Thursday, July 11, 2013

Experiment

You're doing well so far, if you'd please continue here: https://twitter.com/uberscientist/status/355493745166258177

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Some things I want to learn

GNU Debugger (gdb)
Mandarin 你好!
Graph Database (Neo4j)
More python, maybe find and use a websockets library.
Laser Cutter and open source 2D/3D CAD
Kickstarter

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Stick-N-Find Android App

Looking for the Android app? Nothing in the google play store? It's still in alpha!

EDIT 5/17/13: It seems to be in the play store now.
I also recieved my stick-n-finds in the mail a couple days ago.  I'll be listing them on ebay as time goes on. Here are the first couple listings:
Listing 1
Listing 2

You can try pairing with this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nordic.nordicbleapp
(Thanks to a comment by Brian M.)

Or if you have a Samsung S3 you can try their code (reported to be crashing instantly and other problems):
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByXd054LiTnBQWZ2aXlEdloyRFE/edit

Leave any additional information in a comment and I'll move it up here.
Here's the official indiegogo comments section... I'm staying out of that pig sty!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

How to fix being stuck on "Checking bootstrapper version ..."

So you're trying to install a Steam dedicated server.  The really helpful wiki says:
The first run of ./steam may hang while checking the bootstrap version. You will need to retry several times until it completes.
NO. Don't do this.  You need to open your firewall first, meaning if you have iptables setup in the first place to protect your server (you should).

The wiki also gives you the rules:
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27015 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27005 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27015 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27005 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27016 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27017 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27018 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27019 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 27020 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27016 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27017 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27018 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27019 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i venet0 -p udp -m udp --dport 27020 -m state --state NEW,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

You can just use `iptables-restore < iptables.my.rules` once you save those rules to your rules file, rules rules.

OK, thought I'd share because I was just restarting the steam process a million times :-(

Friday, March 1, 2013

What do I do if my domain name registrar's site's domain is expired

UPDATE:
I found that it was a reseller of Wild West Domains, the tech support wasn't very helpful at all, just received a canned response, but I was able to access my control panel due to their systems sending me a renewal reminder...

I then transferred to namecheap.com, but I don't know if I'd really recommend them (I had issues using their nameservers deleting my @ A record for some reason... wtf). I also tried name.com but their one page app was really annoying when trying to transfer 10 domains at once... I ran into an error which cleared the form one too many times.

I was expecting to see others having problems with 'thedomainz' ... but maybe I'm the only idiot who stayed with them after they changed domain names years ago :/

-------old post follows------
I used to go through this site, thedomainz.com ...
Not anymore it seems. They changed their name once since I started doing business with them in high school from 4nic (something like that)...
This is not good.

TheDomainz.com is down, anyone else who was with them?


$ whois thedomainz.com

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: THEDOMAINZ.COM
   Registrar: PDR LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
   Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
   Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
   Name Server: DNS.PARKPAGE.FOUNDATIONAPI.COM
   Name Server: DNS2.PARKPAGE.FOUNDATIONAPI.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 28-feb-2013
   Creation Date: 27-feb-2011
   Expiration Date: 27-feb-2014

>>> Last update of whois database: Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:06:28 UTC <<<

NOTICE: The expiration date displayed in this record is the date the 
registrar's sponsorship of the domain name registration in the registry is 
currently set to expire. This date does not necessarily reflect the expiration 
date of the domain name registrant's agreement with the sponsoring 
registrar.  Users may consult the sponsoring registrar's Whois database to 
view the registrar's reported date of expiration for this registration.

TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our Whois 
database through the use of electronic processes that are high-volume and 
automated except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or 
modify existing registrations; the Data in VeriSign Global Registry 
Services' ("VeriSign") Whois database is provided by VeriSign for 
information purposes only, and to assist persons in obtaining information 
about or related to a domain name registration record. VeriSign does not 
guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a Whois query, you agree to abide 
by the following terms of use: You agree that you may use this Data only 
for lawful purposes and that under no circumstances will you use this Data 
to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass 
unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via e-mail, telephone, 
or facsimile; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes 
that apply to VeriSign (or its computer systems). The compilation, 
repackaging, dissemination or other use of this Data is expressly 
prohibited without the prior written consent of VeriSign. You agree not to 
use electronic processes that are automated and high-volume to access or 
query the Whois database except as reasonably necessary to register 
domain names or modify existing registrations. VeriSign reserves the right 
to restrict your access to the Whois database in its sole discretion to ensure 
operational stability.  VeriSign may restrict or terminate your access to the 
Whois database for failure to abide by these terms of use. VeriSign 
reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. 

The Registry database contains ONLY .COM, .NET, .EDU domains and
Registrars.
Registration Service Provided By: DOMAIN.CO.IN

Domain Name: THEDOMAINZ.COM

 Registration Date: 27-Feb-2011 
 Expiration Date: 27-Feb-2013  

 Status:RENEWAL HOLD
Note: This Domain Name has expired. In this status the domain name 
is inactive. This domain name will be activated once it is renewed.
The Owner of this domain name can renew this domain name from their control panel. 
If this domain name is not renewed by 08-Apr-2013, it will be permanently deleted. 

 Name Servers:  
    ns1.aimdomains.com
    ns2.aimdomains.com
    ns3.aimdomains.com
    ns4.aimdomains.com


 Registrant Contact Details:
    Aim Domain Solutions Pvt Ltd
    Domain Admin        (domains@aim.co.in)
    30/171 Mahatma Gandhi Road
    Kumaran Nagar, Padi
    Chennai
    Tamil Nadu,600050
    IN
    Tel. +91.9940422121

 Administrative Contact Details:  
    Aim Domain Solutions Pvt Ltd
    Domain Admin        (domains@aim.co.in)
    30/171 Mahatma Gandhi Road
    Kumaran Nagar, Padi
    Chennai
    Tamil Nadu,600050
    IN
    Tel. +91.9940422121 

 Technical Contact Details:  
    Aim Domain Solutions Pvt Ltd
    Domain Admin        (domains@aim.co.in)
    30/171 Mahatma Gandhi Road
    Kumaran Nagar, Padi
    Chennai
    Tamil Nadu,600050
    IN
    Tel. +91.9940422121 

 Billing Contact Details: 
    Aim Domain Solutions Pvt Ltd
    Domain Admin        (domains@aim.co.in)
    30/171 Mahatma Gandhi Road
    Kumaran Nagar, Padi
    Chennai
    Tamil Nadu,600050
    IN
    Tel. +91.9940422121 

The data in this whois database is provided to you for information purposes 
only, that is, to assist you in obtaining information about or related to a 
domain name registration record. We make this information available "as is",
and do not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a whois query, you agree 
that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that, under no 
circumstances will you use this data to: 
(1) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that stress or load 
this whois database system providing you this information; or 
(2) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, 
commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail, electronic mail, or 
by telephone. 
The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or other use of this data is 
expressly prohibited without prior written consent from us. The Registrar of 
record is PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com. 
We reserve the right to modify these terms at any time. 
By submitting this query, you agree to abide by these terms.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

W: GPG error: http://nginx.org squeeze Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY ABF5BD827BD9BF62

If you get that error, add nginx public key to your keyring like this:
curl http://nginx.org/packages/keys/nginx_signing.key | sudo apt-key add -
...then you should be able to run `sudo apt-get update` on your newly added nginx repos.
This was on Debian 6, should work on ubuntu too.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Reddit Insight

Pay less attention to finding something that you like to do and pay more attention to finding something that you would like to be. If you only allow yourself to motivated by things which make you feel pleasant doing them, then you're not going to have to work very hard, are you? There aren't many things in life that are awesome and worth having that at some point are not going to feel like a chore. Everything can become a chore, even playing video games, or watching movies, or hanging out with friends. But we don't notice this because when we don't want to watch movies, or play video games, or hang out with friends, we simply switch it off because there's no reason to keep doing it if it's not fun. But anything in your life that is going to be fulfilling is going to be hard to do. It's going to suck sometimes, but that's often exactly what will make it all worthwhile. The trick is not to find something which you always feel pleasant doing, it's to look ahead a few steps and to find your bliss - find out the kind of person you would like to be, or the kind of lifestyle that you would like to live, because pursuing a goal like this will make all of the intermediary chores worthwhile. And you may find that the "chores" become enjoyable in their own respect as well. If you have absolutely no direction and no means, if there's nothing you enjoy doing and you haven't had any luck finding a goal for yourself in the future, the trick is to start failing. Your bliss is not going to just come to you, wrapped in a package, neatly labeled with instructions, you might have to actually go and find out for yourself what it looks like. Make your best guess at what it is, and go out and do it. Never give up because it's too hard, or because you don't like what it takes to get there, or because your not absolutely certain that this is the right path for yourself - as long as the fundamental hypothesis that led you down this path hasn't changed, keep slogging. If you work hard enough, and fail big enough, you might eventually discover what your bliss is. Then you can actually go out and start chasing it. You may have to try and fail at many different types of things before you find it, and almost certainly the first thing you go after won't be the right thing for you, but it's not going to come to you just sitting around and waiting until you know for sure that you're going to like something. You have to go out and fail in order to discover yourself. In the end, there is no "risk" that needs mitigating. If you spend the next four years building a fiberglass sailboat in your garage, and it turns out that you hate sailing, and hate working with fiberglass and doing carpentry, it's true, those skills won't be very useful to you. But you will be four years closer to finding your bliss than you were when you set out. Now you have a good idea of a few things that you really don't like doing, and that narrows your search down a little bit. You've also got really good at slogging through something you don't like, so that it will be easier to slog through more things in search of that bliss. It's like your first job: it's meant to suck. Never would I advise someone to take their dream career as their very first job, even if it was offered to them right away. You're supposed to have a shitty time of your first job. Then, when you get a decent job, you are able to appreciate it for what it is. It won't be nearly as hard, nearly as menial. You will be able to distinguish the things that suck about all jobs (having to keep to a schedule, reporting to bosses, stress) from the things that are incredible about your own job. If, however, you went straight to your dream career first, you would have no appreciation for it and you wouldn't enjoy it at all. You would feel stress, you would feel exhausted at times, and you would wonder: might there be another job out there in the world which didn't have these things? The answer, of course, would be no, but because you never took the time to do the groundwork and slog through the shit, you would have no appreciation for what you have.

Monday, January 14, 2013

What's a lexical scope?

A region where some variable can exist (i.e., a scope) defined by the structure of your code (i.e., lexically). For example, in most languages, a function defines a lexical scope; any variable declared inside the function is inaccessible outside of it.
-Eevee  [Source]

I was looking around for some definition for this the other day, ended up defining lexical instead which gave me the general idea.
Found this definition today on stackexchange, reposting here for easy google-ability :-)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

I got 2 comments today!

And they were both about how to do something I posted in a better/alternative way:

1. Today I learned about the basename linux utility
2. And was further exposed to udev rules

Thanks internet for keeping information flowing :-)