Learning WIX at the minute and needed a Guid for the product ID, a quick search found an easy solution using PowerShell. To make it easier to paste into another application, this was my solution;
[System.Guid]::NewGuid().toString() | clip
This puts the Guid straight into the clipboard, ready to be used.
It seems the definition of week is defined by time between posts rather than a set period of time but this one I couldn’t miss; A simple towel holster, made with parachute cord and a carabiner, for the frood on the go.
Happy Towel Day everyone!
“It’s our turn to decide what that means” really is a wonderful way of explaining to someone what it means to embrace that which you love but that most people see as frivolous. I have a new yard stick;
Despite being an Internet celebrity, Chris Hadfield is just a man who has worked hard to have the opportunity to experience something truly astonishing. Most importantly, to me at least, he has shown that despite the fact he worked his way into orbit it didn’t stop him from playing up to it. In the six months he was commander of the ISS he showed us what it is to be a grown up, insofar as you make the most of whatever situation you find yourself in. If that means you get to float around in a tin can at a vast speed playing guitar then fair play to him! He has done an awful lot to promote science and the space program and more importantly proven that you can become an internet celebrity by actually doing something cool rather than coming up with a random dance or stepping on a rake…
The Space Oddity video, and the many others he posted, are truly the ultimate proof that we decide what it is to be a grown up. For that, he forever has my thanks, admiration and envy.
After a two week hiatus from work and blogging, spent mostly at the ever excellent Reading Beer Festival, I’m back at work and doing something so simple I’ve utterly forgotten how to do it. As this blog started as a way for me to keep track of random things I learn over the years, it’s time to write this one down.
Here’s the issue; I’ve created an XML file and want to create a C# class library to work with it in code. It’s really easy once you remember how, through the use of xsd.exe.
One thing that always makes me chuckle is this line that is included at the top of each CS file;
“This code was generated by a tool.”
In this case, a forgetful one at that.
Today’s post relates to my experience installing Atlassian Stash on a headless Ubuntu box. My first attempt ended with me trying all sorts of nonsense which left the server messy as hell, including an accidental installation of Unity…
The trickiest part for me was the installation of Java as the version available via the package manager, OpenJDK, didn’t seem to play ball with Stash. No idea why but one of the helpful fellows from Atlassian, Stefan Saasen, pointed me in the right direction with this article which I’ve used as basis for the steps below, the browser plugin steps were omitted for obvious reasons.
First of all you need to grab the tar file for Java from here then get it onto your server, the easiest way I found was to use an FTP application in SSH file transfer mode. Then connect to the terminal and run through these commands;
If you are installing on a fresh server, that should be all you need for Java to work. If you’ve a few JVMs present on your machine, see the original article for steps to configure the default. For Stash, you can now follow the instructions here. One thing I found quite useful was the wget command that a colleague showed me, it makes downloading via the terminal quite easy, getting the Stash installer for example can be done like so;
wget http://www.atlassian.com/software/stash/downloads/binary/atlassian-stash-2.3.1.tar.gz
Note, the version I’ve listed there may not be the latest so you should grab it via here;
http://www.atlassian.com/software/stash/download
For editing the setenv.sh file, and text files in general, I’ve found nano really useful. I’ve not ventured into the murky depths of the text editor holy war yet but this does the trick for now. I had to run the same chmod against the Stash home directory I created but after that I was good to go. Open a browser to the path listed in the console and use the wizard to continue setup.
I’ve always been a fan of grid computing and at the start of the year I donated my gaming rig to the World Community Grid project, 24×7 for January, which was a bit of fun and a nice stress test. I’ve since been given permission to install on some spare machines at work and found a bit of a gap in the documentation for a headless installation which I thought I’d bridge. Installing it headless is easy, managing it headless proved a little trickier but only due to my rookie status with Linux. These steps are all you need for a quick installation and remote management;
sudo apt-get install boinc-client
sudo nano /var/lib/boinc-client/remote_hosts.cfg
Add your client machine IP to the list then connect remotely using Boinc Manager. Job done.
For anyone interested in joining the fun, I’ve set up a jedbowler.com team;
This weeks thing was built for a friend for the Iron Man inspired dress she has made for Iron Fest. The ARC reactor is made using 11 superbright 3mm LEDs connected to a pair of AAs. It is then sewn onto a scrap of denim from an old pair of jeans for a bit of structure and covered in white fabric from an old t-shirt. The dress was made by Miss Jones herself, including the repulsor glove, the latter using an EL panel left over from one of her Tron routines. I don’t have a pic of the reactor completed but it works best as part of the outfit after all;
The actual structure of the reactor is really simple, I set out the LEDs in the required pattern using blutak then bent the pins so when soldered together the pins themselves form the structure. This makes for a far lower profile and easier to integrate into the outfit.
As I’m implementing Git at work, I’ve decided to start using it at home too and for the site. As such I’ve dusted off an old account I’d forgotten I’d created and you’ll find me on github as jedibowler. The first of my projects to be posted is the code for the network enabled temperature/humidity logger from a few weeks back which can be found here.
A very good friend of mine is Mr Andrew Pye, his good lady just gave birth to their first child and to commemorate this auspicious occasion I’ve engraved his first pint glass. Welcome to Earth young Liam. 🙂
My wallet has taken a beating, is showing its age and my tablet is still away for repair so I’ve taken to carrying a notebook with me. About time I hacked my Moleskine really…
It already had a pocket in the back so all I needed to add was slots for my cards. To that end I removed a couple of pages at the back to keep the bulk down and used one of the pages for the slot. I’ve added a crude ruler on the back page and I’m going to add reference notes on the blank bit too as I discover useful things I’ve a habit of forgetting.
You can also make your own pages to print out and stick in using the MSK tool, there are quite a few already available too. Likely will add a Tube map in there somewhere as I can never remember which line is which when travelling through London.
http://mymoleskine.moleskine.com/msk/
