Other ideas and links

Revision as of 19:46, 27 August 2014

tech

linux

• Debian
• Arch Linux
• DistroWatch.com information about the different linux distributions.
• UNetbootin Software to create bootable usb linux system. Runs also on windows and mac.

window manager stuff

• Openbox very basic window manager - you can install fancy features yourself
• urukrama's Openbox keybindings
• awesome tiling window manager
• Comparison of Tiling Window Managers - ArchWiki

tools and toys

• terminator terminal emulator with many features
• tmux terminal multiplexer
• midnight commander curses based file manager
• conky system monitor
• vimperator vi style control of firefox/iceweasel web browser. So you can control the web browser without using the mouse.
• aap makes it easy to download, build and install software
• calmar.ws tips and info on linux,vim, vimperator, awesome, other stuff
• refcards.com free quick reference cards
• fcron.free.fr apparently good for running cron jobs on a system not always switched on.
• 30 handy bash aliases
• Baobab gnome disk usage analyser - visual representation of disk usage

vi text editor

• vi cheat sheet
• vim tips
• vim mediawiki editing

email software

• mutt - email program. Its not for everyone, it takes a lot of configuring but once you have got it right it can work well and save time.
• Steve losh's mutt guide
• mu (maildir-utils) program for searching email stored in maildir format
• notmuch program for searching email
• mutt sidebar patch for mutt with folders listed in a sidebar
• getting up and running with a sane mutt setup
• realprogrammers.com mutt guide
• How I tamed my mutt – cmdln.org (a sysadmin blog)
• fefe.da Mutt FAQ

backup/archiving

• rsync
• unison file syncroniser. Unlike rsync, unison ensures both filesystems have the newest version of a file. tutorial on setting up unison

diff -qr source destination
comm -3 <(ls ~/dir-new/) <(ls ~/dir)        # compare two directories

Find duplicate files:

find -not -empty -type f -printf "%s\n" | sort -rn | uniq -d | xargs -I{} -n1 find -type f -size {}c -print0 | xargs -0 md5sum | sort | uniq -w32 --all-repeated=separate

Find and delete duplicate files:

find -not -empty -type f -printf "%s\n" | sort -rn | uniq -d |  xargs -I{} -n1 find -type f -size {}c -print0 | xargs -0 md5sum | sort | uniq -w32 --all-repeated=separate | cut -f3-100 -d ' ' | tr '\n.' '\t.' | sed 's/\t\t/\n/g' | cut -f2-100 | tr '\t' '\n' | perl -i -pe 's/([ (){}-])/\\$1/g' | perl -i -pe 's/'\/\\'\/g' | xargs -pr rm -v

booklet printing on linux

some tools, for example, for reordering pages of an a4 documents to make an a5 booklet or zine.

pdf2ps                                              # convert a pdf document to postscript      
psbook in.ps out.ps                                 # reorder the pages to make a book,  
psnup -s1 -2 book.ps booklet.ps                     # shrink to 2 pages on each A4 side
ps2pdf in.ps out.pdf                                # convert it back to a pdf

If you dont have a duplex printer probably you want to print the even pages, put them in the paper drawer (the right way around! very confusing!) then print the odd pages

lpr -P myprinter -o page-set=even -#1 infile.pdf    # print the even pages  
lpr -P myprinter -o page-set=odd -#1 infile.pdf     # print the odd pages

encryption

• cryptoparty handbook
• gpg Gnu Privacy Guard. Tool for encrypting files and email.

Most simple usage - gpg encryption of a single file:

 gpg -c file   

This prompts for a password and gives file.gpg. To decypt:

 gpg -d file.gpg > file

• Disk encryption article on ArchWiki a good explanation of disk encryption and a comparison of the methods.
• truecrypt

tools for those who have little or no connection to internet

• kiwix wikipedia offline reader - read wikipedia when not connected to internet. The english wikipedia (text only, no images, user pages or discussion pages) compresses to about 8gb! You will need to download this data in 'zim' format, available as a torrent. list of wikipedias
• openstreetmap collaborative mapping project. it is also possible to download openstreetmap (even the whole planet) for offline viewing using a software called navit (which i still havent succussfully used), other software projects are Emerillon and Marble.
• OfflineIMAP software for syncronising imap mailboxes. It is useful for unreliable or slow internet connections or when you want to read email offline.
• hitchwiki.org can also be downloaded to view offline hitchwiki while offline. The database is downloaded in XML format which can be viewed with various kinds of dictionary viewing software.

offline dictionary for linux

goldendict which can work with freedict dictionaries. To add, for example, scottish gaelic to german dictionary:

apt-get install dict-freedict-gla-deu 

for a list of all dictionaries:

apt-cache search dict-freedict 

filesharing

 * torrent411 good torrent tracker (french)
 * rutracker.org good torrent tracker (russian)
 * zeropaid filesharing news and forum
 * tracker2.postman.i2p i2p torrent tracker (you must be running i2p to access)
 * imule p2p sharing software for i2p (also an i2p eepsite)

audio related

• hydrogen audio forums about audio software etc
• rockbox open source firmware for music players. Very useful if the original firmware wont play certain formats, or has restrictions on copying music off the player.
• mpd music player daemon. music playing software designed to be run over a network. If there is a network attached computer connected to an amplifier and running mpd, other computers on the network can control the player by using mpd client software (of which there are many to choose from, i use ncmpcpp). Can run on raspberry pi. Client and daemon can also both be running on the same computer. mpd and ncmcppp guide
• cmus curses based music player software (linux, console based)
• moc another, simpler, curses based player
• randomplay even simpler console player
• beets music collection organising tool. useful for tagging and organising a large collection.
• Linux multimedia studio (LMMS) free music production software, with VST compatibility.
• sox command line sound tool. can be used as simple synthesiser, and to convert audio formats.
• diyaudio.com forums about diy audio hardware projects
• Standuino DIY open source audio hardware
• speakerplans.com designs for speaker enclosures
• horn response - speaker enclosure design software. can use with abaca? audio abacus
• Mumble voice chat software
• Mixxx Open source DJ software
• xwax: Digital vinyl on Linux Open source software for DJing using time-coded vinyl (like Serato scrarch)

to take 30 random mp3s and put them in a directory (i use this to randomly choose some of my music to put onto my mp3 player):

find -name "*.mp3" | sort --random-sort | head -n 30 | xargs -n 1 -i^Cd '\n' cp {} ~/sometunes

other

Many of these links need to be (or already have been) put elsewhere on the wiki

• mighty ohm some open source hardware designs and a soldering guide in many languages
• Desoldering - wikipedia article for learning how to recuperate electronic components.
• Desoldering wikibook
• circuit circle / SCHRÄGERUNDE DIY electronics and circuit bending -workshops, concerts, installations, performances
• Toner refill - wikipedia article on refilling photocopier laser printer toner
• openlibrary.org ebooks
• freemusicarchive.org
• internet archive archive of internet sites, also many media files hosted here, you can put media files here too.
• Use google translate from the command line with some extra features.
• Google translate awk program very similar
• open frameworks c++ library for creative projects
• RONJA free technology project for optical point-to-point data links (using visible light). The design has a reported 1.4km range and 10Mbps full duplex data rate.
• modulatedlight.org information and experiments using light for data links, mostly using high power LEDs rather than lasers, as they work better over long distances.
• ttfa.net/12volt
• A Tao of regular expressions notes on using regular expressions (for vi, grep, etc)
• mattmahoney on data compression much info on data compression. PAQ8 text compression, while computationally expensive, could be very useful for low-bandwidth radio data networks.
• pbx
• x25, a kind of packet switched network
• skype like conferencing system software project proposal. see also ZRTP and SRTP
• sdf.org sdf public access unix system
• tin text-based usenet newsreader software
• eternal september Free text only usenet provider (registration required)
• aioe free text only usenet provider (no registration required)
• retroshare secure, decentralised communication and filesharing platform
• nmap network ping scan tool
• wikidata - project to put wikipedia information into a semantic format, linking topics across languages and categories.

non-commercial email providers

please add more

• aktivix (uk)
• immerda (ch)
• systemli.org (de)
• riseup.net (us)
• mtmedia.org (de)

local announcements websites

For buying/selling secondhand, etc. Better than ebay because you meet the person face-to-face and put money in the hand. No third parties pinching fees, no stupid rules, no sending stuff from the other side of the planet. This requires some trust, which builds community.

• craigslist.org international
• freecycle international, free stuff only.
• le bon coin france
• gumtree UK
• quoka.de deutschland
• loquo.com barcelona
• tutti.ch CH

party

• zone of the free all things 3, mp3s art etc...
• shockraver wheres that teknival?
• teknoparty.are.free.fr
• headfuk.net most of the site no longer maintained (but still there) lots of technical info, good breakcore mp3s, party info
• Hekate london based soundsystem
• squatjuice idiots talking
• partyvibe
• spacepatrol.cz cz based party info and music download
• mp3.sety.cz many mp3s (electronic music)
• erowid information about drugs

art/wierd

 * random artists UK based underground art collective, make temporary autonomous art 
 * 4chan.org anonymous image board
 * deviantart
 * jinyoung shin
 * blublu 
 * the porg
 * daytime televisuals
 * zoomquilt2
 * dissident island radio

squatting/travelling

• squat.net
• uk advisory service for squatters
• uk land registry 192.com for researching buildings in the uk.
• hitchwiki.org hitchhiking guide in many languages. You can add info how to hitchhike in/out of your town. Offline version available for download.
• tube facts includes a list of london underground stations with no ticket barriers. No idea when this was last updated.
• wagendorf.de all things wagen related (deutsch)

other

 open source ecology
 RAM pump using water flow to pump a small amount of water