drive: unit 5 on SCSI controller 0
Disk drive: unit 1 on SCSI controller 0

Under IRIX, device nodes are in the format /dev/[r]dsk/dksSdDsS, where S is the disk controller number, D is the SCSI ID of the disk, and S is the partition number. In our example, we'll be working with the disk on SCSI ID 5, so we will use /dev/[r]dsk/dks0d5s*.
Labeling the Disk The fx command is used to label and partition the disk. It should be invoked in expert mode, using the -x option:

edcert23 2# fx -x
fx version 5.3, Oct 18, 1994
fx: "device-name" = (dksc)
fx: ctlr# = (0)
fx: drive# = (1) 5
...opening dksc(0,5,)
...controller test...OK
Scsi drive type == HP C3724S 5153
fx: Warning: no sgilabel on disk
fx: Warning: can't read sgilabel on disk

creating new sgilabel

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[exi]t [d]ebug/ [l]abel/
[b]adblock/ [exe]rcise/ [r]epartition/
fx>

Since this is a new disk, fx gives a warning that it is not yet labeled with an SGI disk label. The label submenu is used to put a new label on the disk:

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[exi]t [d]ebug/ [l]abel/ [a]uto
[b]adblock/ [exe]rcise/ [r]epartition/ [f]ormat
fx> label

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[sh]ow/ [sy]nc [se]t/ [c]reate/
fx/label> create

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[p]artitions [s]giinfo [b]ootinfo [d]irectory [a]ll
fx/label/create> all

...creating default bootinfo
...creating default partitions
...creating default sgiinfo
...creating default volume directory

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[p]artitions [s]giinfo [b]ootinfo [d]irectory [a]ll
fx/label/create> ..

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[sh]ow/ [sy]nc [se]t/ [c]reate/
fx/label> ..

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[exi]t [d]ebug/ [l]abel/ [a]uto
[b]adblock/ [exe]rcise/ [r]epartition/ [f]ormat
fx> exit

label info has changed for disk dksc(0,5,). write out changes? (yes) yes

Partitioning the Disk
To partition the disk, the partition submenu is entered:

fx> repartition

----- partitions-----
part type cyls blocks Megabytes (base+size)
0: efs 4 + 73 2800 + 51100 1 + 25
1: raw 77 + 117 53900 + 81900 26 + 40
8: volhdr 0 + 4 0 + 2800 0 + 1
10: volume 0 + 3363 0 + 2354100 0 + 1149

capacity is 2354660 blocks

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[ro]otdrive [o]ptiondrive [e]xpert
[u]srrootdrive [re]size
fx/repartition>

To create new partitions, enter expert mode. In this case, two similar-sized partitions will be created:

fx/repartition> expert

Warning: you will need to re-install all software and restore user data
from backups after changing the partition layout. Changing partitions
will cause all data on the drive to be lost. Be sure you have the drive
backed up if it contains any user data. Continue? yes
Enter .. when done
fx/repartition/expert: change partition = (0) <RETURN>
before: type efs base: 4 cyls, 2800 blks, 1 Mb
len: 73 cyls, 51100 blks, 25 Mb
fx/repartition/expert: partition type = (efs) <RETURN>
fx/repartition/expert: base cyl = (4) <RETURN>
fx/repartition/expert: number of cyls (max 3359) = (73) 1675
after: type efs base: 4 cyls, 2800 blks, 1 Mb
len: 1675 cyls, 1172500 blks, 573 Mb
fx/repartition/expert: change partition = (1) <RETURN>
before: type raw base: 77 cyls, 53900 blks, 26 Mb
len: 117 cyls, 81900 blks, 40 Mb
fx/repartition/expert: partition type = (raw)efs
fx/repartition/expert: base cyl = (77) 1679
fx/repartition/expert: number of cyls (max 1684) = (117) 1684
after: type efs base: 1679 cyls, 1175300 blks, 574 Mb
len: 1684 cyls, 1178800 blks, 576 Mb
fx/repartition/expert: change partition = (6) ..

----- partitions-----
part type cyls blocks Megabytes (base+size)
0: efs 4 + 1675 2800 + 1172500 1 + 573
1: efs 1679 + 1684 1175300 + 1178800 574 + 576
8: volhdr 0 + 4 0 + 2800 0 + 1
10: volume 0 + 3363 0 + 2354100 0 + 1149

capacity is 2354660 blocks

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[ro]otdrive [o]ptiondrive [e]xpert
[u]srrootdrive [re]size
fx/repartition> ..

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[exi]t [d]ebug/ [l]abel/ [a]uto
[b]adblock/ [exe]rcise/ [r]epartition/ [f]ormat
fx> exit

label info has changed for disk dksc(0,5,). write out changes? (yes) <RETURN>

The partition table can also be viewed using the prtvtoc command:

edcert23 10# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/dks0d5s0
* /dev/rdsk/dks0d5s0 (bootfile "/unix")
* 512 bytes/sector
* 140 sectors/track
* 5 tracks/cylinder
* 3363 cylinders
* 4 cylinders occupied by header
* 3359 accessible cylinders
*
* No space unallocated to partitions

Partition Type Fs Start: sec (cyl) Size: sec (cyl) Mount Directory
0 efs 2800 ( 4) 1172500 (1675)
1 efs 1175300 (1679) 1178800 (1684)
8 volhdr 0 ( 0) 2800 ( 4)
10 volume 0 ( 0) 2354100 (3363)

Creating New Filesystems
Once the drive has been partitioned and labeled, mkfs is used to create new filesystems on the partitions, and fsck is used to check the integrity of the new filesystem:

edcert23 11# mkfs /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0
mkfs_efs: /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0: blocks=1172500 inodes=123264
mkfs_efs: /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0: sectors=140 cgfsize=32561
mkfs_efs: /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0: cgalign=1 ialign=1 ncg=36
mkfs_efs: /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0: firstcg=289 cgisize=856
mkfs_efs: /dev/dsk/dks0d5s0: bitmap blocks=287
edcert23 12# fsck -y /dev/rdsk/dks0d5s0

fsck: checking /dev/rdsk/dks0d5s0

** Phase 1 - Check Blocks and Sizes
** Phase 2 - Check Pathnames
** Phase 3 - Check Connectivity
** Phase 4 - Check Reference Counts
FREE INODE COUNT WRONG IN SUPERBLK
FIX? yes

** Phase 5 - Check Free List
2 files 22 blocks 1141358 free
CHECKSUM WRONG IN SUPERBLK
FIX? yes

***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****


Engadget has a comprehensive and indepth review of the Sony PlayStation Portable/PSP.

Retro innovation - Commodore64 on a Joystick.

PCMagazine - Ten to AvoidThe Worst Products of the Year. The only one that doesn't ring true is the eMac but it is a PC magazine afterall.

More wikipedia goodness - Apple Newton.

Compact PC - Kim Young releases updated Sumicom mini-PC. The size of a drive bay. Awesome.

Great - Simple guide to LaTeX.

Interesting - MetroPipe Portable Virtual Privacy Machine. A virtual Linux secure machine that fits on a USB key and runs as a virtual machine.

A similar homebrew effort utilising WindowsCE to create a PortableCE.

Increasing privacy fears fuel efforts to improve anonymity - Tor anonymous Internet communication system.

Useful Windows tips - Windows Explorer Hacks.

One day I'll look into Plone and when I do I'll need some good documentation - The Definitive Guide to Plone.

Simple - Tivoli Audio.

Expensive and NZ made - Plinius Audio.

Stylish and compact - Cyrus Audio.

Nice and affordable - Cambridge Audio.

Huge news - first Oracle and Peoplesoft and now Symantec and Veritas. Thats close to $24bn US changing hands if these deals proceed.

Apple storage tech making slow inroads into enterprise markets - Oracle uses and endorses Apples Xserv. They'll have a tough time beating the biggies in the storage market but at least they provide a high-quality low cost alternative (especially when Xsan is available).

Very useful resource for Windows application deployment - Appdeploy.

I wonder if this Nintendo GameBoy Advance gadget will make it out of Japan - Nintendo MP3/MPEG playback.

Much simpler than the paper LCD screen but no less elegant - heat sensitive paper clock.

Computer history in fashion - Geek T-shirts through the ages.

Cryptography - Make a paper Enigma Encoder/Decoder.

Design - publishing tips from BA Magazine. They've also distilled their best advice into a book.

A list of The Top 10 Software Innovations of 2004. Number 10 looks fascinating - I wonder what the performance is like ? And Number 9 looks like something worth testing - presentations to flash conversion looks very cool.

The Top Shareware Games of 2004. Mostly PC games but some of them look pretty good.

The Strangest Palm Applications. Virtual bubble-wrap is definitely a winner although the Voodoo-doll isn't to bad either.

Spotted on Gizmodo this morning - a company called Bladox has a gizmo to turn an old cellphone into a car-alarm.

A brief guide to whats good in Solaris 10.

Microsoft has jumped into the desktop search market with its MSN Desktop Search & Toolbar Suite. Plenty of good reviews on the web of which this one looks to be pretty comprehensive.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - QT Trailer.

War of the Worlds - QT Trailer.

Live action anime: Casshern - QT Trailer.

AppleSeed - QT Trailer.

Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence - QT Trailer.

Hero - QT Trailer.

The web seems to be abuzz with Googles new 'gadget' - still in Beta but it looks promising - Google Suggest.

For music fans - The Knockoffproject has a number of classic album covers and their more modern 'copies'.

Good to see the personal touch can still win out over high technology - A homemade camera provides better resolution than digital equivalents.

Excellent howto -Setup VNC over SSH on MacOSX.

Useful companion piece - Using Putty to create a SSH tunnel.

Genius - Plants that detect landmines. Just goes to show genetic engineering has its practical uses.

Use Brainwaves to control a PC.

The ever excellent Ed Brill celebrates 20 Years of Lotus Notes. Definitely a must read for all Lotus Notes fans.

Some links to one of my favourite Unices (IRIX is probably still my fave in terms of an elegant workstation OS). Nowadays it has to be said the only contenders in the commercial Unix race are Solaris and AIX with various Linux distributions leading the open-source charge.

Personally I've found Tru64 on Alpha hardware to be very very simple to install (for Tru64 v 5.1b its still a single cd install with a footprint less than 400Mb) and configure while being very easy to manage and with outstanding stability. In my time I've had the pleasure of using everything from Alphastation 500's through to quad processor ES45 Alphaservers.

In a high performance environment I have good anecdotal evidence to suggest that the same code running on a dual processor Itanium II machine will run at about 40% the speed of slightly older quad processor Alpha machine. So the Itanium has a lot of potential but the Alpha can still hold its own.

The Alpha hardware is also built to a very high spec and very very solid (I guess its easy to see the DEC influence in the steel chassis) compared to the 'cheap' feel of modern x86 based server cases.

Wikipedia has some excellent (and brief) articles on:

The history of Tru64/Ultrix/OSF/1.

The history of the Dec Alpha processor.

The evolution of OpenVMS.

Excellent Tru64/Alpha resource - Tru64.org.

The comedy continues - HP to acquire Veritas Technology rather than integrate Tru64 storage tools. HP are definitely on the wrong track deprecating Tru64 in favour of HP-UX. The fact that the Alpha processor is still holding its own against modern Itanium chips long after any significant R & D effort has gone into developing a new generation of chips is pretty remarkable (I believe the EV7 is the last in the line). Perhaps they should 'Open Source' Tru64 and OpenVMS rather than let them die ?

A fairly long and comprehensive article on keeping FreeBSD updated.

Great sketches of the imaginary bone structures of some popular comic/cartoon characters - Cartoon Skeletal Systems.

Jakob Nielson discusses - the most hated Advertising Techniques.

Tinyapps has a couple of great pointers - Confidentiality and Word Metadata and a PDF of Windows 2000 services that can be disabled.

If you're interested in mobile-technology its always interesting to read Russell Beatties take on where things are at - for example he speculates that Apple will launch a mobile phone within 18 months.

The Plan9 people really need to update their website design - the simplicity doesn't detract from the cool stuff they do - Factotum looks like a nice Single Sign On solution.

I'm trying out Blapp which is a tool to make updating Blosxom based websites a little easier.

Here are a couple of nice looking 'Media PC' boxes - HushPC and the MX2.

Notifications via Growl and Remote Growl looks like a really nice idea.

Scarey (but brief) article on How quickly an unprotected system can become comprimised.

A nice article on The continued use of old Databases on OpenVMS in the enterprise.

Useful Microsoft server tool - Server Performance Advisor.