Computers

to check a mounted drive

telinit 1 # single user mode, closes all programs + network
mount -o remount,ro / # remount read only
fsck -f /dev/hd.. # run the checker
or: e2fsck -f /dev/hd..
mount -o remount,rw / # read-write again.
runlevel # see the current/previous runlevel
telinit 3 # use the previous runlevel in this command

badblocks -s -v -w /dev/hdd1

BETTER:

e2fsck -c -c -k -f -v -p /dev/hdd1

One of the trickier parts of setting up Xorg is getting the monitor refresh rate configured properly - this tool can make that much easier:

# emerge -av sys-apps/ddcxinfo-knoppix

Then run it like this:

# ddcxinfo-knoppix -monitor -modes -firstmode 800x600

This will produce details that need to be edited in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Came across this in my graphics searches today - the Electric Sheep Screensaver which is open-source and uses a distributed model to generate the graphics and an evolutionary model to design more complex imagery.

I've installed it on a computer on the LAN - we'll see how it goes ...

http://electricsheep.org/

Example of a lineage:

http://sheepserver.net/v2d6/cgi/dead.cgi?id=93571&detail=lineage

Note: firewall was blocking the 'bittorrent' download option - turned that off seems to be going now ..

This program is handy for creating 3D models of buildings and such on your computer - however it was the ability to add custom photos onto the side of objects, or to use a building of a photo to help create the 3D model, that I was most impressed with.

http://sketchup.google.com/

some "How To" videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=aidanchopra&p=r&page=1