Category Archives: Projects
boo2pdf Update
I did some minor updates to boo2pdf. Graphics should now be within the page margins. Please let me know if there are any other common formatting mistakes. Unfortunately, IBM’s “transmogrifier” utility doesn’t work very well in Wine, so you should … Continue reading
Announcing boo2pdf
I’ve just uploaded a beta of boo2pdf, an IBM BookManager to PDF conversion app & web service. I’m currently experimenting with the HTML to PDF backends and would like feedback with book files I haven’t tried. Once the code is … Continue reading
Java: The Good Parts
A while back, a book entitled JavaScript: The Good Parts made waves on the internet, especially social networking sites. This book purported to show the inner beauty of a language that was long considered second or third rate, coming of … Continue reading
Kernel developers don’t get Xen
The recent bruhaha surrounding Xen on LKML (http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/6/2/475) is really disheartening. Essentially, the Linux kernel devs are at a disconnect with users. Some are proposing narrow-minded ideas such as DROPPING software paravirt or merging Xen as a whole into the … Continue reading
One Small Step for QT, One Giant Leap for Free Software
QT Software, under the graces of Nokia, has released the superb QT cross-platform toolkit under the LGPL. This. is. HUGE. For the libre software purist, this still benefits you, if indirectly. Companies that make changes to the toolkit must still … Continue reading
I dream of pervasive virtualization…
I dream of a day where virtualization is pervasive. Instead of thinking about services in terms of servers, CPUs or directly mapped resources, I should be able to to add virtual machines in terms of guaranteed throughput rate over a … Continue reading
How to upgrade to ext4 in place
Here’s how you upgrade to ext4. The process is pretty easy, but requires an fsck which means unmounting or rebooting if the file system is in use. Make sure you are using at least e2fstools 1.41.3 and kernel 2.6.28 (or … Continue reading
Retrocomputing for Fun and Profit
Buy Old Computers ??? Profit What is retrocomputing? I define retrocomputing [wikipedia] as the collecting and use of old computers. Why might one do this? Well, for one, enterprises cycle out machines fairly frequently. 2,3,4 and 5 year old systems … Continue reading
Building NAS, Part 2
Building your own Network Attached Storage server In an earlier post, I discussed what was necessary to cable 1U servers up with power to run SATA drives. Next, you’ll need some drives and a controller if you have not already … Continue reading
IBM NetVista 2800 Hacking
Similar to the x330 SATA mod, I have some NetVista 2800s that I need 5v/12v accessory power from. I’m doing some experimentation with the Asterisk open source PBX and wanted to interface with the house phone lines. I purchased a … Continue reading