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Så kan man köra två Firefoxprofiler samtidigt

published Jan 10, 2009 01:10   by admin ( last modified Jan 10, 2009 01:10 )

Starta Firefox med switchen "-P", så kan man välja eller skapa ny profil.

Anyways, FireFox complains that you an instance is already running if you try to run firefox on each screen. To get around the problem, start firefox with -P, which runs the profile selector.



Läs mer: Ubuntu — Running Two Firefox Intances on Dual Screen (Seprate X Screen — not LargeDesktop or TwinView) « The Great Magnet. What a fool I was to defy him.


Varför håller man på med biobränslen när det finns solceller?

published Jan 09, 2009 11:49   by admin ( last modified Jan 09, 2009 11:49 )

De senaste månaderna har jag sett rapporter om olika framsteg vad gäller att använda alger som producerar diesel, och vad gäller effektiviteten som solceller har när det gäller att omvandla ljus till electricitet.

 

Av vad jag minns så är verkningsgraden för fotoceller mycket högre när det gäller att konvertera ljus till användbar energi, än den för biobränslen. Och jag ser på Wikipedia att detta stämmer: Fotoceller är minst dubbelt så bra, möjligtvis upp 40 gånger bättre! Båda sätten att utvinna energi använder ju solen.

Dessutom är det ju så att solceller ger elektricitet ut, vilket är en energiform som är mer användbar direkt än t ex diesel. Elektricitet är svårare att lagra, men det går. Man får då hitta på nåt som att pumpa vatten baklänges i ett vattenkraftverk, lagra den kemiskt eller elektrolys eller något, och på så sätt lagra den i en annan energiform.

The photosynthetic efficiency is the fraction of light energy converted into other forms of energy for use. Trees convert light in to chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis with a photosynthetic efficiency of approximately 0.2-0.5%. Other numbers reported range up to 6%, a more detailed analysis is required. By comparison solar panels convert light into electric energy at a photosynthetic efficiency of approximately 10-20%. The photosynthetic efficiency varies with the frequency of the light being converted.



Läs mer: Photosynthetic efficiency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Plone login portlet and the personal bar could be the same thing

published Jan 09, 2009 05:07   by admin ( last modified Jan 09, 2009 05:07 )

The info in the login portlet and in the personal bar should probably be combined. This would increase the perceived stability (Apple UI design principle) of the Plone user interface.

During some pair programming with Robin today for Betahaus I noticed that in the new design for a site, Rasmus and Robin had chosen to move the login portlet to a viewlet. This viewlet is also used for the info in the personal bar in Plone (personal bar has stuff like logout, link to member folder, etcetera).

This makes a lot of sense. The login form is only displayed when you are not logged in, and the info in the personal bar only when you are logged in. With this design, the same screen real estate could be used for both of them, since only one is visible at any given time. Conceptually, they also fit very well together.

Instead of a viewlet, this could of course also be done with the existing login portlet. In their present incarnations in Plone, the login portlet and the personal bar have different form factors on screen. Robin and Rasmus show info from the personal bar with a thumbnail of the logged in member, and also some dashboard-like links that gives the member access to recent stuff relevant to him since last login. The resulting form factor becomes identical to the login form's, so they can easily alternate in the same screen space.

 


Länk - Vi är inte stenåldersmänniskor

published Jan 08, 2009 11:35   by admin ( last modified Jan 08, 2009 11:35 )
Well, the assumption that humans stopped changing in the Pleistocene was always obviously false. You won't find many people who will admit to making that assumption, but there it is anyway, strewn through their works. It made a useful assumption for some people, in that they could examine so-called universals instead of more messy variations. But those variations are proving to be the most interesting frontier of behavioral science. Some of them have been under strong selection, perhaps showing the adaptive reactions of minds to new social and cultural systems of the Holocene.



Läs mer: Recent evolution in Newsweek | john hawks weblog


Länk - Mood boards - for getting the right mood of your design

published Jan 06, 2009 09:40   by admin ( last modified Jan 06, 2009 09:40 )
The template takes a more streamlined approach, dropping the handmade elements but keeping the blue and brown color scheme. The color palette, patterns, type treatments and photo usage are all more explicit.



Läs mer: Why Mood Boards Matter | Webdesigner Depot - Photoshop Tutorials, Wordpress, Icons, WP Themes


Länk - "Just enough Operating System"

published Jan 06, 2009 09:40   by admin ( last modified Jan 06, 2009 09:40 )
"Just Enough Operating System" (JeOS)



Läs mer: Virtual appliances made easy with rBuilder


Länk - YUI grids - färdiggjorda översiktliga layouter med CSS

published Jan 06, 2009 09:39   by admin ( last modified Jan 06, 2009 09:39 )
The foundational YUI Grids CSS offers four preset page widths, six preset templates, and the ability to stack and nest subdivided regions of two, three, or four columns. The 4kb file provides over 1000 page layout combinations. Other features include:



Läs mer: Yahoo! UI Library: Grids CSS


Länk - Möjligt att återskapa hjärna

published Jan 06, 2009 09:34   by admin ( last modified Jan 06, 2009 09:34 )
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies have found that there are probably ways to regenerate brain matter



Läs mer: Regenerate Your Brain? -The Science Says It's Possible


EU måste gå in i Mellanöstern

published Jan 06, 2009 06:27   by admin ( last modified Jan 06, 2009 06:27 )

Det är mycket nu, som det brukar sägas på TV ibland. Iran har genom Hamas och Hezbollah lyckats projicera sin makt ända bort till Medelhavet och risken är att vi får se ett "muslimskt" inbördeskrig mellan Shia och Sunni.

Världsekonomin går ner och detta drabbar instabila länder hårdast. En del av dessa som Pakistan, har kärnvapen, och Indien anklagar nu Pakistan för att ha legat bakom terrordåden i Bombay. Om ett krig utbryter mellan Pakistan och Indien kommer miljoner att dö fort om kärnvapen kommer till användning.

En anledning att Iran och Syrien kan utöva sådant inflytande i Mellanöstern är att andra länder i regionen är ineffektiva, både på krig och på att skapa en framtid för sina egna befolkningar. Under dessa omständigheter väljer en hel del människor livsstilar som är destruktiva. En hel del människor tilltalas då  av en krigar- och offermentalitet, och Iran har varit duktiga på att stödja dem i detta.

Man ska inte tro att den livsstil vi har i liberala demokratier alltid kommer så naturligt till människan: I filmen "The Baader Meinhof Complex" kan man se tysk medelklass som väljer ett kamp- och förstörelseliv trots utmärkta möjligheter att leva ett bekvämt borgerligt liv.

Dock ökar chanserna betydligt för en människa att välja en produktiv livsstil om hon stöds av demokrati, frihandel och starka institutioner. Med dessa fundament så brukar hetsporrarna bli få till antalet och kunna hållas i schack.

I stora delar av Mellanöstern och i Pakistan finns en hopplöshet om att kunna skapa sig ett bra borgerligt liv. Det bästa hopp de har är EU.

Vi ska dock inte tro att t ex Pakistan skulle kunna bli medlem, men Turkiet borde in fortast möjligt. Med Turkiet som brohuvud kan trovärdiga samarbets- och handelsavtal slutas med länder i Mellanöstern, på ett sådant sätt att hoppet om ett borgerligt liv kan vara starkt och trovärdigt nog att försvaga hetsporrarna till en punkt där de inte längre kan påverka samhällsutvecklingen.

Turkiet måste därför in i EU så snabbt som möjligt och de samarbetsavtal som  förbereds mellan EU och Nordafrika och mellan EU och länder i öst måste också inkorporera Mellanöstern, inklusive Israel.

Européer har en tendens att tro att de lever i en slags bubbla av välstånd och frid, så snart världskrigen dragit förbi. Men faktum är att om vi inte för en aktiv utrikespolitik och ser om vårt hus så står vårt enda hopp som vanligt till att USA räddar oss, och det kan komma en tidpunkt när det inte fungerar.


Bister artikel i Economist om darwinism, feminism, socialism, status och kriminalitet

published Jan 03, 2009 12:24   by admin ( last modified Jan 03, 2009 12:24 )

I The Economist finns det en artikel om hur det naturliga urvalet kan användas som förklaring för:

  • Kriminalitet
  • Att kvinnor tjänar mindre än män
  • Att ett samhälle inte blir lyckligare av att bli rikare, och att de relativt fattiga har dålig hälsa
  • Att det finns rasism

 

I artikeln menar man att många av de saker vi tror går att ändra eller bota, i själva verket är uppkomna och skapade av det naturliga urvalet. I samtliga fall försöker man hitta rationella förklaringar, grundade på tesen att reproduktion är det viktigaste kriteriet för framgång. 

  • Vad gäller kriminalitet så menar man att detta kan vara en "rationell" respons hos unga män som tror sig inte kunna få reproducera,
  • vad gäller kvinnors löner så menar man att kvinnor över sin mest reproduktiva ålder inte behöver bevisa sitt genetiska värde med en hög lön och därför inte söker detta.
  • Vad gäller rikedom och lycka/hälsa menar man att det beror på den stress som låg social status ger, då den försämrar reproduktionsmöjligheterna
  • Vad gäller rasism att människan historiskt diskrimerat mellan "vi" och "dom" (men artikeln noterar att ras kan ersättas med något annat)

 

Jag tror att den här typen av resonemang kommer att få kraftigt genomslag i det allmänna medvetandet, och det potentiellt kan leda till stor oro.

A classic example is income. Women earn less than men. Or do they? In fact, younger women do not, or not much. A recent report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a British think-tank, found that British women aged between 22 and 29 who were in full-time employment earned only 1% less than their male counterparts. This age group corresponds for many women to the period when they are single. Once they have found the best available mate, the calculation changes: a woman no longer needs to show of



Läs mer: Darwinian answers to social questions | Why we are, as we are | The Economist


How to get your windows back when your Linux screen goes black

published Jan 02, 2009 07:33   by admin ( last modified Jan 02, 2009 07:33 )

Summary: Ctl-Alt-F1, followed by Ctl-Alt-F7 works for me

One of my Linux machines, a Toshiba L30 laptop running Ubuntu 8.04, has problems with the X window display system when running an external monitor. Sometimes the external monitor goes all black, and sometimes both the laptop screen and the external monitor go black. In the later case, I can see the cursor flitting around in a jerky way on the laptop screen when I move the mouse. Everything else is gone.

My guess is that there is something fishy in the dual monitor setup, and that possibly some memory positions are written to that should not be written to. It's been some years since I tried to tweak the X settings on a linux computer and I do not feel like trying again, because it is a job that is a real time sink.

A simple remedy I have found is to go into one of the command line consoles, by holding down Control, Alt and the F1 keys,  release them and then go back to X by holding Control, Alt and F7. I do not know why this works, but it does.

Another option is to hold down Ctl, Alt and backspace, but this reboots X, and you have to restart your applications. The method described above gets me everything back as it was.


How to install Linux on Virtualbox on OSX Leopard with a pre made Ubuntu image

published Jan 01, 2009 11:08   by admin ( last modified Jan 01, 2009 11:08 )

First you need to download and install VirtualBox. That is the easy part. I used 2.10, which is the one available at the time of this writing.

 

Secondly, you need a premade Ubuntu image. You can find one here (I cannot vouch for the quality or integrity of these), specifically I used the Ubuntu 8.10 from here.

You need to unpack the image from its 7zip format.

Unpack the image. You now have two files inside a folder tree, a .vdi file and a .xml file. The .xml file contains the settings for your new virtual machine, such as amount of RAM and other stuff. The .vdi file is an image of the hard disk, with all the linux stuff pre-installed. These two files are all you need to create a VirtualBox virtual machine. We need to place these file where VirtualBox can find them and we need to edit the .xml file, because it does not work in its downloaded configuration.

The xml file that the Ubuntu 8.10 virtual machine image linked to above, does not work ( at least not on my machine, and not at the time of this writing) . I think it may have been made for an older version of VirtualBox, but I really don't know. We can make it work though. We do this by letting VirtualBox make a new Virtual Machine of its own (let's call this the bogus machine), and we use the files created by that one to guide us on how to make the downloaded machine work.

Start VirtualBox and pretend that you are going to make a new Ubuntu virtual Machine from scratch, just so we get a skeleton to work with.

Select Ubuntu, and some sane settings for memory and other stuff. Exit VirtualBox after you have created a virtual machine and its accompanying storage.

You will now have two .vdi files, one that was created by VirtualBox for your bogus Virtual Machine, and one that we downloaded. The downloaded .vdi file is correct and just needs to be placed somewhere where VirtualBox can find it. But the XML file needs to be edited.

Delete everything from the downloaded xml file except the beginning and the end:

<?xml version="1.0" ?><!-- Sun xVM VirtualBox Machine Configuration -->
<VirtualBox version="1.5-macosx" xmlns="http://www.innotek.de/VirtualBox-settings">
  <Machine OSType="Ubuntu" currentStateModified="false"
lastStateChange="2008-11-01T12:55:48Z" name="ubuntu-8.10-x86" uuid="{c7f76231-b24b-462e-815c-967a054c0120}">

In the above XML I changed the OSType value from "ubuntu" to "Ubuntu". If you do not do this change, VirtualBox will choke on it and say that it is not among the valid OS types. Strangely enough it lists the allowed values as part of the error message and "Ubuntu" is not part of them, however Ubuntu works and is indeed generated by VirtualBox itself when it created our bogus machine.

 

and the end:

    <HardDiskAttachments>
      <HardDiskAttachment bus="IDE" channel="0" device="0" hardDisk="{58a58064-e589-47c0-baba-de38fa621c80}"/>
    </HardDiskAttachments>
  </Machine>
</VirtualBox>

Paste in the corresponding parts from your Bogus machine in between. You may get away with editing the file in a more fine grained way, but I have not tried that. Place the .xml file in the same directory as the bogus xml file is already in.

 

You must now move the downloaded vdi file to a location where VirtualBox can find it, and tell VirtualBox that it exists.

Edit the VirtualBox.xml file, and add the following sub element inside the <HardDisks> element

 

 <HardDisk uuid="{58a58064-e589-47c0-baba-de38fa621c80}" location="VDI/ubuntu-8.10-x86.vdi" format="VDI" type="Normal"/>

I moved the .vdi file to the VDI sub directory of VirtualBox to make the above XML declaration to be correct.

The username and password needed to login is not documented. it is 'ubuntu' and 'reverse'  respectively (without the quotes).

Once Ubuntu is booted you will want to install the guest extensions. Select this from the menu. It will mount a virtual CD for you and try to auto run it, which will fail. Run the appropriate script from the command line instead.

Each time you update the kernel, it seems like you need to reinstall the guest extensions.

I then ran Ubuntu in rootless mode under Mac OSX, and I can mingle windows from OSX and Ubuntu. I tried Kate and it works including sftp with kioslaves. I have now returned the Mac due to a mechanical problem, and hence can give you no screen shots but everything worked fine!

Well I actually I made screenshots, but I (duh!) stored them on the Mac's hard drive...

 

(Sorry about not being specific in all places in the instructions, this is of course due to my not having the Mac anymore. Maybe I also edited the Virtualbox.xml file to indicate the new virtual machine. Please check if the bogus machine is registered there, and if so, register the other one accordingly.)

 

 


FAST - Fjärrlögndetektor med ett mycket märkligt bevis att den fungerar

published Jan 01, 2009 09:19   by admin ( last modified Jan 01, 2009 09:19 )

Homeland Security i USA håller på att testa en lögndetektor som ska kunna användas på på flygpassagerare när de går igenom en korridor. En kommentar på Slashdot påpekar dock det roliga i nedanstående citat från artikeln, att systemet när det testades på frivilliga, kunde plocka ut de med onda avsikter. För då kommer ju frågan: Hur f-n hittar man frivilliga med onda avsikter till ett test??

Homeland Security ran a test in September of 140 volunteers using a FAST prototype. The system was very accurately able to pick out people with hostile intent.

Läs mer: Futuristic Security Checkpoints Know What You Do Before You Do It

 

The FAST system detects physiological signs of stress. In testing it detected "hostile intent" in volunteers. The obvious question is how can volunteers have valid hostile intent? You can't test deception with fake deception. The generalizability of physiological response to stressors is a basic tenet of physiological psychology (the folks who brought you FAST's grand dad, the polygraph)



Läs mer: Slashdot | Security Checkpoints Predict What You Will Do

 


James Lovelock: Jordens balans permanent satt ur spel - vad vi än gör

published Jan 01, 2009 04:30   by admin ( last modified Jan 01, 2009 04:30 )

James Lovelock, den gamle NASA-forskaren som skrev en bok om jorden som en levande organism - Gaia - är dyster om jordens framtid, enligt The Daily Galaxy.

Lovelock menar att vi rubbat planeten ur ett jämviktsläge. Lovelock menar att olika fenomen, som global uppvärmning men också "global dimming", gör att vi kommer att få en klimatmässig berg- och dalbana i framtiden, och under denna period och när jorden finner nästa jämviktsläge så kommer det att bli bistert för oss människor.

Vad ska man säga? Mer kärnkraft!(Det säger Lovelock också, om än inte skildrat i denna artikel)

Today, Lovelock believes that a rapid drop in carbon in the atmosphere could actually do more damage than good. He believes that the global warming that we are currently experiencing is offset by a cooling of 2-3ºC, caused by Global Dimming -essentially, the reduction of direct irradiance at the earth’s atmosphere as a result of industrial pollution, known to others as aerosol particles. It’s a horrible catch 22 situation that leaves only a very small gap for any joy at all. If we continue to do nothing (note the use of the word continue), then we will doom ourselves. If we do do something, like a massive cut back in the emission of carbon in to our atmosphere, Lovelock believes that we would further damage Earth.



Läs mer: The Status of "Spaceship Earth"


DECT-telefoner kan avlyssnas med en Linuxdator med instickskort

published Dec 30, 2008 02:48   by admin ( last modified Dec 30, 2008 02:48 )

Tyska hackers visar att många samtal med trådlös telefoni inte inte följer säkerhetsstandarden ordentligt och  kan avlyssnas med en Linuxdator med ett billigt Dect-kort i. Även Dect-samtal som följer säkerhetsstandarden för Dect kan avlyssnas med hjälp av samma dator, och en man-in-the-middle-attack, där datorn låtsas vara basstationen för den lokala telefonen..

 

Uppdatering 16:20

Här är artikeln på engelska:

 

Tews explained that the boffins quickly noticed there was sometimes no authentication or encryption process between the transmitter station and the handheld device. In many cases, as with the GSM mobile communications standard, the telephone only authenticated itself against the network, even though, according to the DECT protocol, the network can in principle also authenticate itself against the receiver.
Läs mer: 25C3: Serious security vulnerabilities in DECT wireless telephony - heise online UK

 

Keine Probleme mit dem Abfangen von DECT-Ferngesprächen habe diese Vorrichtung, wenn ­ wie sehr häufig ­ eine Verschlüsselung überhaupt nicht aktiviert werde. Aber auch bei einem anfangs verschlüsselten Informationsaustausch könne die Steckkarte eine Basisstation vortäuschen und die Kryptierung dabei deaktivieren.

Läs mer: heise Security - 30.12.08 - 25C3: Schwere Sicherheitslücken beim Schnurlos-Telefonieren mit DECT[update]


Strålsjuk av att flyga in i ett åskväder?

published Dec 27, 2008 11:29   by admin ( last modified Dec 27, 2008 11:29 )

Åskväder på hög höjd kan ge rejäla doser gammastrålning:

"Everywhere we look, we're seeing x-rays and gamma rays flying out of thunderstorms and lightning," said Joseph Dwyer, a physicist at the Florida Institute of Technology and lead author of the study. "The gamma rays coming out of thunderstorms are so intense we can measure these 600 kilometers away and so bright that it almost blinds the spacecraft."



Läs mer: Lightning-Storm Gamma Rays Could Harm Air Travelers | Wired Science from Wired.com


Länk - Bakterie tar bort giftig sulfid utanför Afrikas kust

published Dec 27, 2008 11:29   by admin ( last modified Dec 27, 2008 11:29 )
In a 4,200-square-mile Atlantic ocean swath off the coast of Namibia, bacteria converted lethal sulphide into foul-smelling but otherwise harmless sulphur and sulphate.



Läs mer: Toxin-Gobbling Bugs Could Clean Ocean Dead Zones | Wired Science from Wired.com


Vågar du äta den här grodan?

published Dec 27, 2008 11:28   by admin ( last modified Dec 27, 2008 11:28 )

I Indien har man upptäckt en groda som mest lever under jord. Den ser ut som en felande länk i utvecklingen av grodor. Man får nog inte äta den, för den är nog fridlyst, om man hunnit detta.

Scientists have recently discovered a very strange breed of frog. It's a kind of "living fossil" whose great great grandparents lived during the time of the dinosaurs. The doughnut-shaped, purple frog was found in a "biodiversity hotspot" in the mountains of southern India. It is bloated and purple and has very tiny eyes. Look how small the head is.


Läs mer: The Official Purple Frog Appreciation Page


Länk - Varför sker avchimpanisering?

published Dec 27, 2008 11:28   by admin ( last modified Dec 27, 2008 11:28 )
This behavior of intentionally gathering together and going out to kill members of our own species is an extremely rare behavior. Humans do it. Chimps do it. There is some evidence that wolves and hyenas do it. But it's pretty much a human and chimp innovation. You have a very intelligent animal and a social animal. And when you're a social animal, all of the evolutionary pressures are toward living in a group. There are hierarchies. There are mechanisms for resolving disputes in nonlethal ways. That can all be summed up under empathy. But humans and chimpanzees, when they are fighting an out-group, have the ability to turn off the empathy. By turning that off, you dehumanize the enemy or dechimpize the enemy.



Läs mer: How Biology and Technology Shape Sex and War | Wired Science from Wired.com


Kanske dags att satsa på växter som växer i salta jordar?

published Dec 27, 2008 11:28   by admin ( last modified Dec 27, 2008 11:28 )

Mycket mark i världen är inte odlingsbar därför att den t ex är infiltrerad med saltvatten från kusten. Men det finns växter med hög avkastning som kan växa i dessa förhållanden.

Overly salty land could play a large and previously underappreciated role. That's because there's plenty of previously uncultivated territory in the world's coastal deserts, inland salty soils, and over-salinized agricultural land.



Läs mer: Food vs. Fuel: Saltwater Crops May Be Key to Solving Earth's Land Crunch | Wired Science from Wired.com