Getting PPTP to work with KNetworkManager on Kubuntu 7.04 Fiesty Fawn

I'm blogging this so I don't forget in the future. At the time of this writing, the issues are known and recorded on bugs.launchpad.net, but I'm not sure if they are fixed yet, hence the following steps.

1. sudo aptitude install network-manager-pptp network-manager-gnome
2. restart knetworkmanager
3. When you create a new VPN connection, in step 2 of 2, make sure to select a "Type"!!! It will initially be blank and if you leave it blank when you hit "forward", your connection name will forever be unusable!
4. Restart computer (sorry, I don't know which specific daemon needs to be restarted).

See this pic for the below for what I mean about the blank "Type" select.

If you leave it blank and hit forward, a file will be made using the "Connection Name" you entered in. That file will be corrupt and you won't be able to fix it (via any part of this GUI), so you'll effectively have to start over and use a different connection name.

Here are links to the two bugs concerning these issues:

Bug #74351 VPN connections configure dialog doesn't work on knetworkmanager
Bug #89120 VPN Connection not added...

Useless programmer blogs.

I hate it when dipshit programmers essentially make blog posts repeating what the manual already tells me. For instance, I was looking for how to use sockets with Ruby and came across all these blog posts that told me nothing more than the Ruby manual itself. Hell, most of the posts were just copied and pasted directly from the manual.

This annoys me for various reasons.

• It clutters the internet and makes it more difficult to find actually useful information.
• These dipshits probably do this on purpose so that they can show off their "popular" blog in interviews.
• These dipshits probably get paid more than me because they are "leading the industry with their expertise as displayed in their blogs".

You know what? Next time I'm reading a programming manual online and I have an unanswered question, I'm going to blog the answer to that question, but really the blog is going to be an excerpt from the manual that raised the question in the first place. Then when my blog's popularity skyrockets from other programmers seeking that same answer (to which they'll just find the question again, hehe), I'm going to apply to Google saying, "Look at how many other programmers turn to my blog for guidance. Hire me, I'm multraleet!"

Vietnamese Pork Chops

I eat these all the time in restaurants, so I figured I should learn how to make them in order to save a few bucks. It's very easy anyway.

Ingredients:

• 4 thinly sliced pork chops with bone
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• some chopped green onion (chives)
• some minced garlic (1-2 tbsp)

Instructions:

1. mix sugar and fix sauce in small bowl
2. mix in garlic, green onion and vegetable oil into fish sauce sugar mixture
3. put pork chops and fish sauce mixture into freezer bag, mix around
4. let marinate for a few hours
5. grill or pan fry pork chops

It's a popular recipe that is repeated more than a few times on the web. Some experimentation might be needed to taylor the salty/sweetness to your individual taste.