Site Map

• Home – Welcome to mindspill.net, an online store for the author's links, notes, media and other information.
• Links
  • Friends' Sites – Friends' web sites.
  • Computing Links – Computing Links
  • Artificial Intelligence Links – Artificial Intelligence links.
  • Arts Links – Arts links.
  • Useful Links – Useful links.
  • Interesting Links – Interesting links.
  • Junk Links – Junk links.
  • del.icio.us – My del.icio.us links.
  – Links
• Computing
  • Linux Notes
    • Gentoo
      • Installing Gentoo Linux on an Acer Travelmate 8104WLMi – Installing Gentoo Linux on an Acer Travelmate 8104WLMi
      • Gentoo Basics – Notes about standard Gentoo operation, configuration and usage.
      • Gentoo Links – Useful Gentoo links.
      • Prevent network interface starting at boot – How to prevent a network interface (e.g. net.eth0) starting at boot, which can happen even if the script isn't set to start at any runlevel.
      • Wireless network problem with wpa_supplicant (wpa_cli) and ipw2200-firmware – How to fix a problem with wireless networking, where wpa_supplicant (wpa_cli) doesn't connect.
      • ARCH is not set – What to do if you get an 'ARCH is not set...' error message when attempting to use emerge.
      • Change your default Java VM – How to change your default Java virtual machine.
      • MIME types – Some notes on MIME types on a Gentoo linux (and presumably other distributions).
      • How to downgrade a gentoo package – How to downgrade a Gentoo package
      • NTP daylight savings – One potential fix for getting daylight savings.
      • Kernel compile udev/klibc problem after updating gentoo – Solution to a problem whereby, after an emerge -e world, genkernel fails compiling udev.
      • OpenOffice help problem – What to do if the OpenOffice help files don't seem to be installed.
      – Gentoo usage notes
    • ldapsearch – How to bind to and query an LDAP database using the ldapsearch command.
    • Panoramas in Linux – How to stitch together images to create a panorama in Linux using autopanog, hugin and enblend.
    • Problem pinging localhost – Solution to a problem pinging localhost, 127.0.0.1 or the box's external IP.
    • Mount a Windows shared folder using Samba – How to mount a Windows shared folder using Samba.
    • Subversion (svn)
      • General Subversion notes. – Notes on Subversion in Linux, the svn command.
      • Locked, Cleanup, Not a working copy – How to fix a screwed up working copy, where you can't do anything because subversion complains that resources are locked and you can't clean up because it complains that it's not a working copy. Aaarrgh!!
      • Creating a new repository – Quick start guide to creating a new repository.
      • Bash alias for searching subversion log – A simple bash alias for grepping the svn log
      • Comparing your working copy files with the HEAD revision – A bash alias for comparing the modified files in your working copy with the HEAD revision in the repository.
      • How to move a repository into a different repository – How to merge a repository into a different repository using svnadmin dump and load.
      • Getting current revision using svnversion – How to query the current revision of a directory using svnversion.
      – Notes on Subversion in Linux, the svn command.
    • Debian commands – Debian commands
    • Determine release (distribution) information – How to determine which release / distribution of Linux is installed.
    • rpm commands – A list of a few useful rpm commands.
    • Physical to Virtual (p2v) disk migration for VMWare – How to migrate a physical disk to a virtual disk for VMWare Server. Aka p2v.
    • SuSE – Some SuSE notes.
    • Trac – Notes on some Trac administration oddities.
    • Useful Linux commands – A collection of useful commands and small scripts for linux administration, most for getting system info.
    • fstab and octal umasks – A description of the umask in /etc/fstab.
    • Configuration files and directories – The location of some configuration files and directories present in some (hopefully most) Linux distributions.
    • Get window name using xprop – xprop is a property displayer for X. You can use it to get details of a window, such as it's name.
    • ttyS* to COM* mapping – How linux devices map to DOS/Windows communication ports.
    • Network services – How to start and stop network services.
    • Cannot find install-sh or install.sh – How to fix the "Cannot find install-sh or install.sh" compilation error.
    • Text manipulation - cut, awk and sed – Some usage notes about how to manipulate text using cut, awk and sed.
    • Device is busy – Troubleshooting the "device is busy" error attempting to umount a disk.
    • Find and replace text in multiple files – A script to find and replace text in multiple files (using sed).
    • Log in to MySQL without password prompt – How to log in to MySQL without having to enter a password at the prompt.
    • Turn on DPMS – How to turn on your monitor energy saving features (DPMS) using xset.
    • Configure DMA – How to start DMA with hdparm.
    • Set sound volume at boot – How to set sound volume at boot using aumix.
    • Multiple ISPs for PPP – How to easily switch between multiple Internet Service Providers when using a dialup connection (PPP - Point to Point Protocol).
    • xargs – How to use the xargs command - commonly used with find to perform a command on each of files that match the search critera.
    • Find files excluding a directory – Find files excluding a directory
    • Find files containing a pattern – How to find files that contain a given pattern, using grep or find.
    • See where a program is crashing – Using gdb, the GNU Project Debugger, to see where a program has crashed. The program being debugged can be written in C, C++, Pascal, Objective-C (and many other languages).
    • Pass flags to the kernel from Grub GUI – How to drop out of the Grub graphical user interface to pass flags to the kernel.
    • Setup Grub boot loader – Commands to set up the grub boot loader.
    • Send an email from the command line – Send an email from the command line using the mail command.
    • Apache
      • Apache 2 hangs when not enough entropy – Explanaition of why Apache 2 hangs when not enough entropy
      • What to do if Apache is incorrectly looking in /usr/htdocs for documents. – Sometimes Apache 2 will default to looking in /usr/htdocs for a document. This page explains how to start Apache 2 so that it looks in the document root specified in the httpd.conf.
      • Edit the Apache authentication file (.htaccess or .htpasswd) – How to add/edit/delete users in the Apache authentication file, normally .htaccess or .htpasswd.
      • Compiling Apache 2.x with SSL on Red Hat 9 – How to get around yet another Red Hat anomily to allow the installation of Apace 2.
      • Prevent password prompt when starting Apache's SSL – Using openssl to unencrypt your SSL key so that you won't be asked for a password when Apache SSL starts.
      – Apache notes.
    • Mount a remote directory – How to mount a remote directory using nfs, so that you can access it like a local directory.
    • Transfer files between computers without ftp – How to transfer files between computers from the command line using scp or ssh with dd.
    • Use Samba v2 with Windows 2003 server – The configuration changes needed to use Samba v2 with Windows 2003 server.
    • BIND – Some notes on BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), a DNS server.
    • Modify your routing table to add/remove a route – Using the route command to modify your routing table.
    • ACPI
      • Custom DSDT – How to apply a custom DSDT to fix continuous lid events on an Acer Travelmate 8104
      • ACPI low battery warning – A script (or two) that you can use to monitor your battery using ACPI and alert you when it's running low.
      • Continuous ACPI lid events and 100% CPU usage – How to work around a problem whereby the ACPI daemon acpid uses 100% of the CPU when the lid button is depressed.
      – ACPI notes.
    • Nice terminal prompt – Change your shell/terminal prompt to show current user, machine and current location.
    • CUPS commands – Notes on usage of the CUPS programs - cupsd, lpstat, lpr, lpq.
    • Creating encrypted archives – Creating encrypted archives
    • Find files by date – How to find files that were modified before, after or between dates.
    • Add syntax highlighting to nedit – How to add syntax highlighting for a new language to nedit.
    • How to get around the umount device is busy error. – How to get around the umount device is busy error.
    • How to format a DVD with UDF – How to format a DVD with the UDF filesystem.
    • Using netstat to monitor your internet connections – How to use the netstat command to monitor your internet connections.
    • Verify that a network connection is secure – How to sniff network traffic to verify that transmitted data is encrypted.
    • Run MySQL commands from the Bash command line – How to run MySQL commands from the Bash command line.
    • How to create vixie-cron jobs – How to create vixie-cron jobs on a gentoo linux box.
    • Debugging load library path issues – How to debug problems with library linking, using an ImageMagick library loading problem as an example.
    • latex2rtf – How to convert a lyx (or latex) document to RTF (Rich Text File) format so that you can open it in Word or OpenOffice.
    • Scan open ports – How to scan for open TCP ports.
    • vim and gvim – Some notes on vim and gvim usage.
    • vim with the rails.vim plugin – Notes on using the rails.vim plugin to develop Ruby on Rails applications with vim.
    • Fluxbox key bindings – An example of my fluxbox key bindings, that allow me to quickly open programs and move/resize windows.
    • Keyboard shortcuts – A list of keyboard shortcuts for a number of popular linux programs.
    • Using the Bash IFS variable to make for loops split with non whitespace characters – How to use the Bash IFS (Internal Field Separator) variable to prevent for loops splitting with the whitespace character - useful for iterating through filenames that may contain spaces.
    • Escape spaces with sed – How to escape spaces from a shell script using sed.
    • ssh or scp without password – How to prevent ssh asking for a password every time you use it, by using a script to prime the ssh agent.
    • Converting m4a files to mp3 using faad and lame – A script to convert m4a files (e.g. podcasts) to mp3 using the faad and lame programs.
    • Bash aliases – How to create Bash aliases to simplify long commands.
    • Determine and change file character encoding – How to find out what character encoding is used by a file and how to change it (to UTF-8 / Unicode)
    • Make thunderbird open links in your browser – How to make thunderbird open links in your browser.
    • How to join video files in linux – How to join video files from the command line.
    • How to create a multisession DVD-R. – How to create a multi-session DVD-R with growisofs for data backups.
    • Open all files containing a pattern – How to search for files of a given type, for a pattern of text, then open them in a given program.
    • List top 10 largest files and directories – How to list the top 10 largest files and directories in the current directory.
    • Find files with particular permissions – How to find files by their permissions.
    • How to get the details of available wireless networks – How to get the details of available wireless networks.
    • Diff and merge using vim (or gvim) – Notes on configuring and using vim (or gvim) do diff and merge.
    • vmware-server-console hanging – One possible solution if vmware-server-console hangs when you try to log in.
    • Change owner of vmware virtual machine – How to change owner / permissions of a VM so that it can be used by a different user or group.
    • Expand a VMware Server virtual disk. – How to increase the size of a vmware server virtual disk using the vmware-vdiskmanager.
    • Bluetooth on linux – Some bluetooth usage notes.
    • Default settings of X applications – How to set the default settings of X applications, like xterm or aterm.
    • Delete whole lines in many files – How to delete particular lines in many files.
    • See which processor governor is being used – How to check which processor governor is governing the CPU.
    • sftp with custom port – How to use sftp with a non default port.
    • Split and join files – How to a split file into smaller files and join the pieces back again.
    • Disable MySQL binary logging – How to turn off MySQL binary logging and remove the logs to preserve disk space.
    • Configure postfix for local delivery only – How to configure postfix so that it sends emails to the local machine and rejects those sent to external domains
    • Resizing a reiserfs loopback device encrypted with dm-crypt. – How to resize / expand a loopback device encrypted with cryptsetup (dm-crypt) and formatted with the reiserfs filesystem.
    • Symbolic links, aka symlinks – Some notes on usage of symbolic links, also known as symlinks.
    • Recursive grep and filename wildcards – How to use filename wildcards with a recursive grep query.
    • Run a command on each line in a file – How to run a command on each line in a text file.
    • SSH with X11 forwarding after su – How to SSH to a server, with X11 forwarding and have it work after su.
    • CMYK using the Separate+ plugin with Gimp – How to get a CMYK image in Gimp using the Separate+ plugin.
    • UK date format in Sunbird – How to have Mozilla Sunbird calendar program use the UK / GB date format
    • How to archive and encrypt a directory with a password – How to archive and encrypt a directory with a password, using tar, gzip and gpg.
    • How to rescan a USB card reader – How to rescan the devices added by a USB card reader to detect a new card added or removed
    • How to encrypt a file with a password – How to encrypt a file with a password using gpg.
    • How to extract archives using Rox Filer – How to extract an archive in the current directory using a Rox Filer run action.
    • Compare two directories – How to compare the files in two directories.
    • md5sum digests – How to generate md5sum of a file and check digests
    – Linux Notes
  • Cross-platform Notes
    • Problem dropping MySQL user – What to do if you can not drop a MySQL user - revoke all privileges and try again.
    • Determine which storage type is used by a MySQL table – How to determine which storage type (e.g. MyISAM, InnoDB) is being used by a MySQL table.
    • Problems with hyphens in MySQL. – How to deal with problems you'll no doubt receive if you created a database that contains a hyphen in its name.
    • MyISAM to InnoDB – How to convert MySQL tables from MyISAM to InnoDB for transaction support.
    • MySQL – MySQL notes.
    • CSS width on inline vs block level elements – Example illustrating that you can only set the width of block-level elements using CSS.
    • Permanently remove Mozilla Firebird extension – How to manually uninstall a firefox extension, before the uninstall feature is introduced into the product (bug 170006).
    • High-speed Brute-force Password Cracker for MySQL 3 – This C program can crack passwords that have been hashed using the old MySQL 3 password hashing function. I tried it and it works, fast.
    • Prevent Apache listing directory contents – How to prevent Apache web server listing the contents of a directory, using a .htaccess file.
    • A description of i386 i486 i586 i686 – A description of i386 i486 i586 i686
    • Jar – Notes on Jar, the Java archive program.
    • Tomcat – Notes on Tomcat, the Java server.
    • Regular Expressions – Notes on regular expressions.
    • Ant – Note on Ant, the popular build tool.
    • Eclipse
      • Eclipse with Subclipse or Subversion – Notes about using Eclipse with the Subclipse plugin or Subversion.
      – Notes on Eclipse, the development environment, and related plugins.
    • MODx
      • MODx Customisations – Customisations made to the MODx Content Management System for mindspill.net.
      • MODx Links – Useful MODx links.
      • Useful SQL – Useful SQL for use on the MODx database.
      – MODx Content Management System
    • Copy a VMware Server virtual machine – How to copy (or backup) a VMware Server virtual machine (VM).
    • RSI - Repetitive Strain Injury – Some tips on how to overcome RSI.
    • Creating a bibliography in LyX using BibTeX – Creating a bibliography in LyX using BibTeX
    • Java Collections – Notes on the Java 2 platform's Collections framework.
    • How to clean a trackball – How to clean a trackball mouse so that it moves freely without stiffness.
    • Generate Javadoc – How to generate Javadoc and avoid a couple of oddities.
    • Firefox find as you type problem – How to turn off the 'find as you type' feature of firefox, so that you can hit a key without firefox searching the page.
    • Prevent password prompt when starting Apache's SSL – How to prevent OpenSSL asking for a password when it starts.
    • Ruby on Rails
      • Changes for Agile Web Development with Rails – Changes needed to follow examples in old version of Agile Web Development with Rails.
      • Ruby on Rails gotchas – Notes on some Ruby on Rails oddities that I've experienced.
      • Import fixtures into database – A work around to copy data from fixtures (yaml files) into a database.
      • Useful Rails plugins – Some useful Ruby on Rails plugins that I've used.
      • Subversion setup for Rails – How to set up Subversion for versioning Rails applications.
      • Changes to Rails scaffold views required for XHTML strict validation – A list of changes necessary to make Rails scaffold views validate as XHTML strict.
      • How to start Webrick server in test mode – How to start Ruby on Rails' Webrick server in test mode.
      • Useful Rails links for achieving something specific – A set of links to webpages describing how to achieve a specified task in Ruby on Rails, i.e. not a collection of generic Rails resources.
      • rake doc:app, rdoc and private methods – How to generate documentation for the private methods in your Ruby on Rails application with 'rake app:doc' and how to do the same, with more options, using rdoc.
      • How to list rake tasks – How to list the available rake tasks.
      • Generate documentation for all Ruby gems – How to generate documentation for all installed Ruby gems.
      – Notes on Ruby on Rails.
    • How to save a copy of a file cached by Firefox – How to find information about files in the Firefox cache and save a copy.
    • CUPS client-error-document-format-not-supported – A potential solution to the CUPS 'client-error-document-format-not-supported' error received when attempting to print from Windows.
    • Latex / Lyx footers – How to get footers in your Latext / Lyx documents
    • How to print landscape in Open Office oocalc – How to print landscape in Open Office oocalc
    • PHP
      • PHP modulo operator (%) returns negative numbers – The PHP modulo operator (%) returns negative numbers, so it's necessary to create a custom function if you want it to wrap negative numbers.
      • Suppress PHP errors and warnings – How to suppress PHP error and warning messages
      • Read file without php error messages – How to read the content of a file in php without showing nasty warning messages if it can't be opened
      – PHP notes
    • oowriter variables – How to create variables in oowriter
    • Create charts / graphs in OpenOffice oocalc – How to create charts / graphs in OpenOffice oocalc
    • Latex / Lyx preamble for document metadata and styling – How to use the Latex / Lyx preamble for document metadata and styling.
    – Cross-platform Notes
  • Computing Projects
    • mindspill.net v4 – Technical details about mindspill.net version 4
    • mindspill.net v1,2,3 – Technical details about previous versions of mindspill.net
    • Generating Structure of a Learning Model
      • NetSys GUI – Screenshots of the NetSys graphical interface.
      – A program to generate modular neural networks using a genetic algorithm. My BSc thesis.
    • Modeling Torso Movements in a Virtual Environment using Neural Networks – A program that uses a neural network to help position the torso of an avatar in a virtual environment. My MSc thesis.
    • Value Function for ordering web pages based on content
      • PagePrefGUI Screenshot – Screenshot of the PagePrefGUI program.
      – A program that allows the user to order several .html files according to their content preferences (e.g. pages with most images first).
    • Stereogram – A MATLAB program to produce a stereogram from a depth map.
    – Computing projects
  • Web Design Notes
    • Changing style with CSS according to markup position – Example of using the CSS adjacent sibling selector.
    • Accesskey standards – Some good advice about which access keys to use.
    • Browsers' reserved keys – A list of characters that are reserved by browsers and hence should not be used for access keys.
    • CSS menu with images – How to create a nice looking menu by displaying images instead of the anchor text, using a stylesheet.
    • Anchor target in embedded object – How to open links from an object-embedded page in the top-level window.
    • XHTML Popup Link – How to open link in new window without using target attribute.
    • Cross-browser Compatibility – A list of some issues faced when writing HTML, CSS or JavaScript for different browsers. Far from complete.
    • Security restriction with page refresh in a frame – How to overcome the security restriction present in some browsers that prevents you refreshing a frame if it contains an external page.
    • Underscores in CSS identifiers – The reason why you should not use underscores in CSS identifiers, for reasons of backward compatibility.
    • Why use web standards (e.g. CSS instead of tables)? – Resources that clearly explain the considerable benefits of adopting web standards (and using css instead of tables for design).
    • (X)HTML validation with JavaScript – How to produce a valid (X)HTML document that contains JavaScript.
    • Font sizing for accessibility and usability – How to set font size in CSS and maintain accessibility and usability.
    • Prevent floated content extending beyond main content. – How to prevent floated content, e.g. a sidebar, extending beyond the main content.
    – Web Design Notes
  • Windows Notes
    • Access Denied when connecting to a network printer – What to do if you get an Access Denied message when attempting to connect to a network printer.
    • IP to Domain Name mappings, aka the Hosts file – How to edit the Windows hosts file to create IP to domain name mappings, to override the DNS.
    • Turn on command completion – How to turn on command completion
    • Subversion (TortoiseSVN) – Notes on Subversion in Windows, through the TortoiseSVN shell extension.
    • WPA on an Acer Travelmate 8104 WLMi with an Intel 2915ABG running Windows XP – How to get WPA working on an Acer Travelmate 8104WLMi, which has an Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG device, using Windows XP. This also applies to the Travelmate 8204 which has the Intel 3945ABG device.
    • Adding a google IMAP mail account to windows mail – Notes on adding a google mail (gmail) account to Windows Mail in Vista.
    • Useful Windows Commands – Some useful Windows commands.
    – Windows Notes
  • Old Notes – An archive of old notes that may be hopelessly out of date
  • Computing Resources
    • Online Documents – Online Documents
    – Computing Resources
  – Computing
• Biking
  • Motorbike Buyer's Checklist – A comprehensive list of things to look for when buying a used motorbike.
  • Motorbike Tyre Guide – Information about motorbike tyres.
  • Motorbike Links – Motorbike links.
  – Biking
• Resources
  • Starting a Private Limited Company in the UK
    • Must-Read PLC Resources
      • How I registered a private limited company – A brief description of how I registered a private limited company.
      – The must-read resources revelant to starting a Private Limited Company in the UK.
    • UK Business Banking
      • Merchant Services for receiving electronic payments – Links to the merchant accounts and online payment processors/gateways associated with the major UK banks.
      – Links to the major UK banks that offer free business banking for startups.
    • Private Limited Company Links – Links related to starting a private limited company.
    – Information about starting a private limited company in the UK.
  • Africa Links – Some links that could prove useful when researching into a trip to Africa, specifically Tanzania and Uganda.
  • Working on the side when employed full time – What you have to do for the tax man if doing the odd bit of work on the side whilst employed full time.
  – Resources
• Junk
  • Collection of collections
    • The Unh! Project – A collection of comic book noises.
    – Web sites that collect things.
  • flames
    • Muppefication – Steph and Mike's transformation.
    • Monday morning – Hm.
    • Richard's parenthood – Richard's parenthood.
    – Personal jokes. You won't get them.
  • Favourite spam emails – My favourite spam emais.
  • Don't I know it! – hm
  – Junk
• Styling – Examples of styling used by mindspill.net.
• Site Map