AMD (Jaguar?) x8 x86_64 chips? :P

Are these AMDs new "Jaguar" x8 x86_64 custom prototype chips destined for PS4/Xbox720? :P Could be... :)

WinSCPbeen in heavy use over the years...

I hadn't given it much thought, but I have been using ONE Windows-application quite extensively over the past years. WinSCP.

For a simple-faced filemanager, it has many uses. But it's main feature is to connect to SSH / SFTP / FTP servers, handle files locally / remotely, transfer files, etc. A networked client-server file-manager application.

Before the early years of 2000, there were no decent graphical file-managers for cross-platform transfers and handling. Especially not with proper support for the Secure SHell v2 protocol.

WinSCP had this from the beginning (mainly with the scp program at first, then the SFTPv2 protocol. more recently WinSCP opts for switching to SFTPv3 protocol if available, for added security).

I can't recommend this program enough for it's easy transfer, handling and other file-related operations. I have never had any serious problems with it. It just works, and it works pretty damn good too.

It's interface is a beautiful interpretation of earlier, rather similar :P command-line designer guidelines.

Linux Mint + X.org

“Not in the Business of Picking Winners"

http://www.thepowerbase.com/2013/03/linux-mint-not-in-the-business-of-picking-winners-continues-with-xorg/

Upgrade?

At the moment, I usually sit on an AMD Phenom II X6 workstation/server/gaming-rig. But I'm thinking of upgrading to AMDs Bulldozer Vishera "true" octa-core micro-architecture.

With an octa-core based CPU running under the hood, I'll be able to compute data-loads / -streams that will be more common in the time coming.

Not that more cores are absolutely necessary, nor instantly, but with coming gaming-consoles sporting custom octa-core chips, homebrew and the like will demand (more powerful, and in some cases, distributed) computing-power.

6 cores (hexa-core) running @ 3GHz is plenty enough for most tasks today, from mundane (simple 3D) flash-games to more comprehensive high-definition 3D gaming. But 2 extra cores and an extra GHz of clock-frequency will definitely raise the bar enough to postpone sluggishness and lag.

Steam for Linux

Steam for Linux has officially been released to the public :) I have been beta-testing the client and various Steam-powered Linux-games. I'm also beta-testing Spotify Linux preview at the moment (and have been for the past two years). Comparing the two projects wouldn't be fair, since the Spotify-team have limited development-resources compared to the Steam for Linux-team.

But, I have to admit, the few (about 2) months spent beta-testing Steam for Linux really showed real development progress throughout. Bugs were rapidly being adressed and worked out, properly. Thus the Linux-client beta-phase just flew by.

The link below shows how to install Steam for Linux on a Ubuntu-machine ;)

http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-install-the-steam-gaming-client-on-ubuntu-gallery-7000011391/

Data Privacy Day

Yeah, so it's DPD again. And today it's more important than ever to be aware of data privacy issues. In our society, as it is today, we're rapidly approaching total populace monitoring. We're not quite there yet, but it's just a matter of time.

Of course, it can be argued that not everyone will have to worry too much about being "monitored". Authorities, the government and cynics tend to say: "If you don't have anything to hide, you don't need to worry". Well, is this completely true? I would disagree.

A lot of the sensitive (and often, very personal) data stored about individuals online can be used against private citizens without the intent of criminal persecution what-so-ever. An individual does not strictly have to be a criminal to be monitored. It can be any one of us. And who's to say that law-abiding citizens won't be persecuted for reasons other than direct judicial causes?

The major problem(s) with national surveillance is often: "who has the right to disclose this information?" and "who determines what parts of this information can be utilized as judicial evidence?" and last but not least "to whom can this information be disclosed?". These questions worry me.

Of course, it would be argued that ALL crime should be fought with the tools we have readily available. Fair enough. But WHO has the right to pry into such sensitive information? What do they have as a legal-inscentive to use this information for? And for whom can the person(s) responsible for gathering specified informatiom disclose this information to?

Time will show...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Privacy_Day

Tucker & Dale Vs Evil

It’s odd that Tucker & Dale Vs Evil never really secured itself the broader theatrical exposure it deserves, because it’s a really smart film. Granted, it’s bereft of outright movie stars, but the pairing of Tudyk and Labine proves inspired, and Craig is wise enough to keep his running time nice and tight.

I have to agree with the amazon review-excerpt.

I...LOVED this movie :) I would argue it's up-to-par with the Norwegian cult-film export "Dead Snow". Not quite the same genre, but, both films deliver fantastic gore and bloodshed without forcing you to immideately realize the (sometimes quite surprising) humorous outcome.

Teknologisk åpenhet

"Teknologi miljøer som baserer seg på åpen kildekode skiller seg ut. Det er kanskje ikke så rart heller. Med åpen kildekode er det er nærmest kun fantasien som begrenser hva man kan oppnå.Utgangspunktet er, og har alltid vært, teknologisk åpenhet. Denne åpenheten er det ikke alle som liker."

--Eivind Jonassen, Telekompetanse

Ja. Utdraget sier vel egentlig alt jeg, rent personlig, har opplevd i forbindelse med åpen teknologi innenfor bedrifter de siste årene.

Det samme kan ikke sies om det siste firmaet jeg jobbet for (ikke-navngitt flyverksted). Der måtte de benytte åpen teknologi i deler av virksomheten fordi proprietær teknologi ikke hadde tilsvarende gode nok systemer på bruksområdet. Åpen teknologi ble ikke sett ned på ifm. proprietær teknologi, men da kompetansen på åpen teknologi her var ganske laber, ble det ofte til at jeg ordnet det som måtte ordnes på disse systemene.

I bedrifter/selskaper der åpen teknologi MÅ benyttes, er det rett og slett mangelen på kompetansen ifm. slike systemer som gjør at de ikke blir promotert slik de kanskje burde bli, og da spesielt høyere oppe i økosystemene i disse bedriftene/selskapene.

Hadde F/OSS blitt like bra anbefalt av senior-kollegaer såvel som (oss) ny-utdannede. Hadde nok de fleste bedrifter gått over til nyere og bedre systemer.

Vi trenger teknologisk åpnehet for innovasjonens skyld. Og i et land som Norge er dette mer enn mulig. Det finnes flere norske selskaper som har laget sin egen markedsnisje basert på åpen teknologi. Men det meste av denne innovasjonen legges best merke til i utenlandske teknologi-samfunn, dessverre.

Nå ser det heldigvis ut som om myndigheter og lokale styrer ser mer og mer på åpen teknologi, men dette må også styrkes av at vi med den rette kompetansen hyler ut, argumenterer positivt for bruken og andre eventuelle bruksområder.

Vi må fortelle de rette folkene om alle fordelene, bruken, sikkerheten og fremfor alt; åpenheten.

http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article264691.ece

Unified ARM Linux kernel source

Finally, ARM manufacturers have been stepping up their efforts at unifying a single source-tree for their architecture(s). Linus announced the merging of multi-platform ARM code into the mainline Linux source-tree in October.

This means ARM developers don't need to compile a different Linux kernel for each ARM SoC they develop for, but instead they can use one single source-tree for all SoCs.

http://www.zdnet.com/one-linux-for-all-arm-systems-7000005348/

AMD vs. Intel = historie?

Det kan bli ganske sørgelig utvalg av entusiast-komponenter med høy ytelse dersom prosessor-konkurransen til Intel og AMD nå tar helt slutt.

Ref:
http://www.hardware.no/artikler/slik-skal-amd-komme-tilbake/115184

Men det kan også tenkes at AMD verrasker oss alle med nye typer mobil-prosessorer, eller nye måter å sette sammen teknologier for å oppnå bedre tekniske resultater.

Det spekuleres rundt om på nettet for tiden om mobil-prosessorer (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) faktisk kan klare å oppnå like gode hastigheter som desktop-prosessorer (Complex Instruction Set Computing). De siste årene har jo vist at gigahertz-hastigheter i mobile enheter definitivt er mulig, så dette kan ikke avvises helt.

Som ivrig AMD-fan i mange år blir det spennende for meg å se hva de finner på.

De har i alle fall ikke tenkt å bare gi opp med det første :)

Litt bakgrunnshistorie om AMD (engelsk wikipedia):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Micro_Devices

Metallica på Spotify

Etter alle årene med rettssak(er) og mediaoppstyr ifm. Napster og digitale distribusjonsrettigheter, er Metallica endelig også på Spotify ;)

http://www.nrk.no/kultur-og-underholdning/1.9753314

Steam for Linux beta

It pays off to invest in bleeding-edge hardware and modder-Linux ;D especially if you're willing to do some experimentation.

I got my candidate-mail from Valve today :P guess I'll be testing Linux-gaming for them :)

 "Big Picture" mode @ 1080p

 "Big Picture" mode @ 1080p

"Big Picture" mode @ 1080p

Thanksgiving

In the end, your family is all that matters. Take time to appreciate what you have, when you have it :) looking forward to thanksgiving @mom's house ;D

A random screenshot

This is a normal, everyday looking screen for me.
Yes, I spend a lot of time on the CLI ;) both local and remote :P

Valve - Steam > Linux

I recently logged in to my Steam-account because I wanted to check out it's status. Mostly since Valve announced they will be releasing the Steam-client for Linux. And to my surprise, all games I had bought earlier were still available in my "Library" :)

I had bought "Counter-Strike" (the original) a few years ago. Though it was the CD-ROM release copy, it included a booklet on activating the product on Steam.

I'm SO glad I actually did, because I can no longer find the original CD-ROM, nor can I find the DVD-ROM for Half-Life 2 / Counter-Strike: Source. But that didn't matter :) Steam had all the games, already activated and ready to download and install :P Woohoo!

If they are successfull at porting the client to Linux, and consequently; games. They will definitely have opened a whole new market-target for online game distribution ;)

Way to go Valve! ;D

Coincidentally, Valve recently published a press-release claiming Linux as the new de-facto open (gaming) platform. Beating both Windows and Mac OS X on the "technicalities" ;P

Linux, being an openly developed platform, gives game-developers a technical road-map of the OS' inner workings, it's limitations and structure details that give an immensely comprehensive base for advanced game programming.

Personally, I don't think they've even tapped the tip of what is possible with a Linux-system when it comes to serious gaming. I see promising development if this takes off, as we all hope it does :)

PC Games N:
http://www.pcgamesn.com/article/valve-linux-better-windows-8-gaming

Norwegian e-zine:
http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article259040.ece

Stallman, on Steam? :o

Forkjemper og leder for fri programvare (FSF), Richard M. Stallman, innrømmer at Steam-plattformen vil være positivt (og fra Stallmans synspunkt, også veldig negativt) for Linux.

Spillselskapet Valve vil nå (etter mye frem-og-tilbake) slippe "Steam Client" for Linux (online rammevek for leveranse av PC-spill), og etterhvert også portere populære spill-titler til Linux uten bruk av masse kompatibilitetslag (les: wine, DirectX, osv.).

I denne anledning ble Richard M. Stallman spurt om tankene rundt dette. Svaret ble ganske overraskende, spesielt fordi han er mest kjent for sine ekstreme meninger om proprietær programvare (Windows, Mac OS X, o.l.), bruker-rettigheter og personlig frihet (med ekstra god trykk på "personlig frihet"). Men han medgir nå altså at selv om spill er proprietære, kan de virke som et lokkemiddel for Linux-plattformen, som i seg selv kan resultere i at flere åpner opp øynene for FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) og kanskje er mer bevisste over hvilke faktiske friheter de besitter ved å benytte forskjellige typer programvare og operativsystemer.

"I suppose that availability of popular nonfree programs on GNU/Linux can boost adoption of the system. However, our goal goes beyond making this system a “success”; its purpose is to bring freedom to the users. Thus, the question is how this development affects users' freedom."
--Richard M. Stallman, 2012

"Thus, in direct practical terms, this development can do both harm and good. It might encourage GNU/Linux users to install these games, and it might encourage users of the games to replace Windows with GNU/Linux. My guess is that the direct good effect will be bigger than the direct harm. But there is also an indirect effect: what does the use of these games teach people in our community?"
--Richard M. Stallman, 2012

Nåja, forventer ikke litt vel mye her da Richie? Jaja, man vet jo aldri... :)

Link til artikkel:
Richard M. Stallman - Steam is good for GNU/Linux

Link til Computerworld-artikkel:
http://www.idg.no/computerworld/article250349.ece

Link til FSF-artikkel:
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/nonfree-games.html

VMware ESXi 5.0 upd1

I haven't been that consistent about posting on this blog lately. But here's a little re-cap of my computing escapades for the last months:

I've updated my WD 4GB USB dongle with VMware ESXi 5.0 update1 hypervisor. Yes, I've set out into the virtualization cloud ;) running through 1.8TB X-RAID array via iSCSI.

I have also upgraded the graphics-setup in "h3x", it now sports a brand-spanking-new Nvidia GeForce GT520 Silent. Testing out this card blew me away :D then again, last time I invested money in a decent gfx-setup was back in the AGP-days :p PCIe 2.0 x16 definitely kicks ass!

I had to add certain PPA-repositories (apt-get repos) to get a driver that would work in Linux Mint 13, but it was no hastle, and it worked like a charm :)

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

The next-gen developer-phone from Google/Samsung.

It has a sturdy build with high-quality plastic, and the battery-cover is cleverly fitted into the phone-chassis.

The OS (currently updated Android v4.0.2 "ICS") differs quite a lot from v2.x (which I used before). All of the UI-interaction is now done completely via touch / multi-touch (which Google had envisioned when they started development on Android).

I especially love how you can drag-n-drop shortcuts on top of each other in the new launcher to form popup folders. One of several new, interesting and innovative UI functions. Another is the ability to take a screenshot of the device-display (pressing Power+Volume down buttons simultaneously).

I've been using Android full-time since the early v1.x-days, and personally I love the new UI guidelines, drop-down menus and generally, Android v4.x all-in-all :)

Google has done a magnificent good job in rolling v2.x (mobile-version) and v3.x (tablet-version) into one monolithic source-code tree, capable of making both binary-versions.

Keep up the good job guys! :D

NAS for iSCSI/media/files

1.8TB SATA3 in RAID-1 configuration.

I have now switched my ReadyNAS Duo v2 with a ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus, which is the business-edition of Netgear's 2-bay NAS boxes. Way better equipped for my needs.

Hardware:

• Intel Atom dual-core 1.5GHz (x86 instead of arm5 as in Duo v2)
• Dual Gigabit RJ-45 LAN ports
• 2 x USB 3.0 on back-panel (one over each gigabit LAN port)
• 1 x USB 3.0 on front-cover (for "backup"-button)

Accessories:

• 2 x Western Digital Caviar "Green" 2TB SATA3 hard-drives

The Ultra 2 Plus business-ready revision of the dual-bay NAS from Netgear offers more advanced configuration and customization options, and also complies with Linux networking protocols (NFS, SSH, SFTP, etc.), unlike the Duo v2 which only offers AFP and SMB file-sharing (Apple and Windows network file-sharing respectively) and basic configuration.

What really makes it stand out is its ability to share iSCSI targets. Basically, it can share portions of its RAID-array as virtual hard-drives for Virtual Machines run either by for example VMware or VirtualBox on a server, or via a bare-metal hypervisor (ex.VMware ESXi, my personal favorite ;).

Extra functions in the Ultra 2 Plus compared to Duo v2, are for example the possibility for scheduled RAID-scrubbing and/or volume checking, to keep your RAID volumes clean and fixed :)

h3x4c0m

OK. Computer-building has always been a hobby of mine. Later years have shown that high-end components don't always have to cost an arm and a leg. So I figured I'd do a build-project where I would build a hybrid workstation / VM-lab / gaming-rig, with as much computing-power as my limited budget would allow.

The following became my project-goals:

• Build an HTPC (Home Theatre PC) with std.-dimensions for rack/stack placement.
• Get the most powerful and technically up-to-date cpu for as little as possible, most likely an alternative to Intel (AMD).
• Shove in, at a very minimum, at least 8GB of RAM with decent heat spreading.
• Make due with the stock cpu-fan and add cabinet fans accordingly.
• Use a customizable O.C.(overclocking)-motherboard for tweaking-purposes.

I figured I'd base the machine on an AMD chipset and processor because they've always been more on the cheaper end, compared to Intel, without losing too much of the competing processing-power (allthough AMD chips generate quite a lot of heat in contrast to Intel's).

The basic assembly was quite easy. Every screw and spacer needed was included with the cabinet to ensure a good fit for the MicroATX motherboard.

Installation of the components on the motherboard was also pretty straightforward. Although I forgot to lock the cpu-chip into the cradle before I fastened the cpu-fan over it :s doh!

Silverstone's starter-level cabinet "Milo" did the job I wanted it to. It was slimline and spec-standard so it fit nicely on my Denon receiver with a Pioneer DVD player and a Canal Digital PVR on top of it, all without over-heating any metal-surfaces.

System-disk. Period ;)

Only annoying thing I didn't think about was if I wanted to add a PCIx graphics card, it has to be a "low-profile" spec-card to fit in the low cabinet. But for now the embedded HDMI port on the M/B will do (I eventually added a low-end GeForce GT520 1GB GDDR3).

I could fit up to 3 hard-drives total, but I only used a 250GB Western Digital hard-drive for personal files (/home Linux partition) and a 60GB ForceGT Corsair SSD for the OS (Linux). The SSD was a definite improvement both on heavy word-load effectiveness and boot-up (it boots Debian GNU/Linux / Ubuntu Desktop / Linux Mint in less than a few seconds!)

A metal bar is used to keep the cabinet sturdy, and does an excellent job.

One thing I noticed when installing the OS after first bootup, was that all the six cores (yes ;) that's SIX cpu-cores :p) reported an individual total processing-power of a mere 800MHz! WTF!?

This couldn't be! 800MHz x 6!? At first I figured it was the Cool'n'Quiet-feature of AMDs processor-lines that throttled everything down to save power and/or cool the cpu. This was not the case.

As I read the motherboard webpage, I realized the cpu was released after the motherboard. And even though it listed the cpu as compatible, it also said it required an EFI-update to be able to take full advantage of a hexa-core processor.
Well, that figures... So, I aggravatingly downloaded the mentioned EFI binary-blob on a USB-stick, and proceeded to flash the motherboard.

After booting up the newly upgraded firmware, it listed the cpu with the correct specifications :) YAY-HOORAY! ;D

Without discrete graphics card.

With discrete graphics-card.
* Asus GeForce GT520 2GB 64-bit GDDR3 PCie-2.

I haven't really had the time to properly benchmark the performance yet. And I think I'll postpone it until I have a proper cpu cooling-system (preferably liquid-cooling, but I haven't been able to find a low-profile cooling-system that will fit the SilverStone Milo HTPC-cabinet yet).

For now, it has shown exceptional potential as a file-/web-server, daily mailer/browser, HD multimedia powerhouse and compilation workstation :] so I'm really looking forward to pushing it to the edge :D

Next project is setting up an advanced NAS box, preferrably with iSCSI-support for Virtual Machine network-storage :]

---

NAS-project update: http://blog.pizslacker.org/2012/02/nas-for-vmwaremediafiles.html

---

Discrete graphics upgrade (Sep'2014):

New (as of Sept'2014) Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB 64-bit GDDR5 PCIe-2.1 discrete graphics-card
+
Supplementary (for separate iSCSI-subnet) MiniPCIe Gigabit Ethernet card

With new Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 1GB 64-bit GDDR5 PCIe-2.1 discrete graphics-card.

R.I.P. Dennis M. Ritchie

The father of the C programming language and co-creator of the Unix® operating system died last week at the age of 70.

A TRUE computer pioneer, and one of the last TRUE old-school hackers.

Without Dennis, we would not have the direct and spiritual descendants based on his innovations, including: Linux, Android, Mac OS, iOS, JavaScript, C++, the genius of the Internet and a world full of computer programmers and developers.

Devs of the world owe you mr Ritchie.

Thank you for bringing the concept of "Open Systems" to the world. Without it, I would undoubtly be locked-in with a major proprietary software vendor.

Instead, I am free to use whatever I want, in any way I want, on any device I want. Thanks to open systems, open protocols, open projects and open source :)

Many thanks for your contributions Mr. Richie, forever grateful.

Happy 20th, Linux! ;D

Yes, the monolithic, POSIX-compliant operating system kernel is celebrating it's 20th anniversary today :) YAY-HOORAY!

Oracle VM VirtualBox

I use VMWare ESXi 4.0 at work when I set up new system-images or production-VMs. Which works reasonably well, but hogs a lot of resources for various tasks, even on the HP ProLiant blade-server at work :s

But I'm quite pleased about my new server-VM setup @ home :D

On my Ubuntu desktop @ home, I now mainly use Virtualbox OSE (Open-Source Edition). Simple, yet powerful and quite configurable ;D

Virtualbox was easy enough to set up, and installing Ubuntu Server on a virtual machine was fun :p taking snapshots as I went along configuring and restoring web-files and what-not. I'm really content with it :) I think it emulates very well with limited resources.

Although Oracle bought Sun Microsystems Inc., it's open-source products haven't shown any slow-downs in their progress and development, except for OpenOffice that is... But the LibreOffice project saved it from corrupting it's relationship with it's open-source community.

Monster PC build-time ;D

Okay, so my cousin's boyfriend bought some killer-components in the United States. He then asked me if I was interested in helping him order the remaining components to build a performance-powerhouse extraordinaire :p of course my inner g33k couldn't refuse.

He had purchased the following components so far:

• Intel i7 2600K cpu
• 4 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 DIMMs
• MSi P67A BD80 G3 Military Grade II Mainboard

I'm going to post further development of this monstrosity :p and I'm definitely going to record the first boot-up when the time comes, and post that here as well :) you can follow this post-thread with the label "monster-dualboot"

Edit 20110725: I have corrected the component-names after euph84 asked me to, I also fixed the correct manufacturer product-sheet links to correspond to the right product IDs.

WebGL VS. Silverlight

Nå må dere seriøst skjerpe dere Microsoft XD og kanskje få litt bedre orden i egen teknologi før dere kritiserer alle andres til egen fordel :p i alle fall når fordelen ikke egentlig eksisterer.

MS kritiserte sårbarheter i WebGL (Google sin web3D-satsing sammen med mange andre store IT-aktører på alternativ-markedet) for ikke så lenge siden, når det faktisk viser seg at deres egen teknologi har like kritiske (om ikke mer) sårbarheter (*lulz!*).

Jeg har ikke stort mye mot MS lenger, har rett og slett flamet nok om "M$" det siste tiåret. Men når de fortsetter med FUD og lekesandkasse-mentalitet, og allikevel påstår å være en seriøs aktør er det nok mer enn bare meg som rynker på nesen...

http://www.digi.no/872442/silverlight-har-samme-saarbarhet-som-webgl