Author Archives: eroux

About eroux

JADG - Just Another Damn Geek

New Year Blues

Posted on Wednesday, 28th December 2011 by eroux

It’s getting to that time of year again we we have to pause and reflect on our accomplishments (or lack thereof) during the year. Again. A time to compare where we are, to where we should be, to where would … Continue reading →

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Dennis Ritchie (1941-2011)

Posted on Thursday, 13th October 2011 by eroux

It is with sadness that I’ve heard that Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie, the noted computer scientist and co-inventor/creator of both the Unix OS and the C programming language has passed away. This is a massive loss, since the man’s work is … Continue reading →

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Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Posted on Thursday, 6th October 2011 by eroux

So long, Steve, and thanks for all the toys…

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Geektool is even cooler than I thought…

Posted on Friday, 5th August 2011 by eroux

Hacking away at Geektool I decided to try something else: sending raw terminal escape-codes at it and see how it handled it… In short: even better than I thought. So here is an update to my earlier Geeklet to display … Continue reading →

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Of fortunes and Macs and (Xscreen)savers…

Posted on Friday, 29th July 2011 by eroux

Every so often I have the urge to do something quite unnatural; something like, for instance, actually updating the software on my Macbook… Rather subversive, I know, but we all have our weaknesses. One go the packages I make a … Continue reading →

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Of Geeky Mac Users and their Tools…

Posted on Sunday, 24th July 2011 by eroux

One of the toys I’ve come to appreciate running on my Mac, is a little utility called GeekTool…

What makes GeekTool cool, is that it allows you to embed different items into your Mac desktop, so it is quite easy to use it to display a text file, for instance (like your system log) or to scrape a ticker-tape from the web and use that to keep track of your favourite Stock Price, but it is also possible to do much cooler stuff… Continue reading →

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Okay… Colour me impressed by Apple!

Posted on Monday, 16th May 2011 by eroux

From TUAW via Cult of Mac comes the following: Apple is offering free repairs to those with Macs and iOS devices who had their equipment damaged in the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan back in March. A guide[Link now … Continue reading →

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When Lions Roared…

Posted on Thursday, 7th April 2011 by eroux

If you ever have the urge to reformat John Lions’ “A commentary on the Sixth Edition UNIX Operating System”, this patch might help you: — Lions.old/lionc.tex 1994-05-19 04:40:49.000000000 +0200 +++ Lions.new/lionc.tex 2011-04-07 15:38:14.000000000 +0200 @@ -1,7 +1,16 @@ % % … Continue reading →

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Change is good: at times it’s the only constant in my life…

Posted on Tuesday, 5th April 2011 by eroux | Leave a comment

I have always wondered: should we consider caffeine to be a “performance enhancing drug” (which it most certainly is) or a “nutritional supplement” (since most of us would be “dead on our feet” without it)? These kinds of thoughts keep … Continue reading →

Posted on Wednesday, 23rd March 2011 by eroux | Leave a comment

The wheel turns…

Posted on Tuesday, 22nd February 2011 by eroux

It’s with distress that I’ve witnessed soldiers using live ammo on protesters in Libya and Iran this week, and the brutality of the soldiers against the paramedics in Egypt last week. As someone who spent more than just a few … Continue reading →

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Deathspiral…

Posted on Monday, 14th February 2011 by eroux

It is not often one gets to witness the end of an era, and it’s probably a commentary on both my age and the time I’ve been in the industry that I’ve been witness to several… Be that as it … Continue reading →

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For something which is supposed to aid open and universal access, OpenID might be the most Byzantine system I’ve encountered since Kerberos…

Posted on Thursday, 10th February 2011 by eroux | Leave a comment

Promises Made…

Posted on Friday, 28th January 2011 by eroux

Yes, yes… It’s all very cryptic and very melodramatic, indeed. I’m sure you’re all really impressed. Though, spare a thought for those poor buggers reading this via the RSS feed to Facebook, and not on this blog. They’ll be even … Continue reading →

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Of WordPress, Plug-ins and Widgetey Things…

Posted on Monday, 24th January 2011 by eroux

I’ve finally decided to re-hack my Template/Theme on JADB and get rid of two points of contention (AKA “I need to fix this at some stage”), the “Currently Reading” and “Snippets” “Badges” sections in the sidebar. I suppose there’s no … Continue reading →

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Zapiro for Government Tribunal

Posted on Tuesday, 21st September 2010 by eroux

The real tribunal that’s needed in South Africa is not one to protect the public from the media, but rather to protect the public (including the media) from the government… And people like Zapiro seems to be at the forefront … Continue reading →

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Ar, me hearties; and shiver me timbers! It’s “International Talk like a Pirate Day“! So best ye get at it or I’ll have ye walk the plank!

Posted on Sunday, 19th September 2010 by eroux | Leave a comment

On abuse of power and being called to book…

Posted on Thursday, 9th September 2010 by eroux

And still the Saga continues. Mzilikazi wa Afrika, after being arrested, released and then threatened by the NPA, now has had his charges formally dropped. But, it has to be added, only provisionally… This is also known as throwing mud … Continue reading →

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Strange how life works: time after time I find that messages or missives I had originally intended for other people ended up, years later, becoming notes to myself… I’m either very wise or the universe has a very wicked sense … Continue reading →

Posted on Saturday, 21st August 2010 by eroux | Leave a comment

Had an idle thought (to be frank, I think I seldom have any other) in the gym yesterday evening: Some of us might have been put on earth to lead as an example, but most of us, I believe, have … Continue reading →

Posted on Wednesday, 18th August 2010 by eroux | Leave a comment