astraea.net/blog

For debian (Ubuntu etc) packages go here:

http://download.tuxfamily.org/arakhne/pool/universe/r/ricoh-webcam-r5u870/

Once you’ve installed the two files, check your home directory for a directory r5u87x and read the readme …

For rpm go to: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/11802631/dir/opensuse/com/r5u87x-loader-0.2.0-11.3.x86_64.rpm.html

So, I’m in the middle of resurrecting my computer after it suffered a fatal bout of Windowsitis, and while letting off steam to my dad have some unexpected insights based on an IT metaphor.

I was testing three operating systems (OpenSuse, Kubuntu, Vista) and a virtualisation tool.  It was glitching at the multiboot setup – wanting the option of choosing which OS to boot but giving Vista the impression it was exclusive.  While skirting the bounds of good IT practice the Windows recovery option, skipped a step and then another and started to wipe the drive …

I stopped it, but too late.  The partition table was gone.  Now, I could spend a tediaous day manually discovering the partition table (guessed from my knowledge of teh approximate partitioning) or start clean.  Which is what I did.

The reinstall was not painless, because Vista wants to take over the whole drive.  And after all three are installed, Vista is complaining again.  I’m deciding whether or not to scap MS for good.  Dad calls, and I was just telling him the story:

“Its so annoying – you’ve got this fancy user intyerface uphere, but at the bottom, at its foundation, its core its very primitive and its badly designed.  Its sitting on a weak foundation.  Now by Win7 they might have plastered over it enough, but I doubt it.

“The problem is that at teh very beginning it wants exclusivity and control – it takes control from the user.  (Remember the movie Tron?)  It asks a complicated question and wamnts a simple answer.  Its like it says, ‘what’s the meaning of life’ and expects the answer 1.  Any other answer is wrong and it takes over to make the answer 1.  The open system (linux distribution) doesn’t ask big picture questions; it would say would you like to erase your whole drive or not, and if you answer no, it would ask if you want to erase some of your drive, and then how much and where …

The IT metaphor is a metaphor for modern humanity.  We ask a big picture question and we want an easy answer.  “What is the meaning of life?”  Eat! Get rich!  Look fancy! are the answers we like, want and listen to.  We have little time for the right answer, the open answer – “it depends”.

So, for a fun, trouble free IT experience dump Windows, go open source.

And to find meaning in life, face up to difficult answers – “it depends”.

Accept that the answer might be 0 and you have to keep looking for 1.

from Linux Magazine.

I love the internet, mobile phones and technology that helps me stay in touch with people.

Living in a close community these technologies are almost redundant – you meet people all the time – at the shops, sports practice, the farm show and so on.  In fact some people hardly use them at all.  But if I want to stay in touch with my parents who are always travelling for the charity they work for, or my siblings who live abroad, or wider family and friends abroad that I see all too infrequently, or even colleagues, telephone, internet, etc are really great.  I can see them and they can see me – virtually.  This kind of engagement is really positive.

But when your only interaction with humanity is virtual you lose the richness of social dynamic.  You forget how to ride the waves of human emotion.  And if you’ve grown up with TV, video games, social networking etc but without the real pressures of making relationships work there is a good chance that your emotional development will be vacuous.  And that is what the research is showing.  So please get off the internet and go and try to make peace with someone in the flesh.  See your parents, brother, sister, friend and try to compromise.  It may not be as easy as clicking a few buttons on your computer or mobile phone, but it is real and it will help lift that depression.  Even if it makes you angry rather than happy, you won’t be despondent.

BBC: Young more lonely than the old, UK survey suggests

Well, you know I have a deep cynicism about Microsucks and Windoze, even if you haven’t read or heard it from me, the title gives it away.

So I was happy to see that some real people with real brains have created this page entitled Reasons To Avoid Microsoft.  The key/legend is fun before even reading some of the items:

And here’s an insight in to the fundamental problem with the Redmond approach (tip: it’s not about money):

There are advantages to openness per se, though not the one most often cited. Open source developers have got to be more careful and security-conscious than their closed-source counterparts. This encourages a better product overall. There is a corresponding disadvantage in closed-source software: obscurity may inconvenience blackhats a bit and help limit the number of potential attackers, but it works only so long as obscurity is maintained. Secrecy can be useful, but it is a fragile defense. Once the code is released, the software becomes an easier target than it once had been; but because it was developed with the assumption that it would not be released, it is likely to be sloppier and easier to exploit than [Open Source code].

Here’s a good primer on computer security.

While doing some background reading on transcoding I came across this page titled Computers but giving a pretty accurate description of a so called non-hardcore nerd.  It is very familiar.  So I must confess to being one.

This is the paragraph that clinched it:

… we non-hardcore nerds do have something very important in common with the hardcore nerds: we all believe that it is important to understand how things work, and when the opportunity arises, to make them work better. We are all uneasy at the thought that many non-nerds are willing to let other people figure these things out. We don’t feel comfortable not knowing how our computers work. This is why, for example, so many nerds, hardcore and non, are uncomfortable with Windows as an operating system. The idea that Microsoft knows better than anyone else how to write an operating system, and that it is OK for them to keep all the details secret because they have this great knowledge, to a nerd is patently ridiculous. Not only is it obvious to practically all Windows users that Windows has plenty of bugs (if you doubt this, surf the Microsoft Windows Update site sometime and count the number of patches released), but it is equally obvious to practically all nerds that Windows has plenty of flaws even when it is working properly. For example: do you ever wonder why Windows is the only operating system for which anti-virus software is a major piece of the market? Ever wonder why all of the big virus attacks that have made national or international headlines have exploited security flaws in Microsoft programs? (Hint: It’s not because all operating systems and software are inherently vulnerable to viruses. *)

If you’re on a computer or phone you already believe it.  A study now gives evidence that technology increases happiness.  The main benefit is to facilitate communication.  This can be especially beneficial in both rural societies where people live are dispersed and getting in touch with your neighbour/community etc can mean a long walk/drive, and urban societies where people don’t know their neighbours but have friends elsewhere in the city.

Chartered Institute of IT: The Information Dividend: Can IT make you ‘happier’?

BBC: Technology linked to happiness, study claims

BBC: Celebrity tweets ‘show happiness’

One of the leading web hosting companies, Bluehost, has pulled the plug on Microsoft because it is too insecure and unstable.  “We can’t tolerate Windows anymore. It is simply too high a risk. It is UNSECURABLE.” Below is the Bluehost CEO blog discussing the decision.

Microsoft – So long my friend…

As many of you know I haven’t been the biggest Microsoft supporter Its been a really bumpy road using Microsoft products over the past 20 years. The consistently buggy software, and the security nightmare that is Windows/Internet Explorer is so flawed that I don’t think its possible to “fix” at this point without a fundamental change to the lowest levels of the OS.

It is sad news.  The internet is facilitating trade in endangered species.  I like the internet and I like nature, so it is painful to see that headline.

Of course, the internet, like money, is not evil, but can be used for evil as well as for good.  It reflects the values of the people that use it.  Overall the internet will promote positive values because it liberates information and communication.  And it lowers transaction costs.  Whether the behaviour of people trading endangered species changes may be influenced by the internet too, unfortunately even wealthy educated people often behave in a primitive way.  The sooner social leaders set the right example, the sooner behaviour will improve.

So, I finally bit the bullet and installed OSS 11.2 which uses KDE4 rather than KDE 3.5.  It was a bit of a learning curve, but so far I like it.

I had to make sure I had all the package repositories necessary, including compiz and skype supporting libraries, which are not in the community list, but easily accessible from opensuse.com.

It took a couple of days to get used to the new desktop with plasma widgets.  But they are quick, handy, stable and look good.

The other issue was setting up my mice – I use the touchpad right-handed and the external (wireless) mouse left handed and switch between them depending on whether I’m at my desk or on the road.  Previously with Sax2 there was a configuration module for mice, but not any more because now mice automatically configure, but its difficult to differentiate settings.  I had to fiddle a bit and used this guide to remap the mouse buttons on the external mouse.

All in all an improvement and a fairly manageable learning curve.  I would have had to switch to KD4 eventually and the transition was fairly painless and offers an enhanced desktop.  Probably easier than moving from Doze Vista to 7 and done at my choice.  (I also installed gnome and have played on that desktop a bit, but I still prefer KDE for configurability, and now even looks are sexier.)  Yes, I like it.

Thanks to linux programmers, hackers and users for making open computing the best experience.

See how it looks … A little flash of the desktop.