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Connecting to the Internet with Kppp

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by Marcel Gagné Note : This article is an excerpt from chapter 9 of my book, “Moving to the Linux Business Desktop”. Most ISPs provide dial-up access through the Point-to-Point Protocol, or PPP. The KDE program that gets you connected to the Internet with a modem is called kppp. On a standard KDE setup, you’ll find it under Kicker’s big K by choosing the Internet menu, then clicking Internet Dialer. On Mandrake, look under Networking, then Remote Access; and Red Hat has it under Extras and Internet. You can always just start the application with the command kppp & from …

Cooking with Linux : It’s a Cross Platform, Alright!

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By Marcel Gagné This article was originally published in the July 2004 issue of Linux Journal. It’s A Cross Platform Alright! Note : Images have been scaled down to fit the pages. To see the full sized version, click on any of the images. Yes, I admit it, François. That’s very funny. When I told you that this month’s theme was cross-platform development, I didn’t mean platforms that make you cross, though I can understand thinking of Windows as a cross platform. As amusing as those images are, I think the artwork you chose for the menus tonight might raise …

Cooking with Linux : François, Can You Keep A Secret?

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By Marcel Gagné This article was first published in the April 2004 issue of Linux Journal. François, can you keep a secret? Images have been scaled down. Click each one to see the full sized version. It really is a shame François, but we will just have to make sure it is available for next time. Everything else looks perfect, mon ami; all the workstations booted up and at a login. Wonderful! Ah, I see that our guests are already here! François, head down to the east wing of the wine cellar. There a small cache of 1999 Côte-Rôtie next …

Cooking with Linux : Lights . . . Camera . . . Action!

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By Marcel Gagné This article was originally published in the December 2004 issue of Linux Journal Lights . . . Camera . . . Action! Images have been scaled down. Click each one to see the full sized version. I’m afraid it’s true, François. The camera does not lie. That’s what you look like when you are serving wine. Of course, mon amis. I have no intention of putting this little video on our restaurant’s website. Why am I doing this? Ah, you have not yet looked at the feature for today’s menu. Multimedia and Entertainment is the ticket, mon …

Cooking with Linux : Performing at the Speed of Light.

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By Marcel Gagné This article originally appeared in the November 2004 issue of Linux Journal Performing at the Speed of Light Note : Images have been scaled down. Click each one to see the full sized version. You are right, François, computers and operating systems have come a long way. Not only do we have the good fortune to be running the operating system of the future today, but we can take advantage of faster machines than ever before. I remember with some . . . well, I hesitate to call it fondness, but I do remember my first x86 …

Cooking with Linux : The Game of Security

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  By Marcel Gagné This article was originally published in the October 2004 issue of Linux Journal The Game of Security Note : Images have been scaled down. Click each one to see the full sized version. Excellent, François, I think you have those viruses on the run. Don't get cocky, mon ami. The horde is already dragging away everything in your recipes directory. Shoot, François! Shoot! I know they just keep on coming, but who said good system security meant you could just sit back and watch? This is a war and those little green guys aren't going to give …

Mucking About, Part Deux

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I obviously still can’t shake this whole site redesign madness and I obviously haven’t given up on content management software. So far, I’ve installed two such systems on my server. This site, running Drupal, is one of the options I’m considering. The second site exercise is this one running Mambo. Both have their pluses and minuses and neither is perfect but I’ll likely settle on one at some point. The downside of any CMS that I can think of is one of performance. Doing database lookups to serve web pages is nowhere near as efficient at providing static pages. Maybe …

Cooking with Linux – The Wireless Kitchen

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By Marcel Gagné This article was originally published in the September 2004 Linux Journal No, thank you, François, I don’t need to sit down right now. Yes, I see that the tables are free. That’s because our guests haven’t arrived yet. Quoi? Ah, I see. You’re wondering why I am wandering around with this notebook in my hands and not taking a moment to sit down. The reason is simple, mon ami. I’ve installed wireless access points in each wing of the wine cellar so we and our guests can have wireless access. I’m wandering around with my notebook to …

Mucking about with the Web site

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Hello everyone, Somewhere along the way, I confess that I was bitten by the remodelling bug. Not for my house, mind you, but for my Web site. I had been looking at it for some time, trying to decide what to do with the crazy thing. Other than a little tweak here and a little tweak there, I hadn’t touched it in a while. I think I was scared of just how much work it would take. Unfortunately, I’ve coded all these pages by hand (yes, using vi among other things) and the thought of adding or removing even one …

Marcel’s Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Marcel is an award-winning technical author. While most of his writing tends to lean toward computer-related stuff (okay, so the vast majority is computer-related), he has been known to write and publish (and edit) some great science fiction and fantasy. His first SF short story, titled "Paper", was published in the winter 1994 edition of ON SPEC: The Canadian Magazine of Speculative Fiction. Number two appeared in a new anthology of young adult fiction from Tundra (McLelland & Stewart).   Look for it as What if . . . ?  Amazing Stories selected by Monica Hughes. Yes, you can read that …

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