I’m not a Linux guru by any means, but one of my favorite programs over the years has been joe, a text editor with an interface that is nearly-identical to Wordstar, the first word processing software I ever used. Joe makes handy little backup files whenever you edit a text document, named filename~, with the tilde character denoting that it is an old version. After a long day of wrenching away on code, this can result in a lot of clutter. For this reason, the sysadmins at my benevolent employer brewed up the following shell script ages ago:

#!/bin/sh
rm -fv *~
rm -fv .*~

They named it rmtil, and I’ve run it many hundreds of times over the years. Having just implemented it on my own server, I figured I’d put it somewhere others could benefit from it as well. Put it somewhere in your $PATH with execute and read permissions (chmod 755) and rejoice!

*edit (2007.05.10): Bosco wrote this version of rmtil as a Solaris-friendly modification of the original.

The Actiontec is a device that has been available at several retail electronics stores, including Radio Shack. It provides three means of connection, via Ethernet, 802.11b/g, and USB, which makes it rather appealing when you aren’t quite sure what kind of computer configurations will be making use of it. Other models are also available, including a bridge and a “triple-play” oriented gt724 model that are beyond the scope of this article.

To disable PPPoE on an otherwise-functional Actiontec gt704-wg, use the following steps:

1. Configure the client computer to be physically connected to the Actiontec. Make sure it’s using a local IP address like 192.168.0.5 for itself, with a gateway of 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
2. In the web browser of your preference, surf to http://192.168.0.1/ to get the Actiontec’s web interface. Unless it has been previously assigned a new password, you should not be challenged to provide one.
3. A menu will appear. Select the first option, “Setup / Configuration.”
4. You will be prompted to select a basic setup, a wireless setup, or an advanced setup. Here is also where you can assign an administrative username and password. Select “Basic Setup” to continue.
5. Presuming that the modem is already connected to the DSL line, click “next” on the following page.
6. You will be prompted to select the means of authentication. Select “My ISP does not require a username and password.” Click “next.”
7. You will be prompted to save your changes and restart the Actiontec.Click the “Save and Restart” button, and wait for it to reboot.

It’s innovative because we say it is. Honest.

1998, Digital Networks North America releases the Rio, a portable MP3 player that can compete with products like the Sony Walkman. 2001, Apple Computer releases the iPod, a revolutionary personal electronics gizmo that lets you listen to your music library on the go. In 2006, Microsoft releases the Zune and is labeled a copycat.

November, 2003: Palm introduces a phone / music player / internet gadget Treo. January, 2007: Apple unveils the revolutionary phone / music player / internet gadget iPhone. Looks like the Apple learning curve has grown from 3 years to 4.

I’m reasonably sure that it’ll be user-friendly and the touch-screen interface has some gee-whiz factor to it, but for a similar price (about $600), I could get a blu-ray high-def DVD player that runs cutting-edge videogames and has a variety of other techie uses (they call it a PS3). Color me unimpressed. Also, I wonder if the new iPhone’s face plate scratches as easily as the free iPod I got a year ago?