Hi there! You should really visit www.minipainting.se!
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Shameless plug
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WIP: Blood Angels Scouts
Thought I’d post this crappy image of my newest WIP. Will make an effort to take some “real” pictures of my minis soon.
By the way! Keep your eye out for the new blog at MiniPainting.se
Getting down and dirty with Virtualbox
I do favour slimmed Linux distros on the desktop and since I often work with loads of different development stuff and testing I often find my self fireing up a Virtualbox image running Windows.
I recently re-installed my desktop at home and decided for ArchBang. The choice seemed natural since ArchLinux is (at the moment) my
favourite Linux distro. After installing the system (eight minutes from USB boot until system installed and up and running!!) I starting weeding out which extra applications I would need.
Naturally I installed Virtualbox (simple ofcourse “$ sudo pacman -S virtualbox”). Made the necessary adjustments (made my self member of the virtualbox group, loaded the kerel modules and so on) and in my naivety tried to launch the application, but was only met by an error message.
I needed to install the qt library in order to support the Virtualbox
GUI. After thinking it trough (I hate bloated systems) I decided
against it. I then started investigate the posibilities of running
my virtual machines in headless mode.
Here is where the command ‘vboxmanage’ gets really interesting (for complete command reference, please see http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch08.html#idp7061872).
Since the abscense of the GUI I hade to create and modify my machines via the command line. I started out by creating a brand new machine for testing purpose.
‘$ vboxmanage createvm –name linux-test –register –basefolder ./vbox’
As the command implies, it creates a new VM named “linux-test”, register it and uses the folder “vbox” to create the VM in. After the VM has been created there are a few things to configure. First I needed to create some storage controllers that will handle the virtual harddisk images and dvd images we are going to use:
‘$ vboxmanage storagectl “linux-test” –name “IDE Controller” –add ide –controller PIIX4′
‘$ vboxmanage storagectl “linux-test” –name “SATA Controller” –add sata’
First I created a IDE conroller, this will be used to mount *.iso images to (cd/dvd), then I created a SATA controller for the harddrive image.
Now I had to create a virtual harddrive image that I could connect
to my SATA controller:
‘$ vboxmanage createhd –filename ./vbox/linux-test/linux-text-root –size 6000′
This command will create a new ‘linux-test-root.vdi’ with 6Gb size in the specified folder Next I attached some media to my VM’s controllers:
‘$ vboxmanage storageattach “linux-test” –storagectl “IDE Controller” –type dvddrive –medium ~/Downloads/archlinux-2011.08.19-core-i686.iso –port 0 –device 1′
‘$ vboxmanage storageattach “linux-test” –storagectl “SATA Controller” –type hdd –medium ./vbox/linux-test/linux-text-root.vdi’
Some other settings that needed to be fixed:
‘$ vboxmanage modifyvm “linux-test” –boot1 dvd –boot2 disk –usb off –memory 512 –nictype1 Am79C970A –cableconnected1 on
To enable the VRDE features I also installed the Oracle Virtaulbox Extention package:
‘$ vboxmanage extpack install ~Downloads/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.1.12-77245.vbox-extpack’
Now I have a virtual machine that looks something like this:
‘$ vboxmanage list vms –long’
Name: linux-test
Guest OS: Other/Unknown
UUID: cd137ae5-8930-4bb5-ab67-92fdf34fb28e
Config file: ./vbox/linux-test/linux-test.vbox
Snapshot folder: ./vbox/linux-test/Snapshots
Log folder: ./vbox/linux-test/Logs
Hardware UUID: cd137ae5-8930-4bb5-ab67-92fdf34fb28e
Memory size: 512MB
Page Fusion: off
VRAM size: 8MB
CPU exec cap: 100%
HPET: off
Chipset: piix3
Firmware: BIOS
Number of CPUs: 1
Synthetic Cpu: off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode: message and menu
Boot Device (1): DVD
Boot Device (2): HardDisk
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI: on
IOAPIC: off
PAE: on
Time offset: 0 ms
RTC: local time
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: on
Nested Paging: on
Large Pages: off
VT-x VPID: on
State: running (since 2012-04-20T19:44:01.222000000)
Monitor count: 1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Storage Controller Name (0): IDE Controller
Storage Controller Type (0): PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0): 2
Storage Controller Port Count (0): 2
Storage Controller Bootable (0): on
Storage Controller Name (1): SATA Controller
Storage Controller Type (1): IntelAhci
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1): 30
Storage Controller Port Count (1): 30
Storage Controller Bootable (1): on
IDE Controller (0, 1): ~/Downloads/archlinux-2011.08.19-core-i686.iso (UUID: 372a8bf7-9112-4d04-98c9-3bf290bae696)
SATA Controller (1, 0): ./vbox/linux-test/linux-text-root.vdi (UUID: 49851bbe-779b-4995-a2eb-b7c792f1bb13)
NIC 1: MAC: 080027FFF975, Attachment: NAT, Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79C970A, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: deny
NIC 1 Settings: MTU: 0, Socket (send: 64, receive: 64), TCP Window (send:64, receive: 64)
NIC 2: disabled
NIC 3: disabled
NIC 4: disabled
NIC 5: disabled
NIC 6: disabled
NIC 7: disabled
NIC 8: disabled
Pointing Device: PS/2 Mouse
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1: disabled
UART 2: disabled
Audio: disabled
Clipboard Mode: Bidirectional
VRDE: enabled (Address 0.0.0.0, Ports 5001, MultiConn: off, ReuseSingleConn: off, Authentication type: null)
Video redirection: disabled
VRDE property: TCP/Ports = “5001″
VRDE property: TCP/Address = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/Enabled = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/Quality = <not set>
VRDE property: VideoChannel/DownscaleProtection = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableDisplay = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableInput = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableAudio = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableUSB = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableClipboard = <not set>
VRDE property: Client/DisableUpstreamAudio = <not set>
VRDE property: H3DRedirect/Enabled = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/Method = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/ServerCertificate = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/ServerPrivateKey = <not set>
VRDE property: Security/CACertificate = <not set>
VRDE property: Audio/RateCorrectionMode = <not set>
USB: disabledUSB Device Filters:
<none>
Shared folders: <none>
Guest:
Configured memory balloon size: 0 MB
Now I can start the machine in “headless” mode
‘$ vboxheadless –startvm linux-test’
Oracle VM VirtualBox Headless Interface 4.1.12_OSE
(C) 2008-2012 Oracle Corporation
All rights reserved.
VRDE server is listening on port 5001.
The nifty thing is that now I can just use my RDP client to connect to the VM’s “monitor”
‘$ rdesktop localhost:5001′
To make things a bit easier I found this great script http://www.enide.net/webcms/index.php?page=vbctl
I allows for basic management of your VM’s
Maybe some one out there can make use of this information. I sure as hell will, this is going to make my life a lot easier. Although my setup might not be perfect as of now I am sure I can tweak settings and VM’s a bit more and even use this technique for my servers. Running them headless will save up some resources on the host machine and to manage them I could use any RDP client of choice!
Happy hacking!
/E
Blood Angels Terminator
Here is another update, one Terminator done, about eleven to go…
Perhaps I will have something playable soon…
/E
WIP – Blood Angels bike (and more)
This weekend I had a painting session together with my dear friend Denniz from Paints and Stuff, which finally got me going on painting again! What a relief. Sometimes it is hard do get going, even if you enjoy something…
Yesterday I got some steps closer to finish my bike, I guess I have some time left before it is completely finished, but I really like the base I made for it. My first really good looking base, though it’s not completely finished either…
Now I am waiting for a shipment of new, cool minis I bought from eBay, hopefully I will receive them today! I’ll keep posting pictures for your viewing pleasure 
Here’s a “action pic” from this weekend’s fun 
/E
Quick Podcast tip!
I have to make a recommendation, if you are a developer you should checkout this podcast: This Developer’s Life – Stories About Developers and Their Lives
Cheers
Another year has passed
So it’s already 2012. No resolutions for the new year though, I’m just going with the flow… I have some set goals but let’s see about them later.
I had made a vague promise to try to have an update to my Alfred extension up before the holidays, but truth is that I have been very inactive for the last couple of weeks. Had a totally disconnected three week hiatus and just this week went back to work. And guess if work has been stacking up! I will try and get the requested features done as soon as possible, but at the moment I can’t give any promises.
I am hoping for a interesting year ahead, I’m hoping to have a creative year with lot’s of new interesting technologies to try out and learn! Also to be able to find more time for painting miniatures!
So every go out there in the world and be creative! Write some code, take up a new hobby, write a book, compose a music masterpiece or just write interesting blog posts (not boring as mine)…
/E
Getting creative with Alfred
I can’t press enough how great the application Alfred for Mac OS X is! I you get the Powerpack there’s a lot of fun, for instance you can add extensions. I just wrote a little extension for Alfred which I use to create new text notes inside Evernote, another great application which syncs my notes over all my devices and computers!
You can get my extension here!
Usage is pretty easy, the default keyword is “enote” and the parameter is inputted as following “Title->Textbody”. So in order to create a new note in Evernote called “Shopping list” with the content “Milk, beans, cookies” you type “enote Shopping List->Milk, beans, cookies” in the Alfred window.
Please let me know what you think of it if you use it. If you modify or extend it, please feel free to send me a copy!
/E
Evaluating streaming music services
Ok, let’s face it. It’s a hassle so have you music library in sync over all your devices, at least it is for me. I have a computer at home, an iPhone and a computer at work. I listen to a lot of music and what I am listening to often depends on my state of mind or the task at hand.I try and try to keep music for all occasions on all my devices, but some how I’m always missing some artists/albums… This sent me out on a quest to evaluate the options of streaming services.
I tried out the obvious ones
My over all favorite is Grooveshark, the free version allows you to stream music directly through your browser, even if you choose not to create an account, which is darn nice. It uses flash to facilitate the functionality. Grooveshark is community driven and (I guess) exists in a legal grey area, all registered users are able to upload their favorite music to the service to share “with their friends” at Grooveshark (private copying, or just “lending”). This is great, but also makes the quality of music vary, quality and music information (tagging/ID3 tags) is suffering because of this. Also there can be several copies of the same albums uploaded. All this aside they offer a large music library according to my taste. The paid service makes it possible to use an AdobeAir client on your desktop, which is nice. They also have clients for Android based devices and iOS devices, the caveat however is that you iOS device must be jailbreaked in order to install their client… It’s by far the cheapest music service out there and it is available (I think) all over the world. An ad-free version costs $3 and the “Grooveshark” anywhere costs $5 and enables you to use their desktop client and mobile client. Nice!
The WiMP music service is a real crap service. First of all it is only available in the nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark) and requires that you have a valid cellphone number for this region (sends your password via SMS) and a credit card. There is only one level of membership to their service and it costs about €9/month for this you get streaming to your mobile devices and a desktop client written in AdobeAir. The music library is what you would expect, littered with the latest chart music and such crap, very little alternative/electronic music. I gave up on it in a matter of hours…I wouldn’t recommend them even if my life depended on it.
Spotify then. They have three levels of membership, free, unlimited and premium. The free version is unbearable limited and only allows for about 20 hours of streaming a month in the desktop client, this version is full of ads. The unlimited version lets you use the desktop client, ad-free and unlimited streaming for a mere €5/month, which is a sweet deal. The premium version lets you stream unlimited in a ad-free desktop client and take your music to your mobile device and even supports “offline mode” which means you can cache music on your devices for those moments when you are out of 3G or WiFi range. Sweet! There is a ton of other feature such as iPhone synch of local MP3s and ability to buy music etc. I am currently evaluating the Spotify Premium service as they give away 30-days trial (requires you to register a credit card). So far it’s the best of the three I’ve tried, kick-ass! They have almost all music I could ever wish for and their streaming service works surprisingly well even over 3G. I might stay with their service and remove my local music library…
These three music services is by far the most known here in Sweden. Have I missed some kick-ass music service? Please let me know, and I can try them out!
/E
Must-have applications for your Mac
A short write-up for what I use on a daily basis and I wouldn’t survive a day at the office without…
- Alfred – Application launcher and so, so , so much more
- Adium – Instant messaging client with support for all kinds of networks
ByteController – Small app in the menu bar to control iTunes– scratch that! Use Alfred powerpack instead.- VirtualBox – Free virtualization software from Oracle
- Growl – Notificastion system for OS X
- Dropbox – File synchronization software
And of course all the wonders of running Mac OS X Lion (10.7)
/E