Out With The Old In With The New

Everybody has new years resolution and I am no exception. The problem with resolutions is that almost everybody keep their resolution for a few days and then they give up. I have done this and so have you, don't deny it it's not becoming of you.

I have a few that I hope I will not break them. You might be asking yourself what this has to do with this blog. Well one of my resolution concerns this blog. I hope not only to tell you of my adventures with computing, I will try to educate you in the ways of linux. I will try to have one post a month explaining how I did something with linux.

Well with that out in the open I have to do it now. That is it for this time. I guess this will be the last post for 2007.

Happy New Year everybody and I will forgive you if you don't keep your resolutions because heaven knows I might not keep mine.

I Have Seen the Light with Enlightenment

I have been experimenting with both Geubuntu and Elive-Gem the last few days and I am quite intrigued. I have been using Virtualbox trying them out and I like what I have seen so far. Yesterday I was off from work and played around with both and I was so impressed with Geubuntu that I was one mouse click away from installing it one my laptop. I was to lazy to back up the files from my /home directory to my /storage one, so I did not install it. I wait a bit before I decide to take the plunge. I can't install Elive-Gem on the laptop because it won't support my wifi or audio card.

Both these operating systems use Enlightenment as there windows manager and it is different from everything I have seen so far. Maybe I'll install it on my eldest desktop, but not now, I wanted to try KDE 4.0 first when it comes out in January.

In the last two post I mentioned that I have been trying out other web browsers than the top two. Here are my finding. On the laptop I am using Epiphany with a bunch of there extensions. On this computer I am not missing Firefox at all, to tell you the truth I prefer Epiphany. On my Kubuntu box I have been using Konqueror which I find slow but I still enjoy it. I would choose Firefox over it. On my Ubuntu 64bit computer I have kept Firefox but I installed the 32bit version so that the flash player plug in could work. I might switch over to Epiphany on this computer. On this same computer I have XP with which I tried Maxthon and since I don't use XP often I find alright but I haven't used it to its full potential. At work I now use Opera and I am very impressed with it, it is very fast I would recommend it to anybody wanting to get rid of bloated browsers.

I guess my time is up for today.

Gutsy Again

I don't remember if I mentioned in one of the Gusty Gibbons posts that when one of my computer was freezing with Ubuntu installed on it I switched it to Kubuntu before I found out that it was a freak combination of my video card and motherboard. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted Ubuntu and Gnome on my newer desktop computer and Kubuntu on my oldest computer. On Monday I decided to switch them over with a complete Installation.

On the oldest computer, Newman, everything went fine as expected. This is the computer on which I am try Konqueror as a web browser, a bit more on that later. I am pretty much an expert on installing Kubuntu/Ubuntu and setting them up the way I like 'em. Installing Ubuntu on the newer desktop was another story.

I Had been thinking of trying the 64bit version of Ubuntu. On monday a few hours after switching Newman from Ubuntu to Kubuntu I decided to Sidney, the desktop, to Ubuntu 7.10 64bit. I downloaded the installation cd, popped it in and restarted the computer. After choosing to install I get a black screen, no signal detected, damn. After a few Google searches I found out there is a bug. I decide to install using the alternative CD, I hope this will work. It does install. I won't go through it step by step because we would be here for hours and we don't want that do we?

The screen resolution was screwed up! I have a 1680x1050 screen but all I was getting was 640x400! After fooling around with it a while I finally get to change it to the correct setting but I only get to see about a quarter of the screen and when I move my mouse to one of the edge I can view another part of the screen. I try several ways to fix this but to no avail. Being a fairly good problem solver, in my own mind, I decide to fix this in an unorthodox way. I decide to remove my video card and replace it with an older one.


During the installation I rechristened it Bubble Boy to continue the tradition of naming my computers after Seinfeld characters. My iPod is named after George's Alis Art Vandelay. Anyway, Ubuntu was installed without a hitch. I installed nVidia propriety driver and a few other packages and then turned of the computer and replaced my new video card and voila everything works as it should. I should mention that Bubble Boy froze twice when I had the older video card in it and it never froze with the newer card.

Now I will be trying everything I can with the 64bit edition of Ubuntu and if anything interesting happens I be sure to mention it to you. The first step is to get flash player to work in FireFox.

I can't install Opera since they don't have a 64bit version but I have installed it the computer I use at work. I like it. I like it so much that I installed it in my Kubuntu box, Newman, along side Konqueror. I tried making Konqueror faster by following a few tweaks I found on the net. That did make Konqueror faster but Konqueror was so slow that it is still slow. I now use both Konqueror and Opera on that computer. On my laptop I am using Epiphany 95% of the time and 5% is FireFox. I am getting used to not using my FireFox extensions and learning to use Epiphany's extension. I just added a few third party extensions and I am liking Epiphany more and more.

Well I have to call it a day if I want to get some work done on Bubble Boy tonight. I'll keep you posted.

Browser Wars: The Unknowns

Before I start with this post I'll just say that this is not the post that I was supposed to publish today. I had told you in a previous post that I was converting some Seinfeld episodes into iPod ready files. I decided to write a step by step account of this so that my fellow Ubuntu users could do the same thing whitout searching the web trying something and if that didn't work search again. Well let me tell you That post was so long I think I could actually publish it as a book. My experience in reading blogs is that if a blog is overly long the reader tends to lose patient and not read it completely, so I decided to shelve it until I cut it down to a respectful size.

With that said on with this shorter post. I already mentioned in the past that I was trying out the Epiphany browser instead of my beloved Firefox. Lately I found that firefox was a behemoth of a browser almost as bad as Internet Explorer from our "friends" at Microsoft. Firefox in a linux environment is now slow as molasses. It actually works faster in Windows than Linux! I guess Firefox should be considered a Windows Browser that is ported to Linux.

Epiphany is a small web browser designed to work with the Gnome desktop. My first impressions of Epiphany is "damn this is fast"! It is a hell of a lot faster than Firefox. It has it's own extensions, but not as many as Firefox. After using it a week I don't miss my Firefox extensions, much. There is a short learning curve when changing to Epiphany but I think it is worth it. Today I decided to try Konqueror, as a web browser, on my Kubuntu computer, in fact I am writing this using Konqueror. Another learning curve. My first impression of Konqueror as a web browser is "damn this is slow"!

I still use Firefox on one of my computer and at work. At work we use Windows so I have to use something else than Internet Explorer. I was thinking of installing the Opera Browser. I think I'll do that tomorrow since there is supposed to be a snow storm starting this evening and going through the night. Tomorrow it is going to be windy and I think that we won't be busy. Maxthon is another alternative for Windows users. It uses the Explorer engine but it improves on it.

Who will win the browser wars? I certainly don't know, but what I know is that Internet Explorer as all to lose and nothing to gain. It has already lost quite a bit and if Firefox improves itself when 3.0 comes out it has a fighting chance. I only hope they don't forget us Linux users because without us firefox would not have had a fighting chance at the beginning.

A Formatting We Will Go...

Last week was a hectic week for my laptop. A very stressful week also. On Tuesday I had an appointment for an oil change and brake check up for my car. After this appointment I stopped at the cemetery where my father was buried. That night I had disturbing dreams of when my father was in the hospital and I couldn't sleep anymore. So what did I do? I did something that I had been thinking about doing that last few weeks. I installed LinuxMint on kramer, the laptop.

By the time I had to go to work I had everything set up the way I liked it. I would put it through its pace that evening after work. After a few hours of "playing" with my new install and setting the layout as I liked it, I realised that It was exactly the same as Ubuntu once I had tweaked it. Why change Operating System when I was using the perfect one for my usage? So I flushed LinuxMint and installed Ubuntu once again.

I don't know what I did but my laptop was sluggish and when I played video, the video was jerking and I tried a few things to repair it but to no avail. Friday evening I again re installed Gutsy Gibbon and now everything is up to par.

If you are switching to Linux for the first time I huge you to try out LinuxMint because it has everything you need installed. I you want a bit more control in what you are running go for Ubuntu.

iPod meet Seinfeld

It is now official I have more songs on my iPod than ever before. After screwing it up last week I concentrated myself on loading songs on it and now I have more than 6000 songs on it. To top it all off since last evening I started to fool around converting my Seinfeld DVD box sets into mp4 files for the 'Pod.

If you have been reading this post you'll know that I have been calling my three computers Sidney, Newman and Kramer. Sidney for Sid Vicious the punk rocker that committed suicide after being accused of killing his whore girlfriend, Kramer for Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld and Newman for Jerry's arch enemy, again from Seinfeld. And I would like to introduce to you my iPod which is named: Art Vandalay a George Constanza alias. As you can see I am a Seinfeld fan.

I mentioned in the other blog the reason for placing Seinfeld episodes on my iPod is that we will not have a lot of television shows to watch since no new shows are being produced because of the WGA strike.

I still haven't used the Epiphany browser to its fullest, but I will, and I try Opera once again and then decide which browser is the best for me.

I guess that is it for now. This post was not really informative but hey what the hell? I'm felt like writing something; and something is better than nothing. See you later.

iPod Troubles Will Drive You Insane

I know, I know that I have been lax in my blogging the last few weeks but I have good reasons for this. I was to write something about trying out Epiphany browser for gnome about two weeks ago but I did something stupid with my iPod. I decided to try Floola with the 'Pod. I screwed it totally. It seem to work fine but it screwed up the artwork. What do I mean? Well the artwork did not match the song I was playing and there was no easy way to fix it so I initialize my iPod to the factory setting and started putting music back in. I now hate doing this. I had over 11 days of music in it!

After about a week and a half I had most of the songs back in and I was using the iPod as a memory stick to bring some files to work for a friend. I plugged it in the office computer and I was busy with customers and when I sat at the computer the 'Pod was synced with my work computer. It was almost empty again. So last night I started installing songs back in the iPod. I am truly sick and tired of doing this. It was all my fault, damn me!

From what I saw of Floola it seems to be a good program, I recommend that you try it with an empty iPod so that you don't screw it up. If after you installed a few different album with the covers these covers match with the songs, I think that a few of you would stick with it. One of the great features that floola had is that the program does not install in the computer so you can keep a copy in the iPod itself and install songs from any computer without installing an unwanted program on some one else's computer.

I guess I have to continue putting more songs in my iPod so i"ll cut it short for this post. I promise you that you'll have to wait a shorter time for my next post.

Parking Is Dangerous For Your Hard Drive

Three days ago on October 26th, I read about a bug with Ubuntu that would kill my hard drive within a year if left unchecked. I read someplace where someone says that it is the fault of the BIOS vendor and another place it is the fault of the hard drive vendor, yet another place says that it is Ubuntu's fault. I don't care who's fault it is, we have to fix it and fix it ASAP.

The bug is that with laptops the HDD basically parks itself once a minute and according to most of the articles I read a HDD can do this 600000 which means that a hard disc drive will last a little less than 167 hours. In my case it is not as bad as that but my hard drive will only last 1 year if it continues at this rate.

When I first read this article I did not think that I was affected and that it was just a freaky thing happening to a few laptops. Yesterday I read more and started wondering if my computer was affected with this bug. I checked it and my computer was cycling once every two minutes or so, as I said not as bad as once a second but worrisome. I read of a few fixes but I didn't really have the time to try them so I waited until this evening to give it a go.

Let me tell you that I was really worried this afternoon, not because that my hard disc drive might fail within a year but because I might have to remove Ubuntu and install XP on my laptop. I have tried the fixes and thank God they are working on my desktop. I am very happy right now, so happy that I want to jump around and yell "hee hah", but I won't.

Almost all the information I got to fix my problem I got it from here, thank you Roald Hopman (AKA Ubuntu Demon) if it wasn't for you I would never have known what happenned to my HDD in a years time.

Gutsy Gibbon Up And Running

Gutsy Gibbon is up and running all the three musketeers, yeah that right I installed it on my lap-top, Kramer, last evening. Everything that I use regularly works, hee haa little doggies. I am very happy with this version of Ubuntu.

I had a freezing problem with one of my desktop computer, new-toy to be precise. I had installed Ubuntu on it Saturday and nVidia's propriety driver and the computer was freezing. I found out Sunday that my graphic card (EVGA 7300GS) and motherboard (E9N) for one reason or another were not really compatible. When I installed the drivers for Windows XP there was a patch for the graphic card so XP works correctly. I tried a few fixes and they seemed to work, but after a while the computer freezes again.

I did not have this problem when I had Kubuntu on it, so guess what? I reformatted it with Kubuntu and christen it Sidney, and what the hell I reformatted precious with Ubuntu and named that one Newman. I did all of this Monday evening.

Today I finished tweaking all three computers and Sidney froze again. I removed the nVidia propriety drivers. It still froze. I was getting pissed off. I read in the nVidia forums that there is no solution for this problem. I have a solution I go and buy myself another video card a GeForce 8500GT. Now Sidney does not freeze. I am a few dollars poorer but I am Video rich.

I am tired so I'll take a break and watch television and not touch any of my computers this evening. See you later.

Gutsy Gibbon Second & Third Steps

First off I'd like to say that I am sorry that I did not write on Friday, or yesterday, as promised in Gutsy Gibbon's First Step. Friday was a very hectic days so when I got home I decided to take it easy and not work to hard on the computer, so all I do is transfer some files from New-Toy to Precious so I don't have to do this on Saturday.

Yesterday when I got home from work I went back at it. My goal was to complete the Kubuntu 7.10 installation on Precious, install Windows XP (for Games) and Ubuntu 7.10 on New-Toy and if I still had it in me to install Ubuntu in Kramer the laptop.

The first thing I do is start my XP installation on New-Toy and while this is going on and on and on and on and on (get the point it is slow, painfully slooooooww) I install all the packages I can think of that I'll need. Stuff like Samba, ssh, x2x (to be able to use one keyboard and mouse for more then one computer), gstreamer plugins, flash player, mencoder, mozilla-mplayer, gtkpod (for the iPod), GPixPod (again for the iPod), unrar, etc, etc, etc I am sure that I have forgotten a few packages but it is quite easy to install them when I'll need them. I set up the desktop the way I like it. I don't really like the wallpaper/desktop art but no more time to waste to change it at the moment.

I have to mention that when I used Dolphin, the new KDE file manager, I like the look and feel of it but there is no tab option like in Konquerer, the consolation is that there is split view where I can open two folders at the same time. I guess I'll have to make due with that. In Konqueror I usually opened up to four folders at the time.


When XP is done installing I try to install NOD32 on it but my back up copy of the anti-virus is on Precious and I don't have my Ethernet drivers installed. New-Toy as never had XP installed on it and I did not expect to install it on that computer so all the CDs are put away God knows where. So I have to download all the drivers I need from the net. I start the downloads and I start installing Ubuntu 7.10 on New-Toy. Same thing happened with the "Scanning the Mirror" being stuck at 82%. I watch television while I wait. When I go back to the computer everything is done in less time that Windows XP was "completely" installed.

I log in and I again get a restricted driver notice. I do install the nVidia driver so that I can use the desktop effects. The basic setting is, let us say, basic. I install the CompizConfig Settings Manager and set up the desktop effects to my liking. I again install all the packages I'll be needing. I have to mention that both New-Toy and Precious had the correct screen resolution when the were turned on. This is the first time this happens for me since I apparently have abnormal monitors. Everything else is working, sound, Ethernet, modem, printers. I have to download and install drivers for my XP installation, which is simpler? My choice, on three computers, is easy.

I do change the wallpaper on New-Toy to Elephant, note to self find a blue Elephant wallpaper for Precious. Once everything is done on New-Toy Ubuntu. I restart the computer with XP to install the drivers. I spend the rest of the evening/night installing drivers, anti-virus, anti-spyware, a good firewall, burning software, updates and a secure web browser (Firefox). Time is up it is 11:30 and I call it a day.

This morning after I get home from my morning walk I decide to install Battlefeild 2 and Bioshock and a few more game on the XP partition. I try them out for several hours,in fact about 4 hours. I don't play computer game very often but when I do I play them for way too long. Nothing creative done yet today except that now I am transfering files back to New-Toy from Precious and I am putting yet more music in my iPod, when will I listen to these songs? Soon I hope.

I decided not to install Gutsy on my laptop at them moment I wait until I have more time to devote to this endeavour. I guess that is it for this overlong post. From what I have seen Ubuntu has another great release under their belt. Now we have to get ready for Hardy Heron Ubuntu 8.04 when it comes out in April.

This has been posted to both my blogs, Adventures in Computing and No Name Blog. Usually this would only have been posted in the Adventures blog but I wanted to see how much traffic it would create on the No Name Blog.

Gusty Gibbon's First Steps

Kubuntu 7.10, code name Gutsy Gibbon, is now installed on my oldest computer, code name precious. I bought the computer after seeing Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Rings when it was at the theatres. I have to say that the installation was slow this time around since I believe that a lot of people could not wait to install it and the repositories are swamped by us impatient nerds.

I popped in the installation CD chose to manually partition my hard drives. I did this because I used to have windows on this computer and I decided to ditch it. I'm ashamed to say that I will install it on my other desktop computer to try out Bioshock and a few other games.

The installation was going fine until it got to 82% a was taking a lot of time "scanning the mirror". After waiting fifteen minutes I stopped timing and went to watch some television. I watched The Office after I checked to see if the installation was done. It was. I did a reboot. When the computer came back on, my log in screen was slightly different from Feisty (Kubuntu 7.04). I now can choose which user to log in with. There is not much choice since I'll be the only person to use this computer.

I notice that when I am logged in my screen resolution was correctly detected. I also have a notice that there are some restricted drivers available. All I have to do is click on the Restricted Icon to see which one. The nvidia driver is the only one available for this computer. I choose to install it. It takes 15 minutes to download and install (again because all us nerds want gutsy now).

I then decide to install gstreamer plug ins so that I can watch video on the computer. This again takes time, It is fine wanting to update as soon as possible, but next time I'll wait a few days before doing the install.

This is where I end tonight because it is getting late. I'll continue tomorrow and keep you updated.

Boring Update

In the last post I told you that I was upgrading to Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon Beta release. The upgrade went fine. The only problem I have is that I don't have the time to try it out. Maybe I should have upgraded my laptop instead since I use this one everyday.

Last time I said that I'll be installing Gutsy on my three computers the 20th and 21st of October, this hasn't changed. What I decided to change is I'll be installing Kubuntu on my older computer and Ubuntu on my newer desktop computer and both on my laptop.


I guess this is it for this post, I know it was a boring post but you know what they say: "Life is a Bitch and so is Britney Spears."

You Have To Be Gutsy To Try This

As I am writing this I am upgrading my old computer to Ubuntu 7.10 code named "Gutsy Gibbon" beta. I have waited longer this time around to do the switch. I had switched over to "Edgy Eft" Ubuntu 7.04 when it was still in its alpha stage. I can't wait to try it out.

In the Ubuntu communities everybody has been posting about Ubuntu Install fests around the date of 18th of October since this is when 7.10 is coming out. I am going to have one on the 20th and 21st since I'll be doing 2 fresh installs, maybe three. My old computer, named Precious, will have Ubuntu. My newer desktop, named New-Toy, will have Kubuntu, and the lap top, named Kramer, will have both version of the distribution. I am getting giddy with the anticipation.

I hope that they work out all the kinks out before I upgrade my new vostro laptop, since the hardware in it is relatively new and as I am writing this there are some issues. This is the main reason why I did not do the upgrade yet. I am using the lap top 60% of the time, so I don't want to use a buggy system.

I invite you all to go to The No Name Blog for a good time and a less serious blog. I warn you that you may be offended by the content and/or the sarcasm. Thanks again for reading my musings. See you later.

Procrastination Works Again

My compiz-fusion desktop effects on my lap top are working again. As you know after an update on the 13th of September it had stopped working. Last week another update still not working. This morning another update to compiz and shazam it works. I was hoping this was going to happen, since compiz-fusion is still in development.

So the power of positive thinking wins again. I believed that compiz-fusion would fix itself and voila it happened. Buy the the book "The Secret" and wonderful stuff will happen to you, better yet just think and believe you will get "The Secret" and you get the book just by the power of wishful thinking.

Enough of this bull.

New Name Blog

For those of you that are regular readers of this blog, you will have noticed the new name. I have gotten rid of the "... and life" in the title of this post. If you want to read my quirky views of life, you'll have to go to the No Name Blog.

You'll notice that there are a lot more posting on that blog than this one, and that is because I have less time than I used to with which to experiment with my computers.

Anyways there is nothing new on the compiz-fusion front. It still does not work on my lap top. I have tried Foresight linux for about half an hour last night, I wanted to see and try gnome 2.2. It is alright, but for some reason I was not comfortable with its package manager. I'll try to work with it some more at a later date.

I guess that is it for today. Go to the No Name Blog later today for a brand new post. I have Posted four times this week already, it is a marathon of posts. Will I stay the course. Go and see. Bye.

A Quick One

Just a quick one to keep you up to date. I still haven't gotten compiz-fusion working on the lap top. I haven't really tried to do anything about it yet.

I like what I can do with Rockbox on my iPod but after trying it for half a day I noticed that it is harder on the battery that the original firmware from Apple. I'll be using the original from Apple for my everyday use, and Rockbox will be to impress people and something to do in my spare time. I hope that we can update our firmware so that we have the same as the iPod classic.

As I said this is a quick post. No pictures this time.

Damn Those Updates

Last post I was proud to announce that I finally got compiz-fusion working on my lap top. Yesterday their was an update for compiz-fusion. It don't work no more! I haven't taken the time to try and fix it, hopefully it is nothing major. I can turn it on but after a few seconds it kicks me out back to my regular metacity windows manager with no eye popping desktop.

The desktop effects the compiz-fusion are totally useless for productivity but they keep me amused and happy, and you know what they say: "an amused and happy Norm is a lot better than a pissed off and angry Norm." It's true they all say that, I'm not lying. Check it out you'll see.

That it for now. I had a long day and in a few hours I have to be at work.

With A Little Help From My Friends

I finally have gotten compiz-fusion working on Kramer, my Dell Vostro 1500 laptop (as if you didn't already know). I hadn't tried installing it until yesterday because when I tried running the desktop effects I lost the borders and headers, so I knew that I would lose them again if I tried compiz-fusion. Also this is the second computer that I have installed the nVidia drivers through Envy and when I try compiz-fusion my computer freezes. Kramer was no exception. I had almost decided to give it a rest and try another day when I found this site (click here). I try the few trouble shooting he has at the end and low and behold everything works. Thank you Kevin van Zonneveld, I am happy and so is Kramer.

Now that I have started writing more, the thing that annoys me the most about a laptop is that when I am typing and I accidentally brush the touch pad I change the cursors' position and I am typing at the wrong place. The Vostro does not have a "turn off" function key for the touch pad so I had to find something else. With the help of Christer Edwards I have a solution for this. You have to make sure that in the xorg.conf you have SHMConfig "On". The run the command: syndaemon -d -t -i 2 which basically turns off the touchpad 2 seconds after the last keystroke, so no more accidentally moving the cursor when typing.

From these two examples of solving annoyance in Ubuntu you can see that the is community support. If you are willing to try Ubuntu and willing to stick with it for a few weeks you'll be glad you tried.

On to other matters, since I started writing the No Name Blog this one has no contained allot of life segment, only the computing segments are present. I'll sorta want to keep it this way, but let me mention that tomorrow I'll be giving blood and I would like it if most of you could donate when you can. During my fathers last few month he was getting at least 2 pints a week so I intend to pay the Canadian Blood Services back with interest. 26 weeks time 2 pints equals 52 pints. I can give 1 pint every 3 months so that is 4 pints a year, so in thirteen years I'll start paying the interest. Please give.

Last week I decided to lose weight and I've started. I want this out there so that I cannot deny it in a few weeks if I don't see results. If there was a Canadian Weight Services I would be glad to them some of mine.

That's it for now, see you next time.

Rockbox and iPod

Today I was going to tweak the Rockbox installation on my iPod. My Plan Changed. Rockbox is a firmware for iPod and other media players. I had installed it four days ago and I installed a few themes. I expected to install patches to show album covers and stuff like that. The Rockbox firmware allows users to drag and drop files directly in the iPod. Rockbox users can play more music formats then with the original iPod firmware, more games (Doom), even screen savers. If you have a mp3 player you should try Rockbox. For those of you that are not sure you want to switch over when you install Rockbox you don't get rid of the original iPod firmware you can switch from one firmware to another quite easily.


I have learnt something new today. One must at least learn something new everyday or everything becomes stagnant. I learnt that when you plug in your iPod to your computer and on the iPods screen you see displayed "Do Not Disconnect", well follow that instruction to the letter, even if you have waited half an hour for some date to be written on the iPod. My iPod could not read the information that was on it. I had 25GB that was on the iPod but I could not play it. Can you believe it I crashed my iPod. At first I decided to drag the music files out of the iPod and on to my computer, but when I saw that it would take 7 hours I decided to revert my iPod to factory state and start anew.


At this point of the day about six hours have past and I am currently installing songs on the 'Pod I 've already installed Rockbox and while I was waiting for songs to upload to the iPod I found a build of Rockbox already patched with a few. You can find it at this link: here. I have a bunch of work to do since I have to go throu my CD collection and convert some files to mp3 again. I guess I'll have my hands full for the next few days.


I really enjoy my new laptop, aka Kramer, but I am disappointed with Dell. I also ordered a carrying case and a wireless mouse which originally should have been shipped on August 29. Dell pushed back the shipping to September fourth. Then to September 14th and yesterday when I checked they delayed it once again, this time until October 16th. I guess I'll have to wait. I am very happy that it was not my computer that was delayed for so long. I'll still recommend Dell for their computers, this is my second one from them and so far I am satisfied with their products.

Well I guess I'll call it quits for today and upload more music to the 'Pod. Until next time.

That's One Small Step For A Man, One Giant Leap For Mankind

After long deliberations I have decided. I am happy with my decision. My decision was to simply install Ubuntu 7.04 on my new Vostro 1500 from Dell. Since most of the hardware is relatively new the Linux kernel does not support it all. With a lot of hard work from my Ubuntu Community friends I was able to do it in a very short amount of time. I started the installation a 8:30 pm and finished at 10:30 pm. I installed Ubuntu with the Alternate install CD, which basically means no fancy live CD or GUI, all was done in text mode, like it was done in the old days, two - three years ago.

One of the reason it took so short a time is the fact that my Internet Provider, Aliant, has finally given me what I was paying for a fast Internet connection. My Internet connection is now at 5Mbps instead of 1.5Mbps, what a difference? I could not believe it.

Anyway I still have a few issues with my laptop, which I have called Kramer, The Web Cam is not functioning and when I turn off the computer I have weird colours on my screen and I have to completely shut it of by pressing the power button. I'll be trying to fix these issues in the near future. I don't think that these can be considered major problems. If I can't find solutions for these inconveniences I believe that I can live with them until the next release of Ubuntu in October.

You might be asking yourself why I decided not to do a dual booth with XP? Well when I was doing a system back up the damn thing froze. It also froze another time which I can't recall what I was doing. What is the point of have an Operating System that freezes all the time? I can't see why myself.


I guess that is it for now. Thanks for all you faithful readers and I hope you'll join me at the other blog because that one is more fun to read and write. Just click the No Name Blog link.

The Eagle Has Landed

I have received my brand spanking new laptop from Dell today, Woo-Hoo! Mmmmmh laptop. The estimated shipping date was supposed to be September 3 but to my amazement it was shipped on the 20th of august instead. I am so happy right now, I am just like a pig in shit. This is the best thing since slice bread. I have a shit eating grim. Enough of the cliches. My first impression is that it is thicker than I expected but it feels very solid.

I haven't decided if I dual booth Ubuntu and XP yet, but as you can see I have decided to install Ubuntu as my GNU/Linux operating system. I am not going to do anything until the beginning of next week, so I still have time to decide what exactly I'll be doing.

I've installed security programs on the computer and I will be doing a back up so that I can revert it to almost the condition I received it in.

My fake cnet.com review would be 10 out of 10 because I receive it two weeks before I was supposed to. This review is not based on any of the computer's performance what so ever(Please refer to "We have Lift Off" post for reference).

I am using Internet Explorer 6 right now and being so used to Firefox I don't know how people can use a browser without tab browsing. I had to open another window to remind me of the title of a previous post! If you are still using IE 6 change to Firefox or Opera or even IE 7 and get with the times.

It is getting late so I'll call it a day and early next week I'll tell ya what i am doing with the laptop.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

I have got decisions to make about my new laptop. The major decision to make is what operating system to use. I've been thinking of doing a dual booth XP, for my gaming needs, and a GNU/Linux OS. I might just get rid of XP completely and just do GNU/Linux. At this moment the complete removal of XP is what I am leaning towards.

As I stated before what OS to install? I am debating between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, LinuxMint and Debian. The Two in the lead are Ubuntu and Debian. I am very comfortable with Ubuntu, I have been using it for almost a year (Sept 11, 2006). Nothing really surprises me using Ubuntu now. I'd like to try Debian because it is there and I want to see what Ubuntu is based on. These are good enough reason for me.

Another thing I have to decide if I choose Ubuntu over Debian is do I do an install when I receive the computer or do I wait until Ubuntu 7.10 comes out in October? I know of a few compatibility issues with the Dell laptop I've ordered with Ubuntu 7.04, but from forums I've seen they can now be overcome. Ubuntu 7.10 will be ready for most of the new hardware, I hope.

I have installed Kubuntu 7.10 tribe 4 on a virtual machine to try it out and as we speak I am installing the KDE 4 beta to try this also. I just can't wait. I feel like a child in a candy store.
Well that is it for today.

We Have Lift Off

Just to let you know that I have ordered a laptop from Dell yesterday. It's not an Inspiron 1520 as previously noted but a Vostro 1500. It is basically the same machine except for cosmetics. The Inspiron is A "home" laptop and Vostro is a "business" laptop.

This is what I ordered:

Vostro 1500 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, English

Vostro 1500	Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)	[466-8717]
LCD Panel	15.4 in UltraSharp™ Wide Scrn XGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™	[320-5544]
Memory	2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm	[311-7263]
Video Cards	256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT	[320-5559]
Hard Drive	160G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive	[341-4886]
Operating System	Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, English	[412-0998] [420-7291] [420-7291] [420-7311]
Integrated NIC and Modem	Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem	[430-0493]
TBU	Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08	[410-0960]
Optical Drive	8X CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer DVD+R write capability, w/ Roxio Creator	[313-5297]
Sound Card	High Definition Audio 2.0	[313-4783]
Wireless Cards	IntelJ PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Wi-Fi Mini Card	[430-2409]
Camera	Integrated 2.0 mega pixel Web Camera	[320-5546]
Bundle	No Microsoft Office, English	[412-0379]
1st Software	No Anti-Virus/ Security Software	[410-1054]
Batteries	85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery	[312-0545]
Hardware Services	1 Year Return to Depot Service and Technical Support	[920-0797] [920-3140] [930-2960] [987-6829]
Online Data Storage	10GB for 1 Year Online Data Backup by Dell DataSafe	[420-7368] [987-7479]
Dell Support	DELL SUPPORT 3.4	[420-7180]
Dell Network Assistant	DELL NETWORK ASSISTANT 1.7	[420-7189]
Dell Support Centre	DELL SUPPORT CENTER 1.0	[420-7186]
Automated PC Tuneup	1 Year Dell Automated PC Tuneup	[420-7367] [960-8851]

The estimated shipping date is September 3 2007. I don't think it will be shipped on that date since that is Labour Day in Canada, a holiday.

I've read a bunch of reviews on the Inspiron and a few on the Vostro. Most reviewers, that tried the machine, liked it. A few reviewers gave the laptop low marks because of delays in shipping. I give these reviewers a rating of 0.05 out of 10. When you review a machine review the machine not the company. I saw on cnet people that did not receive their laptop giving 1 out of 10 because the shipping date was pushed back. How the hell do you know how the laptop works without trying it. These reviewers should be brought behind the barn and shot and the buried in a shallow grave! Imagine Roger Ebert giving thumbs down to a movie he did not see because the theatre he was supposed to see it in had a power failure and could not show it. Good grief! Give me a f%#king break. Grow up why don't you.

Enough of this ranting and raving, don't you hate stupidity. I read a review on major appliances a few months back where the reviewer was giving a bad review on a 4 year old fridge because it broke down and the appliance company was not fixing it for them. The reviewer did not take an extended warranty and the refrigerator had a 1 year warranty. It is too bad the fridge stopped working get it fixed or buy a new one and get the f%@king extended warranty you cheap bastard!

Enough of the ranting and raving, for real this time. Boy that felt good. I guess I'll stop it at that today because I don't want to alienate to many people today.

p.s. My review on a HP Pavilion tx1220ca laptop: I give it 0 out of 10 because Staples did not have it in stock and the clerk told me on Tuesday that it would be in on Thursday and now it's Saturday and they still haven't received it yet. Am I a bastard or what? No more ranting for now.

Never Say Never

Last time I compared the time it took to install Ubuntu and PCLOS. This week I've installed XP in a computer for a friend. Am I a traitor to the GNU/Linux movement? I think not, I only did it for one reason: the cash, ... and research. OK I did it for two reasons: the cash and research, ... and friendship. Lets try that again, I only did it for three reasons: the cash, research and friendship, ... and for fun. Four reasons: the cash, research, friendship and for fun.

I'll state right here and now that I whole hardy support the GNU/Linux movement. I have gotten people to try Ubuntu but most people are like old dogs: you can't teach an old dog new tricks. From my experience most people want to follow the path of least resistance. A greater number of people will watch The Discovery Channel and watch someone climb mount Everest and say that would be challenge and leave it at that. While a very small percentage would actually do it. I think I have used an overblown analogy because installing and using a GNU/Linux operating system is not as hard as climbing mount Everest. It is a hell of a lot easier and less preparation and it takes less time.

I digress lets get back to the point. I popped in the install disk in the laptop and turn the computer on. It was 6:45 pm. After a few minutes I was asked on which partition I wanted to install I deleted all partition and created one and chose that one. I then chose the NTFS format, not the quick and then I waited, and waited and waited. It took over 50 minutes just to format! I stopped checking the time. The installation took another 35 to 40 minutes since I did not notice when it started. When the computer restarts I install the drivers needed for the chip set, the display, the card reader, the modem, the sound card, the wireless, the web cam and the muse pad. With all the restarts this took between half an hour and 45 minutes, at this point time is flying by.

The next step is the installation of anti virus, anti adware/spyware. I also install firefox and upgrade the windows media to version 11. I install video codecs and ac3 (sound codec for movies). Windows update has been working all along these installation and now it tells me that I have to restart the computer and I need a break. It is now 9:40 pm, I don't restart the computer I simply turn it off. I decide to continue the installation the following morning.

I wake up at 5:50 am turn on the computer and let window finish it's automatic updates and go for a walk. I'm back at 6:45 am and the update is done, I have to restart the computer. It take me another hour to download and install Open Office, install plug ins for firefox, install iTunes. I'm almost done. The last thing I install is Nero for burning CDs and DVD's. I forgot to install Picasa 2, Google Earth and Gimp. They're now installed. The total time to install Windows XP and accompanying programs and tweaking is 4 hours and 17 minutes whilst it took me an hour and twelve minutes to be at the same point with Ubuntu. Now I did not calculate the Windows update I did this morning and all the drivers and programs I had downloaded before starting the install. With Ubuntu all was calculated. Now the myth that Windows is easier than GNU/Linux is easily dismissed when you install the operating system.

Cost wise, Ubuntu cost 75 cents for the CD it was burned on. Windows XP pro is $249.95, NOD32 is 39.95 and Nero is 69.92. All the other programs I installed are open source therefore free. $359.82 CAN instead of $0.75 my choice is Ubuntu. After looking at the cost of installing windows on a computer, I no longer look for reasons why people use peer to peer sites to avoid paying these ridiculous prices. The same amount of man hours were placed in creating free Open Source programs. The only difference I can see is that one is a labour of love and the other is how much can we get for this.

At the beginning of this post I said that one of the reasons I did this was for fun, I take that reason out, it was not fun it was hard work. I won't be doing it for another long time. I think I learned my lesson, for now.

I have to go to work now. That is it for this time.

p.s. I would like to state that Windows users are not old dogs, it was only an analogy.

p.p.s I still have not gotten a new laptop. I know that I'll be going with a Dell Inspiron 1520. I'll let you know when I order it.

Back To The Future

I will tell you right now, PCLOS (PCLinuxOS) is a fine operating system. I know they will continue to make improvements but at the moment it is not the GNU/Linux distribution for me. So my computer is back to Kubuntu and I also installed Ubuntu so I can have my cake and eat it too. The main reason I switched back are as mentioned before, ktorrent crashes when I try to quit the program and no automatic updates. The ktorrent bug I could have lived with but the funny thing is when it crashed I could not get Firefox to start unless I logged of and then back in. Weird Hey?

I think I'll be purchasing myself a new laptop. I have been debating between an Acer and a Dell. In the last 24 hours I have flip flopping from one to the other. At the moment I am writing this Dell is winning. Come back to see who will win, if any!

In the last post I mentioned I loved my iPod, and after posting it I realised that I did not mention getting it on this blog. I wrote about it on the other blog. Now you know that I own an iPod video 80 GB, why go nano when you can get video?

Back to my Ubuntu re-install on my computer. A few posts back I wrote about the installation time for PCLOS now lets compare them with Ubuntu. Ubuntu took 16 minutes and 47 seconds to install. PCLOS took 15 minutes and 10 seconds. PCLOS is ahead by 1 minute and 37 seconds. I waited 39 minutes and 33 seconds for my updates on Ubuntu whilst with PCLOS I had to wait 49 minutes and 34 seconds. Round two goes to Ubuntu. Too tweak my system I spent 16 minutes with Ubuntu and with PCLOS approximately 10 minutes. Round three goes to PCLOS. It took longer to set up Ubuntu because not all the multimedia codecs are installed but with PCLOS they are. The overall amount of time installing are, I'll calculate it for you mathematically challenged, PCLOS 75 minutes and Ubuntu 72 minutes. Not a big difference overall. Now I have my automatic updates. ktorrent 2.2.1 still crashes when I quit the program but it does not affect any other programs. I guess that is why this version of ktorrent is not in the official repositories.

I guess that is it for this post, i see you next time.

Back On Track

Hey everybody! I guess by reading the previous post you know why I did not write in a long time. Now to bring you up to date with my progress with PCLOS(PCLinuxOS). I did not do a lot of work with in the last two weeks with all that happened. Everything works fine, mostly. Ktorrent crashed when I try to quit the program, I consider this a minor inconvenience since I am quitting the program when it crashes. What I find really annoying is the fact that there is no automatic update feature with
PCLOS. We have to do it manually. This is a problem PCLOS people! It should be fixed with the next release if PCLOS wants to play with the big boys.

I almost decided to thrash PCLOS and reinstall Kubuntu but I decided to keep at it. It basically does the same thing, but I am better acquainted with Kubuntu and Kubuntu has a automatic updating feature (Can play with the big boys).

On the computer that I have Ubuntu as an operating system, I have switched for Exaile as my music player to Rythmbox. I'll stick with Rythmbox until I find something better.

I still love my iPod. Everybody that enjoys music should get one! I can do everything that Mac or Windows users can with the iPod. This is one of the reasons I switched from Exaile to Rythmbox, I prefer Rythmbox's iPod options over Exaile.

Thank you for your time reading this today, and I hope you'll come back soon.

Jean Francois Xavier Charles Bissonnnette Rest in Peace

At 9:04 July 18th my father pasted away. I will miss him. I love you Dad.

First Look at PCLinuxOS

Hey everybody, How are you all doing? I'm fine. No preamble today straight to business. I installed LinuxMint on one of my computers last Sunday and on Tuesday I re-installed Ubuntu. They are both the same operating system! Give me one hour at the most, and my Ubuntu computer would be exactly the same as LinuxMint. I knew that LinuxMint was based on Ubuntu but I did not realize that there weren't a lot of difference between both. By the time I switched back to Ubuntu, My LinuxMint was looking and feeling like the Ubuntu it had replaced. So I asked myself, Norm why did we change? And my answer was to try something different. There is not enough different in LinuxMint to warrant the change from Ubuntu. Now if you do not use either and you felt adventurous you could switch to one or the other and you would be pleasantly surprised. I think that if you are trying Linux for the first time and are not and “expert” in the art of frigging around tweaking this and that, go with LinuxMint. I noticed that multimedia codecs were installed by default.

On other news I am trying the new and improved compiz-fusion on this machine and all I have to say is WOW! I know, you might be saying to yourself that eye candy is not useful at all for productivity, but, there is always a but, damn it shure looks perty.

Now to the million dollar question. Which of the following desktop should I use on my computer? I know that you know that I know that ultimately I'll decide what goes on my computer but I'll pretend that I give a rats ass what you think and maybe you can influence my decision one way or the other. So please vote, early and vote often.

That's it, that's all.

What No Pictures?

You've all been waiting on pins and needles for this post, haven't you? Yeah right! Well guess what? When I decided to write two blogs with approximately 2 posts a week I did not think I would have to search far for something to write. How stupid was I? Don't answer that, it's just a rhetorical question.

My testing of the three other linux operating systems is not happening since I have technical problems with Fedora 7 on both VMWare and Virtualbox, the same goes with PCLinuxOS. LinuxMint works fine in both. One thing I found out is that I prefer working with the Gnome desktop over the KDE desktop. I might change my mind again once the KDE 4 series comes out later this year, I've been reading quite a bit on it lately and I can't wait to try it out.

This morning when I'll be going at work I'll be using a new computer and OS. Last evening we've upgraded to XP from Windows 2000. I'll probably be installing a Linux OS in one of the older computers sine I've been extolling the virtues of Linux for over a year and my boss wants to try it out.

About a month ago I tried sideload and two days ago my Locker was upgraded to unlimited storage. The great thing about it is you can listen to your favorite music on any computer, with a sound card and speakers that is. If you want a great Internet based music storage try it you'll like it. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Not Much Happenning

I have been unfair towards the three operating systems (PCLinuxOS, LinuxMint & Fedora 2007) that I spoke of last week. I gave you my impression of them right after I installed them in a virtual machine. The reason I said I hated PCLinuxOS was not its fault but the virtual machine I was using. I am now trying it in another VM. I have no other impressions because I have been lolly gagging about this last week. I actually worked with Vista. It is not for me.

I also tried Joost beta the video on demand service, I hope they will have something for us Linux users. I also hope that they have more channels available.

I was reading a few articles about the beta version of the Safari 3.0 web browser. Guess what it is full of bugs. Apparently if what I read is correct: this is a failure for Apple. I think that the nay Sayers have forgotten that beta testing is used to work out bugs in a program before it is officially launched. So bugs in any beta programs is just as common as shit in a sewer!

I guess that's it for this post see you next time

When You Tought It Was Safe...

Hi I'm back. After a 7 month hiatus I have decided to write some more. Why haven't I written? What did I do with myself? How have I been? Where have I been? Are all questions you want me to answer I'm sure. There is not enough space on the Internet for me to answer all these questions, so I won't.

All I'll tell you is that I have a website that is in perpetual construction. It's not even worth posting a link or even talking about it, so I'll stop now. Also my father is not well and I have been taking it badly. I am hoping that maybe by writing about it will help me cope with it. He has been diagnosed with myelodysplasia. If you need to know more about this rare disease go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelodysplastic_syndrome it will enlighten and depress you at the same time.

On other news I am still using Ubuntu and Kubuntu. I have installed in a virtual machine LinuxMint, PCLinuxOS and Fedora 7. I will experiment with them in the coming weeks and will tell you what I think of them. My first impressions are I like Mintlinux, Hate PClinuxOS and Fedora 7 is so so. Now these judgements are only having tried them for 15 minutes. It would not be fair of me if I didn't give the operating system a fair shake, so I will try to use them with an open mind and give them the opportunity to show me why I should switch to them. On to other thing.

Last week I decided to start another blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/) and ditch this one. The day after I wrote my first entry to the No Name Blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/), I decide to see when I posted my last entry and I noticed that I had been using GNU/Linux for over a year. I read these entries and decided that I would spread myself thinly and maintain this blog and write the No Name Blog also (http://spurius.wordpress.com/). This one will basically stay as it was and the No Name Blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/) would be something different. I think that I'll try to be more creative with the No Name Blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/). The No Name Blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/) will have at least a post every week and this one I'll try to post four times a month but not necessarily one a week, i.e. I might post twice in one week and not the following week.

I have not posted a picture this time but I will next time. That's it for now. Remember to give blood and if you want to donate to the Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplasia Association of Canada go to: http://www.aamac.ca/. You can find an association in you country by doing a search. Thank you very much.

Oh I almost forgot to mention that with No Name Blog (http://spurius.wordpress.com/) I decided to try wordpress. I might as well do like OS's, try them all.

No Name Blog --> http://spurius.wordpress.com/