November 2017 - main

Reformatting a PDF
by Mark Rogers 03 Jun '19

03 Jun '19

On the Royal Mail website is a "handy" price guide available as a PDF: http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Royal-Mail-Our-Prices-March-20… It's only actually "handy" if you have a weird printer (or at least very unusual sized paper). I'm not sure what size/shape you'd call it but it would go into a DL envelope without folding... What I'd like to do is split the individual pages out and merge them to get three (maybe four) "pages" per A4 sheet so that I can print it on my very normal A4 printer. Suggestions? This is an annual headache and I'm fed up with a different manual solution every year. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

4 11

Firefox 57 woe
by Bev Nicolson 30 Nov '17

30 Nov '17

I had hoped to be prepared for whenever the upgrade to Firefox 57 occurred but it turns out I haven't been. This is because the Software Updater hadn't offered 57. Anyway, it seems I have lost all my ScrapBook pages. Or at least, the question I want to ask is, how can I find out for sure that I have? The home and computer directory have been searched for 'firefox data' but no dice. Bev.

4 7

ssh_config file equivalents of command line options - how to find?
by Chris Green 30 Nov '17

30 Nov '17

I had a hard time recently working out what the ssh_config file equivalent of the -L command line option in ssh was. The man page happily tells you that "Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file." buut doesn't tell you *what* the configuration file equivalent is. (It's actually a bit obvious - LocalForward). Is there any documented way of finding the mapping? I'm now after the config file equivalents for -f and -N if there are any. -- Chris Green

3 2

2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 1st December.
by Viperfang 30 Nov '17

30 Nov '17

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

1 0

How to *start* a desktop remotely? (for VNC)
by Chris Green 23 Nov '17

23 Nov '17

How can one *start* a desktop (in my case XFCE on xubuntu) remotely? I have set up VNC to acces my home machine desktop but since it's not actually running a desktop as it's been rebooted the VNC client shows me nothing. Help!? I have ssh access to my home machine. -- Chris Green

1 0

4G data
by Phil Thane 19 Nov '17

19 Nov '17

Hi, Not really a Linux question, except that it'll be mostly Linux devices that use it... A few years ago when 4G was being tested in pilot areas, but not on the Llangollen canal, I wrote a piece for a canal/river boat magazine about using the internet afloat. At the time I borrowed some demo kit from suppliers and a boat from the Llangollen Wharf for testing and for photos. One option was a 3G USB dongle for a laptop, another was a 3G modem/router to create a WiFi hotspot. Or just use my old 3G smartphone and either a USB or WiFi 'tether'. Now down south I've got my own (very old and very cheap) boat and 4G is widely available. So should be great eh? Well not so much. As far as I can find out it is impossible to buy data only SIM cards with data contracts that last until the data is used. You have to buy 'bundles' of data/phonecalls/text and they expire after 7, 14 or 28 days. When I'm not on the boat I don't use 4G at all. When I am going away on it I have to guess how much data I might need and load up the SIM. Last time I did that the boat broke down, we came home early and £20 worth of data just expired at the end of the 28 days. With my old 3G phone (on PAYG) it simply used the same account for texts, calls or data - and I only enabled 3G when I really needed it. But it seems none of the phone providers will offer 4G that way. I can't see there's any technical reason, it's just that phone providers are conniving bastards. Does anyone know of one that has broken ranks with the cartel and will offer me what I want? -- Phil Thane www.pthane.co.uk phil(a)pthane.co.uk 01767 449759 07582 750607 Twitter @pthane

6 9

Python GUIs
by Mark Rogers 10 Nov '17

10 Nov '17

I've only just really started to use Python, so this is very much a novice question. I'd like to create a simple Python GUI to manage a configuration file. I'll be developing it on Ubuntu but it'll need to run cross-platform, which is one reason I picked Python. Anyone here have any recommendations as to the best way to do this? Google gives me hundreds of options which is great but I'm after anecdotes from people I (feel I) know. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

2 2

[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 9th November
by Viperfang 06 Nov '17

06 Nov '17

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Norwich Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 9th November at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA). The meeting officially starts at 8pm, although some people may arrive earlier. More information on those people can be found on the list and the IRC channel. If you are unsure if you will recognise us then make yourself and your intent to attend known by either posting on list or visiting us on IRC so we can look out for you rather than hiding in the corner. Optionally you could ask at the bar if they know where the geeky computer weirdos are and they'll point you in the right direction (seriously!). Another possibility is look for heaps of electronics on a table that may possibly look like movie props that would used for detonating explosives. Feel free to bring electronics/laptops/gadgets to the meet, you will by no means be alone. Ben Bewick aka Viperfang NB: This mail is automated, please refer to the usual sources for more information. ALUG Contact Details: Website : http://www.alug.org.uk/ IRC : #alug on irc.alug.org.uk List : http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo Twitter : http://twitter.com/anglianlug Identica: TBA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381613902 ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

1 0