Monthly Archives: February 2008

Milax: the tiny Solaris

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Who would have thought of a Solaris LiveCD being developed? This is exactly that the folks in Russia did – develop a Live-CD version of Solaris (Nevada b81) and name it MilaX. The small (less than 100MB) package includes Beaver, Vim, Dillo, Midnight Commander, emelFM, XMMS, Xpdf, VNC viewer, Rdesktop, AxyFTP and Irssi. In addition, you [...]
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Getting rid of stowaway packages

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Whilst it is true that apt-get and synaptic (or insert your favorite package manager here) make it easy to install and upgrade applications. However, uninstalling is still quite tricky specially if the application has lots of dependencies. I have been victim to getting my system borked because of an error in uninstallation – removed an [...]
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Speeding it up using preloading

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Who doesn't like a speedy computer? Whilst there are quite a number of hacks to speed up your computer, here is *another* one that has a different approach. The tool is called preload, a daemon that does magic with your system. Well, magic is pushing it but what exactly does preload do? See full article. Related Entries: Mac [...]
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KRename: Batch File Renamer

By | Published: February 29, 2008
We all know that files, specially from digital cameras, are named in a specific format that have no information whatsoever about its contents. There are other files that behave the same way, i.e., no intelligible or descriptive filenames. So what do we do, we rename it but if there are dozens of these files, we [...]
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Is this the One?

By | Published: February 29, 2008
i The ultra-affordable portable market is booming! The Asus Eee PC, Everex Cloudbook, Intel Classmate PC and the XO Laptop are joined by another player from across the pond, the Elonex “One“. Just like the other players, Elonex decided to use Linux as its operating system to cut on the cost. Priced at UKP99, this 1kg wonder [...]
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Ecuador: Galápagos Islands in Search of Clean Energy

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Inter Press Service: Ecuador has taken the first step towards ending the oil dependence of its Galápagos Islands, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with the official opening of a 10.8 million dollar wind energy facility on the island of San Cristóbal. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa toured the facility as part of a celebration of [...]
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Banks say in talks to shape U.S. climate policy

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Reuters: U.S. banks, industry and decision makers are holding open talks about the shape of future climate regulations in the United States, likely to have far-reaching impact on the economy, bankers say. The main idea of any climate change regime is to put a price on carbon emissions, for example with a carbon tax, [...]
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Ethanol to come mainly from corn in 2015-Deere

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Reuters: More research and development needs to be done on producing ethanol from cellulosic material such as switchgrass, which means most ethanol will still come from corn in 2015, said experts from agriculture equipment maker Deere & Co (DE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday. "Cellulose has some promise but we’re also pretty sure there’s [...]
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California emissions waiver formally blocked

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Reuters: The Bush administration on Friday formally rejected California’s bid for a waiver from U.S. law to set its own tailpipe emissions standard to reduce global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency released a regulatory notice signed by Administrator Stephen Johnson, canceling California’s plans to impose a state law that would have forced automakers to [...]
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United Kingdom: Protest over airports expansion

By | Published: February 29, 2008
window.document.getElementById(‘post-7932′).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’;BBC: Climate change campaigners from flood affected areas in Yorkshire have been protesting against airport expansion. Fifteen people blockaded the entrance to government offices on City Walk, Leeds, demonstrating over aviation growth which is linked to flooding. The protesters, who erected tents, are residents of South Yorkshire, Hull [...]
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Out of sight?

By | Published: February 29, 2008
window.document.getElementById(‘post-7932′).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’;Las Vegas Sun: Despite the Bush administration’s abandonment of its "clean coal" FutureGen plant, a Wisconsin coal-fired plant is moving forward with a test project in which it will capture part of the carbon dioxide the plant emits. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. [...]
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United Kingdom: Brown prepared to ban plastic bags

By | Published: February 29, 2008
window.document.getElementById(‘post-7932′).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’;Politics: Gordon Brown has given his strongest indication yet that he could outlaw free plastic bags. Writing in a national newspaper, the prime minister urged all major retailers to do more to eliminate single-use plastic bags. In November, Mr Brown told supermarkets they needed to find ways of [...]
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Arctic warming could result in armed conflict: naval expert

By | Published: February 29, 2008
window.document.getElementById(‘post-7932′).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’;Ottawa Citizen: The fast-warming Arctic’s vast economic potential makes it increasingly prone to smuggling, perilous polar tourism, environmental catastrophes and even armed conflict unless Canada and the U.S. lead efforts to bring order to the region, according to a new analysis. Former U.S. Coast Guard Lt.-Cmdr. Scott Borgerson, in the latest [...]
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Antarctic Sealife Threatened by Warming Oceans

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Voice of America: ‘Frozen solid’ is a term often used to describe Antarctica. But that’s far from the truth. The southern continent is teeming with life, and its waters are home to a stunning array of life, including sea lilies, giant ribbon worms and sea spiders. ‘Frozen in time’ might be a better term. But [...]
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EPA Justifies Blocking Calif. Waiver

By | Published: February 29, 2008
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday justified blocking California and other states from regulating auto emissions by saying the pollution doesn’t cause them unique problems. In a 48-page document describing the reasoning behind its much-criticized decision, the EPA argues that California doesn’t have the "compelling and extraordinary conditions" required for a waiver [...]
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