Posted February 22nd, 2009
by Josh
My eldest daughter has started developing an interest in using computers and the Internet. She quite often asks to play games on one of her favorite websites on my laptop.
This has started becoming a more regular occurence, so I decided that I would re-instate an old laptop that I had lying around and set it up for the kids.
The machine is quite old so wouldn’t be particularly speedy running Windows, so an idea struck me, I could install may favorite linux distro of choice, Ubuntu; not only would this run better on the old laptop but would also give my kids a different view of computers than most of their friends will get just using Windows.
I’m hoping that giving my kids this different view of computers will help them have a better understanding of computers in the future.
One of my problems with computing in schools is thatfor example, kids arn’t taught how to Word Process, they are taught how to use Microsoft Word, this goes for using the OS itself as well.
I’m a realist enough to know that this is the way things are due to Microsofts Dominance of the market, but I’d like my kids to be able to have a different perspective on how computers can be used
I’m no Microsoft hater, I’d just like my kids to make their own decisions on these things and by giving them a choice, I hope enable them to do that.
Tags: Kids, laptop, Linux, Microsoft, Ubuntu, Windows, Word Posted in Cool Stuff!, Personal, Rantings, Technology
Posted August 29th, 2008
by Josh
I was recently pointed towards a new Microsoft project by a friend of mine, its called photosynth, and its just gone public on Microsoft Live Labs.
Essentially its a system for ’stitching’ digital photographs together to make 3d representations from the 2d images. It uses a system of ‘point recognition’, wherby it analyses each picture and looks for similarities between them. These reference points are used to generate a 3d ‘points cloud’ to which the 2d images are overlaid.
Enough of the techie talk, photosynth is really cool! Its also very easy to use.
Once signed up (you need a Windows Live ID), you download a browser, plugin and a application for your PC. You then take some pictures, making sure theres an overlap of about a third with each one, then dump them into the software and press synth! A short while later, your synth has been created and is viewable online for the whole world to admire.
Depending on how well you’ve taken your photos, your creation will be given a ’synthy percentage’. The higher the percentage the more of your images were used and the more ’synthy’ it is.
Anyway, heres a link to a couple of my better ones, enjoy.
Robin Hill – Wishing Well
Robin Hill – King Henry VIII’s Hunting Lodge
Tags: live id, live labs, Microsoft, photosynth, points cloud, synthy, Windows Posted in Cool Stuff!, Technology
Posted May 20th, 2008
by Josh
I’ve finally decided to do something I’ve been planning o do for a long while now, move over to using Linux as my full time OS at work.
I’d class myself as a Linux ‘power user’ if there is such a thing. I’ve been using Linux in its various flavours since about 1998 (the days when one false move would obliterate your Windows partition), and I manage various Linux servers for clients at work.
Now firstly, If i could, I’d also be running Linux as my full time OS at home right now, but the machine is shared with my wife and kids who might find it a bit disconcerting and secondly Im sadly quite hooked on Vista Media Centre, but thats another story…
My work laptop is a fairly powerfull machine and has ben running Windows Vista. Now dont get me wrong, Im actually getting quite used to Vista and I’m no MS hater (Im actually MCP certified x 3), but I seem to find all the bugs and performance annoyances with it. Random application hangs, slow startup and shutdown speeds to name a few.
I installed Linux as a dual boot on the laptop last week and so far theres only a couple of minor issues. I chose Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) as Ubuntu has been my Distro of choice for the past couple of years. Its very straight forward to install. Stick in the CD and it boots live, from there you can play around with the system and see how it works etc. Theres an icon on the Desktop which you click to install Ubuntu to the harddisk, and after a couple of steps you can relax for 20 mins while it installs. (It will also detect any windows installations and add them to the boot loader).
Now, the only downside in the corporate environment is the lack of an email client that can talk MAPI to Exchange 2007. Evolution supports Exchange 2003, but we recently upgradded to 2007 in our office. At present im using IMAP to connect Evolution to Exchange 2007, but apparently there is an Exchange 2007 plugin on the way, I await it with baited breath…
Apart from that everything else is pretty sweet, I especially like the compiz composite desktop stuff. I have all the tools I need to manage remote machines, (ssh built in by default of course and Terminal Services client). I’ve also managed to join the laptop onto our windows domain using a new tool called likewise-open, this allows me to logon to the laptop using my domain credentials which then allows me to access server objects without having to enter my password a ton of times.
Looks like Linux is here to stay.
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Tags: 8.04, compiz, Evolution, Exchange, Exchange 2007, Hardy, Heron, IMAP, laptop, likewise-open, Linux, Live CD, MCP, Media Centre, Microsoft, MS, OS, ssh, terminal services, Ubuntu, Vista, Windows Posted in Cool Stuff!
Posted July 20th, 2007
by Josh
Im getting so bored with people saying how crap Linux and Unix are.
I use various forums on a regular basis, and everynow and then this topic pops up.
The problem is that people dont relize what Linux and Unix are and what they currently do in regards to the worlds IT infrastructure.
Linux is one of the most widely deployed and flexible server operating systems there is.
Between them, Linux and Unix power just over 50% of the worlds web servers, and between 60-70% of the worlds DNSÂ servers, FACT!
I’ll say it once tho, ITÂ ISN’T, ANDÂ NEVERÂ WILLÂ BE A DESKTOP OPERATING SYSTEM!
This is the reason people moan about it being shit, they are trying to use it as a freebie windows replacement, which is isnt!
Theres a reason why Windows is the worls number 1 desktop OS, and thats because Microsoft plow billions of dollars into it.
Stop being tight, buy a windows license and stop bloody moaning.
Use Linux for what its designed for and its a brilliant platform.
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Tags: DNS Server, IT, Linux, Microsoft, MS, OS, Unix, web server, Windows Posted in Rantings
