Ubuntu Karmic
Suprisingly I didn't read much about Karmic yet. But that will probably change in a few weeks, when its released. I upgraded my laptop and my desktop to karmic in the last week and I am quite impressed. The look & feel improved and everything is integrated very well. Shiny.
The desktop just connects... It also seems Ubuntu is slowly extending to the web with Ubuntu One. It seems quite cool. If you don't mind storing your documents at a 3rd party, it does give you a lot easiness with exchanging files between computers or with friends. It is obviously beta, but the core functionality seem to work well (synchronizing files) and it looks good.
KVM (virtualisation) integration also seems very promising, I will test that later.
A very karmic koala
picture from here
Disabling SSH reverse DNS lookup
When reverse DNS is not available, the sshd reverse lookup is an annoyance. It can be disable it in /etc/ssh/sshd_config with the following option:
UseDNS no
yay.
wordpress variable loading
Today I debugged a wordpress problem and found out wordpress automatically sets variables based on records in the wp_options table. Explains why grep didn't show the variables in question being set in the code while the variables actually are set.
In this case the theme (gear) set some nice options in there and didn't respect the global wordpress configuration. After changing the site URL in wordpress, the theme kept requesting theme images on the old URL because the full image urls were stored in the database at theme-install-time. Apparently. Garbage!
NGINX + FastCGI + Django
Nice things that work remarkably easy make me happy.
1) Start Django app
python manage.py runfcgi host=0.0.0.0 port=8000
2) Install NGINX
apt-get install nginx
3) Configure NGINX
The tab indentation got lost but ok:
server {
listen 80;
server_name example.com;
access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
location / {
fastcgi_pass 127.0.0.1:8000;
fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_param REQUEST_METHOD $request_method;
fastcgi_param QUERY_STRING $query_string;
fastcgi_param CONTENT_TYPE $content_type;
fastcgi_param CONTENT_LENGTH $content_length;
fastcgi_param SERVER_PROTOCOL $server_protocol;
fastcgi_param SERVER_PORT $server_port;
fastcgi_pass_header Authorization;
fastcgi_intercept_errors off;
}
location /media {
root /srv/media;
}
}
4) Done!
Well there are many options to explore which might have performance enhancing features. But I love it when things are simple. Beats Django with Apache2+mod_python. Although I do have the perception that all this easiness is mostly thanks to Django's FastCGI support.
Jaunty on HP Probook 4510s
Walter and I got a new laptop from the office. Unfortunately, even though Ubuntu "Jaunty Jackalope" is really great, there are some small issues.
The screen detection doesn't work properly sometimes and so it gives you a messed up resolution regularly (800x600). Although a login and logout fixes it, it is annoying.
Fixable with replacing you xorg.conf with the following configuration:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)"
Driver "intel"
Option "monitor-LVDS" "LCD-1366x768"
EndSectionSection "Monitor"
Identifier "LCD-1366x768"
Option "Position" "0 0"
Modeline "1366x768" 69.30 1366 1382 1416 1466 768 770 776 788 -hsync -vsync
EndSectionSection "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)"
#Monitor "LCD-1366x768"
EndSection
Another problem is the sound just doesn't work. But this can be fixed with the following addition to the modprobe configuration:
echo 'options snd-hda-intel model=laptop' >> /etc/modprobe.d/custom.conf
All credits for providing the solutions go to Walter and check his homepage for a little more information.
Overall I am very content about the laptop, not expensive and after these fixes it works splendid!
update: there are several models of the HP Probook 4510s and some even seem to have different chipsets. The model I bought has HP product code NA920EA.
change php tmp directory
Setting to change the tmp dir path for your php programs. Configurable per VirtualHost in Apache2. Useful in combination with open_base option.
php_admin_value upload_tmp_dir /srv/sites/www.example.com/tmp/
Updated wordpress
Although I was boasting about updating wordpress with subversion before. I have concluded its not needed any longer. The internal upgrade function worked flawlessly. Again.
After my theme got broken by the upgrade I discovered the automagical upgrade theme button as well. Voila, a whole new look. Motivates me to blog a little more.
Cheers!
MySQL replication >=5.1.14
On page 1375 of 3288 of refman5.1_en.a4.pdf:
In MySQL 5.1.14 and later, the mysql database is not replicated. The mysql database is instead seen as a node-specific database. Row-based replication is not supported on tables in this database. Instead, statements that would normally update this information — such as GRANT, REVOKE and the manipulation of triggers, stored routines (including stored procedures), and views — are all replicated to slaves using statement-based replication.
iFolder
iFolder seems to get a new push. Even with a community focus. This is a good development. Might be a good alternative for OpenVPN+SAMBA what we use regularly at the moment, for people that need a common share in mixed environments (Linux/Mac/Windows). Or maybe not. Nice anyway.
It seems that it will end up in Ubuntu quite quickly as well if all is well.
About Das keyboards
Once in a while you see a blogpost about a Das keyboard. Although I think blogging about your keyboard is kind of sad, here I go:
- I can type nice and fast on it (++)
- I think the version with blank keys is silly unless you use a keyboard layout like dvorak.
- It is noisy but not disturbing for myself (not sure about others around me).
- 8 people in one room banging code on das keyboards would probably violate noise levels. 
- Its availability is bad (had to order from germany) and its quite expensive for a keyboard. (--)
- Its solid, I have the feeling it will last (unlike the logitec UltraX keyboards I had, they lasted for <6 months, count 4 now). (++)
- Its also quite shiny, although I don't care much.
BTW: das keyboard not very popular in our office. Walter got RSI complaints after using it and since then it was just lying around, tried by many and apparently not liked since it got ditched in the corner after each try.
Twitter: hpbos
- Gisteren the men who stare at goats gezien. :-) jeff bridges++
- @Ronald_R: Anders heb je nog Zombie Strippers! als optie.
- @Ronald_R Lesbian Vampire Killers... http://www.pajiba.com/trailers/new-lesbian-vampire-killers-trailer.php
- @joostdrijver stink voetbal, mijn reistijd naar kantoor verdubbeld in de laatste 500m.
- wie wil er vanavond "the men who stare at goats" met mij kijken? :P
- Rabobank internetbankieren is buggy as hell.
- Net film the fountain gezien. Wel mooi gemaakt maar niet mijn ding.
- Groningen binnen. Niet bijzonder. Nu coma tijd.
- Wat een kak verhaal van rouvoet. Ook met 4 procent geteld, lame.
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