Did you ever want to access the ID3 Tags on cli or use that knowledge in a ruby script? Here is how it works: #!/usr/bin/ruby require ‘rubygems’ require ‘mp3info’ puts “Loading file: #{ARGV[0]}:” begin Mp3Info.open ARGV[0] do |f| puts “Artist: \t#{f.tag.artist}” puts “Title: \t\t#{f.tag.title}” puts “Album: \t\t#{f.tag.album}” puts “Tracknum: \t#{f.tag.tracknum}” puts “Discnum: \t#{f.tag2.TPOS}” puts “Genre: [...]
Sinking, inch by inch, I feel like underwater, in the deepest ocean, and a current pulling me down. My limbs are heavy, my hand, that held Kivala’s mouth closed, brushes over her cheek and vanishes behind her back. My arms are wrapped around the girl, and hers around me, supporting me, pressing against me. “Thanks.” [...]
Edit the /etc/default/grub and uncomment this line: GRUB_GFXMODE=1920×1200 If that does not work, update the /etc/grub.d/00_header and insert those two lines after set gfxmode=${GRUB_GFXMODE}: set gfxmode=1920×1200 set gfxpayload=keep Reboot the machine and you are good.
To check what process is blocking the drive do: sudo fuser -m /dev/sdc1 Then pick the process id and check for it with this: ps aux | grep process_id It will return the problematic process.
After I had gotten my head halfway wrapped around PHP, that was roughly in 2007, I got the job to write a trouble ticket system for work. It was supposed to be used just with a team of six to ten people and should cover the basic features. Please be aware of securityleaks and some [...]
For the Pidgin History Control plugin I needed a dirty, and easy to work with, php interface for the backend database. This is by far not my prettiest work, but it works just fine. Security If you are storing your history online, there is always a security risk. Here it is definitely minimized by using [...]
Previously I tried to find a way to sync the Instant Messenger History between computers, or rather between multiple instances of Pidgin/Finch. Honestly I am surprised that there is a wide-spread lack of these tools, and web-services. To cope with this, I looked at the Pidgin (yes, I admit that I prefer Pidgin/Finch over whatever [...]
Whenever you encounter a problem while trying to mount a samba/ssh/ftp share in nautilus or thunar similar to this: volume doesn’t implement mount it might be necessary to start an instance of dbus-launch within your .xinitrc before loading your window manager. The code for that could look like this: ## test for an existing bus [...]
On archlinux, to automatically connect your wifi on boot to a hidden, wpa2 encrypted network, create a wpa_supplicant.conf that looks similar to this: ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant network={ ssid=”my wifi essid” psk=randomnumberlettercombinationhere } The ctrl_interface is required to store session data. Then you also need a netcfg profile. Copy the file from /etc/network.d/examples/wireless-wpa-config to/etc/network.d/myname and edit the file to look similar to this: CONNECTION=’wireless’ DESCRIPTION=’A wpa_supplicant configuration [...]
To make your linux remember the sound settings call this once: alsactl store and add the alsa daemon to your list of daemons.
Aya’s hand touches high on my arm, and pulls me in close to her instead of responding — but I don’t struggle or argue, instead letting her pull me close. As she covers my mouth, I let out a startled squeak, but nod in understanding at last. “Quiet, there is a patrol outside.” She says [...]
As the door shuts, the light gets thinner, and the chasm between moving metal and frame seems to cut the lifeline from the room, leaving us in complete darkness. I can hear Kiva giggle, obviously doing her best to surpress it. Relief, that might be the reason, or probably because I pushed her into a [...]
Aya gives me a strange look for a long while. “Do you want me to put you back under the panel?” Aya asks, a little jarring after that look. It’s a moment before I recognize the teasing in her tone, and I laugh a little — when she suddenly grabs my hand. I quiet myself [...]
I stop and turn around, facing the girl. Her eyes draw me in once more, leaving the world around me seem unimportant, a vast void spitting me out, into those worried, innocent, hazel shining orbs. Her expression changes and I remember why I looked at her in the first place. “Do you want me to [...]
She tells me to put the box back, but she looks like she’s in real pain. I nod slightly, turning around to slide that box back into place under the floor. I wonder what, exactly, happened, but I imagine… it was something to do with those intruders. At least she seems to be improving. Turning [...]
Still pretty smashed up by the shock rifle, I push myself up from the ground. I took my time to respond, but first things first, “Will you put that…” I point at the box “…back down under? Thanks.” I wince at another flash of pain and bite my lip. While looking down on the girl [...]
“You got yourself a little souvenir already, it seems,” comes her voice with a little snicker. A bit of a blush coming to my cheeks, I realize she’s noticed the little bag I stole. Quickly I try to explain myself, “It’s just to sell! I have no idea what this even is. I need money [...]
I am barely able to focus on the credit card that Kivala puts into my hands. No need. I let it vanish inside a pocket on my left hip. A deep breath fills my lungs, it burns less than expected. The girl starts to search the area beneath the floor through the panel. With all [...]
I hope she’s alright. She looks like she’s in some serious pain, but there’s not much I can do about that. Obviously she’s dealing with it the best she can so I won’t bring it up or anything. If I can help her, though, maybe she’ll be a little less I blink and suddenly nod [...]
My gaze is returned. Her glossy eyes seem to speak to me, but I don’t understand. I have never been good at reading people. Probably a reason why I got into the military. No reading, just obeying orders and killing. That’s not very hard, if you leave out the part about survival. Her voice fills [...]
Waiting for a response for Aya who still appears to be in great pain, I swallow and finally she claims “I will survive…”. Her voice and the following curse she utters does little to comfort me, and I look around a little bit. I finally decide to double-check that the door is shut, and then [...]
The burning in my throat fades away, slowly. I gaze into the distance, trying to focus on the girl, that had climbed out of the dark hole. She looks worried and murmurs, “….A…Aya, you did a good job… please… please, just tell me you’ll be alright. I don’t want to be all alone again on [...]
I held the small, still dark rod tightly to myself along with the card of plastic all this time, and when finally I heard her quiet voice — and the sounds of some unexpected movement — I excitedly squeeze myself out of the hiding place. I managed not to use the glowstick at all in [...]
——–Start of Chapter One——– Annotation: Kivala Rescei returns from the hiding place. The military is gone, they left this ship behind to follow a fake distress call. Marcus did a great job. I on the other hand feel bad. My bones hurt, especially those around the ribcage. Breathing burns like fire and I stop every [...]
The captain angrily glares at the distress beacon his ship’s detected. God damn it, he’d shout out loud if he didn’t have a trick up his sleeve. “I want you to go with Beta,” he says to the soldier with him before practically slamming the Alpha-channel on. “Alpha. Mission abort. Return to ship, there is [...]
The cold metal of a container is pressed against my back. Silence, only the humming of the engine seems far in the distance. I push away from the container and head over to the next. And to the next. They started to sweep the cargo bay a while ago, and so far I managed to [...]
The soldiers make haste towards the bend, but their rifles aren’t doing a thing to someone who’s already escaped. “Stop!” the soldier finally says, holding his arm out, “We’re just damaging the ship. … Captain, put me on intercom.” Nodding slightly, he has it set up in a matter of seconds, intercom ready to accept [...]
Marcus got away, he vanished between the cargo boxes and is probably heading for the engine room, or a store room with some probes, if I am lucky that is. I on the other hand am not so lucky as I found out soon enough. My target is the center bulkhead, with a few containers [...]
Four soldiers step through the door into the cargo bay — Alpha-2 is searching this one, the smaller of the split squad. “Captain; non-uniformed –” “I know.” The captain runs a hand over his head, frowning a bit. “Deal with her as you wish. Make sure she doesn’t interfere. … Is she with the ship?” [...]
The giant cargo bay, one of two, has a loading ramp directly below the engine, at the rear of the freighter. A balcony with a grilled floor and barred handrail is running at about half of the bay’s height along the wall. Only the ramp is excluded. I step onto the balcony where the ladder [...]
“Alpha reporting in. Captain cooperative. We have been granted entrance.” “Beta squad reporting, in position and ready.” The captain, a young man with no hair at all — due to an unfortunate incident not long after his birth, but that’s not important at the moment — fervently eyes the cameras of his crew members, all [...]
——–Start of Interlude – Boarded——– Annotation: Kivala Rescei is temporarily replaced by the boarding crew, since she is hiding. I hear the automatic door shut in the distance. No thought is wasted on Kivala, instead I draw blueprints and video feeds through Sphere. I reach the port side, and head towards the bow. One bulkhead [...]
Aya places a credit card in my open hand, telling me it won’t work on the ship. I stare at the card, and glance up. I then give her a little nod, watching her leave. “G.. good luck!” I say loudly just before the door slides firmly shut. I quickly climb into the darkness, carefully [...]
I convinced her, I think. She seems to be ready to go back into hiding again, the better for the both of us. “I need something from you. I’ll crawl down there if you give me something of yours that you’ll want back” Kivala holds her palm up. Just when I am about to say [...]
I give Aya a look as she responds. She’s telling me to get back in there? So, sure. It’s a safe hiding place and all that, but whoever this Mirgaw is… he’s not going to be happy if he opens this up to check on his smuggled goods and finds me hiding here. If a [...]
Kivala listened to what I said, and suddenly she is nervous, more than before. I stand up and watch her reorder crates and pull at floor panels until she manages to get one open. Without saying a thing I patiently watch, and hear her complain every now and then. “You’d… better not make me regret [...]
I look down at the woman, Aya, who lowers herself down further than I did by sitting. “There will be no such deals,” she says. “I will not expose you, and you will not shoot me, but you will tell me where you hid.” This doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere useful. “You want to [...]
I stare into the woman’s eyes, as does she. Hazel, with hints of green. They keep me off my game, ever since I entered the store room. It’s not like I fall for them, nothing alike! Something is not right, out of place, curious. “I will tell you”, Kivala tells me, or offers me. There [...]
I’m left waiting, and I can only hope she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. This is my last bargaining chip, after all — I’m not sure I would be able to pull my gun on her again, let alone shoot her. I quickly have to remind myself about that knife, and wonder if she [...]
Another step, two are missing to be finally in reach. Kivala suddenly interrupts me, I stop. You never know what a cornered woman will do. “Don’t – Don’t move, I can help you.” she explains with a tad more confidence than before. Oh great, she must have stumbled across the drugs, or something else. Curious [...]
Her response is timely. “No we don’t. But it does not make us enemies either.” She continues, adding, “I am searching for something on this ship, and neither you or the other passenger are part of it.” My mind tries to wrap itself around everything that’s going on inside this tiny ship. What could be [...]
Her voice echoes through my head, mixed with various noises from the storage room, aching metal and the engine’s howl. I am not able to listen to her after all. Nothing to grab, it was a mistake walking into the room. I manage to find my balance again, and so did the ship apparently. Crap, [...]
The woman tells me her curious name, and I nod slightly. “Aya,” I repeat it to myself, softly. “It’s… nice to meet you, I suppose,” I say; it would be better under less conflicting circumstances. It’s nice to meet anyone who tries to be friendly to a penniless stranger to all of space, though. After [...]
Serious, that’s all there is to the expression on my face. The door must have opened by now, no shots fired, no pain. Despite the happiness that is spreading inside of me, I stay focused and calm; serious, almost scary. I blink… My glance passes her hands, and her revolver. Safe for now, that I [...]
I sigh softly and start to sink against the door. Struggling to come up with a solution, I realize the woman isn’t planning to give me much time to think. She tells me we’re alone through the door with a loud voice, and I don’t know what to do. For the moment I remain silent [...]
I can still hear the lingering sound of the voices in my head, telling me to shut up was not very nice of the woman. I can imagine why she did it though. So she is afraid after all, there is no other explanation. Not a single noise reaches my ears. The concentration soon weakens [...]
The woman is suddenly just gone by the time I’m done. I cry out in surprise, almost pulling the trigger and shooting at thin air. Damn it! I know my bullets don’t have a chance of penetrating the wall of a ship like this. She’s hiding just around the corner, made clear when she yells [...]
Each number causes the panel to beep unpleasantly. 3, 7, 1, 0 and the light on the panel turns green. Calmly I watch the door push open, and as my vision clears, I stare into the muzzle of a 6-shot revolver. Surprise, nothing to worry about. A smirk sneaks onto my lips, simultaneously my eyes [...]
I listen closely to the voices above me — one is muffled, the other more clear. “You sure?” asks the second guard, a female by the sounds of it. It’s not easy discerning voices through the floor panels and for that I’m relieved. It means I don’t have to worry about them hearing me down [...]
A corridor, one of many, lay before me as I walk through the ship, section by section. It’s a routine stroll, set up by the captain. “Weird man, that’s for sure.” I mumble quietly to myself just as his picture pops back into my mind. A bearded, old man, semi-long hair, and a face burdened [...]
——–Start of Chapter Zero——– So… I promised myself I’d write to my parents. I’ve only written them two letters in the past month, but at least I’m not leaving them totally in the dark. Maybe I should be, though. I don’t know if I should be worrying to them. Should I lie? Tell them everything’s [...]