Ubuntu Jaunty latest NVidia driver PPA

Just found out how to get the latest versions of the NVidia graphics driver on Jaunty.

Add the ppa to apt

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main

Import the public key

apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys AF1CDFA9

The "Peter Principle"

I was talking with a few colleagues at a professional meeting and the term "Peter Principle" came up.   Its a simple principle that postulates an employee of a company will be promoted to their point of incompetency and there they will remain until let go.

Just thought I'd share this thought of the day :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

Compiling a custom kernel for Ubuntu

I found out during my 4th of July server upgrade that the Moxa serial driver is broken in the 9.04 distribution 2.6.28 kernel.    After several futile attempts to backport and downstream the newer / older version into the stock kernel, I am now just going to upgrade to the latest kernel version entirely to 2.6.30.1.   If this still doesnt work at least I will be on the latest kernel version so I can begin working with the LKML on fixing it.

Found this resource for compiling a kernel

http://easylinuxcds.com/blog/?p=3244

I found out there is currently a bug with the installation of the .deb process.  Do the following after the preceding instructions.

From Mike Stroyan:

This is not actually a defect in nvidia-common. It is a defect in dkms.
The /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms script is sending messages to stdout.
That script is run under /usr/share/debconf/frontend, which expects that stdout will only be used for messages to it.
The actual response to the output does not occur while /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms is running.
The error message is deferred until the /etc/kernel/postinst.d/nvidia-common script runs.
That second script tries to send debconf requests to stdout.
That triggers the debconf error message in response to the junk that dkms wrote earlier.

Patching /etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms to redirect stdout fixes the problem.
Adding "1>&2" to the invocation of /etc/init.d/dkms_autoinstaller keeps stdout clean.

London Stock Exchange ditches Microsoft Trading platform

Microsoft has relied on the London Stock Exchange project as a key piece of their marketing for the "Get The Facts" campaign..

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/getthefacts/lse.mspx

It was recently announced by the London Stock Exchange that this solution is a failure.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/london_stock_exchange_to_abandon_failed_windows_platform

Amazing Space Station footage of volcano eruption on Russian Island

Amazingly co-incidental picture from the space station of a volcano eruption on a remote Russian Island.  The item that impresses me the most is the shockwave of the explosion is pushing the clouds away!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1195215/Stunning-pictures-hole-clouds-astronauts-witness-volcano-eruption-International-Space-Station.html

Palm stumbles onto the magic bullet?

Whether it was conceived in grand strategic plans or purely accidental, Palm's choice to build a phone upon Linux without hardware DRM is, in my opinion, the magic bullet to the Smartphone wars.

They havent pulled the trigger yet, however, when the GSM version of WebOS shows up on the scene, this may be the dawn of a new era of smartphones.   Given the momentum and activity of the "homebrew" community behind this already (and its only limited to Sprint customers in the US) I believe once this hits GSM, the homebrew community will explode.

It isnt necessarily the Phone hardware,  the WebOS UI, or the fact that it runs Linux.  Its the combination of those three elements coupled with the lack of the draconion DRM that is making this a slow hit.

Apple's on-stage joke this week about the 18 apps for the Palm may have been funny at the time, however, running a single slimed down OpenOffice app is worth thousands of "Fad Apps"

The destiny is not in the stars however as Palm has not officially come out with a policy regarding the homebrew efforts.  I would only hope they will take their time and make a wise decision.

Dynamic Multitouch Tactile Displays

Quite a title, eh?  Just a little glimpse of what CMU is up to with providing a tactile touchscreen display.  Very cool stuff that Im sure we will see "innovated" by a larger company in the near future.

 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/prototype-display-combines-touchscreen-morphing-buttons/