sc - command line spreadsheet

No surprise to folks who read my blog, I really dig on command line apps.  Well, after another visit to my favorite web based list for cli apps (thanks Jared Lee) and started to play with sc (available even in Lucid 10.04 repos).  This app is for command line spreadsheets.

Command line spreadsheets, well, yes.  I actually have a few use cases where a sqlite database would be way over the top but there is some math I would prefer not to do by hand.  That's what spreadsheets are good for.  sc comes to the rescue.

While I'll confess there is no easy import/export via csv or some other stuff, it is very versatile and does offer a text export which calculates the formulas and shows the layout as if you were using the app.  Let me show you a few quick shots.

First, using the app:

Second,  the format of the file while being used by sc, bear in mind this is also clear text:

Lastly, this is what the text export of the same document looks like:

I hope this might give you some ideas on how to use this quick, simple and easy to use program in your personal workflow.

--
CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Click to support

Our model isn't much different, it just for the right purpose.   I have seen, reviewed and supported the AdBard network, which I have to confess while not actually earning me money, is doing better than the google ads on this same blog.  I think it's like $2.00 vs. .36¢.   The point I'm making here is the AdBard network actually do generate revenue.  And by the two (very weak) metrics I have, it earns more faster than google ads.

Let's just take a moment to stop and think about how ad supported stuff works.  This thought occurred to me when listening to some of my IRC buddies talk about the scripts and apps they were using to interface with ideni.ca.  While I think the technical aspect of some of these apps are new, noteworthy and interesting, I'd just like to make sure that everyone takes the time to visit the identi.ca page, reload until they seen an interesting (or not) advertisement and click on it.

I remember when there was this new search engine out there.  And my wife enjoyed it so much that she would visit the page and JUST click on the advertising links on the side in order to support them...and they are google.   If service companies that we use like identi.ca don't get that revenue it means they must look for other ways, which could be invasive posts in your feed or could be the kind of stuff twitter (yuck) is doing.

Help your favorite open source movement, project, etc. by clicking on their ads to help them get the funding.  If you enjoy opensource software and see a chance to help out, not by donations, but clicks, you will actually be helping!  do it!

-- CafeNinja

 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Discovered Nugget - nmon

 I have to confess that I picked up on this little command line gem as a result of my subscription to a paper magazine.   Linux Magazine had a feature written by Charly Kühnast describing the application "nmon".

This app was a simple "sudo apt-get install nmon" away and was in my Ubuntu 10.04 repos with no further setting changes required.  The application does need to be run in a terminal.  It does not require root permissions and has a great many monitors that are available for viewing in both a real-time and a collection mode depending on how geek your statistic and performance needs are.

I have a screen shot here of the application running in a tall 1/2 wide screen with just a few (not all) of the monitors activated.

I was quite impressed with the monitors/sensors available and if I read correctly there is even a "plugin" system by which monitoring scripts might be plugged in to display monitors that are not predefined.

In my set up I have activated all except memory and processes and run the "htop" command in the a terminal adjacent which then shows almost all possible performance real-time data available in one manageable and comprehensible screen.

Enjoy this app and add it to your list of favorites to use while embracing the command line.

--
CafeNinja



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Gmail: mutt vs. web interface

I am a very serious gmail user.  I think it's a good service.  I have already written on this blog that I am a serious fan of the mutt email client.  Please understand that I don't feel that any other gui mail client competes for the speed with which I can process my email.  So I don't want this to be a email client vs. email client war, I've already said my peace on that and if you don't like that please find another blog.

I do think it's important to check and see what the critical differences are in the two methods I use to access the service.  Clear declaration, that I use imap with mutt so I am not caching or storing the email local (i.e. POP3) which might make a difference in this argument.

After using the web interface with the google labs on for keyboard shortcuts, and giving myself a solid two week time frame during which to become proficient with using the keyboard with the web interface.  I have to say that is can be quite efficient on it's own and very usefull, so the below comparison has everything to do with web+keyboard vs. mutt and the efficiency with processing/managing emails.

Gmail web Pros:
Search speed: very fast and process all headers and body.
Open Access: any OS, any PC commands and interface available

Gmail web Cons:
No gpg support: not for key verification, not for encryption.
Conversation presentation: does invite confusion about where messages are

Mutt pros:
More refined searches: the limit statements are crazy specific
GPG support: completely, inline.
Closed Access: w/ssh access offers only encrypted channel

Mutt cons:
Software requirement: somewhere there must be software installed
Complete searches: if you do a search of body content takes a long time

I have to confess, that with multiple accounts, I have a serious need for some features on some accounts and needs for other features with others.  I actually have one account that I use both interfaces with often.

Find you comfort level, be realistic about access and real needs, if you would like to have high security and choose mutt, it might be very uncomfortable to use a mobile phone for access with a crampped keyboard.

Be practical, pragmatic and safe.

--
CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Mythtv - wow, why didn't I do that before?

MythTv.  I think most of us have heard about it, but have put if off since it sounded too difficult, or complicated or required a bunch of hardware we didn't have.

Well, this changed slightly for me once I had enough of a media library (don't ask me where I got it from) that it was just becoming silly to manage on one computer connected to the TV in the living room.  With some shows for the oldest son only, some shows for the wife only and then some shows that really should have all of us together in a room at one time, it was becoming too restrictive to tie the media to a dedicated machine, with single user and single space access.

So I dropped in mythtv.  Standard repo stuff from Ubuntu 10.04.  I added all the additional repos that looked interesting and that gave me the server "backend" and the player "frontend" on the house server which had all the media.  I then installed the frontend on 2 mac's, and 4 other Ubuntu systems.  And now everyone can connect and watch their shows without needing to be in the living room.

I had a few glitches, the mac binary frontends were the easiest to set up.  But once done, it's running great.  I will be taking the time to push over the photos and the music since that just makes since as well as it's working for video.

-- CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

I was h4cked - episode 38

For those new readers of my blog, I had written podcast reviews of most of the stuff I have in my podcatcher.  One of those shows was h4cked.com.  The guys over there asked me to join their "oval table" review panel of Ubuntu 10.04.  Since I already had it installed, I joined in.

I'l like to give fair warning to anyone who might go over there to hear the show.  It is not safe for work, and unless of a mature age, I would not recommend you play this for your kids.  But if that doesn't scare you off, go over to h4cked.com and play the episode that I took part in.

Enjoy.


-- CafeNinja
 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Dnsmasq for your personal domain and access list needs

With the addition of the dnsmasq server to my LAN (preferably wired) based server, I am able to manage dhcp myself.  To what benefit you may ask, I'm glad you asked.  First is that I can actually set the IP of computers connecting to my network, and group as needed/preferred.  I can also use MAC address to authenticate, so hardware address filtering is not limited by small cheap routing equipment (I discovered a limit of 30 known hardware addresses to put in my wifi router).

So the most minor feature is that when I connect via ssh to my server from the internet back to home, I can use proper hostnames which I know will always resolve to those computers.  No more ssh'ing to one IP after another, just use the name of the computer and if connected will always work.

Simple "sudo apt-get install dnsmasq" and edit the dnsmasq.conf and hosts files.  It is heavy with comments in language which is moderately clear.  There are many guides on the open internet to follow if you have questions.  Turn it on for the safe host name resolution of your internal network.

--
CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.