The past three months were unusual
I was very bothered about my NYSC
About where my posting will be
Where my state of deployment will be
I knew what I did not want
But was confused about what I wanted
I got a plum job offer at NSN
A job worth maneuvering for
I felt like lobbying for Lagos state
That was the beginning of my confusion
“Is it right or wrong to influence my posting?”
Though I felt it's not very very right
But I concluded that it's not wrong
As long has I do not bribe anyone for it
Well that was easy to force myself to accept
But will my desperate parents know that limit
“What does God think about all these?”
Have faith and do only the right thing
Now this led to the peak of my confusion
I believe influencing is not wrong
And so must be right
And doing the right thing is not being faithless
Not influencing is more right
But folding my arms is very hard
Having faith is of many levels
One is to abandon everything to God
Another is to submit everything to God
But both involves God taking control
Not influencing will be abandoning
That I won't even bother about the posting
Influencing will be submitting
That regardless of my efforts only God's will be done
And in my opinion both are alright
But I prefer the later
The later will involve my parents and other people
Whom I have little control over their actions
And they all have high tendency to bribe on my behalf
This makes the option I prefer
Most likely not what God will desire me to choose
And now I am most confused about everything

My laptop's 160GB hard disk is partitioned into more than six logical partitions and I multi-boot Windows 7, Windows XP, Kubuntu, Mandriva and Fedora. So you can imagine how I must have butchered the 160GB. I have managed to logically organize my files on the system, I put my iso image files in Kubuntu and Mandriva, my documents are in Windows XP and Windows 7. This makes it possible for me to frequently access documents on the Windows partitions and also copy documents to them. Occasionally, while working in Linux commandline I need to mount images on the Kubuntu partition or read a file I saved in the Windows partition. Unfortunately, Fedora has a terrible way of naming my partitions that are not part of its filesystem, for example the full path to my Windows XP partition is /media/8E9C64209C640555 and the one for my Windows 7 partition is /media/925C181C5C17F9A5. After getting sick of having to copy and paste the path, I decided to do something permanent that will help me get round the problem.
Well what I eventually did was to add four aliases to automatically change to any partition without bothering about its full path. I edited the /home/freeman/.bashrc file, I appended the following --
# User specific aliases and functions
alias kubuntu='cd /media/0f83fb7e-7810-489d-ad1d-1cfeb50e1ff2'
alias mandriva='cd /media/d06a0246-9501-4e55-8162-146e500cd2a0'
alias windowsxp='cd /media/8E9C64209C640555'
alias windows7='cd /media/925C181C5C17F9A5'

Voila!
Now everytime I enter windowsxp on my command prompt, I am automatically switched to the Windows XP partition.

I have this folder I named "Download", It is one of the largest folder in my Windows partition because it is where I stuff all my software and other downloads. I have always wished that I could right click on any software on a flash drive or CD and see Downloads folder as one of the destination I could Send To.

Well this wish did come true, so I will show you how I did it.
I navigated to where my Downloads folder is located on my windows explorer and left the window open.
I then navigated to my user account's home folder (mine was C:\Documents and Settings\freeman) on another explorer window. If you are using Vista or Windows 7, the path will be similar to this C:\Users\freeman. Goto the menu bar (in Vista and Windows 7, you will have to press the Alt button first before you will see the menu bar), click on Tools, Folder Options, choose the View tab and under the Advanced settings make sure that Show hidden files and folders is dotted. Apply and Ok the selection, then you should be able to see the Send To folder (it will appear faded).

Enter the folder. Now position the first explorer window that contains the folder you want to add as a Send To destination beside the Send To explorer window, as shown above.
Right click on the desired folder and drag it to the Send To folder, and choose Create Shortcut here.

Well that's all, you will now be able to send files and folders directly to this folder from anywhere.

Last November when I saw MTN advert of their 3.5G F@stlink modem going for the price of NGN8,500, I could not keep my mind of it till I finally bought it in December. The NGN10,000 3GB bundle for 30 days is too expensive for me (now) and the NGN500 50MB bundle for a day is simply out of the options, so I started with the NGN2,500 3GB bundle with access time between 10:00pm to 5:00am for 30 days. Unfortunately for me, there is no 3G in my area (in Lagos for that matter, I was over-shocked knowing that there is 3G in Akure, my friends say I should quit claiming I live in Lagos). I had to arrange a week in Akure to use up my remaining 2.7GB after struggling to exhaust 300MB for about 3 weeks. Anyway, now I am using Zain's 1GB bundle over 30 days (NGN5,000) on the MTN F@stlink modem. And I have also used Etisalat and Glo on it.

Now to the main content: How to configure MTN Fastlink for the other networks.
Once you have installed the MTN F@stlink software which comes with your modem, you can configure the modem to connect through any network of your choice as long as you have their network connection settings and data enabled SIM (most SIMs are by default data enabled).

My laptop's DVD drive is bad, so I prefer copying images of CD/DVDs through a friend's computer DVD drive and pasting it in my cd_image folder (a special folder I created for just iso images).
The command I use for copying CD/DVD images is

dd if=/dev/sr0 of=/home/freeman/cd_image/cdname.iso

This command is pretty straight forward,  the dd stands for disk dump, if stands for input file and of stands for output file. So I do not have problem with remembering the command.

The issue I have is remembering how to mount iso files on Linux, the mount options.
So I decided to write a shell script for interactively mounting any iso image in any mount point (which is often an empty folder).
The following is a step-wise description of the shell creation

STEP 1
I created a special folder in my home folder and named it shell, using the following command

[freeman@freeman ~]$ mkdir shell

I changed directory to the shell subdirectory I just created

[freeman@freeman ~]$ cd shell

STEP 2
I created a new file (named it mountiso) and entered the script in in using vi editor

[freeman@freeman shell]$ vi mountiso

#!/bin/bash

#This shell is for mounting cd images from anywhere to any empty folder

echo -n "Enter the full path of the iso image: "

read image

echo -n "Enter the full path of the mount point, an empty folder: "

read folder

mount -t iso9660 -o loop $image $folder

exit 0

STEP 3
I made the mountiso file executable by changing it's file permissions

[freeman@freeman shell]$ chmod a+x mountiso

I also included the /home/freeman/shell path in the PATH environment variable

[freeman@freeman shell]$ PATH=$PATH:/home/freeman/shell

To make is global, I exported the new PATH

[freeman@freeman shell]$ export PATH

So that was all, to run the new script I just enter mountiso (regardless of my current working directory) and enter both the image location and mount point without bothering about the mount options.

There is one thing I treasure greatly

Far more than all other things

The only thing I cling to closely

Its joy in my heart daily rings

My life without it is unimaginable

It is the essence of my life

Its importance is simply indescribable

The source of innumerable repreive

The hope I daily walk in

The comfort I never lack

The fortress I live in

The strength beyond my back

In it lies my aspirations

The dreams of who I ought to be

The reward for my perspirations

The assurance of who I will be

My light in every tunnel

My map in every wilderness

Though in it we quarrel

We are quick to seek redress

It might not be the best it can be

But its the best I've ever had

To be so dear in another's plan

The closeness that makes me glad

And it is my relationship with God

These last eight months have been change filled for me
I've been experiencing changes at a rate that dazes me
My entire belief system has been almost totally restructured
My perception of what is right and wrong has been altered
I seem detached from my world in a rather more intimate way
A little happy and a little sad are the extremes of my mood sway
I am more concerned with what happens around me than within me
The me I see in my dreams of the future is sometimes uneviable to me
I try to bridge the gap between who I am and who I want to be
I am more moved by what I read and hear than what I see
I constantly neglect the promptings of my emotions
To always enable me make sound and reasonable decisions
Though I know I cannot keep neglecting them forever
I just don't know if it will be the same me or another
Even my mind seems to have a mind of its own
Stealing me away with its unique thoughts and tone
The world seems larger and larger each day
And I become more insignificant in its way
Though I like the man I am growing into
But I do not like the world I am moving into

I just bought a ZTE MF627 USB modem (it supports GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA) to serve as my internet highway, the stuff works great with little configuration on Windows. Actually, it came with MTN Nigeria internet settings but I could use it with other networks via Windows Dial-up.
The major problem was that in my Ubuntu and Fedora Linux, I just could not use it. When I enter dmesg at the Commandline terminal, it detects it as a CD drive.
So after seeking lots of help online I finally got a way to go round the issue.
In my windows XP, the device manager allotted COM19 to the modem. I went straight to hyperterminal and connected to COM19 using the usual "8-N-1 None" settings, you can put the baudrate at any value. In the terminal I simply entered
AT+ZOPRT=5
AT+ZCDRUN=8
This will change the default mode of the modem from the CD drive to the modem mode. But you will not be able to install the software that came preloaded into the device, so if you want to use it on a new windows system, you may have to run AT+ZCDRUN=9 to enable you install the MTN settings or any other proprietary tools that come with the modem.
After that your Linux system will now identify the modem and make it available as /dev/ttyUSB2 or /dev/ttyUSB3 ( I think /dev/ttyUSB2 if you do not have 3G or HSDPA and /dev/ttyUSB3 if you have the service on the network). You can now use your preferred Point-to-Point Protocol connection tool.
If you are using Fedora 11 or 12, you can go to System, Preference and Network connection for very easy configuration of the modem.

Just click on Mobile Broadband and Add.

 Enter the internet settings as given you by the network provider, in the PPP setting untick all the compression methods, and the allowed authentication method to be PAP alone (except your provider specifies any additional one).
With this done, you are ready to go, just click on the network icon on the task bar and choose the network you just configured.
For Ubuntu, Mandriva and other distros including fedora, you can use any PPP tool -- gnome-ppp, kppp and wvdial. Just specify the right device address.

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I am sorry the title looks clumsily long, but that is to show that I am going to very much explain how you can access the internet using dial up on a Linux OS through an application called KPPP.

I assume that you already have the application installed, if you don't have you can view my previous post on installing software in Linux.

STEP 1

Launch the kppp software, a user inteface like the one below will come up

Don't mind the entries in the login ID and password, in this tutorial I will create a new account.

STEP 2

Click on the configuration button below, a pop up dialog box will come up as show below.

Click on the new button at the middle right side, a popup box like the one shown below.

Click on Manual Setup, another popup will replace this current one, as shown below

Enter the name you want to give this connection. Click on Add button, put *99# as the phone number. Leave the other settings at the default.

Click on Modems right beside Accounts on the top menu bar, click on new.

In the new dialogue box shown below, enter the access point name as the modem name, enter the port of the phone connection and leave the other settings as they are.

STEP 3

If you want to use a Bluetooth connection, plug the Bluetooth dongle into the computer, go to the Konsole commandline tool and enter the following commands

$ sudo su

# hcitool scan

(copy the device hardware address of the phone)

#rfcomm connect 2 00.00.00.11.AA.FF (replace with the copied address)

Make sure you specify /dev/rfcomm2 in the Modem device setting, actually you can use rfcomm1 or rfcomm3 just by replacing the 2 in “rfcomm connect 2” with the appropriate number.

Now go back to the kppp, and after saving the settings by selecting ok, in the main kppp dialogue box enter the login ID or username and password. If your connection doesn't need one just put “wap” for both, kppp will not connect without them since you will be connecting using PAP (Don't worry about understanding, just do it and you'll be alright).

Click on connect and you will be prompted to enter Bluetooth passkey, then the connection will be made.

I remember the talks about changing the world
That it is my destiny to stand out in my generation
And nothing can be more glorious than rerouting history
At first I believed all these to every single word
And even linked it to the purpose of my existence and creation
I began building my life on this grand appealing theory
But one day I started to examine my life more critically
And I discovered that this theory has got many faults
Infact, I fell for it simply because it promised fame and honour
How can I change the world that runs dismally?
How can I stand out among a group of schmaltz?
Furthermore, history casts lots to choose those it honours
There is more to my existence than changing the world
The world is already experiencing more change than it desires
It will be miserable for me to try to always outwit my peers
Rather, I was created to be a part of the world
To be a responsible citizen with very modest desires
And to be the very change I desire to see in my peers