Starting a VM on login in Workstation

Whilst I’ve been considering getting a VPS, I’ve been playing around with Debian in a VM, and I’ve also been using an Ubuntu Server VM to tunnel IRC when I’m at school. Sometimes though, I forget to start the VM before I leave, and a boring lecture becomes even more boring with nothing else to do.

After some searching though, I found a way to start a VM from the command-line, and then threw that in HKCU\….\Run to start up when I log in. It’s surprisingly simple:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -T ws start "D:\Virtual Machines\Debian\Debian.vmx" nogui

Since I autologin, now I only need to worry about not turning my computer on.

2010
05/31
CATEGORY
Miscellaneous
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The Joys of Git

Working on PsyDuk has become a little frustrating since I’ve never used any source control before. I did try to use TortoiseSVN, but that ended up being a miserable failure. The manual approach, however, was getting a little bit out of hand:

wasn't going well at all

Even with only 5 versions, it was still quite messy.

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2010
05/23
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Programming
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Usability and the new Steam

Today Valve launched a new version of the Steam Client. It has been in open beta testing for a couple of months, and has brought massive improvements to the client. Of course, as with any change, people tend to be resistant to it. However with a new user interface, there are usability issues that many people are now experiencing.

The new Steam Client, in the Store

The new Steam Client

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2010
04/27
CATEGORY
Gaming
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Portal: Asset Retrieval Update

Again, Steam popped up a notification stating it has finished updating Portal. This time?

Updates to Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Portal

  • Added valuable asset retrieval

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2010
03/04
CATEGORY
Gaming
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Portal: Radio Transmission Update

Early this morning, Steam popped up with a notification saying “Steam has finished downloading Portal”. Eager to see what was updated, I opened the News page, to find the following:

Updates to Portal have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

Portal

  • Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations

Eager to see what this was about, I hit up the Steam Forums to see what it was all about. I was not expecting dinosaurs and elephant greens. Read more

2010
03/02
CATEGORY
Gaming
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Psybot 1.1a

After spending a good few hours today, I now have Psybot 1.1a. Recoded to be Object-Oriented (mostly), it’s now easier to read, understand and modify. I’ve posted the code to the Hak5 Forums, you can find it at http://hak5.org/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=15546&view=findpost&p=152278

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2010
01/31
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Programming
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Pushing applications between systems

Personal Area Networks seem to be increasing nowadays. Whether you’re sending that hilarious video over Bluetooth to a friend’s mobile phone, synchronising your contacts and calendar between your computer and smartphone, or just tethering to get internet-on-the-go, there are definitely a lot more PANs than there were several years ago. With multiple computers or similar devices in a single household, or even in one persons possession, it’s easy to see why. Most people have a desktop, laptop or netbook (or more than one,) and a mobile phone or smartphone. With the introduction of Apple’s iPad to ‘fill’ the gap in their product line between the iPhone and Macbook, there will probably be some people who will own all three.

Yet all of these systems stand alone. There has been no integration between the different systems. While mobile devices are now suddenly able to do many tasks which would traditionally be performed by a computer – for example, iWork on the iPad, or even just IRC on a smartphone – there should be a way to seamlessly move between the different platforms.

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2010
01/30
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Miscellaneous
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Learning Python and coding for IRC

Recently, I got the idea into my head that I wanted to learn to program in Python. I’ve already done some VB.NET, C#, C++, Java, Pascal, PHP and a few more that I can’t remember off the top of my head, as I slowly work my way through all the major languages.

I also wanted to code a basic bot for IRC. I borrowed Python for Dummies from my local library, searched Google, and used Wireshark to see what goes on behind-the-scenes with IRC. Whilst I’m still working on my ‘Psyduck’ bot, I thought I would share an uptime bot I made for a fellow Zone-9′er. The bot simply reports the uptime of the machine it’s running from.

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2010
01/24
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Programming
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Hello, World!

Hello, World!

I’m an Australian geek with a passion for all forms of Information Technology, but mostly with the internet and computer networking. I enjoy experimenting, learning and tinkering, and fixing what ought to be working. I intend to blog about my work and experimentation with computers, and share any tips or tricks I pick up as I slowly wade my way through the ocean which is IT.

2009
11/22
CATEGORY
Welcome
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