On Ubuntu I sometimes need to run the Turbo Tax Runtime (aka. Windows Vista), I recently installed the GPL Virtualbox from Sun Microsystems. It works great! and only took a few steps;

$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox
$ sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-modules-2.6.24-19-generic
$ sudo addgroup bob vboxusers
$ virtualbox

I figured I would fill out the FedEx claim form just for fun (for my missing OLPC pc - see below.) So I printed out the claims form PDF. When I called FedEx to get my "claim control number", they were surprised that would be filling out the claim. The FedEx claims lady said 9 out of 10 times the sender submits the claim. She said they usually deny the claim when it is submitted by the recipient. She said even if they do allow the claim, that they will send the refund to the sender unless the sender sends FedEx a letter stating that I should receive the refund. Super.

Well hopefully I will get the call from the OLPC Donor Services manager today or early tomorrow and they are going to take all this pain away.

Otherwise I guess I can call American Express and see what options they offer me....

I called OLPC's "Donor Services" this morning around 8:15 or so. I had advised them that I called already on Friday and that I was looking to hear something like "We will file a claim with FedEx, and your replacement laptop is being sent immediately." Alas, Daisy said that her supervisor will call me later today or early tomorrow. So I will keep my cell phone with me at all times :-)

One annoying thing about using "ssh" is that it clears the screen when you disconnect. A lot of times I find I want to cut/paste something or just see something that I was just doing remotely. It finally dawned on me today that an easy way to avoid this problem is to just "disconnect" and not "logout". You can disconnect using the key sequence "~." and disconnecting doesn't clear the screen. Small potatoes for nearly everyone on the planet, but man - I find that nice.

Handy FireFox plugin.... Download Status Bar (useful if you download stuff and get tired of the Downloads window)

If you develop web applications, Selenium IDE - a open source firefox plugin - rules. It lets you record and playback sessions with firefox. Excellent for testing a web application or performing some routine web browser task. Very cool!

What would you do with 700 million dollars? How about create a Linux distribution? Interesting article Really Free Software

This Linux logo rocks... from a story about Apple Hates Grandmothers... or basically about how proprietary sucks.