Setting up a Linksys NSLU2 with Debian

In case you've been out of the loop for awhile there is a nice little network device called NSLU2 put out by Linksys. It is not the perfect device nor the end all solution to having a small machine that can run multiple USB drives as well as other USB accessories however it is cheap and has a large following which helps if you're not one of those types that likes to spend long weekends figured out things. Even if you do atleast you can easily get the operating system installed and get moving on to the business at hand.

As of right now there are a few issues with the default Debian installer so the manual method must be used however it is fairly simple. The first order of business is to download the Debian image to install on the NSLU2. Finally just head over to Martin's How-To and you should be up in running in no time.

Best wishes.

Scan for Wireless Networks on Ubuntu

Now that I'm beginning to travel more I run into situations where I need to search for wireless networks. Since I'm running Xubuntu some of the utilities that would exist in the more full featured desktops do not exist in Xubuntu but I found a few alternatives.

One solution is to install the wifi-radar package. Another that I found was running the following commands:

user@machine ~> sudo iwlist scan
user@machine ~> sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode Ad-Hoc {In this example wlan0 is the name of the wireless inteface}

The interface can also be edited with:
user@machine ~> sudo iwconfig

Test nginx Configuration File

If there is a time when it becomes necessary to test out a nginx.conf file prior to attempting to use it (IOW on a live/production system) here is a handy little command.

user@machine ~> nginx -t -c /etc/nginx/nginx.conf