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Sat, 13 Oct 2007

Beauty Technology

Now I wonder if a plastic surgeon could implement the changes? Is this desirable?

Fri, 28 Sep 2007

This is a screen shot of a new computer I am setting up. It shows an improper answer to the product of 850 and 77.1. All updates and patches to the OS and MS Office 2007 have been applied. More info here...

On the other hand, the latest version of Open Office does not have this problem. I suspect if any updates to it were implemented and this bug turned up, it would not last for long, assuming that it even could make it into a production version.

[/technology/foss] 8 comments permalink

Fri, 31 Aug 2007

History of the Amiga

Ars Technica is doing a multi part series on the old Amiga computer. Perhaps many of you don't know about the Amiga or have only vaguely heard of it. The Amiga was a personal computer that was way ahead of it's time. It was in fact, my first real computer. I did have a Timex Sinclair but it was really just a toy. When I got my Amiga 500 (must have been around '90 or '91), it was the computer which quickly gave me my first taste of geekdom. There was a programming application called Cando which was somewhat similar to the Mac's hypercard system. But there was really no comparison between the early Mac's and the Amiga (just read the articles and you will understand). My Amiga had built in sound and a killer graphics system (which could display 4096 colors). I created an ear training application with Cando. It was fairly simple (and I knew very little about programing at this time). I drew a keyboard with the Digipaint program and then defined programmed events for when you clicked on a key.

I gradually expanded my Amiga to include a 40 meg hard drive (it was quite big at that time) and a cpu accelerator. When I went back to school to study computer science, I did most of my assignments on the Amiga. There was dial up access to the school computer lab and I just uploaded my assignments from home.

I still have this computer at home but it has long since been dismantled and it sits in it's original box right now. Perhaps it will be a collectors item if it is not already. I had so much fun and learned so much with that computer. It was truly amazing.

[/technology] 2 comments permalink

Fri, 13 Jul 2007

Improving This Blog

I don't mean improving my writing. Well, you might think that after 4 plus years of blogging, I might be getting a little better at writing but I will leave that up to you to decide (I'm not holding my breath). No I'm talking about technology. Moving to some of the free stuff out there (services such as blogger) is unappealing and totally unoriginal. The blogging tool that I use, Blosxom, shows some feeble signs of being resurrected and updated but I'm not really that sold on it. Of course, the simplicity of Blosxom is what is so appealing. For a ViM jockey, it is so easy to create and edit a text file, massage a little HTML and scp it to the server. That is so elegant. However, the commenting has always been a bit of a disappointment to me.

Last year, I had just about decided to go with Drupal but again, I am just not sold on a database system for a blog. It's the loss of elegance thing that gets to me. There are at present two Perl based alternatives that offer improvements as well as elegance. First, there is Bryar by Simon Cozens. The nice thing about Bryar is that it is compatible with Blosxom. Not only so but it will work with both text files or a database. It is based on the Template Toolkit which is a very nice Perl app but this would require a bit of time to learn. This could be time well spent of course but it is keeping me from jumping in and using it right away.

The other Perl based tool is Angerwhale. Now this looks to be very modern and uses some of the latest blog and web technology. It is based on Catalyst which is a Perl based application framework (somewhat similar to Ruby). These framework thingies are all the rage now and this technology deserves a little more inspection for sure. Angerwhale has a built in commenting system as well. Don't know if it would work with all my Blosxom files exactly but it is so interesting that it deserves some consideration. At least that's the way I see it right now.

[/technology/blogging] 0 comments permalink

Wed, 27 Jun 2007

Open Source: Innovation or Imitation?

The recent charges by Micro$oft of patent infringement by Open Source applications are enforcing the idea that there is no innovation with Open Source software and that it is purely a copying or imitating way of development. As in many things, the answer to this question is a little more subtle than it might first appear. Software, like many other forms of technology, tends to evolve gradually and not necessarily in a drastic sort of way. Many FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) applications take an existing idea and build on it, adding and extending the ideas and thus improving on them. The real admirable thing here is that most FOSS projects are iterating their versions on a faster cycle than their proprietary counterparts. This is simply due to the fact that there are more people working on many of them.

So what I wanted to do with this post is highlight a few FOSS applications that I use and that have no equivalent in the Windoze world. Some of these are not directly available in the MAC world either but using things like the Fink project will allow you to use them.

There are two primary GUI desktop initiatives that are FOSS based. KDE and Gnome. KDE tends to be a bit more conventional. For several years I have been devoted to Gnome but recently I switched to KDE. I like the way applications in KDE are integrated. Everything just works so well together.
Both of the above GUI applications feature virtual desktops. That is, you can actually have more than one desktop which can have different applications open in them. I believe there are some ways to get this on Windoze by using some FOSS apps. You could also run X Windows by compiling it via Cygwin but this capability is not supplied nativly.
Now besides KDE and Gnome, if you just want to run a very resource light desktop, you can use a window manager alone. This does not include all the convenience of a full GUI but it may be useful on an older machine. And there are dozens of window managers to choose from.
One of the KDE applications (which will also run on Gnome) is the Krusader project. This is a file manager that is incredible. There is nothing like this in the Windoze world that I can tell.
The idea of a live operating system was pioneered by the Knoppix project. This is simply a whole Linux operating system which runs completely off of a CD. There are many advantages to having one of these around. Being able to boot one of these on a crashed machine is invaluable to name just one useful thing.

I am really just scratching the surface of things here. I haven't talked at all about server applications or the powerful command line shells such as Bash, or programming languages such as Python (to name just one of many). Perhaps I will revisit this in the future. But the main point I wanted to get across is that there is really tremendous innovation going on in the Open Source world which is significant even though it is evolutionary in nature for the most part.

I should mention (since I brought up the MS Patent thing at the start) that no claims of patent infringement have been shown to any FOSS project that I know of and no infringement charge has held up in court up to this time. And Microsloth has not shown any of the supposed 230 patents to anyone. They are simply making noise in the media about it.

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

Mon, 21 May 2007

New System Assembly


Put the standoffs in the case. These support the motherboard.	The rear panel can be different than the one supplied with the motherboard. This was true for this MoBo/Case and I had to pop the panel out and put in the one supplied with the MoBo.	The Asus motherboard in place inside the case.

The AMD CPU sitting in the zero insertion force socket. The locking arm is up.	The CPU cooling heatsink with fan on top.	2 Gig of dual channel RAM in place.

The power supply has lots of cables to sort out. My DVD/CD burner is partially inserted in the top slot.	Everything in place. The PCI card is my Wireless LAN card with a TI chip. You can also see the flash card reader mounted in the 3 1/4 slot which would normally be used for a floppy drive.

Notes:

Everything went together in a couple of hours. I had some trouble starting it up the first time simply because I didn't have the power switch hooked up to the jumper on the MoBo correctly. Once I saw this and corrected it, the computer started right up.
I am using Simply Mepis version 6.5 as the OS. There is both a 64 bit version and 32 bit version. Both versions booted up fine but the 64 bit version did not detect my wireless card so I am using the 32 bit version.
On board video worked right out of the box. I had to go to the command line to tweak the resolution. I am also using the digital interface. It worked without any trouble.
How does it work? Fantastic. It is really fast and I am already spoiled. The 19" flat screen by Hanns-g is sooo nice!
So do you think you can build one your self now?

[/technology/hardware] 6 comments permalink

Thu, 03 May 2007

The Guts of the System

Here's all the guts of the new system. I have to go to the UPS center to pick up the new case and flat screen. New Egg had a 19" monitor on sale for under $180 so I went for that one. I am not planning on installing a floppy. I didn't order one although I could probably take one out of another system if I wanted to. But I can just as easily access one over my network. Instead, I got a flash reader which fits in a 3.25 slot. It will read just about all the common flash types used today. The cost of a flash reader like this is around $14 (just about the same as a floppy drive actually).

2 gig of Mushkin memory. I normally use Crucial memory but Mushkin had a similar product in the price range I was looking at. And they have a good reputation.

The processor is a 2.5 gig, 4800+ AMD (dual core). It's an OEM package so it didn't come with a cooler fan. I selected a Thermaltake cooler for that. Hard drive is an 80 gig Hitachi with SATA interface.

I suppose I could have used the case from my older computer but the newer case has a side funnel for cooling and I'm not sure the older case would be cool enough without this. There is a wide range of case types to select from as well as prices. I chose a mini tower made by Antech. I also like the InWin cases but I needed a white one to match my DVD burner from the older system and I couldn't find an InWin in the price range I wanted. That DVD/CD burner is only about a year or two old so it is still quite usable.

So you can see there's not much to a new computer these days. Well, I could have added more stuff of course. But what you see is the essentials for most people. The motherboard of course has lots of stuff built in already and that also simplifies things a bit. Could I get something cheaper at a local retailer or an online one like Dell? Yes, but putting the system together yourself like this allows you to select your components and get exactly what you want. I believe the quality of the components can be higher. The big guys put together those low end systems with the cheapest components they can find. If that suits you, go for it.

[/technology/hardware] 1 comment permalink

Tue, 24 Apr 2007

Building a New System: MoBo

The Mrs. (CFO) has given the ok to build a new system. It's been a while since I've done this and the state of Linux has changed over the half dozen years or so since I've pieced together a system. Maybe some of my visitors would like to know how to build a system and some of the related decisions involved. I will start with this first entry and try to describe how I do it. Feel free to ask questions or make suggestions.

So the first decision is the motherboard. There are several steps you can take to break this down into something that is manageable since there are so many choices out there. First off, what CPU will you go with, Intel or AMD? I rely on the Ars Technica system guides to an extent. These guides which come out every few months tend to at least point me in the right direction. For their low end Budget Box, the recommendation is to go with AMD. Getting a dual core processor is quite reasonably priced at this time so if you are choosing most bang for buck, this seems to be the way to go (for all out performance, Intel seems to have the upper hand at this point in time though).

The next step, socket type, is a bit easier. The AMD AM2 socket is the recommended type now as it will be supported for some time to come, meaning easier CPU upgrades in the future if desired. Choosing a CPU to go with this is just a matter of deciding how much money you want to spend. If you think single core is good enough, you can have a fairly inexpensive system. From what I see of the cost though, a dual core CPU is not too expensive and I think I will go with this.

So with these two things selected (AMD and AM2 socket), now I head over to Newegg, narrow my search to AMD, AM2 motherboards and start reading reviews. Since this will be a 100% Linux based system, what I do is look for a MoBo which has a good number of reviews. Then I go and look at all the reviews, searching on the word Linux. What I am looking for is specific info. I would prefer mention of the distribution and if they are going through any contortions to get it working.

At this point, I can also narrow things down by considering my preferred Mobo vendors (Gigabyte, Abit, Asus are three). I have a Gigabyte Mobo on my work desktop and it has worked flawlessly since I have had current job. Although I have never tried Abit or Asus, both these manufacturers have solid reputations. I see that the Asus M2NPV-VM has a couple hundred reviews. Searching through these, there are several Linux Ubuntu references, almost all are very positive. I am leaning towards this Mobo. This board uses the Nvidia 6150 chip set with on board video so the price of the board includes a video card which should be satisfactory for most of the work we do at home. If not, we can always get a separate video card at a later time. I might sit on this for a bit before I get the plastic out but it seems, from what I can see at this point, that this would be a decent choice.

[/technology/hardware] 0 comments permalink

Mon, 26 Mar 2007

Novell Linux vs PC, Mac ad Spoof

It might not make up for the stupid agreement with Micro$oft, but give them credit for some pretty cool spoofs:

"It might work on you", she says. Maybe a reference to the idea that Apple could make much more use of Open Source than they are currently?

And here's the other one which is not quite as good.

This third one is maybe the best yet!

[/technology] 1 comment permalink

Wed, 27 Dec 2006

Gnome 2.2

Friday, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my work computer to Gnome 2.2. The anti-aliased fonts are a definite welcome. Also included in the upgrade (using Debian Unstable) is Evolution 1.4 beta. Again, having nice fonts (on a par with every other desktop computer) in the e-mail client is worth the trouble.

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

Open Source Legal Perspective

Here's a very good summery of Open Source/Free Software from a legal perspective. Don't worry, it doesn't read like a legal document. One thing it makes very clear is that the GPL is a copyright which carries penalties if violated. Also explains very clearly the meaning of "Free" in "Free Software."

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

Firefox 2 Upgrade

There's a bit of a flap within Debian regarding Mozilla and their products. The problem revolves around copyrighted trademarks and names. And so there is currently not a Debian package available for Firefox 2 in any of stable, testing, unstable or backports. No problem, I just downloaded the tar ball and unpacked it to my /opt directory. Uninstall Firefox 1.5 (apt-get remove Firefox) and make a link from /opt/firefox/firefox to /usr/bin/firefox. Now you can click on your Firefox icon and it should run, find your themes and extensions and upgrade them and then come up. It appears to run faster and looks a little crisper. Cool!

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

Samba Leader Resigns from Novell

And is promptly hired by Google. Groklaw has Jeremy's letter of resignation with some commentary. Well at last we have one of Novell's Open Source experts leaving over the deal with Microsoft. Will there be any more?

It is also interesting that windoze Vista does not work with Samba out of the box. The forked tongue of the great Borg from Redmond has clearly raised it's head a bit. despite going to various Open Source conventions and trying to sound like a nice guy, they are clearly pointing their biggest weapons at what is their strongest competitor. In other words, the Borg is getting a bit scared of the Open Source geeks and is starting to raise the stakes.

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

Mr. CEO, Tear Down the Wall, Let Java Go!

Good open letter by Eric Raymond to Sun. This is a quick read and to the point. But it's also a good case for Open Source against critics who think there's no revenue to be made by adopting an Open Source strategy. Here's a little quote:

But the casual equation between "open source" and "zero revenue" suggests that
on another level you don't really know what you're talking about. Open source
is hardly a zero-revenue model; ask Red Hat, which had a share price over
triple Sun's when I just checked. Or ask IBM, which is using Linux as a lever
to build a huge systems-integration business in markets like financial services
that Sun has historically owned.

[/technology/foss] 0 comments permalink

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2008-11-21