April 30, 2008
Woo-hoo! Survived another month. Winter has hit. I've tracked down the weird smells - don't ask. And working away at an actual project customizing an actual distribution! (Which is turning out tougher than anticipated.)
The observant amongst you will have spotted the google-ad (bottom of the right-hand sidebar... hiding). Yes, I have succumbed. It started when someone pointed out that I could get paid for all these clicks on the "get firefox" button I've been getting.
Sounds good to me. I havn't actually implimented that actual code yet. I'm just trying a small column ad in this one page for now, see how it goes. I've had a look at it - and it is really creepy how relevant these ads can get. Dosn't look too bad, think I'll change the background color so it's a bit darker.
Google are quite nice about this - they have pages encouraging you to make the ads blend in as much as possible with the web-site. Makes sence - it does nobody no good to have intrusive ads annoying the punters. I plan to keep it very low key. I detest advertising as much as the next person, after all.
I do need to know pretty quickly if any inappropriate stuff ends up there. Some free-software centric sites have ended up with MS FUD plastered all over.
Next post will be to a new page - this one will get archived. I'll soon have to create an archive page to index them. The sites starting to get big.
End of month website report:
Holy Supehighway Batman! More than 10,000 hits!!
From January, the progression went:
2633 > 4261 > 5307 > 10182
While Linux:Windows were about 50:50 (Mac took 1.4% of the hits), the firefox browser was clearly dominant at a whole two thirds of hits. We're winning folks (or the IE people are going someplace else.) Actually, the raw number of IE hits is pretty constant - it's just that a lot of new people are showing up.
I got some 800 unique visitors, most of them in the last week. It's the Hardy Heron release that did it. Their time was divided between the hardy notes, the acer+hardy notes, and the blog. The openSUSE page is attracting attention. OpenSUSE 11 is out in December, so I'll have to update that site soon. (When I get some bandwidth back... unless someone wants to send me a DVD?)
I had a feeling things were hotting up as I've started getting feedback. The challenge will be to keep you guys...
April 29, 2008
I seem to be a half-a-day ahead in my blogging. Makes a change.
Some people have written to me (re: aspire 4315) to say "Use Windows, it just works". Huh - I have to say: that is such huge quivering piles of steaming green crud! (Yes: I have just cleaned my kbd.)
A WinXP Home (SP1 - it's what I have OK?) install process fails at boot. XP doesn't recognise sata drive - so I have to set "SATA=IDE" in bios. (Fair do's: this used to be routine for linux.) Once installed, I still need to get drivers for (you'll love this) audio, VGA, modem and wifi. I can play mp3s out of the box... I just can't hear them!
Drivers are available for download from acer - I think you need the 4310 drivers though. Some people report no sound even with the drivers - so, all in all, linux is doing quite well. Oh... suspend and hibernate crash the system.
Then I have to install an AV suite (clamAV chosen) before updating the system from MSN. This will take a while - more than a coffe break. Now: SATA drivers are available in the update - but, I now cannot use them! (With fedora I used to install in IDE mode and change over post-install, when the drivers came available.)
I know - I know: you can remaster the install CD to include the drivers. But, this requires a working Windows install. Which is what we havn't got yet. You'll have to borrow another computer - tough. There are a lot of people (in the "Windows just works" camp) allergic to doing this for their linux install, so, in all fairness, I'll have to rule this method out.
And then I must install all the apps which come out of the box with Ubuntu. If I stick to MS approved commercial sources, I'm spending some NZ$2500 ... on a $NZ600 lappy. It can be done with freeware - to end up with a 2-3min boot (from power-on to a useable desktop) vs Hardy's 30 secs (on a slow day).
What about Vista? Only Vista home basic will work at all... and that's if you added an extra 512MiB RAM. This laptop was marketed as "Windows Vista Capable". Make your time. 'Nuff said.
April 28, 2008
I'm late with this one and not a little gobsmacked! Office Open XML has managed to aquire enough votes to become an ISO standard. Announcement
here.
...the criteria for approval of the document as an International Standard have now been met. Subject to there being no formal appeals from ISO/IEC national bodies in the next two months, the International Standard will accordingly proceed to publication.
But not without
controversy.
Unbelievable. If it was happening in only one country, you might think it was local difficulties. But when it happens in place after place, one can only conclude that Microsoft, although outnumbered in a fair vote, has sufficient clout behind the scenes to shove this format into the world's mouth and hold its mouth closed by force until the world is compelled to swallow. Remember that Microsoft memo that surfaced in the Comes v. Microsoft litigation? The one about how to stack a panel discussion at conferences so it would be favorable to Microsoft?
It seems there may be some appeals at that.
Still: Open source remains a contradiction and a threat to the Microsoft business model. They've even admitted it in their FORM 10-K. See pages 12 to 13 under the section of "ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS"
Meanwhile, two Gartner analysts are predicting the demise of Windows no less. The success of the Eee PC and the growth of "cloud computing" is putting the ripples in the MS coffee-cup, it seems. Windows is just too big and clunky for the modern user.
I'd take this with a pinch of salt. Gartner have a tendancy towards producing analysese which support MS marketing. It is mare likely that this report signals a change in direction for the giant monopoly. It certainly can be used to justify the Yahoo bids to stockholders - and the increased emphasis on Windows Mobile.
Expect a big push from the Redmond direction towards OOXML-based web-based services.
April 27, 2008
The LOTD has changed (I have to come up with a new name for it.) The featured site is the very surreal
fractalchemicabalah. Here's a sample:
In five years, every time you open a beer, a holographic advertisement will pop out of it and electronically inhibit your body from drinking it until your neocortex has fully assimilated the key emotional content ("emoticon") from the advertisement. You will also be able to read an RSS feed of the life of that particular beer can as it travelled from its place of origin to your home and then see how well the beer can rated its experience of you drinking from it. You will also be able to download a can’s eye view of you bringing it up to your lips to sip from it.
And people think
I'm warped!
[Warning: Video]
This is actually a page from Tim Boucher's blog. And there is more where that came from. Match this with artwork and you have a Cyber-Punk coffee-table book - or music, and it's the latest Marylin Manson CD. However, Tim is a folk music guy: singer/songwriter. His work is public domain and, actually, quite lame.
Stick to the surreal prose Tim.
April 25, 2008
Hardy Heron has arrived! Downloaded the ISO's last night - and seem to have beaten the rush.
Servers will be slow for the next week as they get totally hammered! I'll be spending the weekend testing the installation on my laptops, starting with the infamous Acer. Early indications are that most of the issues are cleared up in this edition. Stay tuned.
Cathy is spending this weekend on Waiheke Island with a freind - getting some girl-time. That gives me a clear run - so I may be done with this sooner than anticipated. It's all goodness.
On another issue - I have just been alerted to the fact that the Eee has just broken the NZ$500 barrier! So now there's no excuse for not sending me one for, er, testing purposes.
April 24, 2008
Unfortunately I have been spending far too much time learning how to create a custom Ubuntu install disk for the Acer 4315. Need to know in time for the Hardy release. I get a choice of tools - my main concern is to get the configuration and drivers installed. I will be very interested to see what a fresh install does.
Meantime, I have my sweaty mits on a copy of the commercual Mandriva 2008 DVD. It features LinDVD - a commercial DVD app which is totally legal - as well as other promised goodies. I'm tempted to test it on the Acer but I'll probably put it on one of the nx5000s.
April 22, 2008
Three days to the Hardy Heron release... my toes are tingling!
Meanwhile, I keep running into people who want to know more about the Asus Eee. I gotta tell ya: I have no idea. See - nobody saw fit to send me one (winge whine!) so Have had not the experience. But fear not - HBCLUG now has a reference to the official world-wide Eee users wiki. This site has useful tips for everyone from the rank novice to the dedicated hacker.
On the hunt, I discovered that Stephen Fry has got hold of one, and he wrote about it for his Guardian column, "Dork Talk".
I am writing this article on a kind of mini John the Baptist, a system that prepares the way of the software saviour whose coming will deliver the 90% of world computer users who suffer under Windows from the expensive, clumsy, costly, ugly, pricey toils of Microsoft.
Well - he normally can't get enough of the latest Apple stuff, so that's quite something. It's also earned him a loved spot with linux geeks and a raft of gainsaying from the Windows/Mac camp. Personally, I prefer his blessays.
Various journalists have been in touch concerning the fire-label thing. I missed out on an opportunity to be interviewed by Bill Ralston, but did get a bit in a paper or two. Of course the blog is available, and part of the reason for that is so I don't have to do interviews. However, papers do like an exclusive. This has not really been a welcome bit of fame, hopefully I'll be able to find something more fun for my next 15 mins. Maybe I'll run for council :)
Cathy will be off on a spiritual retreat in India early next month, so I'll be here on my loansome. She says she isn't worried about what I'll get up to while she's away. I'm a computer geek: she knows where I'll be :/
April 20, 2008
Long delay, been busy, no chance to blog. Now to catch up.
Spotted a herald article about the Asus Eee internet appliance. The reviewer liked it. Seems other vendors are getting an the bandwagon: HP weighs in with their Mini-Note PC . This sort of thing has been predicted for a while: all the majority of us do with our PCs is surf the web, message and process words. All that functionality can be had for about $500 - so what are you wasting your money on?
With gnuLinux inside, you don't have to settle for the installed web-appliance. You can take your dinky-toy to the next level as a fully integrated PC. Whatever you want.
So far, none of the offerings have actually broken that $500 (NZ$) barrier, but it can be done. Watch the markets.
My Nightschool course is on track for a second term. This time it has been expanded to offer an office skills course right afterwards. I'll be following the same format as before: a free seminar to get people to have a look, followed by an 8-hour course in the basics. After that, students will be offered another eight-hours dedicated to productivity skills. This involves the use af open affice as well as an introduction to markup languages. However, I will also cover student interest upon request.
Next term I'll be consolidating the course, and setting it more firmly against the NZ Curriculum framework.
At home, we are working to batten down the hatches for Winter. The pool is getting it's shock-dose of chlorine, pump turned down and cover extended. The BBQ is being scrubbed and brought indoors. BBQ gas bottle is transferred to the cabinet heater.
Last night was freezing, though the day is still sunny. Extra duvet tonight.
Observant readers will notice a nex addition to the site. Bottom left of your screen, in orange. Basically, if you find these pages look a bit rough (black halos around some images, menu labels wandering outside their bounding boxes, a whole side-pane sitting below the main text...) then you are probably using Internet Explorer.
The "too cool" message represents how fed up I am at getting things working in IE only for the next patch to undo all my hard work. Every other browser on the planet can manage to follow W3C requests - why not IE?
Well - IE8 promises to support web standards over "Made for IE" pseudo-standards. We will see. Meantime, click on the orange ribbon and select from the range of cooler browsers available. It's not just here, the whole web will look cooler - sit back, relax, enjoy.
April 16, 2008
Here's that press release:
Product safety regulations for children's nightwear labelling will be amended and significant changes to the labels of some types of nightwear will be made, announced Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard today.
Judith Tizard called for a review of the regulations following two children suffering serious injury when their pyjamas caught alight in 2007. One child died as a result of burns.
At the time, an investigation undertaken by the Commerce Commission showed that both sets of pyjamas met the current product safety labelling requirements.
A Ministry of Consumer Affairs survey found that there was confusion amongst consumers about what the labelling on nightwear meant. "There seems to be a misconception that if something is labelled low fire danger then it will not burn, and this is not the case," said Judith Tizard.
Actually, the misconception was that "low fire danger" meant there was low danger from fire. Silly public: surely it was obvious?
The new requirements aim to provide a clearer message to consumers, so that they can make safer choices when they purchase children's nightwear - and also so they don't underestimate the risks to their children when they are near heaters or flame in their nightwear.
Currently, category 1, 2 and 3 nightwear is labelled "LOW FIRE DANGER". The proposed new labels will have categories 2 and 3 carry a warning that will explain that the material is not heat or flame resistant and will indicate that the garment should be worn snug fitting to reduce risk.
OK. This is an improvement. However, there is still no indication of how fire resistant category 1 garments are. To qualify, the garment must contain some fire resistant material, such as wool. But how much? How much safer is a cotton garment if it has 1% wool? 2%? 10?
A Standards New Zealand review committee is also considering using the same wording, as that developed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, for incorporation as a New Zealand only amendment to the Children's Nightwear Standard. The proposed new label for category 2 and 3 garments was released for public comment and submissions are currently being reviewed.
"I understand that this work is progressing well and should be completed in the near future," said Judith Tizard.
Labels required under the new regulations will not be evident in shops until winter 2009 as most retailers have already ordered this year's winter stock. "This is why it is so important to get the message out to people now, that low fire danger does not mean no fire danger. We want to educate people to ensure that no more kids get harmed," said Judith Tizard.
"Kids need to stay a metre from the heater - regardless of what they are wearing. This is a minimum rule that we must all follow," she said.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs will be working with the New Zealand Fire Service and a number of other organisations on a public awareness campaign. Its aim is to ensure that parents and caregivers understand that children's nightwear is not fire resistant or fire proof, and that they need to be vigilant whenever children are near heaters or fires this winter.
Contact: Jake Quinn, Office of Judith Tizard, 04 471 9871, 021 227 9871
My views about labelling have been expounded on
August 25 last year, when I said:
I have suggested that a label which allows consumers to compare fire-resistance in garments should be considered. Something similar to the SPF factor for sunblock. I believe it would be a simple matter to include some indication as to how well a garment meets the requirements[1]... then it allows manufacturers to compete on safety as well as style and price.
I elaborated in a footnote:
[1] (For example:) LFR(6,36): "LFR" (would) mean it meets the current standard for "Low Fire Risk"; the first number is the time in seconds to ignite a standard sample; the second number is the time in seconds to completely consume the sample. The burn test is actually done now, so no additional compliance cost is involved. I know this example is full of holes: I am a scientist and I know the surrounding issues. I can write a more scientific standard if asked.
... only I wasn't asked.
I am so disappointed when my cynicism is confirmed.
I would be much happier with a labelling system which gave some indication of how fire retardant the PJs were. Imagine the slip-slop-slap ads without SPF labels...
Well - it's still better than it was. Now there's some breathing space, and we'll go through all this again in 5-10 years when all PJs are category 1.
April 14, 2008
This years Software Freedom Day will be September 20th. People who want to be involved, keep the date free and
stay tuned. I'll be making a call mid May so I know how many shirts et al to order.
Followup e-mail today, from Jake Quinn (below):
Subject: Release attached - Children's Nightwear labelling changes
Hi Simon,
Please see attached draft media release.
Plan is for Wednesday release.
Embargoed Till 10 am 16 April.
Jake Quinn
Communications & Media
Office of Hon Judith Tizard
(See attached file: 080414 Children_s nightwear labelling to be
changed.DOC)
Notice that the attachment is a MS Word format file?
To read this, reliably, I need to install Microsoft Windows and, probably, Microsoft Office as well. This is an outlay of at least NZ$600. This is, excuse me, a little upsetting. Why should I be expected to give money to Microsoft (or anyone) in order to read about decisions made by my government, in part, as a result of my son's death? Especially considering it is not necessary - this government is supposed to have a commitment to Open Formats. Had any open format been chosen, or even just plain text, I could read and comment without parting with a cent. (And without the govt. parting with money on my behalf when they wrote the thing.)
It's not so much the money, as the implication that the government is only prepared to talk to people who use particular software. It's like saying you can only drive on the roads if you drive a Ford SUV. (Or whatever.) Is this the way for a government to behave?
I quickly received a reply, providing the text portion of the document as plain-text in the body of the e-mail. Jake went on to explain (without apology) that he left off the graphics portion because he couldn't figure out how to include it.
All of which goes to show that he didn't read the Governments own policies (which I did provide). The graphics could have been attached as j-peg files, but he should have used portable document format (pdf) for the entire document in accordance with the e-GIF.
As for the labelling change - the press release is embargoed so I don't get to publish it. I will say that it is only slightly better than I expected and well short of my hopes.
April 12, 2008
Health greatly improved. Spent the day at Silvia Park (hanging out at the mall, how USA of me...) reading, window shopping, also saw a movie. I've worked out that the additional travel time is justified by the free parking, and petrol costs are, ironically, lower! (Less low speed stuff navigating streets in the CBD, where I would otherwise go.)
Movie: Spiderwick Cronicles - I liked it! It wasn't as engaging as the other fairy-tale movies (Golden Compass and Stardust) I'd seen though. It was better suited for the little kiddies around us.
As for the course, I've been studying other peoples tutorials on OpenOffice.org to see what I can use. When Hardy Heron is released (Ubunte 8.04) later this month, I'll be able to move all the laptops across in one go.
That acer I'm messing with? Details can be found here. Next step is to present Acer NZ with an install GD which fully supports everything. heh heh heh.
E-mail from Judith Tizard today - a new clothing label standard is happening. I'll get details on Monday. Stay tuned.
April 9, 2008
Still sick but improving. I feel like I've been beaten all over with axe handles. My birthday cake (chocolate mud cake) made me feel ill. Some very droll birthday cards. What a wonderful way to finish my fortieth year on the planet.
On the Vista front - it seems that installing SP1 will hose your system if you use free software (i.e. GRUB) as your bootloader. Of concern to dual-boot people. Such folk are advised to erase Windows Vista entirely, or reinstall the Windows bootloader each time they upgrade.
April 8, 2008
Happy Birthday to me - but I am sick as a dog. Nasty, deap chest cough the whole bit. Started as a tickle last night, and was full bloom this morning. That's what I get for mixing with other humans at the start of winter.
I've been to two LUG events. First an installfest for UALUG and a meeting yor AuckLUG. The former was very busy compared to the first one I went to. The latter featured Vik Olliver talking about his self-replicating machine. (SEE LOTD), the RepRap. These are low-cost, GPL'd factories with the potential to build anything automatically with only time andresources needed. If you can draw it, it can build it. There are kitsets. Check it out.
At that harse show (last post) I entered Cathy into a draw. First prize was a top-of-the-line horse blanket. Because that's I need - water, oats, put her under the blanket, slap her rump, and she'll be right. Only it seems she's won! Delivery in a few days.
Meantime, I look out the window and do I see my Su27? Nope! So much for birthday wishes.
April 6, 2008
Yesterday, I took Cathy to the Horse Expo in Helensville. She got to go riding for the first time in five years, she was in heaven. Especially liked the
Peruvian Paso - there were two and she impressed the owner enough to get an invite to go riding them more often.
After that it was a hot spa, followed by pizza at an Italian restaurant I keep forgetting the name of. There's only one in Helensville, and it's superb. Great food, nice atwosphere, freindly people.
Today saw me make a great deal of headway into this computer. It looks like I can get every bit of HW going except for the microphone. The review is finished and the howto notes almost. Time to rub acer's nose in it :)
April 4, 2008
Students of OSC who are considering buying the Acer Aspire 4315 with Ubuntu pre-installed from DSE - don't. It's OK if you are looking for a cheapie replacement for XP, and most of the course will work on it fine. However there is a raft of non-working features.
Here's a list. I've given each a seriousness rating from 0 (incedental) to 4 (critical). I've also put a star next to those entries which have no solution at time of writing.
- Special buttons are not mapped to anything (0). Acer claim "limitations of Linux" for this, though the limitation is that the special software normally launched from them has been designed to only work with Windows. I doubt the linux community can be held responsible for acer's decision to limit their software.
- * Modem does not work at all (4) - also blamed on linux. Acer have chosen to use a hybrid soundcard, probably due to budget constraints, which is not supported by anybody. Works in Windows due to acer's special software (see 1). The souncard includes a connexant modem, which has closed source drivers. Embedding the modem in the soundcard is not supported by connexant - if their driver is installed, all sound goes awol and the modem still dosn't work.
- * Microphone - totally non-functional (1) - also blamed on linux. More likely a reflection of acer's budget limitations coupled with issue 1 (above).
- No Journalling out of the box (3). This is not something you'll notice until something goes wrong. It is possible to enable the journalling, but it is trivial to install it by default and non-trivial to leave it off. This represents deliberate hobbling of gnu/Linux's capabilities.
- No Swap (2). Mine has 1GiB of RAM, so dosn't need swap. But this can be a problem if you open lots of windows as a habit. If you have Opera, Evolution, Open Office, and the GIMP all open, things will get slow. If you have the default 512MiB, you'll want to enable swap.
- Advanced Desktop Features cannot be turned on (2). This is because the video-card is unstable is some configurations. It is easy to work around, but a novice may not realise this.
- * Restart (3), suspend (2), and hibernate (1) are broken.
- * Wifi dosn't do WPA2 (4).
And on it goes.
While this looks very negative I want to stress: anyone who has used Vista on similar hardware will find this a clear improvement in terms of functionality and performance. Almost all the above issues can be fixed or have workarounds, so linux geeks will not be too bothered.
On the positive side, Acer have begun working with the NZ FOSS community to help clear up these issues. Early indications are that they are serious about offering a real alternative to Microsoft.
April 1, 2008
Relatives in the EU wondering what I want for my birthday (8th) - an ex-Soviet
Sukoi Su 27 Jet would go down nicely. I can't possibly afford to fly it, I just want to park it out front to tease the neighbors: next best thing to a Cylon raider.
Mind you, the Russians are selling hard-core joy-rides in these things real cheap...
But if the price seems too steep, I'd love one of those dinky Linutop machines, though the ASUS Eee is pretty cute too.
I have managed to get hold of a shiney-new Ubuntu+Acer from Manukau DSE. It shaw is priddy. I'm running into issues already, partly Acers broken ideas about what constitutes a functional desktop, and DSE-staff minimum-competence. As much as I'd love to, I cannot commend this machine to a novice.
Seems the good folk at DunLUG have also been having fun. These things seem to be selling well, so I'm bracing myself for the tech-support requests.
Meantime - I've made it through April 1 without getting tricked at all.
