Saturday, June 12, 2010

Remotely accessing my Ubuntu server via Windows

- Install cygwin with x11 packages (see cygwin X)
- start cygwin
- /usr/bin/startxwin.exe

In the Xwindows window type in,
- ssh -Y rpaiva@

- you can launch xterm&
- you can launch eclipse&

Wavin Flag - K'naan

Thursday, June 10, 2010

How to make the most of the World Cup: Apps, Web sites, podcasts and more!

My thoughts exactly!!!

Excerpt from Techcrunch (original post: http://bit.ly/dCvAJz)

Let’s get down to business. The World Cup begins tomorrow, June 11, 2010. The tournament kicks off with hosts South Africa against Mexico at 9:30am ET/6:30am PT on ESPN in the U.S. (International readers: you’ll have to consult your local listings.) Consider this post a general how-to on making the most of the tournament. Mobile Apps, helpful Web sites, podcasts, etc. Woo~!
TV
This section only covers the U.S. ESPN/ABC has the rights to the World Cup, and all of the matches will air on the ESPN cable channels and on the ABC network. The first game is South Africa v. Mexico at 9:30am ET on ESPN. It’s in HD, of course, but also in 3D if you have access to ESPN 3D. I’m not rich and I don’t have a 3D TV so whatever. All the games are spread across all of the ESPN/ABC networks, so be sure to check either your digital cable/satellite program guide or ESPN’s Web site. The big game this weekend, England v. USA, is at 1:30pm ET on ABC. Well, at least that’s when coverage starts.
Helpful Web site
There’s an extraordinary number of Web sites devoted to World Cup coverage. The ones I will be checking every two seconds include The BBC (UK), The Guardian (UK), The Times (UK),Marca (Spain), AS (Spain), SPORT (Spain), El Mundo Deportivo (Spain), A Bola (Portugal),Record (Portugal), O Jogo (Portugal), La Gazzetta Dello Sport (Italy), Corriere Dello Sport(Italy), O Globo (Brazil), Clarín (Argentina), France Football (France) ESPN (USA), andGoal.com (USA). Another cool site? Zonal Marking. It discuses tactics and whatnot. Highly recommended for the soccer wonk in your life.
Two ProTips:Try Roja Directa and Iraq Goals. If you’re stuck in the office when a big game is going on, go to either of those sites and you’ll find links to live-streams of all the games. Are these sites legal? I don’t know and I don’t care, and neither should you.
Mobile Apps
Just like there’s a number of Web sites out there, there’s a whole hell of a lot of Apps out there for your phone. Seeing as though I’ll be at E3 next week I will be checking my phone every 23 seconds.
Goal.com’s App [iTunes link, but also available for Android]. It’s basically all of Goal.com (which I believe is the largest soccer site out there) on your phone. Live scores, post-game reports, etc. Totally free, so go crazy. This is the one I’ll be using at E3, I imagine.
World Cup Game Finder. This App goes live a little bit later, but it will point New York City residents in the direction of places (bars and the like) that are showing the games. It only works for the iPhone. And not for nothing, but Nevada Smiths is still the premiere bar in New York to watch the sport. It’ll probably be crowded so get their early if you plan on going. Also: make sure you are, in fact, 21 or older. It’s not like the old days (World Cup 2006) when I could waltz in at noon and buy Stella after Stella at the ripe old age of 19/20. The Man now cards for real, so fair warning.
I only picked out two here because, you know, I don’t have all day to list 8 million Apps. Just search “world cup” on the App Store and the Android Market and you should be cool. I looked at a bunch of them are they’re all sorta the same: live scores and the like.
Radio/Podcasts
Sirius XM has all the games of the World Cup live. I will also be using the Android App during E3 to listen to games live. Ron and Fez (11am-3pm, weekdays) are also all over the World Cup, so do yourself a favor and tune in. I will~! (Also: Join their World Cup bracket.)
The Guardian has a podcast, World Cup Daily, that will absolutely be worth downloading. It’s free.
World Football Daily is another great podcast that will be bringing the thunder during the tournament. It’s not free, but it’s only $5 per month: just buy one less fancy drink at Starbucks this month and you’ll be all set.
Conclusion
I am freaking out. It’s finally here! AAAHHH~!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Yosemite 2010

This memorial weekend i decided to spend some quality time with my camera, and what better place to do that than Yosemite.

Here's what i did to make the most of my trip.
1. Rented a couple of lenses from http://www.borrowLenses.com
Nikon 12-24mm f/4G AF-S DX IF-ED
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S
I also posses a Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX


Out of these two lenses, I thought the the 50mm was fantastic. The pictures taken from that were crystal clear. It's also a very fun lens to have. I'm definitely going to purchase one for myself soon. 
I liked the idea of borrowing the lenses. It gives you a chance to play with the lens and see if this works for you before you spend good money and buy one. There's another lens rental place (http://www.lensrentals.com/), however, since borrowlenses had an office in San Mateo this was a no brainer.


2. I decided on the trip pretty late, and so was unable to find decent accommodation within the park. The best place i could find was YosemiteBug.

This place turned out to be perfect for what i wanted. True, it was not the most luxurious. But it definitely was rustic and completed my camping experience. Finding it was a little tough but when i did it was well worth it.
However, the next time i do visit Yosemite I am definitely going to be staying at Curry Village. Its right inside the park and it has some excellent reviews. 

3. Equip myself with the necessary camping/hiking stuff which i picked up from REI.

Well no biggie. The stuff i got was the bug spray (which i didnt need) and a first aid kit. The other stuff was the usual -> tons of water for all the hikes, gatorade, home made sandwiches to take on the hike (although you can buy them at Degnan's Deli in Yosemite valley). 

4. Plan out my hikes and things i want to check out.

I did a few excellent hikes. Here are the places i visited:
- Foot of Yosemite Falls
- El Capitan - This 3000 foot granite rock is a favorite amongst rock climbers. It takes some climbers 2 days to climb this and its fascinating to see little lights scattered around the rock in the night where climbers have taken shelter in some ledge. 
- Sentinel Rock
- Mirror Lake (around a 4 mile hike)
- Glacier Point (this was quite a strenuous hike: albeit it was just 4.25 miles each way) - The views from this 7000 odd feet above sea level (3200 feet above curry village and the valley) was spectacular. It provides some stunning views of Yosemite Falls, Half dome and Nevada falls. My timing here was perfect as i got there close to sunset. One of the rangers provided us with an informative and entertaining talk about its history. Even though it was a tough hike - it was well worth it.
- Then drove to Bridalveil Falls ( a really fun waterfall - i was completely drenched trying to get close to the foot of it ). Btw - i just loved all the waterfalls. 
- Hetch Hetchy - this glacial valley is completely flooded by the O'Shaughnessy Dam. This area is very picturesque and not that popular among the tourists. So it was a perfect place to try out all my camera settings. 

Photograph links to follow soon....

Overall a really good experience and i'm def going back again. Next time i'm going to conquer Half Dome!

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