Installing Xilinx in Linux 64 bit

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I explained the method to install Xilinx in a previous post, but that method only works for 32 bit systems. If you followed that procedure in a 64 bit machine it will install you’d not be able to compile projects.

Installing Xilinx for 64 bit linux is quite like the 32 bit method, only that you have to set your working directory to bin/lin64 in your Xilinx ISE directory. There’s a similar setup in this directory for 64 bit machines. So the steps to follow would be,

sudo ./setup

. settings64.sh

Notice that you have to run the settings64.sh file instead of the settings32.sh

Recovering the grub

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I had installed BURG to replace the GRUB menu even though I had only Ubuntu installed in my laptop. And the crazy me typed sudo rm -r /boot/BURG for some unknown reason and the grub was gone. The machine would boot and stop at grub rescue> prompt.

So after messing around in the #ubuntu IRC channel, found that the only option was to boot from a 10.10 bootable usb and rescue the grub. The commands used were:

mount | tail -1

to find out how the root was mounted and,

sudo grub-install –root-directory=/media/5d0602f1-892d-4ef0-9c7a-71a417aafd3d /dev/sda

to rescue the grub.

Moral of the story: Linux assumes you understand what you’re doing.

Chrome extensions I can't live without

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Just thought of sharing the Google Chrome extensions I use daily. In fact I’ve tested a lot of Chrome extensions and these are the few that have remained without being uninstalled.

  1. Google Mail Checker Plus
  2. Readability Redux – Extension for the popular Readability bookmarklet
  3. Instachrome – Plugin for Instapaper
  4. Tweet Button
  5. goo.gl URL shortener
  6. FeedSquares – Google Reader extension
  7. Session Buddy – Remembers the currently opened tabs

Windows woes

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My laptop’s power pack is broken. Gave it to a repair place, but there’s little hope. A new one would cost at least 3.5k. 🙁
So I move to the desktop computer which the others of the family use. It’s evil, it runs Windows XP.
First, you have to manually open an app and connect to the internet, while Ubuntu automatically connects once plugged in.
Once connected, it started downloading something. I was baffled for some time until I found out it was updating the antivirus. Antivirus! And you don’t have multiple workspaces to work in.
For the work I was going to do, I wanted to keep an instance of Notepad always on top. But apparently there’s no option when you right click on the title bar.
I turned off the computer and wrote this blog post from the phone.

The $0.99 earphone

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I ordered an earphone (the one in pic) last week from ebay, which was priced at $0.99 (free shipping). And I received it just seven days later nicely packaged in a big envelop. It looks just like as was advertised, has quite good sound quality, and no defects to be seen.

Well, the factory cost of the earphone would be less than $0.99. But it would obviously cost more than $0.99 to send a package like that from Hong Kong to Sri Lanka, right? Or am I wrong?

Getting rid of distracting thoughts

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We’re always distracted by our own thoughts.

Suppose you’re reading a book. Suddenly you might want to check the twitter stream. Or you might want to check out Wikipedia for a singer you love. Then you’ll notice that you’ve received some emails and want to reply them, or, worse, follow the links in them. This line of distractions is endless.

One of the simplest methods to avoid distractions is to write them down. When you’re doing something, have a small text editor opened in the background. Write in all the thoughts that come to you in it. This will prevent these thoughts from staying in your mind and getting stronger so that you’ll no more be able to resist.

Here’s an example text I wrote today while reading a book:

check today’s quotables
wikinews new messages?
check wiki abt trip hop
that fb app
mmmmmmm
sigh
the last of the mohicans
fix the bicycle wheel
spanner?
zombie 😀
google reader greader

task – The best to-do list manager ever

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task is a console-based to-do list manager with facilities to do everything you can imagine with the lists. As a student I’ve used dozens of to-do list managers and have never come across a better application.
The fact that this is console-based can be daunting to some, but believe me, getting used to task is a piece of cake.
In Ubuntu, you can install task by running

sudo apt-get install task

To add a task, run

task add Buy soap

To view the task list, run

task ls

To mark the first task as done, run

task 1 done

All other tasks are similarly simple. You can duplicate, prioritize, manage in projects, tag, modify and annotate tasks. For a more comprehensive tutorial check the Taskwarrior site.