Quick Techie Splatter

After changing something on my Linux home router today, I realized I should make a post about the Tomato replacement firmware. Yes, I realize most people have no idea what I'm talking about right now, but for those that do, keep reading.

Tomato is one of many replacement open source firmwares available for the Linksys WRT54G family of access points and routers (among other devices). Most people are familiar with this little ubiquitous device, and many are aware that you can replace the firmware on it thanks to open source software (and some people behind the scenes who poked Linksys until they "did the right thing" with their open source support).

DD-WRT has been one of the most popular of these firmware packages for quite some time. I was a big fan myself. However, a few things began to sour me on it. First and foremost, DD-WRT does a fair job of stepping all over the spirit of open source. Yes, it is technically possible to get the source, but good luck ever figuring out how to get it to build. Moreover, I have seen many (possibly rumored) reports of less than desirable behavior related to the DD-WRT codebase.

Over time, a "subscription" version of the firmware has become available. I see any new features in the future likely only being available to people willing to pay for this, and the free version simply stagnating. This along with the firmware itself having an ever-growing amount of services that bordered on adware made me want to look elsewhere.

It turns out unless you really needed every last knob of DD-WRT, Tomato is both far simpler and equally fully featured. In addition, its hot-set capability for nearly all parameters is very slick.

I won't go into exhausting details feature by feature of the two. I'll suffice it to say that I see no reason why someone wouldn't be equally or more satisfied by using Tomato vs. DD-WRT. A quick Google search of "tomato wrt" brings up others opinions on this subject as well.

Linux Recovery Single User Mode

I recently found myself not knowing the root password on a Linux server I have in my house (it is temporarily relocated until a new hosting location is ready).

I had tried very successfully to forget all of my years of mucking with Linux servers, so it took me a bit to remember how to pull off resetting the root password. I'm throwing it on here in case I forget again in the future.

Since I had local keyboard and monitor access, this was really rather trivial. This was an older server still running Slackware. Slackware was the distro I first learned Linux with, and where I really polished my Linux skills. That said, I'll never use it again. I'm just not interested in the mucking any longer, Ubuntu server is the way to go for me.

Since this was an older Slackware box, it was still using Lilo. So, I stopped the boot process at the Lilo prompt by holding shift. I then used the following command line:
linux rw 1 init=/bin/sh

Now to explain a bit. "linux" was the name of my kernel image, "rw" says that I want to mount the root filesystem read/write, "1" is how I signal to drop to runlevel 1. All of that would be sufficient for simple troubleshooting. However, I needed to startup as root in order to reset the root password. Setting init to /bin/sh takes care of that nicely.

Firefox 3 Extensions

First of all, I really do love Firefox 3. Most people already knew I preferred Firefox to all other browsers. Firefox 3 was exactly the kind of updated I like. It didn't add a bunch of extra fluff and bloat that I didn't need. Instead, they focused on making it quicker, more stable, and even simpler to use. Fantastic.

People often ask what extensions I like or must have. I used to have a monstrous list back in the early Firefox days. Anything that seemed remotely useful I added. I have since tried to make my list be more of an "essentials" list. Some will argue my list is still fairly large, and some are still just niceties. However, I find that every item in my list in some way enhances my browsing experience on a nearly daily basis so they are all worthwhile.

I didn't feel like exporting a text list, so I'm going to be lazy and give you a screenshot instead. About the only extension I would really still like is a better version of the Google Calendar notifier that I used to have (which doesn't work in FF 3).

Take the Long Way Home

I've been meaning to blog several things, but just haven't had the motivation. The flooding has pretty much zapped whatever was left of my ambition. Kudos to KCRG and the CR Gazette though for turning news sources that I often chastise into awesome online sources during the floods.

For something with an equal mix of silliness and depression, I created this Google map of how we had to traverse one of the very few (and possibly only) routes between my current town and my hometown today.

Click on the link near the bottom to be able to see the points of interest better.


View Larger Map

Static Variables in Shared Libraries

I haven't posted for a while, and this isn't really a deserving post, so I apologize for that.

This is however, something I can never seem to keep straight in my head, so I'm throwing it out here to keep track of it for myself and possibly others.

How Static Variables within Shared Libraries (C or C++) Work Under Linux
Static variables within shared libraries for the most part work exactly as they do directly in an executable, on a per process basis. There is no consistency of value between multiple processes using the same shared library.

Each process will have all static data within these shared libraries initialized to zero, and then their scope will be maintained throughout the lifetime of that process, independent of other processes.


I have tested this empirically and found it to be true, and in line with how I theorized that it worked. If you know otherwise and can explain it to me (and shatter my understanding of the world) - I would love to hear it.

5 of the Recent

I've had this post and these songs queued up for a while, so they aren't exactly "of the now". However, they are all still high on my playlist.

Before hitting the list of 5, I have to throw in a plug for an album I bought last night. Del (aka Deltron, aka Del the Funky Homosapien) just threw down his first "real" album in at least 8 years, and the first to be listed as just from him in over a decade. As always, Del is awesome.

Pick it up from iTunes, or grab it from Amazon for a buck cheaper. In either case, you can grab it before it is even available in stores on Tuesday.

Now, on to the list:

Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild (Music for the Motion Picture) [Deluxe Version] - Hard Sun
I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you're looking to get depressed. However, this song reminded me of why Pearl Jam rocked so hard back in the 90's. I think Eddie is finally back to his roots, when I enjoyed listening to them. This is a bit of alt-rock mixed with folk, but mostly it just showcases Eddie's voice.

Pearl Jam - Love, Reign O'er Me (As Featured In the Motion Picture "Reign Over Me") - Single - Love, Reign O'er Me
This movie is also a bit on the downer side - the difference being that there are 2 amazing actors in it. I recommend this highly (which I would for pretty much any Don Cheadle movie). This song (mostly the original by The Who) is a central theme to the movie. Pearl Jam's version plays just as the credits begin to roll. Eddie easily has the pipes to emulate Roger Daltrey on this one.

Craig Morgan - Little Bit of Life - International Harvester
Here's something to liven up the list a bit. You might have to have grown up in a small, farm town in Iowa, playing with farm implement toys to truly appreciate this one. You might also need a 3 year old who loves to sing along. I happen to have both.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump - You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
This is my surprise song of the list. I always knew that Jack White was a great producer, but I was never a fan of his band's music. I happened to catch this song on a rock station one day and assumed it to be some long-lost classic rock song I didn't know. Nope, new White Stripes.
This has a mixture of Black Crowes, with some 70's Cheap Trick thrown in. In other words, catchy as hell and exactly my type of music.
Overall, I've been happy with the whole CD. This is the brightest spot on it, but I dig it all.

Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana 2 - Meet Miley Cyrus - See You Again
So, I threw this on here mostly to prove that I can. Yes, that's right, I just put a Hannah Montana song on here. That's because I'll admit that I think it's a damn catchy song, and that Miley Cyrus actually has a really cool voice. Go actually listen to it and just try to claim that it isn't catchy.

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but I swear it was influenced by "Sunglasses at Night" - see if you agree.

Besides, the Cyrus family has a dynasty in the making, so you can't avoid them. Billy Ray is getting the last laugh at everyone. Not only are he and his daughter making millions (or billions), now his son has his own band on the radio too.

Gwendolyn Fae

(This blog is often about my interests, such as technology. This post probably makes it obvious that it is still my personal blog as well)

Gwendolyn Fae was one of the best people you would ever meet in your life. She spent her entire life providing love and hope to others, and all she ever knew was love by all who came in contact with her. I really wish you could have met her in person. That wasn't possible though, since she died on Sunday, the 3rd of February in 2008, 6 weeks before she should have been born.

Morpheus in The Matrix said "Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?" That's been my life this past week. This can't be reality. There's no possible combinations of events and universes where I can be expected to do these tasks. You can't go from anticipating yet another addition to the happy family, to knowing that person will not be alive, in a single moment. I can't be balancing trying to help others cope, planning events, and mourning all at the same time. How do I wake up? How do I know when it is over?

Without any insight, I always thought I understood when people stated that "children should bury their parents, not the other way around." I had no grasp of the true gravity of it though. It is absolutely unconscionable to require this of a parent, but it goes well beyond that. No parent should have to go through losing a piece of themselves, which every child is in some way. No parent should have to find a way to tell brothers and sisters who have been longing to meet their new sibling that they will not be able to play with them as they had been hoping. Finding a way to say that, and continuing to help them understand it all might be the most difficult aspect of the entire ordeal.

When all of this happens so unexpectedly and and in a mostly unexplainable way, it makes it that much more difficult to process. So much potential and future events that will never get to be, and we have no clear answer why. This is where faith can either be tested or fully realized.

If any good can come of all of this sorrow, it is an increased realization of the power of people all around you. Family and friends can in an instant demonstrate how much they care, and how involved they really are in your life. I always realized the value of both of these, but not to the fully level that it exists. Hopefully everyone who has been affected or involved can also take away some increased realization of how fleeting things can be, and how valuable time with friends and family should be. This sounds a bit trite, but it bears truly thinking about and believing.

I'm sure there is more I should explain, but at this point my mind has been in this dream state for so long, I find any additional thoughts to be fleeting. If you have come across this and have had a similar experience, let me know. I hope that this can help you in understanding the thoughts drifting in your mind as well.

Good luck on your journey without me Gwendolyn, I hope to understand it all someday.