Edgy: System settings -> Sharing is greyed out

Submitted by Druss on Sat, 2006-12-30 22:56

Edgy (and apparently Dapper as well) have this rather annoying issue where the "Sharing" screen in System settings (Kubuntu) is greyed out even after entering admin mode, or if you open the fileshare module using kcmshell as root. The fix for this is to just open up your package manager and install the base Samba package which hadn't been installed.

Setting up Samba will be a very annoying procedure otherwise.

Azureus: An unexpected error has been detected by HotSpot Virtual Machine

Submitted by Druss on Thu, 2006-12-28 23:10

Following my recent adventures with Azureus, I found that Azureus was crashing on a regular basis and often not starting up at all. Running it from the command line gave me an error similar to the following:

An unexpected error has been detected by HotSpot Virtual Machine

and a lot of mumbo-jumbo following that.

This error has been reported all over the place, including at bugs.sun.com (who decided to close it.. thanks guys! :S). But no apparent solution was being provided anywhere. Azureus was definitely stable when running 1.4.2, although it wasn't exactly performing up to par. So, this was definitely a java compatibility problem.

Do yourself a favour ...

Submitted by Druss on Thu, 2006-12-28 20:56

... and don't bother installing a 64-bit version of a distro, unless you _really_ need it. I was aware that most people stated that it made no whit of difference to average desktops unless there was some serious number crunching involved. I knew all this, but still went ahead and installed it.. Serves me fucking right.

The performance (in terms of speed etc.) isn't the problem with my new Kubuntu install.. it's the package support that's the real pain. Talk about a waste of time :S

Installing Java 5 for example is a real pain, and apparently to get it working in FF, I'll have to install the 32-bit version anyways.

A cost analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

Submitted by Druss on Thu, 2006-12-28 00:40

A very interesting article that was brought to my attention today. Didn't realise that it was this fucking bad :/

A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection

Peter Gutmann, pgut001@cs.auckland.ac.nz
Source: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Last updated 27 December 2006

Executive Summary
-----------------

Windows Vista includes an extensive reworking of core OS elements in order to provide content protection for so-called "premium content", typically HD data from Blu-Ray and HD-DVD sources. Providing this protection incurs considerable costs in terms of system performance, system stability, technical support overhead, and hardware and software cost. These issues affect not only users of Vista but the entire PC industry, since the effects of the protection measures extend to cover all hardware and software that will ever come into contact with Vista, even if it's not used directly with Vista (for example hardware in a Macintosh computer or on a Linux server). This document analyses the cost involved in Vista's content protection, and the collateral damage that this incurs throughout the computer industry.

OiNK offering unmetered downloads over "the festive season"

Submitted by Druss on Mon, 2006-12-25 21:53

OiNK, which is one of the most popular torrent sites out there (primarily for music) is letting all its users download as much as they want over the holiday season. Normally, they'd have to maintain an download/upload ratio greater than or equal to 0.5 (else they'd get castrated, drawn, quartered and fed to the dogs), but it's a free for all at the moment. To quote:

Download! w00t

Between the 22nd of December and the 1st of January GMT (inclusive), downloading will not adversely affect your share ratio.

We will still be recording uploaded amounts, but ignoring downloaded.

Linux: Azureus is very slow or not connectable

Submitted by Druss on Sun, 2006-12-24 22:13

I installed Ubuntu a few days ago and found that my client, Azureus, which had been performing well thus far on Windows (the previous OS on that box), was, all of a sudden, no longer connectable or providing extremely slow speeds. I tried playing with firewalls and what not, but finally came across the answer when I tried downloading a torrent from OiNK. The torrent failed with an error stating that my version of Java was incompatible with the version of Azureus (2.5) that I was running.

Megadeth: Gears of War

Submitted by Druss on Sat, 2006-11-25 04:01

I just finished listening to the Gears of War demo that's available on Megadeth.com, and what a fucking disappointment it has been :/ I hope that it sounds so lame, weak and poppy due to it being the title track of the console game of the same name :| Or maybe the demo doesn't represent the final cut.. One can only hope.

The lyrics sound like they were written by Justis or Electra Mustaine (his kids) :S An excerpt (the chorus):

Smart bombs, precision guided armament
A more sophisticated way to end up dead

Anybody want to be the lead singer of this band?

Submitted by Druss on Wed, 2006-11-08 03:40

TMZ.com report:

VAN HALEN has finally found it's new bassist - and it looks like the rock gods are keeping the band a family affair.

TMZ is first to confirm that Van Halen has hired 15-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen - the son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen and estranged wife Valerie Bertinelli, and nephew of drummer Alex Van Halen - as the new bassist for the band.

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