Testing blogger div postioning iframes

here should be 3 iframes next to each other

OS X and X11 XTerm

For some reason I have to use the X11 Terminal when using Screen on some remote machines, it might just be a setup issue with screen on those machines but for now I wanted my XTerm to look similar to my pro Terminal windows ie black background and white text.

for this you need to create a .Xresources file. Which can be done using vim from a terminal.
$vim ~/.Xresources
and paste in the following

XTerm*foreground: white
XTerm*background: black

You will then need to completly restart the X server, easiest way I know is a full system restart.
NB: you can actually see what this will do by launching X11 and creating several new XTerms. The settings do not get applied to the first instance but they will once rebooted.

Shebang Line Magic

For scripts that are written in languages that often have a nonstandard install location I use to just call directly eg $ruby script.rb. as there was non standard dir like #!/bin/bash

but I recently discovered a nice shebang line trick.
#!/usr/bin/env ruby
Will look up the users path to the program and call it. So as long as ruby is intstalled and on the users path (as it would need to be for ruby script.rb to work) the script should be portable between users/systems. Now I just call $script.rb

Linux, Mac Os X and Windows Portable Filesystem

[Update] Newer easier to use MAC NTFS driver post [/Update]

Portable file systems between all 3 big OS, Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

Fat32 is compatible with all three but is very inefficient when dealing with larger disks (500GB+).

Unfortunately the most compatible seems to be Windows NTFS. Using FUSE and NTFS-3g on Linux and MAC we can have Read/Write access, I do not think that the Journaling is used though.

Mac OS X guide at http://ntfs-3g.darwinports.com/
Basically install mac ports
then $ sudo port install ntfs-3g

NB: when switching on external drives they will try to automount. if the safe device removal is not used the NTFS disk is labeld as an unclean mount. (Even if the windows option is set to write directly to the driver, and not use a cache to improve performance)

The dialog box that displays this warning does not list the correct command to fix it it should be replaced with something like :
$ /usr/local/bin/ntfs-3g /dev/rdisk2s1 /Volumes/Terra02 -o force

Mac OS X & GPS

So finally Garmin have released so software for OS X www.garmin.com/macosx/.
But it mostly requires you to have bought one fo the more expesive models with USB and not the more popular Serial models. I think I still have a problem of connecting my Serial Garmin eTrex Legend to a macbook via usb. Dont think the serial to usb cable I have is compatible but cant check until I get some software that can try accessing the GPS!

Memory map is Windows only, so it is looking likely that I will have to install parallels just to get the GPS working.

PS I got my GPS from www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk but it looks like they have stopped trading now :(

My Camera Wish List

My current camera is the Canon 400D. My favorite lens at the moment is the 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS it is a 3 stop Image stablising lens and is great for walking about with.


My current Wish list for Camera parts is:

055 3 Stage Normal	055 3 Stage Light Weight.	190 Normal	190 Light Weight

SanDisk seem to make fast reliable Compact Flash (CF) cards and occasionally come up for amazing prices. £17.99 for a 4GB x133 speed card!

The 70-200 F4 IS Lens seems to have gotten good reviews. there is a F2.8 version of this lens but it is much heavier and it is not that sharp at f2.8 and twice the price. The f4 version is sharp from f4. and you could set the exposure compensation to ev-1 for Av mode and you would get the shutter speed of a f2 lens and then post process compensate by 1 Stop.

I Really Like the Quality of the Manfrotto tripods but can not decide which model I would like. The 190 series don't quite go up to eye level and feel a little flimsy while the 55 is rock solid but quite weighty. The 055 Mag fiber is about the same weight as the standard 190, but then you could get the lieght weight 190 and have a tripod that you could take any where. For both there are 3 and 4 section legs. 4 is a little it more compact but 3 is lighter and stiffer which is what you want out of a travel tripod?

I love the geared head. it is so easy to accurately position no real effort required and the action is very smooth but it is expensive and adds a lot of weight (if you have just paid double for a light weight set of legs).

The 3D Magnesium Head is cheaper and very light but I found the knobs very hard to turn. They are very stiff unlike the geared version and do not have large grips like the geared head.

New DIY Desk for my Macbook

I have been unable to use my nice chair for a while as I had know where to put my mac book. Last weekend I bolted a few scraps of wood I had lying around together and came up with this.

Applescript Resources

From the horses mouth (Took along time to find this link)
http://apple.com/applescript/

http://homepage.mac.com/corrp/macsupt/applescript/index.html

When using apple script to call shell commands
http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2002/tn2065.html

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Edinburgh Fringe First Weekend 2008

Shows i went to see on the first fringe weekend 2008

Friday
Dermot Mcmorrow: 13 Black Cats In The Shape Of A Magpie
Eco-Friendly Jihad
X-Files Improv with Dean Haglund
Paul Kerensa - iPaul

Saturday
Bombay to Beijing by Bicycle
Phil Kay - Greatest Hits

Sunday
PLUCK: The Titanic Show
Stephen Grant - Second

Monday
Bad Dog Variety
The British Ambassadors Belly Dancer
7 Sins