Fragments of Memories

Repeat dammit repeat!

I tweaked xkb files till I got something like Arkku Dvorak available for KDE through it's keyboard switching interface. The patch for (K)ubuntu Dapper will probably be on these pages somewhere, at some point.

Being the person I am, I wanted to try something else too, and mapped the capslock key to do backspace (in the style of Colemak). That was nice and lovely for a person with small hands like I have. BUT the damn key does not repeat. So, unlike with the original, one keypress removes one character, no matter how long I'm pressing it. Infuriating. And despite putting hours into this, I haven't been able to find a way to get it to repeat. (It does not help that most custome keymaps are for xmodmap).

If you happen to know a way, tell me and I'll be grateful.

21:00 - /Bits and PCs

Thanks for the upgrade!

Seems that the recent CUPS upgrade in Ubuntu Dapper fixed the printing problem with HP LaserJet 1022. Now I just need to figure out whether I'll want a really long usb cable for a usb-to-netprinting device.

09:41 - /Bits and PCs

HP LaserJet 1022 in Ubuntu

HP Laserjet is not that easy in Ubuntu. Installs seemingly fine, but prints nothing. I'm suspecting a slightly older hplip version (0.9.7 vs 0.9.9 on my old machine). I'll try compiling the newest one to see if it helps.

13:56 - /Bits and PCs

Moving to Treo, the wrong way

The wrong way to move to Treo 650 is by taking the backup card of TungstenE and restoring the backups onto the Treo. a lot of unnecessarily files will end up moved, causing annoyingly much of the Treo memory to be used.

10:08 - /Bits and PCs

Mute Palm Tungsten E, all silent

Today my Palm Tungsten E was all quiet. No matter how I made it beep, no sound came out. I got a bit worried. After all this is my schedule and notebook, all wrapped in one. Reboot did nothing. Sound was on high, but nothing could still be heard. Eventually I plugged in headphones and got beeping through that. I thought the speaker had broken. Damn!

But stubborn as I am, I unplugged the speakers and tried again. Sure enough, there was sound now. I'm a happy camper again.

18:02 - /Bits and PCs

What do other kubuntu users have in their debfoster?

If you are a kubuntu user and use debfoster, I'm really nosy about what you have in your /var/lib/debfoster/keepers file.

I have found that with Ubuntu (compared to Debian) I am often wondering whether I want to keep something the distriution pushes as me. Today I unkept some braille stuff as my laptop is unable to do braille anyway. And some reiserfs stuff, which I'm not planning to use.

12:38 - /Bits and PCs

HP LaserJet 1022

As printers go, HP 1022 is nice! Up and running in linux within couple of minutes, cheap and lasery. What else one can wish for?

10:35 - /Bits and PCs

Nännihiiri / Nipple mouse

The nipple mouse that is so lovely and handy on laptops is called Trackpoint by IBM. Because it's trademarked by IBM as well, other companies have theri own names: pointstick (HP), accupoint, stick mouse, touchstick (Fujitsu). In Finnish one searching for this better google for paikannustappi than nännihiiri.

22:53 - /Bits and PCs

Moving to workpress?

I'm considering moving to Wordpress but it does not seem very easy to secure.

10:59 - /Bits and PCs

KPilot goodness

To someone who has been using jpilot for years, KPilot is a huge leap forward. Synching is actually effortless in comparation! Plus it is cute.

And, of course, free!

20:32 - /Bits and PCs

Apache2 000default

I had a weird proglem where .cgi didn't work at lynoure.net but did work at www.lynoure.net. Turned out this can be caused by overcomplicated default virtual host configuration file, even if there doesn't seem to be anything related there. Tuning it down to just have NamedVirtualHost * solved the problem for me.

Thanks for Antti-Juhani Kaijanaho for help!

10:27 - /Bits and PCs

Maintenance windows for your desktop computer

Lots of suffering can be avoided by choosing maintenance windows even for your own home desktop computer or PDA.

Have you ever been in hurry to leave but just wanted to update your computer? Or thought that some improvement would make your weekend of leasurely gaming so much nicer? And then that update didn't go quite right.

I'm battling this urge right now. I'd like to install Energy Dimmer for my LifeDrive so that it will have longer battery life during the weekend I'll be away. Unwise. If the upgrade does badly now, I won't have time to fix it to my satisfaction and maybe even will not have a working LifeDrive to use during the weekend.

08:50 - /Bits and PCs

Lifedrive with Debian

I'm trying to get LifeDrive to work with Debian. However, with jpilot I just keep getting

dlp_ReadSysInfo error
Exiting with status SYNC_ERROR_PI_CONNECT
Finished

most of the time and sometimes it just works...

03:01 - /Bits and PCs

IPodder not starting

If you are using IPodder (aka. Juice) on Linux and have a nasty problem of it suddenly refusing to start, try setting LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8" or some other value that does not have special letters in the month or weekday names. This helped me with 2.1.9 on sarge. Thanks for yomguy for packaging.

19:21 - /Bits and PCs

IAudio players

IAudio players look good, especially as they officially support linux. I'm drooling at IAudio X5(L). IAudio U3 would be yummy too, but even harder to find for buying. However, Audible still continues to be a dilemma for me. I really like audiobooks but Audible still ignores linux users and uses it's nasty format.

20:42 - /Bits and PCs

Silencing efforts

I know my computer silencing efforts have worked because now my hard drives sound noisy.

21:45 - /Bits and PCs

Gimme purple!

People don't seem to like purple GDM themes. I'd still want one.

17:23 - /Bits and PCs

Will Optimus keyboard change how GUIs work?

Last night I realized that the Optimus keyboard has a good chance of changing how GUIs work. Why have a menu on the screen when you can have the menu on the keyboard? You do not even have to give normal keys to be pressed unless the user is in a text field.

19:46 - /Bits and PCs

Kohtuulliset kuulokkeet halvalla

Kaipasin toisia kuulokkeita, nyt tällä hetkellä töihin mutta ehkä myöhemmin kannettavan musiikkisoittimen kaveriksi. Päädyin Philipsin valmistamiin HL145 sankakuulokeisiin, jotka ovat paketin mukaisesti keveät päässä. Äänessäkään ei ole näin maallikolla suuremmin valittamista, ja hintaa 9,90 euroa.

Alunperin ajattelin että haluaisin nappikuulokkeet, jos vaan löytyisi sopivan kokoiset pieniin korviin, mutta en kyllä maksa 45 euroa sellaisistakaan nappikuulokkeista, varsinkaan Sonylle!

19:39 - /Bits and PCs