Category: GNU/Linux

Dapper Drake Ubuntu

Yesterday, I tried to update to Dapper Drake Ubuntu using apt-get dist-upgrade but encountered sufficent problems (couldn’t get xorg to run) that I fell back on doing a clean install from CD instead. Dapper Drake is still in testing, but seems solid enough now that I have it running.

Adding Additional Hard Drives in Linux

Despite having used Linux as my primary operating system for two and a half years, I have never been completely comfortable with the idea of adding a new fixed disk to a system. Jack added a new IDE drive to his desktop, and after reading the tutorial which starts at The Theory Behind Hard Drive Management, I was able to partition and format it, and actually feel as though I knew what I was doing.

Ubuntu 5.10

Yesterday, I installed Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger) to my desktop. I had upgraded via a dist-upgrade last week, but decided to do a clean install do get rid of the cruft that I seem to accumulate on my PC as easily as breathing.

The install went smoothly, except for having to re-enter my POP and SMTP information into Evolution, which I use for mail.

Kodak EasyShare DX7590 Zoom

Here is a review of my new Kodak EasyShare DX7590 Zoom camera, which is an early birthday present from Jack. It has lots more features than my DX3900, but the most important one to me is the 10x optical zoom. I was sad when I couldn’t find it on the list of gphoto (used as a driver by gthumb Linux photo software) supported cameras. However, it finally occurred to me to check dmesg, which usually reports whether Linux is “seeing” a USB device that has just been plugged in. When I didn’t see any messages for my camera, I checked and found that I hadn’t seated the USB cable properly to the docking station. The next time I attempted to access my new camera via gthumb, it was recognized as a USB PTB Class Camera and I was able to download my test photos.

So far, the only downside of my new camera versus my old camera is that most of the surface of the camera is filled with the controls, back LCD and lens. I am used to holding my old camera with my left hand and adjusting the controls with my right hand, and the new camera has to be held with the right hand. I imagine I will adjust.

Trickle Down Palm

Last week, my sister wrote and asked if I wanted her Tungsten T3 Palm, which had been superseded by a machine one of her clients had given her. Since I guessed the T3 would be miles better than my ancient Palm III, not to mention being in color instead of green and black, I wrote back “Yes!” My sister is one of those incredibly organized types who mails the same day she promises to do something, so it was delivered today.

I used the Palm OS Desktop HOWTO to find out how to sync the a USB Palm to my Linux desktop. It is much quicker than the serial sync process I was used to: in fact, I thought at first the sync must have failed it took so little time.

I was hoping that the screen of the T3 would be easier on my middle-aged eyes, and it is. I was also delighted to see what Bejeweled looks like in color, as I was not sure if my registered copy would install on the T3. Bejeweled comes in very hand when I am stuck waiting for the train to pass, or am standing in a long line at the store.

Too Much Data?

I’ve hankered after a DVD burner for some time. Sunday, Jack installed one in my PC that he had ordered for me as a surprise. I burned a CD using it right away, but had to wait to test out the DVD burning until I picked up some DVD-Rs, which I did yesterday.

Since I was already used to using the K3b application to burn CDs, I was pleased to find that the process was exactly the same to burn DVDs: it just took longer. I usually expect to burn a CD in four or five minutes, and the DVD took about fourteen minutes. What surprised me was how much stuff I have in my /home directory. (For non-Linux users, the /home directory is where all the user files go.) I had more than would fit in 4.2 Gigabytes, which is the amount a DVD will hold. After a little trimming, I was able to back up all my music and digital photo files, as well as my spreadsheets and text files. It just astonishes me that I need a DVD to back up my important files when I can remember the days when all of my data would fit on a 20 meg fixed drive. You know, back when we were using carrier pigeons to exchange email.

Workrave-Self Help for RSI

The past few days, I have been trying out a program called WorkRave. This program monitors activity on your desktop in an attempt to prevent RSI problems. It has a set of three timers. One timer reminders you to take a short break every ten minutes or so. The second time reminds you to take a longer break every forty-five minutes or so and move away from you computer. The third keeps track of the amount of total time spent on the computer. Each of the times is configurable. The program includes a set of exercises to do at the start of the longer breaks. There is a Windows version (which I haven’t tried) as well as a Linux version.