Dell XPS microphone issue (Linux)

While most HW devices work right out of the box, the "lesser used" ones still provide some surprises. Using a recent Linux kernel the microphone will directly be recognized, still doesn't work, though.
Resolution: Using Alsa, change the "Digital Input Source" to "Digital Mic [1]". You might need to turn up input volume. This has been tested with an Intel HDA SigmaTel STAC 9228.

Paper submission cruelty

Working hard until late Friday evening, even hijacking a friend's internet connection (during dinner with same friend), only to find out when submitting that the conference's submission deadline has been extended by two weeks. D'oh!

Microsoft Vision 2019: Wow!

Having been disappointed by Microsoft software especially its operating systems in the last years and being an OS developer myself it is still with pleasure to see MS' vision for 2019. Finally some nice ideas coming out of all the R&D money..




The original link appeared on the IstartedSomething blog.

Tutorial: Building a minimal Linux root filesystem (Step 0)

The first thing when creating a root filesystem is to create a filesystem for it. There are other means to reach the result, but here is a simple one which should work on all *nix systems.

1) Create the container for the filesystem using dd
dd if=/dev/zero of=filesystem_name bs=block_size, typically 1024 count=size in bytes

2) overall a basic filesystem, for example ext2
mk.ext2fs -N number_of_Inodes filesystem_name


and ready!
Please note that the number of Inodes must be greater than the number of files to be created on the root filesystem. If you ever experience a "No space left on device" even though you df shows you otherwise, this might be the problem.

Desert Rose

One of the most beautiful sights in the middle of nowhere, the "Desert Rose" stands out with its Baobab-like branches and its magnificent flower cover. It shares the same fate as the Baobab, though: no young Desert Roses have been seen for a while, apart from being in botanic gardens.
For people loving this plant, it often can be bought in garden centers around Christmas (at least in central Europe), as it is blooming around that time and a though-after decoration. It also supports rather well the dry and hot air typically found in heated housings.
Enjoy this picture which has been taken in Januara 2008 on the road between Jos and Bauchi in Nigeria.

The great adventure, Take 2 (where is Take 1?)

Lapland (Swedish: Lappland) is a province in northernmost Sweden. It borders Jämtland, Ångermanland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten, Norway and Finland. About a quarter of Sweden's surface area is in Lapland (from Wikipedia).

Ben and I are preparing a second stay in Lapland, this time it will be cross-country skiing @ around -20 degrees Celcius in mid-march. Anybody care to join?
Stay tuned for individual updates.

What city do you belong in?

Try it yourself :

What European City Do You Belong In?

Le refuge de l'Olan

Cette fois-ci une montee de 1200m pour arriver au refuge de l'Olan, l'accompagnateur une bonne surprise: ma colocataire. Sportive et motivee, elle montait "comme un vieux grimpeur".
Deuxieme surprise de la journee: il faisait super froid et le refuge n'a pas chauffage, resultat: les grimpeurs qui sont montes meme avec la pluie et les basses temperaturs etaient tous ensemble dans la salle de sejour avec plein de couvertures!
Donc, montee en plein nuages, le lendemain ciel bleu, nouveau esprit et motivation. La region est superbe, je suis content d'y retourner la semaine prochaine, en plus pour 4 jours. Yeeehhaaa!

Not far from here, the Calanques, a magnificient place. Have a look at the Calanques d'en Vau on the left side, arguably the most beautiful.