Install The ntpd (Network Time Protocol Daemon) On Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
NTP, Network Time Protocol, is a useful network protocol that lets you synchronize your computer’s clock with a network server in order to keep accurate time. For a desktop machine this is no big deal and probably a waste of resources. For a server, though, precise timekeeping is often critical for many network functions. Fortunately, install ntpd is simplicity itself. Merely use this command from a Terminal window:
sudo apt-get install ntp
Enter your password to authenticate, and apt-get will download and install ntpd for you. By default, ntpd synchronizes with the ntp.ubuntu.com server. However, if you want to add additional servers for greater resiliency, then edit the file at /etc/ntp.conf. For instance, if you wanted to add the ntp server pool at pool.ntp.org, you would add this line to the file:
server pool.ntp.org
-JM
save your work regularly, and back it up regularly, or you will regret it
And now, a PSA.
When working on a document, remember to save your work regularly. Practically all word processors use CTRL+S as the save shortcut, and it’s an excellent idea to train yourself to hit that every few sentences as you type. And then when you’ve finished with your work for the day, save your document to a USB key, an external hard drive, or a network location of some kind. That way, if your computer crashes, you are only out a day’s worth of work.
I myself back up all works in progress to a USB key, have an external hard drive set for automatic backup, and often email major projects in progress to myself. All three backup methodologies have saved my bacon at some point in the past.
You see, my friends, the question isn’t if your computer will crash, but when. All things mortal die, and all things fashioned by the hands of mortals will pass away. Including your computer. The question is not whether or not you are ready for the day your computer finally crashes. Arm yourself for this day! Save your work, and back up regularly.
And for God’s sake, don’t type for an hour without saving even once. Trust me on this.
-JM
iTunes on the PC
Well, I did something I promised I would never do.
I switched to iTunes as the main media player on my PC, and converted all my WMA files to AAC. I used to detest iTunes, through and through. But all of my objections to iTunes as software have been fixed over the years, and my computer has power enough to handle it. I’m good with the decision, I really am.
Though, I do feel kind of funny. Like…crawling, like thousands of nanoscopic machines are crawling through my bloodstream. And the voices…I keep hearing voices in my head. Thousand of voices. A mighty chorus, fused together into one inexorable, all-devouring will. It says…it says…
WE ARE APPLE OF BORG. YOUR LIFE AS IT HAS BEEN IS OVER. YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR OWN.
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
-JM
Kill Arl Howe From “Dragon Age Origins” – he really deserves it
A story needs a good villain, and one of the nastiest villains I’ve seen in a while is Lord Rendon Howe of “Dragon Age Origins”. During the course of the game, Howe helps murder the king (who’s kind of a nice, if dumb, guy), hires assassins to kill the protagonist, seizes the children of his political enemies for torture, holds the queen hostage, and sells his own citizens into slavery.
And if you play as the Human Noble origins, Howe gets even nastier. He betrays and murders the protagonist’s father, mother, sister-in-law, six-year-old nephew, cook, and childhood friends.
The sheer venal baseness of his motivation sets Howe apart as well. The other villains in the game have grander or nobler motivations. Teryn Loghain Mac Tir commits his crimes to (in his mind) save Fereldan. Branka, even though her obsession with the Anvil of the Void drove her to do monstrous things, wanted to create new golems to save the Dwarven nation. Zathrien wanted to avenge the brutal murders of his family.
But Howe? Sheer, venal jealousy was his motivation. A petty, bitter little man. This makes the line from his death scene all the more satisfying:
“Maker spit on you! I…deserved more!”
I really wish the developers had added a dialogue tree at that point. Then you could respond:
“Yep! And here it is!”
Stabbing would follow.
So kudos to Tim Curry for voicing such a memorable villain. Though I suppose at this point in his career, Curry can voice an evil nobleman in his sleep.
-JM
Mac vs. Windows PC: which is more secure?
I get asked this question all the time. Which is more secure, the Mac or the Windows PC? Which is more prone to viruses? Which is more likely to get hacked?
There’s an excellent article on CNET listing the opinion of various security experts on the matter, but I’ll summarize it for you:
1.) Both Mac OS X and Windows 7 are mature operating systems and basically safe.
2.) Microsoft has actually put a lot more thought and effort into security than Apple, and Windows 7 has more substantial security features.
3.) Mac OS X has unsecured vulnerabilities, especially if you use Safari.
4.) But Microsoft Windows gets attacked way, way, way more than Mac OS X, largely because there are way more Windows PCs than Macs.
5.) Having a PC is like living in Chicago, while having a Mac is like living in rural North Dakota. Statistically speaking, you’re way more likely to get mugged living in Chicago than in rural North Dakota. However, living in rural North Dakota is in itself not an inherent defense from getting mugged.
6.) Regardless of your OS, the best way to keep yourself safe from Internet threats is to not be an idiot. In other words, don’t give your credit card number to pornographers, don’t download pirated movies and music and eBooks (which are often disguised viruses), and don’t install that “special video codec” that will let you view that celebrity sex tape.
To sum, use either Windows 7 or Mac OS X, and you’ll probably be fine. Just don’t be an idiot; when people get viruses nowadays, 90% of the time they do it to themselves.
(But don’t use an antique operating system on the Internet. If you’re still using Windows 98 or Mac OS 9 to browser the web, you’re asking for trouble and it’s time to upgrade.)
-JM
The Apple iPad Tablet And College Textbooks: College Textbooks Will Be Available On The iPad
Last week I wrote that if Apple really wanted to succeed with the iPad, it would arrange things so that students could easily purchase textbooks on the iPad. Well, it turns out that I was on the money for once: the Wall Street Journal reports that several major textbook publishers have signed up with a company called ScrollMotion to prepare their offerings for display on the iPad:
Major textbook publishers have struck deals with software company ScrollMotion Inc. to adapt their textbooks for the electronic page, as the industry embraces a hope that digital devices such as Apple Inc.’s iPad will transform the classroom.
A closely held New York-based firm, ScrollMotion has developed applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch. ScrollMotion takes digital files provided by publishers for the iPad, adapts them to fit on the device, and then adds enhancements such as a search function, dictionaries, glossaries, interactive quizzes and page numbers.
As I’ve written before, college textbooks are 1.) heavy and 2.) heavily overpriced. Quite a few college students are interested in trading a backpack full of hardback textbooks for an iPad loaded with PDFs or ePub files or whatever. The market is there, and it is ripe for the plucking, as Apple no doubt realized. The only way the textbook publishers can possibly screw this up is by charging too much for the eBook versions of their printed textbooks. Anything above 50% of the cost of a printed book, in my opinion, would be ridiculously exorbitant. (Another good option would be to give a free eBook version of the book with every physical copy; I don’t think many people would want to risk reading their iPads while on the toilet.)
So, college students who are weary of lugging around 30 pounds of textbooks, take hope. For fall semester 2010 you might be able to get an iPad in lieu of textbooks.
-JM
How To Lock The Screen In Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
Here’s a handy little tip for Ubuntu desktop users. In Windows, you can of course lock the screen by hitting the WINDOWS KEY+L. It’s possible to the same thing in Ubuntu with this keystroke:
CTRL+ALT+L
Hit that and your screen will lock. If you want to change the default keystroke, you can set it to something different by going to the System menu, to Preferences, and selecting Keyboard Shortcuts. From there you can map your own keyboard shortcuts to specific functions.
-JM
Stephen Colbert Promotes The Apple iPad Tablet At The Grammy Awards
And it looks like he got a free one out of it.
That’s actually a fairly clever move on Apple’s part. I’ve noticed one common tendency about young American adults in their mid-20s to their early 30s. They all think that they’re unique, free-thinking nonconformists. In practice most of them watch the same TV shows (Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert), use the same computers (Apple), use the same music devices (iPods), hang out on the same social networking site (Facebook), support the same political causes (same-sex marriage, abortion, anything that means more sex with fewer consequences), vote for the same candidates (Obama), and eat at the same restaurants (Chipotle, Noodles & Company, and Taco Bell after 10 PM).
Obviously there are exceptions, but that seems to be the demographic, and Apple knows its demographics. So giving Colbert an iPad was a pretty clever move.
-JM
The Apple iPad Tablet Vs. The Amazon Kindle: Macmillian Suffers In The Duel Over eBook Pricing
It seems that Amazon.com has pulled all books from publishing conglomerate Macmillian, since Macmillian is refusing to agree to Amazon’s pricing model on eBooks. Liberal Macmillian-published SF author John Scalzi notes that this is certainly because of the impending arrival of the iPad and its bookstore; it seems Amazon wants to start undercutting Apple on eBook pricing before the iPad is even officially released. That makes economic sense, of course, but it sucks for the writers published through Macmillian and its various subcomponents. Though publishing is a heartless bitch goddess of an industry, after all.
Still, both Amazon and Apple are on to something. EBook readers are only in their infancy, but they’re not going away, and they’re going to grow up. And they’re going to thoroughly change (and in some cases, screw over) the publishing industry. To oversimplify somewhat, publishing in all its forms is about storing, producing, warehousing, and distributing blocks of pulped wood. Writers, editors, and artists/photographers have the job of filling those blocks of pulped wood with something interesting enough that people will buy it. EBooks are a completely different business model, as the storing, producing, warehousing, and distribution are radically simplified, and not everyone is going to transition well to that model. Not at all. Quite a few people are going to find themselves economically screwed.
That said, I’m not a huge fan of eBooks. The only kind of eBooks I ever actually use are the PDF files of technical books; if you’re reading a book about, say, Linux shell scripting, it’s a lot easier to have the PDF on the screen next to your command shell, rather than glancing down at the paper book over and over again. That’s the only use I’ve found for eBooks so far. I may write a longer post about this at some point, but suffice it to say I find physical books to be safer, less fragile, more durable, and substantially more secure than eBooks.
-JM
Install Nmap on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
You might have heard of the famous Nmap security scanner; it’s even appeared in the “Matrix” movies, though I fear that most Nmap users do not look quite so good as Carrie-Anne Moss. Alas. Fortunately, if you want to use Nmap on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, it’s quite easy to install. Open a Terminal window and type this command:
sudo apt-get install nmap
Enter your password when prompted, and apt-get will download and install Nmap for you.
Nmap works just fine from the command line, but you might want to use the Zenmap GUI to simply things. You can install Zenmap with this Terminal command:
sudo apt-get install zenmap
Once the installation is complete, you can launch Zenmap by going to the Applications menu, to Internet, and selecting Zenmap.
-JM