System Notes Org

Did you ever cat a file that caused the terminal to display all kinds of strange characters? Pressing Ctrl-C and Enter, or typing clear doesn't get the console back to normal. The characters are there, but they are unreadable. A quick way to fix this is to use "reset" -- type: $ reset That should bring the console back to normal. Of course, if you just want to clear the screen, you can type "clear" ("cls" in DOS, or a Windows command prompt).

While researching anti-spam techniques, I came across an anti-telemarketing technique that has proved quite useful. Within a few weeks, it noticeably reduced the amount of telemarketer calls I was getting. Here is the original article, which I copied: The original site seems to be down ( http://home.comcast.net/~dakine_101798/spambeater.htm ): so I have a copy on my systemnotes.org site -- http://www.systemnotes.org/notes/security/Defeat_Telemarketers_for_FREE.html Defeat Telemarketers for FREE! Yes! You can stop Telemarketers COLD! Now you can save that $40.00 you were thinking of spending on a TeleZapper . You can even save a couple bucks on the eBay Auctions for this sound file. The TeleZapper is a device that plays the first tone in the three tones that precede the telephone company's historic " This number has been disconnected " message. Most telemarketing predictive dialers listen for that tone, and when it is present t...

The article linked below is a nice introduction to the Vi editor. People often ask why they have to learn vi, or vim. One important reason is that it is the editor most likely available on any linux or unix system you may have to manage as a sysadmin. Less experienced sysadmins may say that they can just install joe, or pico, or something similar -- until I show them 1200 linux boxes that we have to manage! Anyway, once you have the basics, you can add more knowledge as you go. First realize that there are two modes - command mode, and editing mode. "i" puts vi into editing mode, and [esc] goes back to command mode. You can get by with just a few commands at first: vi file.txt i (insert -- go into editing mode) [esc] (move around) [esc]:wq (save) [esc]:q! (quit without saving) read more | digg story Links: http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/info/vi_tutorial.php http://www.viemu.com/vi-vim-cheat-sheet.gif

Did you ever look for a binary, and as a last resort download the source to compile yourself?   Of course you were disappointed that the program would not be part of your package management system. Usually you have to run something like this:   ./configure   make   make install An easy way to create an .rpm or .deb file from source is to run checkinstall instead of "make install" during the standard install from source. http://freshmeat.net/projects/checkinstall -- CheckInstall Freshmeat Page http://checkinstall.izto.org -- CheckInstall Home Page CheckInstall keeps track of all files installed by a "make install" or equivalent, creates a Slackware, RPM, or Debian package with those files, and adds it to the installed packages database, allowing for easy package removal or distribution.

Sure, you can now download music from the iTunes store without DRM but that doesn't mean you should just willy nilly start sharing that music with your friends. For one thing, it's illegal. For another, your account information is embedded into that m4a music file. Don't believe me? Try this yourself. The site is mostly for Mac users, but the strings command works in linux, and cygwin for Windows. This link has interesting comments as well. read more | digg story

VNC is an excellent way to remote control linux and Windows machines. Here is a description, and links to the programs. Blogger Digest: Using VNC And Redhat Linux x11vnc official site Real VNC Server official site TightVNC TightVNC software UltraVNC UltraVNC software

You May know those BIG things But Did you know these? Excellent list of easy firefox tips to implement -- e.g., press Esc to stop animated gifs from moving... # To quickly find any word in a web page type /word it will highlight the word and press Ctrl+G to “Find Again” that same word again # If you wish to remove an item from your Address Bar Drop down menu,Highlight it without clicking and use Shift+Delete. # To stop animated gifs from moving, press the ESC key. read more | digg story