The Mad World of Monkeybum

The Car Analogy

2009-04-11T18:06:00.006+01:00

Libby and I hired a car over the Easter break; the hire company attempted to persuade us to take the extra insurance at £13.5/day to reduce the £650 excess to zero, in addition to having to pay for the day where we are unable to return the car due to the office being closed. We declined this fabulous offer and once we got back home Libby went on the interwebs and purchased CDW insurance for the princely sum of £18 for the five days – Big difference! And if you hire vehicles on a regular basis a years cover is only £49 per person.

Anyway this is a bit of topic, this being a geek type blog. The car we got given was a Fiat with Blue&Me system, powered by Windows CE. As soon as I saw the USB port with the Windows logo my heart sunk. Why can't they just provide a line-in for a MP3 player?! Anyway, this had the potential to be great. Plug one of my portable hard drives in and go! Or even the Archos.

Do you really think it was going to be that simple? Well I started off with my phone; The Nokia N95 plugged in, mounted up and played flawlessly. Except that the radio controls didn't do anything. No! You have to use the ones on the steering wheel or press the windows button and use voice commands. Here's a great bit of UI design; To skip to the next track hit the windows key and say "Skip track" OR just press the skip track button on the wheel - but the passenger can't really do either! It's pretty clear to me at this point that the stereo and media player are very loosely integrated.

Libby's Archos; with over 100 Gig of music on it mounts fine, starts playing and abruptly stops after only ten seconds. The same happens with a portable hard drive. An 8Gig pen drive works perfectly, so I would conclude that this has to do with the size of the media being mounted. I would look it up, but I'm writing this in deepest darkest Lincolnshire with no mobile broadband access, I feel totally disconnected and not in a good way!

I'm Linux!

2009-04-09T09:02:00.004+01:00

Webkit based browsers like chrome are what all the cool kids are touting this year, Windows and Mac versions abound but Linux ones are a little thin on the ground. I've been playing with the alpha build of Chromium (a Linux port of Chrome) for the last couple of weeks and the results are impressive. Aptitude grabs the latest build for me every day* and it seems to be coming along nicely.

* Here's another reason to switch to Linux; A central software manager - Updates everything on the system as required. Just yesterday it gave me new nVidia drivers. It's like Windoze update on speed but with less b0rkage and it updates all software on the sytem.

P.S. I made it sound like Aptitude does this without asking, you do get the opportunity to veto any updates.

That's why I'm Linux :-)

Illegally Parked Seagull

2009-04-06T09:49:00.002+01:00

I'm surprised he/she didn't get a parking ticket!

I've been looking around for a replacement laptop, ideally a second user dell latitude D630 or Lenovo IBM Thinkpad T61. They may not be pretty but they provide a durable computing experience for the size/weight. A little bit like me :-) It may take a while to get one on ebay, at a price I'm prepared to pay, but I'm patient and o-so parsimonious.

Six Months and Counting. . .

2009-03-20T08:38:00.003Z

Since my company switched to Linux, and what a happy six months they've been! It wasn't that difficult for us, we didn't have a massive suite of legacy windows software to switch, but only because I switched years ago to alternatives like; Open Office and Gimp.

I do have one Vista box at home (the media center box) this acts as a constant reminder as to why I run Ubuntu elsewhere. Also, Nokia still haven't produced a native Linux PC suite, so software updates require windows. Although that will be less of a problem with the new Symbian phone, which can be updated O.T.A.

I've tried the public beta *cough* of ~~Vista SP2~~ Wind'ohs! 7 in a virtual machine (of course) and yes it's OK, but does it play HD media right out the box? What do you think? I'm sorry Microsoft, but if you expect me to pay money for this, it has to play bluray without me having to install 3-rd party software. The same goes for anti-malware software!

Jog Dial

2009-03-19T10:12:00.004Z

I decided to grab a music player for jogging - I don't need massive capacity; as I only need my jogging music on there, so 2GB is more than enough. After some deliberation I went with a Sansa Clip. Ipod would never be an option for me, and the latest furore over the ~~five knuckle~~ shuffle headphone/controller chip vindicated that point of view to some extent (I hate locked-down proprietary hardware).

The Good:

Nice OLED Display
Superb sound quality (with decent 'phones)
Price (£23)
Battery Life
Radio
Voice Recorder

The Bad

No SD card slot
Size (it's 7 times the cubic capacity than a new shuffle :-))

I just wish SanDisk would make a hard drive version of the Fuze - Until then it looks like a Archos 5. . .

Boot Time

2008-09-15T11:35:00.000+01:00

There's nothing like playing with hardware - I've been getting back in to building/playing with electronic based things. I got one of these BIOS reader cards on the 'bay for next to nothing. Well handy for checking older mobos out. (the newer ones tend to have this built in) Like here on an old machine that I used to use as a file server....

Get a grip!

2008-09-14T10:12:00.000+01:00

Got a pair of these from Argos about a month ago, don't even bother wasting your money :-) I was just lucky I didn't receive an injury!

The British Disease

2008-09-13T13:57:00.003+01:00

I've been looking for a machine shop to make our new range of prince's wands - Finding prospective companies using Google I've fired off emails to them. And not one has responded yet. The thing that gets me is that some of these companies are using Google adwords to get leads and they don't even follow them up! Then they bitch and moan about how hard things are.

Oh well if we don't hear anything from these companies we'll have to look at getting them made abroad, not something I really want to do but there may be no other way.

Push It Baby!

2008-09-12T11:03:00.003+01:00

Three have announced free* push email for everyone! If you have a supported device follow the instructions here to get your push email fix - *if you have one of the internet add-ons you get unlimited push email in addition to your data allowance.

Well Done Virgin Media

2008-09-09T05:48:00.002+01:00

Well it's only taken a year or so, but I'm getting what I am paying for! You know that I'm a sucker for bandwidth and I'll be getting the 50Mb/s service as soon as it rolls in to town :)

Shonky Stuff!

2008-09-07T06:32:00.000+01:00

I haven't had a rant about any products for a while. I must be getting old! Anyways, there is a good three-parter over at the inquirer about the current Nvidia chip fiasco - Makes the RRD look like small fry eh? I'm not a PC gamer so I'll stick with my old card, thanks very much.

There's also been further issues with the ithingy - Why would you do it to yourself? You will get burned :)

Talking of things going up in flames - Sony (producer of the very shonky vaio ~~space heaters~~ laptops) shares have hit an all time low, partly due to the latest recall no doubt.

Faster, faster!

2008-09-06T20:50:00.003+01:00

I've been really busy over the last couple of weeks. The major task has been migrating servers for the shop and associated sites, moving from a php4/mySQL4 environment, to the next iteration of the open source stack (version 5 of both php and mySQL) This has now been completed and I am now optimising the LAMP stack to make things even faster!

Today I installed and configured Alternative PHP Cache on the shop server - this has given another welcome boost to the (already impressive) performance of the multi-core processor box. Its geographically diverse twin is also running APC - this server will be used for another site (launching soon) as well as a hot failover (replicated mySQL) for the shop.

Rats!

2008-08-29T05:49:00.007+01:00

I found this video whilst setting up kino and my DV cam on the computer. We took the log away from them as they wouldn't/coundn't play nice and would fight over who got in first. We gave them a rat igloo, which was bigger, they still used to fight over it though. Rats make great pets - why not see if you can rescue/re-home some today?

You know you're a geek when. . .

2008-08-28T10:05:00.002+01:00

Choosing a locker (at swimming) you only use ones with a binary number; 100, 101, 110, 111 etc. (4, 5, 6, 7 respectively - for you decimal types) - I like base 2! Today I swam 1100100 (64h - for you hexadecimalists*) lengths (11001 meter/length) in one hour!

* many years ago a friend at college said that hexadecimal sounds like some sort of sexual preference; I said; "Yeah I'm a hexadecimalist; I only sleep with people over sixteen". - Wild days! :)

Octalists - they can feck off :-)

Nothing changes 'til you try something new

2008-08-27T16:41:00.004+01:00

A very true sentiment - And one which I have putting in to practice over the last few weeks. One of the biggest things I've been putting off over the last few years, has been to migrate the final legacy windows machines over to Linux. I did this over the weekend and now the business is 100% Micro$oft free!

The next goal is to only use open source software - something that we're not too far away from anyway. The image above epitomises the main reason I like linux so much - No need for bloated 'drivers' to monitor my ink level!

If you're really good I'll tell you all about my plans for the hot failover shop server :)

A diiferent kettle. . .

2008-08-25T21:01:00.003+01:00

Nice one Philips! - A kettle that has different temperature settings - Ideal for coffee drinkers like me - They reckon it could save up to £30/year -- I'll be keeping an eye out for this one.

Another nice feature of ubuntu: Individual volume controls for each application. Joy!

Get on 'yer bike

2008-08-25T07:59:00.004+01:00

I've been working since 7am - But I'm going to finish early today, as it's a bank holiday. I'm going to trawl the bike shop in Brighton and see what's the best deal on a Kona Cinder Cone. Not that I'm buying one today you understand. I will get it when I've earned it, by which I mean when I get to going on my old bike at least three times a week.

I don't know too much about bikes (I'm OK with the mechanics, just not what the good ones are) so I asked a friend about them; he's a bike geek, in the same way I'm a computer geek. He has five bikes and his answer, if you ask why he has this many is; "they are all for different applications". Which is the same answer I give when people ask why I have so many computers!

Anyways - £500 should get something like the one above - Key points:

Hydraulic disc brakes (do not want stretchy bloody cables no more)
Decent forks
Lightweight

Anyway don't want to spunk too much on a bike - gotta save some for the Garmin 705 bike computer :)

Goodbye XP

2008-08-24T08:09:00.003+01:00

It's been real baby! It's not you, it's me. Yeah I want a more up to date OS - You've just let yourself go, I mean look at that flab of SP3! Not to mention the paranoia - checking up on me every couple of days, under the guise of; 'genuine advantage' - Hmmm.

Mind you, this new bird aint perfect, I think she maybe a little bit homophobic. Whilst trying to get closer to home with the weather app I discovered this blatant homophobic slur:

How very dare you!

Apparently Brighton is part of queensland! The closest I can get to Brighton is Shoreham - this is the closest airport.

Wanna come in?

2008-08-23T09:20:00.002+01:00

If you'd like to enter my ~~lair~~ office then you'll need a tattoo to match the BR logo - Sorry, I don't make the rules, oh wait. Yes I do. Libby is gonna love this, I will have to point out that she has put her mark on all the other doors

I dunno. . .

2008-08-22T13:25:00.002+01:00

Got sent the wrong monitor today - The 'W' version of the one I already have. Dunno if I'm gonna keep it yet. It should make me more productive tho - and two monitors is soooo much more geeky. And it makes up for my incredibly small penis ;)

Twice!

2008-08-21T06:26:00.003+01:00

As many vulns as any other router? No of course not, BT are shouting about how their new homehub runs at 11 as far as the RF performance goes. That just means the crackers don't need to fire up the cantenna. - Don't forget about the phorm fiasco either!

HELLO - NO I'M ON THE IPHONE, HELLO?!

2008-08-20T19:33:00.005+01:00

Things Get Worse for 3g iphone lusers - if reports that the promised update to fix 3g connectivity hasn't worked, are true. I can't see how they intend to fix a hardware issue with a software update, all that can do (at best) is make the hardware issues seem less obvious.

"Only a tiny percentage. . .

2008-08-19T05:32:00.000+01:00

. . . of our products catch fire. And anyway, it's the batteries fault!" Says consumer electronics manufacturer Apple - Referring to the the iPod flame jobs being reported. :-) If you are in the market for a PMP, why not get one of these:

Those 'cheese eating surrender monkeys' have got the right idea; Archos have popped a 3g chipset inside their latest pmp. With capacities up to 320GB and 3g support, what more could you want* - drool!

The other really cool thing about Archos PMPs - is that look like a standard external HDD, so no software to install and no DRM. And they run Linux ;)

Speaking of all things 'media'. . .

Yesterday I purchased an Xbox ripped it open, modded it and then installed XBMC. Xbox Media Center is AMAZING!!! - For a few quid (20) you've got a media center extender! XBMC is so good I nearly did a sex-wee!

Or Not

2008-08-19T05:13:00.001+01:00

You know I mentioned the msi wind clone the other day - looks like I'll hold-off until dell launch this puppy. Gizmodo have a good amount of info about this dell netbook. Based on the same atom chip but with only 8GB of SSD this is set weigh-in at £150 - £200 range.

Badger!

2008-08-18T06:00:00.003+01:00

No, that time stamp you see isn't playing-up, I really am posting at six in the morning. What can I say, lots to get done this week.

I don't understand; when people's windows b0xen get infected with malware their attitute is to purchase more shonky software to (try to) protect an obviously defective OS. I say this because a couple of our suppliers have had their machines b0rked. One person, who shall remain nameless (see Neil, I said I wouldn't tell anyone) even run an .exe he received in an email which then proceeded to infect the company network with crap - WTF was he even allowed to do this? Bad sysadmin if you ask me.

If (when) your windows machines get infected don't bother with 'better' antivirus - Install a proper operating system!