Been killing time this morning after work downloading and trying out some new themes and backgrounds for my laptop. Kind of like the general look of things so far.
Background is called ‘GreenGnomeDebug’ from gnome-look.org and the theme is called ‘Ubuntu-Dawn-X’ from the same site. Took some basic fiddling to get things the way I wanted them but so far, so good.
Think I’ll call it a day. 
Jan 10
Today marks a day of fixes here and rightly so. Got the ‘ol home file/print server going although, not with the box I intended to use. It had way too many issues to be of good use. I’m going to recycle it after removing the hard drives. I wound up using the Lenovo box with the 320 gb hard drive and installing Ubuntu 8.04 server edition with Ebox. Works like a charm and the file sharing was easier than I originally thought.
I also found a cure for the sound issues on my Win7 box and I was amazed at how many others were also experiencing the same problem. Anyway, below is the fix for the ‘no sound while dvd plays in win7′ issue:
Basically go to Sound -> Speakers (right clic) -> Properties -> Advanced -> Uncheck : “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device”.
Now, I’m going to enjoy a movie and kick back for a while.
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Jan 3
I previously mentioned in another post about wanting to set up my own home server for file and print duties using one of my Lenovo desktops. Well, a few things have occurred recently that put the cork back in the bottle on that project.
First, I’ve run into a glitch with the Win7 box not playing any sound when a DVD movie is played. still working on that one but it led me back to playing them (DVD movies) on my other desktop that I was going to install the home server on. Add to that that my first attempt at installing the home server ended up with it not being able to access any updates due to some unforeseen hiccup during installation that prevented it from reaching the Ubuntu repositories. Of course, around that time, things at work had my attention so the home server project took a back seat for a time. Until now.
After rethinking things through somewhat, I’ve now decided to try this again except this time I’m going to use an older machine that is sitting in my closet. It has 2 hard drives (a 120 Gb and a 160 Gb) and should theoretically work out with the system on the smaller drive and data storage on the other larger one. Seeing as Linux works so well with older machines, this may be the best way to re-use the computer. I’ve found a tutorial about using two hard drives for a server configuration so I’m thinking this very well may be the ticket for my purposes. Thing is, the tutorial uses Ubuntu 7.10 server and I’ll be using 8.04. I’m hoping things will be fairly similar but am expecting it not to be. Either way, the experience will be worth it.
So, the plan for today is to get the older machine out of the closet, cleaned up, inspected and ready for use. Tomorrow, I’ll begin the project by acquiring the extra cable for the hook-up to my network’s router or switch, set up the area that the server will occupy permanently and attach the keyboard and monitor. After that, installing and configuring the system.
If anyone has any suggestions, tips and/or recommendations…I’d love to hear them. 
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Dec 29
For me, 2009 was a year of operating systems, installs, fretting over Windoze machines, job worries and generally, a year of deciding on the best way to go with a home network. Suffice it to say, it’s still a work in progress. Of course, there were other things 2009 wrapped itself around but technically speaking, the ones above were the highlights.
I finally decided to go with Linux Mint for my OS of choice for general use. I like the way it includes most everything I find necessary for my use and it runs the venerable Ubuntu Linux under the hood so I know that with what Mint adds, it’s all good. I have it running on my laptop as well as on one of my desktops. I also have this same desktop set up with Samba so all the machines on my network (Linux as well as Windoze) can share files and the attached printer. This last part is still a work in progress but it’s coming together.
I also bit the bullet and bought an OEM builder’s copy of Windows 7 64 bit for the other desktop. I’m still debating whether that was a good idea because I’m still running into issues with it. The 64 bit part is what is causing the most problems but I’m determined to work through them just because. So far, Linux works, Windows…..eh, it’s trying.
The job worries will unfortunately not go away anytime soon. Just the nature of the industry I work in so it’s something that’s going to hang around for a while to come. I’m blessed in that I still have a job at this point so that’s one thing to be happy about. I really feel bad for those who lost theirs and are struggling so much now so I take nothing for granted.
My hope for 2010 is that the economy gets to a point fast where folks will begin to see job opportunities open back up, technology keeps pace with demand, people will stop seeing Google as a 3-headed monster, local politicians will stop drinking their own cool-aid and keep their sticky fingers in their own pockets for a change and that I can finally lose some weight.
I sincerely wish a Happy New Year to each and every one of you and hope that 2010 will bring your dreams to fruition.
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Been thinking lately of how things have been going and came to realize that a lot of repetitiousness has been taking hold of me. By this I mean things that I do that could be done more efficiently.
For example, I have 2 desktops and a laptop (not counting my wife’s laptop) that I constantly keep synced so that each one has pretty much the same data and apps. I’m a tad paranoid that I’m gonna suffer a crash like I did a few years back and lose all the images/documents/etc. as before. So, I’m developing a plan to create a home server for the purpose of storing data that the other machines can access thus keeping it all located on the one machine instead of several. Sounds backwards from my original scenario doesn’t it? Read the rest of this entry »
Nov 11
It’s agreed that times are tough especially in these days of mass lay-off’s, sky-high interest rates from our friendly credit card companies and banks and a general feeling of being lost at sea with no land in sight. Sounds pretty bleak doesn’t it? So, why then would someone like myself decide to try to redefine his freelance status with a new look and approach to his website?
I took a new look at things a few days ago and came up with a few things that helped me decide:
These and others brought me to the point that helped me decide to give things a different view. So, I’ve begun a new venture called WWD-CGC which promotes Affordable Web Design and Custom Graphics Creation for all.
I’m also in talks with some others about this to see if we can’t form a group to assist the ‘little guy’ in getting their message out there for a lot less than they’d expect. I have a page up now with the rest to come shortly but suffice it to say that we as a people are going to need to pull together in order to get past these trying times. WWD-CGC aims to help.
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Just when we thought it was remotely safe to slip back in the deep, dark depths of the internet, along comes the release of Win7, Google’s Chrome (coming soon), Ubuntu 9.10 (released on October 29) not long after Apple’s recent release of Snow Leopard.
Decisions, decisions! What’s a self-professed ‘techie’ to do?
I could go out and pay a lot of $$ for a new Mac with it’s newest operating system called Snow Leopard. Over $1000 actually. Many freelancers love theirs.
Or,
I could go out and drop a C-note for a Win7 upgrade from Vista for my sole Windows machine. About $120 dollars U.S. and hope for the best. The history of Windows and their upgrades makes me think about this choice.
Or,
I could wait on Google to release their new operating system called Chrome. Imagine someone actually waiting to release an operating system to make sure it was ready. Hmmm.
Or,
I could wait till the 29th and just download the latest release of Ubuntu’s operating system called Karmic Koala (9.10) which will be free to the masses as Linux usually is.
Decisions, decisions.
Seeing as I run Ubuntu 9.04 on my HP dv1000t laptop, Linux Mint 7 dual boots with Vista on one of my desktops and the other one serves as my testing machine….I’m curious as to what each of these OS’s has to offer with the exception of the Mac which only runs on a Mac.
I’m familiar with Ubuntu and Linux Mint (which is derived from Ubuntu) and feel right at home with them. I know Windows will sooner or later let me down but I have quite a bit of software that I need Windows for. Whether it will run on the new Win7 platform is unknown yet. According to their upgrade advisor app, it ’should run’.
What are you running and why? Have you upgraded to Win7 yet? If so, do you like it or hate it? Will you hold out and wait on Google to release their new system or go for the latest version of Ubuntu when it releases on the 29th? Or are you a dedicated Mac user?
I’m curious to hear what you think.
A while back I tried installing Wine in my Ubuntu Linux system so I could try running some of the programs and apps that I had on my other computer. Needless to say, it didn’t work out all that well. Now, however, I’m rethinking this tack as this morning I installed Macromedia’s Fireworks MX (at the time it was still under Macromedia) and was met with a lot better results.
The UI (user interface) isn’t as pretty as on a Windows box but functionality is much improved. There are still some issues with the interface and editing the program’s size or workspace if you will but overall, the experience is much improved over my past attempts. This screenshot does it no justice really but does give a somewhat effective view of Fireworks on my Ubuntu Linux desktop. (Warning! Large image size!) 
—>
I’m sure that at least someone has thought to ask by now why I’m using Fireworks instead of say Inkscape or the GIMP. Kind of odd to use something that one would have to install under Wine and lose some of the appealing aspects of the app and some issues with the UI, right? Well, the only answer I can give you would be the honest one: I paid for the programs a number of years ago (and even the upgrade to DW8/FW8) long before I got into Linux. So to me, just tossing them to the side just because they don’t work natively in Linux like Inkscape would be just plain dumb.
I’m planning on seeing if FW8 will work under Wine too. May as well as the upgrade had some more features in it that I liked. I might later on try DW but seeing as I have Kompozer doing a great job in that area, it’s no rush at this point.
My initial purpose in this was to see if I can run what I need/want to on just one computer and be done with Windows forever. I’m not interested in Windows 7 because to me it represents yet another attempt by M/$ at screwing up someone’s computing lifestyle yet again. I mean, Vi$ta failed miserably, folks are still clutching to XP by the millions and M/$ wants to toss another OS into the mix? I’ll pass thank you very much.
Give me my Ubuntu Linux OS and I’m a happy camper.
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Scott Wilson is an avid Linux user who enjoys testing different distro's of Linux from time to time, the occasional SciFi show and classic rock music. He's also an avid supporter of Open Source software and an Auburn Tigers fan.
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