Believe it or not, I've just spent the last several hours spelunking around FreeBSD, and end it with a smile lol.


I got tired of a program I was writing (and a minor headache), so... I turned my attention to something that's been on my todo list for ages. Tracking more and more of how the system handles it's startup procedures. It would certainly be a bit more helpful to my understandings, if I had ever had time to learn x86 assembly. Maybe someday, I'll get to that part of my todo list, lol but by then AMD64 will probably be old as a Pentium :\


Well after 0500 now, time to get some sleep.... Flibin' work early tomorrow, and another day of... annoyance.

Terry@dixie$ uptime && shutdown -p +2 'head hits keyboard, begins to snore loudly'
 9:23AM  up  6:15, 2 users, load averages: 0.07, 0.09, 0.06
Shutdown at Fri Oct 31 09:25:48 2008.
shutdown: [pid 3624]
Terry@dixie$                                                                                
*** System shutdown message from Terry@dixie.launchmodem.com ***             
System going down in 2 minutes                                                 
                                                                               
head hits keyboard, begins to snore loudly                                     
                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                             

This is so recursive, it hurts

# this is so recursive, it hurts
for topdir in args:
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(topdir):
        for file in files:
            for regexp in patterns:
                if re.search(regexp, file):
                    file = os.path.join(root, file)
                    if verbose:
                        sys.stdout.write("file name: %s\t" % file)
                        p = os.stat(file)
                        a, m, t = (
                             time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
                                        time.gmtime(p.st_atime)), 
                             time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S", 
                                        time.gmtime(p.st_mtime)), 
                             time.strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S", time.gmtime()), )
                        sys.stdout.write( "atime: %s\tmtime: %s\tnow: %s\n" %
                             (a,m,t))
                    else:
                        print file

What a huge, ugly, monster, I'm glad the finished code doesn't look like that lol.

h man, if I never see apt-get mania again, I'll be happy lol.

$ sudo apt-get install -y foo
 ....
$ sudo apt-get install -y foo-doc foo-eggs foo-ham foo-spam

To be honest, if whoever organized this thing... doesn't know what database normalization means, I'd be shocked as shit lol.


I've been using a mixture of vim/ssh to setup sal1600 with my standard operating environment, thankfully Ubuntu has a decent package search site hehe. I still need to sort out Java (jdk, jre, browser plugins), flash plugins (maybe anyway), realplayer, and codecs for mplayer. But for the most part, I'm up to go. I'll need to go over libraries with a fine tooth come, to make sure I don't lose anything. I really don't like GNU/Linux, I like the Linux kernel well enough, but the mish-mash of parts pisses me off. But, given the choice of Windows or GNU/Linux, I'd rather put up with it. As far as Linux distributions go, Ubuntu is probably one of the best desktop systems. It's certainly not my favorite distribution (Slackware), but it likes my desktops hardware much better... Something no other GNU/Linux distro has done lol. One thing I regret about my desktop, it usually needs kicking into obedience a lot of times under any OS.


Tomorrow, I've got 3 main goals after work:

1. Setup XFire plugin for Pidgin
2. Tweak my dual head X.Org configuration
3. Combat test SWAT 4: TSS for performance

If I can play SWAT comfortably on GNU/Linux, I'm more then willing to switch back to a single monitor. Which really, is a shame b/c the X Windows System truly offers a better experience then what I've had with Windows multi-monitor support. The real concession will be having to shift to a usable resolution to play SWAT :\.


For the most part, I've only used the 2nd monitor as a dumping ground for extra programs. Most of the time, I'm alternating between 2-5+ programs. On my laptop however, I've found it perfectly comfortable to arrange 3 virtual desktops to "split" the workload. I guess, I will probably end up with something similiar on my desktop now. 1600x1200px on a 19" CRT is just to small for the amount of programs I interact with; but the 2880px wide (-monitor edges in the centre) that my current setup gives, is also a bit too darn big... optical scrolling sucks. This really makes me wish I had one big 22" LCD, but I'm not sure if anything with a /sane/ price and good performance for action games, has caught up yet (probably has).


My original design specs for sal1600, did call for an LCD - not because I /like/ them, but because it's a pain to lug a CRT around haha !

Installing SWAT 4 TSS on GNU/Linux

Disclaimer

The game is not supported by code weavers, and I don't support users of this posting ether. However, comments and corrections are always welcome - spam will be killed. Also note well, I prefer the command line interface, so I do not use file mangers such as Explorer, Nautilus, or Filer often.

Prerequsists:

• Basic understanding of GNU/Linux user accounts and permissions
• Having a working GNU/Linux distribution installed (Ubuntu or Debian recommended)
• The ability to understand file paths and simple file operations (e.g. copy) without a photograph or explanation of how to copy/move/delete files.
• Legal copies of both SWAT 4 and SWAT 4: TSS, total of 3 CD-ROM

Step one: Purchase a copy of "CrossOver Games for Linux" from CodeWeavers, or download the free 7 day trial.

Step two: install Cross Over Games for Linux, hence forth called simply cxgames -- for brevities sake!

The installation process is simple, the format I suggest is to install it as root for all users. This basically amounts to executing the install shell script as root, either with su or sudo

$ su - root
# ./install-crossover-games-demo-7.1.0.sh

$ sudo -H ././install-crossover-games-demo-7.1.0.sh

Either way, root will need access to you're display. Via the su method, on a secure system to will have to grant root this access. The proscribed method is you'll need to run

xhost +local:root

, and set your $DISPLAY value accordingly once you've su'd to root. N.B. a lot of documents say

xhost +localhost

, which will grant everyone on your machine access to the display; instead of adding root.


Once you've launched the install script, it will walk you through it -- mostly by a graphical installation wizard.

Step Three: Install SWAT 4

Insert your SWAT 4 disk #1 into the drive, and make sure it is mounted. Some Linux distributions are set to automount it like Windows (Ubuntu), others require you to manually mount it. N.B. that secure systems will only allow root to mount file systems by default.

Launch the cxgames windows program installer; this may be in your applications menu (gnome/kde users) or have to be run manually from a prompt. If you have to run it manually, the program you want to execute is /where/you/installed/cxgames/bin/cxinstall, for example: /opt/cxgames/bin/cxinstall.


Since SWAT 4 is not one of the supported games, you'll want to go with the "install other games" option, and pass by the disclaimer. You'll thne need to tell it where to find the disk, usually this is just clicking a checkbox but it is quite flexible. You should install SWAT 4 into it's own "bottle", because Linux doesn't care much for spaces (and command lines are fun), a good bottle name is "SWAT4".


A bottle is just a simulated windows installation, so if desired - every game can be installed into it's own separate place. This really makes back ups a snap, limits one program screwing with another, and improves situations if you need to make 'tweaks' to the bottle. The installer will then create the bottle in your personal space, e.g. /home/terry/.cxgames/SWAT4. N.B. that .files-and-dirs in Linux are considered 'hidden' files, in a GUI file manager, you'll need to b/p to deal with that.


When the installer starts, run it, there is no need to change the default install paths, unless you are installing into a very customized bottle. Since SWAT 4 uses two CD-ROMs, you will have to umount your first disk, and mount your second before pressing "retry" on the change disks dialog. Same thing happens again at the end of the install, to put the play disk back into circulation. When you're done, you can close the install program and tell the cxgames installer that it has completed, it will warn you for paranoias sake -- close it.

Step Four: Launch SWAT 4

SWAT 4 uses a SecuROM based copy protection system, when I set this up - it thought cxgames version of wine was a cd-rom emulator! And refused to run, a quick fix is to google for the 'swat 4 no cd'. You will need to backup the old Swat4.exe, and then replace it with the no cd fix in order to launch the game.

Since I prefer the command line, I use cp and mv to copy and move files around; rather then copy/pasting icons in a file manager.

$ cd ~/.cxgames/SWAT4/drive-c/Program\ Files/Sierra\SWAT\ 4/Content/System
$ mv Swat4.exe Swat4.exe.orig-1.0
$ cp /path/to/fixed/1.0/Swat4.exe ./Swat4.exe.nocd-1.0
$ cp Swat4.exe.nocd-1.0 Swat4.exe

Now launch the game, either via your applications menu (gnome/kde users), or manually with the wine subsystem of cxgames, e.g.

$ /opt/cxgames/bin/wine --bottle ~/.cxgames/SWAT4 ~/.cxgames/SWAT4/drive-c/Program\ Files/Sierra\SWAT\ 4/Content/System/Swat4.exe

Then go ahead and test the training level or something like that. SWAT 4 must take care of first run chores before you install the path. When you're done, just exit the game like normal. In the vent of catrostrophic disaster, you should be able to ctl+alt+function key to vtty, login to a command prompt, and us the ps and kill commands to terminate the process, cxgames also has it's own way of nuking bad windows processes hehe.

Step Five: Patch SWAT 4

Because the patch checks for a legit copy of SWAT4, we have to replace Swat4.exe with Swat4.exe.orig-1.0, otherwise the patch will fail and scramble a few game files.

$ rm Swat4.exe
$ cp Swat4.exe.orig-1.0 Swat4.exe

Now insert you SWAT 4: TSS disk and run the installer, just like when you installed SWAT 4. Except use the same bottle, by selecting it from a list of existing bottles when prompted for a bottle to use. Once the TSS installer pops up, click the button to install the SWAT 4 1.1 patch.

Step Six: Test run SWAT 4 1.1

Now you need to use a no cd fix for SWAT 4 1.1 in order to continue, download it and do like in Step Four.

$ mv Swat4.exe Swat4.exe.orig-1.1
$ cp /path/to/fixed/1.1/Swat4.exe ./Swat4.exe.nocd-1.1
$ cp Swat4.exe.nocd-1.1 Swat4.exe

and launch the game as in Step Five.

Step Seven: Installing TSS

If you left the TSS installer open from Step Six, fine, if not, open it again -- same exact way.

You will have to replace the no cd fixed Swat4.exe with the original one from the path, else the TSS installer will bomb out on you.

$ rm Swat4.exe
$ cp Swat4.exe.orig-1.1 Swat4.exe

Now get the TSS installer up and click the install swat 4 tss expansion pack button. Then proceed through the installation process; you shouldn't have any major problem, as long as you remembered switch executables first.

Step Eight: Run SWAT 4: TSS

Now you should be able to launch SWAT 4: TSS, when I did it... there was no problem with the Swat4x.exe file in the expansion pack, but the game soon refused to run, having verification problems, despite being a legally paid for copy, with the legally paid for copy in the drive. So one will need to employ another no cd fix to be able to use this legally paid for copy of the game.

$ cd ~/.cxgames/SWAT4/drive-c/Program\ Files/Sierra\SWAT\ 4/ContentExpansion/System
$ mv Swat4X.exe Swat4X.exe.orig
$ cp /path/to/fixed/Swat4X.exe ./Swat4X.exe.nocd
$ cp Swat4X.exe.nocd Swat4X.exe

You can launch it the same way as SWAT 4, but in the case of the command line, the path changes. Just like on Windows, from Content\System\Swat4.exe to ContentExpansion\System\Swat4.exe.

Known Issues

If the game and your display are not running at the same resolution, moving your mouse pointer to the 'edge' will make it scroll outside the window, effectively creating a pan and scan across your display. I have a 1600x1200px primary screen and a 1280x1024 secondary screen. Having SWAT in 1024x768px mode, was horrible... edit: this happens even when the game and X screen are at the same resolution.


I have yet to determine under what conditions dual heads will work, but luckyally most X Window Managers handle dual heads better then Microsoft Windows (in my indignant opinion), at least that has been my experience under FreeBSD 7 and Ubuntu GNU/Linux 8.04 with X.Org 7.2,a nd Windows XP Media Center Edition. So the main problem is a question of mouse handling.


Because of the way things work, people who use mods (e.g. SSF) may have problems launching them, without a corresponding no cd exe. Other wise the game seems to be useable, I've only to acertain whether or not graphical performance can be maintained.

My word, wouldn't it be heaven to only need windows to play Raven Shield once in a blue moon?

getting bored

#!/bin/sh
#
# usage: vimbuild [tag]
#
# fetch indicated release tag of vim, compile, and test it.
# Requires the Concurrent Versions System (cvs) or  Subversion (svn) client,
# and a suitable make tool.
#
# environment:
#
# $TMPDIR will be used as a staging area if defined, else /tmp is used.
#
# exit status: non zero on failure, zero on success.
#

PATH="/bin:/usr/bin:$PATH"

WORKDIR=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}
VTAG=${1:-vim}
CONFIGURE_ARGS="--enable-perlinterp --enable-pythoninterp --enable-tclinterp --enable-rubyinterp --enable-cscope --enable-fontset --enable-gui=gtk2 --disable-gtktest"

mkdir -p $WORKDIR || exit 1 
cd $WORKDIR

# fetch latest vim
if [ -x "`which cvs`" ]; then
    echo using cvs
    cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@vim.cvs.sf.net:/cvsroot/vim checkout $VTAG
elif [ -x "`which svn`" ]; then
    echo using svn
    svn checkout https://vim.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/vim/branches/${VTAG}
else
    echo 'error, could not find a cvs or svn binary in $PATH!'
    exit 1
fi

cd $VTAG
 ./configure $CONFIGURE_ARGS

#
# set the make command
#
uname | grep -i linux > /dev/null
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    NCPU=$(expr `cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep processor | wc -l` \* 4)
    MAKE="make -j${NCPU}"
else
    # assume GNU make is gmake, like on *BSD
    if [ ! -x "`which gmake`" ]; then
        echo "Warning, GNU make not found!"
        echo "This will probably make a GTK gui build fail..."
        MAKE=make
    else
        uname | grep -i bsd > /dev/null
        if [ $? ]; then
            # check number of cpu via BSD sysctl
            NCPU=$(expr `sysctl hw.ncpu | awk '{ print $2 }'` \* 4)
            MAKE="gmake -j${NCPU}"
        else
            MAKE=gmake
        fi
    fi
fi

# now build and test it
$MAKE
if [ -x ./src/vim ]; then
    ./src/vim --version > /dev/null
    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "I think the Vi IMproved build was a success"
    else
        echo "I think the Vi IMproved build was a failure"
        echo "Do you wish to test it manually?"
        read REP
        echo $REP | grep -i y && exec ./src/vim
            # NO RETURN on yes
    fi
fi

cat << EOF
    run: `echo $MAKE | awk '{ print $1 }'` install
    as root to finish installing vim
EOF

exit 0

I wonder, if I'll ever bother to use it lol


Hey, it actually worked lol.

Uploaded it to my server, tweaked the configure args and bingo -- freshly updated via

$ vimbuild vim7
...
$ su - root
# cd /tmp/vim7 && make install



Just for the heck of it, I've made the script adapt $CONFIGURE_ARGS based on what it finds installed, hehe.

PC, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD

http://www.flickr.com/photos/netmonkey/388310909/


roflmao !


EDIT: Maybe one of my friends is right, Apple can win

From approx 1615 UTC, when I got up... Almost all the way to 0330 UTC, my families succeeded in monopolizing my day, and mostly having me miserable during it :\

Ok, some luck after all... We're not going any where. So hopefully, I might be able to get sme work done, while Ma and my Brother chat it out. I've managed to transition myself into my room, in front of a laptop, with headphones on and some good music. If anyone needs to get to me, they can use AIM/MSN/YIM/ICQ, pick an Jabber/XMPP account, or try me on Freendoe or [SAS] Comms.


I'd rather like to have some work done, to show for this weekend...

edit:

Scratch that, fucked again!

Oh joy, now only did I get dragged out on a shopping expedition as soon as I got out of bed.... Now it's probably that my brother will make sure I am dragged out, on a wasting time expeidition.


Why can't people just let me _C_O_D_E_ and be

Looking through my live journal

Been perusing old entries, starting from Day One.

Somethings to catch my minds eye, I was a LCpl in [SAS] at the time. My laptop is at leas 2 years old, found the day I was made a Cpl. A few memories of my early programs (mostly C), the time I started to learn HTML. Read a fair bit of my computing history, and certainly hoping that my grammar has improved a /little/ bit since then, haha. General reminder, that I hate cups and samba for the most part, then again? I hate printers to start with lol. My initial encounters with various programs, and even testing PC-BSD, gee... it always has been lacking polish, ain't it?


Certainly notable that over the past year and a half, my use of profanity has had it's surges and falls, but much higher then it once was.


Found my PC-BSD Users Review, which kinda took on a small life of it's own, I eventually locked the commenting for spams sake, the PC-BSD v1.2 release is ancient history; to most people other then myself. Found one on how I joined [SAS], and some history since. Found what looks like an extended version of my ~/.vimrc file. Which has seen at least 2 or 3 rewrites for all intents and purposes over the years. My current vimrc, residing safely in a private CVS server, where I can quickly check in / out revisions to it from any of my boxes.



Hmm, I remember how pissed I was at the Win4BSD incident, in which the lead developer of PC-BSD released a PBI that broke the rules; but hey, it was done for a company, so he changed the rules on us... We later got them to change it back, when PBIs were at, so far there 1st or 2nd lowest in quality control. I say 1st or 2nd, because I'm not sure what was worse... The amount of people it fucked, or the other most worse one, which was largely a maintenance problem. This looks like my cool down, now that I read it, I'm actually kind of disappointed when I look back upon PBIs history; between then and now.


Dug up an old memory, ahh... When the idea of automating the creation of PBI was purposed and laughed at as "impossible", I took up a personal challenge to try and create a tool to do it. I learned a lot about designing programs from it's successes and failures, whatever value it had, the fatal flaw of it all? Was having to depend on PC-BSDs PBC program to create the PBI files. That is basically what derailed the project, so it never came to fruition. I can even see how much the scripting API for PBC has changed since those days, now instead of being useless, it's a brain damaged form of assembly; unless you want to make horse crap.


I feel just how abusive my todo lists and such things have been over the year, abusive to my free time. But, well? I do have my reasons, and their are worse solutions to workohol.


Just stumbled on the first version of my Vi User How-to. I used to have that in my sigblock on PC-BSDs support forum, until I decided it was time to rewrite it into something a bit better for learning Vi form. In fact, I've got the LaTeX files in my home directory somewhere, but I never finished it. Just to much other crap to take care of :\. Hmm, something on PC-BSD and QEMU (the emulator).I've still got the text of it stored in ~/Documents/Computers/HOWTOs/QEMU_Howto.txt.


I can see, some of the ebbs and flows in my ways of programming things. And how much I've come to like revision control for some things hehe. Although, I still operate on a system of zip/tar files for most of it. I've got things that I really want under revision control, tucked away in the CVS server. I'm kinda glad, that I post more links in my journal entries now; there were a few things, I really would like to check the cross references with. Heh, a lot of times when I post, I can see these little ^[1] boxes in my sentences, where my brain makes wiki-links to the thoughts they represent. Now, I just post links and save myself the trouble 2 years later ^_^. And I can see some of my frustations, past and present in my posts. Sometimes I wonder, is my life better or worse then it once was? Although, I have to admit... There were times when I was much more miserable then these times of late.


Heh, found the time I went paranoid with upgrading seamonkey. Kinda before I really started logging various interactions with my system. (Later) posts on setting up Samba, MySQL, various upgrades and what not remind me just how much I've used (and abused) my live journal as a post it for notes. I can also see, just how slow my studies of the German language have been... to little time. Honestly, I don't think I'll ever reach my goals, but at least I can enjoy as much of it, as I am able to learn. I would love someday, to be able to read/write/speak German well enough, that I could get around a German city just as good as an American city. As long as I have access to a dictionary for words I don't know, I can generally read well enough, but composition is a bit crappy. And I'm not even going t comptemplate my speech, let's just say; my voice does not do such a fine language any justice!



Mmm, just found a report on my fifth live op. I've playd in many a live op, not so many these days... Since the maps these young whipper snappers, hell? What am I saying lol. I'm talking about our current SNCOs >_>, but any ways... They tend to dig up maps, that I've played on or used to train myself on. I guess, that's a price of being around [SAS] so long. That reminds me, I still never got the sound bites done; I need them to finish my "live week" that became a live year, that's now been over 2 years in the running I think lol.


I could count how many live ops I've been in, and how many I have conducted... but I'm not gonna lol.



Even found an old script that I made, a more complex version of a quickie I did when the Amarok PBI broke a few things. I've used a much better and simpler form of it, on numerous occasions. Both for my own projects, and occasionally in PBI's that I had made. Hmm, here is one of the very few times I've felt threated for my families safety.



I can see, in reading my old posts, how much life has gotten to me in some ways. To quote myself, "I think, I hate my life.... dispair out rules joy I think, for me any way. ". Despite the various ups and downs I've had over the past 5 years, life is still pretty much the same, only I have even less of a life worth living.


Found an old posting on system backups under PC-BSD, never finished it. Still got the file, but never finished it. That reminds me, last year I had started work on a backup program for PC-BSD. It was a learning project for Qt, maybe 40% finished. Hmm, here is when Wiz, Me, Rasa, and Rouge; were promoted to troop captain, squadron sergeants major *2, and regimental sergeant major, respectively. As SSM, I always had to find work for me to do, as Captain poor Wiz had to work himself to the bone.


Hmm, a note about the Technical Manual to the NCC-1701D U.S.S. Enterprise, been ages since I've read that book. I loved reading that book when I was younger, lol. I can see some of the various mission plans and tactical ideas I've posted here between public/private. I can als see, the times when my work load in real life was at it's more extreme levels. There was a time, when I was working 2 to 3 gigs a day, every day of the week, with only 1 or 2 days off during the entire month... Oh man, that was living hell.



I can see how very much, my family has managed to piss me off during my off work hours, usually spent trying to work on things, or wasting time until I could work on stuff lol. Less of a problem now, more of a way of life... Even my general response to it, seeing the choice for destruction or construction, I took the constructive route.


Ahh, the eventual fait of my Lexar UFD. I remember being happy I got my e-mail and stuff off the drive, before the case finally split. $65 wasted, because of laying in bed with a laptop, and having to get up every five damn minutes to do things around the house lol. The USB drive got bent apart, picking up / putting down the laptop on the bed all the time, *sigh*. The search to remedy the loss, was a long one. Spanning Samba, SSHFS, NFS, and eventually falling into total disuse lol. As well as various attempts to solve the e-mail/bookmarks situation, which has ended in webmail (gmail) and online bookmark storage (ma.gnolia)


I see, my rise from admin teams little helper, to admin team member, and getting transitioned to webmaster in [SAS]. Various posts of humour, media, songs I've liked, dreams I've dreamt, etc. Various screen shots of my laptops user interface, been a long time since I've rearranged it. Been a long time since I've /needed/ to, I guess that my work flow has gotten more of a efficient rut to it now lol. Hmm, notes on various stuff I've made note to buy, but usually never had the chance :\. Hmm, even found an interesting system tweak, that's so old it doesn't work anymore hahaha.


Various things about movies and programs. Hmm, that how evil are you thing.

You Are 16% Evil

You are good. So good, that you make evil people squirm. Just remember, you may need to turn to the dark side to get what you want!

How Evil Are You?

Looks like I've put on 2% in the past year and 3 quarters, not sure if I like that :\.



Ooo, the first time I ever made it into the stance, mmm, wish I was a more athletically inclined person really. Hmm, found a link I never got around to reading, about in-line assembly under GCC, never got around to learning much of assembly on the Pentium either...


Various projects that I've worked on, a few unpublished SWAT 4 mods, the [SAS] skins, Neo Ports Manager, various helpers or time passing apps, site work, work on the SOP rewrites, diving deeper into code, and a more recent but classified programming project. Hmm, first dates with Qt, Sockets programming, the Curses library, Python, OpenBSD, pax(1), AWK, Scheme, diff/path, gdb, particle physics, gcc front ends, MySQL, whatever.


Found the date, that I converted Vectra from FreeBSD to OpenBSD. It was my first install of OpenBSD. Some nice quotes. Various books I've read, some that I never finished. Groans of portability concerns, and trying to wrap myself into suitable tools. Mmm, the programming language I never had time to learn, but really would like to someday!


Hahha, my screen shot of abusing Firefox... with huge numbers of tabs open. Something that woke me up when I was sleepy, and made me go track it down, now if I still remembered the solution without having to dig up the code, lol.


The general notion, that the odds of ever having a job, which pays me for using my brain, is next to null... And more then a couple periods of frustration, with my family making it very hard on me to learn stuff of interest. Hmm, a number of times that I posted about the training sessions I've held in [SAS], it's been awhile since I've really done those, Jonsi is a Trp now ^_^. Found a few screen shots from games, result of various personal training exercises. Times when data structures and algoritims were one of my most intense fascination's. Oh, the day the freezer died, man if I had strength left, that would've been a long post lol.


The Troopers Call, something I wrote back when a teammate was still a young trooper.


Problems sleeping, being drowned in work, and a number of writings, some of which I actually forget to store in my personal folder.


Hmm, the time I was promoted to Regimental Srgeant Major in [SAS], Rouge to Captain and Wiz to Major, and a sigh of releaf on my face lol. Hmm, my notes both public/private on the "Claudia affair". Some encounters with *DD* and other clans. A short story I wrote one late night, related to Volume III of a project I never finished.

The day Macy died in my arms, one of several short gigs out in the country, one of the several times I was stung or pissed off by PBI, and the incompentence of PC-BSD....


A review of a PC-BSD Beta release. Various todos, lists, plans, etc of work I've done on my laptop. I've installed PC-BSD on it several times over the years, even had Debian, Ubuntu, and FreeBSD on a 2nd partiton I rarely used. But now she runes FreeBSD, all the way baby!

Hmm, I see Live Journal just toggled to their "Undead Journal" theme ^_^.


Oh, this is a movie I haven't seen in awhile! Hmm, a post about How old I am in terms of Recruits in [SAS], need to make a more up to date one of those one day. some plans for live ops, hehe. A rare but real ROFL momenet in my life. Getting interested in binary, hexadecimal, bitmasks, Strong Space. Ahh, some jokes.


Various looks public/private at maths related stuff, I really regret that I never had time to learn more of things that are of /real/ interest, way life is around here, I probably will never get to either :\. Various postings, about software, todos, schedule, opinions, feelings, whatever. Hmm, even getting heavy into using Perl for a lot of programming/scripting stuff. I don't use Perl a lot these days, but I often use it in situations that call for quick data processing or a game of golf. But I've really been trying to use Python for that stuff now, since I've been using Python as my standard scripting language now're days.


Having to watch one of my master pieces crumble, that was a hell of a day, and I tell ya... that post doens't even have half of the agony of it. Hmm, flirtation with lisp and the scheme dialect, been awhile since I've had time for scheme. Mmm, notes public/private on the Damocles Project, a semi-classified research and development bit I did when I was RSM. Hahaha, I haven't said this in a little while, been leaving out the profane part most of the time ^_^.



Various stuff on my time in [SAS], public/private reflections. I do have a general policy, of keeping the necessary level of confidentiality, down to whats posted "for my eyes only" on my live journal. LOL, learning the ingredients of Riesens the hard way. Ahh, an important note on the Damocles Projects findings, think I've still got a (newer) hard copy somewhere. Note to self, encrypt it.



The blog file I kept during my 2nd working vacation, which was not as stressful as the first. Vacation, as in as close to one as I would get. Working, in the sense of having to take care of the bosses dogs, maintain area security, and clean lol.


Hmm, another reminder of a book I was writing. The first upgrade to my file server. Ahh, my stealth run on SAS hallway, found my attempts and frustrations trying to complete the 'Spidey Speed Run Challenge', which I had issued as an RSM, to encourage a higher level of training among recruits. It really nagged me, that I couldn't do what I was asking others to do, so I had to set out and do it myself. Strangely, to this date, I am the only asshole to pull off passing my training challenge..... Ahh, my motto. And getting pissed at SWAT 4s game design.



The 10th Anniversary of my grandmothers death, which reminds me of the day just before the 11th anniversary. Mmm, a post I made about C Keywords, sorted by dialect (traditional, c89, c99). Java on FreeBSD, so easy hehe. This had to be one of my most frustrating times ever.



The time I found some jokes when I was half a sleep, after debugging some code. A rare couple of days off work for some R&R. Hmm, the time I tested KateOS, when I switched from KDE to WindowMaker on my PC-BSD install. One night when I got a bit playful with an algorithm for finding greatest common denominator (gcd), that I found on Wikipedia. I did a lot of tests later on, wonder if I still have the extra results stored... Hmm, some old links I posted on learning to manage stress, loool one of the times I've managed to drain my laptops battery, because I never plugged in the adapter, it's really that rare I unplug it lol.


Most of the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 was spent working on NPM, a project I really would like to finish sometime... but I've got so much other crap that demands dong :\. Oh man, the Tiger Stripe skin prototype, I never could get it to work....



Oh yeah, the [SAS] Christmas Party, I wonder what we are doing this year hehehe. And something a bit more closer to the holiday.



I don't know if I'm going to bother and look through the last ~10 months or so, One thing that does make me happy, there's less of the things that litter my various document folders, then I managed to post between the start of this journal and the start of 2008. One thing I do know, I'm either grabbing some crisps or some ceral, and hitting the hay.


The only question is, will Willow let me have a place on my own bed, dogs take eveththing and they don't give it back !!!

Muahuaha !!! I love this thing.

$ vim pf.conf.new
 ... write new packet filter configuration file
$ pfctl -nf pf.conf.new
  ... silent output if no errors
$ su - root
Password:
# cd /etc
# mv pf.conf pf.conf.old
# cp /home/Terry/pf.conf.new /etc/pf.conf && rm /home/Terry/pf.conf.new
# chmod 644 pf.conf && chown root:wheel pf.conf
# echo 'pfctl -F all -d' | at hhmm
  ... unlock the door if we screw up
# pfctl -e 

enabling or disabling the packet filter (-e, -d) kills the SSH connection, but in the event of any embarrassing "oh crap, I've locked myself out" accidents, the at job will flush the firewalls settings and disable it. Believe me, if you've got a system running with no head or physical inputs (e.g. no monitor, no keyboard), ya really want to use such a thing... I still remember coming home from a *very* bad day at work, working on my rule sets, and locking myself out 5 times, and having to hook up a monitor and keyboard to the server each time >_>.


What wonders you can learn from one bad day, huh?


At least tonight, I've not locked myself out once... despite the days troubles, hehe. One of the reasons I like OpenBSDs packet filter, it's simple, it's powerful, just read the fine manual, use your gray matter, and it works! The rule sets are fairly easy to read, and OpenBSD documentation is second to none. Heck the manual page even gives the pf.conf syntax in Backus-Naur Form. The only complex part of pf, is the networking stuff - not the configuration. And of course, I love anything that is configured through a sane text file, rather then having to fire up some cornball program lol. Really, I wish I had the resources to replace my router with an OpenBSD machine, that way I wouldn't have to learn my way around a new web-interface whenever one pops its final cork.



Ahh... At least one good thing happened this weekend!!!

*SIGH*

It seems to more time I spend around my family, or the more time I spend thinking about my /life/, the more miserable I get.

• I have 5 programs to complete, 1 in C, 1 in C++, 3 in Python, only 2 of which are mostly done. The one in C, unfortinely is a windows app.... And that's a sentence worse then death in it's own right.
• I have a ton of homework piled up, which at the moment on the _short term_ amounts to finishing one unit of a 2-year course.
• I have a library to finish testing, 2 modules to rewrite, and a mock up of a website to do.

I've had part of my Friday and Saturday wasted, and I will probably have part of my Sunday wasted, and I don't even want to think about Monday! So of obviously nothing is going to get done before I go back to work on Tuesday. Anyway you slice it, I just keep getting fucked.

Son of a bitch !!!

I just finished a little personal training time... MP Peaks, I snuck past the terrorists, killing only about 3 of them on the whole map. All the while while having XFire doing video capture, so I can analyze it later, moved on to later trainings and guess what?

No recorded files for any of the rounds played, combined with Xfire In Game (XIG) chat not working anymore in RvS, becoming more buggy in SWAT 4: TSS, and Xfire is getting to be next to useless these days.



[switching to mental log]

My first session was perfect.... I spawned, checked my weapon, made a quick scan of the safe house at insert. Then moved up the hill line, checking the hill line cautiously for snipers... matching my profile against the terrain to avoid sky lining my body -> tangos can see through trees, and shoot through them without having to worry about bullet proof snow >_>. Dropped on my belly prone and crawled up, noting the positions of 4-5 sentries on the opposite side of the bridge, crawled around using the parked car for cover. Checked out the other snow bank, it was a clear trip through that sector; except for a lone tango crouched in the snow, watching my approach vector. Positioned myself to recce the site lines of more distant threats... only one that might notice. Plugged the tango with a controlled pair to the neck, since I would've had to stand up (and risk being scene by him) in order to go for a centre mass or head shot, or choose to shoot his legs out... Not good in RvS, usually results in runners who are only limped once they stop moving lol.


Crawled forward and dropped into the ditch, when I noticed another sentry moving to investigate... I let him get close to the body, and plugged him, a quick look & see for any other threats, clear. So I moved up, keeping prone to avoid exposing myself along my 12 o'clock, and noting sentry positions along the way. All was going smooth, until I came to the crest of a small hill, and noticed a group of four sentries. One staring out towards the bridge, and three by a tree near a hill. No one looking at me, but one decided to walk a patrol, so I had to take cover pronto.


I watched the enemies patrol carefully to anticipate his movements, but kept out of sight. Once he settled into position, I switched back to advancing, noting the positions of sentries by the cottage next to my escape point. Luckyly there was just one in a position to see me; plus 1 or 2 on the hill where the patrol man was. So I slide down into a narrow part to avoid being seen, if that creep started patrolling my way! One final obstacle, a lone tango guarding the escape point - a quick double tap centre mass and head, tango down


Stood up to a crouch and moved closer to the cottage for cover, then quickly to the escape point (green smoke). Victory!! Game over, when finally a tango comes around the far corner of the cottage and see's me standing there, so I abused the bug in the game, scoped on in full auto and emptied my mag into him lol. The game has a bug, that when the round is ending, you can scope on and hold fire at the same time, and discharge your weapon without doing any damage (tangos can fire free, since they rarely use scopes lol).


It was a perfect exercise to limber up my stealth skills, but unfortunately no video to analyze my game play, and try to find ways to improve :\. When we heard about viacom acquiring xfire, me and a few friends started joking about how long it would take for XFire to go down hill, but it has been faster then we expected haha.


The moral of the story?

XFire is a piece of shit

Song of the day: 2008-10-25 / Still Alive

So stuck in the head....

You have changed
I have changed
Just like you
Just like you

For how long
For how long
Must I wait
I know there's something wrong

Your concrete heart isn't beating
And you tried to
Make it come alive

No shadows
Just red lights
Now I'm here to rescue you

Oh I'm still alive
I'm still alive
I can't apologise, no

Oh I'm still alive
I'm still alive
I can't apologise, no

So silent
No violence
But inside my head
So loud and clear

You're screaming
You're screaming
Cover up with a smile I've learned to fear

Just sunshine
And blue sky
That's just how it goes
For living here

Come fire
Come fire
Let it burn and love come racing through

Oh I'm still alive
I'm still alive
I can't apologise no

Oh I'm still alive
I'm still alive
I can't apologise no

Learn to lose
Learn to win
Turn my face against the wind

I will move fast
I will move slow
Take me where I have to go

Oh I'm still alive
I'm still alive
I can't apologise no

-- Still Alive, Lisa Miskovsky

Mirrors Edge

Now that looks like a game worth paying for, a real adventure game is much harder to find these days, especially that's much more then run around shoot'em all, then when their all dead, try to ask a question or two about where the exit sign is >_>

Oh, what a nap lol

laid down around 2300Q, set the TV to th end of Multiplicity, since Gung Ho was going to start after it. I figured, lay down a bit and then get to work on stuff. Next thing I know, I've barely got one eye open and Gung Ho is almost over. Next thing I know, it's over and the time is past 0139.


I need to get my todo list sorted, as to what I'm going to be doing this weekend. Gee, wouldn't it rock if I didn't have to plan 3 days in advance or something lol.

oy vey

Woke up early, ~0730Q for a leak, so I was still fairly awake around 0900Q when things picked up.... A wonderful leaking pipe in the utility room, += fixed after 1100Q, == late for work and *too* late to bother with the days op. So yet another day off work, without wages.


On the up side, I managed to catch ALIENS on Cable. I'm off until Tuesday afternoon, so hopefully.... pardoning any more desasiteres, things can't get much worse lol.


Oh man, I should shut my mouth while I still can lol.

Writer's Block: Fright Show

'Tis the season for scary movies. Some rank The Evil Dead as the best horror film of all time. What is your favorite scary movie?

Live Journals Writer's Block

For me, that's a relatively hard thing to think of. There has only really been one movie that ever really scared me. There have been a few that have made be uncomfortable over the years, but nothing 'scary' for the most part. Simply put, I know it's a movie lol.


I don't particularly care much for horror movies, unless their is something much more interesting then trying to freak people out. Books and games are better for that, because it's a more immersive medium. Hmm, that reminds me... There was one game that did scare me a fair bit when I was younger, Resident Evil. But that was fairly minimal, because I was strongly decided, that if such an absurd thing as zombies ever appeared out of no where taking over most of the city, my arsenal of squirt guns, super soakers, and other weapons would have to also be capable of firing a zombie melting fluid, that never runs out >_>.


Ahh, the imagination of children... Sometimes scary, sometimes a safe guard against fear. It's always good for a kid to be able to tell the difference between make believe, and reality, without losing the ability to be creative.




When it comes to movies, I much prefer comedy, action, and science fiction flicks.

What a screamin' and hollerin' filled day, AGAIN!.

Let's see, where do I start?


Stuck getting up for work, overslept and got bitched at..

When we're about to leave for work, the battery is discharged.

So I end up walking the dogs, but Coco doesn't get her turn because their is no time.


So Ma calls the place from yesterday to get someone out here with jumper cables for the car...


Then it's a waiting for the road service, because the place from yesterday don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. And coco is whining because she didn't get to go out.


The guy with the tow truck and jumper cables explains the battery problem is bacause the internal lights were stuck in the always on position -> BP or PAC, piss on you!


So we head to the normal family mechanic... Good guy, know him and his wife from church.


The alternator is still working (thankfully), so the battery charges and passes sanity checks when hooked up to a voltmeter. He also dismantled something on the engine and whatever he pushed had the same effect as putting the gas pedal flat on the deck,


Ma decides to get a new battery, since it was 3 years old... Which is roughly another $100 between battery / service / warranty / whatever.


I spend ~50% of my laptops own battery charge righting code.


5 minute down the road, the engines running worse then ever... return to mechanic, and guess what? I hose up top near the crankcase was cracked. As far as I can tell from google and his description, it was probably some kind of breather tube for a PCV system.


Son of a bitch, replacing that tube has fixed the cars chugging up and down the road, which has been driving Ma crazy, for what? Nearly 3+ years by now loool.


It is always the simple things in life that getcha !!! Be it a broken serpentine belt driving the alternator and power steering among other things, leaving a light on, just righting to the teletypewriter device, or replacing a stupid hose that helps regulate the amount of air / gases in the chamber to the right levels.


Get stuck going shopping, since we missed work, and I bloody hate grocery shopping !!!!!


I managed to leak the trooper by accident over instant messenger, and had to change it in a hurry, then report myself for stupidity.


To top it off, there is almost nothing on TV; just Keeping The Faith.

Scratch that, to make it even worse! I just ended up having to rub her royal majesties feet.


If tomorrow is like today, yesterday, or worse, I am really taking the weekend off doing shit for awhile loooooooooooool.

Bartender: Let me get this straight, I'm talking to a priest who went on a
bender, because his best friend; a rabbi, stole his girl.

Priest: Right

Bartender: I want to thank you for telling my this story.

Priest: Why?

Bartender: Because now I can retire.

Priest: You have to give me advice, that's what this is supposed to be about.

Bartender: Oh GOD, what do I know? I half Punjabi Sikh, one quarter Tummel
separatist, my sister married a Jewish doctor from New Jersey, and our
other grandmother was an Irish nun; who left me this bar, which is a VERY
long story.

Priest: You're a Sikh, Catholic, Muslim, with Jewish in-laws?

Bartender: Yes, yes, it is very complicated... I'm reading dynetics.

Priest: I don't blame you.

Priest: I thank you for listening to me, I feel like I should ask you for my
penance


Bartender: I don't do penance, I do shots!

both: *snorts* Hahaha

*pours them both another shot*

Bartender: I tell you what I know

Bartender: May those who love us, love us. And those who don't love us - may
GOD turn their hearts. And if HE cannot turn their hearts, may HE turn their
ankles, so that we may know them by their limping

Priest: *nods agreement*

Ever wonder just what gcc does?

Terry@vectra-$ cat > test.c
#include <stdio.h>

int
main(int argc, char **argv) {

        int i;

        printf("%s ", argv[0]);
        for (i=1; i < argc; ++i) {
                if (argv[i][0] != '\0') {
                        printf("%s ", argv[i]);
                }
        }
        return printf("\n");
}

Terry@vectra-$ gcc -v test.c -o test-bin
Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-unknown-openbsd4.3/3.3.5/specs
Configured with:
Thread model: single
gcc version 3.3.5 (propolice)
 /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-unknown-openbsd4.3/3.3.5/cc1 -quiet -v -D__GNUC__=3 -D__GNUC_MINOR__=3 -D__GNUC_PATCHLEVEL__=5 test.c -quiet -dumpbase test.c -auxbase test -Wall -W -Wpointer-arith -Wbad-function-cast -std=c99 -version -o /tmp//ccj26536.s
GNU C version 3.3.5 (propolice) (i386-unknown-openbsd4.3)
        compiled by GNU C version 3.3.5 (propolice).
GGC heuristics: --param ggc-min-expand=46 --param ggc-min-heapsize=30393
#include "..." search starts here:
#include <...> search starts here:
 /usr/include
End of search list.
 as -o /tmp//cca26536.o /tmp//ccj26536.s
 /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-unknown-openbsd4.3/3.3.5/collect2 --eh-frame-hdr -e __start -Bdynamic -dynamic-linker /usr/libexec/ld.so -o test-bin /usr/lib/crt0.o /usr/lib/crtbegin.o -L/usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-unknown-openbsd4.3/3.3.5 /tmp//cca26536.o -lgcc -lc -lgcc /usr/lib/crtend.o
Terry@vectra-$ ./test-bin arg1 arg2 arg3 arg4 arg5
./test-bin arg1 arg2 arg3 arg4 arg5
Terry@vectra-$