PENGUIN POWER

2011-01-22T13:23:00.004-05:00

Adventures Of A Sysadmin

Hey, y'all. Yep, I'm still alive.

As much as this is a Linux Blog, we Penguin Lovers must contend with making a living dealing with - the Other Guys. Yes, this blurb is about my adventures and misadventures in dealing with what Life has tossed into my lap.

A little while ago my case manager at this employment outfit called to see if I could come up with any ideas or fixes that were plaguing their organization. Being a non-profit outfit, they were seeking the 'cheap, but great' solution.

Seeing as how I was/am still gainfully unemployed, I wandered over to see what the problem was. It seems that they run a Resource Room consisting of ten computers for their clients to use in their Job Quests. The access is free and there is really no time limit plus there are printing resources available at no charge. A real deal in this time and age.

It seems that the 'clients' had taken it a step further in that in addition to Job Searching, they were also using the facilities to enhance their social lives, add to their music and video collections and chat with their buddies online. Also, some 'clients' were taking the liberty of printing out complete online novels consisting of hundreds of pages - a clear abuse of the privileges granted to them, but what they Hey, it's all free, right?

So, when this was explained to me with the desire to not alienate these clients because the funding came from the number of people they represented, I offered the solution of configuring the Resource Room in the way other notable Public Institutions have done. I cited our local Public Library which has computer access which they have submitted in a restricted fashion - no downloading and installing of programmes, apps or other gems of Internet Wisdom and Enlightenment; no gaming; downloading and saving to the client's own media, eg. USB thumb drives, Floppy or USB portable drives only. Nothing is saved onto the computer's hard drive. This is what is called a 'Kiosk' mode where an image of the OS is renewed at every reboot and anything that may have been saved on the previous session has been erased with a fresh, vanilla OS. Simple, yes?

Also, seeing as how the system was more than likely being run by WinServ2003, the Active Directory app - I must admit that this is a sweet utility because it makes administrating a system so much more manageable - is able to restrict printing rights thereby saving a few more trees. I suggested that the organization contact their System Administration company and ask them if they could implement such a strategy. This idea was met with a marked degree of enthusiasm and I left feeling that I had contributed something to society. Still no job, though.

About a week and a half later, I receive another call from my case manager telling me that their System caretakers were not keen to the idea and quoted them an astronomical fee to implement this new strategy. I was asked to come and meet with the organization's 'Hefe' to discuss some other solution. Again, I must stress that this is a non-profit outfit which has a set budget.

Seeing as how I was wasting away and if you don't use it, you lose it, I suggested that maybe I could come in and configure the Resource Room machines so that the abuse could disappear. So, over a period of a month, I cleaned out these boxes, upgraded five of the older units which were woefully deficient in the memory department and reconfigured the systems so that no one could download, install or change the desktop configurations. Sheesh, on two of the units I discovered a number of movies that were downloaded via Torrent utilities configured to run in the background and the results stored in hidden directories - actually, ingenious hacking, if I may say so - I was impressed.

Also, this outfit specializes in obtaining employment for people with disabilities so the clients are not really in the upper, middle or even lower income brackets - these are poor, poor people. An idea came about that maybe computers could be built from donated sources to provide these folks with machines to enhance their resources - at a nominal fee, of course, just to cover whatever supplies and parts are needed to achieve this end result.

So, I ended up with a nice room in the basement and a pile of really outdated, obsolete and cast aside computers and related equipment. It is amazing what one can do when you ferret around and cannibalize stuff. To date, I have built three very serviceable machines, all running Linux, of course, since we cannot obtain the no-charge, charitable institution or Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher licenses to install XP.

I downloaded and installed the various heavily GUI-orientated, easy-peasy Linux distros which were reputed to appeal to Windows brainwashed folks and for the time being have settled on Linux Mint 10 Debian. I am using a box with a greatly modified Ubuntu 10.10 (Meerkat, I believe) as my personal machine and have tweaked it so that it almost equals my personal, at-home box. Man, ya gotta luv Linux because you can make it do almost anything you want - try doing that with a 'Doze box!

Anyway, I had built two systems (excluding the personal one) - box, CRT monitor, keyboard and mouse - $100 including tax with a six month warranty. I had sold one and have not heard from the client these past four months which tells me that things are going well - a seemingly successful convert to the Penguin Way. This endevor has also created a repair business for which I charge a $35 flat rate regardless if the job requires on hour, one day or one week. So far, the jobs have lasted no longer than two days and that is because of the delightful experience of Microsoft's updates to the updates of the updates to the original updates, sigh!

These efforts have, in turn, called upon my abilities and talents to start servicing the Staff machines. When the first call came that the 'Internet was down', I was ushered into the 'Holy of Holies' - the Server Room. A quick view of the Events and a restart of the DHCP Server made me a hero! Whoopie.

Now, I am integrated within the daily workings of the organization. Even though I am still a Volunteer, I am awarded a gratuity, a monthly bus pass, which is really, really handy and appreciated and I submitted a request for tools and equipment which I used to have but disappeared at my last job training Federal Parolees. These tools and equipment have now been replaced which makes my job a lot easier and efficient. Again, even though I am still a Volunteer, I show up every day, just like a regular job. I feel that this is good training for that wonderful day when some enlightened employer will realize what a gem I am and hire me. I will be rarin' and fit to go.

Well, that's about it for now, kiddies. In the next installment, I shall regale you with tales of Microsoft's dotNET horror and how I used Linux to solve some of those problems.

Later . . .

~A~

I'm Still Alive . . .

2010-08-22T14:46:00.001-04:00

Whoa, talk about neglect. I haven't done my thing here in a long time but then conditions haven't been exactly optimal.

First, I've finally moved from the establishment where I resided for almost seven years. Seven Years! Wow! I can't believe that I managed to survive in that sub-standard environment for that long. In my new apartment, I have my own kitchen and bathroom and after three months they are still a novelty for me. I can actually brew a pot of coffee, make toast and microwave something all at the same time without tripping a circuit breaker. And what can I say about the luxury of having one's own bathroom - strolling into that little room, coffee in hand and a book under one's arm without apprehension of someone rattling the door, urging you to "Hurry up, I gotta go, man."

It's so nice to live like a regular person once again instead of a visitor in some cheap hotel for an extended period. I'm still not able to afford a hi-speed wired connection so I'm communicating via wireless. At least where I'm living now, the population density isn't so high that the wireless nodes are overwhelmed most of the time. I'm actually getting quite good speeds, most of the time, from the free Municipal Wireless. At least it's allowing me to make contact and publish this little blurb.

Exploring some of the more interesting sites, I came across the linuxologist's site where I found this humourous - at least to us linux geeks - article regarding a play on some UNIX/Linux command line commands. Here's the gist of the article summed up into a picture:

Just click on the image which will take you to the actual article. There are some other interesting articles and features but it looks like the author is suffering from the same Writer's Block that has resided in my consciousness for a time since the most recent article is from May of this year. Hopefully, he will return with some more interesting insights.

I guess that's it for now. I just wanted to pop by with a little something to tell y'all that I'm still around and hopefully will fill these pages with all sorts of interesting, informative and innovative drek.

Later, kiddies . . .

~A~

Hey, Ahm Bak! Just Some Rambling . . .

2010-04-07T04:11:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

Yes, I'm back. It's been a rough time in regards to getting online. The wireless thangy seems to have taken off - in Spades! I can't get a connection for the Life of me!. It's been like I have to skulk around in the wee hours of the morning in order to grab a bit of bandwidth to at least check my email. Even then I get knocked off by pirates getting their torrents downloaded!

Yes, I can analyze these streams. I have the tools and the know-how & have realized that there's a lot of people out there who are gaining more & more knowledge as to how to crack wireless security. I've followed two characters who are normaloid during the day and then change into pirates at night. They must have 'caps' on their accounts from their ISPs and go out at night to pirate bandwidth for their torrents.

These folks are actually ingenious in that they have latched onto four or five or even more APs and do a rotating thing while keeping up their download rate - an astounding technique, actually. While understanding as to how they do it & even being envious that I don't have the equipment to allow myself to achieve the same ability, I nevertheless, refrain from impinging onto others' privacy.

Yes, I've admitted that I've had to intrude at times to get off an email or to check something, but I've always restricted myself to no more than 5 minutes & then logged off, feeling guilty as hell - desperation will do funny things to a person, y'know. I had to go out & get drunk to soften the blow, so to speak.

Anyway, these two characters are really interesting in that they have no compunctions as to whom they raid nor as to whatever bandwidth they've stolen. I have logs that I can use if I ever track these folks down - thankfully, Linux makes logging really easy.

They think that they're smart by changing their MAC addresses when they do their thangy, but there are things called ARP & NAT & other protocols that can pinpoint who, what & where & regardless of their efforts, I can follow these miscreants - all the while being logged. These folks have stolen approximately 3 terabytes of bandwidth in the two month period that I have been monitoring them. I merely set up up a shell script to do this and these persons have been extremely busy, according to the logs.

Thank gawd for Linux, shell scripts & logs!

It's way easier to do this stuff in Linux than in Windows, I think. Of course, there are those of you WWs who will proclaim that 'doze can do this stuff, also. Sure, it can. But would you want to set up the necessary scripting in your XP, Vista or Win7 to do this and then there are the server restrictions inherent in all 'doze systems that will only allow one to do this monitoring at certain times? Also, 'doze doesn't do monitoring well. One has to 'tweak' certain settings & utilities in order to allow 'doze to do so & then this will affect the overall connectivity of the system . . . and on & on & on . . . Sorry, but Linux wins this round.

For the WWs, if you wish to pursue this, then buy the ever so extravangantly priced WinServ2003 or even the more pricey, WinServ2008 - WoW! In addition to whatever a normal OS can deliver, all the monitoring tools you could ever wish for are included. Of course, you'll have to expend $20,000+ for the MCSE course to be able to understand and manipulate it! But then you'll be a major Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer who has to renew the certification every two years & you will know everything & anything about networking & beating hackers, won'tcha?

Then, there are those of you readers who don't give a shit about any of this; you just want to get online and do so without anything bothering you, right? Well, get educated in regards to wireless security if you wish to do your thangy without major problems. Learn about WPA & WPA2, the newer security protocols regarding wireless connectivity - way better than the the standard setup offered by the manufacturers when you buy your new wireless router.

Later kiddies . . .
~A~

Bits 'n Pieces: 2010 #1

2010-01-22T23:43:00.004-05:00

Judge Tosses NSA Spy Cases

Judge tosses NSA Spy Cases

This is why I have read George Orwell's "1984" about a dozen times and never cease to marvel at that author's observations and how they become more and more relevant as Time marches on and Globalization becomes the curse of Humanity.

YouTube Videos now available in HTML5: Good Riddance Flash!

YouTube Videos in HTML 5

I am so glad to see some attempts at "good" coding. Although this is still in the Beta form, it is an attempt to snap Adobe's long time monopoly on various formats. To those in the 'know', Adobe is now the IE of the NET. What with the incursions of hacking of PDF's, Adobe Reader and Flash, the constant "security" updates have become Windows-ish in their frequency and ineffectiveness. And let's face it, Adobe apps usually have a HUGE footprint - as Mr. Rogers used to say, "Can you say 'Bloatware'?"

Whatever happened to programming in Assembly? Yes Folks, it's still alive and well and only the real serious developers use it anymore only because it's a real pain-in-the-ass to use. The High End Languages have taken over and removed all the slickness, speed and solidity that an app composed in Assembly can deliver.

It's Laziness, pure and simple. I have to confess that I had fallen into that condition when I was doing my thing because it was way easier and faster to use a High End Language rather than slave and expend hours, nay, days, over the composition of an app in Assembly. I even confess to jumping onto the scripting bandwagon of Perl because it was way faster to come up with something that would just work. No compiling was needed, dubugging wasn't as intensive and annoying and the syntax was so C+-ish without the constant, nagging need for proper structure and protocols of C+ that one could almost call it "Draft Programming" - a tool Programmers use to flesh out a programme without really writing it, just to build ideas and structure.

It's been so long since I've even attempted to use Assembly that I've forgotten it and would have to relearn it again - ahh, gawd! Even now I can feel those cerebral, cirrhotic cells in my head squirming in apprehensive discomfort at the mere thought of dueling with the evasive and subliminally syntactical miasma that is Assembly code.

As far as HTML 5 is concerned, it's just another step in the development of HTML as was the step from HTML 1.1 to 2; from 2 to 3; from 3 to 3.5 and currently the running standard is HTML 4. Time moves on.

How to Put Your PC to Good Use While You're Sleeping

Using Your PC While You Snooze

This is one for you WW's out there who aren't too savvy about hardware, backups 'n stuff like that. This is an article on how to use those super-duper, brand spankin' new, multi-processor, huge storage capable desktops or even laptops that you bought at Future Shop for a real 'bargoon' price. There's even a link that I've extracted that will suggest on how to extend the life of your Hard Drive(s):

Self Repairing Hard Drive(s)

Good Luck with this, eh?

Red Hat Continues to Flourish

Reading articles like this does my old heart good. I remember using Red Hat when it was still a Freebie OS. I had picked it up via a Linux magazine that featured an OS disc with every issue. I installed it and stuck with it for almost two years until the news came that Red Hat would be going commercial and devoting its development toward the Enterprise market. I dabbled with Mandrake after that for about a year until it had its financial woes and merged with a Brazilian distro to become Mandriva and started to charge for anything good. That's when I discovered my beloved Debian. I've been with it going on seven years and really don't think that I would switch although Gentoo is niggling at my curiousity and I even have the new Gentoo install DVD. But my beloved Debian is too faithful, too efficient, too solid and I've become so used to it, like an old marriage. Unless I had another computer, with a solid Internet connection to install Gentoo onto, I'll just stick with 'Old Faithful'.

Anyway, I digress. Us 'Old Fahts' tend to do that occasionally and here's the blurb from Slashdot that brought a throb of Joy to my old ticker. Seeing as how the main man, Bob Young, is a Hamilton Boy (actually, he was born in Ancaster) and has since semi-retired back home, started LuLu.com, a self-publishing website and bought and rejuvenated the Hamilton Ti-Cats, he continues to serve the community and makes a lotta bucks doing it. Now, is that a success story or what? Oh, BTW, the actual founder of Red Hat is Mark Ewing and merged with Young's Company, ACC, back in '94 or '95.

Here's the link to the SlashDot blurb:

Red Hat Flourishes In Recession

Ontario and Samsung seal 6.7 Billion deal for Green Energy

Now, this reallllly burns the hair off of my ass! A Korean company doing Energy in Ontario? Samsung has promised to provide 4000 jobs - over a 25 year period. Meanwhile, the average Joe will be getting a $1.60/Kw increase on his Electric bill for the next 25 years to fund this debacle - why? Ontario has so much Natural Resource in the way of Hydro, but then most of it is directed toward the US - why? Why aren't the local Energy Developers - the Wind Guys, the Fuel Cell Guys, the Solar Cell Guys given more of an incentive to develop their stuff?

I really despise politicians. Why have these Liberal assholes retained their hold? Immigrants, that's why. These Effin' Liberals promise all sorts of fast tracking, stipends and grants if the Immigrant groups vote Liberal in the Elections and these Immigrant groups, really fast on the uptake since graft is so common in their cesspool part of the third world, readily agree. They band up and attack the voting polls with their multiple identities and make sure that these Liberal assholes get in. Canada is an International Joke!

Anyway, I almost went into a rant of which I could probably expound upon with many pages of slavering, offensive rhetoric that would undoubtedly bring CSIS kicking my door down at 0300h and hauling my sorry, wrinkled, bald, allegedly racist ass to some underground Gitmo-like Fortress of Solitude, 160k NE of Inuvik. But I didn't, did I?

Sigh . . . I wish it was the RCMP that was still kicking in the doors. At least they would throw me a party and make sure I was good 'n drunk 'n high before they buried me in the Ice. They're Warriors and I can get along with that ilk.

Now, don't get me wrong. I really like Samsung products. I think they make good electronic stuff. Hell, I'm viewing my composing on a kick-ass Samsung monitor; I like their Hard Drives - dependable, tough and efficient. Their stuff is really, really good and getting better; they're giving Sony a real run for the money. They saw an opportunity and they grabbed it - hey, it's business. It's that McGuinty slimeball that I can't stomach. I don't imagine that he'll ever have to stand in line for hours at the local Food Bank to ensure he'll get in to obtain the laughable pittance of sustenance that's deemed to be sufficient for a single male to exist on for two weeks - more like four days, six if you really stretch it. Hey, McGuinty's a lawyer, too - I guess that sort of explains things - he sold his soul a long time ago.

Anyway, here's the link to the story. Click on one of the "More Coverage" links although the Globe &; Mail does give many more details than the Toronto Sun:

McGuinty Sells Out To The Koreans

--- Grrrrrrr!

Firefox 3.6 Released

Now, for something completely different and definitely more pleasurable - the final release of Firefox 3.6 and Hey!, you know what? It's really not bad at all. I've installed it in both my 'doze and Linux and it does really well on both platforms. For one thing, I've noticed that it is actually quicker than its predecessor and right there, that's the thing thing that won me over to uninstall Debian's equivalent, "IceWeasel" and do the Firefox thing. Of course, I'll check to see when Debian finally upgrades 'IceWeasel' to the 3.6 version - basically, it's Firefox but the name and some minor coding has been changed to agree with Debian's Free Software Policy - there were some Licensing issues that didn't agree with Debian's philosophy that caused this stoopid Naming issue.

Since lawyers are such vultures, jackals and hyenas, Debian thought it best to change the name so as to not cross any copyright or copyleft statutes that would give those scavengers any reason to file suit.

I'll do this because although my beloved Debian is tolerant and self-healing to a certain degree, it doesn't seem to tolerate software incursions which are generally contrary toward its basic philosophical guidelines. Yes, it's alive. I made it so. As Mr. Rogers would have said, "Can you say, A.I.?"

Here's the link for those of you that are interested or haven't yet bothered to upgrade:

Firefox 3.6 Released

I guess that's about it for now. I hadn't planned on doing this but I managed to get a good NET link and have been indulging myself, so I thought, "Why not?"

Later kiddies . . .

~A~

2010: Starting The Second Decade

2010-01-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Hello Kiddies. Yeah, I know. I've been bad in that I haven't made an appearance since last year but I've had some health issues plus the fact that my usual public wireless connection seems to have died. Right now I'm connecting by piggy-backing on some one else's link up. I don't like to do this since I really do respect other people's privacy and rights but desperation will make one do strange and sometimes unsavory things.

I try to restrict my access to the evening hours when everyone else has gone beddy-bye and then only to check my emails and to quickly catch up on the News of the World 'n such. I keep hoping to see some response to the numerous job adds to which I've submitted my worked-to-death resume but so far, no bites.

Y'know, there I was, comfortably surfing courtesy of my local Public WiFi service when one day, it seemed as if some one threw a dampening blanket over the complete range of Access Points. I noticed that their broadcasting power diminished by 20 - 25% and it just seemed to affect my side of the building according to the other residents whom I know are using Wireless. The folks on the other sides of the building are chugging along normally. I have yet to find out if there is a commercial or industrial cause to this problem, but when I do I shall descend upon them with a Wrath and Vengeance of Biblical proportions. Nobody screws with my Wireless!

Well, that's about it for now. I just wanted to drop this notice to let y'all know that I haven't died [at least not yet] and I will attempt to publish my usual brand of outstanding wit, keen observation, tongue-in-cheek humour and technical prowess - what there is of it.

Later kiddies . . .

~A~

From ATI to nVidia

2009-10-29T02:27:00.005-04:00

Well, it's been a while since I've dropped something into this Blog.

For one; my Wireless Internet has not been consistent at all. I couldn't commit to something when my connection kept dropping and I had no idea when it would resolve.

Lately though, it's been somewhat semi-reliant so I've taken the chance to make an entry.

If you've been following this Blog then y'all know that I wish to indulge in the Win7 madness that's running rampant.

Sure, although being a great Linux Fan, I also have appreciation for the other OS's.

So, with that in mind, I chose to prepare my humble hardware platform for the eventual replacement of my beloved XP.

Seeing as how I only had a 128 Mb ATI Radeon card which could play videos at a minimal, acceptable level but not allow the magnificient GUI embellishments that Aero would grant, I committed to the acquisition of a 'better' video card. The rest of my hardware is more than enough to handle the Vista/Win7 platform but I definitely lacked in the video dept.

Since I'm on a severely restricted budget, I had to scratch around for a 512 Mb AGP video card that wouldn't break me for the rest of the month. Anything that I checked out regarding AGP was really expensive compared to PCIe – the ongoing tech these days.

I found one at a shop that I hadn't visited in over a year – it cost me $60 instead of the $73 I had resolved myself to. It was the old reliable nVidia GeForce 6200. Sheet man! I thought those suckers went the way of the DoDo Bird. With that saving I ended up getting a 12-pak instead of the fore-planned 6-pak!

Normally, one would think that the outdated hardware items would be released at a "bargoon" price, but such is not so. It seems that although AGP is sooo dinosaurish, there are us poor slobs who have no choice but to adhere to our antiquated hardware due to monetary restrictions.

The Vendors have to maintain a suitable profit margin otherwise we wouldn't have our "Friendly Neighbourhood Computer Stores". Yet, in the interest of promoting a long term clientele, one would think that these shops would hold a "loss" sale – an item sold for 10%- 20% above cost in order to attract customers to their more popular items.

Nope, no such luck. Computer stores don't have to market stuff like that unless they're a Chain Type like 'Future Shop' , ' BestBuy' or one of those other mass merchandiser outfits. Nope again because Computer Shops are just that – so if they buy an item for $30, they in order to maintain viability will have to sell it at least $43 which will keep their head above water, so to speak. Of course, they aim at an average margin of at least %175+ making said item at around $53 and more, if they can get away with it. Then there is the volume discount they receive from their suppliers, an incentive to sell more of said product. If they sell at or above the projected percentile, then they will receive another 2 - 3 or even 5 percent discount – whoopee!

Anyway, that's a subject for marketing and economics. What I'm on about is my transition from a lifelong affiliation to ATI video cards to my first experience with an nVidia unit.

It was amazingly painless! I encountered a brief blip in my XP-SP3 in that my sound didn't work when I rebooted. This was fixed by re-installing my SB Audigy SL software. Tunes sound great as they did before – movies sound even better now.

Now, in Linux. Well, of course there was no X window system since its configured agent no longer existed. Luckily, I had downloaded and copied the file over to my Linux system so I merely booted to 'Single User' mode and installed the latest nVidia binary, rebooted and logged in and things are great. Desktop is functioning OK,; sound is great, as usual; videos are playing even better and the "Gears" test looks fantastic!

Wow, I'm impressed! Here I was anticipating all these horrible configuration problems and instead there was shit to worry about.

I'm disappointed! I was ready for an all out battle within the CLI and had all my stuff ready 'n rarin' to go and instead there was bupkis. Everything works fine – unbelievable!

. . . and the video is way better than it was with ATI. I used to have little 'artifacts' scitter across the screen when viewing videos, but now there's nothing but clarity, crispness and a much better colour display.

I will report on how the compiz window manager behaves within the Gnome and KDE environments tomorrow or later or whenever I get around to installing and configuring it.

Later kiddies . . .

~A~

Bits 'n Pieces - 2

2009-10-12T04:16:00.005-04:00

BREIN Disconnects The Pirate Bay, For Now

The anti-piracy outfit, BREIN, in Europe has succeeded in halting traffic to TPB at its new hideout in the Ukraine.

It seems that traffic is routed through Dutch ISP nForce which uses the carrier outfit Leaseweb. BREIN has asked Leaseweb to block that traffic to the Ukraine site for now aside from its arguments that neither nForce nor Leaseweb are hosting any torrent site but are merely doing their job in routing Internet traffic to the separate, autonomous system.

Repeated "requests" from BREIN finally caused Leaseweb to cave and cut off all contact to the new TPB site. This sets a disturbing precedent in that if anti-piracy outfits can bully and threaten ISPs and their carriers to cut off access to the various other torrent sites, then the future of BitTorrent is indeed bleak.

Read the details in the article at:

BREIN Disconnects Pirate Bay

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Rolltop - A Rolled Out Laptop?

Here's an interesting concept that some design outfit from Germany dreamed up. While it looks pretty snazzy in its 3D rendition, I wonder what the actual logistics would be concerning the implementation of this design?

Catch the YouTube Video at:

RolloTop Laptop

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Micro Vs. Monstrous

Normally, we seem to be involved in the world of micro sizing. The different ways to make something smaller, more powerful and outdoing that last guy's cool invention. Here's an interesting gallery of nine monstrous inventions that make our stay on this Ball of Mud a little easier, supposedly.

Check it out at Wired Gadgets:

Monstrous Gadgets

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Fifty Blogger Themes

Here's an interesting little side trip for you other bloggers out there. I came across this from one of my other RSS feeds and have actually downloaded a few of these themes and ran a quick test run on how they would look on Penguin Power.

Some would take quite a bit of reworking to have them fall into place while others only required some minor tweaking. The biggest pain in the ass is that regardless of which template you choose, all your widgets would disappear and you would have to hunt them down and set them up again - Bah!

I wish I wasn't feeling so lethargic of late.

For those of you who are interested:

50 Blogger Themes

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The Intel Atom In Automotive

Again, while perusing my RSS feeds, I came across this item. Being an old Automotive Guy, anything about cars, trucks, automotive in general usually catches my eye. This article goes on to explain plans to use the Intel Atom Processor to power the 'infotainment' systems of upcoming automotive production models. As mentioned in the article, the high end boys usually complain that they wouldn't want to use something run-of-the-mill in their systems but even they have to take a pause and reconsider their planning. Why reinvent the wheel when there is a handy, efficient component tested through what is considered the most brutal of computer hardware platforms and will perform excellently for their planned subsystems?

The example estimate in savings is about $400 to the regular price tag of $7500 - about 18% of the usual cost for an 'infotainment' system. For a definition of 'infotainment', I urge you to read the following article:

Will Intel Atom Bring Down The Price?

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Microsoft Security Essentials - What You Need To Know

As I may have mentioned in the past, I subscribe to the MalwareHelp.Org newsletter which sends informative tidbits of what's the latest in Ad/Scareware and other nasties.

They have come up with an article describing and supporting what is called 'Microsoft Security Essentials' - MSE for short. Apparently, it replaces that horrid Windows Live OneCare - man, did I have a rough time with that one on a few clients' boxes - and Windows Defender.

It comes stock with Vista and Win7 and can be installed on XP SP2+ as a download. The only real negative thing they say is that once one has decided to use MSE, one HAS to join the Microsoft SpyNet. There are two membership categories - the default is the freebie and then there's a paid subscription which responds with a few dubious extras.

All in all, Malware reviewers gave it a very positive rating. I actually learned a few things that set me right about it. It used to be that it was, 'Stay away from all so-called antivirus thingies made by M$.' but now it doesn't seem that way anymore - they're actually making/marketing a half decent app that actually works as advertised - Wow! For details on what all is involved, how often it updates, what it does when it detects something evil, odious and nefarious, check out the review at:

Microsoft Security Essentials - What You Need To Know

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Has Anyone Ever Thought About Servers?

Well, the title may be a bit misleading since Servers are now only components of larger systems nowadays. Sure, being an Old Guy, I can remember when an individual Server box could run a BBS or two or three at the same time since traffic flow at that time was heavily monitored and access was restricted as needed.

Then, as the Internet grew, more and more inspired techo-geeks realized the potential in large server farms, and Networking grew in leaps and bounds. Not restricted to the Academic, Military, Government or Banking realm anymore, the networking geeks decided to take it to another level.

This is an article that roughly outlines what Networking is about today:

Expect To Fail

... and an accompanying Wikipedia reference to the Hadoop Distributed File System used by a lot of the Big Guns on the Net today:

Hadoop - Distributed File System

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For Those Hoping For An Easy XP to Win7 Transfer

It ain't gonna happen. Micro$oft, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided not to allow for a a smooth upgrade to it's now Flagship OS Release in any way, no how. Nope, it's a wipe 'n install piece of business. Then you're gonna wonder if any of your favourite apps will even work in Win7 - well, most of them do from what I've seen in preliminary applications - even bluffing XP printer drivers over to Win7 worked.

But if you've got an exclusive XP setup, then you're going to have to do the nasty - backup to DVDs or if you're lucky, to another drive.

But, there are twerps on the planet who have far too much time on their hands and have developed an item that is supposedly guaranteed to do this transition smoothly. According to the article, this "amazing" piece of software will take the agony of transitioning XP to Win7 without withering your brow. Of course, at this time, it's still in Beta but it will be ready for full, ungirdled, naked-loined battle come the Official release of Win7 on October 22, 2009. Oh, did I mention that they actually want money for this . . . ?

Oh, Whoopee - I can hardly wait - if you wish to read this piece of pap, refer to this:

http://www.pcmag.com/

P.S

I've already gotten my XP backup strategy figured out and as soon as I'm financially and hardware-wise able, I'm doing the plunge. Hmmm, I wonder if the usual techniques of recovering the Linux GRUB bootloader will work with this - it did on Vista. I guess I'll find out, eh? I welcome the challenge!

___________________________________________

Linux Is Bloated

Wow! Can he be in his right mind saying that? Yup, and it's not me saying it either. I have always taken an interest in the development side of Linux for quite a number of years even though my programming talents have fallen by the wayside due to lack of use. Still, I have always had this fascination with the Linux Kernel ever since I once spotted and bought this tome containing the complete source code in a No-Name Computer Tech book store. There it was, sitting there almost by itself; a large, semi-permanent binder that was about 80 cm long and 60 cm wide. It was also thicker than two bricks and weighed a tonne as it was comprised of dot-matrix type sheets - thicker than standard paper. I poured over it for hours, nay, days going into weeks, trying to understand the various sections - I thoroughly enjoyed that experience.

Even though the Kernel I studied was a later version than what Linus Torvalds published in 1991 - I do remember that it was the 0.96c version - and therefore archaic and prehistoric compared to the 2.0.x series I was enjoying at the time, it was an insight into the the actual development of what an Operating System is like. Although it covered a lot of dot-matrix sheets, I do believe that that 0.96x kernel was only about 200+ K in size compared to the 57 Mb behemoth that I had just downloaded and compiled a few days ago. The 2.0.x series was only about 4.5 - 6 Mb in comparison and I thought that it was HUGE at the time. Even then I was compiling them from their source code in addition to using the binary versions from whatever distro I was exploring at the time.

The comment that "Linux Is Bloated" was coined by non other than the "Penguinator" himself, Linus Torvalds, at the recent LinuxCon 2009. For the article covering that comment, read it at Linux Magazine . The actual page is:

Linux Is Bloated

While currently offered kernels are 57 or 58 Mb, if one knows what one is doing and is attempting to use it to imbed an OS into an appliance of some sort, then it can be whittled down to about 10% of that size and maybe even smaller. The kernels' source codes are offered, for free, at www.kernel.org - have a gawk!

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TDK Develops 320 Gb Optical Disk

From PC World comes this little tidbit about how TDK has developed an optical disk that can store 320 Gb. Apparently, it has 10 recording layers which hold 32 Gb each compared to the standard Blue Ray which only stores 25 Gb per layer . The Blue Ray and its dual layer version is the only commercial large capacity media available today. The article also mentions that Pioneer has developed a 400 Gb disk which was displayed at some trade show last year.

I thought Pioneer went out of the Optical Disk market a number of years ago.

The only small problem with these developments is that they won't be available for commercial distribution.

Check out the article at:

TDK Develops 320 Gb Disk

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A Review on The Upcoming Official Release of Ubuntu 9.10

Here's one guy's outtake on what people can expect with the official release of Ubuntu 9.10 at the end of October. He calls it the almost perfect Linux release.

In his review he prattles on about the colours - how the Orange and Brown are a little more darker and vivid and along with the new icon themes gives the interface a little more snappier presentation. Oh yeah, he also mentions that there are now a lot more default backgrounds to choose from.

From there is mentioned the new Software Center which although is still the Synaptic software manager, it also contains a Ubuntu Software Store that will allow a user to purchase specific software from the Canonical Developers. I guess they have to start scraping for bucks somewhere to cover their freebie distribution of the OS itself.

As I've mentioned, I think the almost fanatical preoccupation with the six month upgrade schedule that Ubuntu has developed for itself will eventually lead to a collapse of quality.

Anyway, here's the review to let you decide for yourself:

Ubunti 9.10 - Almost Perfect

___________________________________________

Six Apps To Help You Become More Productive (Mac)

Now, for all you Mac Fans out there comes this article regarding implementing these apps, a few new ones and rediscovering some old ones, to help you multitask and concentrate. While these may be of help in certain respects, nothing beats good old determination, self-control and discipline. It is an interesting article, nonetheless.

Have a look:

6 Apps To Help You Focus

___________________________________________

Well, that's it for now kiddies. I've been having problems getting online with my wireless for the last few days, but that's the problems one encounters when trying to live Life on the cheap. Hey, I'm broke! What can I say?

~A~

Throw The Gaunlet . . .

2009-10-04T08:17:00.039-04:00

Well, as good friends go, there are times when it's necessary to ruffle feathers. It is the time to replace complacency with resolve.

Complacency is not all that bad in a long term relationship, but it should experience a bit of conflict once in a while to churn the waters of emotion, enthusiasm and invention.

Being a long-time Linux convert and proponent has actually isolated me from my fellow computer/network associates who have decided to devote themselves to the M$ World. Being an 'Old Guy' who knows DOS and UNIX in the old style, my younger compatriots see me as a traitor toward the computing world – Microsoft is the only way to do computing, so they say.

Sorry, it ain't so. Hey, I'm all for the GUI; but GUI isn't all Microsoft. Actually, if you get down to it, GUI is Apple. Those guys were sortta the first that came up with a real ,viable Graphical User Interface system. Of course, at the time, in real early history, IBM and Xerox came up with a lot of those ideas but failed to implement them. Apple did , but Microsoft marketed and enabled it – under their brand names, of course – one guy stole from another and the other guy stole from another and on and on and on . . .

Anyway, I digress. What I'm trying to say is that no matter what system you wish to implement, keep your mind open to other ways to access your hardware.

There are now so many ways that one can use a piece of hardware that's called a computer, to do and accomplish just about anything. Basically, that term, computer, is now so flexible as to define almost any type of interface associated within public life today.

A desktop; a laptop; a cellphone; a PDA; an automotive vehicle; an assembly robot on the line at a factory; a microwave oven; a refrigerator; a DVD player and the list can go on and on. They're all computers!

The point is that whatever the unit is, whatever the underlying OS is, computing is here to stay and it's gonna need people to service them.

Now, Geeks are a weird bunch. We can be as bitchy as a bunch of 'Flame Queens' on Friday the 13^th, but when it comes down to nitty-gritty, you will see that bunch of unrelated characters get together and perform as such a close knitted team as you will have never seen before, ever – perfection personified, personified perfection. I state this as a fact because I was a part of that incredible team which had done an enormous task at the time, of which you are all experiencing, enjoying and taking for granted today - networking, at least here in Canada in Southeastern Ontario.

It was an invigorating and strange encounter that I wish to do again! Truly, a most ultimately, satisfying experience in my Life and one I wish to repeat, or at least come close to before I die.

But again, I digress – I do that a lot lately, since I'm an old guy 'n all. My esteemed and learned colleague likes to make fun of me in that way, but that's OK because he's mere kid, of course.

He's actually pretty good and I sometimes have to defer to him a bit because I really can't see so well anymore nor handle those real small objects .

Now, if you folks want your laptops and other small items fixed, then by all means go to the Kid. If you want the big stuff and networking and all the other important stuff done, then come to the ME . . . AND da Kid.

We're sortta part of the Main Team from above – the core, if you will – we make things happen!

~A~

Superman/Batman Animation to Contain Psychological Assessment

2009-10-01T00:22:00.003-04:00

I just couldn't believe it when I read this article. Here it is, a review on this new release :

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/09/review-superman-batman-public-enemies/

Review: Superman, Batman Shine in Action-Packed Public Enemies

By Scott Thill
September 29, 2009 |
7:45 pm |
Categories: Movies

DC Comics and Warner Bros.' sixth straight-to-DVD animated film is also their best. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

. . . and at the end of the article it goes in to say that the release is on two discs, one of which contains a psychological evaluation of the orphan syndrome common to both Superman and Batman.

Oh, c'mon! These are comic book characters fer chrissake! Is this an effort of unemployed psychiatrists to spin a fantasy world of supposed delusions? Is there really a Superman and Batman in a parallel universe somewhere and are they really suffering from these supposed mental malignancies? Man, there are too many people out there with waaaaay too much time on their hands!

I just had to say something. This is too ridiculous to pass up.

~A~

I have found little that is good about human beings. In my experience, most of them are trash.

--- Sigmund Freud

=========================

Registered Linux User No.306834

Joy of Joy - At Last, an IE That Plays Nice With Me!

2009-09-30T04:47:00.005-04:00

I cannot friggin' believe it! I have finally managed to install IE8 and it plays nice!

After setting up all the little details, e.g., browser preference, add-ons, etc. I fired it up and beyond all apprehension, it behaved . . . and it behaved well.

It actually displayed certain Web Pages rather admirably which would have otherwise looked a little quirky and have now come to realize that this Blogger dot Com has been developed by M$ only developers. I say this because when viewing my blog in Firefox or Opera, certain elements look crimped and the secondary titles within the blog entries don't display their intended formatting, e.g., bigger font sizing along with a differnet font - Arial or Helvetica instead of Georgia or Times Roman.

With IE8, everything displayed the way it was intended and I must say that my page looks even better than I had originally viewed it in Firefox and Opera.

Here I was, wasting my time, dickering around with settings and fiddling with the HTML and XML coding to see if I could make the improvements that I had visualized when all I had to do was view it with IE.

Oh, boooo, hissss, boooo to the developers of Blogger. For shame to lock in a site such as this to IE preferences only. Get yer heads outta yer asses and open up the formatting, fer chrissake!

I recently discovered a heretofore unadvertised utility that will enable bloggers to effortessly write and format their blogs using M$ Word®. Not all the fancy formatting is transferred when uploading to the blog and included graphics still don't upload, but most of the basic formatting like font size, style and choice along with other standard embellishments transfer well. The do display the way they are intended as long as the site is viewed in IE - a definite shortcoming!

The site to download this utility is:

Blogger For Word

Hmmph, as much as I hate to admit, IE8 does seem a lot better than its predecessors. At least this version plays nice with me, so far. As much as me being a Linux Fanboy, I do have to give credit where credit is due, though.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can make it work with WINE ? I'll let you know . . .

~A~

Bits ‘n Pieces

2009-09-30T00:16:00.015-04:00

My brain is kinda fried from a series of incidents that have taxed me almost to the limit. A few days ago I received a call from an employment counsellor whom I have kept in contact with. It seems that he had a client who had recently purchased a used laptop and even though this person is a self-admitted 'computer-illiterate', could tell that the unit didn't run right.

This counsellor, a Mac enthusiast, is pretty savvy about computers in general, also. He had a look at the notebook and told me that it was so full of junk, e.g., all sorts of stupid, kid-type programmes that seemed to go nowhere other than sucking system resources and he suspected that it could do with a thorough system scrubbing and maybe a hardware upgrade in the way of some more RAM.

Well, seeing as how my schedule is wide open - a chronic situation of late, to my chagrin - I popped over to the office and met with the client. I had a quick look and the counsellor was right on with his assessment.

I chatted with the potential client and explained my rates and what I would do; they seemed agreeable. We shook hands and he handed me his Acer TravelMate laptop.

Since later model, proprietary manufactured computers are being marketed without the actual, physical Restore Disc(s), there is a section on the secondary drive that contains all the default, factory recovery information and operating system. They all seem to follow a general pattern: Two disc drives; the secondary usually being dynamic; and what I can't figure out is why they're formatted with the FAT32 file system - at least all the XP Home Editions are and some of the XP Professional in the older units. It seems that OEM reasoning is that FAT32 is a lot more compatible with other applications - phew! Check out what's happening today, not 15 years ago, fer chrissake!

Thank goodness for the "convert drive x: /fs:ntfs" command

___________________

Tried to update my Windoze, but since the M$ webstite will only talk to IE, it was a failure. Using my other browsers, Firefox and Opera, I was able to gain access and download stuff with no problem. My Avast! and Spybot managed to update with speed and accuracy.

___________________

USB 3 To Go FibreOptic?

The below is a link to an interesting article about how IBM, Sony and Mac are developing the integration of fibre optics into upcoming computer hardware design plans:

Intel & USB into fibre optics to your desktop via USB 3:

Intel & Fibre Optics

___________________

Texas Cops to Go HiTech

Austin, TX Cops to take on bloggers:

Austin, TX Fuzz Strike Back – Hi Tech-wise

___________________

Browser Wars, Again?

For a nauseous & erroneous evaluation of the browser wars see this:

Not this proprietary, propagandist pap bullshit again!

___________________

Cellphones Fry Your Brains!

Everybody's got a cellphone, right? At the last estimate, there were over 4 billion cell phones in use on the Planet. Man, that's a lotta gabbing! Of late there has been more and more research and findings as to the long term effect they have on folks. It's been found that they emit certain degrees of radiation, some of them beyond what is considered a safe exposure. Have a gawk at the below sites and decide for yourselves:

The Best & The Worst Cellphones

From a supposedly Green type of Foundation – their findings

And finally – the good ole Wikipedia's listing regarding this matter

___________________

IBM markets Linux to Africa

Y'know, it's stuff like this that is getting me to like IBM more and more. I used to have a dislike for them just on the general principle that large, monopolizing corporations have no interest in servicing the general masses. In my opinion on the good side, they still bear a massive grudge against M$, maybe for what Bill et al did to DOS and for stealing the various other ideas that Big Blue had planned for an OS.

As a result, OS2 was never officially sanctioned by IBM. Instead, there was a small, dedicated group of IBM employees who undertook the development and support for OS2 on their own off-time. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of using that system, let me tell you that at the time, it put Win3.x and Win95 plus Apple's current OS at the time to shame.

Now, this article has IBM along with Mark Shuttleworth, of Ubuntu fame, describing their current joint effort to bring computing to Africa. Conservative pundits complain that this is a profitless venture, but on the otherhand Shuttleworh claims that it's a vision for a burgeoning international market. Read on and decide for yourself:

IBM markets Linux for Africa

___________________

Rome Wasn't Built In a Day . . .

As you all know, I'm a Linux enthusiast and have been termed a Linux Fanboy by a good friend of mine; it's all true! My preferred computing experience is within the Linux realm punctuated by brief forays into my Windoze environment for professional and whimsical reasons. So when I come across articles like this, I feel compelled to share it with you, the great uninitiated unwashed.

10 Easy ways to Play with Linux without leaving Windows

It does my heart good to see shit like this - check it out, you windoze-weanies! Walk on the Wild Side!

___________________

Why I Dislike IEx

I've never had a good experience with the Microsoft browser Internet Explorer in any of its forms. It is just a waste of the poor programmers' time to have to involve themselves just because they're contracted. Being a programmer of sorts myself, I've had to do distasteful projects, but I can imagine it being pure programming hell trying to attempt perfection within IE/M$ parameters - it just can't happen!

I've tried to update my 'Doze, or rather to check and see if there are any "Security Updates" that it may need. IE keeps crashing in that it can't get a connection. It seems that trying to connect to M$ Updates is iffy, if not downright impossible to attain if you don't have at least a minimum of a 256K connection. As mentioned, my other two browsers had no problem connecting and downloading shit from the Net with alacrity.

Well, that's OK. I really don't care. IE can bug up all to hell for all that it's worth. I'm going back to the sanity, the serene security, the solace for the solopsist, the only system that makes sense, that pacific ether - Linux!

___________________

Nice Try, Symantec!

This is an interesting article on Norton Anti Virus trying to stage a lame-assed comeback. This should be of interest to all you Techs out there who've had to struggle to get the vestiges of Norton AV removed from a client's system. It boils down to using whatever 3rd party uninstall tools plus systematic and time-consuming manual location and removal of files to augment the next-to-useless uninstall utility that seems to be included in versions 2006 and up. The earlier versions didn't have that.

Needless to say, those AV suites, popularized by Norton and McCafee, suck up a lot of the system resources once they start up doing their thing. At least that's what I've come to observe, but that's only my opinion.

Check out the article - it has a high amusment factor as well as being informative:

Symantec Warns Against Free Antivirus

For those who are interested, the below is a link to the "My Tech Quest" site where there's a tool to download that I've used in a recent client case:

Norton Removal Tool

It worked quite well and there were only a few harmless vestiges of Norton left which were easy to find and remove; registry references were easy to find and remove, also.

___________________

Well, that's it for now. I think that I've made up for my absence but I've had things to attend to for the last little while.

Yakatcha later . . .

~A~

Gmail Craps Out - Again

2009-09-25T00:00:00.002-04:00

It seems that the illustrious upstart, Gmail, has done it again - it has gone offline. Well, not exactly, totally offline - just its contacts-management portion. For all intents and purposes one could say that there was no email possible since this is the portion of the programme that auto completes the addresses. I mean, who memorizes email addresses nowadays, huh?

So, without the contacts reference list, millions of subscribers cried, moaned and gnashed their teeth, bewailing the fact that Micrsoft Exchange NEVER goes offline and why can't Gmail be set up more like that. Now, Microsoft Exchange has been around for virtually eons. There is redundancy up and out the wazoo in that system while Gmail is employing the cloud computing concept.

Gmail is still a fledgling attempt, comparatively and is almost frantic in its efforts to attain commercial clients in order to keep their infrastructure viable. The detractors, and there's always a large group of them, claim that if Google has managed to keep their global octopus of a search engine going without breakdown, then why can't the Gmail section borrow from that technology? This is where the debate regarding cloud computing versus the standard back-office type of server farm gets heated. Proponents of the cloud computing school maintain that this system is far more reliable than a bunch of geeks sitting around, patrolling the grid once in a while. While the cloud computing concept may work very well for the Bit Torrent, Skype or the SETI set ups, the almost mission-critical nature of Gmail should have a few contingency plans with a more dependable framework.

It looks like the geeks have won out so far, haven't they ?

~A~

Gnome 3.0 Desktop in Upcoming Ubuntu 10.04

2009-09-22T17:57:00.002-04:00

Fresh from Atlanta's Linux Fest comes news that Mark Shuttleworth is up to his old tricks again. Right on the heels of the newly released Ubuntu 9.10 comes his news of 'Lucid Lynx', the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 release.

Supposedly, the proposed Gnome 3 Desktop will be making its appearance in this release. The above link will take you on a quickie tour of the upcoming features expected in this departure from the Gnome 2.x series. While going through the various capture shots, I could already hear the moans, groans and hoots of derision along with the usual cacophony of the almost Luddite-like legion of stalwarts shouting,"If'n it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Oh ye of little faith. These are just capture shots of the development version, nowhere near anything considered for release to the general masses. If Shuttleworth thinks he can bully the Gnome team into an overdrive release of a new and improved Gnome desktop before they are really ready, then he's got another think coming. I imagine that he will stand over Canonical's development team and harangue them into doing a Ubuntu only release of Gnome 3 based on what code is available - maybe it could be considered the Gnome 3α release.

It may come out as a resounding success. They've pulled off amazing feats of development legerdemain before.

Personally, I think that this almost fanatical adherence to the six month release schedule will come up with a real stinker or two of a release. Then the mad scramble to administer patches and other bug fixes will end up making Ubuntu the Windows of the Linux World. But then, that's just my humble opinion.

~A~
--

Microsoft Badmouths Linux In Sales Campaign

2009-09-21T13:51:00.001-04:00

As previously mentioned, I subscribe to a number of newsletters and RSS feeds. The latter is a far more flexible medium in that it doesn't take up any mailbox space or resources and is usually the latest scoop on just about anything out there.

Since the inception of Microsoft's campaign to introduce Windows 7 to the masses, the Seattle Software giant has upped its efforts since the deadline for the official release draws ever nearer. Apparently, the latest effort consists of M$ developing its 'ExpertZone' "training courses".

It provides the candidates with "facts", consisting of a series of claims about how Windows 7 compares to Linux or Apple, followed by a "quiz" that tells retail employees that their answers are "incorrect" if they don't parrot back the rote points. How medieval.

The latest blurb is about how this 'training' campaign is affecting Best Buy employees and how they are offered an incentive in the form of a voucher that allows them to buy Windows 7 for $10 after they finish the course. Of course, not all Best Buy employees are mindless Windows Weenies and one of them exposed this FUD campaign on an anonymous blog. I guess the poor guy was stuck with a mound of bills and needed the job.

Anyway, the point is that nowadays folks are just a little more educated than the Redmond Ratpack has anticipated and will exercise a choice if offered. One of the claims of the "ExpertZone" course is that Linux is woefully behind in hardware compatibility. Well, at one time this was true but lately gains have been made in leaps and bounds as manufacturers are coming around to composing Linux drivers or allowing the Linux developers access to their resources to develop them for Open Source.

The latest Linux kernel has support for the USB 3.0 technology, something that neither Windows or Mac has even considered so far. Of course, these "ExpertZone" courses fail to mention the hardware compatibility issues that Vista had, and still in some cases, has with certain peripherals. Windows 7 is experiencing some difficulties in handling certain hardware demands but I imagine that this is just a situation of catch up for the manufacturers as they examine and develop the appropriate drivers for this new OS.

Personally, I can't wait to upgrade my hardware a bit and replace my trusty XP to Win7. I've seen it and had limited experience with it but from what I've seen, it's a winner. Since Windows is a component of modern day computing, one may as well have a Windows system around for reference and I'm ready to give up my trusty XP OS for this new venture. At least Win7 shows a lot more effort in its development than the Vista effort. I can imagine that Vista will be referred to as the "ME" of the 21st century.

What? Has he gone bonkers, you ask? No, I still prefer to spend the greater majority of my computing time and effort in my beloved Linux but will visit the 'other side' once in a while to see what's new and to provide more ammunition for me to bitch about, plus in my work I need the Windows platform as many, no, all of my clients are Windows users. I never get any calls from Linux people. Hmmm, does that tell you something?

~A~
--

Disturbing Software

2009-09-20T11:27:00.001-04:00

I've just read an article from one of my news feeds that kind of disturbs me. It was in regards to a piece of software called LogMeIn, a package designed for the Enterprise market that allows their IT managers to keep tabs on hundreds or thousands of machines. It's sort of based on the "Wake On LAN" technology that allows dummy terminals to be remotely controlled but it's far more sophisticated.

It's based mainly on Intel's VPro, Q45 technology that allows remote computers to be administered to regardless if they are turned off or even if they have crashed as long as they're plugged in and have an ethernet connection. In the article, the interviewer and LogMeIn's owner joke about a version of the software that has been installed in certain vehicles to allow the owners to start up their PC's remotely. There is a version of this software available to the general public which isn't as intense as the industrial version and is available for download when one tunes in to the website at the link above.

It says that for home users this won't be a problem as the software stems on the fact that permissions must be given to allow the connection. Yeah, right. I can imagine that in the hands of unscrupulous vendors a batch of these business computers that have been rotated and disposed of due to the leasing agreements most businesses have, this software can be modified for purposes other than honourable. Thankfully, most of the major manufacturers have a buy-back programme that will dispose of their older computers, but what of those smaller, independent firms who manufacture the thousands upon thousands of no-name units sought after by small to mid-sized businesses?

Admittedly, refurbishing computers is slowly falling to the wayside as hardware prices continue to drop. Why bother with a refurbished unit when for as little as $100 - $175 more one can purchase a brand new, up to date unit with a manufacturer's warranty?

The article goes on to say that the VPro technology won't be available for the home consumer market. So what? It's the motherboards that can be purchased in bulk by independent manufacturers, usually as end-of-line production runs when the commercial contracts get upgraded.

Any decent programmer should be able to reverse-engineer this LogMeIn programme to do other than what it is originally designed for. The author of the article ends with saying that folks could stick to AMD processors (the AMD folks will love this) and to pull the plug on your box when you're not using it. A temporary stop gap at best, if you ask me.

~A~

A Site of Interest

2009-09-19T11:18:00.001-04:00

While perusing one of my many newsletters, I came across this article which I thought quite informative. It's a primer for Windows users considering a dabble in the World of The Penguin. It's comprised of 25 Tips explaining Linux; its structure, the many distributions available and in some case their specific purposes. All in all, an informative read even for those already immersed in Linux.

This article is located at Tech Radar - a UK website with the seemingly latest scoop on most things related to computing. It not only does Linux but Windows and Mac, also. Plus, there are tips and pertinent websites for Web Page Designers and something that I came across that all of us take for granted - Motherboards - how, when and where are they manufactured? The article takes us for a tour through Gigabyte's China plant and explains the various steps involved in the manufacture of their 3 million boards per year - whew! that's a lot of mobos!

There's tons of other stuff available that can take up your time and it's well worth bookmarking to refer to again and again whenever you need an up-to-date tech fix.

~A~

Why It's Nice To Have An Alternate OS

2009-09-18T17:40:00.000-04:00

This graphic symbolizes that Linux isn't just a hobbyist's pursuit anymore. It's a serious OS & even Uncle Bill has offered some code - gratis - to be included into the newest kernel package. It has to do with various drivers & other such M$ mysterioso stuff so that Linux will have an easier time in dealing with upcoming "improvements" planned by the Big 'M'.

Thanks Bill, but although the offer is appreciated, you do understand that the code will be ripped to pieces, analyzed to death and then reassembled to fit the Linux scheme, doncha?

After my frustrating sojourn with my recent XP re-install, I retreated to my Linux partition to rest my mind & play with an OS that does what I want it to do, when I want it and how I want it without annoying error messages. If something goes wrong - rarely - the app either freezes which is simply killed by a basic command or it simply disappears. I then check out a system log which tells me - in Plain English! - what went wrong and then fix it. Or if I need a new app, I just fire up my Synaptic Software Manager - the graphical version of Debian's vaunted software retrieval system that takes care of any dependencies automatically - smooth! - & retrieve & install what I want in a relatively short time - no Vendors or nag ads to worry about.

Right now, there isn't much that isn't available in apps that Windoze has that doesn't have its equivalent in Linux. With Ultra-GUI distros like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint & a host of others, it's easy for a Windows person to convert to the Legion of The Penguin. The aformentioned are all designed for Windows people who are helpless when in comes to handling the Command Line - Typing? Ugh! Syntax? Ugh!

Being an old fart who was brought up on DOS - Do some of you even remember DOS? - and having my first computer experience with UNIX, I obviously favour the CLI (Command Line Interface) which is a lot more powerful in getting what you want. Hey! Even when I was in MCSE school, much of the administration of the various WinServers was done via CLI, much to the chagrin of my classmates.

Anyway, that's my rant on why I prefer Linux over 'doze. I just find it so much easier to deal with.

~A~
--

Why I Like Linux

2009-09-18T15:11:00.003-04:00

In the old days, M$ had declared all out war on anything Linux. Uncle Bill et al proclaimed that Linux was a Hacker's Tool bent on the destruction of everything that was good in computing. These were the days of FUD - Fear Uncertainty Doubt - and the Redmond Rat Pack were doing a good job of it, for a while.

Considering that at the time something like 65% of the servers on the Internet were running the Apache Server powered by Linux/UNIX - a piece of free software - and that M$ was wallowing in Server Hell with their abysmal NT 4.0, the Penguin People were holding their own.

Potential converts can usually get a taste of what Linux is like by running a Live CD. True, they don't exercise the full potential of the OS due to the bus restrictions of running from the optical drive, but it delivers a close enough feel for what's in store.

Most of the Distros have these Live CDs and they all have worked on the installer programmes until it can be installed automatically, if the user wishes. The controlled install is now straightforward & easy to follow including the drive partitioning app.

The present day GUIs are swiftly catching up to the Windows & Mac styles. Here's a few samples & although not quite up to date with what's currently available can demonstrate what the potential canditate has to look forward to: The KDE Desktop Environment is probably the most flashiest & at present is undergoing a major changeover that can make it pretty close to what MacIntosh Users experience. The XFCE Desktop is another of the "eye candy" style environments & is designed with a smaller footprint in mind for those with older hardware & modest resources. Also, not to forget the other major Desktop Environment, GNOME, which is undergoing an upgrade at the present and is usually the default desktop in most Distro installs.

Another sore point that Windows users have with Linux is that some of the apps that are only available in Windows can't run in Linux. There are some emulators available that will enable most of these programmes to operate within a Linux environment: WINE which is a free, open source app; CROSSOVER is a polished version of WINE marketed by the CodeWeavers™ programming group. There's also the illustrious VMWare™, which is actually not an emulator but a virtual environment allowing one to use multiple OSes simultaneously - no dual, triple or even quadruple booting.

That's another thing that the FOSS (Free Open Source Software) Foundation is involved with: Software Development. Not only is there development for Linux apps, but Windows stuff, too. At the present time there are over 25,000 apps available in the Debian Linux repositories alone not to mention the hundreds of free Windows apps being sponsored at SourceForge & other open source hosting facilities.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that current Linux development is doing itsbest to be nice to Windows & progress is moving along quite nicelybut Computing, Hardware & Software being what it is, namely dynamic, it's tough to keep up with current standards.

Can the same be said of Windows' attitude toward Linux? No. But since Big Blue (IBM) has come forth and is actively supporting Linux development & Windows' long time thorn-in-the-side where Enterprise Marketing is concerned, NOVELL & its acquisition of SuSe Linux transforming it into SuSe Enterprise, an impressive & powerful Server platform for the Big Business market, Uncle Bill & the boys have had to step back & re-evaluate their approach to this upstart OS. These two Computing giants have had long standing feuds with Micro$oft for quite a while. Still, in the interest of keeping International BusinessLines operating smoothly, Novell & M$ have partnered up to exchange coding to keep the appropriate servers playing nicely with each other.

As to date, IBM still growls at M$.

The issue of Linux being free has many people stepping back with the idea that since it is free, there is no support. This is not true. Being a free OS has spawned the development of the many different flavours of Linux: Debian, Ubuntu, Slackware, Arch Linux, Mint Linux, Xandros,Lindows, Mandriva, OpenSuSe, Red Hat, Fedora & the list goes on into the hundreds. Each of these distros has their own support forums & since the idea of open source is that anyone can contribute, many talented programmers, administrators & other computer related people freely give their time & effort to support their favourite flavour. Bug fixes & any viral issues are dealt with swiftly & succinctly compared to the corporate proprietary environment where any decision or change has to be run by & through various committees, boards & other levels of administration thereby delaying any crucial development(s).

The definition of Free means not only Free as in Free Beer, but mainly Free Choice. Unlike the proprietary OSes, one can choose how to run that OS in any way one chooses & on what one chooses. I've even heard that some folks have blown the dust off their doorstop 486's & are using them as file or mail servers running a very basic Linux system. Hell,I've even installed a Linux flavour, Xubuntu, on my old Pentium II laptop & it skips along pretty good.

Linux has always been about that - giving people a choice in how they want their computers to run. Linux isn't out to destroy Windows. I think it's best said in the quotation below:

Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.
-- Linus Torvalds, September 2003

Basically, I just wanted to tout some of the general features of Linux before I started getting into the details - a 'warm-up', so to speak.

~A~
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First Post To Fill Some Space

2009-09-18T04:38:00.001-04:00

I've just finished setting up this blog & I don't know how it's going to go. At least here I'll be able to write about what I want without having snide, arrogant remarks & comments coming back at me & challenging me. If there are, then at least I'll be able to delete them.

Yeah, and why not? As remarked in the header, I'm a Linux advocate but will discuss other shit including Windows. I welcome other Linux fans & warn you Windows-Weenies & Whinies or just WW's for short, any shit from you folks & out comes the magic Zapper button. Here I am God & don't you forget it!

Well, that's about it for now. It's getting late/early & I've been up for quite the while setting this thing up. Maybe I'll come up with an amazing, enthralling, entertaining & informative feature that will boggle the bejayzus outta ya.

Later . . .

~A~