Archive for October, 2007
When I made my guitar post, I promised to put up a picture of my custom, home-built tube amp. Here you go! Details below.
The amp started as a kit from Allen Amps and I built it at the end of 1999. It has since undergone a small amount of modification. The valve complement includes one 5U4G rectifier, two 6L6GC power tubes, and two 12AX7s plus two 12AT7s in the preamp and reverb circuits. The sound comes from two 10 inch Jensen C10Q speakers.
I know the real question is “How does it sound?” Think of a vintage Fender Vibrolux, without the vibrato and with no normal channel. Then add the reverb circuit from the old Fender stand alone reverb head from the 1960s. Finally, modify the preamp slightly to give it a bit of the tweed 4×10 Bassman feel, and you will be pretty close. Oh, except this amp is quieter…there is still some hiss, but very little.
Words are cheap, though. Here are a few mp3s. Let me know what you think…they were recorded about 7 years ago and the recordings aren’t perfect, but they are good enough for you to catch the feel and tone of the amp, and that is what I was going for at the time. Note: these are all played with my Tele (the one that you saw in the other post) plugged straight into the amp with no outside effects. All I did was change the settings on the amp.
Typical setting 1
Typical setting 2
I Wish I Could Play Jazz
Blue Thang
Amazing Grace
Satisfaction Plus
And there’s one more, from a day when I was doing some recording and discovered there was about 3 minutes of tape left at the end of a project. Instead of wasting the tape, I decided to play around a little. This one has two tracks instead of just one.
The End of the Tape
I performed, recorded, and own the copyright for all of these clips, and I hearby release them into the wild with a Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa-3.0). Enjoy. If you use them for anything, I would love a “heads up.”
October 31st, 2007
You will recall from my last post that I wanted an accessible anti-spam measure for this dotclear blog because of a recent rise in comment spam. I’m thrilled to say that I got one working.
I used this captcha plugin as my base. I had a bit of a problem, though. All of the tests, along with the documentation and comments in the files, were in French. Since my readers use English, I would have been excluding a ton of comments, and we wouldn’t want that.
I installed the plugin on my testbox and got to work. I translated all of the necessary files and tested heavily. One or two of the original tests didn’t work as well as I would have wished, and others required using images, which I wasn’t thrilled about, so I simply excluded them. I also wrote a few test questions and responses of my own, and may add to them later. Then I installed the plugin on this server and uploaded the new files.
Please give it a test and let me know if you encounter any difficulties. To minimize the length of this post in syndication, like on Planet Ubuntu, I’ll post the contents of the configuration files in a compressed file that I will link to in a comment below, for those who want them.
October 30th, 2007
I really like the blog software I am using, dotclear version 1.2.7.1. I only have one problem. It is developed almost exclusively in French. That isn’t a totally bad thing, but my French is barely passable on a really good day. All the comments, documentation, and most of the original site configuration were in French. I was able to find and translate almost everything myself (see here for the lone exception…). Thankfully the php and xhtml are extremely clear and well written (which is a huge part of why I like this package).
The problem is that I have been receiving a lot of comment spam the last few days and I have not yet found a good captcha plugin in English. This one has potential, but I was hoping to do something that wouldn’t require me sitting down and rewriting all the tables, etc., from French to English. I would love to find a simple arithmetic based captcha, so the site wouldn’t require the use of images and could remain fully accessible and usable, even to people using text-only browsers.
Does anyone out there know of anything suitable?
October 27th, 2007
As you will recall from my earlier blog entry, I have been having fun with Conky, a lightweight system monitor that displays output to your desktop. Since I have upgraded to Gutsy, and therefore the latest repo version of Conky (1.4.7), I have had the opportunity to play with some newly available wireless variables. These were first pointed out to me by Mike, to whom I give credit and thanks.
The new wireless variables make it easier than ever to have specific data output relating to your wireless ethernet adapter. Here is how I have modified my previous setup…see the earlier post for the full details on how I am using Conky.
First, the new display.
Second, the updated configuration file. Generally this is called .conkyrc and placed in your /home. I’ll include the entire file so that readers don’t have to cut and paste information from two blog entries to get my full setup. The important bit with the wireless changes is under the heading Wireless Networking, near the bottom. Enjoy!
# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background background no cpu_avg_samples 2 net_avg_samples 2 out_to_console no # Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone) double_buffer yes # Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus) own_window yes own_window_type override own_window_transparent yes own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager #own_window no #own_window_transparent no # Use Xft? use_xft yes # Xft font when Xft is enabled xftfont Liberation Mono Italic:size=8 uppercase no # Text alpha when using Xft xftalpha 0.8 # Update interval in seconds update_interval 1 # Draw shades? draw_shades no # Draw outlines? draw_outline no # Draw borders around text draw_borders no # Stippled borders? stippled_borders 10 # border margins border_margin 4 # border width border_width 1 # Text alignment, other possible values are commented #minimum_size 10 10 gap_x 13 gap_y 45 #alignment top_left alignment top_right #alignment bottom_left #alignment bottom_right # Add spaces to keep things from moving about? This only affects certain objects. use_spacer yes # Subtract file system buffers from used memory? no_buffers yes # ideas that I didn't want to lose # ${time %a %b %d}${alignr -25}${time %k:%M} TEXT ${alignc}${color #D6CACA}$sysname kernel $kernel ${alignc}${color #D6CACA}${exec cat /etc/issue.net} on $machine host $nodename ${color #D6CACA}${execi 1000 cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'model name' | sed -e 's/model name.*: //'} ${color #c9d6d6} ${freq_dyn}Mhz ${color #D6CACA}Current CPU usage & temp:${color #c9d6d6} ${cpu}%${color #D6CACA}, ${color #c9d6d6}${acpitemp}C ${color #D6CACA}/${color #c9d6d6} ${acpitempf}F ${color #D6CACA}Plug/battery status:${color #c9d6d6} $acpiacadapter, $battery ${color #D6CACA}Load average:${color #c9d6d6} $loadavg ${color #D6CACA}CPU usage ${alignr}PID CPU% MEM% ${color #c9d6d6} ${top name 1}${alignr}${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1} ${color #c9d6d6} ${top name 2}${alignr}${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2} ${color #c9d6d6} ${top name 3}${alignr}${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3} ${color #D6CACA}Mem usage ${color #c9d6d6} ${top_mem name 1}${alignr}${top_mem pid 1} ${top_mem cpu 1} ${top_mem mem 1} ${color #c9d6d6} ${top_mem name 2}${alignr}${top_mem pid 2} ${top_mem cpu 2} ${top_mem mem 2} ${color #c9d6d6} ${top_mem name 3}${alignr}${top_mem pid 3} ${top_mem cpu 3} ${top_mem mem 3} ${color #D6CACA}RAM Usage:${color #c9d6d6} $mem/$memmax - $memperc% $membar ${color #D6CACA}Swap Usage:${color #c9d6d6} $swap/$swapmax - $swapperc% ${swapbar} ${color #D6CACA}Processes:${color #c9d6d6} $processes ${color #D6CACA}Running:${color #c9d6d6} $running_processes ${color #D6CACA} ${color #D6CACA}Hard disks: / ${color #c9d6d6}${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} ${fs_bar /} ${color #D6CACA}/home ${color #c9d6d6}${fs_used /home}/${fs_size /home} ${fs_bar /home} ${color #D6CACA}hdd temp: ${color #c9d6d6}${execi 300 nc localhost 7634 | cut -c22-23 ;} C ${color #D6CACA}Wireless Networking: ${color #D6CACA}ESSID: ${color #c9d6d6}${wireless_essid eth1} ${color #D6CACA}AP: ${color #c9d6d6}${wireless_ap eth1} ${color #D6CACA}${exec iwconfig eth1 | grep "Frequency" | cut -c 25-45} ${color #D6CACA}Mode: ${color #c9d6d6}${wireless_mode eth1} ${color #D6CACA}Bitrate: ${color #c9d6d6}${wireless_bitrate eth1} ${color #D6CACA}Local IP ${color #c9d6d6}${addr eth1} ${color #D6CACA}Link Quality: ${color #c9d6d6}${wireless_link_qual_perc eth1} ${color #D6CACA}total download: ${color #c9d6d6}${totaldown eth1} ${color #D6CACA}total upload: ${color #c9d6d6}${totalup eth1} ${color #D6CACA}download speed: ${color #c9d6d6}${downspeed eth1} k/s${color #c9d6d6} ${color #D6CACA} upload speed: ${color #c9d6d6}${upspeed eth1} k/s ${color #c9d6d6}${downspeedgraph eth1 15,150 ff0000 0000ff} $alignr${color #c9d6d6}${upspeedgraph eth1 15,150 0000ff ff0000} ${color #D6CACA}Wired Networking: ${color #D6CACA}Local IP ${color #c9d6d6}${addr eth0} ${color #D6CACA} ${color #D6CACA}total download: ${color #c9d6d6}${totaldown eth0} ${color #D6CACA}total upload: ${color #c9d6d6}${totalup eth0} ${color #D6CACA}download speed: ${color #c9d6d6}${downspeed eth0} k/s${color #c9d6d6} ${color #D6CACA} upload speed: ${color #c9d6d6}${upspeed eth0} k/s ${color #c9d6d6}${downspeedgraph eth0 15,150 ff0000 0000ff} $alignr${color #c9d6d6}${upspeedgraph eth0 15,150 0000ff ff0000} ${color #D6CACA}Public IP ${color #c9d6d6}${execi 3605 curl 'http://www.whatismyip.org'} ${color #D6CACA}Port(s) / Connections: ${color #D6CACA}Inbound: ${color #c9d6d6}${tcp_portmon 1 32767 count} ${color #D6CACA}Outbound: ${color #c9d6d6}${tcp_portmon 32768 61000 count} ${color #D6CACA}Total: ${color #c9d6d6}${tcp_portmon 1 65535 count} ${color #D6CACA}Outbound Connection ${alignr} Remote Service/Port${color #c9d6d6} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 0} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 0} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 1} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 1} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 2} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 2} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 3} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 3} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 4} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 4} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rhost 5} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 5}
October 25th, 2007
My laptop (specs) has generally done quite well with fresh Ubuntu installs, but I have never been able to complete an upgrade easily or with everything working…until now. I started out with 5.04 (Hoary) and have tried to do an OS upgrade for each release since, and have generally ended up doing a fresh install (thankfully, I’ve always used a separate partition for /home, so this wasn’t really a big deal). The problems could have been caused by my incompetence, but I can’t prove or disprove that.
However, today I successfully upgraded from 7.04 (Feisty) to 7.10 (Gutsy) using the Update Manager. Woo hoo!
What did I do differently? Almost nothing. I was extra careful to remove absolutely everything that I had installed from anywhere other than the official Ubuntu repos, and I switched from the restricted fglrx driver for my video card to the open ATI driver. That was all. Then I pulled the trigger and waited. The whole thing took about 2 1/2 to 3 hours and I’m up and running and happy.
When I did the final reboot, my desktop came up and offered to install the restricted fglrx driver for me as well as a restricted driver for the internal modem, which I have never even attempted to use on this laptop. Cool! I did so, and everything went swimmingly.
Thank you, developers! I’m off to play.
October 23rd, 2007
You know the kind, where you experience something and it makes you look at your life in a whole new way? I love it when that happens, when I have those moments that help me remember what is important and what is trivial. I appreciate the times when I experience something that makes the politics of the workplace or the lemming-ness of the crowd seem silly. I had one of those this week.
I am a writer by trade. I have one book in print and I am in the process of doing research for a second. As a part of that research I did some travel this week to a remote mountain village, a place that is not accessible by any motorized vehicle. I found myself sitting, surrounded by people with extremely little to no education, a people whose language I have spent several years struggling to learn, and found myself truly welcomed.
In this village, running water doesn’t exist. Electricity is the exception, not the rule. The *ahem* facilities involve finding a hidden spot among some trees and hoping there aren’t any wild animals nearby. We were a 2 hour walk from the nearest small town of a couple thousand people, where everyone from the surrounding countryside comes once a week to buy and sell at the weekly market.
Amazingly, in this context, in a mud and stone building high up in the mountains, I was engaged in fascinating and deep discussions about politics, family life, history, religion, and how wonderful it is that cell phones have been invented and the price has come down to the level where nearly every family on the mountain can buy one. Although uneducated, these are intelligent and wise people with interesting insights into life.
How ironic that I couldn’t wait to blog about it…
October 22nd, 2007
With Gutsy about to be released I thought I would browse on over to the wonderful Ubuntu Counter site and update my entry there. I have appreciated Melissa’s work on that project from the beginning and thought I should try to help keep her stats somewhat current. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was apparently running Breezy on one machine, Dapper on another, and Edgy on two more. Well, that was quite out of date. Now my stats are current. If you haven’t updated yours in a while, take a minute and do so.
I also thought it was amazing that we have had so many willing to participate. That’s cool. The newest user is number 17983.
I guess I got in early…I am 
.
October 16th, 2007
We have all seen them. Lolcats, Chuck Norris jokes, and the like. Pick any given topic on beloved geek sites like Slashdot or Digg and you are almost guaranteed to read about how “in Soviet Russia, …” things are done the opposite way or how the newest overlord of X is being welcomed.
I read a new one today and it made me laugh. There was a thread on Digg titled “Why did 3000 Chickens cross the road?” with a link to a story and a picture of a poultry truck crash on a highway. The first comment was priceless…it’s my meme of the week.
In Iran we don’t have chickens crossing the road.
October 13th, 2007
I know there are some other players out there. Come on, let’s see some gear shots…
Included here: Guild D4 acoustic, Washburn Force 4 bass, Fender Telecaster, and a Squier Starfire IV. The Tele is my main axe.
Coming soon, a photo of my custom amp (that I built…).
October 11th, 2007
Sigh. I can only hope this is beginning to appear to the rest of the world (those outside the FOSS realm) as odd and frustrating as it does to me. I have no problem paying for software. I haven’t had to do so for some time, thanks to this amazing community, but I would be willing to do so to support openness, quality, and freedom. What I refuse to pay for anymore is someone demanding, and attempting to enforce, eternal loyalty while, at the same time, attempting to extract from me any and all forms of freedom possible. It’s like the the administration of the Hotel California are inviting you to stay with them at a discount. The only drawback is that once people check in, they can never leave.
You can use this piece of software on only one computer, ever…not just one at a time, only one specific piece of hardware.
Huh?! I’ll gladly pay you for your hard work, for development expenses, for time spent creating good software from nothing, or even for building something new upon the foundation of past successes. I won’t buy it if you tell me when, where and how I am allowed to use it.
You may only listen to this song, that we acknowledge you paid for legally, on one device. If you wish to listen to it on a different device, you have to pay a second time. What?!
Really?! My cassette tape can only be played in my home stereo? I can’t take it into my car and play it there, unless I buy a second one?
I am a content creator (see the My Book link on the right side of this blog’s home page). I appreciate payment for my work. I do not expect that only one person will read a particular copy of the book. I would love it if ten people read the same copy, even if it means that I earn a little less money, the ideas are more important to me. I have written music and recorded it. I’ve given away copies of my songs to friends. I have never sold my music professionally, because frankly, I don’t think it is that good. However, I love that some people have enjoyed listening to what I have created, and I would feel honored if others wanted to use my ideas as a springboard to create something better.
That last sentence describes how art, literature, and even science have flourished in the past, and why we are seeing them (I believe) fail to grow in the same manner in which they used to. Lawrence Lessig makes a better argument on this than I do…if the idea intrigues you, read his book Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity for more detailed thoughts.
My little tirade began with an article I read this morning. You can find it here: Groklaw - MS/Ballmer talks about IP. What made me cringe was that the argument is being taken even further than before…now, the threat is, like was done previously by SCO, “We know you are using our intellectual property. We won’t tell you what it is, but you have to pay us for protection from lawsuits.” This is bullying, plain and simple. It was illegal when done by the Mob and its gangsters. It is illegal when neighborhood hoodlums attempt to reign in terror upon urban shopkeepers. Hmm…
October 9th, 2007
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