Adventures in Computerland


I’ve been messing about on and off with web pages and blogs…mostly off I might say but I’ve always never really had the time to learn about these tools. So last night in a fit of insomnia I decided to have a longer look at wordpress. I like the Terra Firma theme from node thirty three that I use of my website www.g7kse.co.uk but couldn’t use it with blogger or at least the editing of CSS confused the crap out of me and it ended up looking nothing like what I wanted.

 Being able to post easily is also what I’m after so WordPress pretty much sold itself. Trouble is I couldn’t install it on my site…so Install4free to the rescue, lets see how they can get on with it when they get the chance to install everything for me

Whilst whirring away the hours before missy started up again I found puppy linux (www.puppylinux.org) and it looks like just the thing I need to start on the webpad project. The idea ermains the same:

1. Low carbon impact computer using web based applications through firefox. i.e minimal power drain!
2. CF drive with USB support for data storage off a mini-tx board
3. Wireless or wired connection
4. Thats it

I’ve posted on the puppylinux forums to get some help in stripping the OS down to the bare minimum as I simply don’t have a clue. BUt this isn’t going to happen overnight as I have absolutely zerotime at home. Lunches only!

This post isn’t politically motivated. I don’t hate any ISP and I don’t want utopia. What I do want is a fair deal, and I’m fairly sure you don’t get that with ISP’s
For a long time ISP’s have been advertising speeds that are not achievable. The marketeers would have you beleive that 8Mb broadband gives you speeds of 8Mb and that unlimited is unlimited. The news item
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2652 says it all but the consumer gets the rough end of the deal.
I would like ISP’s to offer the consumer the same level playing field. So there are 2 things that I would like to be brought up


1. If there is a Fair Use Policy (FUP) and it only affects a low percentage of people then tell the consumer what the limit is. If there is a moving goal post then be transparent and you might find that your customers are more understanding. Receiving snot-o-grams which don’t give specific data does not help either the ISP or consumer.

2. By all mean advertise the theoretical speed. But as we know theory and practice aren’t always the same. All I would like it a bit of communication, tell me what I’m going to get on an average day at peak time and at off peak time. Call it a guide but make it accurate enough to make a value judgment.

As I continue to pay for my broadband to a commercial company I expect that their motivation is profit and until such time as not for profit broadband comes along then I will continue to pay. All I ask in return is a bit a of clarity and a level playing field with which to make an informed choice based on fact rather than vague statistics.

I suppose the trick with these inanimate objects is to surprise them. I
thought about fine wines and Belgian chocolates followed by the finest
restaurant in town (Swiss Tony thought this was the best option), but I
looked at the prices and just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So I did a
naughty thing. I downloaded the WM5 ROM for the X50V and the antidote to
take it back to WM2003SE. When the little sod wasn’t looking I gave it a
shot up the unmentionables with a nasty piece of software that was bound to
smart a bit, followed by a soothing return to familiarity. I like to call
this the ‘So you think you’re in charge….really’ routine

I think I showed that whilst I am the omnipotent lord and master of all my
technical kingdom (My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!) and no coups will be tolerated.
I am also compassionate against those who have thoughts against the good of
the whole. Call it a humbling experience for a misbehaving gadget. I’ll be
being nice too and will give it the latest Hubdog to play with when it’s
released.
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I bought my Axim because I wanted one. Not because I fel for the subtle advertising or just had no will power but sometimes I love it and sometimes I could give it a good pasting and not be bothered. Guess what kind of mood I’m in today……

If I have to reset this thing one more time…hard or soft then it’s going to get a stiff ignoring for as long as I can stand it!

Theres been no ‘this week I’ve been mostly listening to….’ simply because over a previous weekend I had a few friends round, whilst supping some Marlon’s my small, hairy and successful chum who looks like Teenwolf….for those who don’t remember he looks a little like this only he’s a company director……


Managed to pull the corner edge protector off, so it’s back with Archos to be mended, so far it’s taken over 2 weeks to get a quote out of them to fix it. Well I suppose they are French and probably still smarting about Agincourt or busy blockading some port on account of the new EU rulings on selling onions off a bicycle and generally hating the English ‘ Rost Biffs’.

Don’t get me wrong I like France, I even go on holiday there even though they think all us English are uncouth hooligans just gimme back my Archos and stop sulking about the EU banning you’re beloved ‘squat and drop’ and ‘pissoires’.

Here endeth the lesson

I’d recent sent a note to PCW magazine who did a piece on podacsting. I was and still am a disliker of iPod’s, yes I know they are the most popular mp3 player and don’t they look great and the little wheel thingy is truely innovative and Jonathon Ive is a great British desinger and this and that and something else. But, and here’s the big but…..Microsoft get a continual berating over their dominance, profiteering and just about everything is blamed on them and Apple tend to get away with murder because of their more, how can I put this in a global sense, Bohemian perception where they cater for the inner artist and a claimed better OS. They build iPod’s with battery problems, poorly protected screens, software lock in’s and protected formats with a complete disregard for environmental impacts in a chinese sweatshop to bolster their own profit’s yet still they are considered untouchable.

I think this is getting like one of Abe Simpsons long stories that goes nowhere, just like the time it cost a nickle to get to Shelbyville, but it wasn’t called Shelbyville then……..

Bear with me

The intention of the note was to draw attention to other ways of getting audio and video content into your eyes and ears. I did make a sly mention of Hubdog but not a blantant plug. The march of technology helps to bring alternative ways of electronic consumption but reporting this march in paper form comes with a responsibility to tell the whole story and that’s all I was after.

Unsurprisingly I didn’t get a mention or response. Although whilst writing this I did begin to boil about iPods, just to be on the safe side I’ll do it quitely in a corner so I don’t worry the sheep.

I’ve been using it for a while now and am getting quite used to it……but…..there’s always a but. Setting up third party software is still more onerous than it was with Windows, but I’m still going for it.

Story so far.

Installed AMD64 version
Fiddled about and found that loads of the applications don’t seem to work. Got annoyed and binned it.

Installed 32bit version
Much less fiddling around. Much happier. Even the missus started using it without having to ask me questions….where’s this? or what the hell is that? are now things of the past (well almost). Even got Picassa (Linux version)…hurrah

Nova S Plus satellite card not recognised but not really surprised. I ‘ve had a quick look about but not found anything concise (note to self…have a rant about Linux HowTo’s and how absurdly verbose they seem to be, why say it in 10 words when 4000 will do!). Have taken the last resort and posted a ‘help me’ on the Ubuntu forums, shame really but I’m not getting anywhere with this one fast.

To Do List
1. Install Google Earth
2. Install MythTV and get it to recognise my MCE remote
3. Tidy up the OS, remove the programs I’m just not going to use and keep the system clean.
4. Buy a better monitor
5. Leave it alone for a while by which time the next version will probably be ready for installation

Something from lululand that I’m having a play with through Hubdog

Hubdog is almost as much a part of my daily routine as waking up in the morning. I love it, and I can’t even remember what I did before it was available. Having said all that, here are the things I would love to see changed or added to Hubdog;

1. Categories or folders. It would be a nice option because now there is one single page and it gets pretty long if you want to add plenty of feeds. Also, it would be a pretty nifty way to keep your ‘adult’ feeds hidden.

2. Networking- I’d love to meet people through Hubdog. A good way to start would be to allow messaging based on the page creator. Or there could be a message board per feed, where you could communicate with other users based, for example, on a videocast that was just shown. Start off by creating a profile and tie that into each members ‘MyHub’.

3. Size- seriously, the overhead of running Hubdog is the only thing that prevents me from leaving it running in the bachground at all times.

4. RSS to FTP- I’m not entirely sure this technology even exists but how cool would it be if you could see a list of the files stored in your FTP storage? How much cooler would it be to be able to access that, or store your downloaded video to that location if your memory card is full?

5. Subscribe to pages for streaming only. This would let you add pages that have large-sized podcasts, but would not attempt to download them to your device.

That would make HubDog the application of my dreams, and I would have no problem shelling out cash to make it happen… Within reason, of course.

Posted by a Windows Mobile Device from channel :
Lululand

www.Hubdog.com

A recent atricle in PCW magazine about podacsting gave an insight into how its done and briefly touched on ways to get hold of podcats. No mention was made of Hubdog so I feel a small eltter wouldn’t go amiss. Just to help the cause.

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