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This error pops up for a couple of reasons. At the top of the script there will probably be a line that looks like this:



This is telling Linux that this script should be interpreted using the /bin/sh program. So your first step is to verify that program exists. I tend to use:



This will typically come back with a response like this:



This is telling us that the path to the sh program is in fact /bin/sh, matching the path specified at the top of the script. Ok, so what gives? Well, it's possible that this script was made on an operating system that has line ending characters different than linux. This could have been on on a Mac or PC, or the file could have been converted when it was packaged. In this case, you get the relatively misleading bad interpreter: No such file or directory message, which is really trying to look for sh, although you don't get any indication of the fact.

So, how to fix? Read on. Continue reading "Linux shell scripting: bad interpreter: No such file or directory"

EA's big fall PC gaming release is the long awaited "Spore" from Maxis, beloved studio responsible for all things Sim. Spore has been in some form of development since 2000, and finally hit stores on Sept. 7th, 2008, accompanied by predictions of the title living up to its hype and transcending it from EA brass.

I took a look at the Amazon user ratings for the game, and was shocked to see that it has been absolutely shellacked -- currently 2300+ reviews and only 1.5 stars. The primary reason for the low ratings? Customer outrage over EA's employment of the Sony SecuROM copy protection system, that allows someone purchasing the game, to activate it 3 times. As was pointed out in an amazon review:

Then there's the DRM. Let me just clarify what people are saying by adding, it not only counts installations, but changes to your hardware ! Upgrade a system component (memory, CPU, vid card) and you are out an installation....Basically I just paid $50 for a coaster.

When will companies learn that treating their customers like thieves is never a good business practice?

Continue reading "EA's Spore DRM fiasco"

So the UML Coop has finally after 3 years of talking about it, acquired a new server from Silicon Mechanics. Read the rest of the article for the complete specifications. We will be moving off User Mode Linux (UML) and on to OpenVZ. This change will allow us to accept some new members to the coop, so if you're interested drop me a line.


Continue reading "New Lula/Lampsig Coop Server"

Having recently left a company that had Exchange, the removal of Goodlink from my Samsung Blackjack left the phone in a fairly broken state. I fixed this by doing a full reset (Turn on phone while holding Up Arrow) and choosing 1. This put things back in basic working order.

My efforts to use the built in email client to access my Courier IMap Email had never been successful, so I decided to explore AT+T's XPress Mail system. This consists of client software you install on the phone, and a desktop application that connects through AT+T's servers to give you access to your email remotely, and also can be used to give you access to files on your PC.

Upon install of the client you choose your mail server (in my case IMAP) and input the basic settings required by most IMAP client softare (Account name & Password, email address, the IMAP server, SMTP server, security settings, etc). I did notice an unusual configuration box asking for "Root Folder Path" which I left blank. Here's where the fun began.





Continue reading "AT+T Wireless XPress Mail Courier IMAP setup problem - Trash Folder?"

A few years ago I published a 3 part LAMP tutorial series entitled LAMP, MySQL/PHP Database Driven Websites on the well known php community website PHPFreaks.com. This series dealt with a slew of practical issues including how a LAMP server works, relational database design using MySQL, many to many tables, SQL inner and outer joins, practical PHP debugging, php documentation tools, basic PHP classes, css, interactive javascript & DHTML with a chooser widget, php HEREDOC and php basics like how to process forms and utilize GET and POST methods.

The series was fairly successful, (a 4.5 of 5 after hundreds of ratings), many pages of comments and questions, and page views to the 100k's+ although PHPFreaks auditing system was turned off at some point and stopped recording views.

Unfortunately, some years ago PHPFreaks.com suffered some fairly catastrophic issues with its publishing system. There were also some bugs, and the site was exploited with some XSS, and the admins simply decommissioned the majority of the site. My series was part of what disappeared. At that point, a couple of college Computer Science courses on web development had taken the series and integrated it into their curriculum, and the professor of one of these courses had converted it into a Word document, which I was able to download and convert to pdf.

I plan to write a compatible publishing addon for gizmola.com so that I can take the original markup and republish it here, but in the meantime, here is the series in pdf format. The conversion utility they used stripped out the original markup, and page breaks are gone, but the text, source code, and illustrations are all still there.

I also offer all the source code for parts 2 & 3 of the series. I'm not sure what happened to the source for part 1, however, it is all included inline in the tutorial. The LAMP, MySQL/PHP Database Driven Websites series is now available in pdf format. Click here.

One of the distinctive features of Apple computers is a piece of software called "The Dock". The Dock is sort of an always there menu with big icons that spawn your most frequently used programs. Docks also can run small programs or docklets that can do things like display a clock or show you the weather. Docks also can be configured to display running programs that have been minimized in a mini window. You bring a running program to the front, or launch a program by hovering over the dock with your mouse, and clicking on the icon.



I suppose that people who don't know any better might think that this is something you can only get from Apple, but as it turns out there are docks for Linux and Windows. At home I have a Gateway computer running Windows Vista business, and I wanted to add a Dock. After a bit of hunting, I found some recommendations and settled upon RocketDock from Punk Labs. Punk Labs as it turns out is really a couple (he's a programmer, she's a designer) who go by the pseudonyms of PolyVector and Skunkie respectively. The about screen describes RocketDock tongue in cheek as a "peace offering" from the pair of self admitted Apple fans to Windows users everywhere.

The RocketDock website provides links to the various versions and a straightforward online manual. You get most of the features of the Apple Dock program, and it's very easy to work with. Once installed and running, the RocketDock appears at the top of the screen, with a set of default icons. Right click on the RocketDock and you get a menu that lets you adjust Dock settings. There are various themes that will style the look and feel of the RocketDock, and the RocketDock site offers an Extra's link with downloads to styles and docklet programs other people have contributed. While it's just a quibble with this otherwise great program, there's not much in the way of Docklets available, but I found it hard to resist adding on the simple analog style clock. Continue reading "Free Apple Mac style Dock with Windows Vista and RocketDock"