Arcanus Maximus

macosxhints.com - Use a Smart Playlist to see unchecked songs in iTunes

Part 1: Create a playlist with all checked songs in your library:

1. Create a new Smart Playlist in iTunes.
2. Uncheck "Match the following condition" in the new playlist dialog. This will cause all songs to be in the playlist.
3. Check the box by "Limit to" and fill it out with a very large number -- one that is much larger than the number of songs in your library (say, 300,000). Again, this will cause the playlist to include ALL songs.
4. Check "Match only Checked Songs" and leave "Live Updating" checked. This will only match songs that are checked.
5. Click OK and name the Playlist "Songs (Checked)".

This playlist now includes all the checked songs in your library.

Part 2: Create a playlist with all the unchecked songs in your library:

1. Create a new Smart Playlist in iTunes.
2. This time, leave "Match the following condition" checked.
3. As the condition, select "Playlist is not 'Songs (Checked)'"
4. Click OK and name the Playlist "Songs (Unchecked)".

Posted by jtk at 11:05 AM | Permalink

Remote Desktop - Tips, Tricks, and what you didn't know you could do. - Windows Central Forums

Most people like to just use the default Remote Desktop Application found in Windows XP. Some prefer to use the RUN command off the START Menu.

Personally I use both since on my desktop with two monitors I can have multiple Remote Desktop's running with little problem but, on my laptop screen space is at a premium so I use the command line to set certain variables for the remote desktop sessions. This allows me to size the individual Remote Desktop Sessions to fit my needs and also gets around the global remote desktop settings.

**Note – Microsoft has released a new version of Remote Desktop for Windows XP SP2. If you have NOT upgraded you might want to. Visit the Windows Update page and look under “Recommended”, you should see it listed there.

Example:

Say I need three Remote Desktop Sessions on my laptop. Instead of using the Remote Desktop GUI interface I'll use the command line to stipulate certain screen sizes for each session.

mstsc /v: myserver /w:640 /h:480 (window size is 600x480)
mstsc /v: myserver2 /w:800 /h:600 (window size 800x600)
mstsc /v: myserver3 /w:1024 /h:768 (window size 1024x768)

Other variables you can pass via the command line are:

/console (useful when you need to connect to Windows 2000 Machines – you MUST have the remote desktop software installed on the Win2000 machine: - Remote desktop for Windows 2000 and Older Clients

/edit
/migrate
/v:

Posted by jtk at 01:29 PM | Permalink

How to Mount a Remote Folder using SSH on Ubuntu :: the How-To Geek

Posted by jtk at 09:59 AM | Permalink

Get Rich Slowly » DIY Microwave Popcorn I had forgotten about Alton Brown's DIY microwave popcorn recipe. I have done this in the past and it works well.

Alton Brown’s Plain Brown Popper

* 1/4 cup good quality popcorn
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or popcorn salt
* Sprinkle jalapeno seasoning mix
* Paper lunch bag
* Stapler

Toss the popcorn with the olive oil, salt, and jalapeno seasoning mix in the paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over and staple the bag twice to close. Place the bag in the microwave and microwave on high for 2 minutes to 3 minutes, or until there are about 5 seconds between pops.

(NOTE: Popcorn salt is a super-fine salt that is designed especially for sticking to food such as popcorn. It has the taste of regular table salt, but its granules are much finer.)

Posted by jtk at 08:29 AM | Permalink

The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager. It allows you to manipulate attached devices as you would in the gui. You can enable, disable, restart, update, remove, and query individual devices or groups of devices. DevCon also provides information that is relevant to the driver developer and is not available in Device Manager.

Posted by jtk at 01:32 PM | Permalink

How to extract an RPM package without installing it | nixCraft

Syntax is as follows:
rpm2cpio myrpmfile.rpm
rpm2cpio - < myrpmfile.rpm
rpm2cpio myrpmfile.rpm | cpio -idmv

Posted by jtk at 12:58 PM | Permalink

Component for Linux - HP Integrated Lights-Out, 1.89 allows you to install the latest ILO firmware updates without having to unpack on Windows and create to stupid boot floppies.
you can either update from the command line, or extract the bin file and update in the ILO's web interface.

To update firmware from Linux operating system on target server:
Download the SCEXE file to the target server.
Execute: sh cp007118.scexe.

To obtain firmware image for updating via iLO user interface, utilities, or scripting interface:
Download the SCEXE file to a client running a Linux operating system. Execute: sh cp007118.scexe --unpack=directory
This command will unpack the ilo_188.bin into a user specified "directory". If the directory does not exist, the unpacker will attempt to create it.

Posted by jtk at 10:57 AM | Permalink

Open Culture: iTunes - Foreign Language Lesson Podcast Collection

Posted by jtk at 10:55 AM | Permalink

Alessandro Perilli notes that VMTN Subscription links have disappeared. I wonder why they would kill this program off? I think it has really driven the growth of VMware (along with the free Player and Server).

Posted by jtk at 02:35 PM | Permalink

HP JetDirect printer installer for UNIX model scripts contains a list of model scripts (essentially drivers) for use with HP Jetdirect print installer (HPPI).

This is how you would install a new model script.

There is also a good list of documents to give further guidance.

HPPI is available from hp.com

Posted by jtk at 09:11 AM | Permalink

Top 25 food hacks - Slashfood.

I had never thought of food in terms of hacking, but that is really how I think you should view it. I think that is what I like about Alton Brown. He takes a hackers approach to food, and not an artsy magic approach.

Posted by jtk at 08:41 AM | Permalink

Tourism replaces terror at Latvia's Soviet 'ghost bases' - Europe. I can think of better places to stay, but it might be an interesting visit. I think it is ironic that the Latvians probably still don't know where all the bases were. I wonder if there were more Soviet soldiers than Latvians at some point.

Posted by jtk at 08:32 AM | Permalink

Two interesting solar stories today. Treehugger: Skinny Sliver Cells Could Cuts Solar Costs by 60% and Boeing Spectrolab Achieves 40% Solar Cell Efficiency.

I am curious to see if Moore's Law is applicable to solar cells. if so then they will quickly become cheap and powerful enough to really start supplementing fossil fuel based electricity.

Posted by jtk at 09:01 PM | Permalink

I am working on a project for work. I am using NTFSCLONE to clone ntfs filesystems. It is an interesting command. ntfsclone is part of the ntfsprogs package and is available at:
http://www.linux-ntfs.org/content/view/19/37

Posted by jtk at 08:25 PM | Permalink

Alton Brown was on NPR's Sunday Edition this weekend. It is a story about eggnog. It was pretty interesting, and the recipes are on the web page. I capped it and turned it into an mp3 as well.

Eggnog Ice Cream

NPR.org, December 8, 2006 · A frozen version of eggnog gives the holiday libation a refreshing twist.

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar

1 pint whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 ounces bourbon

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and whisk to combine.

Chill the mixture in the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 40 degrees, approximately 4 to 6 hours.

Once chilled, process in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions. Serve as is for soft-serve or place in an airtight container and put in the freezer for 2 to 4 hours for traditional ice cream.

Makes 1 quart ice cream.

Eggnog

4 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

1 pint whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3 ounces bourbon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 egg whites

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until the sugar completely dissolves. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and whisk to combine.

Place the egg whites in a different bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks using the whisk attachment. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.

Makes 6 to 7 cups.

Posted by jtk at 08:43 AM | Permalink

» “HP promises Unix improvements” uhuh | Paul Murphy | ZDNet.com takes a dim view of Itanium and HP-UX. He asserts that neither has a future. Interesting.

Posted by jtk at 09:07 AM | Permalink

10 Minute Mail looks handy for quick use to for generating logins to websites.

Posted by jtk at 01:15 PM | Permalink

I was having a problem with locale errors. I am running Ubuntu Edgy.

perl: warning: Setting locale failed.
perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings:
LANGUAGE = (unset),
LC_ALL = (unset),
LANG = "en_US.UTF-8"
are supported and installed on your system.
perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C").

I tried to run

# dpkg-reconfigure locales
This didn't help. I then ran:

# locale-gen en_US
# locale-gen en_US.UTF-8

and that fixed it.

Posted by jtk at 01:14 PM | Permalink

Coatsys Corner: ESX on a Whitebox

Posted by jtk at 08:59 AM | Permalink

Ext2 IFS For Windows

If you currently have Windows running and you realize that you need some files for your work which you have stored on an Ext2 volume of your Linux installation, you no longer have to shut down Windows and boot Linux!

Posted by jtk at 08:58 PM | Permalink

Paulding's big greenspace deal 'amazing' | ajc.com

This is the kind of public private leadership we need. Many decisions are based on such short-sighted thought. This will cost Paulding in the short run, but like the Silver Comet it will drive a huge amount of long term value. It will make Paulding a more livable county.

Posted by jtk at 10:02 AM | Permalink