Tag Archive

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been using what little free time I have to code a website called Clustur. It is located at http://clustur.com/. The main page pretty much says it all, but it’s basically a site for creating, learning, and sharing study material. I’ve recently used it to study for all of my exams this semester. Because it passed the test of exams for me, I can say it’s helped me a ton during the process.

Many people are aware that they can SSH into their iPod or iPhone from their computers. The fact that the iPhone can be an SSH client is often overlooked, though. It can even authenticate with RSA keys. In this guide, I will demonstrate how to set up an iPhone or iPod to SSH into a computer with an RSA key.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

My server used to have a 16GB hard drive and did not receive regular automated backups. I wanted to upgrade the drive to an 80GB one and use the old drive for automatic backups. This switch required that I somehow move the entire server installation from the old to the new, larger drive. So I decided to use a tool called Clonezilla. I cloned the old drive onto the new drive and set the new drive to the master. Booting up with the new drive worked fine. I put in the old drive (which still had the server installation) as a slave for backups. It was then that I ran into an interesting problem: no matter what I did, the old drive would always boot instead of the new one. After some probing, I found out that GRUB was run on the new drive, but it always pointed to the old drive. After about 6 hours of banging my head against the wall, I finally figured out that the UUIDs for the two drives were the same since they were cloned. Instead of using the generic (hd0,0), the Ubuntu distribution uses UUIDs by default to point to the drive that should be booted from. The UUIDs were not so universally unique anymore, and GRUB got confused and booted the old drive. So I guess the moral of the story is always make sure you change the UUIDs whenever a cloned drive is used. Anyways, sorry if this notice came too late. I hadn’t expected to run into such trouble.

So you know how to install Microsoft Office, upgrade drivers, and maybe even do a little overclocking or programming here and there. But have you ever wanted to know more about a computer - how it really works? Here are just a few ways that you can learn a bit more about the mysterious machine.

Just hours ago, Wolfram|Alpha was launched. If you have not been there already, check it out! This revolutionary site was just too exciting for me not to write about it. Wolfram|Alpha essentially makes libraries and libraries of knowledge available at a click of a mouse. Wolfram|Alpha is not a search engine, it is completely different and unique. You won’t know it until you try it. This definitely won’t replace Google for me, since the two products solve two different issues. Nonetheless, it will definitely be useful for school stuff. I’m not sure if it has much appeal for the normal Internet users, though.

Enabling searching in Drupal is easy enough, but a lot of people have trouble enabling the advanced searching capabilities in Drupal. Once an administrator enables a search box, they will be able to access the advanced search form on the search page. The problem, however, is that normal and unregistered visitors cannot see it.

When recently upgrading my server to Ubuntu 9.04, phpMyAdmin was also upgraded to version 5.0.75. When I loaded up the new version, I was alarmed to find a new error message that read:

Normally when I open a book that explains how computers work, I get little illustrations of the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and graphics chip. This is a great way to educate people about computers, but I have always wondered how computers really worked - from the transistor up.

Perhaps my favorite project I’ve ever worked on is my hydrogen rocket. The craze started when I stumbled upon an article by Dean Wheeler about launching bottle rockets that used hydrogen combustion rather than a bicycle pump for power. I had already finished a a reliable hydrogen generator, so I figured this was a good project to put it to use. I didn’t have access to some tools and materials that he did, but I found some other solutions that made it work. I’ll document my findings here because I believe these types of bottle rockets do not receive the attention they deserve. As far as I know, Dean Wheeler’s article and mine are the only two guides about these rockets available.

It took me many many tries to design a reliable and cheap way to produce the hydrogen I needed. There are many videos of other people’s designs on YouTube (just search for ‘HHO generator’, ‘electrolysis’, or ‘hydrogen generator’), but some of the parts and processes were just out of reach for my budget. Some used custom-cut steel that was expensive to order. I finally found an interesting method that used off-the-shelf wall plates that were stainless steel. This video was the one that really gave me the idea. sirHOAX does a lot of great work with generators like these.

When I started getting interested in electrolysis, I faced the problem of finding a power supply suitable for the high currents required. At first I was using wall-warts that could only supply an amp or so. My electrolysis units started consuming more and more current, so I burnt out about three of those. I then decided it was time for me to get a better power supply. I had heard of many people using car batteries, but while those can supply a lot of current, they are expensive and cumbersome to charge. If you do use a car battery for electrolysis, you basically have to get a deep-cycle one to prevent damage when it is drained. I also searched for bench power supplies meant for electronics, but those were too expensive and did not provide enough amps. Bench power supplies are very regulated, which isn’t that much of a deal when you aren’t dealing with sensitive electronics. I finally stumbled upon a solution that would satisfy all my needs: a computer power supply.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

My server used to have a 16GB hard drive and did not receive regular automated backups. I wanted to upgrade the drive to an 80GB one and use the old drive for automatic backups. This switch required that I somehow move the entire server installation from the old to the new, larger drive. So I decided to use a tool called Clonezilla. I cloned the old drive onto the new drive and set the new drive to the master. Booting up with the new drive worked fine. I put in the old drive (which still had the server installation) as a slave for backups. It was then that I ran into an interesting problem: no matter what I did, the old drive would always boot instead of the new one. After some probing, I found out that GRUB was run on the new drive, but it always pointed to the old drive. After about 6 hours of banging my head against the wall, I finally figured out that the UUIDs for the two drives were the same since they were cloned. Instead of using the generic (hd0,0), the Ubuntu distribution uses UUIDs by default to point to the drive that should be booted from. The UUIDs were not so universally unique anymore, and GRUB got confused and booted the old drive. So I guess the moral of the story is always make sure you change the UUIDs whenever a cloned drive is used. Anyways, sorry if this notice came too late. I hadn’t expected to run into such trouble.

So you know how to install Microsoft Office, upgrade drivers, and maybe even do a little overclocking or programming here and there. But have you ever wanted to know more about a computer - how it really works? Here are just a few ways that you can learn a bit more about the mysterious machine.

Perhaps my favorite project I’ve ever worked on is my hydrogen rocket. The craze started when I stumbled upon an article by Dean Wheeler about launching bottle rockets that used hydrogen combustion rather than a bicycle pump for power. I had already finished a a reliable hydrogen generator, so I figured this was a good project to put it to use. I didn’t have access to some tools and materials that he did, but I found some other solutions that made it work. I’ll document my findings here because I believe these types of bottle rockets do not receive the attention they deserve. As far as I know, Dean Wheeler’s article and mine are the only two guides about these rockets available.

It took me many many tries to design a reliable and cheap way to produce the hydrogen I needed. There are many videos of other people’s designs on YouTube (just search for ‘HHO generator’, ‘electrolysis’, or ‘hydrogen generator’), but some of the parts and processes were just out of reach for my budget. Some used custom-cut steel that was expensive to order. I finally found an interesting method that used off-the-shelf wall plates that were stainless steel. This video was the one that really gave me the idea. sirHOAX does a lot of great work with generators like these.

I’ve been looking at “Code” again, and I decided to design functioning CPUs from what I learned in it. Normally CPUs are designed in HDLs such as VHDL and Verilog, but these languages take transistors out of the equation. Since it would be my first CPU, I decided to use Logisim because it had more of a simulation interface and let design with individual transistors. I put the fruits of my labor on my Github. The last design still needs a little of work, but all the other designs are fully functioning.

So apparently it’s a thing to post workbench pictures. I guess I’ll post mine too, mainly so I can remember it if my mom ever decides to move away. Anyways, here they are:

I’ve been looking at “Code” again, and I decided to design functioning CPUs from what I learned in it. Normally CPUs are designed in HDLs such as VHDL and Verilog, but these languages take transistors out of the equation. Since it would be my first CPU, I decided to use Logisim because it had more of a simulation interface and let design with individual transistors. I put the fruits of my labor on my Github. The last design still needs a little of work, but all the other designs are fully functioning.

Normally when I open a book that explains how computers work, I get little illustrations of the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and graphics chip. This is a great way to educate people about computers, but I have always wondered how computers really worked - from the transistor up.

I’ve been looking at “Code” again, and I decided to design functioning CPUs from what I learned in it. Normally CPUs are designed in HDLs such as VHDL and Verilog, but these languages take transistors out of the equation. Since it would be my first CPU, I decided to use Logisim because it had more of a simulation interface and let design with individual transistors. I put the fruits of my labor on my Github. The last design still needs a little of work, but all the other designs are fully functioning.

So apparently it’s a thing to post workbench pictures. I guess I’ll post mine too, mainly so I can remember it if my mom ever decides to move away. Anyways, here they are:

Perhaps my favorite project I’ve ever worked on is my hydrogen rocket. The craze started when I stumbled upon an article by Dean Wheeler about launching bottle rockets that used hydrogen combustion rather than a bicycle pump for power. I had already finished a a reliable hydrogen generator, so I figured this was a good project to put it to use. I didn’t have access to some tools and materials that he did, but I found some other solutions that made it work. I’ll document my findings here because I believe these types of bottle rockets do not receive the attention they deserve. As far as I know, Dean Wheeler’s article and mine are the only two guides about these rockets available.

It took me many many tries to design a reliable and cheap way to produce the hydrogen I needed. There are many videos of other people’s designs on YouTube (just search for ‘HHO generator’, ‘electrolysis’, or ‘hydrogen generator’), but some of the parts and processes were just out of reach for my budget. Some used custom-cut steel that was expensive to order. I finally found an interesting method that used off-the-shelf wall plates that were stainless steel. This video was the one that really gave me the idea. sirHOAX does a lot of great work with generators like these.

Enabling searching in Drupal is easy enough, but a lot of people have trouble enabling the advanced searching capabilities in Drupal. Once an administrator enables a search box, they will be able to access the advanced search form on the search page. The problem, however, is that normal and unregistered visitors cannot see it.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

When I started getting interested in electrolysis, I faced the problem of finding a power supply suitable for the high currents required. At first I was using wall-warts that could only supply an amp or so. My electrolysis units started consuming more and more current, so I burnt out about three of those. I then decided it was time for me to get a better power supply. I had heard of many people using car batteries, but while those can supply a lot of current, they are expensive and cumbersome to charge. If you do use a car battery for electrolysis, you basically have to get a deep-cycle one to prevent damage when it is drained. I also searched for bench power supplies meant for electronics, but those were too expensive and did not provide enough amps. Bench power supplies are very regulated, which isn’t that much of a deal when you aren’t dealing with sensitive electronics. I finally stumbled upon a solution that would satisfy all my needs: a computer power supply.

Normally when I open a book that explains how computers work, I get little illustrations of the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and graphics chip. This is a great way to educate people about computers, but I have always wondered how computers really worked - from the transistor up.

Perhaps my favorite project I’ve ever worked on is my hydrogen rocket. The craze started when I stumbled upon an article by Dean Wheeler about launching bottle rockets that used hydrogen combustion rather than a bicycle pump for power. I had already finished a a reliable hydrogen generator, so I figured this was a good project to put it to use. I didn’t have access to some tools and materials that he did, but I found some other solutions that made it work. I’ll document my findings here because I believe these types of bottle rockets do not receive the attention they deserve. As far as I know, Dean Wheeler’s article and mine are the only two guides about these rockets available.

Normally when I open a book that explains how computers work, I get little illustrations of the CPU, RAM, hard drive, and graphics chip. This is a great way to educate people about computers, but I have always wondered how computers really worked - from the transistor up.

When recently upgrading my server to Ubuntu 9.04, phpMyAdmin was also upgraded to version 5.0.75. When I loaded up the new version, I was alarmed to find a new error message that read:

I’ve been looking at “Code” again, and I decided to design functioning CPUs from what I learned in it. Normally CPUs are designed in HDLs such as VHDL and Verilog, but these languages take transistors out of the equation. Since it would be my first CPU, I decided to use Logisim because it had more of a simulation interface and let design with individual transistors. I put the fruits of my labor on my Github. The last design still needs a little of work, but all the other designs are fully functioning.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been using what little free time I have to code a website called Clustur. It is located at http://clustur.com/. The main page pretty much says it all, but it’s basically a site for creating, learning, and sharing study material. I’ve recently used it to study for all of my exams this semester. Because it passed the test of exams for me, I can say it’s helped me a ton during the process.

My server used to have a 16GB hard drive and did not receive regular automated backups. I wanted to upgrade the drive to an 80GB one and use the old drive for automatic backups. This switch required that I somehow move the entire server installation from the old to the new, larger drive. So I decided to use a tool called Clonezilla. I cloned the old drive onto the new drive and set the new drive to the master. Booting up with the new drive worked fine. I put in the old drive (which still had the server installation) as a slave for backups. It was then that I ran into an interesting problem: no matter what I did, the old drive would always boot instead of the new one. After some probing, I found out that GRUB was run on the new drive, but it always pointed to the old drive. After about 6 hours of banging my head against the wall, I finally figured out that the UUIDs for the two drives were the same since they were cloned. Instead of using the generic (hd0,0), the Ubuntu distribution uses UUIDs by default to point to the drive that should be booted from. The UUIDs were not so universally unique anymore, and GRUB got confused and booted the old drive. So I guess the moral of the story is always make sure you change the UUIDs whenever a cloned drive is used. Anyways, sorry if this notice came too late. I hadn’t expected to run into such trouble.

Enabling searching in Drupal is easy enough, but a lot of people have trouble enabling the advanced searching capabilities in Drupal. Once an administrator enables a search box, they will be able to access the advanced search form on the search page. The problem, however, is that normal and unregistered visitors cannot see it.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

So apparently it’s a thing to post workbench pictures. I guess I’ll post mine too, mainly so I can remember it if my mom ever decides to move away. Anyways, here they are:

Enabling searching in Drupal is easy enough, but a lot of people have trouble enabling the advanced searching capabilities in Drupal. Once an administrator enables a search box, they will be able to access the advanced search form on the search page. The problem, however, is that normal and unregistered visitors cannot see it.

It took me many many tries to design a reliable and cheap way to produce the hydrogen I needed. There are many videos of other people’s designs on YouTube (just search for ‘HHO generator’, ‘electrolysis’, or ‘hydrogen generator’), but some of the parts and processes were just out of reach for my budget. Some used custom-cut steel that was expensive to order. I finally found an interesting method that used off-the-shelf wall plates that were stainless steel. This video was the one that really gave me the idea. sirHOAX does a lot of great work with generators like these.

Just hours ago, Wolfram|Alpha was launched. If you have not been there already, check it out! This revolutionary site was just too exciting for me not to write about it. Wolfram|Alpha essentially makes libraries and libraries of knowledge available at a click of a mouse. Wolfram|Alpha is not a search engine, it is completely different and unique. You won’t know it until you try it. This definitely won’t replace Google for me, since the two products solve two different issues. Nonetheless, it will definitely be useful for school stuff. I’m not sure if it has much appeal for the normal Internet users, though.

Have an old black and white TV sitting around? I got mine after winning a raffle and it sat around for about a year unused until I decided to hack it up.

My server used to have a 16GB hard drive and did not receive regular automated backups. I wanted to upgrade the drive to an 80GB one and use the old drive for automatic backups. This switch required that I somehow move the entire server installation from the old to the new, larger drive. So I decided to use a tool called Clonezilla. I cloned the old drive onto the new drive and set the new drive to the master. Booting up with the new drive worked fine. I put in the old drive (which still had the server installation) as a slave for backups. It was then that I ran into an interesting problem: no matter what I did, the old drive would always boot instead of the new one. After some probing, I found out that GRUB was run on the new drive, but it always pointed to the old drive. After about 6 hours of banging my head against the wall, I finally figured out that the UUIDs for the two drives were the same since they were cloned. Instead of using the generic (hd0,0), the Ubuntu distribution uses UUIDs by default to point to the drive that should be booted from. The UUIDs were not so universally unique anymore, and GRUB got confused and booted the old drive. So I guess the moral of the story is always make sure you change the UUIDs whenever a cloned drive is used. Anyways, sorry if this notice came too late. I hadn’t expected to run into such trouble.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been using what little free time I have to code a website called Clustur. It is located at http://clustur.com/. The main page pretty much says it all, but it’s basically a site for creating, learning, and sharing study material. I’ve recently used it to study for all of my exams this semester. Because it passed the test of exams for me, I can say it’s helped me a ton during the process.

Many people are aware that they can SSH into their iPod or iPhone from their computers. The fact that the iPhone can be an SSH client is often overlooked, though. It can even authenticate with RSA keys. In this guide, I will demonstrate how to set up an iPhone or iPod to SSH into a computer with an RSA key.

Many people are aware that they can SSH into their iPod or iPhone from their computers. The fact that the iPhone can be an SSH client is often overlooked, though. It can even authenticate with RSA keys. In this guide, I will demonstrate how to set up an iPhone or iPod to SSH into a computer with an RSA key.

Many people are aware that they can SSH into their iPod or iPhone from their computers. The fact that the iPhone can be an SSH client is often overlooked, though. It can even authenticate with RSA keys. In this guide, I will demonstrate how to set up an iPhone or iPod to SSH into a computer with an RSA key.

When recently upgrading my server to Ubuntu 9.04, phpMyAdmin was also upgraded to version 5.0.75. When I loaded up the new version, I was alarmed to find a new error message that read:

So you know how to install Microsoft Office, upgrade drivers, and maybe even do a little overclocking or programming here and there. But have you ever wanted to know more about a computer - how it really works? Here are just a few ways that you can learn a bit more about the mysterious machine.

So you know how to install Microsoft Office, upgrade drivers, and maybe even do a little overclocking or programming here and there. But have you ever wanted to know more about a computer - how it really works? Here are just a few ways that you can learn a bit more about the mysterious machine.

I’ve been looking at “Code” again, and I decided to design functioning CPUs from what I learned in it. Normally CPUs are designed in HDLs such as VHDL and Verilog, but these languages take transistors out of the equation. Since it would be my first CPU, I decided to use Logisim because it had more of a simulation interface and let design with individual transistors. I put the fruits of my labor on my Github. The last design still needs a little of work, but all the other designs are fully functioning.

Have an old black and white TV sitting around? I got mine after winning a raffle and it sat around for about a year unused until I decided to hack it up.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

When recently upgrading my server to Ubuntu 9.04, phpMyAdmin was also upgraded to version 5.0.75. When I loaded up the new version, I was alarmed to find a new error message that read:

So apparently it’s a thing to post workbench pictures. I guess I’ll post mine too, mainly so I can remember it if my mom ever decides to move away. Anyways, here they are:

When I started getting interested in electrolysis, I faced the problem of finding a power supply suitable for the high currents required. At first I was using wall-warts that could only supply an amp or so. My electrolysis units started consuming more and more current, so I burnt out about three of those. I then decided it was time for me to get a better power supply. I had heard of many people using car batteries, but while those can supply a lot of current, they are expensive and cumbersome to charge. If you do use a car battery for electrolysis, you basically have to get a deep-cycle one to prevent damage when it is drained. I also searched for bench power supplies meant for electronics, but those were too expensive and did not provide enough amps. Bench power supplies are very regulated, which isn’t that much of a deal when you aren’t dealing with sensitive electronics. I finally stumbled upon a solution that would satisfy all my needs: a computer power supply.

So you know how to install Microsoft Office, upgrade drivers, and maybe even do a little overclocking or programming here and there. But have you ever wanted to know more about a computer - how it really works? Here are just a few ways that you can learn a bit more about the mysterious machine.

When I started getting interested in electrolysis, I faced the problem of finding a power supply suitable for the high currents required. At first I was using wall-warts that could only supply an amp or so. My electrolysis units started consuming more and more current, so I burnt out about three of those. I then decided it was time for me to get a better power supply. I had heard of many people using car batteries, but while those can supply a lot of current, they are expensive and cumbersome to charge. If you do use a car battery for electrolysis, you basically have to get a deep-cycle one to prevent damage when it is drained. I also searched for bench power supplies meant for electronics, but those were too expensive and did not provide enough amps. Bench power supplies are very regulated, which isn’t that much of a deal when you aren’t dealing with sensitive electronics. I finally stumbled upon a solution that would satisfy all my needs: a computer power supply.

Perhaps my favorite project I’ve ever worked on is my hydrogen rocket. The craze started when I stumbled upon an article by Dean Wheeler about launching bottle rockets that used hydrogen combustion rather than a bicycle pump for power. I had already finished a a reliable hydrogen generator, so I figured this was a good project to put it to use. I didn’t have access to some tools and materials that he did, but I found some other solutions that made it work. I’ll document my findings here because I believe these types of bottle rockets do not receive the attention they deserve. As far as I know, Dean Wheeler’s article and mine are the only two guides about these rockets available.

Enabling searching in Drupal is easy enough, but a lot of people have trouble enabling the advanced searching capabilities in Drupal. Once an administrator enables a search box, they will be able to access the advanced search form on the search page. The problem, however, is that normal and unregistered visitors cannot see it.

Many people are aware that they can SSH into their iPod or iPhone from their computers. The fact that the iPhone can be an SSH client is often overlooked, though. It can even authenticate with RSA keys. In this guide, I will demonstrate how to set up an iPhone or iPod to SSH into a computer with an RSA key.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been using what little free time I have to code a website called Clustur. It is located at http://clustur.com/. The main page pretty much says it all, but it’s basically a site for creating, learning, and sharing study material. I’ve recently used it to study for all of my exams this semester. Because it passed the test of exams for me, I can say it’s helped me a ton during the process.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

Have an old black and white TV sitting around? I got mine after winning a raffle and it sat around for about a year unused until I decided to hack it up.

When I was setting up my server, I was faced with the problem of configuring subdomains to work with a dynamic DNS service such as DynDNS or No-IP. I recently had a user on the Ubuntu Forums ask me how I ended up getting things to work, so I wrote this article to explain.

Just hours ago, Wolfram|Alpha was launched. If you have not been there already, check it out! This revolutionary site was just too exciting for me not to write about it. Wolfram|Alpha essentially makes libraries and libraries of knowledge available at a click of a mouse. Wolfram|Alpha is not a search engine, it is completely different and unique. You won’t know it until you try it. This definitely won’t replace Google for me, since the two products solve two different issues. Nonetheless, it will definitely be useful for school stuff. I’m not sure if it has much appeal for the normal Internet users, though.