May 10 2007

YouTube - Microsoft oPhone

Very funny video: YouTube - Microsoft oPhone

[link via Furrygoat]

no comments | posted in Entertainment, Technology, Telecomms

Apr 18 2007

“lsof” command

Just found out about this command today.

“lsof” displays information about open files by processes on *nix systems (including network “files” - TCP/UDP). I don’t know how I managed to miss such a useful command over the years.

As an example, listing network ports (which I would previously have done with netstat):

# lsof +c0 -n | grep IP 

java             1022    martinm   28u     IPv6
          467902                 TCP 192.168.2.104:51769->192.168.10.1:xmpp-client (ESTABLISHED)
java             2961    martinm    6u     IPv6
          322274                 TCP *:8083 (LISTEN)
evolution        6408    martinm   59u     IPv6
          472527                 TCP [fffe:111:11:2:111:72ff:fe10:2bd]:51943->[fffe:111:11:1::11]:imaps (ESTABLISHED)
mysql           18407    martinm    3u     IPv4
          489375                 TCP 192.168.2.104:49021->192.168.2.146:mysql (ESTABLISHED)
firefox-bin     24396    martinm   52u     IPv4
          490170                 TCP 192.168.2.104:52906->192.168.0.1:webcache (ESTABLISHED)

I added linebreaks to make it more readable
As usual, further information is available with man lsof.
Now I’ll just need to find out a way of setting the command to be the Java Start Class to identify which java program has the port open.

Update: the number after the command is the PID so a ps -fpXXXX will show the comamnd line.

no comments | posted in Networks, Security, Software, Work

Apr 18 2007

‘Smart dust’ to explore planets

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | ‘Smart dust’ to explore planets
I just noticed this on BBC News. I’ve obviously heard of smart dust but I hadn’t thought of it in the context of interplanetary exploration. Interesting stuff!

1 comment | posted in Networks, Positioning, Research, Technology, Telecomms

Apr 18 2007

Brilliant!

Scott Adams strikes again:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20070418.html

no comments | posted in Entertainment

Apr 12 2007

Braille converter

Recently I had been thinking about various output media (including Braille and Text to Speech) for computer systems.  Today I noticed this story on the BBC about RoboBraille. They’re currently testing an email service that converts text to contracted Braille or MP3 and emails the result back to you.  Seems like a good idea.  (You still need a Braille output device to “read” the resulting Braille.)

no comments | posted in Research, Software, Technology

Mar 29 2007

With desktop camera, your face can be your password | CNET News.com

Just noticed this story (via a link from LifeHacker)

With desktop camera, your face can be your password | CNET News.com

The company produces a 3D desktop camera that can be used for authentication. So instead of entering a password, smartcard or fingerprint, your face can log you into a computer (or open a door). Interesting for anyone working in the field of computer vision.

no comments | posted in Networks, Positioning, Research, Security, Technology

Feb 16 2007

Software Development Process

I link this Lisp comic strip

no comments | posted in Entertainment, Personal, Software

Feb 13 2007

Google Notebook

Maybe I’ve been hiding somewhere for a while, but I just discovered Google Notebook yesterday. In the past, while I’ve been browsing I’ve used a text editor to keep notes for myself, cutting from the webpage and pasting into a text file. Google have a Firefox plugin (I don’t know if it’s available for any other browsers) that allows you to select some text on a web page, right click, and choose “Note this”. This saves the text and the link to a web-based notebook at Google. (You need a Google account.) I’m sure that there are alternatives available that do a similar task, but I haven’t been using them.
So far, this seems pretty good.

no comments | posted in Blogs

Feb 1 2007

Macbook

After months of pondering, I eventually ordered a Macbook Pro. I went for the “low-end” model, 2.16GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. €450 didn’t really make sense for the next model up, and a 17inch screen is just too big for a laptop (in my opinion). Now I just have to wait until it arrives :-( trying to supress the urge to check the UPS tracking website every 5 minutes.
When it does arrive I’ll have a bit of learning to do to get use to the Mac way of doing things. Talking of such things, if you’re a Mac user, what software do you use for email, spreadsheet, wordprocessor? I just noticed that Openoffice only runs in X11 for Mac at the moment - which would probably be fine for me anyway.

1 comment | posted in Networks, Personal, Technology

Jan 28 2007

Introducing iPhone Shuffle. Life Is Random.

I’m not entirely sure about the iPhone, seems to be quite big for a phone. However this is a really good idea:
Introducing iPhone Shuffle. Life Is Random.

Thanks to the folks at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) for the link.

no comments | posted in Entertainment, Technology