Mandriva 2007.0beta "Thor"

This performs nicely, but from the surroundings is definitely a beta; for example, the only way I could get the Live CD to install was to completely avoid “further options” and just do a plain boot; also, the “loose” RPMs are a bit of a dog’s breakfast (as you’d just about expect from a Beta), so I bolted this system directly onto Cooker (their development RPM repository), from which it can be easily updated later.

Having said all of that, KDE 3.5 is performing well, and everything else I’ve clicked on has worked as it should so far; if that’s a real benchmark towards the official release, then it’s going to be a grand one.

Making the Live CD install was pretty painless (no package selection lists, for example, so for a real customer system there might be some entertainment with the RPM management GUI afterwards), and I think anyone with half a clue about computers (Linux or lacking it) should get along with this “jess fahn”.

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new life for an old (FTX) PSU, improved life for one human

the LEDs on this 5m strip happen to emit light centred on a red that does unexpectedly helpful things to (and surprisingly deeply within) a human routinely exposed to it. it has been soldered to a Molex connector, plugged into a TFX power supply from a (retired: the MoBo is cactus) Small Form Factor PC, the assorted PSU connectors (and loose end from the strip) have been taped over. the LED strip cost $10.24 including postage, the rest cost $0, the PSU is running at 12½% of capacity, consumes less power than a laptop plug-pack despite running a fan. trial runs begin today.

every-application-is-part-of-a-toolkit at work

I have a LibreOffice Impress slideshow that I wish to turn into a narrated video. 1. export the slideshow as PNG images (if that is partially broken — as at now — at higher resolutions, Export Directly as PDF then use ‘pdftoppm’ (from the poppler-utils package) to do the same). 2. write a small C program (63 lines including comments) to display those images one at a time, writing a config file entry for Imagination (default transition: ‘cross fade’) based on when the image-viewer application (‘display,’ from the GraphicsMagick suite) is closed on each one; run that, read each image aloud, then close each image in turn. 3. run ‘Imagination’ over the config file to produce a silent MP4 video with the correct timings. 4. run ‘Audacity’ to record speech while using ‘SMPlayer’ to display the silent video, then export that recording as a WAV file. 4a. optionally, use ‘TiMIDIty’ to convert a non-copyright-encumbered MIDI tune to WAV, then import that and blend it with the speech (as a quiet b...

boundaries

pushing the actual boundaries of the physical (not extremes, the boundaries themselves) can often remove barriers not otherwise perceived. one can then often resolve an issue itself, rather than merely stonewalling at the physical consequences of the issue.

Plantagenet Penguinista

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