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Explaining Ubuntu as The Modern Laptop OS

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-08-26T09:29:16

The son of a friend of mine from the Middle East will be attending Norwegian classes in Oslo this school year, and to that occasion my work place decided to setup a laptop for him. It was a rolled-out Dell Latitude D620, and having replaced the hard disk drive I opted for Ubuntu 10.04 as main operating system. This is largely due to my pleasant discoveries I have made about Ubuntu's performance and stability on ~4 year old systems, who are fully capable of running this modern OS without dragging its feet. In addition, everything worked out of the box. As I expected, this did not go unnoticed by his father, and I wrote this explanatory e-mail to him, that I thought I would share with you:

Hi,
I was expecting some feedback on the choice of operating system, so no worries:) Please let me explain.

[Our company] only has windows XP which is 10+ years old and not officially supported by Microsoft any longer. We're slowly migrating to Windows 7 64-bit on a machine-by-machine basis for newer machines. We've never used Vista, which is a two steps backwards system..

On the other hand, the Ubuntu operating system is a GNU/Linux OS with the system stability and security that entails. It is backed by the Canonical foundation. Programs (called packages) are installed via Synaptics package manager from central repositories, meaning you do not have to know what program you want or where to get it from, a search in Synaptics will find all you need and provide automatic configuring and updates. Most tools and small programs needed in everyday use are pre-installed. The system and the adhering packages are Free in both senses: no cost and free from legal restrictions. The license of the operating system ensures that this will never change, regardless of Canonical's financial backing. Google is one of many large enterprises using Ubuntu on the desktop.

The office applications available are OpenOffice (of which Writer, the word-equivalent, is already installed), which offer the functionality of Word without the considerable price tag and poor inter-operability of Word. Arabic tools can be installed with a few clicks. This also goes for the system locale (menus and system language) which can be changed during login. Arabic language packages (locale) can be installed from Synaptics.

The rest of the OpenOffice packages (Impress for presentations, and Calc for spreadsheets etc) are available already or installable from Synaptics.

I use Ubuntu all the time at [Our company], and if it had been up to me we would not migrate to Windows 7 but use Ubuntu instead. Unfortunately it is uncertain what infrastructure we will have in 2 years.

Also, the reason why Windows 7 is a great improvement on XP and Vista, experts agree, is because it is moving towards a Linux-like operating system. It is not there yet however, and its license and closed platform provides a lot of future problems ([Our company] already has trouble accessing its own documents from older Windows and Word versions), that will not occur on open platforms.

The main reason to go for Ubuntu with this particular machine is because it is 4 years old already, and the Ubuntu system does not falter with time the way XP does. Windows 7 will not be preferable on the D620 given its hardware architecture. Linux is however, very well-versed on backwards compatibility and will provide the modern usability and offerings without compromising on system performance or stability.

So give it a try for a while and maybe you will reconsider. My girlfriend is not very computer savvy but after a couple of weeks with it she switched entirely and didn't look back. Ubuntu is also very popular among Norwegian students.

If you would still like to switch after using it a little while, it doesn't take long to do so. Your son can have my email and cellphone number:)

Sincerely,
Sigg3

Watching encrypted DVDs on Ubuntu

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-08-23T15:07:56

As most of you who have used Ubuntu will know, you cannot watch DVDs on systems (even outside the US) without installing the ubuntu-restricted-extras (or their kubuntu or xubuntu siblings) that installs some restricted packages that are illegal in some countries. What is new as of recently, AFAIK, is that you have to download and install libdvdcss2 manually afterwards in addition to installing the above packages. Installing livdvdread4 in Synaptics won't actually enable you to watch DVDs, so here's how to get it done nice and easy:

Open Synaptic Package Manager and install the ubuntu-restricted-extras packages
Close Synaptic and open up a terminal
Run 'sudo apt-get install libdvdread4'
Then ' sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh'

And reboot! Now, while I understand you need to use caution with regards to these packages because you don't want it to appear as if Canonical is somehow encouraging breaking the law (in a few countries, including the US); I just don't understand that you have to hide them as well. The install info is available here: Installing libdvdcss, but you'd have to read the package description pretty carefully in Synaptics to even notice it.. If I remember correctly, on earlier versions you could just install the restricted packages and you were ready to go. This little difference almost ruined Lady C's vacation!

Link of the day: America + 1 Get Dave into America!

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-08-19T15:07:16

If there's a webcomic that literally puts the coffee through my nose and onto the laptop keyboard at work, it's the awfully funny guys at Explosm whose Cyanide & Happiness as a true work of genius. Just check it:

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Here's the deal. We need to get Dave into America! They write:

Its four creators (Kris, Rob, Dave and Matt) all live in different parts of the world. In order for us to make more animated shorts, we need to get Dave into the states from Ireland. And for that he needs a visa.

Unfortunately, the powers that be believe Dave's work is not notable enough to qualify him for an O1 visa (for extraordinary artists). We created this petition to give evidence that this is untrue; that his work and the comic he's a part of have a huge global audience.

We urge you to please sign this if you are a fan of the creative work Dave McElfatrick has put into the online comic Cyanide & Happiness.
Please leave a personal comment as well, about why you like his comics and animations, so that those reading this will know that each one of you is a real person. Also note that the donation at the end doesn't go to us and is optional, you do not need to donate anything to this cause.

Link of the day: Let Dave into America online petition

Just sign up, fool. It doesn't cost you anything the petition is signed before the donation stuff so just close the tab afterwards unless you're a filthy rich bastard. And if that is the case, can you lend me a fiver? Like 5 mill?

Truckin' August 2010: Late Summer Edition in the Year we make contact

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-08-18T12:02:00

It's about that time of the month again! And I'm not some emo LSD chick raving haphazardly about her menstrual cycle, no! Not at all! I'm a man. The Alpha Male. It's what I told my girlfriend Lady C the other week; "I'm the alpha male, baby." and she did not object. Instead she wrote down what improvements she would expect from a Beta version..

This month I'm sharing a musing on an old tale from the bowels of the metropolitan region, a near legendary story unknown to the most of you. Or anyone else than me and Kornelius, for that matter. As far as I recall, this all happened back in 2004 when we stopped by a bar called Connections.. But that's enough coffee for me. Here's what author of Lost Vegas doctor Pauly writes:

The August issue is right on the heels of the delayed July issue. August includes contributions from three vets: Sigge, Johnny Hughes, and May B. Yesno. That power trio anchors this issue which also marks the debut of Mark Verve. Oh, and I penned a tale about insobriety in the City of Angels, while Tenzin McGrupp makes a cameo this month with a throwback story from the early 2000s.

The Truckin' scribes write for the love of writing, which is a fancy way of saying that they share their blood work for free. I encourage you to spread the word about your favorite stories. The writers, myself included, certainly appreciate your assistance. Good karma will be coming your way for any help you can provide.

Invisible by Paul McGuire
I'm about six to seven inches off the ground with each bouncy step. That's the best way to describe the feeling, like the astronauts doing the slo-mo kangaroo hop on the moon. Floating. Bouncing. Sedated. Happily sedated, I should add. Demons quelled. Anxieties locked away...

Of New Cars by May B. Yesno
The problem, from his view point in his new office, was the distances he once considered large and satisfying were now mean and narrow. He felt he had to expand those horizons...

Connections by Sigg3
Smoking indoors was not allowed... rather, it was encouraged. Nobody had ever bothered to change the wallpaper or interior decorations since the first tenant set up trap decades ago. You could feel the horribly clouded history by placing your hand on the scarred wood that had cigarette burns and scratches from fingernails, broken glass and knives...

Russian Spies by Johnny Hughes
In the Army we did a atomic bomb drill. We put on our plastic, rain ponchos. The Sergeant said to sit on the ground and cover your head with the poncho. Then he said, "Now kiss your ass goodbye."...

A Troll's Life by Mark Verve
Look for the hottest girl in the place that's crying. Approach and ask if there's anything you can do to help. Use sympathy and understanding. You're going to have to do some listening...

Bryant Park by Tenzin McGrupp
A suit on a cell phone almost ran over a group of trust fund yentas with freshly painted manicured toes, the unoriginal ones carrying Gucci handbags with tiny yapping poodles given French sounding names by their malcontent owners...

Jumping on the SharePoint bandwagon TO HELL

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-08-17T14:06:17

Live blogging from a meeting. Excited yet? BORED.
We've got four salesmen (one female) sitting around the round table selling us their SharePoint solution. We're one and a half hour into this meeting, which is one of four that I'm required to attend, and I've finally come to the realization that it's a complete waste of my time. I'd rather waste my time doing actual work than sit here and listen like a fool. A fool because I don't understand the language. We even had to hire a damn special (and especially well-paid) sales-man CONSULTANT, that can translate the snake oil to "our very specific situation".

That's right. Some f*** in management thinks that because we're not a sweatshop, or a factory, but a research foundation we're somehow special and has special needs. Eff that. Why not ask the guy who keeps the shop running? It's a mid-sized business with regular Windows XP users and the communication problems that are wholly regular when more than ten people get together. We sell research instead of baby milk or soccer pads, and who cares.

I give up!

When I arrived here as a conscientious objector in 2004 I suggested that perhaps I could redo the company website (and naturally substitute its non-existing back-end) as well as implement the ISO standard file architecture at no cost. At the time, the company had just flushed half a million or more into a no-name Linux guru customized solution (turned out to be a re-written xml database setup with a MS word like GUI, no documentation and crashes half the time). So they wouldn't hear about no-cost solutions because they would lose face.

The system that's limping on as we speak, was in fact a lot better than the .ASP + MSSQL solution the former head of foundation had created when he was not avoiding actual work, but it didn't really take much. This very blog does the same and is based on a php+mysql system created in 2001!

Come 2010 and someone has decided that we're gonna buy a SharePoint license and take the final step into eternal doom. Don't get me wrong, Microsoft's Active Directory and SharePoint content architecture and management are good, well-written software products and great tools as well if implemented correctly. But there's a difference between a razor blade and a lawnmower when all you want to do is shave. Especially when the lawnmower takes all your data as hostage, unless of course you implement the next iteration under a similar yet more expensive license a decade into the future.

My own solution? A combination of FOSS packages that can ideally replace SP as a whole using opensource architecture in the back end. It requires the same hardware, quite a few consultancy hours, but our data is safe from vendor lockin at the neat price of ZERO dollar. AND we can be a flagship example of being ahead of the curve and the rest of the research field as users of intelligent and creative computing. I want viable solutions, not packaged products dammit! .. Oh well. Back to pretending I'm listening. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'die a little inside'.

Two week hiatus vacationgorilla

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-07-30T16:28:47

We'll be going on a much needed summer holiday tomorrow morning, and won't be back until mid-August. But there's no reason to fret! When we come back we will be tanned, hairy and stronger than EVER! ... Like this:

I put it in my Out of office auto-reply mail at work. Just in case.

Yesterday my colleague FRANK! and I put in 4 working hours at home after work to finish the living room flooring as well as move the 500Kg piano from 1880. It's a numbered piano by the Hals brothers, royal piano manufacturers of the Kingdom of Norway and is as heavy as it is old. But with my back problems I was not allowed to carry the damn thing, and Lady C had to step in and save the day. So very much thanks to FRANK! and the awesome muscular girlfriend I have whose ground upon which she walks I am barely worthy of french kissing - we can go on holiday with a clear conscience, and focus on ourselves a little.

We're going away for two weeks to the north to visit relatives on my father's side, including my father, whom has yet to meet Lady C. That will be interesting.

First we'll head up to Tromsø tomorrow morning. Come Monday we'll take the postal flight to Berlevåg near the Russian border to spend a few days with my grand mother. Lady C has never been so far north so it'll be quite the experience. We'll spend a few more days with my father in Tromsø before we head to the third northern county called Nordland (Bodø airport) where we'll spend a week by the fjord just relaxing and avoiding the Internet and work-related e-mail. But I might stop by every once in a while despite better judgement. So long fellas!

Link of the day: The Best Show in the Universe!

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-07-30T12:52:20

Like I said yesterday, Maddox is releasing his own online TV show!

Link of the day: The Best Show in the Universe episode 1

Featuring the careful analysis of youtube's singing children compared to the originals. Will they do justice to the original? Also, Maddox educates us about Vegans and Assholes with nice graphs. Check out the newly released book page for his upcoming I Am Better Than your Kids where you can submit your kid's artwork, or maybe your own artwork, to be included. I've got my tractor MS PAINT artwork of course, but it's too low res for printing. And of course, it wouldn't be polite towards the worthless ill-inspired five minute doodles your kids can come up with. Seriously.

On a side-note, Maddox being a phenomenon, I think he's the modern day version of American Splendor. Any thoughts? Any whatsoever?

Maddox Misc. News

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-07-29T12:55:48

The last couple of years there has been a long, shilling silence on The Best Page in the Universe, except for a dust bunny bouncing between the edges of the monitor. Because dust bunnies are from the wild wild west, and the wild wild west was awesome. Beef jerky, scalping Indians and hand-cocked revolvers? You gotta be fucking kidding me. But Maddox is back!!

In his "press statement" (razor blade toilet paper) called Big news from the main man. Maddox shows the statistical correlation of unemployment rates falling as The Best Page in the Universe is less frequently updated. But don't think the main man does this for charity (or Obama). He's been busy on 3 upcoming projects; two TV shows and a new book project! His own show goes live in less than 11 hours on youtube!

What's that I hear? It's your woman having an orgasm.

You should read the news yourself, but as a lumberjack I will have to recommend his literary debut with The Alphabet of Manliness. I've been trying to get it into the philosophy curriculum at the University of Oslo ever since I read it. It was admitted in peer-review as course curriculum when withdrawn in the final stages because all of the women in the committee couldn't stop menstruation (nor having very vivid, explicit dreams).

His new book's based on the age-old classic I am better than your kids from 2002 where several of his co-workers' kids' drawings are analysed and ultimately found to fail. I'll be harvesting these to put around the libraries where I work. Kick ass.

Truckin' July 2010: I'll be back (next month)

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-07-23T15:59:05

The summer issue of Truckin' is here! Print it out, fax it to your mother and text it to your friends! It is a versatile literary experiment from a whole range of eco-friendly authors with a seal-clubbin' hidden agenda. Read more to find out!

My friend, poker blogger and published author of Lost Vegas, señor Pauly writes:

[We] have an amazing batch of stories for this issue. Ernest makes his debut. What can I say aside from the fact that I love any short story that starts off with a pregnant woman slamming Jager? Katitude is back with another stellar road tale about a motorcycle adventure she took last summer. Waffles is also making his debut with a story about a webcam scammer. And yours truly penned two stories; the first was inspired by TV shows about hoarders, and the second is an excerpt from a novella that I never got around to finishing about a serial killer on the loose in Seattle.

Everest by Pauly
What was supposed to be the family room was completely unorganized clutter -- bags of clothes, empty containers, Betty Boop memorabilia, canned goods, grocery store fliers, and boxes of Christmas decorations. Everything was piled on top of each other like ever shifting sand dunes...

Baby Boo and the Canyonlands Motel by Katitude
The sun is blazing into your eyes, and no matter how you squint, you can't really see what's up ahead. You can feel the mother of all headaches begin to take up residence between your temples. You're hot. You're tired, and tired of being on the road...

The Lonehorseman by Ernest
The extremely pregnant woman did a shot of Jagermeister, and then started slowly sliding off her barstool. The bartender ran around the corner of the bar and caught her just before she hit the ground. That’s a sound I was glad I didn't have to hear. The sickening thud of a drunk pregnant woman hitting the floor...

Art of the Bluff by Waffles
I was a little bored when one of those Facebook web cam whores came on. You know the ones I am talking about. The ones with hot pictures who call you baby and tell you how hot you are while trying to get you to enter your credit card information on their webcam sites...

Free by Pauly
That abrupt shift in reality does not happen over night. It's a gradual decline as your brain slowly loses touch with reality. It was as though he had been hanging on by one last little thread for many weeks before it... snapped...

Quick DIY pic update

Sigg3 (mailto:me@sigg3.net) — 2010-07-23T14:23:19

So, we've managed to fix the moulding roses and the window sills for the living room, as well as filled up the gap between the old wood floors so that we can lay out the parquet flooring pretty soon. In addition, I put up the 900x800x100mm siporex firewall in the study.

We managed to fit a standard EL ceiling box inside the rose, which is great for future use!

Quick and easy firewall. Add spackle and white paint.

Levelling the floor between the "living rooms"

Living room the 22nd of July 2010

The third and last fireplace will be delivered and set-up the 13th of September. In the meanwhile we must finish the flooring and (hopefully) the remaining finishing touches too (ground moulding) before that date. This presuppose ceiling moulds for both the hallway and the study, putting up the double door between the study and the living room and moving the piano.

We had some bad luck with our moulding supplier Floret who is going out of business, and therefore would not be able to get us the moulding that we ordered July 2nd. So tomorrow we'll go to Vesterbro outside Oslo to have a look at the assortment available at OBS Bygg. Hopefully, the Gracia cornice from Lundbergs will be an acceptable alternative to the F5L. Stay tuned!