I’ve updated my TODO one-step apache build script to use the latest 1.3-series components as of today, including the following:

TODO – yum list available mysql*
Time to move to 5.0, or not?

I don’t like compiling separate versions of components that are installed by yum, but in this case I have to have complete control. This update brought to you by MediaWiki, which pointed out the fact that I was running the newer MySql server and apache was still linked to older MySql client libraries (which were incompatible – MySql’s got new stronger default password hashing now).

Getting closer to having my all-in-one media PC up and running.

FEDORA BLUES
The main problem, lately, has been finding a working version of transcode for Fedora. I have to complain again that Fedora repository management is a huge pita. There are lots of Fedora repositories to choose from, and they are only “mostly” coordinated. There’s no single channel like with Gentoo, and that results in chaos. The latest example is the nrpms repo, which hasn’t been working for three days, which means my system hasn’t been working completely right for three days. Trying to patch everything manually really isn’t an option once you’ve committed to a repository and it’s wormed its way into your system. Besides, that defeats the whole purpose. So the only answer is to wait. The bottom line: it’s not a benefit to have choice if most of the choices are broken.

[MythTV] VS [dvd::rip]
Enough whining. An essential part of a media PC is to be able to collect your DVD’s in one place for easy access. The best way to do that is to rip and “transcode” them (convert them into a more tightly compressed form) onto your hard drive(s). transcode is the 500-hp engine that does all that gnarly conversion work under the hood, but you’ll want to be isolated from all its sharp edges with a graphical front end of some sort. There are two good options I’ve found that bring transcode and all its related utilities together for you.

dvd::rip gives you complete access to all the switches and dials of transcode, directly in edit boxes and dropdown lists. You can set it up just as you like, then save the settings for the next “project”. It’s pretty useful if you want to dig into all of your options. It’s written in perl and uses Gtk+ for the GUI.

MythTV has an option [Optical Disks->Import DVD] that asks nothing more from you than the desired end quality (and even there you only have three settings to worry about: Perfect; Excellent; Good). The other nice thing about MythTV is that you can queue up jobs – copying the DVD to your hard drive takes a mere 10-15 minutes, then you can pop another in, while the massive ugly 10-hour transcode job of the first DVD continues to run on its own, into the night while you sleep. If you’re sticking it out with Fedora, here’s a Fedora-specific HOWTO on getting MythTV set up and running.

RECORDING TV
MythTV is the way to go, I’m still sloshing through this bit, more to come later…

This is just a quick release to get my latest changes posted. Share The DJ is a linux-based tool to connect Hang The DJ users. Look for more to come…

It’s pretty hard to argue with the idea of managing your bookmarks on a webpage. It avoids the hassle of unsynchronized local bookmarks scattered across different systems and browsers. Just remember ONE webpage, and you can get to all the rest!

A few years ago I went looking for code to let me do this from my server, giving me ultimate control. bookmark4u scratched my itch. I got on board with it when it still supported frames, which was exactly what I wanted. YES I LOVE FRAMES! Bugger off! 😛 The author didn’t agree, and dropped support a long time ago, so I cling to my older version. Even so, over the years, it has been ROCK SOLID and done everything I wanted (this may be the only software I have ever used for which this is true!).

A more recent update to Mysql (4.1 I believed) changed the internals of a common way of encrypting passwords, the PASSWORD(‘plaintext’) function. Example SQL:

insert into MY_PASSWORDS (‘webuser’, PASSWORD(‘webuserpswd’) );
…
select user from MY_PASSWORDS where password=PASSWORD(‘webuserpswd’);

More precisely, after some reading, I found that the PASSWORD() function is really intended for internal use by Mysql, and external use is not recommended. In version 4.1.1, the output from PASSWORD() was extended from 16 bytes to 41 bytes. Any apps that expect the older size no longer work. Cest la vie.

Of course, the problem is that bookmark4u uses it. What to do? The Mysql encryption docs give details on all the available encryption functions. SHA1() is recommended – it is cryptographically strong, and should be widely available. And perhaps most importantly, it is not likely to change out from under us. I replaced all calls to PASSWORD(‘blah’) with SHA1(‘blah’), which generates a long hash string for the password. Worked like a charm. The only thing I had to do besides search/replace PASSWORD( with SHA1( was to alter the password column to make it wider – 60 characters was recommended somewhere, and it did the job for me. Of course, we could have just extended the column in the first place, but why go halfway? That’s no fun! 😛

IM’s total lack of standardization has probably annoyed just about anyone using it at some point in time. Who wants to run a different client for every other friend? Jabber was supposed to fix all that, and really, it does. The problem is that with AIM and ICQ and MSN and Yahoo! all fighting for your packets, there’s a lot of momentum to overcome.

That’s where Google Talk comes in. They are dedicated to open standards (aka Jabber) and have the muscle to get it done. I’ve used PSI, a Jabber client that supports gateways to all the “other” guys, and now it works with Google Talk too. Here’s the important settings I used to hook up, and a shot of the roster: