May 20, 2015

The Pain and Fury of vmware-cli on CentOS 7

ok, this has reached the point of absurdity that I need to document it. The Goal Install vmware-cli on CentOS 7 for check_vmware_esx.pl to use. The Requirements installation needs to be reproducible with ansible. the latest version of the cli, VMware-vSphere-CLI-6.0.0-2503617.x86_64.tar.gz The Complications CentOS 7 uses a new version of Perl that is binary incompatible. VMware doesn’t pay attention. CPAN seemed like a great idea 22 years ago. Unfortunately it didn’t keep up with the times.

May 4, 2015

Change Fatigue

It’s not that I fear change, it’s that I’m weary of it. This is a good example. I was recently notified that a new version of my operating system (Kubuntu) was release. After upgrading, here is the list of things that needed to be fixed, in the order that I found them: grub timeout needs to be reset to 1 second log in and see all of my settings, widgets, backgrounds, etc are gone.

March 12, 2015

Yak Shaving: VMWare Update Edition.

Review nessus report, see Samba needs patching. Patch Samba. While retesting, I notice ESX has a patch that needs implementing. Find out they released 6.0 today. Rather than upgrading to 5.5.1 then 6.0, I look into upgrading directly to 6.0 While looking to implement that I research updatemanager, which I can’t use since I don’t have a windows server to install it on. So I look at doing it manually, and find out that I need to upgrade vcenter first, since vcenter can’t manage esx hosts that are a higher version.

March 1, 2015

wacom Intuos tablet crashes Xorg in Kubuntu

every 1 in 10 times I hook up my Wacom Intuos to Kubuntu, xorg crashes with this lovely message. It’s very irksome. Linux linwider 3.16.0-28-generic #38-Ubuntu SMP Fri Dec 12 17:37:40 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux Kubuntu 14.10 xsetwacom –list devices Wacom Intuos PT S Pen stylus id: 9 type: STYLUS Wacom Intuos PT S Finger touch id: 10 type: TOUCH Wacom Intuos PT S Pen eraser id: 16 type: ERASER

February 25, 2015

Please Steal This Idea.

Someone take this idea and run with it; just make sure it’s free to use. I don’t have the time for it and it’s too great not to write down. The idea? A simple graph paper map maker. Nothing with fancy graphics like campaign cartographer or FantasticMapper, Just a simple graph paper mapper. The interface consists of two major parts- the map window and the collapsible sidebar. Main Window The main window looks like an unblemished minesweeper screen with a giant crosshair segmenting it into 4 parts.

January 29, 2015

Geomorph Theory

*Random Crazy Person Thought of the Day: Ultra-specialized Geomorphs and Naming Conventions* Standard Geomorph A geomorph has 4 sides, and connects to all for sides via two entryways or “ports.” It looks a little bit like an octothorpe/hash with the center filled in (#). Base2 Geomorph Sets While Standard Geomorph tiles are cool, theres no way to close the system. To do this, you need to introduce the concept of a side being open (has two connecting ports) or closed (has no connecting ports).

November 7, 2014

The Key to Creating Good, Tileable Images (in GIMP)

I’m writing this as a general guide both for future reference, and to get feedback from others. Often when using an image manipulation program such as GIMP or Photoshop, you’ll need to create large swaths of consistent texture. The easiest way to do this is with a pattern fill tool, however most programs only include a small set of patterns. The good news is that you can make your own with relatively little grief.

October 16, 2014

Fix for Sonar Breaking After Upgrade

Upgrade is not supported. Please use a production-ready database. If you’ve ever seen this message after a yum update, you know how infuriating it can be. I was sure I was already using mysql rather than the default h2 database, but everything indicated that was the problem. It turns out the error was caused when they replaced /opt/sonar/conf/sonar.properties with a default configuration. If you vimdiff it against /opt/sonar/conf/sonar.properties.rpmsave you should see the issue.

October 6, 2014

Prunecluster’s Stories, Volume 1, Part 1: Cragmaw Cave.

So there we were… Cragmaw Cave. We’d just killed a bunch of goblins and had located their leader, known only as “the big one.” The ranger peeks into the small cavern to appraise the situation, then returns to us. “There’s a Bugbear, a worg, and… a goblin in a jester outfit.” “Whut whut?” I ask. I take my craft seriously. There’s no way the goblin is a properly trained jester.

September 22, 2014

Greatest Marketing Pitch Ever

El Monterey, I have the perfect marketing pitch for you: Scene: Dining room table, happy music plays in the background. Mother, father and two children walk in door carrying fast food bags Father opens container to find a smashed, nasty, dried out cheeseburger. Music stops. Mother opens her fish sandwich to find it swimming in tartar sauce. Everyone appears grossed out and disappointed when suddenly there is a loud thump