As time goes by many vendors are adding support for the Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) framework.  Recent releases of both the ATI Catalyst and the NVIDIA drivers support DKMS at some level.  VMWare is currently exploring this and you can turn it on (if you have DKMS support installed) however, it is still marked as experimental.

On my production servers we don’t encourage widespread use of experimental features so this has not been enabled with the VMWare Tools installation.  Unfortunately this means that during the patching process it is possible to lose network connectivity due to the need to rebuild the VMWare Tools configuration after a kernel update.

I found one solution to this on the LinuxDynasty site.  The problem with this particular method is that the file that is being checked for “not_configured” only gets written in a small set of circumstances.  In my case, the VM was partially configured, so this file wasn’t written.

Here is my alteration of the solution linked to above.

Update the code in the vmware-tools startup script

In the following file:

Add the following line after the vmblockfusemntpt variable declaration

Then add the following line in the end of the start case for the service (around line 1370)

Add the check code to the rc.local startup script

In the file

Add the following to the end of the file

Now the next time you reboot your Linux box after updating the kernel, the vmware tools will be properly reconfigured and the appropriate services restarted automatically.

Today I found a need to copy and paste from an eLinks browser session.  It turns out that in the regular terminal in CentOS GNOME, you can’t just select and copy because of the way that eLinks renders the page content.

In order to copy and paste from an eLinks browser into, say, gEdit, you have to hold down the SHIFT key while using the mouse to select the text.

This also applies in a text-only (no X11) setup, assuming that you have gdm installed and running.  Unfortunately, eLinks doesn’t support selecting content with only the keyboard.

Sure, I could have just navigated to the end of each line and then used shift + C to delete, but I this was a 25 line block of text and that would have been too tedious.

Here’s the quick search and replace syntax to handle this for you:

Riley was born to my step-daughter, Caitlin Elise Vickers, on May 21, 2013 at about 7pm.  He came into the world weighing 6lbs and 7oz.

I wish all my love and the best of life to both Riley and his mom!!

On September 3rd, my trial subscription expired.  I knew that it was going to expire.  In fact, I put a reminder in my personal calendar to warn me that the trial expiration date was arriving.  I liked the service enough that I was going to subscribe so that I could continue enjoying the service.

However when the renewal date approached, I determined that it was not financially smart to sign myself up for yet one more monthly payment at this time.  No big deal, I would just use Pandora, Spotify, Google Music and standard terrestrial radio until I was where I could pay for the subscription.

That’s where it all gets painful.  When the SiriusXM customer service representative called me to make sure that I knew my trial expiration was coming up I explained that I was not currently interested in signing up to pay for it.  When he helpfully (at least in his mind it was helpful) informed me that the monthly payment was only $16 a month, I ensured him that I had actually read the mailing they sent out and knew what the prices were and I just didn’t want to continue.

Now despite the belligerent tone of voice he continued to use to try and bully me into a subscription, I finally managed to get off the call without losing my temper (which was a major feat, let me tell you).  In a logical universe, they would mark my account as having declined service and to try again in a few months (but hopefully never since I did mention that I didn’t want them to call me again) and that would end the matter.

This is where SiriusXM has failed to gain a customer.  Almost every day so far this month I have received at least one call from the SiriusXM folks (866-903-7474) trying to suck me back into the fold.  This constant bombardment is a real pain in the rear.  I can understand one or two attempts, but at some point you have to realize that continued calls are not going to get the customer.

So here’s the email I sent to the SiriusXM Customer Service folks today after yet one more call:

I realize that my trial subscription has expired. In fact I even talked to your customer representatives at least once concerning this prior to the expiration.

I happily informed the customer service representative that I knew my subscription was going to expire and that I was not interested in converting my trial at that time due to the cost, and yes that I knew it wasn’t a lot each month if I subscribed for a year. After he kept trying to get me to convert, rather insistently to the point of belligerence, I finally was able to get him to hang up.

Recently I have been receiving calls from your company (866-903-7474) at least once a day (sometimes twice).

I realize that you would like to retain customers and to gain new ones, however when a current/former customer informs you that they no longer wish to continue the subscription, it doesn’t engender good customer relations to bombard them on a daily basis with calls.

For this reason it is unlikely that I or anyone in my household will ever subscribe to your services at any point in the future. I appreciate that you have made it even easier for me to embrace the free and/or ad-supported streaming services like Pandora Radio, Spotify, Live365, Google Music, and Amazon Music.

Thanks,
Andy Fore

So instead of caring about subscribing to SiriusXM, I will just use my mobile data plan to get the most out of Internet-based streaming services that I can.  I would rather give my money to my mobile provider for data usage than to SiriusXM, since Verizon doesn’t deem it necessary to spam me with phone calls about their services.