Saturday, June 2, 2012

Additional RPM packages required to listen mp3 files in CentOS-5.6 LiveCD/LiveUSB environment


If you want to play mp3 on CentOS-5.6 LiveCD/LiveUSB environment and have difficulties for updating through internet, collect these packages at RPM PBone Search, and install them all at once (ignore gpg-key warnings):
  • gstreamer-plugins-ugly-0.10.5-3.el5.rf.i386.rpm
  • amrnb-7.0.0.2-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
  • liba52_0-0.7.4-7.0.1.el5.i386.rpm
  • libdvdread3-0.9.7-5.el5.i386.rpm
  • libid3tag-0.15.1b-7.el5.i386.rpm
  • libmad0-0.15.1b-4.el5.i386.rpm
  • libmp3lame0-3.99.3-23.el5.i386.rpm
  • libsidplay-1.36.60-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
  • mpeg2dec-0.4.1-2.el5.rf.i386.rpm
  • SDL-1.2.10-9.el5.i386.rpm
Note that above applies only to IA-32 version of CentOS-5.6 LiveCD and its installation. May also apply to other types of installation with adequate modifications.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Topology of {0,1}^n (part 1)

Def. 00,01,10,11 are points.

S: {00,01,10,11} is a space.

Def. ≤ is a binary relation on S. 00≤01≤11, 00≤10≤11, 00≤11, not 01≤00, not 10≤00, not 01≤10, not 10≤01, not 11≤00, not 11≤01, not 11≤10. For all points p, p≤p.

Th. (S,≤) is a poset.

Proof. By definition, p≤p. Suppose p≤q and q≤p for some p≠q. For 00 and 01,
they contradicts definition. Similar for other combinations. Hence p≤q and q≤p then p=q. For some p,q and r such that p≠q≠r, suppose p≤q and q≤r but not p≤r.
For 00,01 and 11, they contradicts definition. Also for 00,10 and 11. Hence for all p,q and r such that p≤q and q≤r then p≤r. If p=q, p≤q and q≤r then p≤r. If q=r, p≤q and q≤r then p≤r. Hence p≤q and q≤r then p≤r. □

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Incredible Tide

Let me talk about a novel I had read when I was a child.
"Oh, good heavens, son, that craft would never do. We need sail." The old man tugged at one of the small boats he had been working on and pointed to another in the dim corner of the shop. "Drag that one here."
Wondering, Conan did as he was told. Though he knew practically nothing about boats, it was apparent that the squat, ugly little runabout would never do for an ocean voyage, even for one person. He glanced at Teacher, puzzled.
"Turn it around," the old man ordered. "Put the two boats together, stern to stern."
Conan joined the boats, then stepped back and looked at them. He gasped. The ugliness had vanished. In the fading light it seemed that he was peering at single hull, pointed at either end, with the long, flowing lines of a sailing craft. (The Incredible Tide by Alexander Key, Chapter 5)
When I think of freedom of thought and speech in totalitarian state or culture,  I remember these passages. Best thing we could do in such situation is to decompose and disguise what we really want to say in separate ugly pieces and fake censorship like that.
This juvenile novel on the world and humanity after an whole-earth electromagnetic apocalypse once inspired Hayao Miyazaki. He produced an animation series Future Boy Conan, adapted from this novel. The correspondent of original scene quoted above did not appear in the series.