USB boot for Linux/Fedora

I purchased an eSATA enclosure so that I could boot multiple OSs and have something for backup. I've got CentOS4 (repackaged RHEL 4) on there for some older software that I use for work. The eSATA enclosure also has a usb port while my laptops don't have an eSATA port.

I want to be able to boot the eSATA enclosure when using USB. Since most of the kernels that come with a distribution don't support booting from USB, I had to make some changes. Using this website as a guide I was able to setup the CentOS update kernel.

This was the only command that I had to was:

mkinitrd --preload=ehci-hcd --preload=usb-storage --preload=scsi_mod --preload=sd_mod /boot/usbinitrd.img 2.6.9-1.667smp

Make sure that you modify it for your kernel version.

The difference in speed between eSATA and USB is really evident here. The timed buffered disk reads are:
eSATA ~71MB/sec
USB: ~31MB/sec

Update:
I recommend that you setup the usbinitrd image while you're still connected to the eSATA connection, otherwise you may have to use the rescue CD to perform the operations described by the external website.

Also, I have USB 2.0 ports on my laptop and the enclosure supports USB 2.0. I would imagine that a USB 1.1 port is very much slower. See the comments sections.

Eclipse CDT Packaged for Windows

Doug Schaefer is putting together a pre-packaged Eclipse CDT for Windows called Wascana Desktop Developer. It includes the following:

• Eclipse Platform runtime
• Eclipse CDT runtime
• MinGW toolchain: binutils, gcc, g++, gdb
• MinGW runtime libraries: mingw-runtime, w32api
• Simple Directmedia Layer library, better known as SDL
• MSYS GNU command line environment
• Sun's redistributable Java Runtime Environment

Another nice to have features would be a subversion plugin.

Earmarks and congress

None of Viriginia's elected representatives in Congress would provide CNN with information about their earmarks. I checked the response for each district.

• Senator Jim Webb (D) - Would not provide
• Senator John Warner (D) - No Response
• District 9 Boucher (D) - No Response
  

Here are the links to the stories. There are ways to see what your representative provided.

• Senate
• House
  

New Home Pics

Here are pics of the new home.

Buying a house

Yes, my wife and I are buying a house. We should close May 30. We'll be living just outside of Abingdon. I know that this is probably the wrong time to be buying, but what do you do (maybe rent).

Global Warming Thoughts

I never really expected to post as many article on global warming as I have. They're mainly information links. I believe that Global Warming is real. I just don't believe that we may have played as big a role causing it as some would have us to believe.

Almost all of the articles about have the term "very likely" when talking about our carbon footprint causing the warming. It's not definite. Our understanding of the earth's systems are not complete, but people are trying. Newton's laws are flawed, but they worked just enough. Later, they were refined by scientists like Einstein. Global Warming will be understood eventually and what causes it may not be what we think it is now.

Please don't misunderstand me. I don't want to breath exhaust everyday. I think that it's a good thing to clean up our ways. It is wrong to use lies and half truths to change people's behavior.

Sunspot Activity near 1000 year high

Here's some interesting information about sunspot activity.
Sunspot Activity reaches 1,000 year high

Upcoming sunspot activity peak news:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/26/solar.cycle.ap/index.html