Removing / Stopping Unwanted Services from Linux boot

The first thing you should do when you install a shiny new gnu/Linux system is remove unwanted services from default runlevel (default is runlevel 2 incase of debian and related distros ).

Most advanced users would manually remove the syslinks from the runlevel /etc/rc{0-6}.d directories. This is not only messy and also prone to errors. I advise you to look the update-rc.d tool from the sysv-rc package. The sysv-rc package is installed as part of standard gnu Debian Linux base system, so it pays to learn this one over other GUI or Ncurses based tools.

Alright enough of talk let me go ahead remove some unwanted services, let's get rid the The Internet Superserver(inetd) here.

$ sudo update-rc.d -f inetd remove update-rc.d: /etc/init.d/inetd exists during rc.d purge (continuing) Removing any system startup links for /etc/init.d/inetd ... /etc/rc0.d/K20inetd /etc/rc1.d/K20inetd /etc/rc2.d/S20inetd /etc/rc3.d/S20inetd /etc/rc4.d/S20inetd /etc/rc5.d/S20inetd /etc/rc6.d/K20inetd

The name of the service 'inetd' (referred to as basename in manual pages) are the init scripts that reside in the /etc/init.d directory. Have a look the scripts in this directory or look closely the boot time messages to find likely targets to remove.

Mediawiki Translation Project

Here is a heads-up from the Mediawiki localisation effort. Veeven informs that Telugu (te) localisation group is almost done(see group stats). At the time writing this post most of the mediawiki messages were translated into telugu, I guess the team is working hard on the extensions part by now. Good work fellows, you might be up for the bounty. Goodluck!

On the hand, the Mediawiki Hindi(hi) translation effort is in a sad state. It would really great if one of you could take time and help out. Do I see any hands going up ?

XP on XO soon

Last year I blogged in OLPC XO Production Delays, Microsoft Monster Catches Up about on the plans to run a Microsoft Windows OS on OLPC XO laptop something like this.
Yeah right, I guess a thousand slaves are working in dark dungeons trying to squeeze the Windows XP white elephant into the XO. :0)

It now seems that they are on the final stages of completing this Herculean technical feat according to this OLPC News story.
I guess its the end of the OLPC project. So long folks!.

Grep : The Torment question

Here is a favorite question often posed to novice sysadmins. Ho, how they would sweat on this one!!. I was pleasantly surprised to see it find its way into Linux Journal's Tech tips. Darn good one Alessandro!.

Blogging The Blues Away

Few hours ago I watched the presenter of BBC 's Click TV show mention a Australian research report that says blogging can drive away blues. I guess he was referring to the story published in the latest issue of The journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour. The research compares the mental health of people intending to blog with that of people not planning to blog.

Over the last year I have been living in a place that is a far cry from the fast paced, multi-cultural city life I am used to and it has lead to a certainly degree of social isolation. It is perhaps writing this blog on a unpredictable wireless connection that really makes me feel less isolated. I am rather not sure that blogging can drive away blues but it does give some sense of belonging to my peer groups (read long-haired-smelly-nerds).

Firefox Type Ahead Find for power surfing

This is another darling feature of firefox power users. The Type ahead find feature will find text link on the page much like the line browser Elinks search "/" mode. You can see this firefox type ahead find in action in the beginning of this screencast.

In newer versions of firefox browser a new search bar is placed at the bottom the screen when in search mode, this search bar is not loved by all (that includes me). But don't be put off by my preferences, this typeahead find feature will help you find and follow the weblinks thereby increasing your surfing speed.

Enable Type Ahead Find in Firefox/Iceweasel

John mentions the steps for enabling the type ahead find feature on his technipages blog.

1. Type about:config in the address bar and press ENTER.
2. Locate and double-click the entry for accessibility.typeaheadfind
3. Set it to true to enable this feature.

Happy Surfing!!

Off to Computational Linguistics workshop

I hope this post ends yet another spell of absense from writing to this blog. Thanks for bearing with me.

So, What's new? Well my tickets are booked and bags almost packed. I am off to the workshop I was planning to attend for so long. Guess, I'll meet some of you over there.

Workshop on Advanced Course in Computational Linguistics 16-25, March 2008

Organized by Department of Dravidian & Computational Linguistics Dravidian University, Kuppam -517425 In collaboration with Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore The Department

The Department of Dravidian and Computational Linguistics was established with a vision to fulfill the main objectives of the university and to meet the challenges of technological developments. It has identified the areas of Dravidian Linguistics and Computational Linguistics as the thrust areas of research. The Department offers part-time Certificate & Diploma courses in Dravidian Linguistics and Computational Linguistics.

The Department undertakes projects relating to Natural Language Processing such as building WordNets, Language Technology Tools, preparing Machine Readable Dictionaries and developing Machine Translation Systems pertaining to Dravidian Languages. At present, the Department is working on the Indian Language to Indian Language (Telugu-Tamil) Machine Translation System.

The Workshop

Development of language technology tools has emerged as a prime area of research in the technology age. That is why the role of language and the linguistic aspects have gained enormous importance. Various institutions in India are involved in the language technology activity, especially in developing tools in different Indian languages. The tools thus developed are intended to cater to the needs of researchers and language teachers working in the educational institutions all over the country. Further, the applicational aspects of these tools in areas such as language teaching, dictionary compilation, machine translation, etc. are yet to be utilized in a proper manner.

The Department organized a Workshop on Introduction to Computational Linguistics from 8-17th December 2006. It aimed at introducing the participants various computational techniques that are used to build language technology tools.

The present Workshop, Advanced Course in Computational Linguistics to be organized from 16-25, March 2008 will expose the participants to the advanced techniques in computational linguistics and its applications. This ten-day workshop will provide the participants an opportunity to get hands-on experience with the state-of-the-art systems.

A candidate who has attended the first workshop and participates in the advanced Workshop is eligible for a P.G. Diploma in Computational Linguistics provided he/she takes the requisite examination of two papers and submits a project work in the area of his choice in computational linguistics. A candidate who attends afresh for the Advanced Workshop will have to undergo the preparatory program of three-days prior to the Advanced Workshop will be awarded a Certificate in Computational Linguistics provided he clears the requisite two exams.

Course Content

The following areas would be covered in detail through lectures, labs and tutorials:

• Machine Translation
• Computational Semantics & ontology
• Information Extraction
• Bioinformatics & NLP
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
• Intelligent Tutoring Systems
• Artificial Intelligence in Education
• Dialogue Analysis
• Named Entity Recognition
• Cross Language Information Access
• Summarization
• Language Technology Policy and Planning

The Workshop Faculty

Prof. G. UmaMaheshwar Rao, Head, Centre for ALTS, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad

Dr. Achuth Sankar S. Nair, Director, Centre for Bioinformatics, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram

Dr. P. Umarani, Formerly Research Associate, University of Pittsburgh, USA

Mrs. Amba P. Kulkarni, Reader, Department of Sanskrit Studies, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad.

Dr. L. Sobha, Research Scientist, Computational Linguistics Group, AU-KBC Research Centre, MIT Campus of Anna University, Chennai.

Dr. Vasudeva Varma, Associate Professor, IIIT, Hyderabad

Mr. S. Viswanathan, Senior Programmar, Capgemini, Chennai.