The Ubuntu/KDE Settings Day

Testing, testing… Is this thing on? Can you hear me?…
After spending most of the day in installing various programmes, reading the Ubuntu forums, doing settings, and then uninstalling, installing, and setting up things again, I can say I am almost done. There are several smaller or finer preferences and tunings to be done, but they can wait until tomorrow.

In fact, this post is a small test in itself, to see whether everything functions as expected. I am writing it in the only functioning blog client for Linux I could dig out of the internet, BloGTK. It really seems to be the only serious programme for offline blog-work for Linux, so I decided I must give it a try.

What must definitely be said – besides, at this point, good-night-sweet-dreams-till-tomorrow – is that Ubuntu does it with the help of KDE. Gnome, XFCE and the other desktop environs do their thing, but the new KDE 4.3 rocks me from socks to my missing hat. And the best piece of news is that, in 2009, I can find no everyday-use application for Windows that does not have an equivalent or a port in the universe of Linux. That thought alone can make me sleep calmly and deeply for days on end. Q. W3ary out.

Back to Linux: WUbI Rules Supreme!

When life chases you down with its banal stupidities like electric ovens that short-circuit and burn out, or headphones that break into two just so, out of the blue, you forget the good things that made existence on this planet so pleasant in the first place. In the small, neat universe of computers, one of those good things is Linux. I first discovered it some 5 or 6 years ago, when I heard of Knoppix. A friend of mine then introduced me to some deeper concepts of Unix-like thinking, and I have been hooked ever since. Not that I have become anything near an expert user over the years, mind you – there is a lot to learn in the Linux world. Still, I know how to partition a hard drive to install a Linux distribution, how to install new packages/programmes, where to find some config files and how to edit a couple of them, and so on and so forth.

Unfortunately, after buying my current hard drive and installing it into my PC, I did not do a Linux-friendly partitioning, to my eternal shame.

Along comes Wubi.

The first several versions of the programme I used & abused last year (April, May, June) tended to produce little or no result on my system – which is always clogged by excessive, unneeded and only partially uninstalled drivers/progs/data anyway. (Remember what WINDOWS stands for, esp. since Vista: Will Install Needless Data On Whole System!) After a while, I got it to work but then had other, non-computing problems to deal with and completely forgot everything about it, again to my shame.

Now, more than a year later, Jonas, Verena and I were discussing where Linux is right now and what it can do about the profit-/power-mad multinationals. Then I did a bit of searching, and re-discovered this excellent piece of software called Wubi. And Wubi worked almost like magic. What it actually does, for the un-initiated: it creates a big file (the minimum is 5 GB, I think) on your hard drive where you choose. That large file is then loop-mounted: that is, made visible to the computer like a device connected to it. The big file is what Ubuntu Linux goes on to use as a hard disk for itself. In a sense, what Wubi does is create a file and mask it as a hard drive, download Ubuntu and install it to that virtual hard drive, and then let you uninstall the whole setup if you happen to dislike it. This is the best part of it: you get to experience the full power of Linux by creating a large file somewhere on your hard drive. You don’t need to do any partitioning, you don’t have to fear the Dreaded Loss of Data by Accidental Deletion, and you can always completely uninstall the whole construction should you start thinking it doesn’t do you any good.

In order to get started, you go to Wubi’s homepage and download the programme (1.5 MB or so). You, of course, double-click it. What you see above is the Wubi start-up screen (this shot is a bit old, but the newest one looks just the same) that appears after the clicking. You choose the Installation Drive where the big file will be created, you then choose the actual Installation Size of that big file, then your language, and then your Desktop Environment and you username/password. For Desktop Environment, I had to select Ubuntu (comes with Gnome) because the others could not download on my system – and Windows always showed a message that the print spooler service had just crashed, meaning I need to reinstall Windows because it crossed the Rubicon of driver overload, can no longer function smoothly, and, consequently, has started to severely annoy me. If you are luckier than me, you can choose Kubuntu with KDE, Xubuntu with XFCE, or Mythbuntu for use of MythTV. All the desktops are beautiful in their own ways; KDE means best eye-candy to me, XFCE has nice looks for older computers, but all perform well and are so full of well-placed functionality it will take you some time to realise all the simple and useful things you can do with them.

One important thing is to remember your username and password. Most Linux distributions, unlike Windows, are designed with security in mind, so they will ask for your password at start-up and also every time you want to change system settings (that’s called acting as a superuser, or sys admin in other words). While you try to memorise the crazy username and pass you just typed in, Wubi will download the image for the Desktop Environment / Ubuntu flavour you chose and will copy it to the big file it created. Afterwards, you will need to reboot and choose you new Linux system from the list of two options that appear in the boot-loader, the second one being, of course, your old Windows, so it always stays just one restart away. After booting up into Linux, the installer will finish its business and will then drop you into your new environment.

Shortly after that happened, my new Ubuntu Linux surprised me with the Update Manager, a friendly programme that is the Ubuntu equivalent of Windows Update. In the five months since the release of Ubuntu 9.04 – the current version which Wubi downloaded and installed – the Ubuntu developers had managed to release around 200 updates to various programmes, both to increase security and to squash bugs. That translates to an average of about 40 per month, or slightly more than one per day. Solid work, guys! Of course, some, if not most, of these updates come from the maintainers of the respective applications, but this means that the Ubuntu devs at least coordinate all this versioning and installing rather well.

So after gleefully minimising the Update Manager, I began with the fun: played a couple of songs, saw a short video, opened up Firefox and looked at a couple of pages, fine-tuned my screen resolution and refresh rate, fired up Open Office and went through a couple of files, and so on. All available from the very moment the installation was completed, all running quite fast – and all functioning on top of drivers that have been installed after successful automatic recognition of my hardware. The time Wubi took to get me to this point: about 1.5 hours. Now I do realise that I have a 16 Mbit/s pipeline to the Net, and that my CPU, RAM, graphics card, hard drive and so on are, if not the bleeding edge of tech, then certainly strong racing horses. That nonetheless does not diminish the enormous accomplishment Wubi is. (There is no doubt that the Ubuntu family is definitely a huge accomplishment, but there’s no need to discuss that – if the old profit-worshipping giants are afraid, then it’s true, simple as that.) Wubi does what it’s supposed to do, and manages it with ease and aplomb.

Since I’m a PC games addict, I won’t be moving completely to Linux any time soon, although I dream and hope for such a day – but I will surely keep this dual-boot system Wubi helped set up, and will enhance it as much as possible. In the meantime, check/search the Ubuntu Forums if you have any specific questions. I know I am going to do that because Nvidia hasn’t produced any open source drivers for Linux yet, and the ones they distribute now are difficult to control. Those lucky enough to have bought an ATI/AMD card seem to be enjoying much better config, feature and usage experiences under Linux. Everyone else like me – meet you at/in/on the forums perhaps. Q. W3ary out.

Getting Closer to Solving AIDS and Alzheimer’s

Recently, I saw (as usual, on /.) a couple of news items/links to articles that made my day a degree brighter. One relates to a prototype vaccine for AIDS which has obviously managed to prevent a little above 30% of expected infections. Of course, one central problem with fighting AIDS is that scientists need actual humans to test the vaccines and other medical produce on, which represents a very tough ethical dilemma -infect people with AIDS to produce vaccine against it? – in itself. On the other hand, this recent development is something of a major breakthrough since no other earlier treatment had managed anything near this percentage of prevented infections.

In somewhat related news, researchers seem to have discovered a possible link between sleep deprivation and Alzheimer’s disease. Although this is just a small step toward uncovering the myriad interconnected factors that cause/contribute to the illness, it is nevertheless quite important. If the link can be confirmed for all, or most, of the cases, that would mean discovering a rather easily manageable cause for Alzheimer’s which can be brought under control, or perhaps completely eliminated. Let us hope for the best. Q. W3ary out.

Water on the Moon, Water on Mars

Good news for the, hopefully, not so distant future. Stories on Slashdot from the last couple of days reported that scientists have discovered (mostly frozen) water in various amounts and states of purity on both our good old natural satellite the Moon as well as on the neighbouring Red Planet. This will make possible human visits to, and prolonged stays on these two planets noticeably easier than before. Here’s one article and here’s another for the first and the second finding, respectively. If we have really damaged the Earth beyond repair, let us hope that these unexpected water “reserves” might keep some of us alive in our future migration to the painfully distant stars. If not, then we should push our governments to do more on space exploration. It’s one of those scientific pursuits that are always worth the effort, the passion, and the blood – everyone, sooner or later, benefits from them. Q. W3ary out.

Essential Ventilation

This will certainly sound stupid and even ridiculous to some, but I experienced a pinnacle of current technology today. How did it come to this? I received something with the post: a home ventilator, a rotating room-cooling fan, a thing with a propeller that turns around and around and pushes the temperature in my place down. I can already hear people laughing or telling themselves I’ve gone mad because of the heat, so I’ll go on as fast as possible. A fan is an excellent proof that we live in the future. Its principle is simple, but the way that simplicity is enhanced today amazes me. This sort of device for home use does not require a lot of electricity, but provides a nice flow of air, almost natural in its windiness. It does so almost silently, and, by rotating, delivers artificial wind almost evenly across a room. Moreover, the current generation of home ventilation employs some electronic niceties – like automatic shut-down timers and sleep functions – that make life even more comfortable. Now, if we go back in history for just 150 years, we will see that such simple pleasantries as household fans were non-existent. People had to rely on their own hands, or, more rarely, on clever accommodation design, to bring about the drafts of air so needed in summertime. Today, we get this service for small money. People will, of course, always object that we also have air conditioners which render household fans obsolete. However, the overall effect of an active air conditioner always includes a hundred small risks and annoyances with it: allergies to filtered air, extreme differences in the temperatures of the cooled room(s) and the outside environment, large utility bills, and so on. In comparison, a fan remains always useful, especially because of the simplicity of its operational principle. I was a fool not to buy one earlier – my laziness in this respect has punished me for too long. That, luckily, came to an end today. It’s time to enjoy some well-ventilated rest. Q. W3ary out.

Grenade Launcher Football!

In the last couple of weeks, one of my alter egos, IRS, has taken up grenade launcher football. His first match started this week against the Financial Bureaucrats (tFB). Below, you will find a short cumulative overview of the major events in the form of a news bulletin, as well as a qualified expert commentary on the game so far, and on the developments we could expect. The commentary was written by an employee of Bob the Spider who preferred to remain anonymous; it was sent to me in the time-proven format of cut-out magazine letters glued to colourful sheets of toilet paper. Enjoy!

Bulletin: “IRS vs. tFB, grenade launcher football. Current result: 1:0 for IRS. – In the first days of the game, IRS takes the lead by carefully planning his assault, and by abusing his purchased EU-birthrights. (Here, EU stands for Electromagnetic Upsetto-Undoification. Please do not assume this has anything to do with a European Union.) IRS also wins the hearts of the audience by blowing up a printer with a stray grenade and neutralising a fee ATM with an EM pulse. Blank grenades have been issued for tomorrow’s rounds. Players are calculating taxation explosives. – Watch this space for news.”

Commentary: “Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we can rightfully say that we have had a most interesting initial 3-to-6-day period of this match. As you know, games are usually started in secret, in order not to spoil the surprise for the populations of the respective regions, but I can confirm that I have rarely observed such extensive fireworks during the first, crucial week of play. What we can see in action here is a more-or-less classical all-out approach by IRS who has obviously decided to plan well in advance and then strike with force on the 6th and 7th day of the initial week period. Had he failed to do so, he would have made a complete idiot out of himself, and an object of public ridicule for seasons to come. Instead, however, he has managed to show tFB that he might be a rookie, but he packs a serious explosive punch. He has apparently trained well his grenade launching, judging by today’s printer blow-up and ATM neutralisation which he managed from a good distance. His tactics of cornering the drones of the adversary when they are at their weakest after coming in from vacation or having just enjoyed a large lunch have proved solid so far. The temperatures in the region are also helping him for the moment by partially melting certain circuits in the internal systems of the drones. Also, his EU usage (or abuse, as seen by some) in a crucial moment of opponent distraction in order to slip some signature grenades under the counter definitely represents something more than beginner’s luck. A small clarification is on the order here: Electromagnetic Upsetto-Undoification is usually abbreviated to EMU2, but most people employ EU today, both for fun and for reasons of brevity; also, no one would want to confuse a large flightless bird (or two) with a weapon for electronic device scrambling. Having said that, I must insist, unlike other commentators, that IRS has to accomplish more than flashy exhibitions of cleverness in order to win this match. The tFB are a formidable opponent with decades of experience in this gaming sector. Today, he did manage to halt all operations in one branch – out of thousands – of their ATM and cash-desk system for grenade fee collection, using a carefully targeted electromagnetic pulse (with a size 2.5 EMP grenade), but the whole system was up and running again within the hour. This only shows the audience how powerful and mighty the tFB actually are. Tomorrow’s rounds include explosive balancing and emplacement, a rather tough discipline, so we can only hope that IRS has prepared and trained for that well. Since the blank grenades have already been handed out, it is up to IRS to now measure and calculate the different amounts of income, expenses, taxation, etc. explosives he would like to use. Some would say that everything from now on is mathematics, pure and simple, but I must disagree because creativity and a sense of the appropriate are always factors at this stage of the game. What we will most certainly observe tomorrow is the tFB employing their 2-week-delay patented device. I am sure others will agree with me that they would want to take no risks in this match, especially after today’s performance by IRS. Since my time is almost up, I will conclude with this thought: I wish IRS all the luck he needs tomorrow, and all of you, Ladies and Gentlemen, a good night. Thank you for your time.”

SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDD!!!

A man by the name of Jason Kottke compiled several crazy videos on the idea of how great speed looks like. These range from auto testing to mad people flying like squirrels to space flight. My favourite ones are: first, the breath-taking jump of Joseph Kittinger from some 31 km high in the atmosphere while experimenting for the USAF; second, the video from the camera on a shuttle external fuel tank during take-off (2 minutes to space!); and third, the insane people with the wingsuits jumping off the most vertical rocks in the world. Go see those, and say thanks to the guy. (Retweeted/reblogged from BBVideo.) Q. Weary out.

Dell Sells Computers to Women

The latest ludicrous insanity by a big multinational? Dell selling gender-specifically. They opened up a website to spread the word about how women can best employ laptops. The answer to this hugely difficult, almost unsolvable riddle, Dell thinks, lies in the following: recipes, weight control, cooking. Oops, should have actually combined “recipes” and “cooking” into one since… wait… it’s all about one thing, actually. Ah, these people kill me! When will they stop attempting these differentiations that go way beyond the smallest grain? We all need computers.

To return to the problem: dear Dell, I suggest the following. You invent a time machine. A big one. You put your whole marketing department in there. Then you stuff the CEO and the other C’s on top. Then you send them to nineteenth-century Victorian England. I have a hunch that they will find some suitable partners for conversation there. Or possibly not, since marketing and the C’s probably know nothing about looking after small children, and knitting, and weaving, and playing the piano, and singing in church, and dressing properly for different occasions, and… Aaaarrrgh, I’m too tired for this. You get my drift; now git! Q. W3ary out. (via /.)

Killer Robots Get Ethical

So now we’re no longer only producing killer robots, we also spread the delusion that they can be “ethical”. Ronald Arkin, a computer science professor, is developing decision-making machinery to be included in the controlling modules of flying drones, “smart” missiles, and other killer machines. We don’t have enough people on the planet willing to go for each other’s throats for the most stupid reasons you’ve heard in your life, no; we also need robots that act autonomously and decide whether to kill on their own. Great. I’m starting to think that the first Terminators will look either like the current Predator and its family of murderers, or like over-sized Wall-es with machine guns, small missiles, mines, and possibly a couple of flame-throwers on board. The future awaits.

UPDATE 22.09.2009: Obviously, data on deadly robots had already been available when I was writing the above. Slashdot posted another story about killer robots deployed in battlefields. Numbers: 250 dead in Pakistan, 9 in South Africa; software glitches are blamed at least in the second case.

Microsoft Patents Methods for OS Crippling

Microsoft has evidently been granted patents for what it long desired: to restrict the users of their operating systems as much as possible. Now they can do that all they want, and no one can steal the sweet invention from them. Congratulations, Redmond! Happy choking on your well-deserved mints, and happy exploding Creosote-style! I’m wondering how far will MS go in enforcing this type of OS behaviour. They stated that “virtually anyone can write an application that can be executed on the system” if that system has an open architecture. How ingenious. What an insight. And now, thanks to finally patenting mechanisms against this sort of blasphemous, disrespectful, beyond-the-pale behaviour on the part of users, MS can curb said behaviour. (via /.)

Strange how MS doesn’t get it at all: with each Windows version from 95 up to XP, they enabled users to do more and more and more on their own, take their own decisions what to install and run. I find XP to be the peak of that enabling thinking. It is a relatively stable system (especially with the latest service packs), has little difficulty except reboots in adding and removing programmes/components of all sorts, be those applications, drivers, residents like firewalls, etc., and lets the user define default programmes, default file associations, default start-up services and applications, and so on. Of course, it has its limitations, but they are a few, and far between. The good thing with XP lies in the combination of all these features which are constantly available to the user. And where did Vista go? One hundred million warnings and confirmations are needed to install a new piece of hardware, or a programme like an audio editor which hovers slightly above average complexity. And now they want to prolong these procedural agonies even further. Dear MS, don’t you get it? Really? Your customers want stability and freedom of choice. You can’t restrict those for reasons of security because security of computer systems can only be guaranteed by both writing bug-less code and educating users about security problems. When you do that, you win. When you don’t, you get lost in the wild vistas of public anger, which are right next to the vistas of oblivion. Since choice of how to accomplish a task borders on the political so often, users need to be allowed to exercise that freedom and learn. They’re not all children under the age of three. (Actually, almost none of them are children under the age of three.)

So what do you do? Do you give people that freedom, or do you decide you can solve everything for them, keep them from cyberharm, find answers to all their questions, give them all they need and want on your own? Your choice, MS.