i’m trying to get the 2 projects up and running soonish, while doing my day job AND trying to keep my blog always filled with interesting content, but alas i have been very slack about it and i apologise. i know some of the other big bloggers out there rely on OTHER people to give them content or write content but i like to find interesting articles or things myself making it me and not promote it as their own while others are the source of their articles. get what i’m saying? oh, and keep up with the times you people, posting stuff that happened last week now is not on. seems like you people don’t have fresh content and rely on other bloggers content to freshen yours? just saying. OH! one more thing…if you do get content from other sources, pictures, videos, etc…please please please just link back to the original site or mention the author or photographer or whatever? it is just good manners.

anyways, enough of my bitching (was not intended), i wish i could give you guys details about them but that would just ruin the surprise now wouldn’t. some of you know that i have something planned and others this will be the first time you hear this.

well, if you are struggling and need to cheat, here are the answers.

• print
• cut
• assemble

paper linux tux penguin

from TestDisk’s site:

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.

TestDisk can

* Fix partition table, recover deleted partition
* Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup
* Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
* Fix FAT tables
* Rebuild NTFS boot sector
* Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup
* Fix MFT using MFT mirror
* Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock
* Undelete files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem
* Copy files from deleted FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions.

TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.

i decided 2 days ago to trash my windows7 installation and try linux again. i chose Linux Mint 7 as it offers a little bit more than Ubuntu Linux regarding codex’s out the box and also the art and all that is much more prettier. anyways, this post is not about that but about testdisk and how it saved me.

i install linux mint and when i rebooted i got the dreaded grub22 error. i then decided to remove all MBRs on the disk as windows MBR was still lurking there. i used the awesome CD known as Hiren’s BootCD which has some awesome tools on it. i managed to remove all MBRs and rebooted and reinstalled Linux Mint. when i rebooted i got stuck on the grub screen. i said screw it and decided to unplug all my other drives and install Linux Mint again. this time it worked wonderfully. i plugged all my drives back in, booted up and linux booted up fine. once it, i saw to my horror that 2 of my harddrives lost it’s partition tables. i panic as i thought i might have by accident formated the wrong drives previously and all my data was on there. i then booted up with the hiren’s bootcd and used an application called Partition Table Editor, this managed to rescue one drive’s partition table but not my 1TB drive. i started to panic more.

then i decided to try gpart (unsuccessful), and some other stupid application that didn’t work. then i came across testdisk which sorted it out within 20 seconds. i kid you not. so yeah, i am stoked and i have my data back!

Ingrediants:

2 rashers rindless bacon

12 pickling onions

24 button mushrooms

45ml oil

125ml flour

2ml salt

freshly milled black pepper

8 chicken drumsticks or thighs

60ml brandy

625ml red wine

6 sprigs parsley

1 bay leaf 1 sprig thyme

2 cloves garlic

15ml flour

30ml water

chopped parsley

Set the oven at 180 degress. Cut the bacon into thin strips.

Skin the onions. Wash and trim the mushrooms. Heat the oil in the frying pan

and fry the bacon until all the fat has rendered. Place in a casserole.

Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan and sizzle for a minute or two then set aside.

Mix together the flour, salt and pepper and toss the chicken pieces to coat lightly.

Heat a little more oil in the pan and brown the chicken pieces.

Warm the brandy, pour over the chicken and flame. When the flames subside,

transfer the chicken to the casserole. Add the wine to pan, stir thoroughly and pour over chicken.

Tie the parsley,bay leaf and thyme together to form bouquet garni and add to casserole.

Peel and crush the garlic and add. Cover and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Mix together the flour and water, stir into the sauce with the mushrooms and onions and cook

for a further 30 minutes.

Remove and discard the bouquest garni and garnish the casserole with chopped parsely.

serves 6

* Taken from the Quick ‘n’ Easy Chicken reciept book

The Secret of Monkey Island
LucasArts today announced two Monkey Island projects in the works for the Xbox 360, Wii and PC.

New Monkey Island game

ABC
Desperate Housewives: Already renewed.
Grey’s Anatomy: Already renewed.
Lost: Already renewed.
Private Practice: Already renewed.
Scrubs: Prospects brightening. Now officially renewed.

CBS
The Amazing Race: Already renewed.
The Big Bang Theory: Already renewed.
CSI: Sure thing.
How I Met Your Mother: Sure thing.
The Mentalist: Sure thing.
Two and a Half Men: Already renewed.

FOX
American Dad: Already renewed.
Family Guy: Already renewed.
Prison Break: Officially canceled.
The Simpsons: Already renewed.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: A long shot. Now officially canceled.

NBC
Heroes: Sure thing. Now officially renewed.
My Name is Earl: Could go either way. Fox may rescue it if NBC passes.

The CW
Everybody Hates Chris: It’s a goner.
Gossip Girl: Already renewed.
Smallville: Already renewed.
Supernatural: Already renewed.