New Blog Launched

I have finished my new blog on http://rekahsoft.org so this my official last post. My Blog's address is http://rekahsoft.org/?q=blog . You will be redirected there in aproximately 10 seconds. Just enough time to say your goodbyes :)

Merry Chistmas and an Important Anouncement

First off i would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas or a happy holiday to be more "politically correct". As for the new section i would like to report that i have bought webspace and a domain and have been working on getting everything ready. I have both drupal and wordpress set up but it is looking like i am going to use drupal although i would like to see much better blogging support. I have not officially switched yet but you can check it out at http://rekahsoft.org

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good nite ;)

JDK 6 released

JDK 6 was released two days ago but i never had to time to blog about it. Unforchantly no deb is provided by sun and java-package 0.27 (the current stable release of java-package) does not support jdk 6. java-package is software that helps package java for debian based systems. I at first just did a "hack install" by extracting the .bin provided by Sun and then copying it to /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0.00 and then making a symbolic link to it in the same directory named java-1.6.0-sun (Note: i was just following convention). Then i edited /etc/jvm and added /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.6.0-sun. Then i went and edited my netbeans.conf file (located at /opt/Sun/netbeans-5.5/etc) and changed the jdk home to jdk 6. I Started netbeans up and was impressed by the speed improvements but not with the interface. I was expecting GTK LAF right out of the box. But after a little searching i found how to get it working. Add --laf com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKLookAndFeel to you netbeans.conf startup arguments. I found that the tabs looked ugly so i found that Ramon Ramos had a nbm that fixed this. Get it here. Here is what netbeans looks like with GTK LAF the Human theme and the gtk nbm by Ramon:
As you can see the only UI errors are in the right corner of netbeans. Just a little problem which i'm sure will be fixed for Netbeans 6.0 (which is looking sooo awesome btw...i need to try the latest milestone out and when i do i will report back with screen shots and my analysis.

My Decision

I have decided that i would like to move my blog. I have not found web space yet but i am looking. So far the best i have found is at http://www.networksolutions.com. I have also decided to use drupal for content management. Anyways that was just a quick update...i don't know how long it will take for me to get the blog up and running but it will happen probably in the next few weeks. I have not picked out a domain yet nor do i have web space so it may take a little. I will keep blogging here until the switch is made and the new blog is ready. When the time comes this blog will redirect you to my new blog or give you the option to be redirected. At that time you might want to update your bookmarks and/or RSS feed subscription.

Possably Switching Blog

I have received a comment suggesting that i change my blog because of problems i have been running into like spam and the many bugs in blogger beta. I have not decided yet if i should do this but i am still thinking the idea over. If i decide to change my blog i will buy a domain, web space and use either wordpress or Roller. I really like the idea of having my own domain webspace because i then get more freedom to post files and like i have said i would like to start a podcast sometime soon. If anybody has any opinions of wordpress and/or Roller comment and let me know what you think. Also if you know of anywhere i can get good, affordable, reliable web hosting with a high bandwidth let me know; i also need to find a place to register a domain. Thanks.

Edit: I would like to use opensource software and have found druple. It looks very powerful, reliable and worthy to do the job. If you have any experiance with it let me know what you think. I still have to find hosting.

Note: I have not made my decision yet but i am looking into the cost and how it will be better then what i currently have

Updated my Blog

I have been waiting to update my blog to blogger beta and found out to do so i would have to delete my other blog (TTR Linux) which i gave up on because this is more visited. Today i deleted my other unactive blog and i was able to update to blogger beta. I am still looking around at new features but it is definitly an improvement.

My Blog has be recieving SPAM comments

Lately my blog has been receiving SPAM comments so i have had to turn on word verification. If it happens to be a bot doing the SPAMing then it will stop it otherwise i will have to turn on comment moderation :( I do not want it to come to this but it might if SPAM comments keep on being posted. So if anybody is doing this please stop, and if a bot is then it isn't going to work anymore :)

My Grade 12 Computer Engineering

A little while ago i said i was going to let readers know what i am up to in my grade 12 Computer Engineering class (Note that i am in Grade 11 but have skipped a year in Computer Engineering and in computer science but unfortunately the class was canceled because of the lack of student interest). This year in computer engineering i am making a robot that works in a real world simulation modeled like a house fire. A candle in a a maze simulates the fire and the objective of the robot is to extinguish the flame. So far i have been learning C++ and am planning to transition to C so i can code the PIC chip we are using (PIC 16F877). I am using SDCC (Small Device C Compiler) to compile (it is of course Open-source). So far we have completed out main board, have a body complete, schematic design done (maybe a little tweaking yet) and i have a more to learn when it comes to programming (SDCC, C). I am managing a group with two other members. We hope to go to a competition later on in the year if we get the robot done in time. Anyways i have more homework to attend to. Thanks for reading.

Learning - another entry on endless information

I have blogged a couple times on the idea of "endless information" although i have specifically looked at computer topics. Today in my grade 11 university physics class my interest was sparked when we where looking at motion. I was thinking away and then the idea of time travel came to my mind. I knew that Einstein has a theory on the topic so i asked my teacher about Einstein's theory of time travel. He explained to me and i was intrigued and wanted to learn more. I started with google and wikipedia and have found some very interesting, very very abstract theories and ideas (i provide the links at the end of this entry). I am very interested so i am going to look into it more. Specifically i like to see how the future might be when it comes to computers and technology. I was thinking out of the box and thaught of some things i would like to see in the far future; they include:

• Life synthesis on other planets
• Teleportation
• Computers that can be controlled with the mind
• Robotics that can make decisions as if it had a human mind
• Holographic computer monitors
• Time travel
• Perpetual motion
  

At the end of the list readers must be thinking i am crazy; like i said i was just thinking out of the box although i think that every one of the items on the list is attainable. We will see what the future brings.

For your reading pleasure:
Time Travel --> Special Relativity, General Relativity, Grandfather paradox
Teleportation --> Quantum Entanglement, Quantum Measurement, Quantum Teleportation, Quantum feedback

Feisty Fawn Spec and What is to Come 2006

I have been looking over the Feisty Fawn Spec (the next version of ubuntu due 04/2007). There are some pretty impressive goals which i can't wait to see implemented. Because i have a ATI video card i am especially interested in the ATI driver fglrx development and it possibly being open sourced along with the hope of it supporting texture-from-pixmap and the composite extension. The open source driver supports AIGLX but it really slow and only gives 3D acceleration for some cards. Check out the Accelerated X spec and the Binary Driver Education Spec. I some what disagree with having binary drivers from ATI and nvidia enabled by default but the choice is given...i would really like to see the ATI driver open sourced so development will be quicker and updates on time along with support for AIGLX. I also like what i see in the Bullet Proof X Spec. It looks like a lot of work is going to be done with the UI of Ubuntu. Check out the Composite By Default Spec, and the specs i mentioned above having to do with Accelerated X Spec and Binary Driver Education Spec. As for the Composite by Default spec i hope Beryl is chosen over compiz because i prefer it...although both are good. So for your reading pleasure, i picked out my favorite specs:
USplash Fsck Progress
Easy Codec Installation
Binary Driver Education
Composite by Default
Bullet Proof X
Accelerated X

Also if anybody didn't notice Java was open sourced under the GPL v.2 :) Specifically the JDK including J2ME (CLDC, CDC) and J2EE.

Anyways it is getting late and i have to go to bed...keeping busy with school.

Netbeans and C/C++

I have been learning about C/C++ and (of course) downloaded NetBeans 5.5 and all of its packs the day they were released...one of the first things i looked at was the C/C++ support...i absolutely love use NetBeans as an IDE because of its amazing functionality and other features i have mentioned before; but most of the feature i talked about were java specific. Now that i am learning and needing C/C++ i went looking for a C/C++ IDE. I tried a couple linux specific ones but at the release of NetBeans 5.5 C/C++ pack i came back and gave it a try...i loved it!! Although there are some things i would like to see added like support for:
autoconf and automake
scons
doxygen
linux project support (templates for gnome, KDE, and other)
gtk+ and gtkmm project support
two way UML modelling

Sure there are things that NetBeans 5.5 C/C++ pack needs but it is well on its way to becoming the best C/C++ IDE. Where will NetBeans Stop?

Netbeans 5.5 is out!!

In the last week i have made a clean install of Ubuntu edgy and was waiting out for the new NetBeans 5.5....It was just released today and boy am i excited :) The netbeans.org website was tottaly redesigned; it is very pretty now. I will post some screen shots and my thaughts soon. Check out the NetBeans site and download NetBeans 5.5 and it's packs!!

Edgy is Due tomorrow :) and NetBeans 5.5 is on it's way

I haven't bloged for what feels like a very long time...i was hoping i could update my blog to Blogger beta but unforchantly i do not have the option yet. Just today i completed the main board for my grade 12 computer engineering project. I will explain more about my projects and others in my next post (i promise). Also Ubuntu Edgy Eft is being released tomorrow and i am all set to make a clean install...i currently have been using edgy RC but also did testing on edgy beta. Netbeans 5.5 will be coming out shortly which is also i going to be nice...i would recommend anybody to watch Roumen Strobl's demos "Why NetBeans" (Part 1) (Part 2)...looks very impressive :) Hopefully JDK 6 (formaly known as Mustang) will be release at about the same time as NetBeans 5.5...we will see :)

Finally!!

After about 6 months of not being able to have DRI (AKA 3D Acceleration) i have got it working in Edgy Beta 1 using fglrx 8.29.6. I am now very excited to finally have XGL on my laptop. I have also installed Beryl which is the compiz fork (it is very impressive especially seeing as it is still alpha). I am also pretty excited to try out my Doom 3 and Doom 3 Reurection of evil in linux. I also just recently bought Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and have yet to play it (because i am windows free :). I do not play games very often but have been missing it...(i have had Doom 3 for almost a year and have not played it for over 4 months...when i last played it i just got to Hell. Anyways this month is a big month for quite a few things: Ubuntu Edgy Eft comes out, JDK Mustang (i know Sun is not going with code names but i still like to name its 'former' code name), NetBeans 5.5, NetBeans Mobility Pack 5.5, Enterprise pack (i am very excited about this pack...i have been hoping for this for a while), Netbeans C/C++ pack (which needs better linux support btw, [i will write a blog about it when the 5.5 version comes out]). I have tried out all the software i have listed above from alpha to now and have seen many awesome changes! Well that is my little bit for the day...all i have to say i check out the compiz fork Beryl and check out NetBeans and its packs along with Ubuntu Edgy Eft (currently beta 1).

Edgy Beta 1 thaughts

Yesterday, right when Ubuntu 6.10 edgy eft beta 1 was release (at aproximatly 5 PM) and i downloaded it with high hopes that bug 53910 was fixed because this bug made edgy not boot into the live cd (from knot 3 back). I was happy to see that the bug was fixed and that edgy boot quite quickly into the live cd. The live cd was also very snappy. I first installed it to my portable hd...when i rebooted it worked fine and booted from grub right to edgy beta 1...i was apsolutly amazed because my laptop does not support booting from usb devices...then i decided i would install it on a partition on my laptop. So i dual booted Ubuntu 6.06 dapper and edgy beta 1...edgy looks very pretty but i did not try to install fglrx, xgl and beryl...i will when i have more time to fiddle around with it...one of the first things i did after i installed edgy on my laptop was try to get wireless working...as i have mentioned before i have a problematic wireless card (the broadcom 4318). I have to use ndiswrapper because bcm43xx-fwcutter does not work with my specific card. ndiswrapper is broken in edgy so i was having trouble getting my wireless card working...it is definitly poassable to get working but is problematic. Edgy is not going to be as stable as Dapper but it will be a nice OS over all...it needs some time and some much needed bug fixes....i really want to see DRI out of the box for all GPU's and xgl and beryl right out of the box...maybe edgy+1 or edgy+2. Only time will tell.

"Un-invention" : imagine

For english i had to write a small essay on what i would "un-invent" if i had a chance and why. And because i picked a topic that is tech related and that some might find interesting i decided i would share it with you...btw i am sorry i am not blogging more regularily but i have been very busy. I will soon let you readers know what i am doing that is interesting in school. Anyways here is my little essay (note this is not tottaly polished; comments are apreciated).

Un-invention

If i were to un-invent somethings i would un-invent proprietary software vendors like Microsoft and Macintosh because they prevent innovation, spread of computer usage throughout the world, and many other things that Open Source can provide. Proprietary indicates that a party, or proprietor, exercises private ownership, control or use over an item of property, usually to the exclusion of other parties (Proprietary). In the case of software that means the source code. Source code is the computer code that makes up an application. The following statement, “Knowledge belongs to the world” (Anti Trust) raises a point about proprietary software versus open source software. Knowledge should not be kept from the world but distributed freely, proprietary software prevents this. Open Source has many positive effects. One is a very fast development cycle. Ubuntu an open source linux distro that is based on Debian linux has a development cycle of 6 months where as Windows has a development cycle that changes from 2 to 6 years!! The reason open source development is much quicker is because other developers can contribute patches and extra code. Because more than one team of developers are working on the code and that outside sources are contributing you get a more innovative product. Also because open source software is free it allows more people to have computer because they can afford a OS (Operating System) therefore spreading computer usage world wide. Over all if there was no such thing as proprietary software then our world would be a cheaper, faster, nicer computer world.

Wow...i haven't blogged for a while!!

Sorry i have not blogged for a while...i started school and have been focusing on getting top-grade marks. I will update this post a little later with info about my Computer Engineering classes and the project i am working on which is a FireFighter Bot.

Looking forward - what linux needs to beat microsoft

Yesterday was a very sad day for me...i sometimes like to play some games (Doom 3, Halflife 2, etc...) and linux just can't do it as good as windows...so i installed windows so i could play games...i still use linux as my primary OS but have windows just so i can play games from time to time...i was thinking what could bring linux to the next level so it could beat microsoft and become the primary OS for most of the computing nation...I decided linux needed the following improvements (comments on ones you think i missed):
Easier for home use; more media options --> direct X 10 and under support, hardware exelerated drivers, faster 3d, the option of simplicity, games working out-of-the-box; perfect hardware support and auto config; always up-to-date; pretty (xgl/compiz option that comes as default). Well that's all that i have time for today...cheers.

NetBeans 6.0 M2 - First look

Today NetBeans 6.0 M2 came out and i decided i would give it a try...i also downloaded the NetBeans Profiler 6.0 M2 and have it installed as well...i have included some screenshots and thaughts/sugestions:

The installer for Netbeans 6.0 M2 and NetBeans Profiler 6.0 M2 look basicly the same as the installers from NetBeans 5.5 beta 1/2. Once installed this is NetBeans 6.0 M2 booting up:
As soon as i had NetBeans 6.0 M2 running i opened the update center to update everything and add extra functionality...There are no changes to the update center that i can see...one feature i would really like to see in NetBeans is better "module management"...at the moment i can turn modules on and off but i would like to see a blacklist feature in the update center...so you can blacklist modules you never want to install (so for me that would include the modules that disable the default cvs support)...Here is a screen shot of the update center of NetBeans 6.0 M2:
After i finished running the update center i had to restart the IDE...this is what it looked like:
Once the IDE is running again i looked around for some cool stuff...first i looked at full screen mode:
Pretty cool but i wish it support the whole screen like in the windows verion...maybe when jdk 6 Mustang comes out with gtk+ support then it will be able to get rid of the gnome panels...Also i can't wait to see how NetBeans will look under linux (gtk+) with Mustang...it will be awesome...because right now i can't say it is the pretties thing i have ever seen (although the interface is very intuitive and there is nothing netbeans could have really done about the way it looks....there are ways to buitify NetBeans (Substance) i would prefer native look and feel). Note: nothing against the UI team at NetBeans...the UI is great, very intuitive and user friendly and will be capped off on linux when Mustang comes out with gtk+ support to make it "sexy" on linux. Here is a screen shot of Full screen mode in Ubuntu 6.06 dapper:In a couple of days after using it for a little while i will report back with more things i like/dislike/like to see improved with screenshots.

Things i want to see in future releases of Netbeans

I have been learning C/C++ and gtk+ and gtkmm (the C++ bindings to gtk+). So i was thinking what i would like to see from my favourite IDE, NetBeans and i thaught tha having a cross platform gui builder for C/C++ apps using gtk+/gtkmm would be cool...gtk+ and gtkmm are cross platform so all NetBeans would have to do is create a killer gui builder like Matisse...I am very excited to try out the new Matisse in NetBeans 5.5 and NetBeans 6.0. I also recently dound out from Roumen Strobl that Jdk Mustang supports gtk++...this make me very happy because i am a linux user (i have not had windows on my laptop for about 3 months :) and i am very happy with ubuntu :)). Anyway sorry if my thaughts are a little scrambled but it is late over here in Canada. Cheers.

This is what i have set as my nickname for MSN/Yahoo/ICQ/etc.. enjoy :)
Have you had enough with windows? Yeah you have...becuase there is somthing much better...it's called linux ;) Get it today...it is free!!

Endless Information

I am setting some goals for myself for this year and in the future...Here is a list of all the things i would like to acomplish this school year (September to June).
1. Work hard at school and stay on the honor role all year
2. Do the best i can do (give a full effort)

Programming objectives (over the next couple of years)
1. Make sure i know all of J2SE like the back of my hand and make sure i know all the new Mustang API's
2. Learn J2ME and all of its API's
3. Learn J2EE and all the fun stuff that comes along with it.
4. Learn C
5. Learn C++
6. Learn the linux C API's (gtk)
7. Learn the linux C++ API's (gtkmm)
8. Learn C# and Mono
9. Learn some scripting languages like js, perl, groovy, beanshell, etc...
10. Learn Python
11. Keep up to date on all of the langauges and thier API's

It is quite the list but i think it is possable to do...it is a lot of learning but it will be fun :)

Ignorance Kills

I was googling around looking for something interesting and come across an article called "Is You Son a Computer Hacker?" by Reginald Gibbons. I thaught i would look interesting so i went and started reading... after a couple minuites i was very, very upset because the article was total BS!! After a little bit of thinking i thaught it might be a joke but i found that it was not...i was frustrated by his ignorance in writting about something he had apsolutly no clue about. I will give you an overview of the article with my thaughts on each part.

How to determine if your kid is a Hacker Acording to Reginald Gibbons

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?
Gibbons: "If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider."

Me: This is tottal BS...changing to a different ISP is not a sign of becoming a hacker...especialy if you are switching from slow AOL...

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?
Gibbons: "Your son will probably try to install some hacker software." ... "Popular hacker software includes 'Comet Cursor', 'Bonzi Buddy' and 'Flash'."

Me: [[Comet Cursor: A program which allows websites to change your mouse cursor when you are on their website to get the full effect of the webpage]]. It is by no means a hacker program AT ALL. You would have to be a complete idiot to think so!! [[Bonzi Buddy: A web enhancing program packaged with various other programs]]...this is just a little app that is packed with spyware/malware/adware that helps you browse the internet...hackers have apsolutly no uses for this program...what are they going to do with it? ask the monkey what to do next? At the end of Gibbons list is 'Flash'...when i say this is was just shocked that somebody could be soo ignorant...Flash has no uses for hackers at all!! All it does is enhance the experiance of internet users.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?
Gibbons: "Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request 'faster' video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. " ... "If your son has requested a new 'processor' from a company called 'AMD', this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well."

Me: First off as a geek i love getting new hardware...not because i am a hacker and am "limited by conventional harware" but because i enjoy getting the best performance from my machine. Gibbons mentions that hackers may request hardware like a faster videocard, a larger harddrive or more memory...A hacker would not prosper by having a faster videocard..it would not effect him at all...most hacking is done through a console unlike most hacker movie show (eg. Swordfish and the hacking GUI). Then he comes to saying that "AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips." This is the one of the stupidest thing i think i have ever heard... [[AMD is the second largest microprocessor producer in the world]] and just because they leave thier processors more open so they can be overclocked easier does not mean they are more hacker friendly. [[Most computers you buy retail now have AMD chips in them, because they are less expensive, and much quicker, thus enhancing the computing experience]].

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?
Gibbons: "There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: 'Snow Crash' and 'Cryptonomicon' by Neal Stephenson; 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson; 'Programming with Perl' by Timothy O'Reilly; 'Geeks' by Jon Katz; 'The Hacker Crackdown' by Bruce Sterling; 'Microserfs' by Douglas Coupland; 'Hackers' by Steven Levy; and 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' by Eric S. Raymond." ... "If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately."

Me: Sure there are many hacker books on the market...it is an interesting topic. [[Oh man...Programming With Perl? Your son would not like to become a hacker, but rather a coder for a large computer software company or internet company. Thanks, dad, for crushing his dreams of one day becoming a multimillionaire.]]

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?
Gibbons: "If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites." ... "This can take up to eight hours."

Me: Most teens don't spend thier time on the computer using Dos to gain control of other peoples computer...they spend their time playing games and don't harm anything. By the way Dos'ing is more commonly known as 'flooding'. [[DOS'ing usually doesn't take 8 hours, although I can see that on AOL...It'd take 8 hours just to send out that many signals to one system, and more than likely it wouldn't be effective. ]]

6. Does your son use Quake?
Gibbons: "Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. t is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school."

Me: Quake is a GAME not a virtual reality used by hackers to train. Train in the use of variouse firearms? It is just a game...a first person shooter...the guns are not real!!

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?
Gibbons: "As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature."

Me: Just because a child is interested in computers doesn't mean he will become disconnected with the "real world". Hackers are people too, and they function like all other people...just becuase they are hackers doesn't mean they fit the hacker stereo type... Also note that adolence could be effecting thier behavior.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?
Gibbons: "BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called 'xenix', which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install 'lunix' on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional."

Me: When i read this section i was enraged...Lunix is a usinx based operating system for the commador 64...if your kid is still using one of those you should consider upgrading. First off linux is not an illegal operating system!! Lunix is different from every other example Gibbons gave... the rest use the linux kernel where Lunix has it's own. The linux kernel developed by Linyos Torovoltos is not based on xenix but is inspired by Minix. I have no clue where Gibbons comes up with his facts but i have yet to find one that is true. I have no clue what gibbons was doing when he wrote this article but this section is TOTTAL BS and makes no sence what so ever. [[Break into their stereos? In case you didn't notice when you were setting up your system, you didn't hook your stereo up to your computer...or wait, did you? God knows what happened when you set that thing up. MP3 files are compressed CD Audio files, and are used widely in the daily range of activities. And what's this bullsh*t about not noticing if Linux is installed? IT'S A TOTALLY DIFFERENT OPERATING SYSTEM THAT REPLACES WINDOWS!!! It's impossible not to notice it. It'd be clear as day when your dumb ass couldn't figure out why the f*ck your system had completely changed. And Linux is very easily removed by inserting your Compaq Recovery CD. And just for your info, when you send your computer back to the manufacturer, they're going to just restore it using the recovery CD, and laugh all day because of how idiotic you are.]]

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?
Gibbons: "If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences."

Me: In the section above Gibbons mentions that the creator of the linux kernel, Linyos Torovoltos is a computer hacker...to the left is a picture of him. Does he meet the description of a hacker acording to Gibbons? No because hes is NOT a hacker. [[I believer you're referring to the ever-growing group of stylists known as "ravers". They go to parties known as raves, and usually are on some form of sedative or the like. Special-K, i.e. Ketamine is highly popular, because it is easy to find and cheap to purchase. It is cat tranquilizer in small doses, and horse tranquilizer in large doses. Nextly, E, or extasy, is the next most popular drug. It is ingested in the form of a pill, and cause people to "roll" at raves, because of the intense lightshows. If your son was wearing raver clothing, more than likely you shouldn't worry about him being a hacker, but rather being under the influence of some drug or another. Nice detective work, Sherlock.]]

10. Is your son struggling academically?
Gibbons: "

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.
I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously."

Me: Computers help chiI was googling around looking for something interesting and come across an article called "Is You Son a Computer Hacker?" by Reginald Gibbons. I thaught i would look interesting so i went and started reading... after a couple minuites i was very, very upset because the article was total BS!! After a little bit of thinking i thaught it might be a joke but i found that it was not...i was frustrated by his ignorance in writting about something he had apsolutly no clue about. I will give you an overview of the article with my thaughts on each part.

How to determine if your kid is a Hacker Acording to Reginald Gibbons

1. Has your son asked you to change ISPs?
Gibbons: "If your child is becoming a hacker, one of his first steps will be to request a change to a more hacker friendly provider."

Me: This is tottal BS...changing to a different ISP is not a sign of becoming a hacker...especialy if you are switching from slow AOL...

2. Are you finding programs on your computer that you don't remember installing?
Gibbons: "Your son will probably try to install some hacker software." ... "Popular hacker software includes 'Comet Cursor', 'Bonzi Buddy' and 'Flash'."

Me: . It is by no means a hacker program AT ALL. You would have to be a complete idiot to think so!! ...this is just a little app that is packed with spyware/malware/adware that helps you browse the internet...hackers have apsolutly no uses for this program...what are they going to do with it? ask the monkey what to do next? At the end of Gibbons list is 'Flash'...when i say this is was just shocked that somebody could be soo ignorant...Flash has no uses for hackers at all!! All it does is enhance the experiance of internet users.

3. Has your child asked for new hardware?
Gibbons: "Computer hackers are often limited by conventional computer hardware. They may request 'faster' video cards, and larger hard drives, or even more memory. " ... "If your son has requested a new 'processor' from a company called 'AMD', this is genuine cause for alarm. AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips. They use child labor extensively in their third world sweatshops, and they deliberately disable the security features that American processor makers, such as Intel, use to prevent hacking. AMD chips are never sold in stores, and you will most likely be told that you have to order them from internet sites. Do not buy this chip! This is one request that you must refuse your son, if you are to have any hope of raising him well."

Me: First off as a geek i love getting new hardware...not because i am a hacker and am "limited by conventional harware" but because i enjoy getting the best performance from my machine. Gibbons mentions that hackers may request hardware like a faster videocard, a larger harddrive or more memory...A hacker would not prosper by having a faster videocard..it would not effect him at all...most hacking is done through a console unlike most hacker movie show (eg. Swordfish and the hacking GUI). Then he comes to saying that "AMD is a third-world based company who make inferior, "knock-off" copies of American processor chips." This is the one of the stupidest thing i think i have ever heard... and just because they leave thier processors more open so they can be overclocked esiar does not mean they are more hacker friendly.

4. Does your child read hacking manuals?
Gibbons: "There are, unfortunately, many hacking manuals available in bookshops today. A few titles to be on the lookout for are: 'Snow Crash' and 'Cryptonomicon' by Neal Stephenson; 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson; 'Programming with Perl' by Timothy O'Reilly; 'Geeks' by Jon Katz; 'The Hacker Crackdown' by Bruce Sterling; 'Microserfs' by Douglas Coupland; 'Hackers' by Steven Levy; and 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' by Eric S. Raymond." ... "If you find any of these hacking manuals in your child's possession, confiscate them immediately."

Me: Sure there are many hacker books on the market...it is an interesting topic.

5. How much time does your child spend using the computer each day?
Gibbons: "If your son spends more than thirty minutes each day on the computer, he may be using it to DOS other peoples sites." ... "This can take up to eight hours."

Me: Most teens don't spend thier time on the computer using Dos to gain control of other peoples computer...they spend their time playing games and don't harm anything. By the way Dos'ing is more commonly known as 'flooding'.

6. Does your son use Quake?
Gibbons: "Quake is an online virtual reality used by hackers. t is a popular meeting place and training ground, where they discuss hacking and train in the use of various firearms. Many hackers develop anti-social tendencies due to the use of this virtual world, and it may cause erratic behaviour at home and at school."

Me: Quake is a GAME not a virtual reality used by hackers to train. Train in the use of variouse firearms? It is just a game...a first person shooter...the guns are not real!!

7. Is your son becoming argumentative and surly in his social behaviour?
Gibbons: "As a child enters the electronic world of hacking, he may become disaffected with the real world. He may lose the ability to control his actions, or judge the rightness or wrongness of a course of behaviour. This will manifest itself soonest in the way he treats others. Those whom he disagrees with will be met with scorn, bitterness, and even foul language. He may utter threats of violence of a real or electronic nature."

Me: Just because a child is interested in computers doesn't mean he will become disconnected with the "real world". Hackers are people too, and they function like all other people...just becuase they are hackers doesn't mean they fit the hacker stereo type... Also note that adolence could be effecting thier behavior.

8. Is your son obsessed with "Lunix"?
Gibbons: "BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War. It is based on a program called 'xenix', which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people's computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people's stereos to steal their music, using the "mp3" program. Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as "telnet", which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.

Your son may try to install 'lunix' on your hard drive. If he is careful, you may not notice its presence, however, lunix is a capricious beast, and if handled incorrectly, your son may damage your computer, and even break it completely by deleting Windows, at which point you will have to have your computer repaired by a professional."

Me: When i read this section i was enraged...Lunix is a usinx based operating system for the commador 64...if your kid is still using one of those you should consider upgrading. First off linux is not an illegal operating system!! Lunix is different from every other example Gibbons gave... the rest use the linux kernel where Lunix has it's own. The linux kernel developed by Linyos Torovoltos is not based on xenix but is inspired by Minix. I have no clue where Gibbons comes up with his facts but i have yet to find one that is true. I have no clue what gibbons was doing when he wrote this article but this section is TOTTAL BS and makes no sence what so ever.

9. Has your son radically changed his appearance?
Gibbons: "If your son has undergone a sudden change in his style of dress, you may have a hacker on your hands. Hackers tend to dress in bright, day-glo colors. They may wear baggy pants, bright colored shirts and spiky hair dyed in bright colors to match their clothes. They may take to carrying "glow-sticks" and some wear pacifiers around their necks. (I have no idea why they do this) There are many such hackers in schools today, and your son may have started to associate with them. If you notice that your son's group of friends includes people dressed like this, it is time to think about a severe curfew, to protect him from dangerous influences."

Me: In the section above Gibbons mentions that the creator of the linux kernel, Linyos Torovoltos is a computer hacker...to the left is a picture of him. Does he meet the description of a hacker acording to Gibbons? No because hes is NOT a hacker.

10. Is your son struggling academically?
Gibbons: "

If your son is failing courses in school, or performing poorly on sports teams, he may be involved in a hacking group, such as the infamous "Otaku" hacker association. Excessive time spent on the computer, communicating with his fellow hackers may cause temporary damage to the eyes and brain, from the electromagnetic radiation. This will cause his marks to slip dramatically, particularly in difficult subjects such as Math, and Chemistry. In extreme cases, over-exposure to computer radiation can cause schizophrenia, meningitis and other psychological diseases. Also, the reduction in exercise may cause him to lose muscle mass, and even to start gaining weight. For the sake of your child's mental and physical health, you must put a stop to his hacking, and limit his computer time drastically.
I encourage all parents to read through this guide carefully. Your child's future may depend upon it. Hacking is an illegal and dangerous activity, that may land your child in prison, and tear your family apart. It cannot be taken too seriously."

Me: Computers help childern learn...i am done commenting on Gibbons total disregard to the truth and the facts. [[Well since you bought a new computer, emissions standards have virtually eliminated all radiation by computers, disproving your brain and eye damage theory. Most hackers are very intelligent, and excel in such subjects as math and foreign languages. And for everyone's knowledge, meningitis is NOT A PSYCHOLOGICAL DISEASE!!! IT'S BACTERIAL!!!]]

Note: text enclosed by [[]] is quoted from here

Conclusion:
Answering Gibbons questions:

1. Yes...i have changed my ISP a couple times [i wanted a faster conection].
2. I have flash on my linux laptop (the other programs do not work on linux i believe)
3. Yes i have asked for new hardware for variose computers in my house.
4. Yes i read hacking manuals because they are interesting (The unofficial guide to ethical hacking)
5. I spend many many hours a day on my computer. A lot more than 30 minuites a day...if i had the restriction i would die.
6. I have never played Quake but i have played quake 4 and 3...
7. No...just because i am a geek doesn't mean i do not have a life
8. Yes i love linux :)
9. Sometimes for fun :)
10. I only struggle accademicly when i don't work

So...acording to Gibbons i am a hacker. (Note that Gibbons is using the term 'Hacker' in a foul way. As in breaking the law.) I am not denying that i am a hacker...i will leave it up to you to decide (see this [note the bottom text])
Note: the term hacker takes on many meanings. Some of which are:
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file
ldern learn...i am done commenting on Gibbons total disregard to the truth and the facts.

Note: text enclosed by [[]] is quoted from here

Conclusion:
Answering Gibbons questions:

1. Yes...i have changed my ISP a couple times [i wanted a faster conection].
2. I have flash on my linux laptop (the other programs do not work on linux i believe)
3. Yes i have asked for new hardware for variose computers in my house.
4. Yes i read hacking manuals because they are interesting (The unofficial guide to ethical hacking)
5. I spend many many hours a day on my computer. A lot more than 30 minuites a day...if i had the restriction i would die.
6. I have never played Quake but i have played quake 4 and 3...
7. No...just because i am a geek doesn't mean i do not have a life
8. Yes i love linux :)
9. Sometimes for fun :)
10. I only struggle accademicly when i don't work

So...acording to Gibbons i am a hacker. (Note that Gibbons is using the term 'Hacker' in a foul way. As in breaking the law.) I am not denying that i am a hacker...i will leave it up to you to decide (see this [note the bottom text])
Note: the term hacker takes on many meanings. Some of which are:
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file

Vacation / update

As you have probably noticed i have not blogged for over a week now...that is because i am on vaction at a lake in the north of Ontario, Canada. I can't not do much becuase of my broken leg so i brought a couple of books (C++ Primer, Linux Application Development and Beginning Linux Development) so i have been doign quite a bit of reading. When i get home i get my server because i had to fix some computers before i could recieve it...My house is now all running linux (except one computer which is running windows XP because my mom won't let me switch it). Anyway...i am hoping to start that podcast soon and am looking for somebody to do it with so if you are interested then give me a shout at my email . Anyway enjoy your summer (my vaction ends next weekend).

Netbeans 5.5 beta 2

I just downloaded Netbeans 5.5 beta 2 (althought it was released a while ago i have been out with my broken leg). I am excited to check the NetBeans Enterprise pack and the C/C++ pack (although the beta 2 has not been released for either). I will install it tomorrow and tell what i think (from what i have read it looks apsoluly phenomenal :) ). Cheers

The spirit of open source and community

Humanity to others. I am what i am because of what we are. These two statements are on the ubuntu homepage and they really got me thinking. Community is one of the best things about opensource...sure the source is available (which is handy), the product is free (which is nice), there are quick updates and bug fixes, and the consumer recieves a very inovative product but whould all these things happen without a community? The source will always be available (or ir wouldn't be opensource) but without a community to download and test/look over what would be the point? Having the source open to the community speeds up the production time of the product and makes the product more invative because users can find errors in the product and notify the developers. One of the best things about community is that there are very helpful mailing lists and forums. For example the ubuntu forums and the netbeans mailing lists. You can get endless information from these sources; not to mention when a new thread is posted it is usually resonded to in minuites :)
REMEBER: community drives much of opensource and enhances products...so get involved!!

My Misfourtune

Sorry i have not posted in a while....on Thursday July 13 at aproximately 10:25AM i was playing soccer with some friends in a courtyard surrounded by a foot and a half concrete wall that enclosed a garden. A wooden bench was attached to the wall all the way around. The soccer ball got kicked up onto the garden and i went up to retrive it...i got the ball off the flower bed and kicked the ball off the bench which was wet because it rained the day before...I slipped and because i was moving fast went quite a distance and hit the ground at aproximately a 30 degree angle and twisted my right leg. Thirty minutes later the ambulance arived and and put me on a streacher and brought me to the hostpital where i was told i have a broken leg. That night i went into surgery. I am now back at home although i am in quite a bit of pain [not to mention i can't work anymore so i can't make any money :'( ] Anyway...i will be able to post a lot more because i am home for the rest of the summer.

Edgy Eft, hope and linux...and of couse NetBeans

At the moment i am very, very excited for the release of ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft), Java 6 (Mustang), NetBeans 5.5 and NetBeans 6.0. Ubuntu 6.10 is going to be awesome because it will probably have xgl and compiz working out of the box (hopefully) and now that 8.26.18 ati propriatary fglrx beta driver is out and supports my card (the Radeon 200M) i will have 3D support :). Hopefully the new ati driver will be done for the new release of ubuntu. One thing ATI needs to do is to either open source their propriatary driver (which i know they will not do because it will give away too much about their cards) or put a distributor licence on it so it can be distributed freely by open source vendors like ubuntu and other linux distros. I am excited for java 6 (Mustang) because it is much faster and looks better on linux. I am also very excited for NetBeans 5.5 and am very much antisipating NetBeans 6.0. Before i start school again in the fall i am going to make a clean install of Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) with NetBeans 5.5 (Enterprise pack, C/C++ pack, Mobility pack and profiler) running on Java 6 Mustang. It will be awesome..anyway..i have to read up on driving in Canada (I have to write my drivers test).

To all i wish the best...thanks for reading.

Winning the Windows Vs. Linux Battle

Microsoft has been promising a lot of nice new features in Vista. You can check them out here. I am going to make a little comparison of the features and we'll see who you think will come out on top...

Look and Feel ["eye candy"]
Windows: Direct X 10 looks intersting...I like the thumbnail view when you go ever an item in the startbar...but really there LAF is not that great...it is just glass XP...not to mention it is very, very bulky, heavy wieght and slow.

Linux: First off XGL is open source, looks great and doesn't take a super-human machine to run...it is not to hard to install and is supose to be installed right off the bat in futute releases of ubuntu, SuSE and other distros. The only hinderance i have experianced is my fglrx drivers just won't work therefore i can not install XGL.

Sidebar
Windows: Looks pretty but i would not want it because it would just make windows even slower than it alread is...could be usefull though...lots of funtionality (see this for more info)

Linux: This can be done with gdesklets which are pretty nice...i noticed no preformace drops when using them and they are open source!! There could be more funtionality but it is basicly there (+ there is probably a plugin somewhere)

Performance
Windows: The slowest windows ever! Although it does have some cool features like sleep.

Linux: Has always been very, very fast but i wish there was a sleep option and a hibernate option that is not as flaky.

Backup
Windows: This is the only place i can see windows beating linux (and only by a little)...i really like the idea of "Volume Shadow Copy" and "System Restore".

Linux: You can do something like "system resote" with a opensource tool called "sbackup", but i wish it were more intigrated with the system. As i said above i really like the idea of "Volume Shadow Copy" and as i am aware there is no tool to do this in linux...an nice intigration into OpenOffice and the rest of the systemw would be great.

Networking
Windows: From what i have seen of Vista microsoft has spent a lot of time with the interface and it is pretty and has basicly said "screw performance". The network manager looks very nice and user friendly...

Linux: networking in linux is very nice if your hardware is supported...and now adays everything is...(wireless is soon going to be shiped by default) and iff not you can use ndiswrapper (that is what i use)...gnome network manager is very nice and simple to use...and the networking tools in linux are phenomenal.

Other:
I really like windows media center...on linux there is myth tv which is good as well...Gaming and family safe programs are also neat...linux needs to get these because as far as i know it doesn't. I think the "Windows slideshow" feature is interesting but basicly useless...once laptops with this new built in technology linux will adapt. Speech recognition in windows vista also looks very interesting...linux needs something like it...something integrated into the sysem.

What i am doing this Summer

This summer is going to be a very busy summer for me...I am working full time (10 hour days) at Elite Machine and Gear Inc. (EMG) and part time at Egar tool and Die. I wish i could be working coding but that is just not going to happen because it is basicly impossable to get imployed at my age for Computer Science. If anyone want to employ me give me a shout at my email address ;) Anyway...from July 4 to 14 i am going to summer school to prepare for Grade 11 University Math. Then during the last week of July i am taking holidays and going up north to Nipissing (a decent size lake). Then i am back to work until i start school.

Now on the technical side of my summer i would like to learn more about C/C++, C#, coding in linux, the linux kernel, gtk and netbeans platform and API's. I was thinking about writing some stuff on top of banshee (front end to encode video to ipods) and i would really like to write a program like Alcohol 120%. If anyone would like to join me or has any suggestions, feel free to comment. Thanks.

New Module Development Tutorials available

Some new Module Development tutorials are availble at netbeans.org regarding Nodes API. They are very usefull (i have already finished one and am on my way to reading the other). You can check them out here or can read more info about them here.

Anyone up for developing some linux Apps?

Lately i have been searching around for some good linux media players and have only found one that i really like but it was not tottaly up to my exspectations. I could not get the plugins working and i need the podcasting features. Plus it does not support syncing video onto ipods. I then proceeded to notice that there needs to be alot more apps for linux and more easier installs for new users. Due to the minimal software support in some areas (and software that is not up to standards) i have been wanted to make a development team that makes apps that make it easier to use linux and add functionality. I would perticularily like to see a music player that is extensible, easy to use, pretty, functional, full ipod support, video support, ect... It could be done by using the GStreamer API and the alike. I also noticed it is a pain to mount iso images (you have to do it from console [i could not find an app like alcohol 120%]). I did find an app called Bonfire that is very nice. You can check it out here. Anyways if anyone is interested in forming a development team to start making some nice apps that make life easier feel free to comment.

Vista Beta 2 released to the public

As you have probably noticed i am not a bug fan of Windows. Windows has recently released Vista Beta 2 for the publc to try and i have heard good and bad about it. It is suposably much faster but is made for the computer iliterate (it is a pain having a menu oriented system). It does look very pretty tho... I will maybe give it a a try but will definitly not abondon my ubuntu :) If anyone has tried Vista Beta 2 tell me what you think.

TTR-Linux

As some of you might know i have started a new blog with a friend of mine deticated to linux topics. You can check it out here. Anyway we haven't been getting many views so i decided to let some people know about it. I also found an interesting screen name on the ubuntu forums so i decided i would close with it:

"Microsoft gives you Windows, but Linux gives you the whole house!"

My new toy

Today i went to Future shop and found a hard drive enclosure for $44 CAD. Although i thaught it had a 80gb harddrive i was not very disapointed when i saw that it didn't. I then went to Sams club (similar to Cosco) and found 200gb 7200rpm Maxtor hard drives for $115 CAD. So i bought it ad put the two together and bang!! i now have a 200gb external hard drive that works great in linux. And to boot i got it for like $150 CAD!!

Bye Bye Windows :)

I have not posted for while a while beacuase i have been crazy busy getting rady for exams and finishing summatives (exam week/s starts next Thursday). Anyway yesterday i was resizing my ntfs partition because i wanted to make a clean install of ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS (32 bit). I was using GParted on the ubuntu live install CD and it failed and screwed up my ntfs partion. I had all my school work, music and apps on it!! So i got myself a Windows XP cd and booted to the recovery console. Then i repared my mbs using the command 'fixboot' an then re-wrote the mbr by using the command 'fixboot'. Then i proceeded to reboot. Windows gave me a blue screen so i rebooted again and poped in the ubuntu live install CD. Once the live installer CD booted i edited /etc/fstab so i could mount my ntfs partition. (Note: before i 'fixboot' and 'fixmbr' nothing could read the filesystem of my damaged ntfs partion). Then I got my dad's portable harddrive and copyed my data from that. Resault: I have saved all my data and live without windows :) I still have not yet got my ATI propriatary drivers working (there is some issues with the driver for the Radeon 200M)...if anyone knows how to get them working it would be really nice if they could show me how because i am becoming very frustrated with it. Or if someone knows of any third party driver (that supports 3d acceleration) give me a shoot. Anyway...i have to get back to homework.

ATI and BCM3418 drivers are not working :(

Lately i have been working extremely hard doing school work and getting ready for exams. On my spare time i have been trying Ubuntu 6.06 (I have been using linux for over half a year). I apsolutely love it but have been having a hang of a time getting it to work. The ATI drivers are being very anoying (they don't install correctly no matter what tutorial i use...i have a Radeon 200M and have to use the older driver because ATI broke the new driver for my card). On the weekend i got wireless working (i have a Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02) wireless card) but it only worked for one connetion and i have not been able to get it running since (Note: i used this guide: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=185174). If anybody knows how to get ubuntu 6.06 dapper on the compaq R4000 with the ATI Radeon 200M and Broadcom BCM4318 wireless card feel free to link me to a tutorial or tell. Currently it is a pain in the but to get the wireless and ATI driver working so if i can find a way that works then i will make a shell script so it is easier for others to get it working. BTW, a friend and I have started a new blog about linux that will have many resources like i just specified...we also are working on how-to manuals. You can check it out at ttr-linux.blogspot.com.

Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper LTS released

Today Ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS was released. I was running SuSE 10.1 with Gnome 2.14 because i was trying to get XGL and my ATI propriatary drivers working. I highly recomend Ubuntu 6.06 (i have been using the development releases since Flight 6). I am definitly going to be downloading and installing it tonight. You can go check out Ubuntu 6.06 dapper LTS here.

Damb ATI!!

Yesterday me and a friend spent the entire day trying to get the ATI drivers working on SuSE 10.1. We got it working on his computer in a couple of minuits but when we got to my laptop we just could not get it to work. We followed a coupe of wiki's including the official guide. We tried both 64 and 32 bit drivers and the week before i worked on getting it working on ubuntu 6.06 dapper RC. I was very angry because i wanted to get XGL working...we got it working on my buddies computer but when it came to mine we had no luck. I am just about to shoot ATI because they just can't get it right!!! I am using a Radeon XPress 200M...i am thinking it is a problem with the actual series of cards (the card works fine in windows). Anyway i spent the entire day in command line shich was interesting but after 6 hours of hacking away and troubleshooting i almost died. I can't leave windows XP until i get linux worki9ng well. Anyway that is my rave for a little while...I am swamped with work from school.

News

Lately i have been very busy with school becuase it is the end of the year and exams and summatives are coming up...anyway after JavaOne there was lots of new in the Java world. You can check it at planetnetbeans.org and planetsun.org . I also jsut found that Ubuntu 6.06 dapper Release Candidate is out. I am just downloading it now...hopefully they have fixed some bugs (esspecialy the gstreamer error [I noticed it while using Flight 7]). I also found a newer linux distro called RR4 (or RR64 if you have a 64 bit pc) that comes with ATI propriatary drivers built in which in it's self makes this distro very apealing to me because my laptop has a ATI Radeon Express 200M. It is also built on Gentoo which is also very apealing. I am going to be trying it so i post what i think of it later on this week or next. You can check out RR4/RR64 at http://www.lxnaydesign.net/.

Upcoming NetBeans Releases

I have lately been trying out the Q-builds of NetBeans 6.0. It is just awesome and has so much stuff added. I am interested in seeing how Matisse matures as well as the new features in the enterprise pack and creator pack. I also really like the NetBeans module development support. One thing i would like to see is "visual branding" so people who are making rich client applications can simply just select which menus/menu-items they will be using. Another thing i would like to see for NetBeans 6.0 is scripting support. It maybe could be downloaded as another pack...it could maybe be called the "dynamic language pack". Anyway there has been lot's and lot's 0f interesting java news this week because of JavaOne so check planetnetbeans.org for current updates...Aw...i so wish i could have gone to JavaOne...next year for sure...anyway have a nice weekend.

Wow...i think i am getting popular... just kid'n

I searched areound today and found quite a few blogs about me...i thaught cool...so i decided to blog it...Here are the links:

Muthu's web log
Seeking Knowledge
Rajmahendra's Blog
Waves

What I want to see in Linux & Results from my quest for a OS

Over the weekend i tried many OS's. I tried Fadora Core 5, SuSE 10.1, Ubuntu Dapper 6.06 Flight 7/Beta 2 and Kubuntu. I was mainly looking for hardware support (specificly for laptops (my compaq R4000) and an out-of-the-box linux. I found for the best "out-of-the-box" experiance, software wise is SuSE 10.1 and Fadora Core 5. The best "out-of-the-box" experiance, Hardware wise was Ubuntu/Kubuntu (Dapper 6.06 Flight 7).

Out of all the OS's i tried Ubuntu/Kubuntu was my favouriteUbuntu/Kubuntu still needs a little more work...I readlly liked the new network manager...it is phenomenal. I would like to see it be able to detect what type of hardware has been added to the system and then install the correct drivers by connecting to a repository) and then have a simple way to configure it. Don't get me wrong i love the command line (it is fun) but it would be nice to be able to have things working without have to compile things into my kernel. I would like to see more usability and user-friendlyness (specificly out of the box software support (ex. Media codecs installed, able to play DVD's, ect...). I would also like to see more avalablity of deb packages so any users could simply use Ubuntu/Kubuntu.

Next i tried Fadora Core 5. It was very pretty and nice to look at but i found that it was not very good on laptops. It comes with lots of software and it seemed resonably easy to install. I did not explorer this as much as i would have liked to but i wanted to explorer others.

Finally i installed SuSE 10.1. I used to use SuSE 10 all the time but got frustrated with it after time because of some bugs in YAST and minimal hardware support...at least on my laptop. (Note: Laptop support in linux NEEDS to be improved [it has been in the past year but i would like to see more]). It is one of the prettiest OS's i have ever seen. I would like to see Gnome updated to the current version and have some bugs worked out...my favourite thing about SuSE 10.1 is the out-of-the-box software support. I like how it comes with the helix engine and media codecs (if specified).

Anyway that is my take from two days of installing OS's and testing them. So as you have prabably noticed i would like to see better hardware support specificly on laptops and a more user-friendly OS. I am known to bash windows but i must say it is nice that everything "just works" . Next i will try Gentoo (v2006.0) and Solaris, so stay tuned!

NetBeans 5.5 Beta Released

Instead of repeating what was already said in quit a few places I will just link and give my opinion of NetBeans 5.5 Beta. I think it is absolutely awesome....It is almost time for eclipse to give up...(see Eclipse Killer ). There could be some improvements to the editor and maybe some in areas where I am not very educated (J2EE and J2ME [Although from what I have done of J2ME in NetBeans it was very easy to pick up]). I really like the new Welcome screen and I especially like the UML support. I also like the C/C++ support. You can download NetBeans 5.5 from here. You can read more about it at NetBeans.org or at the following:

Alessio Pace's blog
Paul Walk's blog
Geertjans Blog (Part #1)
Geertjans Blog (Part #2)

Friday Fun

Today i came across some very funny advertisments for Firfox. My favourite is this one. Anyway it is very late in Canada so i am going to call it a night.

What Operating System should i Use?

I have a compaq R4000 laptop and currently have windows XP and SuSE 10. I have been having a hard time trying to decide whether i should use SuSE, Ubuntu or Solaris. It would be nice to have some comments on what you prefer and what you like/dislike about the mentioned Os's.

Note: I have to have XP for the little amounts of time when i decide to play halflife 2 or Doom 3.

I am on NetBeans.org!!

Check netbeans.org 's homepage. I was interviewed by Roumen Strobl a little while ago and it is live!! Anyway you can comment on the interview here.

What Java Needs

I have been listening to some old Java Posse Podcasts and have been thinking about what i would like to see in the future of Java. I also was looking over what i would like to see in future releases of NetBeans. In the next release of Java i would like to see support for many scripting languages (JavaScript, Ruby, Python, ect..). This would be really usefull because it would create the possablity to use Scripting languages with Java API's. I would also like to see better support for scripting languages in NetBeans (Debugging and Profiling, along with good refactoringas and editor support). In Mustang it is possable to use JavaScript (using project Rhino). This is very cool and should also be done with more dynamic languages. BTW, there is now C++, C support in NetBeans!! It is suppose to be in NetBeans 6.0. Also there is the Enterprise pack which includes support for UML.

Gone for a little while...

I am going to be very busy with school for the next little while so sorry if you won't hear from me...It is taking me a long time to get a new microphone and server so hopefully they will be available soon. On a side note NetBeans 5.5 is awesome and i recomend you go try it (it is still in Q-Builds). Anyway i will try and blog as often as possible.

Quiet

Over the past week I have been pretty quiet (I guess you could say lazy). I have been on march break and have been just loving it! I have been spending most of my time learning more about developing NetBeans modules. I very much like this type of work. Anyway there has been a lot going on in the NetBeans world (C++/C pack, enterprise pack, ect..). I looking forward to the 5.5 and 6.0 releases of NetBeans. They will be great!! Anyway it is almost 1:00 AM and I have to wake up in the morning so this is going to be cut a little short. Now for a short update...I am still waiting to get a server (it should happen this week hopefully) and that mean I will be start up my podcast. About the flash demo I said I was going to have ready for last week, it never happened because the audio is not very good quality so I am going to pick up a new mic and re-record.

Eclipse (The Super Power in the IDE War) is Having Trouble Keeping up with the Fast Pace of NetBeans

Ian Skerrett has shared false information regarding Eclipse and NetBeans. Eclipse said that NetBeans use went down 0.2% and that they are still at the top of the on going IDE war. The results where based on a online survey of 621 developers. Below is a graph of the amount of unique accesses to the NetBeans update center. (note: each NetBeans IDE has it's own unique ID and is not effected by DHCP). The hits to the NetBeans update center does not include people who are behind firewalls or people who disable their update functionality in NetBeans or people not connected to the internet.

Anyway I don't want to pick on eclipse...They do have a great product with some (very few) features that beat NetBeans. One thing where NetBeans is far ahead is in it's GUI builder Matisee. Btw a new plugin is coming out for eclipse that integrate the amazing NetBeans Matisse GUI builder. You can check this out here. This brings up the topic of how Elcipse can't even think up there own idea's they have to steal the code from NetBeans. Any way there are quite a few other reasons NetBeans is better that Elcipse (Swing vs. SWT, Mobility Pack, the new enterprise pack, Ant build system, ect...). At the end of the day it is good that eclipse is around because it let's developers choose what tool they would like to use. Competition is a good thing because it make tools better. Don't expect the IDE war to end anytime soon!!

NetBeans has a lot of momentum and has came leaps and bounds from 3.x and even 4.1. Don't expect NetBeans to slow down!!

For more information visit: http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/roumen?Entry=netbeans_growth_questioned#comments
http://cld.blog-city.com/what_form_does_success_take__a_clear_picture_of_success_with.htm
http://ianskerrett.blogspot.com/2006/03/eclipse-gains-market-share-in-2005.html

Groovy

Today I tried out Groovy. I was very impressed with how I could use a scripting language with and on top of the Java platform. I was using the new updated nbm's from project Coyote (the nbm's were updated to 5.0 by Roumen Strobl). Project Coyote has basic support for Groovy and Jython but need many more features (code completion, syntax highlighting, ect...). Some day I would love to see java with a dynamic language of it's own and groovy is looking like a great choice.

Photo's from Mt. St.Anne Quebec

Beuatifull painting on an old building in Quebec City

One of my favourite parts of the part at Mt. St. Anne

Me Coming out of a Chocolate shop in Quebec City

Chalets in front of Mt. St. Anne

Place where we stayed

Picture From the top of the Mountain

the main gondala at Mt. St. Anne

Blue Skies infront of the biscotte (a small eatery)

Road leading up to Mt. St. Anne

I'm Back

I am back from my holiday with my family. It was a great relaxing time and very fun. I will have some pics posted once I get a-hold of some from my dad's digital camera. This week I should be able to get my UML demo finished. I will also have a new server and will have it set in about one and a half weeks. Along with this I will be starting my own podcast. The first episode will be release probably by the end of the month. So stay tuned for some new things coming on rekahsoft.blogspot.com.

Short Update

I am going away on a family trip for this week so I probably will not be blogging but when I come back I will be releasing a demo about the new UML support in NetBeans 5.5 Preview. Also I will be able to host my own files because I am getting a server when I come back!! So be ready for my first demo. I would love to hear your feed-back when the time comes.

NetBeans 5.5 Preview Available

Today NetBeans 5.5 Preview became available. As I do with all new NetBeans things I downloaded it and gave it a try...I have been waiting for quite a while for UML support built into NetBeans. It seamed to be pretty stable already which is cool. One thing I noticed was that Java Studio Creator functionality was not yet implemented. This is not much of a problem because I do not do much with j2EE (although I am very interested in learning new things). I included a screen shot of the UML support in NetBeans 5.5 Preview (a boring Windows XP shot) showing a little demo UML diagram (Note: don't comment on the actual diagram; it is just to show something in the image). It is definitely going to be nice to have the great features of Java Studio Creator and Java Studio Enterprise in NetBeans. Now all that will be needed is big fixes (especially in the UML support from JSE) a few more features and enhancements and finnaly the biggy...support for more languages. What an exciting time for NetBeans!!

All i can say is WOW!!

I tried the new Mac with the intel core duo...and all i can say is WOW. It is so fast. The first thing i did was download NetBeans (version 5.0) and see how it worked. I was amazed...I am definitly going to get a MacBook Pro for my next laptop!! All i can say is ... WOW!!

Almost there...

I've been busy at work figuring out a solution to my web space problem. I'm going to be getting a server in the next few weeks and I already have many plannes for it. I'll be creating I HTTP server so I can host my podcast (the first episode will be out in approximately a month). I will also be creating a CVS portions so I can host my current projects. The server will also be used as part of my home network which does not need to be discussed here. so be ready for flash demos and my new podcast in the next month. I will also be producing more blogs (approximately a blog a day) and a podcast a week.

The RekahSoft Side Project

I've been working on a 2-D game engine for little while and it will eventually become my end of the year project. Aside the engine will be an application that lets people with little to none programming experience create a game. It will generate all the code needed on NetBeans because many of the tools are ready to use. The project is most of all for my personal enjoyment, and is done after my NetBeans module (ITM) work.

Time Management Module (ITM)

Sorry I have a blog for a long time,I had really been slowed down by my broken arm. I would like to give a update on my time management module. First off it looks like i will not be the only person involved in this project; which is good because two brains are better than one. We're still in process of design and coming up with an appropriate feature set. So if you are looking for Time Management module in NetBeans now is a time to submit features you'd be interested in.I'm still working on getting webspace and hopefully I find something meet my needs. In approximately a month ITM (integrated Time manager [Time Management module for NetBeans]) will have early releases out. So give some input on features that you would like to see included and we'll see what we can do.

NetBeans 5.0 Is HERE!!

After a few months of hard work from the NetBeans team and community they are able to release the latest and greatest version of NetBeans. With many new features that you can't find in any other IDE. NetBeans is completely open-source and still wins over competition. Wow, great job NetBeans!!

Programming one arm short

Yesterday i broke my right arm snowboarding. I have snowboarded for 4 years and it is one of my favorite pass times besides programming an other computer related things. This is not good because it happens to be very hard to type with one hand (not mentioning very slow). I have voice recognition software but it does not work very good for programming. Although i have got it to work pretty well and am improving the quardination in my left hand. There are a few plus's to it though; I have lots of time to read more programming books and learn more. In a week or so the doctor said i will be able to type with my broken arm which is really nice. Just bcause i broke my arm doesn't mean i am going to stop my module development. So hopefully everything will go well and i will be healed up in six to eight weeks.

Another Update

Sorry i have not blogged lately, i have been very busy doing school work. I try to have a blog a day and i almost am ready to have media on my blog. Sorry for the long wait... I will have my article about Java and NetBeans on linux out very soon.

Java Studio Creator 2 Available

I do not have much experiance in the field of J2EE Programming but recently i donloaded Java Studio Creator 2. It is very simple and even though i know very little about J2EE programming i made a simple check-out. There are many new comprehensive features in Java Studio Creator 2, and the best thing is it is built off of NetBeans! Although it is built off of NetBeans 4.1 as Java Studio Enterprise is, and as i have said many times in previous posts i would love to see the tree sun IDE's built off of NetBeans come together (and still be open-source). You can download Java Studio Creator 2 here.

Update

Sorry i have not written lately, i have been very busy. Good news is i am close to solving hosting problems. More good news is NetBeans RC 2 is out!! It includes some crutical bug fixes. I am very exceited for the NetBeans 5.0 Release as many of you are as well. Be prepared for my first podcast and some other media this week or possibly next as well as an article on Java and NetBeans on Linux.

NetBeans 5.0 RC!!

Sorry i haven't writen very many atricles this week and last week...I have been swamped with work. This will be a short article but soon i will have some new article (i am preparing a podcast [it should be done by next week]).

I have been using NetBeans 5.0 as you probably know. I have enjoyed the amazing improvement in stability. My new pass time is coding NetBeans Moduals. I have been reading the tutorials and have made a search bar like the "quick search" in Mozilla FireFox. I am now working on a "Time Management" Modual. So you will soon be seing a download link on my blog.

Fun Java Fact #1

Have you ever wanted more solutions for your program? Say the pragram is to be run as an applet but the user would like to download it and use it outside a browser. I was thinking over how to do this so i made a simple program that operates as a applet and a application. This can be very usefull because users can use your program out of a browser when they are not online. It does not take very much to do this. Just a little flexability. The program is not a tough one at all; just a JButton with a label saying how many times the JButton has been clicked. Also note it is a Swing applet/application. Here is my code:
/*
* SwingAppletAndApplication.java
* Created on: Friday January 13, 2006 at 9:10
*
* @author Rekahsoft.blogspot.com
* @programmer Collin Doering
*/
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.applet.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class SwingAppletAndApplication extends JApplet implements java.awt.event.ActionListener {

//create the components to be used in the applet/application
private JButton btn;
private JLabel label;
//create a variable to keep track of the amount of button clicks
private int timesClicked = 0;

boolean DEBUG = true;

//create a constructor so that the main method can create an istance of it because it can not call the init method because it is not static
public SwingAppletAndApplication() { //default constructor
//init variables
btn = new JButton("Click me");
btn.addActionListener(this); //add an action listener to the JButton
label = new JLabel("I've been clicked: " + timesClicked + " times!!");

// Lay out the GUI (using box layout)
Container contentPane = getContentPane();
contentPane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(contentPane, BoxLayout.X_AXIS));
contentPane.add(label);
contentPane.add(btn);
label.setAlignmentX(Component.LEFT_ALIGNMENT);
btn.setAlignmentX(Component.RIGHT_ALIGNMENT);
}

//init method overrode from java.applet.Applet
public void init() {
new SwingAppletAndApplication(); //show the gui in a applet
}

// Action method -- executed when the user clicks the button.
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
timesClicked++;
label.setText("I've been clicked: " + timesClicked + " times!!");
}

//main method - the starting point in a application for the JVM
public static void main(String args[]) {
//Schedule a job for the event-dispatching thread:
//creating and showing this application's GUI.
javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Application form"); //create a JFrame to show the
frame.getContentPane().add(new SwingAppletAndApplication()); //Add the GUI to the application
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true); //set the JFrame visible
}
});
}

}
I explain the code with coments through out it (sorry i could not format it so it looks nice). Give me some feedback on what you think and if you already knew you could do this. I thaught it was pretty cool because i had never heard of this.

NetBeans 5.0 RC is here!!

After what seems to have been a very long time, NetBeans 5.0 RC has been released!! The wait was well worth it. Many improvements have been made to NetBeans 5.0 RC. To see more about the bug fixes and other features go to the following. I will be playing with NetBeans 5.0 RC, NetBeans Mobility 5.0 RC and the 5.0 RC Profiler after i finish some work. Best luck in your NetBeans 5.0 RC development ;)

P.S: Great Work NetBeans Team/community (i am also a part of the community [rekahsoft@netbeans.org] but i do not contribute many other things other than bug reports [although that will change])

Note: I have almost got my server/solution issues fixed so i will be able to get media and other thing alike on my blog.

More to NetBeans

I am a big NetBeans fan and am very excited for the release of NetBeans 5.0 RC and the final release of NetBeans 5. In one of my previous blogs (Things I like about NetBeans 5.0) i talked about some things i would like to see in the next release of NetBeans. I will list them again anf then i would like to see what other developers would like to see in the next release.
I would like to see UML support with code completion like Java Studio Enterprice 8 but better. One big one is to see the three java IDE's by sun be brought into one; so Java Studio Creator, Java Studio Enterprice 8 and NetBeans. This would make sence because they are all free and Java Studio Creator and Java Studio Enterprice 8 are both built using NetBeans. I also would love to see NetBeans add support for C++, C and languages of the alike with the same amazing features that it has for java. As well as expand on the current phenimenal features already included in NetBeans. As i said in my previous blog i would like to see NetBeans become one "Super IDE"; all the right tools in one place...NetBeans.

The Future

I do not always think in java, most of the time i do but sometimes i like to think about the furure and where technology will be. There are still many things that are undiscovered and i would love to see some of these difficulties overcome. It is very possible i live to see Quantum computers but some other things i think would be cool would be Time Travel, object travel, computers that can communicate with the human brain and recieve comunication back (via electrical pulses) and maybe being able to have a network or people by a chip that can communicate with the human brain and sattelites. These are very far fetched and may never be able to happen but there is always the possiblity. Give it some thaught, sure it's crazy but some day it might not be.

Update

Sorry i have not writen to my blog for a few days. I have been very busy and will be for the rest of the week. I will get some more on very soon. I am still sorting through hosting issues. On an end note i sugest java developers checking out Mustang. I did and was quite impressed. I will write a short article on it some time soon.

Things I like about NetBeans 5.0

For those who don't know about the amazing NetBeans IDE Sponsored by Sun Microsystems here's your chance. NetBeans and the NetBeans Platform are totaly open-source therefore enabling small companies acces to very high performace IDE's. NetBeans is created for java development mainly and can be used for developing J2SE, J2Me and J2EE applications. All though the NetBeans team will be working on support for other languages in future releases it is not implemented in the NetBeans 5.0 release. There are however plugins that enable some support for other languages. For more support visit: http://www.netbeans.org/catalogue/index.html. Another great thing about the open-source platform of NetBeans is developers can build on the NetBeans Platform which is great because it saves much time in the development stage.

As a side note i would like to see equals features for other languages like C++, C, and other languages of the alike. Another thing i would like to see is the features from Java Studio Enterprice 8 and Java Studio Creator add to the NetBeans IDE. This makes sence becase both Java Studio Creator and Java Studio Enterprice 8 are build on the NetBeans platform and have a very close design. Therefore it would not be to difficult to turn Java Studio Enterprice 8 and Java Studio Creator Moduals into NetBeans Moduals and build on them. One Modual i really want in the next release of NetBeans is UML support with code completion like that of Java Studio Enterprice 8. Anthor reason why this makes sence is because recently if you didn't know Sun Microsystems open-sourced many of thier development tools. What is the point of having three open-source IDE's made or sponsered by Sun. Why not bring all them together? I asked this question to James Gosling at the NetBeans world tour confrence in Toronto Canada. His answer was sometime in the future this is a plan. This would be a dream come true for many developers...Java, C++, C and many other languages supported by one "super IDE".

A Little History about me and NetBeans
I have been using NetBeans since the 4.1 release because i needed a good IDE with more features than just a plain editor (JCreator). Tools like this are great when some one in new to programming but as time goes on the knowlede of the individual evolves and so should the tools he/she is using. With only one year programming experiance i headed into using a full-featured IDE. It was quite simple to use and after a little while i would use no other. Spending 6 hours a day reading my book-shelf of java books and coding brought me to a point where i have surpassed the knowledge of everybody in my class, school and even the knowledge of my teacher. I has skiped to a grade 11/12 split and still am not challenged at all (i am a grade 10 student). Now so i don't gloat any more i will give some insight on my favourite features of NetBeans 5.0.

My Favourite Features
Of course one of the first on my list is the feature everybody has been talking about...Matisse. Matisse is the new GUI builder in NetBeans and is revolutionizing the way JFC/swing is developed. As many java developers may know getting that interface just perfect can take quite a bit of the deveopment time. Matisse makes swing developent much easier so the developer can focus on the logic instead of the interface. Matisse lets developers drag and drop components into a Frame much like Microsoft Visual C++ Studio Enterprice. This is a first for java. Check out the Matisse flash demo. In NetBeans 5.0 many new refactoring have been added that help developers to safe delete code and much more!! Another feature i like about NetBeans 5.0 is the new CVS support. It has been totaly redesigned for the NetBeans 5.0 release adding many new features. To see more on the new CVS support visit: http://www.netbeans.org/kb/articles/cvs-announce.html. In the NetBeans 5.0 release the debugger has been enhanced making it even more powerfull than before. You can find problems quickly and effciently. Another few features would be faster and smarter code completion, java hint and the error stripe located on the side of the editor. Many other features have been added besides these ones but these are some of my favourites. On closing one of my favourite features of the new NetBeans 5.0 release is the new NetBeans modual support. There is extensive documention thier site to help guide developers throught the process of creating moduals (a plugin for NetBeans). You can chech out the more at http://www.netbeans.org. One thing i think is "cool" about NetBeans is how "modable it is. You can create a costom look and feel in minuites. At the moment there is a contest you can enter to show off you new NetBeans look and feel. If this intrested you visit: http://www.netbeans.org/competition/look-and-feel.html.

For more information about the new features of NetBeans visit: http://www.netbeans.org/community/releases/50/

Finaly, I have tried Eclipe and other IDE's of the alike but nothing come's close to what i and many others see in NetBeans. So make the Switch to NetBeans