Shameless self promotion

zip the files that have not been commited to svn repository yet

2011-02-27T22:19:00.000-08:00

If executed in cygwin in the svn controlled directory it will create a zip of all the files that were not committed yet.

zip backupscripts.zip `svn stat | cut -d " " -f 8`

Films

2010-07-12T04:37:00.001-07:00

Ubuntu 10.04 and Bloom Facebook uploader

2010-06-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

It seems that Bloom uploader Java webstart fails to authenticate in Ubuntu 10.04 with OpenJDK. To resolve this issue, I have created a file run.sh in the directory in the webstart cache folder (in my case '/home/myusername/.netx/cache/http/www.antaki.ca/bloom/jars'):

run.sh:


java -classpath Bloom_2_8_0.jar:BrowserLauncher2-1_3.jar:commons-codec-1.3.jar:commons-httpclient-3.1.jar:commons-logging-1.1.1.jar:facebook.jar:forms-1.3.0.jar:glazedlists_java15.jar:jhbasic.jar:json_simple.jar:metadata-extractor-2.3.1.jar:swing-worker-1.1.jar:swingx-1.0.jar ca.antaki.www.bloom.app.Bloom

When I start Bloom using run.sh it starts and authenticates just fine.

Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN issue with killing wireless router resolved

2010-03-26T04:18:00.000-07:00

Issue description: Wireless router (Netgear DGN2000) frequently (every 30s - 60 seconds) drops connection for all connected wireless devices when Windows XP laptop with Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN card connects to the wireless network.

Resolution:

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections
Right click the Wireless Connection that uses the Intel WiFi Link 5100 AGN card
Choose "Properties"
Go to "General" tab
Make sure that "QoS Packet Scheduler" check box is not ticked in the "This connection uses the following items" list as shown below:

Note, that this fix was inspired by the following text:

Re: Latitude E6400, Intel Wifi Link 5300 AGN Drops Connections

09 Jun 2009 03:17PM

Hello from my side,

I had similar problems. Configuration: DELL Latitude E5500 with the Intel Wifi Link 5300 AGN card. My solution after 2 months testing:

Uninstall DCP (the network part - perhaps not even necessary)
Update to the latest Intel driver (12.4.0.21)
Download and install the Intel wireless wifi connection utility tool (12.4.0.0)
Go to the network settings, Wireless Network-Settings
Disable (untick) "QoS-Planer" and "Network Monitor Driver"

Thats it. I left power settings and other stuff untouched ("Standard setting").

Hope this helps you as well.

Best regards

Claus

Learning Lithuanian

2010-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

This is my collection of online resources for learning Lithuanian (especially for English speaking people).

Lithuanian alphabet

Introduction to the alphabet.
Pronunciation of Lithuanian letters.

Learning basic words

Flash game - basic words

Basic phrases

Phrases at Omniglot

Audio learning

Lithuanian out loud - podcast (there were already 186 episodes published as of 01 Feb 2010)

Java clipboard catcher

2010-01-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

I tried to write a program in Java that would be monitoring clipboard for the changes and in case you had specific pattern in the clipboard it would perform a specified action (for example download a youtube clip).

Unfortunately according to a discussion here there is no way to monitor clipboard in java unless you do your own clipboard polling.

Anyway, you can download the source code of my endevours here.

Content Library Flash for Samsung TV (2009 models)

2009-12-17T14:52:00.001-08:00

I have just got a new TV and tried to download more content from the Samsung website. Unfortunately due to their bizarre use of JavaScript it I was unable to download them... So I have just extracted the direct links here:

Galeries

Art: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_ART_B1_US.zip

Scenery: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_SCE_B1_US.zip

Wild life: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_WIL_B1_US.zip

Art 2: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_AT2_B2_US.zip

Art3: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_AT3_B2_US.zip

Marine Life: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_MAR_B2_US.zip

Animal: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/GAL_ANI_B2_US.zip

Cooking

Starters: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/COO_STA_B1_US.zip

MainCourses: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/COO_MAI_B1_US.zip

Desserts: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/COO_DES_B1_US.zip

Children

Boowa and Kwala Songs: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/CHI_SON_B1_US.zip

Boowa and Kwala Storybook: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/CHI_STO_B1_US.zip

Wellness

Stretching: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/WEL_STR_B1_US.zip

Massage: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/WEL_MAS_B1_US.zip

Relaxing Sound: http://www.samsung.com/global/products/tv/contents_lib/WEL_REL_B1_US.zip

These are links copied from Samsung Medi@ 2.0 web site on 18 December 2009.

These Content Library Flash files are supposed to be compatible with Samsung TV 2009 models (the ones where model contains letter B, for example Samsung LCD 46'' model LA46B650)

Scala swing - listening to Table selection events

2009-10-05T05:09:00.001-07:00

I'm now trying to learn a new programming language - Scala.

It took me ages to figure out what's going on with the table selection events. Unfortunatelly there does not seem to be any good and free documentation available to cover scala.dbc or scala.swing packages.

The relevant bits of code to react to cell selection events are provided below:

import swing._
import event._

object topicsTable extends Table()

listenTo(topicsTable.selection)

reactions += {  
 case TableRowsSelected(`topicsTable`, range, adjusting) => {    
   println(topicsTable.selection.cells)    
 }                     
}

Slashdot stories and comments as EPUB books

2009-08-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

I have recently got Sony PRS-505 an electronic book reader. It's a nifty device that let's me read stuff, however I have not really found any really easy way to convert web pages that I want to read to EPUB format.

Printing stuff to PDF is tricky in the sense that browsers usually add pahe headers, footers and the PRS-505 has to display those even on reformatted pages.

Hence I decided to build a script that would take a snapshot of the Slashdot front page articles and produce a reasonably nicely formatted EPUB.

I'm planning to schedule this script to run every 12 hours and publish all those snaphosts here.

Update 22-August-2009

Upload of epub files was broken and has been fixed now. All the files used to be uploaded broken as the FTP client was using the text transfer mode rather than binary.

2009-07-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

The stars of my favourite comedy Peep Show have just earned new respect in my eyes with this skeptical comedy clip:

Doppelganger

2009-01-28T02:19:00.000-08:00

My doppelganger Ben Whishaw:

Superstition?

2009-01-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

NZ Herald:

"It's not that I'm superstitious, but it's just better to be safe than sorry," Mr Tan said.

But doesn't that match of superstition?

1 a: a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation
b: an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition
2: a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary

Sinning

2008-02-19T15:35:00.001-08:00

Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list.

The top 2 worst songs in the world! ever!

2008-01-17T02:12:00.000-08:00

There is The Police gig in Wellington tonight and as such I have decided to post my top 2 list of the most horrible songs in the World.

And... the second place goes to The Police - I'll be watching you. The only person who has managed to produce something more horrible sounding than that (and don't forget the visual ugliness) is Jamiroquai with his song Space Cowboy.. So here it is:

Congratulations!

DREW

2007-11-09T23:56:00.000-08:00

One of the things I am doing at work is looking into how to integrate application called DREW with other systems. And while I was doing that I stumbled upon this magazine. I swear I have picked it up because I thought it was related to this DREW application and not because of 42 hair and make-up how-tos.

Motorhead ducks

2007-10-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

Documentaries

There is going to be a Documentary Film Festival in Wellington from Nov 8 till Nov 21. This is a list of films, I'd be interested in.

Motorhead

I have spent the weekend in New Plymouth and went to the Motorhead gig there. I have expected a more interesting crowd though.

Ducks

Now I somewhat know how animals in a zoo feel. I was watched by some ducks while I was eating my ration in a cage (coffee shop to be more precise). Anyway, I welcome our new beaked and feathered overlords.

Stairway to heaven

2007-10-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

The interesting part starts from the 2nd minute in the clip below. It is about the mind's propensity to find patterns (and this is the first time I have seen the example of audio pattern recognition) - and the second is about science representation in the art. This last thing just left me laughing.

Walking on foot

2007-10-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Apparently I'll have to walk, cause someone stole my car tonight. Not cool. So not cool.

I wanted to go to a brunch this morning, stepped out of the apartment with a car key in my hand and... and suddenly there is nothing to unlock. So I've changed my plans - instead of having brunch I decided to call the police and insurance instead.

Lunar Eclipse

2007-08-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have watched Futurama and full lunar eclipse last night.

It was very bright just before the eclipse and the moon became darker and darker and darker...

Finally it became pretty dark and difficult to see.

Football

2007-08-26T02:25:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been instructing a football team? I have. Just earlier today I have been instructing Wellington Phoenix by shouting "kick the ball and badmouthing referee. I think it worked as the team has managed to score 2 goals (while I was shouting at them) and end up with a tie against some very strong team.