Choppy audio in Flash player when watching, e.g. your favourite surf event?

• Get bsdfiff: # apt-get install bsdiff
• Change to flash plugin lib dir: # cd /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree
• Get the patch: # wget http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?msg=15;filename=memcpy-10.3.162.29.bsdiff;att=2;bug=620901
• Patch the binary: # bspatch libflashplayer.so libflashplayer.so2 memcpy-10.3.162.29.bsdiff
• Save original lib: # mv libflashplayer.so libflashplayer.so.orig
• Replace patched lib: # mv libflashplayer.so.2 libflashplayer.so
• Restart your browser and enjoy

Source: aptosid.com

Somehow, the portable CD-ROM we always had here at work has disappeared so I had to use a USB stick to try to re-install one of our machines. Downloaded the really great UNetbootin, installed Debian, went over to the server room, enabled USB booting and what did I get?

SYSLINUX 3.85 2010-02-20 EBIOS Load error – Boot error

Pressed enter – nothing. Okay, back to the office, searched a bit around, found out I should have maybe tried to boot with qemu: qemu -hda /dev/sdb1, works like a charm, weird. More searching but nothing conclusive, so I formatted the USB stick to FAT32, installed Debian again, went over, plugged it in – nothing new. Crap, especially as I am pretty sure that I booted another machine with that stick before. So back again, plugged it into my old laptop – same error. I finally changed to another USB stick (different make and model) which I luckily had with me (after reading this thread) and, tada, it finally worked. So: if you get the same error, try first with another USB stick before reformatting etc.

The term “cloud computing” is a marketing buzzword with no clear meaning. It is used for a range of different activities whose only common characteristic is that they use the Internet for something beyond transmitting files. Thus, the term is a nexus of confusion. If you base your thinking on it, your thinking will be vague.

When thinking about or responding to a statement someone else has made using this term, the first step is to clarify the topic. Which kind of activity is the statement really about, and what is a good, clear term for that activity? Once the topic is clear, the discussion can head for a useful conclusion.

Curiously, Larry Ellison, a proprietary software developer, also noted the vacuity of the term “cloud computing.” He decided to use the term anyway because, as a proprietary software developer, he isn’t motivated by the same ideals as we are.

(Quelle: Free Software Foundation Inc., Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing)

Note to self: for working with non-XMLRPC stuff, ensure that xmlrpc-1.2-patched.jar is in $GLOBUS_LOCATION/lib, otherwise you get [JWSCORE-193]. For working with XMLRPC stuff, ensure that xmlrpc-1.2-patched.jar is not in $GLOBUS_LOCATION, otherwise you get “class “org.apache.xmlrpc.XmlRpcRequestConfig”‘s signer information does not match signer information of other classes in the same package” (at least with xmlrpc-*-3.1.2.jar).

Ewig habe ich nach dem Spiel Big Top gesucht, aber nichts gefunden – warum auch immer. Kürzlich war ich dann doch erfolgreich und jetzt kann ich eines der ersten Spiele, die ich je gespielt habe (Big Top ist aus dem Jahr 1983) wieder spielen, DOSBox sei dank. Würde mich mal interessieren, wie viele Level es gibt, die Info habe ich leider nirgendwo gefunden.

Das erste Level von Big Top

Kurz gesagt spielt man bei Big Top den Clown (unten in der Mitte) und muss die herumliegenden Hüte sammeln, um die Leiter in das nächste Level freizuschalten (die kurze oben rechts wird dann lang und man kann hoch klettern). Die Stangen oben sind Trapeze, an denen man schwingen kann, auch sonst hat das Spiel nette Zirkus-Spielereien wie Wasserbecken und Wippen, auf den man hüpfen kann. Die zwei Blasen oben werden übrigens Gegner, denen man aus dem Weg gehen muss.