Archive for October, 2007

How to prevent the ‘Install’ icon on Ubuntu’s LiveCD

// October 23rd, 2007 // 2 Comments » // General, Techie

Ubuntu Install iconIt’s time again for techie talk. Yes, this is because I was unable to easily locate this information using Google, so doing some digging of my own lead to this discovery.

If you’re creating your own custom LiveCD for Ubuntu (we’re doing this at my FTJ in order to allow customers to boot a LiveCD with a demo/training version of our product right from a CD), you’ll probably want to get rid of that annoying ‘Install’ icon that sits on the default user’s (“ubuntu”) desktop. Deleting it from the desktop and saving that configuration aside doesn’t get rid of it. Instead, you need to alter some scripts.

First, if you’re following the Ubuntu LiveCD customization wiki page instructions, you’ll have an ‘edit’ directory with the contents of the CD available for editing. Comment out lines 49-54 in the file ‘edit/usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/casper-bottom/10adduser’ that read:

for file in /usr/share/applications/ubiquity-gtkui.desktop \
/usr/share/applications/kde/ubiquity-kdeui.desktop; do
    if [ -f "/root/$file" ]; then
        chroot /root install -D -o $USERNAME -g $USERNAME \
$file /home/$USERNAME/Desktop/$(basename "$file")
        break
    fi
done

You will then need to ‘chroot’ back into the ‘edit’ directory and remake initrd:

mkinitramfs -o /initrd.gz 2.6.15-23-386

Replace the final arg in that line with the applicable kernel version (look in /lib/modules).

Exit from the chroot jail and move this file to extract-cd/casper:

mv edit/initrd.gz extract-cd/casper/

Continue with the rest of the instructions on that wiki page. Done! Hope this helps someone.

Diarrhea fo’ life

// October 9th, 2007 // Comments Off // General, Humor

For some inexplicable reason, I found this link stuck in my drafts. So let’s see, if I had to list possible reasons I have this link sitting around:

  • If I’m ever sitting on the shitter for the 20th time of the day, wondering what the fuck crawled up my ass, I know what to tell the doctors I have.
  • When I’ve finished reading “Witchcraft For Dummies”, I know what horrible ailment to curse enemies with.
  • I’ll write a spec script for a new horror movie (see title of this post).
  • Mental note: Never visit Brainerd, Minnesota

I still love you, Chunk!

// October 8th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // General

SlothPretty cool movie news: A ‘Goonies’ sequel has stepped even closer to likelyhood.

Anyone who hasn’t seen the movie ‘The Goonies’ usually doesn’t quite get why it has reached such a cult status amongst many who have seen it. And then there are certainly some who’ve seen the movie and thought it was just OK or simply downright sucked. So, what makes the movie so “magical?”
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That’s right preks: The Scots invade TF2

// October 5th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // General, Scottish

TF2 DemomanSome of you may know of my 30 seconds of fame when I helped Robin and crew release TeamFortress 2.9 for QuakeWorld back in … wow, 1998! Anyway, back in those days my cousin (known in-game as “Kinlord”) and I ran a clan called “Clan Braveheart”, where we played primarily as Demolitions Men. One of the silly characteristics we had was often “speaking” (as much as one could speak with typing) in a Scottish accent. I think it was pretty well known by many of the TF gaming community, and definitely Robin, John and Ian, that we did this.

Lately there have been a lot of videos coming out, introducing us to characters of the upcoming release (finally!) of TeamFortress 2. However, one character has yet to be introduced to us: The Demolitions Man. I emailed Robin (who now works at Valve), commending him on the fine work on the game and the videos, then jokingly asked if the Demoman would have a Scottish accent. Well wouldn’t you know it,

I don’t give a shite if it’s coincidence or not (Robin won’t commit either way to me), but I’d like to think this was a brief shout-out from Robin to Jason and I. If you don’t think so, then shag off!

(UPDATE 2007-10-09: And here’s the video! Comes out this week, shaggas!)

I’ll have the cold turkey, hold the Stern

// October 4th, 2007 // Comments Off // General, Ranting

I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m somehow addicted to listening to Howard Stern on Sirius. Well, I should say I was addicted, as I’ve decided to just stop listening to him. Just like that.

I can’t tell you how liberating it feels to drop that big time waste out of my day. I’d think I could get a lot done while listening, and I actually could, but to try writing anything constructive during that time? No way. Could not be done.

If you find yourself falling into the same trap, I recommend giving it a shot. Now I have to figure if Sirius is worth having at all, though if they merge with XM and have more of a a-la-carte offering, I may be sticking around.