acrylic on paper 7x10" sold
something a bit different for you to end the year,
a WW1 dogfight,
American Ace Raymond Brooks in his Spad XIII
taking on a bunch of Fokker DVII's
happy new 2010 folks!
How To Lower Car Payments?
I have seen more customers lower their car payments in December than ever before. It is easier to lower your payment at the end of the year because of the HUGE rebates and incentives on vehicles.
Is it possible to Lower Your Car Payments? Let me tell you the easiest way to find out. Go to Yahoo! Autos
and pick the vehicle you are most interested in and get your FREE PRICE QUOTE. Put your contact information, select ALL DEALERS to get the best quote, then sit back and wait for the best price to be delivered to your email. The quotes will include all rebates and incentives that are currently available. Now, you pick the lowest price and contact that dealer with your trade in information. Tell them what it would take to trade, LOWER PAYMENTS!!!
Many customers are looking to lower their payments this time of year so dealers know how to make this happen. Get FREE quotes from Yahoo! Autos
and see how to make your wishes come true. This beats driving from dealer to dealer and sitting all day to find out that your payments are going up! Let dealers fight for your business for a change and you will be in the drivers seat, Literally! Go into the New Year with a Newer vehicle with a Lower Payment and remember, December 31st is the last day of the year and dealers are very eager to end strong so don't hesitate, go to Yahoo! Autos
NOW!!! This is a Totally FREE service thru Yahoo, you can thank me later.
Subscribe to Car Buying Tips To Save You Money by Email
Is it possible to Lower Your Car Payments? Let me tell you the easiest way to find out. Go to Yahoo! Autos
Many customers are looking to lower their payments this time of year so dealers know how to make this happen. Get FREE quotes from Yahoo! Autos
Subscribe to Car Buying Tips To Save You Money by Email
Revell 2010-first half year releases
These three slot cars will be released by Revell in the first half of 2010.
85-4829 Lola T-70 MKII #98 Parnelli Jones
85-4836 Ford Fairlane #29 Dick Hutcherson
85-4838 McLaren M6A #5 Dennis Hulme
85-4829 Lola T-70 MKII #98 Parnelli Jones
85-4836 Ford Fairlane #29 Dick Hutcherson
85-4838 McLaren M6A #5 Dennis Hulme
January 2010 New Years Car Rebates And Incentives
January car Rebates and Incentives could not be as good as the last few days of the end of 2009! 2009 will be the largest push to gain market share for all manufactures like Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Dodge and even for Hyundai, Kia, Suzuki, Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW. There is a HUGE push to gain the last few sales of 2009. I have heard the phrase over and over this past week, "WHATEVER IT TAKES, WE WILL NOT MISS A DEAL!!!"
If you are in the market to buy a vehicle, whether it be car or truck or even SUV, NOW IS THE TIME!!! You will be surprised at the deep discounts and Manufacturer Incentives. Now, if you are like me and do not have the time to go from dealer to dealer to find the deals, I will let you in on a secret. The easiest way to get the best deal between now and New Years Day is to Get FREE quotes from Yahoo! Autos
This will be the easiest deal you have ever made. Because here is how it works. Internet Shoppers are growing at a HUGE rate and dealers are aware they are shopping many dealers. You will get the best deal possible if you go thru Yahoo! Autos
Just enter your zip code, pick your vehicle of choice, enter your contact information, and make sure to select ALL DEALERS! This will make ALL your local dealers FIGHT for your business! Even if you already know which dealer you will buy from, KEEP THEM HONEST! Get quotes from all your local dealers delivered directly to your email. If you do not have a preferred dealer, pick the lowest price. Easy as that, you just saved thousands for a few mouse clicks.
The quicker you get your quotes the better because the closeout of 2009 will be like no other, trust me! I bet if you have been to a dealer recently and received a price and visit Yahoo! Autos now, you will be surprised how much you will save. When you shop from the Internet, dealers do realize they have pretty much one shot and will throw everything they have at it. You will also find out any extra incentives that may not be advertised and may even get some extra incentives from some dealers like free maintenance plans, etc. It is FREE to get your quotes so why wait. Oh, and be sure to bookmark my site so you can come back and tell me how much you saved. I might even be surprised. Good luck and happy New Years early, hope this helps you drive into the new year with a new vehicle.
Subscribe to Car Buying Tips To Save You Money by Email
If you are in the market to buy a vehicle, whether it be car or truck or even SUV, NOW IS THE TIME!!! You will be surprised at the deep discounts and Manufacturer Incentives. Now, if you are like me and do not have the time to go from dealer to dealer to find the deals, I will let you in on a secret. The easiest way to get the best deal between now and New Years Day is to Get FREE quotes from Yahoo! Autos
The quicker you get your quotes the better because the closeout of 2009 will be like no other, trust me! I bet if you have been to a dealer recently and received a price and visit Yahoo! Autos
Subscribe to Car Buying Tips To Save You Money by Email
NSR Sunoco Porsche 917
Updated with new pix of the cars:
These news NSR Porsche 917K's in Sunoco colors can be won! If you enter organize or enter a local NSR National Qualifier race in the US or Canada. NSR has made only 140 of these special cars. They're serial numbered and clubs having an NSR qualifier will be able to purchase 3 of these cars are a discounted price. They will be award also to the top 3 finishers at the NSR National Final race at Great Traditions in Philly in March 2010. If you'd like to host an NSR race you can contact Great Traditions to set up a regional race by calling (267)250-1735.
These news NSR Porsche 917K's in Sunoco colors can be won! If you enter organize or enter a local NSR National Qualifier race in the US or Canada. NSR has made only 140 of these special cars. They're serial numbered and clubs having an NSR qualifier will be able to purchase 3 of these cars are a discounted price. They will be award also to the top 3 finishers at the NSR National Final race at Great Traditions in Philly in March 2010. If you'd like to host an NSR race you can contact Great Traditions to set up a regional race by calling (267)250-1735.
digiKam 1.1 Planned for the End of January 2010
Only a few days have passed since digiKam 1.0 was released to the delight of its users, and the developers already announced that version 1.1 will be available by the end of January 2009. According to the official announcement, digiKam 1.1 will be a bugfix release to the stable 1.x series.
digiKam is a powerful, open-source photo management application for KDE 4, which has support for various image manipulation plugins, importing or exporting photos, and organising your entire photographies in collections sorted by albums.
The announcement also asks for digiKam users to submit splash screens for the next version of digiKam. From the article: "So, time has come to find the ideal splash-screens to go with it. Now is your chance to join the ranks of the precious few who have had their artwork associated with a release of digiKam!"
For compiling and installing digiKam in Ubuntu 9.10 see this post.
3 Wonderful Open-Source Games to Install After Installing Ubuntu
Battle for Wesnoth
Battle for Wesnoth is one of the most popular turn-based strategy games for Linux, if not the most popular. Completely free and open-source, it provides both singleplayer campaigns, as well as online multiplayer, hotseat or LAN support. The game takes place over various maps composed from hexes, and in each hex a unit at a time can be deployed. The player has to take advantage of various terrain types (which increase or decrease defence), use wisely the types of attack and abilities each unit has. Wesnoth currently comes with 6 factions (Loyalists, Rebels, Knalgan Alliance, Undead, Northerners and Drakes), but the add-on server has a whole bunch of custom eras and new factions.
Scripting is handled in Wesnoth by WML, the Wesnoth Markup Language, which allows for building entire scenarios and campaigns.
Wesnoth is in a continuous change, with every new release bringing more features and gameplay innovation. The current stable release is 1.6.5, but soon 1.8 will be out, and it will include new unit portraits, WML (Wesnoth Markup Language) improvements, updated campaigns and more. 1.8 will also allow the user to directly upload user-made campaigns and scenario from in-game add-ons menu.
To install Wesnoth in Ubuntu, type in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install wesnoth
SuperTux
SuperTux is a 2D jump and run Mario clone, with the difference that it uses its own maps, enemies, and the main character is... you guessed, Tux, the story taking place in Antarctica. It is licensed under the GPL and it is free of charge. SuperTux has very nice graphics, especially since it has support for software and OpenGL rendering, 26 levels and 9 types of enemies.
Except for the official website, there is also a fansite for SuperTux, with screenshots, user-made maps and a forum.
To Install SuperTux in Ubuntu, type in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install supertux
World of Padman
When it comes to Linux shooter games, there isn't only one choice. Games like Nexuiz, OpenArena or Sauerbraten were a good fit here too, but I decided upon World of Padman.
Based on the Quake 3 engine, World of Padman is a fun, cartoon-style first-person shooter with maps, weapons and characters inspired from the Padman series. It features nice, colourful graphics, popular modes like FFA, TDM or CTF, and weapons which will definitely make you laugh the first time you'll see them.
Although it is not included in the repositories, WoP can be easily installed like this:
- download the Linux installer and Linux patch installer from here
- make them executables:
chmod 755 padman.run
chmod 755 wop_patch_1_2.run
- and install both of them, padman.run (or worldofpadman.run, depending on the name of the file) first, and then wop_patch_1_2.run:
./padman.run
./wop_patch_1_2.run
Updated: Jan 2, 2010
Battle for Wesnoth is one of the most popular turn-based strategy games for Linux, if not the most popular. Completely free and open-source, it provides both singleplayer campaigns, as well as online multiplayer, hotseat or LAN support. The game takes place over various maps composed from hexes, and in each hex a unit at a time can be deployed. The player has to take advantage of various terrain types (which increase or decrease defence), use wisely the types of attack and abilities each unit has. Wesnoth currently comes with 6 factions (Loyalists, Rebels, Knalgan Alliance, Undead, Northerners and Drakes), but the add-on server has a whole bunch of custom eras and new factions.
Wesnoth 1.6.5
Scripting is handled in Wesnoth by WML, the Wesnoth Markup Language, which allows for building entire scenarios and campaigns.
Wesnoth is in a continuous change, with every new release bringing more features and gameplay innovation. The current stable release is 1.6.5, but soon 1.8 will be out, and it will include new unit portraits, WML (Wesnoth Markup Language) improvements, updated campaigns and more. 1.8 will also allow the user to directly upload user-made campaigns and scenario from in-game add-ons menu.
Dark Forecast, one of the most popular survival maps
To install Wesnoth in Ubuntu, type in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install wesnoth
SuperTux
SuperTux is a 2D jump and run Mario clone, with the difference that it uses its own maps, enemies, and the main character is... you guessed, Tux, the story taking place in Antarctica. It is licensed under the GPL and it is free of charge. SuperTux has very nice graphics, especially since it has support for software and OpenGL rendering, 26 levels and 9 types of enemies.
Except for the official website, there is also a fansite for SuperTux, with screenshots, user-made maps and a forum.
SuperTux 0.3.1
To Install SuperTux in Ubuntu, type in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install supertux
World of Padman
When it comes to Linux shooter games, there isn't only one choice. Games like Nexuiz, OpenArena or Sauerbraten were a good fit here too, but I decided upon World of Padman.
Based on the Quake 3 engine, World of Padman is a fun, cartoon-style first-person shooter with maps, weapons and characters inspired from the Padman series. It features nice, colourful graphics, popular modes like FFA, TDM or CTF, and weapons which will definitely make you laugh the first time you'll see them.
World of Padman
Although it is not included in the repositories, WoP can be easily installed like this:
- download the Linux installer and Linux patch installer from here
- make them executables:
chmod 755 padman.run
chmod 755 wop_patch_1_2.run
- and install both of them, padman.run (or worldofpadman.run, depending on the name of the file) first, and then wop_patch_1_2.run:
./padman.run
./wop_patch_1_2.run
Updated: Jan 2, 2010
New Distributor for Avant Slot
Scaleracing LLC is now distributing Avant Slot in North America. See this link to see the details and available inventory. See the price list at this link.
RSSOwl 2.0.1 Review - Feature-Rich Feed Reader for Linux
Written in Java, RSSOwl is a powerful feed reader for Linux, with support for RSS, RDF and Atom feeds, with a lot of features and customisation options.
Licensed under the Eclipse Public License, RSSOwl includes features like:
- tabbed browsing
- three view modes: classic, vertical and newspaper
- possibility to share news to popular social networks like Twitter, Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati or Delicious
- labels
- notifications
- news filters
- add-on support
- importing and exporting feeds and feed preferences
- system tray integration (via the Tools -> Preferences -> View menu)
And these features aren't all the features RSSOwl can offer.
By default, RSSOwl opens with a typical interface to feed reader applications, with the feeds list to the left and the web browser tabs to the right (classic view), but this can be changed from the View -> Layout menu. The other two view modes are Vertical View (which will split the news widget to the left and the browser to the right) and Newspaper View (which will list both the news title and the feed content in the same widget).
The 'import' function allows the user to import feeds from a file or website, but it also includes the possibility to import recommended feeds, and, more useful, feeds which match user-specified tags from pre-defined news websites, like Google or Yahoo News. I'm not sure which is the service providing these feed lists, but they are definitely useful:
The 'export' function allows not only to export feeds, but also preferences and labels.
RSSOwl also allows to search the news feeds, and it supports wildcards like ? or * for a more powerful search. The fullscreen mode (F11) is also available.
The configuration window allows to customise the internal browser, feeds (update interval, sorting, display method, when to delete old news), notifications, labels, sharing and view modes. RSSOwl can also be integrated in the system tray.
One of the minuses I could catch was that RSSOwl will fail to fetch and display feeds which contain some invalid code, although other feed readers like Akregator or Liferea show them.
Except for refusing to fetch certain feeds (which can be a big minus), RSSOwl is a complete and powerful feed application who deserves a try and easily competes with readers like Akregator or Liferea.
Official website
Install RSSOwl 2.0.1 in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic: See this article
Licensed under the Eclipse Public License, RSSOwl includes features like:
- tabbed browsing
- three view modes: classic, vertical and newspaper
- possibility to share news to popular social networks like Twitter, Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati or Delicious
- labels
- notifications
- news filters
- add-on support
- importing and exporting feeds and feed preferences
- system tray integration (via the Tools -> Preferences -> View menu)
And these features aren't all the features RSSOwl can offer.
RSSOwl 2.0.1 in Ubuntu
By default, RSSOwl opens with a typical interface to feed reader applications, with the feeds list to the left and the web browser tabs to the right (classic view), but this can be changed from the View -> Layout menu. The other two view modes are Vertical View (which will split the news widget to the left and the browser to the right) and Newspaper View (which will list both the news title and the feed content in the same widget).
Newspaper view mode
The 'import' function allows the user to import feeds from a file or website, but it also includes the possibility to import recommended feeds, and, more useful, feeds which match user-specified tags from pre-defined news websites, like Google or Yahoo News. I'm not sure which is the service providing these feed lists, but they are definitely useful:
Generated feeds for 'linux'
Importing feeds from various websites
The 'export' function allows not only to export feeds, but also preferences and labels.
RSSOwl also allows to search the news feeds, and it supports wildcards like ? or * for a more powerful search. The fullscreen mode (F11) is also available.
The configuration window allows to customise the internal browser, feeds (update interval, sorting, display method, when to delete old news), notifications, labels, sharing and view modes. RSSOwl can also be integrated in the system tray.
One of the minuses I could catch was that RSSOwl will fail to fetch and display feeds which contain some invalid code, although other feed readers like Akregator or Liferea show them.
Sharing news - many popular networks are supported
Except for refusing to fetch certain feeds (which can be a big minus), RSSOwl is a complete and powerful feed application who deserves a try and easily competes with readers like Akregator or Liferea.
Official website
Install RSSOwl 2.0.1 in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic: See this article
How-To: Install RSSOwl 2.0.1 in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic
RSSOwl is a feature-rich RSS feed reader written in Java. To install the latest release in Ubuntu 9.10, follow the instructions below:
Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
And add the following line:
deb http://packages.rssowl.org/ubuntu karmic main
Save the file (Ctrl+O), exit (Ctrl+X) and then add this repository's key to the trusted keys:
wget -q http://packages.rssowl.org/project/rene.moser.pubkey -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Update the packages list:
sudo apt-get update
And install RSSOwl:
sudo apt-get install rssowl
This is it. To remove RSSOwl from your Ubuntu box use:
sudo apt-get remove --purge rssowl
RSSOwl 2.0.1 running in Ubuntu
Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list:
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
And add the following line:
deb http://packages.rssowl.org/ubuntu karmic main
Save the file (Ctrl+O), exit (Ctrl+X) and then add this repository's key to the trusted keys:
wget -q http://packages.rssowl.org/project/rene.moser.pubkey -O- | sudo apt-key add -
Update the packages list:
sudo apt-get update
And install RSSOwl:
sudo apt-get install rssowl
This is it. To remove RSSOwl from your Ubuntu box use:
sudo apt-get remove --purge rssowl
How-To: Install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 was released earlier this year, on December 17 at the Adobe MAX 2009. This release comes with several new features and numerous bug fixes.
To install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 in Ubuntu 9.10, just follow the steps below:
First, remove your existing Flash plugin. Do this depending on whether you installed Flash from the repositories or manually. If you installed Flash from the Ubuntu repositories, typing:
sudo apt-get remove --purge flashplugin-installer
should remove your current installation of Flash. If Flash was installed manually, the plugin should be located in the ~/.mozilla/plugins directory, where ~ is the home directory. So, to remove it:
rm -f ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
Next, download the archive for the new Flash player from here (direct link here), or alternately you can type in a terminal:
wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz
Make sure the current working directory is the one where you saved the archive and uncompress it:
tar -xzf flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz
Next, create the ~/.mozilla/plugins directory (if it doesn't already exist):
mkdir -p ~/.mozilla/plugins
And copy the plugin inside it:
cp install_flash_player_10_linux/libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins
Now restart Firefox and this should be all.
To install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 in Ubuntu 9.10, just follow the steps below:
First, remove your existing Flash plugin. Do this depending on whether you installed Flash from the repositories or manually. If you installed Flash from the Ubuntu repositories, typing:
sudo apt-get remove --purge flashplugin-installer
should remove your current installation of Flash. If Flash was installed manually, the plugin should be located in the ~/.mozilla/plugins directory, where ~ is the home directory. So, to remove it:
rm -f ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so
Next, download the archive for the new Flash player from here (direct link here), or alternately you can type in a terminal:
wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz
Make sure the current working directory is the one where you saved the archive and uncompress it:
tar -xzf flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz
Next, create the ~/.mozilla/plugins directory (if it doesn't already exist):
mkdir -p ~/.mozilla/plugins
And copy the plugin inside it:
cp install_flash_player_10_linux/libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins
Now restart Firefox and this should be all.
Full Review: Nexuiz 2.5.2 - Free First-Person Shooter for Linux
Nexuiz is one of the most popular shooter games which emerged after the open-sourcing of the Quake 3 engine, featuring a fast-paced game style and several game modes, like the popular DM or CTF. Nexuiz is a free, GPL-licensed, first-person shooter developed online by the Internet-based team Alientrap, and it comes with ports for Linux, Windows and Mac.
Ever since it was launched, in May 2005, Nexuiz went through a lot of changes and evolved with every release. The 2.5 series bring many improvements, featuring new graphics, new maps and an even faster gameplay. The latest version is 2.5.2, a bug-fix release to the stable 2.5 release. To test the latest Nexuiz, download the Zip archive from the official website (direct link here), uncompress it, and then run the binary specific to your OS (the archive includes binaries for Linux, as well as Windows and Mac).
Nexuiz 2.5 offers a futuristic interface, with fast access to settings and other configuration options. One of the nice things which bumped out when configuring the keys was that Nexuiz allows for switching between fullscreen and windowed mode just by pressing a key, even if the game is running. Older versions of Nexuiz used Shift+Esc in order to open the console, but it looks like in 2.5 you can use the classic ` key.
Besides multiplayer, Nexuiz also includes support for bots and a singleplayer campaign. It comes with 15 player models, 13 weapons and 24 official maps, music and original character and weapon sounds.
Nexuiz will run smoothly on older machines at 1024x768, but you will need a decent video card to enjoy it on higher resolutions at a steady framerate. However, lowering texture details and particle details will help if you have an older video card and CPU.
Overall, I think Alientrap is doing a great job by continuously developing this game, which became one of the favourite FPS games for Linux users, together with other well-known names like OpenArena or Tremulous.
Nexuiz 2.5.2
Ever since it was launched, in May 2005, Nexuiz went through a lot of changes and evolved with every release. The 2.5 series bring many improvements, featuring new graphics, new maps and an even faster gameplay. The latest version is 2.5.2, a bug-fix release to the stable 2.5 release. To test the latest Nexuiz, download the Zip archive from the official website (direct link here), uncompress it, and then run the binary specific to your OS (the archive includes binaries for Linux, as well as Windows and Mac).
Nexuiz - choosing the player model
Nexuiz 2.5 offers a futuristic interface, with fast access to settings and other configuration options. One of the nice things which bumped out when configuring the keys was that Nexuiz allows for switching between fullscreen and windowed mode just by pressing a key, even if the game is running. Older versions of Nexuiz used Shift+Esc in order to open the console, but it looks like in 2.5 you can use the classic ` key.
The server browser
Besides multiplayer, Nexuiz also includes support for bots and a singleplayer campaign. It comes with 15 player models, 13 weapons and 24 official maps, music and original character and weapon sounds.
Nexuiz will run smoothly on older machines at 1024x768, but you will need a decent video card to enjoy it on higher resolutions at a steady framerate. However, lowering texture details and particle details will help if you have an older video card and CPU.
Overall, I think Alientrap is doing a great job by continuously developing this game, which became one of the favourite FPS games for Linux users, together with other well-known names like OpenArena or Tremulous.
10 Most Popular Tips in 2009
Following the most popular TuxArena articles in 2009 post, here are the 10 most popular tips published here at TuxArena in 2009:
1. Install Adobe Flash Player 10 in Debian (for 32-bit architecture only)
A tutorial on how to manually install Flash Player in Debian Lenny.
2. Split APE Files Using a CUE File
A tutorial which shows how to manipulate APE (Monkey's Audio) files, and how to split them depending on the info found in a CUE file.
3. Convert MKV to AVI using mencoder
This is a short tip which has a one-liner showing how to convert MKV-encoded videos to xvid.
4. Easily Close a Port in Linux
Tip which shows how to close ports in Linux.
5. Convert OGV to FLV Using ffmpeg
How to convert OGV (the free Theora video format) to Flash Video.
6. Use lm-sensors to Monitor Your Hardware
Tutorial on how to install and use the lm-sensors utility to monitor CPU temperature, voltages and more.
7. Split FLAC or WAV Files Using a CUE File
Tutorial which shows how to use cuebreakpoints and shnsplit tools to split FLAC or WAV when a CUE file is available.
8. Easily Start a Dedicated Urban Terror Server
How to start a dedicated server for the popular Urban Terror game.
9. Convert AC3 to WAV Using MPlayer
One-liner on how to convert AC3 audio to WAV with mplayer.
10. Make a Memory Usage Script
Tutorial which shows a practical Bash script for memory usage.
1. Install Adobe Flash Player 10 in Debian (for 32-bit architecture only)
A tutorial on how to manually install Flash Player in Debian Lenny.
2. Split APE Files Using a CUE File
A tutorial which shows how to manipulate APE (Monkey's Audio) files, and how to split them depending on the info found in a CUE file.
3. Convert MKV to AVI using mencoder
This is a short tip which has a one-liner showing how to convert MKV-encoded videos to xvid.
4. Easily Close a Port in Linux
Tip which shows how to close ports in Linux.
5. Convert OGV to FLV Using ffmpeg
How to convert OGV (the free Theora video format) to Flash Video.
6. Use lm-sensors to Monitor Your Hardware
Tutorial on how to install and use the lm-sensors utility to monitor CPU temperature, voltages and more.
7. Split FLAC or WAV Files Using a CUE File
Tutorial which shows how to use cuebreakpoints and shnsplit tools to split FLAC or WAV when a CUE file is available.
8. Easily Start a Dedicated Urban Terror Server
How to start a dedicated server for the popular Urban Terror game.
9. Convert AC3 to WAV Using MPlayer
One-liner on how to convert AC3 audio to WAV with mplayer.
10. Make a Memory Usage Script
Tutorial which shows a practical Bash script for memory usage.
How-To: Post to Twitter from Command-Line
This is a short tutorial explaining how to post to Twitter using command-line in Linux, without needing to even open up your web browser.
First, install the curl package:
sudo apt-get install curl
Next, create a script anywhere in your $PATH, for example twitter.sh inside ~/bin, where ~ is your home directory (make sure ~/bin is included in your $PATH variable, in case echo $PATH doesn't return it, edit ~/.bashrc and add a line like this: export PATH=/home/USER/bin/:$PATH).
The script twitter.sh should contain the following:
#!/bin/bash
curl -u USER:PASS -d status="$*" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml > /dev/null
echo "Message sent!"
Replace USER and PASS with your Twitter username and password, and then make the script executable:
chmod 755 ~/bin/twitter.sh
And now test it:
twitter.sh Hello, world! This is a test.
So just use it as:
twitter.sh YOUR MESSAGE
This should be all. Have a look at the screenshots below:
First, install the curl package:
sudo apt-get install curl
Next, create a script anywhere in your $PATH, for example twitter.sh inside ~/bin, where ~ is your home directory (make sure ~/bin is included in your $PATH variable, in case echo $PATH doesn't return it, edit ~/.bashrc and add a line like this: export PATH=/home/USER/bin/:$PATH).
The script twitter.sh should contain the following:
#!/bin/bash
curl -u USER:PASS -d status="$*" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml > /dev/null
echo "Message sent!"
Replace USER and PASS with your Twitter username and password, and then make the script executable:
chmod 755 ~/bin/twitter.sh
And now test it:
twitter.sh Hello, world! This is a test.
So just use it as:
twitter.sh YOUR MESSAGE
This should be all. Have a look at the screenshots below:
Running the twitter.sh script
Need a racing fix? Check out LeMans radio
Well, I'm already going through feeling the lack of racing on TV. If you're in the same boat, check out LeMans Radio for a "fix".
http://radiolemans.com/
The latest MP3 to listen to.
http://radiolemans.com/
The latest MP3 to listen to.
10 Useful Linux Commands
Here's a list of 10 commands which may come handy when using the command line in Linux:
Search for all files modified in the last N days containing a specific text in their name
find DIR -mtime -N -name "*TEXT*"
For example:
find ~ -mtime -5 -name "*log*"
Will display all the files modified in the past 5 days which include the text 'log' in their filename.
Determine which processes use the most memory
ps aux | sort -nk 4 | tail
Will show the first 10 processes which use the most memory, using ascendant sorting. Alternately:
ps aux | sort -nrk 4 | head
Will show the first 10 processes using most memory, using descendent sorting.
Display the username which is currently logged in
whoami
Show date using format modifiers
date +"%H:%M:%S"
Will output time in format HOUR:MINUTE:SECOND. You can use any format specifiers explained in the man page. The double quotes are required in case you need to use spaces.
Show info about a specific user
finger $USER
Show disk usage separately for each partition
df -h
The -h switch will tell df to show human-readable sizes (KB, MB and GB when it is the case)
df -B 1K
Will show sizes in kilobytes.
Show which modules are loaded
lsmod
Add or remove a module to/from the Linux kernel
Insert a module:
modprobe MODULE
Remove a module:
modprobe -r MODULE
Search for a file using locate
locate FILENAME
Will search the locate database (created with updatedb) for any path or file which contains FILENAME.
Change the encoding of a text file
iconv -f INITIAL_ENCODING -t DESIRED_ENCODING filename
For example:
iconv -f ISO-8859-16 -t UTF-8 myfile.txt
Will change the encoding of myfile.txt from ISO-8859-16 (Romanian) to UTF-8.
Search for all files modified in the last N days containing a specific text in their name
find DIR -mtime -N -name "*TEXT*"
For example:
find ~ -mtime -5 -name "*log*"
Will display all the files modified in the past 5 days which include the text 'log' in their filename.
Determine which processes use the most memory
ps aux | sort -nk 4 | tail
Will show the first 10 processes which use the most memory, using ascendant sorting. Alternately:
ps aux | sort -nrk 4 | head
Will show the first 10 processes using most memory, using descendent sorting.
Output of ps aux | sort -nrk 4 | head
Display the username which is currently logged in
whoami
Show date using format modifiers
date +"%H:%M:%S"
Will output time in format HOUR:MINUTE:SECOND. You can use any format specifiers explained in the man page. The double quotes are required in case you need to use spaces.
Showing date in format month, day year
Show info about a specific user
finger $USER
Output of finger $USER
Show disk usage separately for each partition
df -h
The -h switch will tell df to show human-readable sizes (KB, MB and GB when it is the case)
df -B 1K
Will show sizes in kilobytes.
Show which modules are loaded
lsmod
Add or remove a module to/from the Linux kernel
Insert a module:
modprobe MODULE
Remove a module:
modprobe -r MODULE
Search for a file using locate
locate FILENAME
Will search the locate database (created with updatedb) for any path or file which contains FILENAME.
Change the encoding of a text file
iconv -f INITIAL_ENCODING -t DESIRED_ENCODING filename
For example:
iconv -f ISO-8859-16 -t UTF-8 myfile.txt
Will change the encoding of myfile.txt from ISO-8859-16 (Romanian) to UTF-8.
Round-Up: Most Popular TuxArena Articles in 2009
Since it's Christmas and 2010 is knocking at the door, it's time to put up a round-up of the most popular articles published at TuxArena in 2009. This post is divided in two parts: a list of most popular tutorials and a list of most popular reviews (selected exclusively by number of views according to Google Analytics, from which I made a selection). Of course, it's not 100% accurate, considering some articles were published earlier this year (thus having more page views than newer articles), but it is, however, a good way to choose the articles without making a subjective, by-hand selection.
In 2009, two of TuxArena articles hit Digg.com (3 Ways to Record Your Linux Desktop and Top 10 KDE4 Applications).
Most popular tutorials
How-To: Install Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
3 Ways to Install Latest Wine in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
3 Ways to Record Your Linux Desktop
3 Tweaks to Speed Up Firefox 3 and Free Memory
4 Ways to Create CD/DVD ISO Images in Ubuntu
How-To: Install KDE 4.3 in Ubuntu/Kubuntu 9.04
How-To: Compile and Install XMMS in Ubuntu 9.04
How-To: Install VLC 1.0 from the Ubuntu PPA Repository
How-To: Install OpenOffice.org 3.1 in Debian Lenny
6 Bash Productivity Tips
Most popular reviews
Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (Alpha 4) Overview & Screenshots
An Early Look at Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala - Overview & Screenshots
Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Overview & Screenshots
Top 10 Applications to Install After Installing Ubuntu
10 File Managers for Linux
KDE 4.3 RC1 in Kubuntu 9.04 - Overview & Screenshots
Top 10 KDE4 Applications
First-Person Shooter Games for Linux III: Urban Terror
10 Essential Applications Included in Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
5 Best Applications to Rip and Transcode DVDs in Linux
In 2009, two of TuxArena articles hit Digg.com (3 Ways to Record Your Linux Desktop and Top 10 KDE4 Applications).
Most popular tutorials
How-To: Install Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
3 Ways to Install Latest Wine in Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
3 Ways to Record Your Linux Desktop
3 Tweaks to Speed Up Firefox 3 and Free Memory
4 Ways to Create CD/DVD ISO Images in Ubuntu
How-To: Install KDE 4.3 in Ubuntu/Kubuntu 9.04
How-To: Compile and Install XMMS in Ubuntu 9.04
How-To: Install VLC 1.0 from the Ubuntu PPA Repository
How-To: Install OpenOffice.org 3.1 in Debian Lenny
6 Bash Productivity Tips
Most popular reviews
Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (Alpha 4) Overview & Screenshots
An Early Look at Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala - Overview & Screenshots
Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Overview & Screenshots
Top 10 Applications to Install After Installing Ubuntu
10 File Managers for Linux
KDE 4.3 RC1 in Kubuntu 9.04 - Overview & Screenshots
Top 10 KDE4 Applications
First-Person Shooter Games for Linux III: Urban Terror
10 Essential Applications Included in Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
5 Best Applications to Rip and Transcode DVDs in Linux
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas.....Feliz Navidad, Frohe Weihnachten!
Those that might be offended by a woman's bare breast should not click on this video... just a head's up for those that might be offended.
Those that might be offended by a woman's bare breast should not click on this video... just a head's up for those that might be offended.
Flying Lizard Motorsport to race Daytona 24!!!
December 24, 2009 - Sonoma, California - Flying Lizard Motorsports announced today that The Racer's Group (TRG) will enter a TRG/Flying Lizard Porsche in GT at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the season-opener for the Grand-Am Road Racing Series. In the ShoreTel-sponsored No. 66 Porsche GT3 Cup Car, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long will join Johannes van Overbeek and Seth Neiman for the 24-hour endurance race to be held on January 30-31, 2009.
Bergmeister has won three times at the Rolex 24: in GT in 2009 (with Patrick Long), in GT and overall in 2003, and in GT in 2002, all with TRG. He was also the Grand-Am Daytona Prototype champion in 2006 (with Krohn Racing). Bergmeister and Long are Porsche factory drivers and will be co-drivers in the Flying Lizard No. 45 Porsche for the 2010 ALMS season. With Flying Lizard, the duo won the 2009 ALMS GT2 drivers' championship. van Overbeek, who drove with the Lizards from 2004-2009 in the ALMS, has competed seven times at the Rolex 24. Notably, in 2007 he finished third with TRG, in 2004 took the pole and second in GT (and third overall) with Seth Neiman and Mike Rockenfeller in the Flying Lizard No. 74 Porsche and finished third in GT and overall in 2003.
All four drivers will participate in the test January 8-10 at Daytona. The No. 66 will be managed by TRG, with some Lizards at the helm including Thomas Blam (chief strategist in the ALMS), Craig Watkins (chief engineer) and Tommy Sadler (crew chief and co-technical director).
Seth Neiman commented, "I've always loved the 24 Hours of Daytona, but given our other commitments, it just hasn't been practical to run here. Working with our Porsche cousins at TRG we have an opportunity to field a very strong entry. TRG has had consistent success in Grand-Am and I'm confident that they will deliver a solid program. Joerg, Patrick and Johannes have a lot of combined experience here and of course, have shown that they excel in long races. And having Thomas, Craig and Tommy there will bring the familiarity of the Lizard team to the effort."
News used with permission from Flying Lizard Motor Sport.
Bergmeister has won three times at the Rolex 24: in GT in 2009 (with Patrick Long), in GT and overall in 2003, and in GT in 2002, all with TRG. He was also the Grand-Am Daytona Prototype champion in 2006 (with Krohn Racing). Bergmeister and Long are Porsche factory drivers and will be co-drivers in the Flying Lizard No. 45 Porsche for the 2010 ALMS season. With Flying Lizard, the duo won the 2009 ALMS GT2 drivers' championship. van Overbeek, who drove with the Lizards from 2004-2009 in the ALMS, has competed seven times at the Rolex 24. Notably, in 2007 he finished third with TRG, in 2004 took the pole and second in GT (and third overall) with Seth Neiman and Mike Rockenfeller in the Flying Lizard No. 74 Porsche and finished third in GT and overall in 2003.
All four drivers will participate in the test January 8-10 at Daytona. The No. 66 will be managed by TRG, with some Lizards at the helm including Thomas Blam (chief strategist in the ALMS), Craig Watkins (chief engineer) and Tommy Sadler (crew chief and co-technical director).
Seth Neiman commented, "I've always loved the 24 Hours of Daytona, but given our other commitments, it just hasn't been practical to run here. Working with our Porsche cousins at TRG we have an opportunity to field a very strong entry. TRG has had consistent success in Grand-Am and I'm confident that they will deliver a solid program. Joerg, Patrick and Johannes have a lot of combined experience here and of course, have shown that they excel in long races. And having Thomas, Craig and Tommy there will bring the familiarity of the Lizard team to the effort."
News used with permission from Flying Lizard Motor Sport.
New Sloting Plus wheels-"Gold Artic"
From Sloting Plus:
Here are our new Artic GOLD wheel anodized in gold colour as his name say it !
Always in Al-Mg alloy and with M2,5 screw ...
References are :
SLPL 46015 Artic GOLD wheel 15 x 8 mm
SLPL 46016 Artic GOLD wheel 15,9 x 8,5 mm
SLPL 46017 Artic GOLD wheel 16,9 x 8,5 mm
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sloting Plus !
Schumacher returns to F1!!!!!!
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2009/12/10303.html
See this link to read the interview where Michael Schumacher answers questions about his return to Formula 1 competing for the newly-formed Mercedes GP team.
From the interview:
Q: Michael, welcome back to Formula One. Your signature on the contract has hardly dried - can you say something about the content of your contract?
Michael Schumacher: Yep, the deal was done only hours ago. Regarding the driving, the time frame is three years. There was never any intention to do a one-off. There will be an option after that to be brand ambassador for Mercedes, which would make sense in a way.
See this link to read the interview where Michael Schumacher answers questions about his return to Formula 1 competing for the newly-formed Mercedes GP team.
From the interview:
Q: Michael, welcome back to Formula One. Your signature on the contract has hardly dried - can you say something about the content of your contract?
Michael Schumacher: Yep, the deal was done only hours ago. Regarding the driving, the time frame is three years. There was never any intention to do a one-off. There will be an option after that to be brand ambassador for Mercedes, which would make sense in a way.
Tip of the Day: Format C Code Using Indent
Indent is a powerful application developed by the GNU project, designed to format and change the appearance of C code. Indent will insert or delete whitespace characters to make your C code easier to read. It supports several code styles, including:
- GNU indent style (which is the default, or indent -gnu)
- Kernighan & Ritchie indent style (invoked with indent -kr)
- original Berkeley indent style (invoked with indent -orig)
Thus, to indent a C source file using the Kernighan & Ritchie style, one would use:
indent -kr source.c
Have a look at the screenshots below:
Notice that indent is developed to work with C code, not C++; also, it will try to cope with invalid code too.
- GNU indent style (which is the default, or indent -gnu)
- Kernighan & Ritchie indent style (invoked with indent -kr)
- original Berkeley indent style (invoked with indent -orig)
Thus, to indent a C source file using the Kernighan & Ritchie style, one would use:
indent -kr source.c
Have a look at the screenshots below:
Original, wrongfully formatted source code
Same code, formatted using indent source.c (using default GNU style)
Same code, formatted with the Kernighan & Ritchie style (with indent -kr source.c)
Notice that indent is developed to work with C code, not C++; also, it will try to cope with invalid code too.
2010 Toyota Prius Price Change
The price for the 2010 Toyota Prius is about to be raised. The base MSRP is being raised by $400 across each of the model types. Toyota had increased the MSRP on the Prius as recently as October.
The Prius I is being set at $21,400 (but don't expect to find one of those as Toyota only sells them to fleet owners, and I doubt they really sell those at all). The real basic level (II) is up to $22,800. The Prius III will run you $23,800 and the Prius IV will cost $26,600. The Prius V is the most expensive at $28,070. The prices shown exclude delivery, processing and handling fees.
The 2011 Toyota Camry price is going up by $250.
The Prius I is being set at $21,400 (but don't expect to find one of those as Toyota only sells them to fleet owners, and I doubt they really sell those at all). The real basic level (II) is up to $22,800. The Prius III will run you $23,800 and the Prius IV will cost $26,600. The Prius V is the most expensive at $28,070. The prices shown exclude delivery, processing and handling fees.
The 2011 Toyota Camry price is going up by $250.
New Slot It parts... tons of them.
Many, many new Slot It parts.
CS10t-60, McLaren F1 GTR chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CS12t-60, Audi R8C Reloaded chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CS14t-60, Nissan R390 GT1 chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CH60, Anglewinder 0,5mm Offset Motor Mount EVO 6
Please refer to the technical description.
CS15il, Mazda 787B Lexan cockpit
MN09c, Flat6-20k close can – Front shaft length: 7,3mm
The standard Flat6 now comes in closed can format, to avoid magnetic
traction as much as possible. We have listened to popular request from
racers. This is the motor used in the Spanish Slot.it series.
PA43-Pl, Plastic Ø16,5x8 light wheels, dark gray (4x), 0.76g
The Slot.it plastic wheels are known for being perfectly round. These
wheels, 16.5 mm in diameter, are no exception with a concentric
better than 0.05mm.
PA47, Set of spacers for hubs and bushings 0,1/0,25mm
PA47 provides 34 spacers and two spacing tools in one single set. The
spacers come in two different thickness: 0.10 and 0.25mm. A marking on
the set indicates the thickness of the parts.
The 'large' spacers match the dimension of the Slot.it hubs, while the
'small' spacers are designed to match the side wall of the Slot.it's
spherical bushing.
The bone shaped tool is a measuring device (for 0.10mm and 0.25mm of
space) enabling the users to leave the correct amount of play while
assembling the axles.
PT29, F22 compound, slick F1, 20x12 tires (4x) for PA20
The F22 compound is a favorite among racers. Now available in F1 size,
a perfect match for Slot.it's F1 rims.
CH46, Ferrari F40 updated cockpit
For all F40 with 1st generation cockpit.
CH55, Medium springs for CH47 (8x)
The EVO6 motor mount and the spring suspensions are a perfect couple -
CH55a are the springs which are already mounted in the CH47 spring
suspension kit. CH55b is the stiffer version.
Note that there is an error in the code: CH55 is CH55B. So:
CH55a, Soft springs for CH47 (8x)
CH55b, Medium springs for CH47 (8x)
CH56, Spherical bushings (6x)
New code which will replace the CH14 (2x spherical bushing). Packing
more bushings we have reduced the price and saved a lot of packaging.
MN11h-1, Flat6 R-22k open can – Front shaft length: 7,3mm
This is the shorter shaft length of the MN11h motor. Why did we reduce
the shaft length? Because when used in inline fashion (to replace for
example a Boxer motor), the long shaft would interfere with the bottom
of the crown's slot. The shorter shaft motor, which will become the only
available length, can be used in angled and inline motor mounts.
PT30, F15 compound, slick, 20x11,4 tires (4x) for GT
PT31, F22 compound, slick, 20x11,4 tires (4x) for GT
New, larger version of the F15 and F22 compound tyres.
CH51, Metric screw 2,2x8mm, brass, small head (10x)
CH52, Metric screw 2,2x8mm, brass, big head (10x)
CH53, Metric screw 2,2x5,3mm, brass, small head (10x)
CH54, Metric screw 2,2x5,3mm, brass, big head (10x)
These metric screws come with different head size and length, to
perfectly tune the amount of plat between body, chassis and motor mount.
CS10t-60, McLaren F1 GTR chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CS12t-60, Audi R8C Reloaded chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CS14t-60, Nissan R390 GT1 chassis EVO 6 (ver.2)
CH60, Anglewinder 0,5mm Offset Motor Mount EVO 6
Please refer to the technical description.
CS15il, Mazda 787B Lexan cockpit
MN09c, Flat6-20k close can – Front shaft length: 7,3mm
The standard Flat6 now comes in closed can format, to avoid magnetic
traction as much as possible. We have listened to popular request from
racers. This is the motor used in the Spanish Slot.it series.
PA43-Pl, Plastic Ø16,5x8 light wheels, dark gray (4x), 0.76g
The Slot.it plastic wheels are known for being perfectly round. These
wheels, 16.5 mm in diameter, are no exception with a concentric
better than 0.05mm.
PA47, Set of spacers for hubs and bushings 0,1/0,25mm
PA47 provides 34 spacers and two spacing tools in one single set. The
spacers come in two different thickness: 0.10 and 0.25mm. A marking on
the set indicates the thickness of the parts.
The 'large' spacers match the dimension of the Slot.it hubs, while the
'small' spacers are designed to match the side wall of the Slot.it's
spherical bushing.
The bone shaped tool is a measuring device (for 0.10mm and 0.25mm of
space) enabling the users to leave the correct amount of play while
assembling the axles.
PT29, F22 compound, slick F1, 20x12 tires (4x) for PA20
The F22 compound is a favorite among racers. Now available in F1 size,
a perfect match for Slot.it's F1 rims.
CH46, Ferrari F40 updated cockpit
For all F40 with 1st generation cockpit.
CH55, Medium springs for CH47 (8x)
The EVO6 motor mount and the spring suspensions are a perfect couple -
CH55a are the springs which are already mounted in the CH47 spring
suspension kit. CH55b is the stiffer version.
Note that there is an error in the code: CH55 is CH55B. So:
CH55a, Soft springs for CH47 (8x)
CH55b, Medium springs for CH47 (8x)
CH56, Spherical bushings (6x)
New code which will replace the CH14 (2x spherical bushing). Packing
more bushings we have reduced the price and saved a lot of packaging.
MN11h-1, Flat6 R-22k open can – Front shaft length: 7,3mm
This is the shorter shaft length of the MN11h motor. Why did we reduce
the shaft length? Because when used in inline fashion (to replace for
example a Boxer motor), the long shaft would interfere with the bottom
of the crown's slot. The shorter shaft motor, which will become the only
available length, can be used in angled and inline motor mounts.
PT30, F15 compound, slick, 20x11,4 tires (4x) for GT
PT31, F22 compound, slick, 20x11,4 tires (4x) for GT
New, larger version of the F15 and F22 compound tyres.
CH51, Metric screw 2,2x8mm, brass, small head (10x)
CH52, Metric screw 2,2x8mm, brass, big head (10x)
CH53, Metric screw 2,2x5,3mm, brass, small head (10x)
CH54, Metric screw 2,2x5,3mm, brass, big head (10x)
These metric screws come with different head size and length, to
perfectly tune the amount of plat between body, chassis and motor mount.