Cisco IPSec Support in Debian Linux (vpnc)

Procedure to install and use vpnc on Ubuntu
1. Install the vpnc service and GUI components via a Terminal

sudo apt-get install vpnc network-manager-vpnc network-manager-vpnc-gnome

2. Use the Network Connections Applet to create a new VPN Profile.
You may also import pcf files from a previous Cisco IPSec client install on Windows/MAC OS.

The Gateway is the hostname/IP address of your headend
The Group name is the tunnel-group/crypto isakmp client group configured on the Cisco Headend.
The Group password is the password associated with the Group.
In the Optional Section enter your username, and Domain if needed. This may require trial and error.
Encryption Method/ NAT traversal, I would try defaults...but if they don't work some trial and error might also be necessary

3. Use the Gnome Notification Area Network Management Icon to select and connect to the VPN. Also use the same section to disconnect when done.

How to build pianobar in Ubuntu, easiest way using ubuntu development packages

sudo apt-get install git-core libmad0-dev libfaad-dev libao-dev gnutls-dev

mkdir git
cd git

git clone https://github.com/PromyLOPh/pianobar.git

cd pianobar

make
sudo make install

The make install will install the application after building so that any user can type pianobar into the shell and launch it from a common location.

More details can be found here in case you want to be fancier and not install libmad or libfaad. You will need one of the two.

libmad is an audio decoder supporting MPEG-1, MPEG-2, as well as the de facto MPEG 2.5 format. Layers I, II, III (i.e. MP3) fully implemented.
libfaad is is an open source MPEG-4 and MPEG-2 AAC decoder
libao is a cross platform audio output library

Ubuntu 11.10, hate it?

Why is Ubuntu destroying all of my existing functionality and utility in each new Ubuntu release?

1. Synergy is a core requirement for me. I have it setup to run at boot through GDM...but 11.10 changes to LightDM and I see no way to configure lightDM to run synergy for me. So I needed to find a keyboard, attach it to the box I have managed solely via syergy for the last two years, since 9.04 and login manually.

Fix to restore dgm

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/07/how-to-switch-between-gdm-lightdm-or.html

2. I had to again change from Unity to ubuntu classic after 11.04 I made the same change.

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/08/installing-using-classic-gnome-desktop.html

3. The inability to boot for some people is awesome too.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1859799

4. Global Menu is shit. In Mac OS X it is okay...but this just doesn't work for me.

http://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/how-to-disable-global-menu-in-ubuntu-11-10-tip/

I Give up on Ubuntu 11.x, going to re-install with 10.04 LTS and then evaluate other Distros as replacements.

Ubuntu 11.04 if you hate the new scrollbars

There are two solutions provided below on how to rest back to the 10.10 srollbar style.

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/04/how-to-disable-overlay-scrollbars-in.html

I used

sudo su
echo "export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0" > /etc/X11/Xsession.d/80overlayscrollbars

Ubuntu FF7 beta PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-next
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Obviously when 7.0 comes out officially this firefox-next PPA will be for 8.0

Did I mention that I dislike this new numbering scheme?

Duke Nukem Forever First Thoughts

My Close friends will know that I went to E3 a couple weeks ago. While there I got my first taste of the gameplay for Duke Nukem Forever (DNF), released by 2K Games after an extended development by 3D Realms, Triptych Games, Piranha Games, and finally Gearbox software.

At E3 I really enjoyed the fast paced Capture the Flag...err Babe mode. It is a little odd that the ultimate badass can only cary two weapons but, I chalked that up to the modern style of games that only give you 1/2 slots. Anyway my team won and I killed a good number of gamers and scored with multiple babes.

Recently I was able to get my hands on the DNF demo and played the two levels provided. Both levels were very linear. The first one killing the big alien with rockets was boring as all you need to do was fire and strafe...then pickup the rocket drops. The second level, the required Vehicle section of all games today, felt like driving a remote control car and the scripted Out of Gas was annoying as it doesn't take into considering anything around how you drove.

Now onto the enemies. In this demo we get three enemies. Big ass alien Cyclops (easy), the Pig Cop, and some little alien scuttlers. My main question is, why do the pigmen no longer wear police uniforms? The police uniforms were one of the Duke staples of irreverent silly comedy. Below find pictures to compare

Original Pig Cop	DNF Pig Cop

The other issue is that the pig cops blend into the background of the level since they are grey/yellowish-brown and so is the sand.

Just some first thoughts. 2K will eventually get my money and I will probably enjoy this game but it will feel like a mashup of other better games.

Synergy+ + Synergy = Synergy-FOSS

Synergy is not dead...if you wish to control multiple computers from one keyboard and mouse via a local network Synergy is your friend. Check it out

http://synergy-foss.org/

Where did Synergy+ go?

Synergy+ and Synergy have now merged! We'll still be using the old synergy-plus source code repository and mailing lists (there's no reason to migrate away). A bit of history for the newcomers... Chris Schoeneman created the original version of Synergy, but temporarily stopped development in 2006. Since the demand for updates was so massive, Synergy+ was started by Sorin Sbârnea and Nick Bolton in 2009 to provide support and bug fixes. While maintaining version 1, we are also working on version 2, which will see more stable support for newer operating system versions.

Upgrade Firefox in Ubuntu 10 to Firefox 4

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1712247

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade or sudo apt-get install firefox ubufox

This repository provides the current mozilla release of firefox, in this case Firefox 4.0.

Bonus: I have seen others complain, and so have I, that the ubuntu language packs get stuck on firefox, are not compatible with 4.0, and are just useless.

To remove these you can remove the langpack directories (using root privileges) from
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/extensions

cd /usr/lib/firefox-addons/extensions
sudo rm -rf *langpack*

Please keep in mind this may be removing more than just the old 3.6 language packs. Please be careful and understand what you are doing before doing this.

Why don't electronics manufactures provide firmware changelogs?

Just a quick editorial. I currently own a Samsung BDP-1590 Blu-ray player, and a Vizio XVT553SV Television. When I boot these devices up, just like all modern home theater electronics with Internet access, they check to ensure I am running the latest firmware. If I am not currently running the latest firmware they will 1) Ask if I would like to upgrade (Samsung) or 2) will upgrade immediately (Vizio) without a choice. While I will 99.999% of the time allow the upgrade I do like Samsung's request to upgrade better than Vizio's. But, this is not the core of my editorial.

Everytime one of these firmware upgrades is done I wonder, "What is being changed?" I work for a major Networking company, and anytime we release a new version of code we also put out release-notes. I wonder where these release-notes/changelogs are with regards to the Samsung's, Vizio's, Sony's, Panasonic's...etc is. It would be nice to know what the upgrade will do, and what if any new features I should test after the upgrade.

Major electronics manufacturers, can we please get a publicly reviewable list of the changes in each firmware? It would be very nice, for those of us who care about out products, to know exactly what bugs should be fixed and what new features are introduced. If we know what was changed we can better understand our products and should be able to get the most out of our investment. This shadowy upgrade process that is currently used does not instill confidence in the products or your company. I for one would hold you in even higher esteme if I could point to these changelog documents and say, yes they found the issue I notice and fixed it...or just to say, hey look a new feature, I wonder what that does.

Just my thoughts as a technical expert in computers and home theater electronics enthusiast.

Vizio Theater 3D

Vizio, a USA based budget friendly TV manufacture, is releasing 3D TVs using what they call "Theater 3D". This is a Passive 3D technology which works in a similar fashion to a theater. Instead of using the bulky, and expensive, active glasses which many other manufacturers are using, the Vizio technique is to do the same light polarization as is done in theaters. The big difference, and problem, is that with the TV you must use half the lines for the right eye, and half for the left eye, thus dropping the verticle resolution of your media from 1080 lines to 540 lines. The resulting softness in the image will be a deal breaker for many...but will the cost reduction and simplicity be enough to curry favor with many?

I think that they will need a fix/workaround by making new LCD pannels which provide 1920x2160 resolutions (double the vertical resolution) and line double for normal (2D content) should look the same to the end user, but use this double vertical resolution so that when we run 3D we keep the same 1080 lines of resolution for both eyes....I am not sure how well this would work...just an idea.

Please note that Vizio has both Active and Passive style 3D TVs so just be sure to evaluate all of your options when deciding on a new TV as Vizio still might provide a TV which will match your desired quality with 3D and your budget.

For now it looks like Active Shutter is still the way to go as it continues to provide crisper images with higher resolution. Just my 2 cents.