uRandom
Fri 22nd May 2009 @ 23:05 2009: Biometric Passports in Switzerland
Martin Krafft has posted about Switzerland taking on Biometric Passports with some excellent commentary, which I am far too tired to write up properly. Recommended reading though.
It went through at 50.1% to 49.9%
"I could find absolutely no information on who the “authorised” parties are, or which regulations cover who will become authorised in the near future"
He concludes that "In the end, however, what worries me the most is how relaxed people treat their personal information these days. Look at the infamous social networking sites, or other Web 2.0 gimmicks and you really start to wonder how headless people can be these days."
When we are so happy to give away so much personal information on sites like Facebook (or even monster.com and the like), it is hard to defend our personal rights against abusive government policies.
Wed 20th May 2009 @ 23:32 2009: FSF / Cisco reach agreement
FSF and Cisco have reached a settlement about the Linksys violation of the GPL.
This is a sensible solution all round, and it does validate the legal standing of the GPL.
Cisco has agreed to appoint a Free Software Director for Linksys, a subsidiary of Cisco, to supervise Linksys' compliance with the requirements of free software licenses such as the GPL (the GNU General Public License). The Free Software Director will report periodically to the FSF regarding Linksys' compliance efforts.
Brett Smith (FSF Licensing Compliance Engineer) has a blog post Compliance is the Goal points out that "we're not out to wreck businesses or make lots of money. We just want compliance"
Sat 16th May 2009 @ 17:25 2009: Linux mirrored /boot partition
Dear Lazyweb,
Is there a best practice for a mirrored root disk with Linux and md?
Specifically, if /boot is mirrored, then Grub can't read it, because Grub doesn't speak md. So the RHEL5 guide seems to suggest having /boot unmirrored, on only one disk, and then mirror the / filesystem as normal using md.
That does not deal with the situation where that disk fails... I wouldn't have a /boot partition to boot from! If I sync the two disks' /boot partitions after installation, I still won't have the right kernel on the second disk, if I have upgraded my kernel after installation but before the first disk fails.
I suppose it would be possible to get cron to sync the active /boot partition to the second disk nightly, weekly, or whatever, but that feels like a bit of a kludge.
What other solutions are there? Hardware mirroring is fairly common in the x86 world, but what is the best way to mirror a root disk with md?
Thu 14th May 2009 @ 22:42 2009: Ubuntu is 5 already
Ubuntu Linux is 5 years old already. Now I feel really old.
h-online.com has an article on Ubuntu and Debian's special relationship
From the article:
Ubuntu is Debian unstable with some of the rough edges smoothed over, some security features deprecated and some enhanced, the implementation of proprietary blobs made easier, a bit of polish, a different theme, and a lot less packages.
Also from the article:
For all the differences there remains a necessary symbiosis between the developers of Debian and Ubuntu. "Many of us are still good friends," says [Debian Leader] McIntyre... but not all...
"the relationship is not always so cosy; it depends on the particular people involved."
And another quote...
the bootstrap for Ubuntu's success remains the idealism, chaos and proficiency of the Debian development process.
And a final quote from Mark Shuttleworth:
it's the breadth and strength of Debian which make up the "shoulders of greatness" on which we in the Ubuntu community stand when we reach for the stars.
Mon 11th May 2009 @ 23:41 2009: The Life in the United Kingdom Test
According to http://www.hiren.info/life-in-the-uk-test/1,
"The Life in the United Kingdom Test" is a test for individuals seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK or naturalisation as a British citizen. The test lasts for 45 minutes, the entrants have to answer 24 questions. the test is based on chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 of a revised handbook (second edition) "Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship". Remember that you need to get at least 75% to pass this test
A friend of mine is due to take this citizenship test. I am glad that I don't have to...
The hiren.info website offer 55 apparently representative tests, each with 24 questions. The pass mark is 75%, so you need to get a score of 18/24 or better to pass.
I am a UK citizen, born and bred in the UK. Other than a few holidays, I have been in the UK my entire life. Admittedly, I did not give these tests the full 45 minutes - more like 5 minutes per test - but (unless it is an open-book exam) I would not have scored any differently had I taken the full 45 minutes over each test.
Here are my results for the first 12 sample tests given at the hiren.info website:
| Test | 1 | 2 | 34 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 20 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 83 | 62 | 62 | 67 | 79 | 83 | 67 | 67 | 67 | 71 | 75 | 79 |
| Pass/Fail | PASS | FAIL | FAIL | FAIL | PASS | PASS | FAIL | FAIL | FAIL | FAIL | PASS | PASS |
I passed 5 out of 12 (42%) of the tests that I took. So I would have to do some additional revision to even get a 50/50 chance of passing the test. I don't know where they're going to send me back to ... ;-)
Some of the questions are quite sensible, such as:
"Taxis and mini cabs have to display a Licence plate"
However, some of the questions are somewhat bizarre. Here are a few I picked out. Answers below.
| Many people remark on the great variety in the British landscape | true / false |
| When are children assessed in England? | 5,10,15 / 7,11,14 / 3,8,5 / 8,12,15 |
| The title of Prime Minister is called | Hansard / Primus inter pares / The President / The Chancellor of Exchequer in Latin |
| What is the minimum age to be able to drink alcohol with a meal? | 16,17,18,21 |
| When is Mother's Day? | The Sunday, 1 week after Easter / The Sunday, 1 week before Easter / The Sunday, 2 weeks before Easter / The Sunday, 3 weeks before Easter |
| Nowadays, children in the UK do not play outside the home as much as they did in the past, This is because | They dislike active sports / There is Home Entertainment |
| What are Halloweens lanterns traditionally made from? | Apples/Cucumbers/Potatoes/Pumpkins |
| What must you buy if you have a device that can be used for watching or recording TV programmes? | A video player / Beer and popcorn / A TV license / A set of speakers |
Answers:
True. (who asked them? define "many"...)
7,11,14. (Assessed for what?)
Primus inter pares. (always useful to know)
16. (I believe that the correct answer is 5).
The Sunday 3 weeks before Easter. (Or, when it says it on the calendar, but M&S will make sure you know, in any case)
There is home entertainment (no evidence necessary, apparently...)
Pumpkins. (Is this a UK or a USA citizenship test?)
A TV license (though I prefer (b)).
I would offer commentary as well as passing on this little bit of information, but I am too gobsmacked to make any sensible comment about these silly tests.
Site Links
SGP IT
Programming
»Shell Tutorial
»Networking Tutorial
»Logic Gates
»VxVM
»C Code
»Shell Code
Articles
My CV
SpeedTouch
uRandom
Tell your Friends and Family what you really want.
Links
Mail Me
Hosted by WebQualityHost
Unix shell tips, hints, commands, info.