Linux easier to install than Windows?!?

I got a new work laptop the other day, an IBM (or rather Lenovo) ThinkPad T41. Before I start using it for real work I decided to try out the latest and greatest Ubuntu on it.

The new LiveCD based install is a doddle, and come reboot time everything worked. Networking (wired and wireless), hotkeys, sound, display. No tweaking, just worked.

How good is that?

I also threw XP at it just to see how that faired. It installed well enough, but you couldn’t do anything with it. No network, no hotkeys, no sound, and 800×600 display.

Although I should really be using Windows on it, I’m sticking with Ubuntu for now because I can’t be bothered ‘fixing’ XP enough to make it work.

Fourth and Fifth Attempts

Nine months after my last attempt I decided it was time to pull on my running shoes again.

This time I decided to start a bit more gradually so I cut the second, third and fourth sections off my circuit to make a shorter one. Unfortunately this means running over a mile along a busy main road – not ideal. My plan is that when I can a) run the short course in under 20 minutes and b) complete it without stopping/pausing/walking then I shall move back onto my original course.

My fourth attempt took place about two and a half weeks ago. I took our dog with us – he thoroughly enjoyed it – and I felt I did fairly well. 2.6 miles in just over 23 minutes (of actual running). I had the best intentions of going again a few days later, but they came to nothing. I was stiff for a few days, but not too bad.

My fifth attempt was the morning. I ran the route in reverse (to avoid the hill at the end) and again took the dog with me. Schwukette drove past about half-way round and she took the dog in the car leaving me to complete it on my own. Even though I felt I did better my pedometer claims I ran less distance in more time (and burned less calories) which just seems wrong so I’m not posting any stats until I’m sure that the pedometer is calibrated properly.

The weather is fantastic at the moment so I asked Schwukette to pick me up some running shorts in town. I might as well get a tan whilst I’m out!

Taking the dog with me on the runs seemed like a good idea, but it’s not. He has to be on a lead and will frequently stop to smell the flowers (or somesuch) and mark the route in his own special way. I’ll try the next couple without him and see how I do.

Blogging with Performancing

This is a test of the Firefox Performancing extension.

Except of course it didn’t work as intended because it published the post when it was supposed to be a draft!

Long time coming

I first got involved in Geocaching in 2001, and was an fairly active member of the community – even if I didn’t actually do any ‘caching! I even got interviewed for a a newspaper (either The Guardian or The Independent) article about.

Fast forward to 2005. I read with envy about davee’s (a fellow #lugradio dweller) first find. I was almost inspired anough to get off my backside and go and seek one myself.

Fast forward again to the present day. A friend has lent their Bluetooth GPS so I can testdrive some satellite navigation software before our planned trip to France later this year. Suddenly the lightbulb goes off above my head. I can finally go Geocaching! So yesterday I bundle the kids into the car and off we go to my chosen destination which was Solway View 2 as it is practically on my doorstep (you can see my house from it – in fact you can see most of North-West Cumbria and South-West Scotland!). The satnav – iGO in this case – took me almost directly to it (as I discovered after I’d found it), and then I switched over to GPSDash for the final leg. After a bit of hunting high & low (you’ll understand if you ever go there) I spotted it in a place I’m sure I’d already checked. The kids were over the moon about finding it and getting to take something. This particular cache was quite small, and I didn’t have anything suitable so I returned earlier today to put some items in.

I thoroughly enjoyed it (because I got to play with geek toys), and the kids enjoyed the “treasure hunt” aspect so this is definitely something we’ll be doing again. In fact I’ve got a few lined up for one of my rare visits to the office tomorrow…

All You Can Upload

I normally use Flickr for the images I use in posts, but for my Vista Initial Impressions post I decided to try out the new All You Can Upload image hosting service from CNET.

It does one thing, and does it well. Image hosting. That’s it. No albums, no tagging, nothing else. You upload an image, and it gives you links to use. If you lose the links, you lose the image. There’s no registration required, so it’s pretty anonymous as well.

I’m appreciating specialised tools more these days, and this fits the bill nicely.

TechCrunch has some good coverage of it, especially how it may affect the others already in the same niche.

Dancing with the devil

So I thought I’d celebrate the release of Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake”) by installing Microsoft Windows Vista Beta 2.

Before I get flamed I’d like to point out that I am running Dapper on another machine.

Initial impressions are:

I’ll post some more when I’ve had time to delve into it further.

Additional Information

Chris Pirillo has compiled a couple of lists of what he considers problems with the current Beta:

¹ I’ve not yet had this many confirmations though.