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david How to SSH from the Linux Terminal - Subscribe

This entry explains how to launch Terminal in Linux, and have the ability to SSH into another Linux computer / server to manage.

1. Start my launching Terminal in Linux. It can be found by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal. (Keep in mind that Terminal is terminal, so this will work with people that use a Mac, Raspberry Pi, Putty, etc.

2. Type in this command: ssh you@domain.com or ssh you@yourIPaddress Keep in mind when doing this it is understood that you have already setup permissions for accessing the remote terminal.

3. You will then be asked for the remote machines password.

4. You will then see something like this following: The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software; the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GBU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTLY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

Last login: Thu Mar 14 5:59 2013 from LOCAL ISP INFORMATION.

5. If you did this correctly you will then have something like this: you@debian:~#

Success! If you have issues leave a comment below, and I will do my best to assist you. Keep in mind that I am relatively new to this so don't beat me up to bad.

0 Comments
Mood: good
Music: Reggie and the Full Effect - Mood 4 Luv

david Google Background Images Going Away Nov 4th, 2012 12:36:03 am - Subscribe

For those of you that have used it, it will be missed. For those of you who never knew it existed you missed out.

At the bottom of Google (when signed in) was the ability to change the background image of Google.com | Unfortunatly Google will be removing this feature on November 16, 2012. Below is a quote and a screenshot as stated by Google.

Background images are going away on November 16th, 2012

Thank you for using background images. As we build a more streamlined Google Search page for everyone, we'll no longer be able to support customization with background images. So you will no longer be able to see your background pictures starting November 16th, 2012.

Click Remove to stop using a background image now. Your current background image, and Picasa web albums will still be available to you.

Well, there you have it. Sorry for not blogging in a while, but I have been so darn busy at work. I know it's not an excuse, I will do my best to get something on here every now and again.

1 Comments
Mood: busy
Music: No Music

david Women Scratching Booty in San Francisco on Google Maps Jun 18th, 2012 7:53:50 pm - Subscribe

This is a quick non related entry to those who may or may not see the Google Car coming...try your best not to 'scratch' in public.

View Larger Map

Don't ask how I found this it was simply a Google Maps navigation discover that I found. Let's leave it as that. As you can see, that when your in public nothing is private. Above is a women scratching her booty at a corner in San Francisco.

Original URL:

Here is the link to the original Google Maps Page

Here is an up close and personal demonstration

2 Comments
Mood: Funny
Music: No Music

david Unable to Open Adobe PDF Files in Internet Explorer Browser May 22nd, 2012 8:30:44 pm - Subscribe

Lately I have been recieveing a lot of emails of users stating that they are unable to open Adobe PDF files in Internet Explorer, well I have one answer...let it load.

As many of you have probably been experiencing there is currently a bug in Internet Explorer that prevent PDF displaying in the browser. Microsoft is currently well aware of the issue, and they are working to hopefully get it resolved.

Keep in mind that it's not that the Adobe PDF file is loading. It's bad UI (User Interface) in Internet Explorer 9. if you are in need of a fix, this is the only one that I can offer you based on experience.

Start by Opening Adobe Reader / Acrobat:

1. Open Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat
2. Click on edit at the very top in the toolbar
3. Click on Interent
4. Then go to Preferences Window
5. Finally uncheck Display PDF in Browser

Should you have Internet Explorer Open do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Go to Tools
3. Select Internet Options
4. Go to the Advanced Tab
5. In the Security Section you will need to uncheck Do Not Save Encrypted Pages to Disk.
6. Click Ok, and restart Internet Explorer

I hope this helps, if it does a thank you would be great, if not...leave a comment and I will respond.

0 Comments
Mood: Good
Music: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

david Text Spam from Walmart Shopper (949) 572-8428 May 22nd, 2012 7:39:37 pm - Subscribe

This morning I received my first text spam ever.

The text stated the following +19495728428 (949) 572-8428 - Irvine, CA | 5/14/12 9:18 AM Dear Walmart shopper, your purchase last month won a $1OOO Walmart Gift Card. Click here to claim: www.Wmart*Program.com (quit2end) 9:18 AM

So being the guy I am I go to be page through a proxy only to find a page that is just a ploy for a referral for a Walmart giftcard / credit card.

If this has happened to anyone else please leave a comment so that we could possibly start a complaint page. If you have recieveind any other offers from the wmartprogram.com leave a comment and leave the number that automated the call to you.

As a reminder I created an entry that explains how to stop paper junk mail using your phone. Take a look at it if your tired with all the unsolicited mailings that you receiving via snail mail.

0 Comments
Mood: Unsolicited Mail Sucks
Music: No Music

david How to Stop Paper Junk Mail by Using Your Phone May 12th, 2012 6:33:10 pm - Subscribe

In this entry I explain the my hype with a great iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone called Paper Karma.

So what is Paper Karma?
Paper Karma is a mobile app in which you take a picture of your junk mail (the address) it then get's processed by the awesome people at Paper Karma, and in a week you will be notified by the companies sending you junk mail of being opt'ed out.

So how does this help you? Well first off you will be removed from mail box marketing from these companies. Second, you don't have manage any of these communications. Paper Karma will do this for you.

Some of these companies include, but are not limited to:

Discover Card

ValPak

Comcast

AT&T

ING Direct

Costco

Walmart

Geico

So if you hate unsolicited junk mail like me, give paper Karma at try. What could it hurt? The mobile app is currently free and you can find it in the Apple, Android, and Windows Phone App Store.

External URL
PaperKarma - Control Your Mailbox, Stop Junk Email

0 Comments
Mood: Exhausted
Music: No Music

david Weather Underground 1-Year Premium Membership Nov 24th, 2011 9:49:52 pm - Subscribe

Weather Underground offers a free 1 year premem membership. Use the directions below to redeem.

I have had account with Weather Underground for years, I can tell you the only other sites I check for weather is on Google or iPhone via Yahoo. Love WeatherUnderground!

Weather Underground 1-Year Premium Membership

Click here and register a new account (don't uncheck the membership upgrade box)

you'll receive a confirmation email at the account provided

in that email, click the link or enter the supplied code to verify your account (you can skip the optional info)

agree to the terms of use

at the payment screen, use coupon code "NEH55" to get the membership for free

Should you have an account already, login to your account and go to settings. Once there enter the renewal code above in the membership screen.

1 Comments
Mood: happy
Music: No Music

david How to tell if Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Chrome is 32 BIT or 64BIT Oct 28th, 2011 8:24:17 am - Subscribe

How to tell if Internet Explorer, FireFox, or Chrome is 32 Bit or 64 Bit

Well it took me over 15 mins to find out how for a client if his version of Internet Explorer was 32 Bit or 64 Bit, the funny thing is that it took me that amount of time, and the answer was in front of me.

Here are some areas that I check that will not give tell you if your browser is 32 Bit or 64 Bit.

1. System Folders
2. Add Uninstall a Program
3. System Registry (though may be there, but can be hard to located and a complete waste of time)

So your probably saying to yourself, well just tell us you fool! Well it's located in the task manager! Duh! Who would have thought the task manager would give you the BIT of information you needed.

How To Access the Task Manager

1. Go to start
2. Type in Search for Programs and Files
3. Task Manager

If you are on Windows XP do this

1. Go to start
2. Run
3. Type in taskmgr.exe

Once this is complete go to the processes tab, and move the separator between processes and services to the left to see if the software is *32 bit or *64 bit. If you see nothing, this is because you are not running the program. Pretty damn simple, but I figured it was worth the post since I have not been on my blog in a long time.

2 Comments
Mood: good
Music: No Music

david Droid Razr by Motorola Released Tomorrow Oct 26th, 2011 8:37:35 pm - Subscribe

Seems as though the Droid Razr by Motorola will be released tomorrow. For an iOS user I was wondering if anyone has considered this purchase or would even be interested?

According to the Droid Razr advertisement by Verizon:

quote:
The ultimate power of DROID. The legendary edge of RAZR. Combined to form the world's thinnest 4G LTE smartphone.

• Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS
• Dual-core 1.2 GHz processor
• KEVLAR® strong back plate,
Gorilla® Glass face
• 7.1 mm thin with big 4.3 inch
Super AMOLED Advanced display

So how about it? Personally if I were under the Android system I would defiantly hold out for the Ice Cream Sandwich release of phones. (which was just released 3 to 5 days ago) Are you under contract?

Does any one even care about this release?

0 Comments
Mood: tired
Music: No Music

frost Wrangler Jeans from Wal-Mart Oct 14th, 2011 11:40:12 am - Subscribe

For me, finding a decent pair of jeans at a reasonable price is hard to come by. While I was at my parents house this past winter I decided I would take a trip to Wal-Mart as my recent pair of jeans wore a hole in the knee. I really just needed something for the stay, as I have other jeans (Levi's) at home. I was looking for a pair of jeans $20 or less that would just get me through the week. Well I found a hidden gem at Wal-Mart, which were a pair of Wrangler Jeans. The jeans cost me $14.99 + Tax and have been worth every penny.

Picture of a pair of Wrangler Jeans

The Fit
I am not much for tight fitting jeans, so the pair or wranglers I bought were Boot Cut, Relaxed Fit. They fit great, from the moment I tried them on and even today, they fit great. For the price I could not pass up a pair of jeans that fit that well. I never really considered Wal-Mart to buy my jeans, as I have had other clothing (and shoe) related items I bought from Wal-Mart that just wore out within a week. But I am glad I did not hesitate to buy these Wrangler Jeans.

The Style
Not being a stylish guy, I just like jeans that fit and do not have the "pre holed" designer holes in them (why would I want holes already in my jeans when I wear holes in them myself?). I am more of a simple man who likes a lighter color jean with no fancy design. Wal-mart had a few varieties for me to choose a darker color or a lighter. Although, I really liked both designs, in the end I decided to stick with the lighter color, as it seemed to suit me more.

The Wear and Tear
Well 9 months or so later, I am proud to say that my Wrangler jeans from Wal-Mart are still in tact, holeless and going strong. I tend to wear my clothes into the ground and can be very hard. However, these Wrangler Jeans that I bought from Wal-Mart have lived up to the challenge and still holding up. So the next time you are in the market for a new pair of Jeans, and do not want to spend an arm and a leg on a pair that will only last maybe a year of normal usage, I would suggest going and checking out Wal-Mart's Wrangler jeans, who knows, you may find that you been over spending on Jeans this whole time!

0 Comments
Mood: popular
Music: wrangler, wal-mart, good, style, hard, great, pair, jeans, excellent, strong, sturdy, cheap, affordable, cost, effective

david Amazon offers .EDU Address Free Amazon Prime Oct 3rd, 2011 7:23:41 pm - Subscribe

Amazon is offering free Amazon Prime a $79.00 for free for 12 months. So what does this mean to you? Well, it means you can take advantage of:

1. Free 2 day shipping with Amazon on qualified prime items
2. Free access to Prime Instant Videos which allows you unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies, and TV Shows.

Join Amazon Student for Discount Amazon Prime Information

For those of you who use to have a .EDU address I would recommend going to the website in which you graduated from or use to attend and try to retrieve it. It took me about 15 minutes to re-familiarize myself with the new interface of my college, but now I have access to my old .EDU account.

.EDU accounts can get you other discounts like discounts on hardware, software, tickets, and books. Do yourself a favour an take 15 minutes to go and find yours. Use the link below to get your free prime account

External links
Join Amazon Student for Discount

0 Comments
Mood: good
Music: Jimmy Eats World

david Never lose another form post due to Browser Crash or Website Crash Oct 1st, 2011 11:33:39 pm - Subscribe

This will be a quick entry, but have you ever been to a site like Aeonity and have written out content that took you well over 30 mins + to do, then to have it submitted only to find out that it is lost due to a browser crash or website crash?

Well if so than you need to take a look at Lazarus. I will not go into deals or screenshots this time, only becouse the developer of this great software has them on they're site.

So save yourself the agonly of re-typing all of your content when you lose a form, forum, or blog post with Lazarus.

1 Comments
Mood: sour

frost Setup Network Streaming on the HP Touchpad Sep 23rd, 2011 9:26:47 pm - Subscribe

Ever since I got my HP Touchpad I have been trying to find different uses for it. Today I successfully set up my HP Touchpad to stream Movies, Shows and Audio over my SAMBA share. This is thanks to the guys over at Pre-Central who figured out the Ubuntu Chroot environment. As the first step, you should head over there and work on installing the Chroot environment (I setup the Debian because I prefer that, but either or works).

HP Touchpad

Mounting the SAMBA Share
After the Chroot environment has been installed, go ahead and load it up in Xectuah. Once in you should be in the root directory by default. I made a directory called "Media". Notice the captiol M, since Linux is case sensitive, this will create that directory. There is already a "media" directory, but that tends to be used for other items. I find it best to just do the capital M instead of messing with that directory.

After you have the directory created, you will need to map your SAMBA share. (Note: Windows 7 Shares are different and may not work / need tweaking. I do not have a Windows box, so I will not be posting the directions on doing that). To map the samba share it is a simple command:
mount -t cifs //SERVERIPORHOSTNAME/Share /Media -o username=user,password=pass

Make sure to replace the "Share" with the actual name of the share and set the username/password if you need to. Once that is done, pop out of the card (do not close it). Go into Preware and install TouchPlayer. Open up TouchPlayer and Browse for Media. By default it should open under /media/internals we need to go up one directory and enter into ext3fs. Once in there enter the debian or ubuntu chroot folder (whichever you setup). And then enter the "Media" directory, and as long as the share connected you should be able to stream any file on your server just fine! I have not tried any 720p or 1080p content but it works great for my 480p videos and shows.

And there you have it. You can now easily stream your network media to your Touchpad. I have not tried this from a remote location yet, but I plan to setup an SSHFS or OpenVPN and try to connect to my home network and see how that streams. I figure it will be fine as long as the network can handle it. As always I will report my findings.

Update:
I tried a 720p Video I had, and it is streaming, it is a little choppy, but it does stream. If I come across a 1080p file and try it, I will report how that runs.

Update 2:
I have also found that using SSHFS yields a lot better performance over Samba. So if you have a linux File Server setup with SSH, this is deinfately the way to go. Even better, using the SSHFS remotely over a 1Mbit connection streams the 480p content perfectly. So it has the upside of being able to stream from almost anywhere!

0 Comments
Mood: angsty
Music: hp, touchpad, ubuntu, debian, network, media, stream, streaming, chroot, how to, setup, linux, web os, touchplayer, preware, precentral, tutorial, samba, share

david Belkin offering 50% off All Products with Promo Code Sep 19th, 2011 9:42:30 pm - Subscribe

Belkin is running a great promotion as of Friday offering 50% off of all products with no minimum purchase until September 30th.

If you enjoy Belkin products and shop online, Belkin.com is cutting their prices on all products found on their website. So if you like all accessories for things such iPod's, iPhones, iPad's, tablets, cases, cables, chargers, KVM switches, it's all available!

Who wants to get in on some USB hubs?! FYI stay away from their routers. They are not so hot, your better off with a D-Link or Cisco router.

Use Promo Code:
FB50

0 Comments
Mood: Tired
Music: Tech News Today

frost Pairing iPad Bluetooth Keyboard on HP Touchpad Sep 5th, 2011 3:58:48 pm - Subscribe

During the HP Touchpad firesale, I was one of the lucky people to pick up a 32GB HP Touchpad for $149. For the price you really cannot beat it, especially since the estimated cost of just the Touchpad hardware is $300. Now that I have my Touchpad, I really am not into paying an insane price for an HP specific case / keyboard. So I ventured over to Amazon.com to see what other items were being sold for the iPad 1 (since the iPad 1 has comparable dimensions). I came across a case / bluetooth keyboard set that was $38 shipped and it finally came!

Getting the Keyboard to Work
The real point of this blog is to help others pair a Bluetooth Keyboard (of any time whether it be from Dell, Microsoft or Apple) to the HP Touchpad. The process threw me off guard because most Bluetooth keyboards pairs ask you to type a key on the keyboard itself instead of asking for a pair key. This threw me through a loop. I searched all I could to figure out how I could get the keyboard to pair, fearing that I would have to bog down and return this nice case and buy an HP specific setup, until I decided to try something that I did not even think would work and to my surprise it worked.

The Process
Edit: Thanks to anonymous comment, it was found that a 1 numerical code is all you need.

The process is simple. When you pair the Bluetooth Keyboard to the touchpad it will ask for a passkey, enter any 1 numerical code (I just used 1). After you do that, and the icons are spinning and it says, "Pairing" enter the same passcode used on the Bluetooth keyboard Edit: and then press the enter key on the keyboard (thanks to anonymous for correcting that). Voila, you now have your Apple, Microsoft or Dell type Bluetooth keyboard working with the HP Touchpad. Now you can use your Touchpad for other items much easier!

Yay, it worked!
I was so excited to get this working, and relieved that I did not have to go through an RMA process and spend more money for an HP Specific Bluetooth keyboard. Hopefully you find this entry useful and easy to follow. If you have any other tips, please let me know.

EDIT: For those wondering about how the HP Touchpad fits into this iPad case, the fit is nearly perfect. Nothing is blocked all buttons and ports are available and the screen fits everything. It is a little tight at first, but either or it works great!

19 Comments
Mood: forsaken
Music: connect, connecting, connection, ipad, tablet, touchpad, hp, 32gb, pairing, bluetooth, keyboard, pairing, howto, cheap, price, apple, dell, microsoft, work, specific, tip

david San Antonio Donate to Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes Aug 13th, 2011 9:42:36 pm - Subscribe

Donate to Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes. I donated for my friend Melissa Cagle, so can you.

quote:
Thank you for your generous support of Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, benefiting the American Diabetes Association. Your donation will help fund research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; deliver services to hundreds of communities; provide objective and credible information; and give voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes.

Thanks to your support we can make a difference in the lives of over 25 million Americans living with diabetes.

Together we can Stop Diabetes. One step at a time.

Your American Diabetes Association
Event/Donation Form:
San Antonio, TX

In Support Of: Melissa Cagle
Date: Aug 13, 2011 9:37:28 PM
Amount: $X

Tracking Code: xxxx-xxxx-x-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx

Note: Your gift is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Donate here
San Antonio Donate to Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes

1 Comments
Mood: happy
Music: No Music

frost Hypothyroid Update: Current Medication Aug 12th, 2011 11:23:02 pm - Subscribe

For the past 5 years I have been battling an auto-immune disease that attacks the Thyroid, called Hashimoto's disease. Since I am not an expert by any means on Thyroid diseases, I will let you do the research on that, but the basic gist is my auto-immune system attacks my which causes my T3 and T4 levels (also recorded as TSH levels) to be low and causes a ton of side affects to my body, such as weight gain, numbness, hair loss, fatigue, and many other symptoms. I found my thyroid problem when I was having Body Numbness back in 2006 and forced a doctor to check my Thyroid levels, as my genetic line has had a history of Thyroid problems. Low and behold, my TSH levels were dangerously low. Well 5 years later, I am doing better, still not my old self, but that could be for a number of reasons, including the Thyroid. But what I really want to talk about is my experiences with the different Thyroid Medication I have been on for the past 5 years and how they made me feel, so lets get to it!

Levothyroxin
On Levothyroxin, which was the original thyroid medicine I started taking, I was feeling great. It took about 3 years to fine tune it and the .88 dose was where it was at. Well it figures that right after we get the Thyroid medicine fine tuned, and I am actually feeling normal and like myself for the first time in years, they stop making the medicine. I had maybe 3 months of joy until my prescription for the drug Levothyroxin could not be filled anymore due to it not being produced. This was extremely depressing for me, as I felt great on Levothyroxin. Well it figures. I guess talking with my Doctor it is not uncommon for non-brand names to stop producing a pill on the whim, either due to the economy or not enough demand for the product. Now I needed to find a new brand to help get my thyroid under control. Thinking that I would go with a major brand name, I decided to try Synthroid next.

Brand Name Synthroid
Perhaps the most popular thyroid drug of choice is Brand name Synthroid. I started Synthroid after my Levothyroxin was no longer being produced. The first 3 months on Synthroid was hell. Since we were switching prescriptions my Doctor wanted me to come back in 3 months. Well I was glad that we had an appointment so close (its usually 6 months to 1 year checkups). On Synthroid, the best way to describe how I felt was I just wanted to rip off my skin and crawl out of it. It was pain to just get up by 8:00am let alone stay awake all day and then finally trying to have the energy to do anything outside of sleeping / sitting on the couch. Synthroid did not bode well with me, and perhaps if I had stayed with it for a bit longer my body would have adjusted, but to me it was not worth the time to try. Once my Doctor found out how I had been feeling he immediately gave me a few options of medicines to choose from and I chose Levoxyl. He said it would be the next closest thing to Levothyroxin so I decided to try it.

Levoxyl
I am currently on .75 Levoxyl and I can say that I may not feel the best all the time, and I still have problems with fatigue and getting up in the morning, but it does feel a ton better than Synthroid did. I am pleased with Levoxyl, although it took about 2 years to get the dosage tweaked. Since I was still feeling tired I wanted to try something different, so my last checkup in May I asked to be put on Cytomel, it is a T3 synthetic thyroid drug. The Cytomel is suppose to give you a quick energy boost, unlike the T4 which can take weeks or even months to start taking affect, Cytomel is generally instant. Well unfortunately for me, Cytomel really has not made much of a difference for me and I am probably going to go off of Cytomel after my next checkup. However, my Levoxyl is still working decent, if I could just get more energy I would be extremely happy. That left me doing a bit of research, as I know my vitamin levels are below normal I decided to look into what vitamins may help with my Thyroid levels.

Vitamins I am Currently Taking for Thyroid
Taking Vitamins on Thyroid, in general are fine (consult your Doctor) as long as they are 4 hours before or after you take your Thyroid pill. I have heard from friends and from online forums that there are a few Vitamins that can help your thyroid and give you a bit of an energy boost. From that I gathered that taking Selenium, Vitamin B, Vitamin E and Vitamin D, can all play an essential role in assisting with giving you more energy and removing "the fog". I have been on my Vitamin Regime for the past 2 months and I can say it has definitely helped. I do think clearer, I have a bit more energy and the best part is I think more rationally. For $45 every 90 days that is a small price to pay for feeling better. I plan on talking to my Doctor more about this next visit and maybe get a prescription written for some of the vitamins, so my FSA account can cover it. If you do have a Hypothyroid and need more energy or help clearing the fog, I would suggest talking to your Doctor about those vitamins, as they may help you.

The End
Well ending it up, I have had my ups and downs over the past 5 years. I am finally on something that seems to be working somewhat decent. I am still about 20-30lbs overweight and trying to lose that. With the extra energy I am getting I am starting to hike each weekend 9+ miles, and hopefully that will help kick start my weight loss. The vitamins do seem to help, its not like a night / day change, but I do notice a difference in my mood and my energy. Hopefully this can help you a bit if you do have a Thyroid problem.

0 Comments
Mood: uninspired
Music: hypothyroid, thyroid, graves, disease, synthroid, levothyroid, levoxyl, expert, issues, hashimoto, immune, numbness, body, levels, tsh, problems, solution, immune, help

frost Running Google Music Beta on a Headless Linux Jul 28th, 2011 10:25:23 pm - Subscribe

Having received a Google Music Beta invite and finding out that Google Music Beta supports linux, I decided to venture down the path of getting Google Music Beta to run on my headless Linux Server as a daemon. In an attempt to not have to copy my music off of my RAID Array just to upload it to Google. Luckily this process was actually really easy. My server is Debian based, so the instructions are for a Debian based Linux server (Ubuntu distros should work as well). The first thing to do is to download Google Music Beta Linux version. There is a .deb or .rpm, since this is for a Debian based distro I opted for the .deb. I have heard rumors that in order to get the Linux download file, you need to have a Linux User Agent setup in your browser. If you are not using Linux, google your browser and how to change the User Agent. I have provided an Agent string that should work: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.4) Gecko/2008102920 Firefox/3.0.4 (Splashtop-v1.0.5.0) Let me know of any problems with it and I will find another one.

Installing the Google Music Beta Manager
The first step will be to obviously install Google Music Beta Manager, this will require a few pre-requisites on the Server. Since my system is headless the main package that needed to be installed was X11 (I already had X11 installed for other items I do on my headless linux server). If you do not have X11 installed, the process may take some time to install, so be patient with it. Next I ssh'ed in to install few extra packages that are required by Google Music Manager Beta. Running a: sudo apt-get install libqtgui4 libqt4-network libvorbisfile3 xdg-utils should install the packages required. Once those are installed, cd to where you downloaded the Google Music Beta Manager to on the server (I used wget to download the .deb) and since I have a 32 bit system, I grabbed that version, here is a link (this may break at anytime and could change, so I would suggest getting the link from Google Music Beta's site.: wget http://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-musicmanager-beta_current_i386.deb. Now that the file is on my server and the pre-requisites have been installed, it is time to install Google Music Manager Beta! Luckily this is pretty simple: sudo dpkg -i google-musicmanager-beta_current_i386.deb (again that may change if you are on x64 or a different distro so use that file name instead). Now Google Music Manager is installed, but how will we access the interface on the headless?

Accessing Google Music Manager Beta on Headless
Of course, if you do not want to run Google Music Manager Beta as a daemon (running the background) then all you have to do is setup X11 forwarding over SSH and you can stop reading here (ssh -X servername), however, if you want to leave it running as a daemon like process, we have to get a bit more creative than that. First up let's install the pre-requisites for this part. sudo apt-get install xvfb Xvfb is a VNC server, which we can setup on a headless linux as a display and run the Google Music Manager Beta inside of it. Once that is installed, we will want to create a bash script, the script is very simple:

Edit: Thanks to anonymous, I updated this with a cool option so you do not have to vnc in and enter your password! Thanks again!

#!/bin/bash
export DISPLAY=:2
Xvfb :2 -screen 0 1024x768x16 &
google-musicmanager -p mypassword &
x11vnc -display :2 -bg -nopw -listen localhost -xkb

I named the file googlemusic.sh. After that I did a chmod +x googlemusic.sh to make it executable. Once that has been done, I simple did a ./googlemusic.sh When this runs you will see a lot of output on the screen, do not worry about it. Press enter and you should be back at the command line. A ps aux | grep google should tell you if google-musicmanager is running. Edited instructions, given the -p command line option. If it is, then let's exit out of the server's ssh connection and get back to your desktop. Since I run a Debian Linux box, I installed xvnc4viewer: sudo apt-get install xvnc4viewer. Once that was done I just needed to create an ssh tunnel for the 5900 port. ssh -p 9450 -fCNL 5900:localhost:5900 server.name This will be ran in the background of the desktop (this can also be done in PuTTY, see the instructions here). Now that we have the 5900 port tunneled, it is a simple vncviewer localhost and now you should see the Google Music Manager Beta asking you for your username and password. Go ahead and enter it in and follow the setup procedure. Once it is done, you can close the VNC session and Google Music Manager Beta will continue to run in the background on your server!

Notes
After doing this myself I learned a couple items. Edited instructions, given the -p command line option. One, you seem to have to always authenticate manually to Google Music Manager Beta. This is annoying, so if you do add the googlemusic.sh file to the start up, remember to VNC in to login to Google Music Manager Beta after the fact. If you are on Windows, using a program like UltraVNC Viewer, you should be able to connect if you setup the SSH Tunnel over port 5900 via PuTTY (or using cygwin). Other than that, your music should be set to auto upload (as long as you told it to upload new music) and it should start transferring music, then when you buy music and add it to the folder, it should automatically upload that music as well. I have found after I have disconnected from the initial VNC session I need to re-run the command: x11vnc -display :2 -bg -nopw -listen localhost -xkb in order to connect back up to the VNC session, just a little tidbit that had me confused for a few minutes.

Finished
That is pretty much it. Hopefully Google offers a Command Line Interface mode or daemon option in the future for the Music Manager in Linux, that would be awesome and extremely helpful. If Google does not well at least the method I described above should work just fine. If you have any tips, problems, etc please let me know, I am all about improving the article and getting a better performance for myself as well. For now, enjoy your Google Music Manager Beta running on a headless Linux server!

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Mood: carefree
Music: google, music, beta, manager, linux, headless, daemon, automatic, run, vnc, server, command, line, cli, x11, xserver, x windows, setup, howto, tutorial

frost Crash Plan Remote Computer Server Personal Backup Jul 13th, 2011 5:57:39 pm - Subscribe

A few months ago I was in dire need of a way to backup my server, effortlessly and efficiently, as a down server does not generate any income! Since the server is running headless (meaning no monitor attached to it and it had no X Server), the backup software needed to support Linux headless. A friend of mine turned me onto CrashPlan Backup Software, I was intrigued and did a bit of research. The research turned up great results and CrashPlan appeared to be the backup solution that my server required. I decided try the 30-day trial of CrashPlan Pro, as I wanted a Central Backup for my files. Setting up CrashPlan on Linux was pretty effortless (at least for me), just had to download the binary file from CrashPlan and run it on my server. The next step was a bit more difficult, accessing the CrashPlan interface to setup the backups on my Headless Server. Although it took some reading with trials and errors, once I figured it out, I have never second guessed the $5/month I spend on CrashPlan Pro to make sure my server stays backed up. In fact CrashPlan has saved me a few times from stupid mistakes.

Setting up CrashPlan Pro on a Headless Linux Server
The CrashPlan Backup Software setup on a Linux Headless server was actually pretty simple. Once the backup program software has been installed you need to install CrashPlan Software on your personal computer, as the method to access CrashPlan remotely requires an SSH Tunnel over a port, which will give access to the CrashPlan daemon running on your server. If you have ever setup SSH Tunnel's it is a fairly straight forward process. Basically you will take a local port on your own computer, setup the CrashPlan on your computer to use that port, which then connects to port on the server that the server's CrashPlan backup software is running on.

However, before we can tunnel the port we need to make a change to the %CrashPlanInstallDIR%/conf/ui.properties file. Go ahead and open that file up (remember to change the first portion in %'s to be the actual path) and we need to edit the portion that says: #servicePort=4243. Remove the # sign from that line, and then change the port to what you feel like. Just make sure the port is above 1000. I just changed the 4243 to be 4244. The final step is creating a simple SSH Tunnel: ssh -L 4244:localhost:4243 %YourRemoteServerInfo% The 4243 port is the port that the CrashPlan daemon is running on at the server, so be sure to modify that if you setup CrashPlan to run on a different port. Now just open up CrashPlan Backup Software locally and it should be pointing to your server, and you can now setup the backups how you want!

Restoring Files from CrashPlan Pro Backup
Unfortunately, I have had to restore a few files, even a database from the CrashPlan Pro Backup my server does. This was actually a very easy system to use, if you are using the Software with the port Tunneled, you can have it restore the backup right to your server. However, I was not using the CrashPlan Backup Software over a Tunnel and needed to restore a file (as I was on a different computer). The CrashPlan Web Interface, although lacking a bit in functionality, provided me the means to download the file to my local computer, where I was able to SCP (Secure Copy) the file to my server and have it restored within minutes. The Web Interface saved me a huge hassle of trying to find a good backup of the file, which would have taken hours. Fortunately, CrashPlan also versions the file. So even if the backup has overwritten the latest file, you can still go back to clean version of the file by date! A major advantage for when you accidentally copy the wrong file over and overwrite the good file. Needless to say, this made me happy and completely justified the money I spent on the CrashPlan Pro backup!

Want a Means to Backup Amongst Friends?
CrashPlan offers it Backup Software free of charge. What comes with the free version of CrashPlan? Well you can easily setup a cluster with your friends and backup to them, and vice versa. CrashPlan allows you to do backups from Computer -> Computer effortlessly and easily. This feature is extremely handy, especially for families, where their data is not necessarily important enough to do a Central Backup, but want it backed up remotely else where. You just install the software on your families computer and your computer, and viola, you can easily synchronize files between the two (pictures and such) and everyone can have a backup of everyone else's data in case of a fire, flood, hardware crash, or any other type of disaster you can think of. I am extremely impressed that CrashPlan allows you to use their software, free of charge, to backup to other people, friends and family. As well as being a reasonable price for a Central Backup of your highly important data.

Overall
If you cannot tell yet, I am extremely satisfied with CrashPlan's Backup Software and Backup Solution as a whole. It puts my mind at ease, in case of any hardware failures, human mishaps or even natural disasters, knowing that I can easily get my data back and restored. The CrashPlan service has many benefits, one is perhaps a "Send us a harddrive we will copy your data and send it back" system, it costs quite a bit of money to do, but if you need your data back as soon as possible, this option eases your mind a bit more, as you can get your data back up and running in a matter of a day (if overnighted) vs multiple days of file transfers. The multiple options of retrieving and uploading data the CrashPlan offers, mixed in with being able to backup to friends and family, really sets CrashPlan apart from most backup software and to me puts CrashPlan as a must have in my book.

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Mood: obscene
Music: cheap, backup, remote, friends, computer, pc, server, linux, headless, effortless, easy, tunnel, ssh, crash, plan, crashplan, remote, easy, web, web interface, storage, setup, help, central, central backup, software, solution, review, simple, low cost, co

david iPad Case & Holder for Kids Jul 4th, 2011 10:10:16 pm - Subscribe

I have 3 kids, 2 of them that would love to have an iPad and 1 that still sees in shapes. (newborn).

I was thinking to myself today...what would be an ideal case for them?What would make me as an iPad owner feel ad-ease if they were to drop it or spill something on it. I came across 3 products by 3 separate companies that I feel would make the cut, but in no way have I tried any of there products. I have requested to all 3 companies a review unit, but I await a response. (contacted today)

1. iPad Case that can with stand a fall or drop.

2. iPad Case that can with stand a spill from milk, juice, or any other type of liquid

3. iPad Case that is at the same time still safe for a child.

Ok so is this asking for to much? Personally I thought it was, and it would shock me to think that if any of these products could with stand number 2. Well here we go, here are 3 iPad Case and Holders for Kids that I can suggest, but not recommend since I have not tried them myself.

1. iGuy Standing Cover for iPad and iPad 2 Fun, free-standing kid-friendly iPad and iPad 2 case Lightweight foam protection with plenty of personality Fits both iPad and iPad 2

2. Trident Kraken Hybrid Case for iPad iPad Unsurpassed Level of Protection Ergonomically Designed for Comfortable Hold Anti-Scratch, Anti-Glare, Anti-Moisture Clear PET Screen Protector Anti-Dust Design with Dust and Silicone Covers for All Openings

3. Otterbox iPad 2 Defender Case OtterBox APL2-IPAD2 accommodates Apple iPad 2 INNER LAYER: Hi-impact polycarbonate shell, OUTER LAYER: Durable silicone skin Access for docking accessories through integrated dock door, Inner coring in silicone absorbs additional impact Memory foam pads cradle the iPad inside case and provide additional shock absorption Integrated shield fits on both back and front of case. Shield stand provides two angles for easy viewing and typing.

If I had to choose from the 3 it would have to be the Otterbox. Only because I have seen an iPhone encased in one, and run over by a SUV, but right now it is hard for me to make a recommendation since I have not tried any of them. Has anyone else?

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Mood: good
Music: No Music