Time for an overhaul...
10 weeks since my last post, and there hasn't been much to tell. Except that I'm currently making major overhauls in several sectors, and decided to extend it to this blog also. Details can be found below.
Also, I am moving out in a month, and if those of my friends who read this would like to ease my burden, you could borrow a couple of shelf metres of books. The topics range from mundane to the obscure, so give me a call and ask what I have here :)
Now, to the overhauls. First, the moving I already mentioned. Second, this blog. I decided, for now, to change to the 'plus' account in order to more freely customise the outlook of this page. This means there will be advertisements. If they prove to be too annoying, I'll change things back the way they were. Let's call this an experiment.
Also, I'm planning to set up a server of my own, and move this blow over to there. I'm still undecided on both the hard- and the software, especially when it comes to the content management systems. The hardware could be something based on Intel Atom, or on their older D201GLY2 motherboard, which can be bought for less than 60€. Add in some memory, a CompactFlash card for a hard drive, and an old PSU from my pile of leftover hardware and we have a low-cost, low-energy consumption system, which should be more than adequate for my needs.
The third overhaul is to get rid of Windows. There is something wrong if the operating system renders itself sluggish in a year, with the system running on a dual-core processor no less. Part of the problem comes from the fragmented hard drive partition, admittedly, but there were so many other irks an quirks Windows XP had that made me decide it was time to look for something else. And switching to Vista was a foreboding thought. So I decided to test the latest release of Kubuntu, and to my surprise, it worked. Yes there was a minor hardware problem, the same that had haunted me when I tested the previous versions. Apparently there is something odd with my motherboard, and needed to add 'irqpoll' to the kernel options. After that it's been a breeze. Even those peripherals that gave me gray hairs due to constant BSODs work out-of-the-box. And there is more eye candy than Vista, or OS X can offer :D The only complaint I have is that I couldn't get the video driver to use 1280*960@85Hz resolution I've grown used to, but the alternatives are more than adequate.
The main reason I had stuck with Windows was the foobar2000 media player, the best I've used and only available for, you guessed it, Windows. But using Wine and these instructions, I didn't have to look for an alternative.
Oh yeah, late one night Minerva (the Roman goddess of poets and stuff) passed by and gave me a terrific idea. And so I have a new writing project going on. Too early to tell anything specific of it, but it will involve many layers of narration and some literary twists that will make you gasp. So wait for it :)
Also, I am moving out in a month, and if those of my friends who read this would like to ease my burden, you could borrow a couple of shelf metres of books. The topics range from mundane to the obscure, so give me a call and ask what I have here :)
Now, to the overhauls. First, the moving I already mentioned. Second, this blog. I decided, for now, to change to the 'plus' account in order to more freely customise the outlook of this page. This means there will be advertisements. If they prove to be too annoying, I'll change things back the way they were. Let's call this an experiment.
Also, I'm planning to set up a server of my own, and move this blow over to there. I'm still undecided on both the hard- and the software, especially when it comes to the content management systems. The hardware could be something based on Intel Atom, or on their older D201GLY2 motherboard, which can be bought for less than 60€. Add in some memory, a CompactFlash card for a hard drive, and an old PSU from my pile of leftover hardware and we have a low-cost, low-energy consumption system, which should be more than adequate for my needs.
The third overhaul is to get rid of Windows. There is something wrong if the operating system renders itself sluggish in a year, with the system running on a dual-core processor no less. Part of the problem comes from the fragmented hard drive partition, admittedly, but there were so many other irks an quirks Windows XP had that made me decide it was time to look for something else. And switching to Vista was a foreboding thought. So I decided to test the latest release of Kubuntu, and to my surprise, it worked. Yes there was a minor hardware problem, the same that had haunted me when I tested the previous versions. Apparently there is something odd with my motherboard, and needed to add 'irqpoll' to the kernel options. After that it's been a breeze. Even those peripherals that gave me gray hairs due to constant BSODs work out-of-the-box. And there is more eye candy than Vista, or OS X can offer :D The only complaint I have is that I couldn't get the video driver to use 1280*960@85Hz resolution I've grown used to, but the alternatives are more than adequate.
The main reason I had stuck with Windows was the foobar2000 media player, the best I've used and only available for, you guessed it, Windows. But using Wine and these instructions, I didn't have to look for an alternative.
Oh yeah, late one night Minerva (the Roman goddess of poets and stuff) passed by and gave me a terrific idea. And so I have a new writing project going on. Too early to tell anything specific of it, but it will involve many layers of narration and some literary twists that will make you gasp. So wait for it :)