Safety First!

Meet ~insert a name~!

Sorry i haven’t thought of a name yet, but ~insert a name~ currently lives in a python file called pyBackup. Although pySync might have been a better and more suitable title. I needed an app that synced config files to my dropbox folder. Say you are on your desktop using irssi and changed something in your config file the day before while using your laptop. ~insert a name~ will automatically make sure that you have the latest version on all the platforms you use. If you don’t have it ~insert a name~ will backup your current file for safety reasons and fetch the newest version.

It’s nicely taking shape and i hope to finish ~insert a name~ as soon as possible!

Podcasts, Rubies and The Answer!

This week KDE4.2, codename “The Answer”, was released!  I was surprised to already see it in the Arch Linux repos that same day.  Great work from the Arch devs!  My gf’s uses KDE on “her” desktop, cause she likes all the shiny and pretty plasma stuff, so i upgraded that pc.  But that did mean the upgrade had to be problem-free or i would definitely have slept on the floor for a couple of nights.  Luckely the upgrade worked without any flaws and the 4.2 edition does looks very very good.  I love what they did to the taskbar!  And more good news from the KDE front: someone is working on a Remember the Milk plasmoid! (source: http://blog.chatonka.com/2009/01/more-on-rtm-plasmoid/)  That meant i was happy, my gf was happy cause everything still worked (and looked extra pretty) AND i didn’t have to sleep on the floor!

On to part 2 of this blog!  I always liked watching Aaron Seigo’s  “aseigo on KDE” videocast, but he seems to have suddenly stopped doing that.  So i was in need of a replacement!  People on twitter, identi.ca and plurk were talking about tech (and other) podcasts for quite some time now and that woke up a little voice in my head, telling me to broaden my horizon. (eat that people who think microblogging is useless!)  After some googling i found a cool little program called gpodder (http://gpodder.berlios.de/).  Seconds later it was installed and a cute little green alien icon popped up.  I added 2 podcasts, namely Linux Outlaws and Linux Basement and The Linux Outlaws one really grew on me after hearing a couple of episodes.  It’s just 2 guys, one with a cool English accent and the other one with a goofy German one, talking about Linux and other tech stuff.  And the best thing about the show is that they don’t take themselves too seriously!  If anyone knows other good podcasts, preferably about tech and/or Linux, please tell me!

Now on to the last part of this blog! *loud cheering in the background*  In a previous blogpost i wrote about ripping all my cd’s to ogg and flac files and the program i used for that job was RubyRipper.  It really is a brilliant application!  Where most programs just read the cd and rip the songs, RubyRipper rips each song a couple of times and than checks if both files are the same.  The result is an error-free ripping experience!  RubyRipper is, like you can tell from it’s name, written in the Ruby programming language.  Something i looked into a couple of times before.  But me being a C/C++ and Python guy, Ruby never really seemed like my cup of tea.  Until a cool Mexican dude gave me a link to a great guide. (http://poignantguide.net/ruby/index.html)  “Why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby” is a fun way of learning the language and just a nice blend of humor and great examples.  I’m starting to “get” Ruby thanks to it!  And even if i don’t know if i’m going to swap in my beloved Python for that “red gemstone” language, at least now i can (try to) fix bugs if i encounter any.  Thanks Israel, you rock!

Music, Monsters and a Beautiful Princess

Few things in live give greater pleasure than music.  So the music-addict in me was overjoyed when i got Sennheiser HD 595 headphones for my birthday!  I wanted those for years! ^^  Though i have to admit that i was a bit disappointing when opened the box.  They didn’t look very robust and the plastic felt a bit cheap.  But i use my headphones when i’m sitting in a chair or in bed, not in a war zone or on a jungle expedition.  So it’s not that big a deal, which brings me to the important part… the sound quality!  I plugged them in for a testdrive, started Bent – As You Fall (Micah’s Swollen Booty Mix) and boy was i in for a shock!  Not only is it a brilliant song to test your soundsystem, but the sound was so warm and you could hear so many details.  The last time i was this impressed with a soundsystem was in Sven Vath’s Cocoon club in Germany.  The “hard” work of ripping all my cd’s to flac and high bitrate ogg’s really pays of with the sennheisers! ^^  I “tested” it with other songs, to see how it handled other music genres, and my precious new headphones passed with flying colors.  From Beethoven to Sasha and Digweed, Radiohead or Ricardo Villalobos, it all sounds so beautiful.  Highly recommended!

That brings us to the monsters part of this blog.  I started designing a microblogging app for Twitter, Identi.ca and Jaiku.  At the moment it still only is a terminal app.  To my own defense, it is a working terminal app!   You can post to twitter and see your timeline, but i’m working “hard” on the graphical interface.  Trying and figuring things out like “to webkit or not to webkit, …”. Definitely To Be Continued!

Eee PCs, Glas Shards, Lost Necklaces and Santiago

A couple of weeks ago i got a beautiful present from my gf.  A tiny eeepc from Asus! ^^  I installed Foresight Linux on it.  Foresight Mobile has a very very pretty interface and is working like a charm!  The keyboard needs a bit getting used to, but it’s not like we are using it for typing letters or huge documents.  I (we) are very happy with it! ^^

I’m still waiting for the last parts for my server to arrive, the waiting is getting quite annoying… In the meantime i’m working on a little pygtk program, that will be totally useless unless you are a Ferrarifreak.  At the moment it’s nothing more than a database of all the cars Ferrari ever made (and their specs) with a shiny interface around it.  But i only started and have lots of ideas!  PyGtk and Glade for the interface design really are a joy to work with.

Last week i was smart enough to trip a glass of water (or milk) from my desk and stepped into a broken glass shard while i was trying to clean up the mess i made.  Which resulted into a deep cut in my foot.  Something i forgot for a moment later that evening when i went for my evening run.  I had to stop after only a couple of meters and ended up with a gross looking sock and an annoying feeling in my foot.

More annoying news, i seem to have lost my necklass!   We searched (almost) everywhere in our apartment, but if it’s lock is broken it could have fallen off everywhere. *sniff*  My gf did make some delicious pancakes to cheer me up and her plan was a succes!   We got a great offer this week from a friend of ours.  He lives in Santiago (Chili) this and next year for his work and invited us to stay there for a week in februari.  Too bad both of us have to go to work/school then cause Santiago sounds incredible!

It’s almost time to start dinner, so have a nice day!