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An odd bluetooth problem
by Barry Samuels 22 Nov '10

22 Nov '10

I have just got Bluetooth working on my Thinkpad (Debian Testing/Squeeze) and it will pair with my Android 'phone but the signal keeps fluctuating. The link quality between 100% and -1%, the strength between 58% and -1 and it does this at around 2-5 second intervals. It does it even when the 'phone is next to the laptop. Can anyone suggest a reason for this? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Re: [ALUG] [ALUG Announce] Free Teeth Whitening for you
by Steve Engledow 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

Well I don't know about you, but I'm convinced. Does this whitening kit run on linux though? Cheers, Steve On Fri, 19 Nov 2010 04:33:16 +0000, "paul Frei" <onetofifteeneco(a)aol.com> wrote: > Untitled Document > > Get a Pro Whitening Kit 30 Day supply and two touch-up pens Free - > only pay £2.95 P&P. > > ? They know how important their smiles are and they've spent > thousands > and thousands of pounds to have the whitest teeth. Now you can have > the celebrity smile you deserve with . Try our today! > > People seeking better smiles spend £1.74 billion per year to have > white teeth. Celebrities know their success depends on having a great > smile. They are no different than you. __, and you can with . > > Get the white smile you've always wanted. will give you the bright, > celebrity smile you deserve. See if you qualify for your today! > > "I was so excited about my wedding until I tried on the perfect dress > and looked in the mirror. The dress was perfect and white, but my > teeth were yellow. I looked horrible. So I tried __ and it saved my > wedding." > > "I had an interview scheduled for the job I really wanted and needed, > but years of smoking and coffee drinking had stained my teeth so > badly > I knew the impression I would make would be bad. I tried __ and am > amazed at how white my teeth are." > > Be Attractive & Confident > ! > > We all want to look younger, happier and more confident. Everyone > would like to be attractive, successful and > have an incredible > relationship. > . > > in 3 simple steps with > Choice White advanced- > formula gel. > > if you do not wish to hear from us again please reply with cancel in > the subject line

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HDD errors
by Mark Rogers 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

I have a hard disk connected via a IDE/USB convertor. I was asked to look at the disk because of issues, and with a combination of tools (surprisingly mount and cp did most of what I needed!) have managed to recover most of his files (well the ones that matter anyway). However, I'm getting lots of the following in /var/log/messages: Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430217] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Unhandled sense code Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430221] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430225] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Sense Key : Hardware Error [current] Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430230] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Add. Sense: No additional sense information Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430234] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] CDB: Read(10): 28 00 01 00 95 a0 00 00 08 00 Nov 11 10:44:28 user-desktop kernel: [268615.430248] __ratelimit: 41 callbacks suppressed .. and I was just curious to learn what they were telling me about what was wrong with the drive? I've Googled for some of the key phrases but don't seem to get a clear picture. I've seen references to Sense Key etc before with problems in the past (often USB thumb drives) so I figured a little extra knowledge might be no bad thing! -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Is there a fairly easy way to allow two users to write to the same hierarchy of files?
by Chris G 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

I want to enable two users to write to a specific hiearchy of files and I really can't see an easy way to do it. To be specific I have a hierarchy of files making up the data files of a wiki which I (mostly) edit directly but also need to be able to edit in the normal wiki fashion. Thus they need to be writeable by the apache2 process (which is user www-data) and directly by the user (which is me, user chris). Can anyone suggest a way to allow these to be writeable by both users? When a user creates a new file it must be editable by the other user as well so simply creating a common group to which both users belong won't work as, in general, the umask won't give files user write permission. -- Chris Green

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Snapshots
by Chris Walker 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

Is it possible to take a snapshot of a running system rather in the way it's possible to do in things like VirtualBox? I'm thinking of installing some software but am not sure that once installed, I will be able to back it out with leaving files everywhere. Hence the idea of a snapshot. -- __ __| |_ __ __ .----------------------------------------------. / _/ _` \ V V / | mailto:cdw_alug@the-walker-household.co.uk | \__\__,_|\_/\_/ |______________________________________________|

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Sharepoint alternatives
by Mark Rogers 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

A customer has asked us to look at setting up a hosted sharepoint server for them. What are the best FOSS alternatives I should look at to give them some options? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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SBCs that run Linux - someone mentioned some a while ago
by Chris G 18 Nov '10

18 Nov '10

A while a go when we were discussing low-powered backup solutions someone here mentioned a couple of Linux based SBCs (Single Board Computers). At the time I was looking for something somewhat different but now I think I might have a use for such a device. Can someone point me in the right direction (the mail list archive isn't searchable so doesn't help much as I haven't a clue how long ago it was). -- Chris Green

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Mostly OT: Kindle 3G
by Mark Rogers 18 Nov '10

18 Nov '10

There seem to be some Kindle fans here? £150 for the Kindle 3G seems like a good deal. I'm just looking for someone to persuade me to part with the cash! Any experiences with the "experimental" web browser? The relevant bit to this list: Any PC interaction I have with it will be from my Linux (Ubuntu) box. Any reason to have any concerns? I've never owned an eBook but I gigure something like Calibre should allow me to convert between ebook formats (the wife is concerned she'll buy an ebook from Waterstones that she can't use on it, for example; my concern is more about keeping her off MY Kindle in the first place!) -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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tail and awk
by Barry Samuels 17 Nov '10

17 Nov '10

I'm running Debian Squeeze/Testing and have this in my /etc/rc.local: tail -f /var/log/syslog | awk '/kernel: sdb: sdb1/ {system("/bin/sleep 10; /sbin/hdparm -Y /dev/sdb")}' & Whenever I insert a hard drive caddy I want the disc to be put into sleep mode until it's required. The drive is used only once every 24 hours to backup and the drive is changed each day. However it doesn't work. If I remove a drive caddy and then replace it the relevant lines appear in syslog but the drive keeps spinning. If I stop the current tail/awk processes, remove and replace the caddy then run /etc/rc.local from the command line it does work and the drive stops spinning. I have now run out of expertise. Any suggestions please? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Re: [ALUG] Mostly OT: Kindle 3G
by mark fernandes (IFR) 17 Nov '10

17 Nov '10

Mark, I've made some comments about the Kindle browser on my blog (http://www.codingscience.blogspot.com/) I have successfully used it to access my work e-mail (Outlook Web Access) whilst on my travels. It is a bit like going back to Black and White TV (God that ages me!) but still quite usable (but roll on colour e-paper). My biggest problem is viewing scientific papers (usually only avail as PDFs) in 3 columns which is e-reader unfriendly. If anybody knows of a tool to reformat these to single column reliably, 'I'll be over the moon' as it is a bit of a deal-breaker for some of my colleagues. I say reliable - I tried tools like calibre and stanza (and a google code project whose name escapes me - I said I'm getting old) and get weird effects (Which I'm beginning to believe is down to quirks of PDF format when having multiple columns with diagrams and images (:-() rather than the programs). Anyway, back to original question - Browser is usable but I wouldn't use it as the 'weapon of choice'. Or put it another way don't try and use a hammer to put in a screw... :-) Hope that this helps, Mark

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