sudo apt-get build-dep blender
What a great trick.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Ubuntu, OpenCL and NVIDIA
To be able to compile OpenCL programs on Ubuntu with an nvidia card:
Find a driver with OpenCL support: 195.17 works (but later ones do not). Download it by searching nvidia's site, or try here.
This step is very important: Disable Ubuntu's hardware drivers if you have enabled them. System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers.
sudo apt-get install build-essential
Now ctrl+alt+F1 to switch to a terminal; sudo stop gdm to kill Xorg; cd ~/Downloads; chmod 700 cudadriver*; sudo ./cudadriver*. Accept all the default options, including installing 32bit libs if you're on a 64bit system and resetting your xorg.conf. I had to copy /usr/lib32/libglut* to /usr/lib. sudo apt-get --reinstall install freeglut3 freeglut3-dev. sudo start gdm. You're all set.
Find a driver with OpenCL support: 195.17 works (but later ones do not). Download it by searching nvidia's site, or try here.
This step is very important: Disable Ubuntu's hardware drivers if you have enabled them. System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers.
sudo apt-get install build-essential
Now ctrl+alt+F1 to switch to a terminal; sudo stop gdm to kill Xorg; cd ~/Downloads; chmod 700 cudadriver*; sudo ./cudadriver*. Accept all the default options, including installing 32bit libs if you're on a 64bit system and resetting your xorg.conf. I had to copy /usr/lib32/libglut* to /usr/lib. sudo apt-get --reinstall install freeglut3 freeglut3-dev. sudo start gdm. You're all set.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Things to do
Lyx needs GUI support for document macros.
I say this because I've seen several times now the need for a user defined paragraph style, such as "Example" or "Exercise" or "Answer". This could potentially be solved by having a style editor? This might turn out to be a considerable amount of work.
Also, however, it needs simple replacement macros. An example I use a lot is \termdef{index item} which makes the index item text bold and adds an index entry. This kind of speed is not available to Lyx users. I suppose this is more of a variation on the noun/emphasis theme - user defined versions of these with custom Tex macros would be sufficient for this usage.
I say this because I've seen several times now the need for a user defined paragraph style, such as "Example" or "Exercise" or "Answer". This could potentially be solved by having a style editor? This might turn out to be a considerable amount of work.
Also, however, it needs simple replacement macros. An example I use a lot is \termdef{index item} which makes the index item text bold and adds an index entry. This kind of speed is not available to Lyx users. I suppose this is more of a variation on the noun/emphasis theme - user defined versions of these with custom Tex macros would be sufficient for this usage.
The Next Great Copyright Battle
2010 - Ebook readers become common.
2011 - Book sharing websites become popular.
2011 - Copyright infringement of books skyrockets. Seriously, you haven't seen anything yet.
2012 - Ebook makers build in or software update to automatic copyright protection for non-DRMed books, with phone-home functionality. "Make an example" lawsuits by publishers' associations begin.
2012 - Ebook readers without the ability to phone home enjoy a surge in sales. Crackers teach how to destroy aerials or crack firmware of popular models. Ebook readers stop working unless they can check in with their maker regularly.
2013 - ??? Who will win? Free Culture or Big Business?
Unlike musicians, book authors cannot make a lot of money out of performances. They (and their publishers) currently depend heavily on book sales to earn money.
One way to severely reduce piracy would be to make the books very cheap, like 1/100th of a day's wages. This would make the few minutes spent finding books for free uneconomical. If this was the case, DRM would almost be unnecessary. This doesn't work for smaller-market books like textbooks.
Perhaps a collaborative effort will produce good cc textbooks by then anyway, here's hoping! Actually it looks like there are quite a lot of good texts already, they just need to get noticed!
An alternative model for textbook authors is that used by Sean Carroll. Lecture notes are posted online, and satisfy course requirements; students who want a more complete treatment can buy the expanded textbook. I think this is a good model, but it doesn't work for fiction.
2011 - Book sharing websites become popular.
2011 - Copyright infringement of books skyrockets. Seriously, you haven't seen anything yet.
2012 - Ebook makers build in or software update to automatic copyright protection for non-DRMed books, with phone-home functionality. "Make an example" lawsuits by publishers' associations begin.
2012 - Ebook readers without the ability to phone home enjoy a surge in sales. Crackers teach how to destroy aerials or crack firmware of popular models. Ebook readers stop working unless they can check in with their maker regularly.
2013 - ??? Who will win? Free Culture or Big Business?
Unlike musicians, book authors cannot make a lot of money out of performances. They (and their publishers) currently depend heavily on book sales to earn money.
One way to severely reduce piracy would be to make the books very cheap, like 1/100th of a day's wages. This would make the few minutes spent finding books for free uneconomical. If this was the case, DRM would almost be unnecessary. This doesn't work for smaller-market books like textbooks.
Perhaps a collaborative effort will produce good cc textbooks by then anyway, here's hoping! Actually it looks like there are quite a lot of good texts already, they just need to get noticed!
An alternative model for textbook authors is that used by Sean Carroll. Lecture notes are posted online, and satisfy course requirements; students who want a more complete treatment can buy the expanded textbook. I think this is a good model, but it doesn't work for fiction.