What I Don’t Like About Windows #2
admin December 19th, 2008
Second in what could become a long diatribe about Microsoft’s OS, aka Windows.
Microsoft’s automatic update…after it does it downloads and installs it’s software, as usual Windows needs to reboot. So it pops this dialog box UNDER your running applications. If you don’t see it, then all of a sudden your computer reboots. Too bad your data is lost. Yes I know you can do manual updates, but this is the default and recommended setup.
What I Don’t Like About Windows #1 - DRM
admin December 16th, 2008
This is the first post of me griping about Microsoft Windows software. Not that Linux is perfect but you won’t see this kind of krap in open software.
Digital Rights Management, aka DRM, pure and simple it sucks the life out my enjoyment of music and film,
Don’t take my word for it, read this post about watching Netflix movies on your PC DRM Still Sucks
Large Media Has No Clue
admin December 12th, 2008
So what does a lame remake of a lame old TV show have to do with Top Gear? Okay they both have cars in them, what else?
link is to Jalopnik.com
Snow in Texas!
How Many Linux Users?
admin December 7th, 2008
The question about how many Linux users there are is often presented by expert type folks. It is also debated in various forums. Considering the value of such marketing statistics I did my own dubious survey. Here is my methodology…
I think I know about 200 folks directly and I sampled about 12. I’m no statistician but I think that is a margin of error of 60%! It’s not a true random survey either, over the last month I kept track of the folks I’ve talked computers with. The Linux number is high because I included myself and the one person I’ve converted.
So with those caveats, and my creative math I come up with:
16% use Vista
58% use XP
8% Apple
16% Linux
2% Other
Visualizing House Plans
admin November 30th, 2008
Lately, I have been working on my house plans, and since I’m too cheap to hire an architect, I try to figure things out my own self. Example; I want to use the space under the stairs as a kind of office space, you know a place to keep my red stapler.
Best way I know is mock it up, so I’m using the pantry under my stairs, place a chair about where it would be if there was desk. The end of the tape measure marks the location of the wall. So now I can visualize the space.
I am NOT a PC
admin November 10th, 2008
I get a new Logitech Trackball USB Mouse at work, I plug it in and it works but the action is kind of jerky, and the default Microsoft driver is useless, so I install Logitech’s software.
First up I tell it I don’t want their IM client or the Yahoo toolbar, I agree to some kind of legal stuff, it searches and finds no updates. Next up it tells me that it won’t over write my touchpad which is curious as I don’t have one. Then it stalls for about 5 minutes. Thinking it locked up I prepare to reboot, by the time I save all my data and turn off the half dozen programs I have running, it asks if I want to reboot, thinking it was done I say yes.
I reboot with no changes, I reinsert the disc and go thru the process again. This time if finds an update, a quick download and another reboot and it loads again and again I answer all the questions and it goes out checking for updates and it finds one. This one is a 56Mb download, really? 56 Mb for a mouse driver. It loads and again I go thru the whole install process. A reboot and it’s all installed. I delete the shortcut icon on my desktop, I open the program and tell it not to check for updates, to remove the icon from the taskbar, finally set my cursor speed, scroll wheel and I’m done.
All this for a USB mouse! The exact same one I use on my Mepis/sidux laptop at home by just plugging it in. I am not a PC, I’m a free man, oh and my OS is free too.
A Bridge Too Far
admin October 27th, 2008
I found the plans for a bridge at http://pacifi.ca/ I have a lot of 2×4s and thought this would work. Turned out it’s too complicated for my simple carpentry skills. Looking at all my lumber I thought maybe I could just lay a couple of 2×6s across. Looks like it will work so I draw up some plans, I figure I could make is 32″ wide and still get my mower across.
I get some deck piers and they don’t have a nailer attached like I remember from 20 years ago. Guess things have changed. I start to work on it and think I could make the deck 42″ wide and save cutting and still use my wood efficiently. Which means I’m now two piers short.
I take a break to ponder my situation and after drinking a beer I call it quits. I’ll need to do some digging to get piers to sit on the banks and be more secure.
sidux
admin October 25th, 2008
This is the second review I’m doing of Linux distros while I wait for an updated Mepis to be released. First was PCLinuxOS and it did okay. Now I’m trying sidux, which is based on Debian Sid (unstable) but designed to be stable. To repeat my self I consider my self a typical home desktop user, I don’t push the edge, except I use Linux. This review is being done on a unbranded Intel Pentium M 1.8ghz laptop with 512meg ram and 60gb drive, it’s a few years now.
sidux
1. Not very pretty, a rather plain KDE implementation, but don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
2. I had to configure my wireless manually, but that was simple enough with the supplied utility Ceni. I’m not getting any system sounds but flac plays fine with Amorak. I haven’t bothered checking into it, hopefully it’s just a few clicks in the KDE Control Center.
3. sidux stays true to the free philosophy of Debian. I applaud the effort, but alas some us listen to mp3s, have to use Java and Flash and of course bow down to the mercy of Microsoft. I wish it weren’t so. Still there is nothing to stop you from installing the required codecs, and the process is relatively painless.
4. Using Konqueror I was able to read and write to my hard drive and USB drives with out issue. Kontact, Ice Weasel, OO, Gimp etc were the supplied apps. There is also a lot more, most of which I’m unfamiliar with.
5. sidux is designed to be updated, including the kernal and KDE, often, daily if you wish. To that end, it recommends using apt-get to manage the upgrades and with that comes a learning curve for me. In fact I’m quickly learning how much I relied on Mepis to do things for me and how little I know about the basic functions of Linux.
6. Everything is working and since it’s KDE I’m pretty familiar with it, still nothing is setup for you, so I have to learn how I want my programs to work.
7. To that end, I’ve installed it to my drive. It’s a simple tab interface that goes along pretty easy. I was able to partition my drive and get up and running without any issues.
Conclusion: While not very pretty, it is fully functional and up to date distro. There is a learning curve here for us newbies, but I personally think it’s a worth while challenge. So I’m leaving it on my laptop for now.
