Ubuntu Linux

Well, what did I do this weekend? Amongst other things, I spent some time toying with a new distro* of Linux – Ubuntu. I had an old box lying around (and when I say old, I mean old [PIII 600, 32mb RAM]) which aside from a shafted graphics card was just about in working order. I managed to swipe the gfx card out of my schoolwork computer and start playing.

The .iso download is about 600mb, and I managed 112k down by getting the torrent (the direct .iso download will take a lot longer). Burn the .iso (using the excellent ISO recorder) and stick it in the machine. Job done. Install took about an hour, mainly due to the age of the equipment and the fact that I took the “I’m a n00b so install the whole bleeding lot” option.

There appears to be a vibrant support community, which is good, because a couple of the issues I had, I was able to find solutions to – for e.g, tips on redetecting the graphics card/monitor so I could change the screen resolution. However, I managed to get Ubuntu to connect to the Internet via my Win XP laptop with no help, so it goes to show it’s very easy and intuitive to use. Heck, I’m typing this on the Ubuntu machine (via a VNC window on my laptop, though it is pretty annoyingly slow ). Firefox 1.0.7 ships as standard (what else would you expect?) as the browser.

For ease of install and speed of “just working”, they’ve really pulled out all the stops. I’ll spend some time looking closer at it, I’m still tempted by Slackware for its rugged “fix it your bloody self” outlook, but given that I’ve not really decided what I want to use this box for yet, I’ll keep playing for a while. Heck, if I get really cocky, I’ll just put Slackware alongside Ubuntu and hope the boot loader figures it out!

If you’re a wannabe Linux user, then I wholeheartedly recommend Ubuntu. The only beef I have with it so far is that every time I type Ubuntu, it always comes out Ubunutu

(* Ubuntu is a Debian variant, so whether it’s a new distro is a debatable matter…)

Southampton University burns down

Image from BBC

OK, so the whole University didn’t burn down, but a fairly substantial portion has. It’s not connected with my department there, but a good friend of mine is based in that building. Having just spoken to him, it seems he may have lost all the work he has done in the last 2.5 years towards his PhD. He had backups; but of course they were in his office with his computer. It’s totally harsh.

Quote: “No-one was hurt but the building, which housed valuable equipment, was gutted.”

Yeah, I reckon if I was the building, I’d be pretty pissed off too.

So let it be a warning – if you have important data for which you keep backups – make sure the backups are kept well away from the original!

Grand Theft Auto Retrospective

If you were/are a Grand Theft Auto junkie, then the Grand Theft Auto retrospective over at Underground Online is a must-read. A real nice quick history to the GTA epic.

My blog is worth…

How do I make a withdrawal?

Ouchy.

Word of the Day from AskOxford:

horchata:

• noun [mass noun] (in Spain and Latin American countries) a milky drink made from tiger nuts.
— origin Spanish.

That’s just all wrong.

(thanks Deb x)

Software overload

I installed the support software for my new Canon EOS350D digital camera. It’s a lovely camera, it really is, but did it really need to install 13 (yes, thirteen) separate programs?

13?

Bloody email forwards

You get used to receiving these bloody email forwards, blah blah, sign this, and if you’re the 9,087th person then forward it to someone who doesn’t exist and nothing will happen.

Well I got yet another one the other day, and whilst I think the idea is bollocks, it is quite a sensitive subject and one that in principle I agree with the sentiment of the email. It was an email sent about the Jamie Bulger killers, the two lads who abducted, tortured and then killed, the young lad from a shopping centre in Liverpool, and about how they’re due to be released from their sentences with new identities to maintain their anonomynimity.. Usual nonsense, sign this and send it to blah at wherever.com and nothing will happen.

Why am I bothering to rant this? Because of the first line of the email forward:

Do you remember February 1993 when a young 3 year old
was taken from a Shopping mall in Liverpool, NY by two
10-year-old boys?

Somehow the shopping centre from which Jamie Bulger was abducted has miraculously moved from Liverpool, Merseyside in Northern England – to the state of New York in America.

Incredible.