First I installed the prerequisites: freetds and the python headers:

aptitude install python2.5-dev freetds-dev

There might be some other packages that are needed but that was the only ones I needed to install…. Then I decompressed the latest release from pymssql at sourceforge and installed:

NOTE : for me the latest package did not work so I used pymssql-0.8.0

tar -xvzf pymssql-0.8.0.tar.gz
cd pymssql-0.8.0
python setup.py install

Now you can test it out by creating your own test script and it is as follows :

import pymssql
conn = pymssql.connect(host='<hostname>', user='<username>', password='<passwd>', database='<dbname>')
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute('SELECT * FROM tbABCD')
row = cur.fetchone()
while row:
 print "ID=%s, Name=%s, Address=%s" % (row[0], row[1], row[2])
 row = cur.fetchone()
conn.close()

The script ran perfectly…
For more information on pymssql you can view its documentation here…

Linus Torvalds visits Google to share his thoughts on git, the source control management system he created…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XpnKHJAok8[/youtube]

Linus Torvalds, the creator of the operating system phenomenon Linux, tells the story of how he went from writing code as a graduate student in Helsinki in the early 1990s..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTWCPoUt8w[/youtube]

lshw -html > sysinfo.html

You may need to install it first… For Debian and Ubuntu users installation is simple..

sudo aptitude install lshw

You can find the detailed information about lshw from the following page: http://www.ezix.org/project/wiki/HardwareLiSter

First, install the curl package:

sudo apt-get install curl

Next, create a script anywhere in your $PATH, for example tweet.sh inside ~/bin, where ~ is your home directory (make sure ~/bin is included in your $PATH variable, in case echo $PATH doesn’t return it, edit ~/.bashrc and add a line like this: export PATH=/home/USER/bin/:$PATH)…

The script tweet.sh should contain the following:

#!/bin/sh

############EDIT THE FOLLOWING LINES...###########################
user="USERNAME"
pass="PASSWORD"
##################################################################

######################DO NOT EDIT BELOW THIS######################
tweet="${@}"

if [ $(echo "${tweet}" | wc -c) -gt 140 ]; then
    echo "FATAL: The tweet is longer than 140 characters!"
    exit 1
fi

curl -k -u ${user}:${pass} -d status="${tweet}" https://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml >/dev/null 2>&1

if [ "$?" == "0" ]; then
    echo "Successful tweet!"
fi

Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with your Twitter username and password, and then make the script executable:

chmod 755 ~/bin/tweet.sh

And now test it.. Just use it as :

tweet.sh YOUR MESSAGE

This should be all…

If you don’t want to copy paste the code for tweet.sh then use the following link to download tweet.txt and RENAME it as tweet.sh

Recently, I found a site that let’s me learn awesome command line tricks.. Its called commandlinefu.com

This is a community driven site, where users submit various commands everyday, to do all sorts of tricks and jobs…. Commands get votes from fellow users, and often, better versions are posted…. This makes Commandline Fu one of the must visit sites for geek…s. Commands are tagged, and hence searchable….. The site also has an API and a simple javascript widget, making it ideal for embedding a command in blog posts….. Commandline Fu also provides Twitter and RSS feeds for commands posted to the site, and discerning users can subscribe to commands which have more than 3 or 10 votes…

Do visit and join this site!!!

1. Boot the Desktop/Live CD of linux.
2. Open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal)
3. Start grub as root with the following command :
sudo grub

4. You will get a grub prompt (see below) which we will use to find the root partition and install grub to the MBR (hd0,0)

[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For
the first word, TAB lists possible command
completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
completions of a device/filename. ]

grub>

Type the following and press enter:
find /boot/grub/stage1

Using this information, set the root device:
grub> root (hd0,1)

Install Grub:
grub> setup (hd0)

Exit Grub:
grub> quit

5. Reboot (to hard drive). Grub should be installed and both Ubuntu and Windows should have been automatically detected.

6. If, after installing grub, Windows will not boot you may need to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst (That is a small “L” and not the number 1 in menu.lst)

* Open a terminal and enter :
gksu gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Or, in Kubuntu:
kdesu kate /boot/grub/menu.lst
Your Windows stanza should look something like this :
title Windows XP/Vista # You can use any title you wish, this will appear on your grub boot menu
rootnoverify (hd0,0) #(hd0,0) will be most common, you may need to adjust accordingly
makeactive
chainloader +1

Best Alternative:

If their is a problem with grub or u want to make this still easy u can reinstall your grub by a application known as Super Grub Disk iso Image..
Boot your system using the disk and follow the instructions…

The website for the new school, found here, is as bogus as it gets. Not only does it rip off Google’s logo, but it even uses the same favicon, all whilst having dead links to various web pages. According to TechCrunch, Googlle offers two different certifications: the “GCPA – Googlle Certified Professional in Advanced Computing,” and the “GCPE – Googlle Certified Professional in E-Commerce.” The first certification hopes to educate the students in technologies such as Windows and Linux, and the second teaches skills such as proficiency with Photoshop.

Not only that, but there are also, “Modular courses – duration 60 days to 90 days that can enhance your computer skills and offer you “GOOGLLE” certification, no matter what your specific requirement.” The courses are said to take two years to complete, though, worryingly, the main website shows a campus which apparently doesn’t exist. The real question now is whether or not the site will remain operational for much longer; no doubt Google will take action, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Got a chance to play around with it on Ubuntu yesterday night… It is not as noticeably faster than Firefox…. But it is significantly better at managing large amounts (20+) of tabs than Firefox.. Chrome is the first mainstream Webkit Browser for Linux.  Most people won’t have used Konqueror as Firefox is the most popular browser on Linux. Overall, it is a great foundation for an excellent browser future.  It is in my top 3 with Safari and Firefox.

Chrome for Mac/Linux beta is a free download, works with Intel Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard or Linux PCs.

Go ahead and read this really wonderful & very famous article from Eric. S. Raymond How To Become Hacker.

Hackers mean builders as Eric goes on to mention in the essay that the hackers are the one who built the internet, the UNIX, LINUX or add any other computer related stuff here. He goes on to say that it’s just not in the field of computers, but hackers are prevalent everywhere and in every other field. He helps you understand the meaning of true ‘Hacker’ & what a HACKER is not? & guides you how to become a true hacker. I know you’d be interested in reading the article, since I had the same curiosity as I simply glanced through the topic in my office when searching for something else in the internet. At leisure – yes please make sure you’re free of thoughts & have good time & fresh mind to read this article. I know it’s pretty difficult to become a hacker, even following what Eric is suggesting on what makes you a hacker. But to me (which is applicable to me as well) – when we strive to follow what Eric says in this beautiful essay, one should become a good true hacker.

KEEP HACKING!!!

Fedora 12 can boot in 20 seconds, rivaling Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows 7.  Like other recent Linux releases, Fedora 12 also uses the more efficient and speedier ext4 as the default file system. As of Fedora 12, the base x86 architecture is now i686.  This move away from i586 means the end of the road for older style processors.  It also means that faster binaries can be created because of the concentration on current and future processor designs.

Fedora 12 also provides an easier way to install missing applications. A PackageKit browser plugin allows users to go online to securely install applications from websites.  To make things easier for those who still like the command line, its includes by default the PackageKit command not found functionality

Aside from including Gnome 2.28 and KDE 4.3 as desktop options, it includes the Fedora Moblin desktop.  Designed and optimized to run on netbooks or Mobile Internet Devices (MID), Fedora Moblin gives users another alternative to Ubuntu or Microsoft as desktops for these devices.

All in all, Fedora 12 is a major and compelling upgrade to a venerable Linux OS.  With the plethora of new features that Fedora 12 has, both hard core as well as casual users will surely pleased.

Have a look at Fedora 12 (release notes).