Changing the network…
Posted on June 14, 2007
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With recent changes in the SEO and webmaster world, I’ve decided to make some big changes to the JagoNetwork. I’m already at the stage where the number of websites I have are difficult to manage. I have plans to sell off a couple of websites, but that will happen at the end of July when a contract expires. For now, I am shifting the emphasis to just a few of my websites.
Resetting MySQL root password under Ubuntu
Posted on June 7, 2007
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Having set up my Ubuntu box a little while ago, I had actually forgotten what I had set my MySQL root password to. I was trying to set something up today and had a need to reset it. Thankfully, if you have root access on a linux box, its a simple procedure to fix. I have Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) and MySQL 5.0.38.
Stop the MySQL server:
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop
Start the MySQL configuration without checking the root password:
sudo mysqld –skip-grant-tables &
Log in as root to MySQL (without a password):
mysql -u root mysql
Replace the password with your new password:
UPDATE user SET Password=PASSWORD(’YOURNEWPASSWORD’) WHERE User=’root’; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; exit;
And that’s it!
Playing with Microcontrollers?
Posted on June 5, 2007
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I’ve been toying with the idea of getting 123 Pic Microcontroller Experiments for the Evil Genius for a while now. Its not entirely what I am after, but it does include some interesting applications of PICs that do interest me. It includes interfacing PICs with LCDs, interfacings PICS with computers, and working with stepper motors.
The book features information touching on all of these subjects, and sometimes its just nice to have a book like this. However, I am having trouble finding other microcontroller books that form a solid basis for PIC projects.
The Indoor Fireworks are back!
Posted on May 31, 2007
Filed Under Fireworks | 4 Comments
I haven’t seen indoor fireworks in a very long time. The last time that I remember playing about with them was when I was 13. I had some indoor fireworks for my 13th Birthday (so in 1995 by my calculations). Dad also treated me to some real fireworks, and that marked the first time that I ever set off proper fireworks.
Indoor fireworks were great and rubbish at the same time, but not too cheap either. I remember that for a sheet of them in 1995, it cost around £5. Fireworks Arcade is certainly not the cheapest place to buy indoor fireworks at nearly £10 plus delivery, but shopping around will lead you to finding some cheaper ones.
It appears that they have also got rid of the Vesuvius or volcano firework. This basically used a small amount of Ammonium Dichromate which decomposed when set alight/heated. Ammonium Dichromate is classed as toxic, and doesn’t appear to be in the pack anymore. It’s a shame, as it was my favourite!
Using JOGL and SWT in Eclipse Java Projects
Posted on May 17, 2007
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I recently decided that I want to learn OpenGL, so I started looking for OpenGL implementations in java. Having done a fair bit of programming with Eclipse’s Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) and java, I ideally wanted to integrate OpenGL with SWT. I didn’t particularly want to use AWT or Swing.
After looking around, I did find that SWT now supports OpenGL through Java bindings for OpenGL (JOGL). Finding source code to test this is not easy, but there’s a convenient torus example provided on the SWT site. This was perfect for testing that I had got my setup correct.
Setting up SWT and JOGL can be annoying with Eclipse unless you know what to do. I tried the instructions that I found on the web a few times, but quickly ran into gotchas. I finally discovered the correct solution, which I’ll explain more clearly than what I found on the web.
My explanation assumes a basic familiarity with creating and running a java project in Eclipse. If you don’t know how to do this, I suggest starting with the Eclipse FAQs. My recommendation is to separate the program code from the SWT and JOGL libraries. This is particularly a good idea if you are playing with a few different SWT and JOGL projects within Eclipse.
So here we go (based on doing this for MS Windows):
- Download the SWT libraries (rather than use the library supplied with Eclipse).
- Download the JOGL libraries.
- Extract all of the .jar and .dll files in both SWT and JOGL packages to a common library folder, e.g. c:\libraries.
- In Eclipse, in your java project, open the project properties. Click on the Libraries tab, click on the Add External Jars button, go to the c:\libraries folder, and choose all of the .jar files. For the current versions of both toolkits, there should be 3 jar files (swt.jar, jogl.jar, gluegen-rt.jar). This will allow the project to compile SWT and JOGL without any errors relating to library dependencies.
- Now we want to run the application. Create a run profile as usual, but to the Arguments tab for the application in the VM arguments you need to define the location of the library using the flag -Djava.library.path=C:\Library
- The application should find the libraries correctly now, and should run!
Summer of sequels - Spider-man 3
Posted on May 15, 2007
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Last night I finally got to see Spiderman 3, having wanted to see it for absolutely ages! It was an enjoyable film, and certainly matched expectations by not having a decent plot. However, the fun fight scenes (although some were drawn out a bit too far) and the rapid changes of plot direction kept me interested throughout. The venom character was particularly good, and the black costume special effects were exceptionally well done.
The relationship between MJ and Peter was a little over the top, and it came across as MJ been moody rather than having genuine issues with Peter. Their relationship problems were poorly dealt with in the film, and should have either been explored more or removed altogether. The was the odd bit of dodgy acting too, particularly from a reporter towards the end of the film.
Not sure if there’s going to be a 4th one, but if they do, it will probably be a flop. However, the next Fantastic 4 is something to look forward to!
Kryptonite Discovered in Serbian Mine
Posted on May 14, 2007
Filed Under Just Interesting | Leave a Comment
So they finally find some kryptonite in nature! It’s meant to kill superman, but in reality, the stuff is completely harmless. In the films and TV shows, kryptonite is meant to glow green, however this stuff is white and glows pink/orange under UV light.
The chemical composition is Sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, which matched the chemical name for kryptonite in the film Superman Returns.
Sadly it cannot be called Kryptonite due to international nomenclature rules since it has nothing to do with the element krypton. However, it will be called jadarite, which is still a cool name in my opinion!
Lots of Email Problems
Posted on May 14, 2007
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I’m having trouble with email on my server at the moment, so any emails sent to any of my email addresses will probably bounce. I’m trying to sort it as soon as possible!
A simple tip for debugging Cron
Posted on May 8, 2007
Filed Under Linux | Comments Off
I’ve started automating my backups using cron, and never having used it, I quickly stumbled into a problem.
I have a large number of websites, so it made sense to back them up daily using scripts. However, I was having problems with my hosting provider because it did not change to the user’s local directory before executing scripts, and thus could not use relative paths to find additional scripts that I was using.
So here’s my tip, make sure your email address has been specified in the file. My host had not set this up correctly, and so I could make sure the script was being run by overriding the mailto parameter. This way, if a problem occurs, you receive the output. When editing a cron schedule file, simply put this line at the top:
MAILTO=”your@email.address.co.uk”
Then you can get all of the problems delivered to your inbox!
And so it begins…
Posted on April 20, 2007
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“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”
- Niccolo Machiavelli