Fresh Photos

Немножко про то, как тут под санкциями живется. Сразу скажу: не сильно кучеряво. Мсье Сиблинкофф может иметь свое мнение про возможный избыток фуа-гра подешевевших на Флоридщине, я таково избытка (или дефицита) не заметил. Ем паштет из куриной печенки с жареным луком своево собственного производства по рецепту моей бабки -- шефа по первым блюдам закрытого ресторана Дома Архитекторов в 1950...1966 гг.

Но в магазе на Винчестер Булвард сало украинское из продажи пропало, пичалька, поскольку шкварки из канаццкого (луччего здесь) бекона есть галимое канаццкое говно. На магазе полно говённой рекламы:
 
Чёс обычный. Но местным гусским нгавицца, отсыпят по $50 за билет, плюс  скокото местный МОССАД добавит.

А вот тут коммент: обратите внимание на этого кучерявого брюнета с еврейской Марко-Шагаловской балалайкой, отжигающего по крышам. Должен вродь как русского Ваню изображать, и потому без пейсов. Пока. Это дети смотрят, и очень скоро гусский Ваня в ихъ сознании будетъ брунет с пейсиками.

Никакими русскими тут и не пахнет, как я уже писал много ранее. Я один остался, как Штирлиц, сцуко. Ярманка в ярмульках для тутошных "гусских" с дегустацией водки (сучка Кентуккского, похуже любого вашего дагестансково разлива) спонсируется Еврейским Комьюнити центром, других спонсоров нет.

 Поляков в Бейерия не в пример больше, чем русских евреев и бандеры. Но подчеркнуто польских магазинов нет нигде: есть "европейские", т.е. с русскими, украинскими, польскими, израильскими  товарами, чешским, словацким  и немецким пивом, грузинским вином.

Да, и 90 процентов русской еды не долгого хранения производится прям тут, например, "Вологоцкое" масло из Шикаги. Я писал об этом в своей статье 1999-го в Компьютере, мало кто помнит. Родная красная икра с Сахалина или там Камчатки контрабандная появляется регулярно в продаже за смешные $3 за фунт.(родная аляскинская та же икра, но несолёная и мороженная для приманки/прикормки идет по втрое дороже в рыболовных магазах.

 (to be continued)

A policeman is quite interested.

Обмундировка и обвески времен Вьетнамской войны. Лет 15 уже тут, на Capitol Flea Market.

Modelo plus/minus sustances

The cheapest avocados go $5 for 4 fruits. I need to cut my tree, and fast.

My sweet lady's plot in the community garden.

And here's is this young lady grower with a 3 metre-high sunflower in the background.

This particular garden is serious: needs bees.

Raspberry in Californian draught.

трехметровые калифорнийско-хохляцкие семечки.

Артишоки

 А  это -- местное сельпо.

С салом и колбасами, как я уже упоминал, прискорбная пичалька: впополам выбор меньше.

А это -- неправильная корюшка: это вяленые анчоусы. Дурят нашего брата-эмигранта, и никого с Дальвостока, чтоб за руку эту фарцу поймать.

Мой маленький садовод-декоратор.

Специальная кукуруза маленькая для поп-корна, особенно котлового.

Книжку роскошную прикупил: Стандарную энциклопедию рыбной ловли, 1965 года, 1058 страниц.

В мире рыбалки 60-е прошлого века были простецкие времена: дельфинов ловили, ели и нахваливают тут.

Пивечко.

А это -- ранчо в Дьявольских горах.

Ace Stream 3.0 for Ubuntu 14.04

Ace Stream player/plugin just stopped working on Linux Mint 17/Ubuntu 14.04 four days ago. Community is full of help and explanations of what "bad bencoded data" may mean. I followed this procedure by tux13:

Сделал так:
1. Установил пакет python-setuptools

Код: [Выделить]

$ sudo apt-get install python-setuptools

2. Скачал acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64.tar.gz

Код: [Выделить]

$ wget http://dl.acestream.org/ubuntu/12/acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64.tar.gz

3. Распаковал архив acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64.tar.gz

Код: [Выделить]

$ tar xvfz acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64.tar.gz

4. Скопировал содержимое распакованного архива в соответствующие папки

Код: [Выделить]

$ sudo cp acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64/acestreamengine /usr/bin/
$ sudo cp -R acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64/data /usr/share/acestream
$ sudo cp -R acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64/lib /usr/share/acestream

5. Перезагрузил систему
6. Проверил версию Ace Stream

Код: [Выделить]

$ acestreamengine --version
version: 3.0.0-a18 revision: 1083

Делал под версию Ubuntu 12.04-64bit ... если посмотреть, то на этой же странице есть альфа-версии движка под другие версии Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian ...

« Последнее редактирование: Август 19, 2014, 20:50:47 от tux13 »

While there is a newer alpha (-a19_), this "-a18_" alpha version works just fine on my Linux Mint 17 laptop. Mind you, I believe the above procedure is for upgrading on top of version 2.1.6. Even if this is not explained clearly, fresh install may give you some quirks (unmet dependencies, missing libs, etc.). Also do not mess with 32-bit versions of your Ubuntus any more, have 2 GB of RAM or more and switch to 64 bit, you will get a better system. In this context, newer Ace players don't do well in 32 bit.

As for my observations, what's new in 3.0.0 versions is it loads a stream with a little larger delay compared to 2.1.6  Ace that I had before. So far, on stable streams with sufficient number of peers it seems more stable: showing buffering constantly on live streams, it won't interrupt showing content.

But it could be just my subjective feeling. Plus, I use some fine tuning in options:

"Play entertaining videos while prebuffering" NO mark! I don't need no stinking entertainment!
"VOD buffer, s" 20 by me
"Live buffer, s" 45 by me to facilitate smoother HD streams

The rest is fine with defaults.

Mind you, there's still no Ubuntu 14.04 Ace version compiled, so there might be more troubles ahead.

UPDATE:  Well, it didn't work for even 24 hours after this my post. Since August 18, today's rollback, or upgrade to version 2.2.9_next (or 2.2.7_next) would be a second one. That is, if you operate a Windows box, you're generally fine, and their auto-update of Ace stream engine following changes at server side does it for you without much of hiccuping.

But the Ubuntu lacks this mechanizm, at least for roll-back/downgrade of the acestream_3.0.0-a18_ubuntu_12.04_x86_64.tar.gz shown above to a non-existent (as per August 22 12:30 PDT) Ubuntu ACE Stream version 2.2.9. When (and if) it will be available for downloading the procedure shown above should stand, if only with necessary naming corrections.

UPDATE #2: Apparently, the server-side Ace Stream software was rolled back during last 24...48 hours, so my installation of "...3.0.0-a18_..." started working. It looks like previous "non-alpha" versions should work, too, but I've got used to somewhat nicer behaviour of 3rd version of Ace for Ubuntu, even if its just an Alpha, and a 18th iteration of it.

Mind you, not all your major/favourite streamers tuned their software just yet, so you might find yourself still waiting for a legit stable Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit (32-bit may even never show up) 2.2.x version, easily installable and upgradeable.  

Local Feast

Everything was good and neighbourish:

This one must be a singer.

I need to bring in 100s of books here.

Acer Chromebook 13: First Impressions

As I said before, the killer ARM laptop of 2014/Q1 2015 would be this future (unannounced yet) Acer/ASUS/HP machine based on 64-bit Tegra K1 Denver running at its cruising speed 2.5 GHz fanless. Denver is said to be pin-compatible with original Tegra K1, so Acer is technically closer to launch a next to Chromebook 13 CB5-311-T1UU,  currently top model with 4GB RAM, 1920x1080 13" screen and 32GB SSD for $379. As of today, outside Nvidia nobody can offer his/her first impressions, but what was shown here is quite impressive:




I will update this my post as soon as "real" hands-on reviews and tear-downs will start to show.

For myself, I only wish a similar laptop, only Denver based, will show up before Christmas for about $450. This would be a real treat.

Ольга, вот такой Эйсер должен продаваться и в России, но на пару сотен дороже. Весьма рекомендую. Вместо корявого Скайпа будете использовать Hangouts от Гугла. Если продаваться не будет из-за санкций и т.п., готовьте денюшку, переправлю.

UPDATE: First hands on review by Robert Smith has shown up here: https://plus.google.com/communities/105678482604512626671/stream/ef3b6746-7048-4bb6-b941-7a9845d930c3. There are also 17+ comments on the article, they are interesting too.

First impression of this reviewer is it's well below Celeron 2955U in performance. My take on this news is it will be very good if it could reach levels of performance of Celeron N2830. However, a future Chrubuntu distro for Tegra K1 (say, based on Nvidia cooked Ubuntu 14.04 for their dev board Jetson TK1) may move benchmarks up a little, but that's it IMHO.

So, as I said before, $379 for a top model of Acer Chromebook 13 is way too stiff a price when it's close to a 2 year old Acer C7 in terms of performance, just showing smoother high bitrate 1080p playback.

Moving on, and waiting for the Tegra 64 bit Denver K1 to show up. But before that, it would be interesting to see a first teardown of this Acer: who knows, maybe it has a socketed Tegra K1 capable of being upgraded to Denver K1.

And before that some humour:

Dell Ispiron 1520, Part III

At last! The replacement keyboard has arrived!

It took me less than three minutes to do the transplant. Replacement keyboard from good guys at Honestlaptop.com is in while original keyboard with defective "Y" is out. Now Dell is back! Ahhh, sweet dense 1920x1200, 15.6" display. Running Linux Mint 17+XBMC Frodo 12.3+AceStream (for Ubuntu 14.04).

HP Elitebook 6930p is in ruins still: needs to be screwed back to life. But before that I need to find a way to not damage the inverter-to-display cable with this very stupid hinge cover that seriously doubles as a cable cutter:

Ace Stream Player In Ubuntu/Linux Mint: New Method

Since my April article, there were plenty of development. Well, except for a good build of Ace Stream engine/player/plugin for Ubuntus of 14.04 level: for whatever reason, developer(s) of Ace don't consider it pressing matter for them. Then,  a third parties' builds happen to be either not committed or outright unfeasible.

As of today, even a new, improved installation procedure remains convoluted and not all 100% guaranteed working, even with a new, fixed Ace Stream distro. With my new laptop running fresh Linux Mint 17, I stumbled upon similar stubbornness as previously: unmet dependencies, libs with deprecated classifications, all nine yards.

In case of

Зависит: acestream-player (>= 2.1.6-1raring2) но он не будет установлен acestream-mozilla-plugin (>= 2.1.6-1raring2) но он не будет установлен
E: Невозможно исправить ошибки, у вас отложены (held) битые пакеты.

I was lucky following advice of Sandoro's comment here: manual installations (GDebi) of every component in the "fixed" Ace Stream package.

Warning: it may not work for everyone, or on every Ubuntu flavour. Also, as I get it, it may only work with acestream-engine only in Debian and its derivatives, as it was the case before.

But there are also some confirmations that re-installations following (repeating) the original procedure improve your chances of success.

As far as I know, this new "fixed" Ace Stream distro won't let you have an acestream-plugin in Chrome/Chromium still: Chrome framework/sandbox becomes rigid as a stone, right before our eyes.

As if it helps anything... Go FireFox, go! I didn't check Ace with Pale Moon yet though.

One candy for you all: try recent P2P Streams HBMCHUB addon with its collection of very sweet plugins.
 

Nvidia Shield Tablet: DirectStylus 2 And Other Possibilities

First real hands-on reviews of DirectStylus 2 functionality on the new Tegra Shield tablet started to show up among tons of gamers' footage. I would recommend the article at Slashgear at least, except for as usual, this dabbler on Dabble dabbles way too unconvincing:


Jokes aside, sooner or later there will be more examples of Nvidia Shield tablet use other than in gaming. I may add more "real-life" examples (as opposed to Nvidia simulations) as updates here.

Nvidia may want to capitalize on success of this new Shield launching the whole class of Tegra K1 devices in the nearest future: I would love to see 10, 12 inch tablets, two-in-ones, or even notebooks.

Google is readying its Tegra K1 based Nexus 8/9 tablet(s), however I doubt they will follow Nvidia Shield tablet reference design: rumours have it as 4:3 tablets, and so far no hint they will support DirectSylus 2 technology. You may also forget about SD card slot.

One of the first such product was unveiled today:


Hopefully, it would run a decent Ubuntu in time, but it's beside the point. Acer in this product can't care less about all that DirectStylus 2 hoopla, but it can think of decent Wacom digitizer for its more "professional" variant.

Here's a more detailed update for Acer Chromebook 13, four models of which will range in MSRPs between $279 and $379:

• 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 1366 x 768 pixel display for $280
• 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 1920 x 1080 pixel display for $300
• 4GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 1366 x 768 pixel display for $330
• 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 1920 x 1080 pixel display for $380

Nvidia is trying to say something about wonderful gaming on these Chromebooks in Chrome OS, I don't believe a word, sorry. For starters, they'd better modify their Android ROM for these laptops, render these dual-bootable, supply their WiFi Direct dongle first, then talk about gaming on  Chromebooks.

As for me, I'd be waiting for this top of the line Acer Chromebook 13 (4GB RAM, delightfully dense, 166 DPI 1920x1080 LED backlit display) lose a $100 off its price before Christmas and get a decent Ubuntu via Chrubuntu, crouton, or coreboot. Today, you can try to pre-oder it at Amazon for full $379. However, I'd prefer something de-Chromed to even start. Like Acer/ASUS/Samsung/HP Tegrabook running Tegrabuntu. And I'm not kidding: if you are a more or less of DIYer get yourself a Jetson TK1 dev board ($170...$192) and snap it to something like this Motorola Lapdock for $40...$50, and you get a toy that's much easier to tinker with:

All this stuff is available today, so there's no need to wait till September.

Then, while these Acers 13 are not out yet, a future laptops based on Nvidia 64-bit Tegra K1 "Denver" SocS might turn out to be more attractive products. That is, if you believe Nvidia claims Denver can be on level or even beat some Celerons:

In general, it might be also interesting to see a Windows RT coming back from the dead on similar Tegra K1 based laptops.
 

Dell Inspiron 1520, Part II

Well, while attacks on BIOS "regular" unknown passwords were successful, guessing HDD password by hashes didn't work well. Whom I kidding here? It didn't work at all: out of BIOS hackers who needs to update a decode solution or post Master Password of an Seagate HDD lock of a 6 years old laptop anyway.

GParted/GPart from a USB Ubuntu stick wouldn't create a new partition(s), Hiren's Boot CD won't wipe this HDD. Sure, after a week of hard labour of searching and booting all these "magic" password clear utilities I started to realize I don't need somebody's Windows Vista Home installation for anything, even if unencrypted and unprotected by Windows password.

Swapped the original 120 GB Seagate SATA drive by 160 GB discard from a broken laptop, and everything works fine now. Tons of online instructions and "experts" regularly forget to tell that crypto chip for HDD resides on HDD itself, and not in BIOS NVRAM. It happend to be true at least for my Dell Inspiron 1520.

Sure, I might replace the whole keyboard on my 1520, as replacing just one key might be cumbersome if cheaper. Laptop might need another stick with 2 GB of RAM and vacuuming. Oh, and a key "Y" from my discarded HP keyboard is incompatible. No use for it in my Dell Inspiron 1520 except for showing it off as on the photo above.