Ceci n'est pas une pipe

A message to reassure all those who in these days are looking for me online and begin to murmur that I have some disaster happened. Nothing serious, just deeply immersed in work and I can not allow distractions due dates very close. I apologize primarily with Oscar: just came back from stagnation on your server and you do some straight to do everything that I asked you.

In the meantime, to deceive the wait, you can always visit the site DoppelMe and create your own avatar! This is a free service that allows you to create your own alter ego to be used on the Internet. It is really idiot proof and does not require even a registration required. The avatar you see the side I have done so in less than a minute believe. Trinket people, trinket ... a presto!

As the annual edition of Bergamo Linux Day stands out for its exceptional organizational skills and wealth of seminars offered. The event will be held at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Bergamo.

Citing the official website of the initiative, remember that the Linux Day is a national demonstration organized in local events which aims to promote Linux and free software.

For more information and reservations, see the official website of BGLUG (Bergamo Linux User Group) at http://www.bglug.it.

Until a few years ago, installing Windows XP was common practice choose to format the main partition with the FAT32 file system type. This mainly for reasons of accessibility of data from obsolete operating systems (Windows 98) or "alternative" (for Linux to read and write access to NTFS partitions was introduced with a lag, for obvious reasons).

Capita still find old workstation with the FAT32 file system. Lapsed reasonable justification for keeping this kind of choice in such cases I make the conversion from FAT32 to NTFS, since this is a safe, tested and that brings undoubted benefits at operational level, first of all ability to handle volumes larger than 32GB (maximum limit for FAT32).

The conversion operation is extremely simple. Simply open a DOS window and issue the following command:

Convert X: /FS:NTFS /V /NoSecurity

• X: is the drive where we want to convert (for example: C:)
• / V shows to view the details of each transaction (verbose mode)
• / NoSecurity can not restrict access to files converted to NTFS

Will be asked the name of the volume that make the conversion. If the volume did not name, date sent without entering anything. The rest takes place in an almost automatic. Here's an example of the simple step through which pass:

Conversione Partizione Win XP (C)
Il file system è di tipo FAT32.
Inserire l'etichetta di volume corrente per l'unità C:: Win XP
Impossibile eseguire la conversione. Il volume è utilizzato
da un altro processo. Smontare il volume per eseguire
la conversione. TUTTI GLI HANDLE APERTI NEL VOLUME
CESSERANNO IN QUESTO MODO DI ESSERE VALIDI.
Forzare lo smontaggio su questo volume? (Sì/No)

Answer Yes (S) to the latter question. The system will warn you that you dismount the volume because in use and ask if you want to schedule the operation to the next reboot. Again, respond positively and restart the machine.

As I said, the operation is extremely safe and tested, but - as they say overseas - "shit happens," and advice to make a preliminary backup if, for example, you just cut the light while carrying out the conversion filesystem.

I did not believe there was still someone who has never heard of Plastination, the macabre draft Gunther von Hagens. I think I have visited for the first time on its website at least 6 years ago, but I could be wrong by default. I state that I do not find in the art of von Hagens anything substantial or even worthy of attention. I have to disregard, but do not know him at all is somewhat 'too. For all those who have lost the disgusting Chicca, we carry over some news on the project in the rest of the post, but you feel that what follows may not be of your liking or even offend your sensibilities. Read More »

The night was released last stable version of CentOS, the excellent enterprise level Linux distribution derived from official sources of Red Hat, the only primates that the contexts of new installations to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition. CentOS (acronym for Community enterprise Operating System) is the official choice of many ISPs and hosting resellers.

One curiosity: even if CentOS comes directly from Red Hat Enterprise Linux, on the official website of the distro says only that "CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor" . This is for obvious impact that the success has resulted CentOS in the relationship with Red Hat.

Here are some steps finally the 'official announcement: "The single server install CD for CentOS 4.7 has now been released and is available from all active mirrors. Notes: this installer will only work with i686-based CPUs, the included packages are a subset of all packages available in the CentOS distribution, however yum has been pre-configured to use the entire repository, in order to ensure that drivers and other third -party applications maintain compatibility, the package in September used on the Server CD is from CentOS 4.7 release time, you are strongly encouraged to run a 'yum update' immediately after installation, the ISO size is lower than the 650 MB acceptable for a single CD - Feedback on what other packages should be added or removed from this CD for the next release are welcome. "

In this post describe as brevity without any pretense of completeness how we can create a RAID 1 (software) during the installation of Debian Etch and how to properly configure the LVM.

On one of my workstation I have two identical hard disk from 320GB. I decided to install yet another Debian Etch and put two drives in RAID. I started the installation, and a couple of minutes I arrived at the step where the settings are made for the partitioning of the disks. Since the S-ATA disks, the debian-installer has recognized me as follows:

• Scsi1 (0,0,0) (sda)
• SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sdb)

The same is true, however, for IDE disks, then the debian-installer vederebbe them thus:

• IDE1 (hda)
• IDE2 (hdc)

Then I created a partition booting the first, smallest size (only 512MB):

1. select the first disk scsi1
2. choose as a method of partitioning "Manual"
3. select the "Free Space" under scsi1
4. click "Create a new partition"
5. select "Start" as the location of the new partition
6. select "Primary" as a new type of partition
7. 512M insert size of the new partition
8. click "physical volume for RAID" as the profile of the new partition
9. click "Preparation of this partition completed"

Then I created the partition will contain the file itself:

1. select the first disk scsi1
2. choose as a method of partitioning "Manual"
3. select the "Free Space" under scsi1
4. click "Create a new partition"
5. select "Start" as the location of the new partition
6. select "Primary" as a new type of partition
7. insert size as 95% of the new partition
8. click "physical volume for RAID" as the profile of the new partition
9. click "Preparation of this partition completed"

Why in paragraph 7 I chose to use only 95% of the disk? Simply because, if I have to replace one of the two discs, I will not ever absolute certainty that the new disc has exactly the same number of cylinders etc. compared with the original disc, even if you buy the same brand of the same denomination. I need then a gap of tolerance to get safe from possible data loss or inconsistencies during the reconstruction of the volumes. Of course, is wasted space that will never be used, but with discs of this size we can well afford.

Now you must repeat the operations described above for the second disc (SCSI2) ensuring that we have done exactly the same choices made in the first.

Once that's done, we can configure the software RAID 1. First we create the multidisk device intended to contain the boot partition:

1. click "Configure Software RAID"
2. confirm "Writing changes on devices ..."
3. click "Create a multidisk device (MD)"
4. select "RAID1" as the type of device multidisk
5. confirm "2" as the number of active device for the RAID1 array
6. confirm "0" as the number of devices "spare"
7. only enable / dev/sda1 and / dev/sdb1 as active device
8. click "Finish"

Then we create the multidisk device intended to contain the file itself:

1. click "Configure Software RAID"
2. confirm "Writing changes on devices ..."
3. click "Create a multidisk device (MD)"
4. select "RAID1" as the type of device multidisk
5. confirm "2" as the number of active device for the RAID1 array
6. confirm "0" as the number of devices "spare"
7. only enable / dev/sda2 and / dev/sdb2 as active device
8. click "Finish"

Now we can move to the creation of logical volumes. First you create the volume is intended to act as the swap system:

1. click "Setting up Logical Volume Manager"
2. confirm "Writing changes to the disks and ..."
3. click "Create volume group"
4. write "VG00" as the name of the group of volumes
5. only enable / dev/md/1 as drive for the new volume group
6. click "Create a logical volume"
7. select group of volumes "VG00"
8. write "swap" as the name of logical volumes
9. write "4GB" as the size of the logical volume (at least twice the RAM)

Then create the volume for the file itself:

1. click "Create a logical volume"
2. select group of volumes "VG00"
3. write "filesys" as the name of logical volumes
4. confirm the maximum available size of the proposed logical volume
5. click "Finish"

You can create partitions:

1. select the No. 1 under "LVM VG VG00 LV filesys"
2. create the partition normally (choosing "Ext3" as the profile and "/" as a mount point)
3. click "Finish"
4. select the No. 1 under "LVM VG VG00 LV swap"
5. create the swap normally (choosing "swap area" as a way of use)
6. confirm "Writing changes to the disks and ..."

Once that's done, just go ahead with the installation of Debian as usual.

A reader tells the Punto Informatico bureaucratic procedure that has won permission to not pay the fee RAI, required not just for TVs but also for a range of other electronic devices.

Good morning! I am one of the lucky few who has in hand a letter of RAI that the AUTHORIZES not pay fees. As we have succeeded? Simply follow the law and the provisions of Royal Decree No RDL21/02/1938 246, converted into law on June 4 1938, n. 880.

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