This is going to be a short post, just like to let everyone knows that my little sister has created (and designed) her own brand of ladies handbags; well done Sonia!! You can see all her 2009 collection at ainos.co.uk.

Go and check them out…

Occasionally on my Ubuntu machine the sound/audio somehow stops working, and although most of the time this can be fixed by closing and then restarting the audio programme (or any other service that occupies the audio driver) you’re running. However on odd occasions the audio still fails to work and you might have to reboot the OS in order to get the audio/sound back which is rather irritating.

Here is a quick way of restarting/restoring your audio/sound without rebooting your Ubuntu system, try using the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils restart

This should restart your ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) driver instantly. However, sometimes certain programmes still keep holding on the audio driver even after your restart ALSA. Try the following command:

lsof | grep pcm

to find out the list of open files and close (kill -9) those processes that are still holding the sound driver.

It’s pretty straightforward really, just use the following command:

vmware-vdiskmanager -x sizeGB name-of-your-vmware-image.vmdk

for instance, if you wish to increase the capacity of the hard-disk to 20GB:

vmware-vdiskmanager -x 20GB WinXPProSP3.vmdk

Then you should see something similar to the followings:

The old geometry C/H/S of the disk is: 1910/255/63
The new geometry C/H/S of the disk is: 2610/255/63
Disk expansion completed successfully.

WARNING: If the virtual disk is partitioned, you must use a third-party
utility in the virtual machine to expand the size of the
partitions. For more information, see:

http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1647

If you start the VMWare again and choose the same VMWare image, the hard-disk size of the chosen image will have increased. To see the newly created space/partition inside the Windows, click on Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. Then click on Disk Management under the Storage section from the left. The new unformatted partition should be there. However, in order to merge the new space with existing one, you need to use 3rd-party partitioning tools such as EASEUS Partition Manager Home Edition (free) or Partition Magic (commercial).

That’s it, it’s that simple!!

Came across this new video clip called ‘Ideal Man’, directed by Les Minis Vegas, for the GQ Magazine. Have a look, it’s dead funny!!

‘Ideal Man’ for GQ Magazine

A quick way of changing the default file format for Grab.app (or ‘Command + Shift + 4′ short-cut) from .tiff to other formats such as .pdf, .png, or .psd etc.. Choose any of the following line and paste it in your Terminal window and press the return key, that’s it.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type pdf
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type tif
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type psd


IMPORTANT: You have to log out immediately in order for this change to take effect!!

By the way, here is a list of short-cuts for making a screenshot quickly:
Screen to file:
Command + Shift + 3

Screen to clipboard:
Command + Control + Shift + 3

Crosshair screen selection to file:
Command + Shift + 4

Crosshair screen selection to clipboard:
Command + Control + Shift + 4

Window to file:
Hit spacebar after invoking 'Command + Shift + 4', then click the appropriate window

Window to clipboard:
Hit spacebar after invoking 'Command + Control + Shift + 4' then click the appropriate window

A pretty handy tip I picked up from the Mac OS X Hints. If you tend to open multiple Finder windows for organising/moving folder/files on the Mac OS X. This script helps to reduce the time after you open a new instance of Finder (ctrl + N) and navigate through endless sub-directories to reach the folder you want.

In more details, this Applescript gets the location of the front-most Finder window and opens a second instance of Finder with the same path and view. If there is no Finder windows at the present when this script is executed, it launches a new Finder window at the system root directory (or any other pre-defined target path).

tell application "Finder"
get the exists of the front Finder window
if the (exists of the front Finder window) is true then
try
set newWindow to target of front window
set oldView to current view of front window
make new Finder window to newWindow
set current view of front window to oldView
end try
else
try
make new Finder window to alias ":"
set the current view of the front Finder window to column view
end try
end if
end tell


Copy above script and paste it to the new project window opened via the ‘Script Editor.app’ (Applications/AppleScript/), then choose ‘application’ as the ‘File Format’ and then save/compile the project with a meaningful name such as ‘CloneFinder’. Once that is done, drag ‘n drop the newly compiled CloneFinder.app on to the Finder tool-bar for quick access!!