Ceci n'est pas une pipe

As each year's edition of Linux Day Bergamo is renowned for its exceptional organizational skills and the richness of the seminar. The event will be held at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Bergamo .

Quoting the official website of the initiative , remember that the Linux Day is a national event organized in local events that aims to promote Linux and free software.

For more information and reservations, see the official website of BGLUG (Bergamo Linux User Group) at http://www.bglug.it .

Until a few years ago, installing Windows XP was common practice to choose to format the primary partition with the FAT32 filesystem. This is mainly because of the accessibility of data even from older operating systems (Windows 98) or "alternative" (Linux for read access and write access to NTFS partitions was introduced with some delay, for obvious reasons).

It happens even today to find old workstation with FAT32 filesystem. Lapsed reasonable motivation to keep this kind of choice in these cases I recommend to convert from FAT32 to NTFS, since the transaction is safe, proven, and that brings undoubted benefits in operational terms, first of all the ability to handle volumes larger than 32GB (maximum limit for FAT32).

The conversion operation is extremely simple. Simply open a DOS window and issue the following command:

Convert X: /FS:NTFS /V /NoSecurity

• X: is the drive we want to convert (for example: C :)
• / V indicates to display the details of each operation (verbose mode)
• / NoSecurity can not restrict access to files converted to NTFS

You will be asked the name of the volume for which to convert. If the volume has no name, press enter without entering anything. The rest is in an almost automatic. Here is an example of simple steps through which to pass:

Conversione Partizione Win XP (C)
Il file system è di tipo FAT32.
Inserire l'etichetta di volume corrente per l'unità C:: Win XP
Impossibile eseguire la conversione. Il volume è utilizzato
da un altro processo. Smontare il volume per eseguire
la conversione. TUTTI GLI HANDLE APERTI NEL VOLUME
CESSERANNO IN QUESTO MODO DI ESSERE VALIDI.
Forzare lo smontaggio su questo volume? (Sì/No)

Answer Yes (Y) to the last question. The system will warn you that you unmount the volume is in use and ask if you want to program the operation on the next reboot. Again, answer yes and restart the machine.

As I said, the operation is extremely safe and proven, but - as they say overseas - "shit happens", so I recommend making a backup prior when, for example, will cut off the light just as you are performing the conversion the filesystem.

I did not think there was still someone who has never heard of Plastination , the macabre project Gunther von Hagens . I think I have visited for the first time on its website at least 6 years ago, but I could be wrong by default. I state that I find in the art of von Hagens anything remarkable or even worthy of attention. I'll have to ignore it but do not know him at all is a bit 'too. For those who missed the disgusting confection, I report some news on the project in the rest of the post, but I warn you: the following may not be to your liking or even offend your sensibilities. Read the rest »

In the Night was released the latest stable version of CentOS , the excellent enterprise level Linux distribution derived from official sources for Red Hat , the only primates that contexts of new installations to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition . CentOS (which stands for Community Enterprise Operating System) is the official choice of many ISPs and hosting resellers.

A curiosity: although CentOS is derived directly from Red Hat Enterprise Linux , the official website of the only distro that reads "CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources Freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor" . This will have obvious repercussions for the success of CentOS resulted in relationships with Red Hat

Here, finally, some passages of the ' official announcement : "The single CD server install for CentOS 4.7 has now Been released and is available from all active mirrors. Notes: this installer will only work with i686-based CPUs; the included packages are a subset of all packages available in the CentOS distribution, However yum has-been pre-configured to use the Entire repository, in order To ensure that drivers and other third Maintain compatibility-party applications, the package used in September on the Server CD is from release time CentOS 4.7, you are strongly Encouraged to run a 'yum update' Immediately after installation, the ISO size is lower than the 650 MB acceptable for a single CD - feedback on what other packages added or removed Should Be from this CD for the next release are welcome. "

In this post I describe with the utmost brevity and without any pretense of completeness how to implement a RAID 1 (software) when you install Debian Etch and how to properly configure the LVM.

On one of my workstation I have two identical 320GB hard drives. I decided to installarci yet another Debian Etch and put the two disks in RAID. I started the installation and in a couple of minutes I got to the step in which the settings are made for disk partitioning. Since the S-ATA disks, the debian-installer I recognized them as follows:

• SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda)
• SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sdb)

The same goes for IDE drives, however, in that case they would see the debian-installer like this:

• IDE1 (hda)
• IDE2 (hdc)

At this point I have created a first partition booting, the minimum size (512MB only):

1. select the first disk SCSI1
2. choose as a method of partitioning the "Manual"
3. select "FREE SPACE" below SCSI1
4. choose "Create a new partition"
5. select "Start" as the location of the new partition
6. Select "Primary" as the type of the new partition
7. insert the new partition size as 512M
8. choose "physical volume for RAID" as a way to use the new partition
9. Select "Done setting up partition completed"

Then I created the partition to contain the actual filesystem:

1. select the first disk SCSI1
2. choose as a method of partitioning the "Manual"
3. select "FREE SPACE" below SCSI1
4. choose "Create a new partition"
5. select "Start" as the location of the new partition
6. Select "Primary" as the type of the new partition
7. enter 95% as the size of the new partition
8. choose "physical volume for RAID" as a way to use the new partition
9. Select "Done setting up partition completed"

Why I chose to step 7 to use only 95% of the disk? Simply because, if I have to replace one of two discs, I'll never have absolute certainty that the new drive has exactly the same number of cylinders etc.. compared to the original disk, even if I buy the same brand and the same cut. I then need to put a gap tolerance is safe from data loss or inconsistencies during the reconstruction of the volumes. Sure, you waste of space that will never be used, but with no records of this size we can well afford.

Now you must repeat the steps above for the second disc (SCSI2) ensuring that we have done exactly the same choices for the first.

Without this, we can configure the software RAID 1. First, create the Multidisk device designed to contain the boot partition:

1. choose "Configure software RAID"
2. confirm "Write the changes on the devices ..."
3. choose "Create a Multidisk Device (MD)"
4. select "RAID1" as the type of device Multidisk
5. confirm "2" as the number of active devices for the RAID1 array
6. confirm "0" as the device number "spare"
7. only enable / dev/sda1 and / dev/sdb1 as active devices
8. click "Finish"

Then we create the Multidisk device designed to contain the actual filesystem:

1. choose "Configure software RAID"
2. confirm "Write the changes on the devices ..."
3. choose "Create a Multidisk Device (MD)"
4. select "RAID1" as the type of device Multidisk
5. confirm "2" as the number of active devices for the RAID1 array
6. confirm "0" as the device number "spare"
7. only enable / dev/sda2 and / dev/sdb2 as active devices
8. click "Finish"

Now we can move on to creating logical volumes. First I create the volume intended to provide the system swap:

1. choose "Configure the Logical Volume Manager"
2. confirm "Write the changes to the disks and ..."
3. choose "Create volume groups"
4. write "vg00" as the name of volume group
5. only enable / dev/md/1 as devices for the new volume group
6. choose "Create a Logical Volume"
7. select the volume group "vg00"
8. write "swap" as the name of the logical volume
9. write "4GB" as a logical volume size (at least double the RAM)

Then I create the volume for the actual filesystem:

1. choose "Create a Logical Volume"
2. select the volume group "vg00"
3. write "filesys" as the name of the logical volume
4. confirm the value proposed as the maximum available size of the logical volume
5. click "Finish"

At this point I can create partitions:

1. select the No. 1 under "LVM VG vg00 LV filesys"
2. create the partition normally (choosing "ext3" as the profile and "/" as mount point)
3. click "Finish"
4. select the No. 1 under "LVM VG vg00 LV swap"
5. create the swap partition as normal (selecting "swap area" as a way of use)
6. confirm "Write the changes to the disks and ..."

Without this, simply proceed with the installation of Debian as usual.

Computer Point A reader tells the bureaucratic procedure which has won permission to not pay the fee RAI, required not just for TVs but also for a range of other electronic devices.

Good morning! I am one of the lucky few who holds a letter authorizing him to the RAI does not pay the fees. How I did it? Simply following the law and the provisions of Royal Decree No RDL21/02/1938. 246, passed June 4, 1938, n. 880.

Read the rest »

It will be held in Rome October 13 to 22 the Feast of Tabernacles 2008 . The event is organized by the United Church of God and is maintained by Carmelo Anastasi, director of religious periodical "The Good News" . Even if they enroll in are largely completed, recommend it to anyone interested in Protestantism in Italy to visit the official website of the small but vibrant religious community.

Mountain sports, mountain life, mountain research, passion for the mountains. But not only. The climbing experience can teach a lot in other areas of everyday life, even those more distant and less than one would think to associate. For example, the management, the management of a company such as mountaineering is based on the strategies, objectives and risks. E 'is the theme of the last book by Agostino Da Polenza, in bookshops from October 8. Sunday afternoon at the Fair "high proportion" of Bergamo , Da Polenza it will premier with the co-author Gianluca Gambirasio.

The book is titled: "The mountain: a management school." The subtitle specifies: "The determination of the individual and the team are the keys to success on K2 as in business." At first glance it may seem like a distant similarity, which brings together two opposing worlds: that of the mountain, dynamic, fresh air and sometimes dangerous, with that of management, which draws a sedentary lifestyle and a stressful life, but perhaps on a secure basis. Yet the similarities between the two realities are not few. Read the rest »