The stock market:

Ok, now I know this is outside of my typical subject domain, but seriously, these traders on CNBC are really starting to piss me off. Every time there is a god-damn interview with one of these dicks, they respond with, “Well, what we do is buy QUALITY stocks. You know, we think some of these firms with good balance sheets and fundamentals are trading at far below their market value… In the long term, blah blah blah”

Ok, thanks for the advice captain obvious … you got a masters from Yale to tell me that!? Seriously, who the fuck says, “Well, what we look for are shit companies, you know, the real turds. The ones with so much debt that every time the CEO looks at the balance sheet, his eyes bleed. We buy them and hold em for as long as 10 minutes before we dump them on some other retard for a 2% gain. We think this is the best investment strategy”

I actually saw one trader who seemed to be the voice of reason. This guy was giving the normal BS speech and Diane Somethigoranother obviously didn’t get the memo, that what you are supposed to do on CNBC is pump up the turds that you are trying to dump on the market. So when this guy started talking, Diane Somethingoranother looked at him like he was from Mars. It was great, she just lit into him and shut him down.

Seriously, I have been watching this shit for months now … if stocks are trading so far under value, then why the hell isn’t everyone buying? I’ll tell you why, because none of these stock market dicks actually knows what these companies are worth in the coming shit storm of an economy.

Ok, now I have to ask, how can we predict a recovery in the market when all we can see is the coming shit storm? We don’t know how long it will last, we dont know how bad it will be, but what we do know is that we need to be buying stocks right now!? Are you telling me that when sales go to hell for these companies they are going to trade up!? How can you discount and price in poor performance when you dont have any idea of knowing how bad you are going to do or how long it will last!? You want me to invest now in a market where everyone craps their pants if a company reports eps $0.01 under estimates?

Wait, I forgot, according to trader dick #1, its good to invest in equities because they can make managerial decisions!? Ok, I am an investor, make this decision, don’t loose money! How is that asshole? You got it, now do it! If these guys are so damn good at making managerial decisions why the hell are we in this pickle in the first place?

The sane advice that I listened to…

Find the turds and short the shit out of them until we know how fucked we really are and can price that fuckedness into the valuation of the assets. Now, when we figure this out, do you think people are going to be saying to themselves, “Wow, this company is really screwed, what an investment opportunity!” Hell no, they are gonna drop that turd like a hot rock.”

Short the shit out of the turds and don’t get back to big long positions until you can actually see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Not the guys on TV, you!

*All advice disseminated in this column should not be acted upon, listened to or taken seriously because the Bit Boy is just some poor dick who likes to think he knows what the hell he is doing. The Bit Boy thinks he is a genius when his stocks go up …. but yells screams and blames things on everything but himself when they take a dump. This way, he can always assure that in his mind he is a genius.

Ok, I have seen tons of people asking how to do this.  I came up with a method that seems to work rather well.  I will be working on ways to reduce the cpu time and a script to wrap it all up and make it easier.

Requirements:

1. FFMPEG (open source)

2. MENCODER (open source)

3. MPLAYER (open source)

4. Visual Hub (Pay for it)

Visual Hub is a great application, I highly recommend it.  Since it uses FFMPEG I could remove this step and reduce complexity and time greatly, however, I have not had the time or inclination to do that yet.  I will keep you posted.

Before you post some newb comment like… but Bit Boy, my version of x does not work for y reason, make sure you have the latest svn snapshots.  If necessary, I will post instructions for the extreme newbs, but usually they can be found on the project homepage for these applications.  (it is quite easy)  So please do a little research if you must before you ask me to do your work for you.

Lastly, these instructions do not include those needed to extract encrypted data from commercial BlueRay discs.  This is illegal in many countries and since I dont condone file sharing or illegal infringement on the rights of the authors, I wont post them here.  If you are hell bent on ripping a commercial BlueRay disc, I am sure you can find directions on how to decrypt the files for just about every platform all over the Internet.

Step 1:  Extract the audio from the m2ts file to output.wav using mplayer

mplayer -vc null -vo null -ao pcm:fast:waveheader:file=output.wav xxx.m2ts

Step 2: Extract the video from the m2ts file to output.avi using ffmpeg

ffmpeg -i xxx.m2ts -vcodec mpeg2video -sameq -s 1920×1080  -r 23.976 -an -f avi -copyts -benchmark output.avi

Step 3: Create a final .avi file by merging the audio and video using mencoder

mencoder output.avi -o final.avi -ovc copy -oac copy -audiofile output.wav

Step 4: Transcode the final.avi file to whichever format you want using Visual Hub.  On an Apple TV, that would be the AppleTV 5.1 + 2.0 preset.

The total time for this process is about 3 times the length of the original movie on a 2.5 Ghz Macbook Pro.  When I get some more time, I will go ahead and reduce the number of steps and possibly eliminate the need for Visual Hub.  Please make sure that you use a licensed copy of Visual Hub.  Programmers are able to do what they do because people pay for software.  Dont steal movies and really really really dont steal software.  It pisses off programmers like me and makes us not want to help newbs like you.  Just fork over the cash and look at as the price you pay for the convenience of being able to use your media on just about any device you want.

And if you are here to just learn how to steal media and software from the authors… GO FUCK YOURSELF!  YOU PUSSY ASS PILE OF SHIT…

Strong language to follow…

Recently, it has been observed that China has banned access to iTunes servers as well as pages from Amazon.com and others.  Now I find this really interesting.  The Chinese economy has the fastest growing middle class in the world and represents one of the greatest business opportunities for foreign enterprise.  What fuels this huge growing economy you may ask?  The American consumer.

Now I have to ask…with the most spending power in the world, why on earth would we stand for obvious protectionism?  Now I am sure that censorship and control over the general population is the main reason for this decision, but it really amounts to protectionism for Chinese franchises as well.  If China is determined to behave in this way and prevent American business from fairly competing, then obviously, we need to revoke any favorable trade status and begin to levy huge tarrifs on their goods.

As a country, we really need to understand our greatest tool for leverage.  The largest economy in the world and the greatest amount of discretionary income.

This is a great article on compiled PERL.
http://www.expertsrt.com/tutorials/Matt/perlPAR.html

~The Bit Boy

I found this code for slicing a high resolution image for the zoomify image viewer.  Take a look if you are interested.  The code is free to distribute.
~Cheers
slice.pl

Ok people.  Everyone has been asking for benchmarks on the new MacBook Pro with the Intel Penyrn processor.  So, courtesy of the Bit Boy, here it is.  This is a standard hardware configuration of the 15″ model.  Highlights include 2.5Ghz Core2, 2GB ram, 512MB GeForce 8600GT and a 250GB 5400RPM HD.  If you are looking for some other specs, dont be a bitch and read below.  On a side note, I am quite impressed with this latest MacBook as it considerably out performs my 1st gen MacBook Pro.

As you read this, the latest version of AMD Barcelona chips should be arriving at the Fry’s Electronics near you.  After reading an article about the delivery of these chips, I began to ponder whether they are really new chips at all.  Now, just so you don’t misinterpret me, I mean physically new.  As in, were they manufactured recently, or have they been sitting in a warehouse in inventory for some time.

Right about now, you are probably thinking the Bit Boy has gone nuts.  But seriously, think about these facts.

1.)  The new chips are the same stepping as the old ones.  The design has not physically changed.  This means they still contain the bug that has reportedly been reducing speeds.  See AMD’s website for the errata.

2.)  These chips are still 65nm process.

3.)  Phenom CPUs are notoriously bad for over-clocking.  Probably because they are already cooked from the factory.

In the semiconductor business, its common for a variety of processors of varying speeds to actually be the same exact chip.  In many cases manufacturers clock them down to service varying markets.  This is why overclocking has been popular among hardware hackers for years.  Usually the chips are tested after they are manufactured and the ones with better tolerances test better and are clocked higher.

Now why would AMD  wait before releasing these chips?  I mean, they are behind Intel right?  True.  I would guess that only a small number of these CPUs were testing out capable of the higher clock speeds.  So my assumption is that AMD released the lower clock chips while stockpiling the faster ones.  If the faster chips only accounted for 5% to 10% of production.  Then you would have to stockpile for a few months before you had adequate quantity to go to market.  Sure, you would eventually run out of inventory, but hopefully, you would fill demand while transferring to the 45nm process necessary to push forward to higher clock speeds.  This strategy might help you catch up with Intel a bit.

Now, if there are any AMD engineers out there, I would love to hear from you!

If you have found this, you are probably saying… “Help me Bit-Boy, I’m just a newb!  Share with me your knowledge, wisdom and God-like *nix skills!” (No, thats not a typo newb!)  So, in a moment of kindness, I took it upon myself to document how to install Openbravo ERP.  Yes, after this, you will probably explain to your client just how insanely difficult this software is to configure and that only you at your very reasonable rate of (insert ridiculous amount of $ here) could get it done.  Just remember that the Bit Boy helped you out and beer money is greatly appreciated.

Note:  This installation was completed from a clean installation of Ubuntu 7.1 Server.  No desktop environment was installed. (Didn’t I tell you my *nix powers were God-like?)Even though I have proven my superior intelligence yet again, you should be able to use the same process from the desktop.  If you have just installed Ubuntu server and are trying to figure out how to get the GUI installed, just type: sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop at the command line.

Step 1:  Enable Ubuntu Extra Packages

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list Edit and remove the # from the beginning of lines 43 and 44.  This is necessary to install the correct Java Runtime Environment and Java Development Kit.

Step 2: Install Necessary Packages (the easy way) 

sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install sun-java6-jdk sun-java6-jre libpg-java postgresql-8.2 tomcat5.5 tomcat5.5-admin tomcat5.5-webappssudo apt-get dist-upgrade [optional - upgrades all currently installed packages]

If you dont feel like typing all of that, you can copy and paste it in, minus the note at the end of course.

Step 3: Setup Postgres Administrator User

1. sudo su postgrespsql 
2. Now, in the Postgres client: ALTER USER postgres WITH PASSWORD ‘your perferred password’;
   
3. \q to exit

Step 4: Get Openbravo and Begin Installation 

1. wget [Openbravo installer URL]
2. sudo chmod a+rwx [Openbravo installer file]
3. sudo ./[Openbravo installer file]
   

Generally, you can find the latest installer file here http://sourceforge.net/projects/openbravo/

Step 5: Set Environment Variables

1. echo ‘JAVA_HOME=”/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun”‘ | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
   
2. echo ‘JRE_HOME=”/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun”‘ | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
   
3. echo ‘CATALINA_HOME=”/usr/share/tomcat5.5″‘ | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
4. echo ‘CATALINA_BASE=”/var/lib/tomcat5.5″‘ | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
5. echo ‘CATALINA_OPTS=”-server -Xms384M -Xmx512M”‘ | sudo tee -a /etc/environment
6. sudo gedit /etc/init.d/tomcat5.5  There is a problem with JDK 1.5.0_13 and the jsvc binary used in the Apache Tomcat daemon script. Modify it [/etc/init.d/tomcat5.5], by setting the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable pointing to the path where the libawt.so shared library is located.
   Next, due to the security policies of debian’s tomcat package, it is necessary to either create a rule or disable it. Otherwise it will refuse to load the openbravo context. To disable it, edit /etc/init.d/tomcat5.5 and change TOMCAT5_SECURITY=YES into TOMCAT5_SECURITY=NO.
   

Step 6: Answer Openbravo’s Questions and Wait 1-2 Hours 

1. Installation Directory: [Just Type Enter]
2. Attachments Directory: [Just Type Enter]
3. Installation Type: [Just Type Enter]
4. Installation Type: [Just Type Enter]
5. Database: 1
6. PostgresJava Directory: [Just Type Enter]
7. Ant Directory: /usr/share/ant
8. Tomcat Directory: /usr/share/tomcat5.5
9. Domain: Enter your domain, if you dont know what a domain is, you are an idiot.  If you are an idiot, just type localhost or your static IP Address.
10. Port: 8180 Note: This is specific to the Ubuntu installation, normally this value would be the secondary HTTP port 8080.  If you want to change it, that is find, just remember to go back and edit the tomcat configuartion files to indicate this port as well.
11. Context Name: [Just Type Enter]
12. PostgreSQL Directory: /usr/lib/postgresl/8.2/bin
13. Database Host: [Just Type Enter]
14. Database Port: [Just Type Enter]
15. Database Name: [Just Type Enter]
16. Postgres Password: Enter the password you selected in step 3.
17. Username: [Just Type Enter]
18. Password: Create another password
19. Continue?:  y
20. Now, just kick back, relax and crack open a nice cold beer, look at pictures of Britney Spears or whatever you newbs do.

Step 7: Restart Tomcat

1. sudo /etc/init.d/tomcat5.5 restart

Step 8: Now Login Newb!

1. http://yourdomain:8180/openbravo or http//localhost:8180/openbravo or http://yourip:8180/openbravo (That should give you enough options.  I dont want anyone sending me emails saying “But Bit-Boy, your instructions are wrong, my browser cant find the server”)
2. Login: Openbravo  Pass:openbravo   (Note the caps in the Login!)

This document is copyright 2008 by the Bit-Boy’s-Blog all rights reserved.  Got that bitches!?  You may NOT, I repeat NOT reproduce this content in any way without the express permission of the Bit Boy himself.  Should you violate these copyright restrictions I will have no choice but to send this woman over to sit on you.

If you receive an error during the TurboGears installation, you probably need to install the Python developer libraries.  At an su command line, enter the following:

apt-get install python2.4-dev

I found these instructions on another site and they turned out to be quite helpful.  Initially I tried installing TinyERP on Ubuntu 7.10, but for a variety of reasons, it was more trouble than it was worth.  We switched over to Debian (which Ubuntu is based on) and the installation went without a hitch.

• PostgreSQL server

• Python 2.4
  • Incleded in standard base Debian 4.0 R1
• PostgeSQL client
  • apt-get install postgresql-client
    • Default version is postgresql-7.4
• Python and PostgreSQL adaptor
  • apt-get install python-psycopg
• Python time zone
  • apt-get install python-tz
• libxml2 and python binding
  • apt-get install python-xml python-libxml2
• libxslt and python binding
  • apt-get install python-libxslt1
• Reportlab pdf generator for Python
  • apt-get install python-reportlab
• Python imaging library
  • apt-get install python-imaging
• Graph visualization software
  • apt-get install graphviz
• Pyparsing library
  • apt-get install python-pyparsing

• wget http://tinyerp.com/download/stable/source/tinyerp-server-4.2.0.tar.gz
• tar vxf tinyerp-server-4.2.0.tar.gz
• cd tinyerp-server-4.2.0
• sudo python setup.py install
  • Installation folder is /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/tinyerp-server

• su - postgres
• /usr/local/pgsql/bin/createdb –encoding=UNICODE terp
  • Assume PostgreSQL homed at /usr/local/pgsql and creating database named terp

• cd /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/tinyerp-server
• sudo python tinyerp-server.py -d terp -r postgres -w  –db_host=localhost –db_port=5432 –logfile=”tinyerp-server.log”
  • Assume the database name is terp, database owner is postgres, database server located at the same machine, database listening port is 5432, and logfile is tinyerp-server.log right in the current directory.
  • You can make a batch script (ex. run.sh) to shorten the long command typing.