Blogger Template Designer - bug!

This is a chime-in for the issue reported by LenFeldman sometime last April. I recently started modifying my blogs after some time-off and noticed that Google Analytics suddenly flat-lined after updating to a newer template/theme. It seems all the code got lost during the process. That means, like him, I've lost months of tracking reports :-(

I've put the codes back manually with help from eBlog and will be monitoring my sites this week. Hopefully everything goes back as well as the new site going live successfully.

Archos 5 Internet Tablet : Google Marketplace

As previously mentioned [here], I returned the IPEVO S0-20 to Fry's yesterday after a brief test. Yes, it works as a nice Skype wi-fi phone but has some signal degradation issues due to being just 802.11 b/g. Thats what started my look for a device that is 802.11 N.

Enter the Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android.

I got this from RadioShack as they were the lowest and quickest available selling at $249. I was supposed to stress test this first thing during my Thursday meeting only to realize that I'd missed the meeting start (time zone differences), gadget had very minimal charge, Archos needed a firmware update, gadget did not have Google Android Marketplace nor was there a Skype client available yet.

What ......?!!!

So first thing to do is enable Google Marketplace. Thankfully Archos allows such discussions to live and there's a big enough community at ArchosFans you don't want to piss-off. Here's the latest guide that works on FW 1.7.777 (which is what my gadget updated to as soon as I put it on the home network).

Thanks to m4rk3t. Reposting the instructions below.

All you need to do is to:

-download the file: http://rapidshare.com/files/338777897/Market4Archos.apk
- put Market4Archos.apk file on your archos disk
- install it by selecting this file using the device file browser
- run the installed package and follow the installation steps

Having done all that you'll find Market added to your apps with several other Google items installed.

I'm still searching for that Skype client as I refuse (until the next 29 days) to give up hope and return. It just might get replaced with something like an Ooma Telo. :-)

Ubuntu Tricks: Copy Directory Structure

Looking to create a download staging directory that mimics the actual target after a 2nd phase move, I was at a loss of how to easily do this. Google to the rescue led me to this page. Its not a super elegant solution but it works after a bit of cleanup and is better than having to type it all myself:

# cd /new/dir
# (cd /old/dir; find -type d ! -name .) | xargs mkdir


Nice.

Ubuntu Tricks: Lock Screen Button

Saw this button some time ago in one of our internal systems. At first I thought it was an application that needed to be installed but after some searching and hindsight it didn't make any sense to actually need one more running program just to call the lock screen feature.

Fortunately, Ubuntu has this to say:

You can add a Lock Screen button to a panel for easy access. Right-click a panel (for example, the panel at the top of the screen), select Add to Panel... and drag the Lock Screen item to the desired location.

Works on my Jaunty, too.

Kubuntu Ibex: How to make it VMWare Aware

It happens, you upgrade to a new version number and suddenly the painstakingly learned knowledge gets dumped out with the trash. Before upgrading to 8.10, my 8.04 was happily chugging along with an old port of VMWare Server. Note that there are issues with VMWare on Ubuntu and its relied on a patched script to fix compile errors and such.

After upgrading I thought it would make sense that somehow old programs would get rebuilt, recompiled, or be backward compatible. Take anyone action, like most my expectation is that it runs and works. After all, this is supposed to be smarter operating system with thousands of eyeballs on the code. Right?

Wrong.

Thanks to Google search, I stumbled upon these instructions. Hey, here's one other reason not to be hasty to upgrade. After all, Intrepid has been out there for a little while and some brave soul more code compile savvy than I am would surely have already risked and ventured. :-)