April 2008 - Roundtable

Fwd: UG News: Velocity Conference Discount Information
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 25 Apr '08

25 Apr '08

Just FYI... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: UG News: Velocity Conference Discount Information Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:39:30 -0700 From: Marsee Henon <marsee(a)oreilly.com> Hi, Please pass this information along if you think your members might be interested in our upcoming conference called Velocity. The early registration price ends soon and you can combine it with the UG discount. Details below. Thanks, Marsee Velocity The Web Performance and Operations Conference June 23-24, 2008 San Francisco Airport Marriott Burlingame, CA <http://conferences.oreilly.com/velocity> UG members can use code "vel08usgr" to register and receive 15% off the registration price. Early registration discount is available until May 5 To register for the conference, go to: <https://en.oreilly.com/velocity2008/public/register> Get your infrastructure and operations together at Velocity, the must-attend event for those building sustainable Web sites and applications. For two days more than 600 of the world's leading web developers and infrastructure engineers will gather to share ideas, exchange real-world examples, and explore the technologies that can take your web site to the next level of speed, and sustainability. With two tracks tailor made for operations and performance, Velocity delivers in-depth practical techniques guaranteed to be useful immediately upon return to work, and long after. Special Events include: Velocity Sponsor Gallery Reception Visit the exhibitors, check out their demos, mingle with other attendees, and enjoy great refreshments and drinks at the evening reception. Sponsored by Akamai, Google, Hyperic, and Sun Microsystems. Ignite Velocity 5 minutes to shake up the world. Share your brilliant new ideas at Ignite Velocity a rapid-fire, high-energy forum for Velocity attendees. Up to 20 presenters will pitch their ideas using only 20 slides that rotate automatically after 15 seconds. Projects will be pitched, web sites launched, and elegant hacks exchanged. Birds of a Feather Sessions Get the most out your attendance in these informal meetings of like minded people. Choose your topics, share your knowledge, and get your questions answered in these face-to-face sessions. ================================================================ O'Reilly 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 http://ug.oreilly.com/ http://ug.oreilly.com/creativemedia/ ================================================================

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FreeBSD 7 install -- help required!
by Kevin McGregor 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

I've installed FreeBSD 7 twice today, and both times it hangs with a blank screen and a blinking cursor after the install and final reboot. It's a AMD Athlon 64 X2 system with 2 GB RAM and a 40 GB hard drive (38162 MB, WD400JB). Before installing the first time, I erased it with a single blanking run of Derik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN). At the beginning of the install, it complained about the drive geometry (how 90s). The FreeBSD installer indicates that the geometry is set to 77545/16/63, that this is wrong, and it's using something better, which turns out to be 4865/255/63. When I go into the BIOS, it reports the geometry to be 19158/16/255. FreeBSD doesn't let me set the geometry to either of the two other ones! Oh, and one install I used the "FreeBSD Boot Manager" option, and the other time I told it to use the standard MBR option. So now what do I do? Kevin

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Fwd: USENIX Annual Tech '08 Registration Now Open
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

FYI... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: USENIX Annual Tech '08 Registration Now Open Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:51:23 -0700 From: Lionel Garth Jones <lgj(a)usenix.org> --------------------------------------- 2008 USENIX Annual Technical Conference June 22-27, 2008, Boston, MA Early Bird Registration Deadline: June 6, 2008 http://www.usenix.org/usenix08/proga --------------------------------------- We're pleased to invite you to attend the 2008 USENIX Annual Technical Conference. This year we're offering 3 days of training followed by a 3-day conference program filled with the latest systems research, security breakthroughs, and practical approaches to the questions and problems you wrestle with. You'll also have many opportunities to chat with peers who share your concerns and interests. http://www.usenix.org/usenix08/proga Training: Sunday-Tuesday, June 22-24, 2008 The 3-day training program at USENIX '08 provides in-depth and immediately useful training on the latest techniques, effective tools, and best strategies, including: * Bruce Potter on Botnets: Understanding and Defense * Peter Baer Galvin on Solaris 10 Administration * Phil Cox and Brad Johnson on Securing Virtual Environments * Alan Robertson on Configuring and Deploying Linux-HA Find out more at http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix08/training/ Technical Sessions: Wednesday-Friday, June 25-27, 2008 The 3-day technical program begins with a keynote address by David Patterson, Director, U.C. Berkeley Parallel Computing Laboratory, on "The Parallel Revolution Has Started: Are You Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?" and includes other noteworthy invited talks, such as: * Plenary Closing Session by Matthew Melis of the NASA Glenn Research Center on "The Columbia Accident Investigation and Returning NASA's Space Shuttle to Flight" * Drew Endy, Cabot Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT and a co-founder of the BioBricks Foundation (BBF), on "Programming DNA: A 2-bit Language for Engineering Biology" * Robert J. Lang on "From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes: The Modern Science of Origami" The USENIX '08 Refereed Papers Track is the leading forum for presenting the latest in ground-breaking systems research. Be among the first to check out the latest innovative work in the systems field. The Poster Session at USENIX '08 is an excellent forum for discussing new ideas and getting useful feedback from the community. Poster submissions should include a brief description of the research idea(s); the submission must not exceed 2 pages. Send poster submissions to usenix08posters(a)usenix.org by Tuesday, May 6, 2008. Finally, don't miss the opportunity to pose your toughest questions to the experts in the Guru Is In sessions. Mingle with colleagues and leading experts in the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions and at the various evening social events, including a Poster Session & Happy Hour, vendor BoFs, and the Conference Reception. USENIX '08 promises to be an exciting showcase for the latest in innovative research and cutting-edge practices in technology. We look forward to seeing you in Boston. On behalf of the USENIX '08 organizers, Rebecca Isaacs, Microsoft Research Yuanyuan Zhou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign USENIX '08 Program Co-Chairs usenix08chairs(a)usenix.org P.S. Don't miss the workshops co-located with USENIX '08, including: Xen Summit North America 2008 June 23-24, 2008 http://xen.org/xensummit/ First USENIX Workshop on Large-Scale Computing (LASCO '08) June 23, 2008 http://www.usenix.org/events/lasco08/

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VMware Appliance Distro
by Montana Quiring 12 Apr '08

12 Apr '08

Hello, I would like to know if there is a super thin Linux distro that's single purpose is to fire up a VMware image when the computer boots up. I would like to try doing something similar to the Cirtix Xen Desktop stuff that they showed off at Epic, but I would like the users Virtual Image to be on a USB flash or hard drive and the PC to have a very simple linux install that just loads the VMWare image when the machine is started up. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of going the "Linux From Scratch" route if there isn't anything already out there. -Montana

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Mysql connection problem
by Deepan 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

Hi All, I am able to connect to Mysql via command line using mysql client. I am also able to connect to mysql via php if I run those php programs via command line. However when I hit those php pages via the browser it throws the error Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2). Please note that this is the same socket the mysql client tries to connect to the server. Regards Deepan Sudoku Solver: http://www.sudoku-solver.net/

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GNUCash and PC Financial
by Sean Walberg 07 Apr '08

07 Apr '08

Anyone got GNUCash and PC Financial talking through aqbanking? I can download the OFX file from my bank and manually import the information, but it appears I can set up a web service to do this automagically. The information that aqbanking is asking for is not obvious, I'm hoping someone has some details before I have to resort to *gulp* calling the bank. Thanks, Sean -- Sean Walberg <sean(a)ertw.com> http://ertw.com/

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MUUG Meeting, April 8, 7:30pm -- The OLPC XO Computer
by gedetil＠cs.umanitoba.ca 01 Apr '08

01 Apr '08

The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 8. The meeting topic for this month is as follows: The OLPC XO Computer There will be a demonstration of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) computer at this month's meeting. This laptop is meant to be a low-cost, perhaps $100, computer to be used by students in third-world countries. It is being developed by an organization headed by Nicholas Negroponte (from MIT) and, in his words, "It's an education project, not a laptop project." Several members of MUUG bought laptops under the G1G1 (Give One, Get One) program, and this will allow us to demonstrate them at the meeting. If you happen to have one of these laptops, please bring it along and we'll set up a meshnet. Here is a brief description of the laptop: it is really small (25cm by 23cm by 3 cm) with a high-impact plastic case and a membrane-covered keyboard. It looks like it came from Toys-R-Us! The release catches for opening the display are actually two antennae that allow wireless access. The display itself is surrounded by two speakers, two microphones, a camera, as well as power, battery and activity buttons. There is a variety of software that comes with the laptop. It includes a web browser (which also reads PDFs), a python interpreter, and programs for creating audio and video files. It also has journaling software that is user-accessible. This acts like a history that allows the user to jump back to a previous session. There is an installed window manager (called sugar) that is really different from what we are used to on a Linux machine. In addition and not surprisingly, the laptop comes with yum; there is a huge repository of files that may be transferred to this laptop. The group holds its general meetings at 7:30pm on the second Tuesday of every month from September to June. (There are no meetings in July and August.) Meetings are open to the general public; you don't have to be a MUUG member to attend. ********************************************************************** Please note our meeting location: The IBM offices, at 400 Ellice Ave. (between Edmonton and Kennedy). When you arrive, you will have to sign in at the reception desk, and then wait for someone to take you (in groups) to the meeting room. Please try to arrive by about 7:15pm, so the meeting can start promptly at 7:30pm. Don't be late, or you may not get in. (But don't come too early either, since security may not be there to let you in before 7:15 or so.) Non-members may be required to show photo ID at the security desk. Limited parking is available for free on the street, either on Ellice Ave. or on some of the intersecting streets. Indoor parking is also available nearby, at Portage Place, for $3.00 for the evening. Bicycle parking is available in a bike rack under video surveillance located behind the building on Webb Place. ********************************************************************** For more information about MUUG, and its monthly meetings, check out their Web server: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ Help us promote this month's meeting, by putting this poster up on your workplace bulletin board or other suitable public message board: http://www.muug.mb.ca/meetings/MUUGmeeting.pdf -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)muug.mb.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://www.muug.mb.ca/ PO Box 130 St-Boniface Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R2H 3B4 Fax: (204)474-7609

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