The Scrapbook: April 2009

Monday 27 April 2009

Friday evening: OK it was my fault! There I've said it and its true. I broke one of the rules for Ubuntu Linux which basically said "Thou shalt not use the upgrade feature in Synaptic." The rule is download the live CD run; see that everything works and then install the OS as a fresh install to the hardware.

But for reasons best known to a slightly bored Linux fan on a Friday morning I decided that the best way to upgrade my perfectly workable Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Long term support) install was to use the Synaptic function to first upgrade to the next version 8.10 and from there to 9.04 (For those wondering about the numbering scheme in use here, the first digit is the year of release and the digits after the decimal point are the month of release. Ubuntu releases two version year one in April and one in October.)

The reason for using the live CD rather than the upgrade is that this reduces the chances of something going wrong, Linux is a tapestry of applications and scripts and its all too easy for the upgrade make a mess of one or other of the many dependencies - using the live CD means you can have a good look at what you have on-screen, before you install. If everything works, you are good to go and if there is a problem, take out the CD and its back to the original OS with no problems.

All of which I happily ignored in my quest to have Ubuntu 9.04 on my desktop.

8.10

The first shock was that the upgrade was a full gigabyte of data! This is about 400mb larger than the Live CD and should have warned that the was going to be trouble ahead. It would have been quicker to go the Live CD route and by this stage it was pure laziness that was keeping me from backing up essential data and doing the job properly.

Saturday afternoon: Upgrading took the better part of the night and installing the resultant download the better part of the morning. By now there was a little voice in the back of my head shouting "Stop now, there is still time! Stop!" But the same dynamic that would alway cause me to, when lost, "go just a little further" rather than ask directions, impelled me onwards.

Ubuntu 8.10 looked nice but I had heard on the internet forums that it wasn't a significant step up from the previous release so I ignored it completely and like HG Wells' time traveller propelled myself every forward.

Upgrade manager in Synaptic announced that the next upgrade would be - yes, you guessed it, a gigbyte and I had a pretty good idea that it would need another day to download and install. Commonsense would have had me back out at this point and reinstall my trusty copy of 8.04, but no working on the "just a little further" principle I started the next download...

9.04

Sunday morning: I finally had 9.10 on the desktop and glazed at its pristine beauty, it looked lovely and moved with all the speed and grace of Titanic avoiding a iceberg! I quickly that it was significantly less than fast. It may have been touted as "Jaunty Jackelope" but was like "Silicon Sloth" on my hardware. Note to the Ubuntu fan club out there, I am sure that installed on a Live CD and not hamstrung by two gigs of upgrade data it would have been a lot more speedy. It may have even run the .swf applications on my website which despite considerable time on Google and a not small amount of hair pulling I could not get it to do.

One thing it did seem to do well was detect my hardware and just for once I found myself with a half way decent screen resolution. This has been a big issue for me since moving from my old CRT monitor to my TFT. For a more than decent OS I was puzzled as to why a problem with the display could only be resolved by manually editing the xorg.conf file, something calculated to put off all but the most hardened Linux fanatic. Unable to understand the way the file was put together, despite reading copious internet articles, I cheated by copying a workable config file and saving it, reasoning if it worked one time it should work another. Hmmm....?

Sunday afternoon: A couple of hours in the company of the Jackelope convinced me that, while it was probably a great OS, the way I had installed it had borked my system to the point of complete instability. Since I had installed it on my work computer and the new working week was looming with all the appeal of a pasty-faced white contestant on "Britain's Got Sod All Talent" about to do a 50 Cent rap song, and because I could not read all the files on my own website, I decided to go back to Ubuntu 8.04 also known as the "Hardy Heron."

An interesting experiment, thinks I, and now back to my original install and all will be well.

8.04

Sunday evening: Oh..!

Getting the Heron back on my desktop was not difficult although somewhere along the line my back up of Thunderbird mail settings and data had been lost and I had to do the mail settings again. I was a bit annoyed about deleting the file but had been wise enough to forward all important emails to a Gmail account so I at least had a copy of anything I was likely to need. Trouble is, the screen resolution was 800x600, a setting so low as to be hardly usable, web pages zoomed off to the right and descended vertiginous downwards and my three pane email display squeezed the message into a space smaller than an estate agents' bijou residence. I hurriedly installed my config file for xorg and restarted.

Nothing...the screen was still at low resolution, Ubuntu offered to do something about this but various permutation of sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg and Nvidia front-ends did nothing to solve my problem. Hardware detection was known to be an issue with Ubuntu, but usually an edited xorg file sorted out the problem, this time I was firmly in the low resolution barely usable brown smelly stuff.

With the clock ticking and my stupidity coming back to taunt me, I rifled through my collection of LIve CDs and happened upon the latest version of Mandriva, Mandriva 2009, complete with plasmoid widgets and reputedly a look so geogorous that it has turned down proposals of marriage from numerous Linux fanboys and girls.

Mandriva 2009

Sunday night: Mandriva installed and set up and looking good... then looking difficult to configure, then looking broken and then very broken indeed..! What was going on here? Mandriva used the latest KDE interface and the simple fact appeared to be that it was broken, whether this was something I had done or some relationship between my hardware and KDE was unclear. I tried to add short cuts and move some icons around but found that KDE was not keen on me making any changes. Initially I assumed this was simply the way that KDE worked as opposed to Gnome, which I was more used to. On Google I found out that the whole desktop was actually a floating widget and I quickly concluded that the desktop was not all it might have been. Armed with a little info on Google I tried to get a half way decent desktop sorted out. But in short order I had managed to bork the desktop to the point where I could no longer login on any graphical interface.

It was time for a rethink....

I was impressed that aside from the dodgy desktop, Mandriva looked pretty good, it detected hardware with no problem and had it not been for the plasmoid widgets fouling things up, was an OS I might have stayed with. As it was with time pressing I simply did not have time to try and get it all to operate. I needed something that would work "out of the box" as they say and with even trusty Ubuntu unable to detect my monitor I had to come up with another option.

PCLinuxOS

Sunday evening + 2 large coffees: I had started my Linux voyage with PCLinuxOS but move to Ubuntu when it became clear that it would be better able to handle wireless - a function I needed at the time. I had a copy of the latest version so it went into the CD drawer and I rebooted one more time.

Sunday evening + 3 large coffees: PCLOS appeared and offered me the chance to install, I clicked the appropriate icon and answered the questions and in fairly short order had the OS on the desktop. I started to configure. First thing was Firefox, I had a list of addons for the fox and the first one to install was Foxmarks (Also called X-marks) here I stored all my booksmarks and with those back I could get the rest of my desktop organised. Having earlier lost my Thunderbird data I had to do that by hand, but if I had retained the file it would have been a simple matter to copy into the ./thunderbird folder hidden in my home file. PCLOS is a KDE desktop but did not seem to have the plasmoid problems that Mandriva experienced.

Monday morning: I warmed to PLCLOS pretty quickly, it does indeed do what it says on the packet. By the morning everything up and working and I have to say I am pretty pleased with what I see. Eye candy is Compiz and looks rather better than its Ubuntu cousin. Hardware was, needless to say, detected with no problems. I plugged in a wireless dongle and it was detected, I could connect with no problems. Open Office, Amorak, Kompete and Thunderbird all worked perfectly. I have been using for about six hours now and so far the smile has not faded from my face. Its easy to use, works well and looks lovely. I would definitely recommend it for new and experienced users alike, especially since its saved my bacon

Thursday 23 April 2009

Webmail and I!

Image via CrunchBase

There are two ways to handle your email, the first in using POP3/IMAP with an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird. You set up your accounts and download your messages. Read, reply and save or delete as appropriate. Email clients were around when accessing the internet was slow and expensive and one of the things they could do was enable you to download your mail, go off line, reply and then go online once to send the replies. Webmail differs from this in that all the work is done online,(Although Google gears has recently made offline Gmail and calendars possible.) you don't need an email client just a moderate speed connection to the internet and a subscription to one of the webmail providers but like so many thing, not all webmail was created equal. So here's a brief review of the big three. Gmail, Yahoo, and Windows Live Hotmail.

All comments are my own and do not reflect the views of any other organization or person...(honest!)

Gmail
Gmail is an offering from the Google group and in my opinion provides some of the best email organization on the internet. Their pride and joy feature is the interface. Instead of having a threaded list of back and forth emails between you and a friend Messages can be places into labels (folders), started, deleted or forwarded as needed.

Gmail also has integrated IM in the form of G-talk in the GMail interface, and continues to add other functionality as well (such as integration with Docs & Spreadsheets). Gmail is also consistently fast, offering the most storage and free POP-in and POP-out, meaning you can use Gmail to access your other email accounts, or access GMail from whatever email client you use. I tend to forward all my POP email to my Gmail account so that I have a copy of mails when I am on the move. Much quicker than copying folders to my laptop.

Google's security includes spam, virus and phishing protection. All spam is filtered into a spam folder that allows you to separate the good from the bad, all incoming and outgoing messages are scanned for known viruses, and suspicious messages that look like phishing scams are flagged with a big red banner across the top of the message. In the last month my Gmail account has caught more than 300 spam messages and not having to deal with these manually is very useful. Checks on the spam box also show that little or now wanted message find there way in there, another big plus in my book. Gmail lets you report both spam and phishing attempts to Google.

One contentious issue with Gmail is that they do place subtle ads based on the text of your emails on the right hand side of the page, this has lead to complains about the security of the message. Google insists human eyes never see your messages and the work is done by bots that scan the email; however, if you feel uncomfortable with this arrangement consider one of the other providers.

Gmail leads the pack when it comes to additional mail/message features and extras. Gmail was the only service of the three that included an instant messenger program without an additional download. If one of your contacts is signed into their account, you can chat with them. If you both have webcams, Gmail is equipped with video chat software too. With Gmail's docs and spreadsheet feature allows you to post an editable document or spreadsheet online and access it from anywhere, similar to online storage. This feature is great for group projects at school or work, where all members of the team can access the same material. Gmail is also available in dozens of languages from Arabic to Vietnamese.

Gmail provides a plethora of extras. Looks out for Picasa for photos, the calendar for scheduling and the iGoogle customizable homepage with personal tabs and literally hundreds of widgets.

Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Mail is our second test, older than Gmail it has recently been completely revamped with a new UI allowing users to access other email accounts but only some POP features are only available on the paid account for a fee. Storage is on the low side - only 1 GB, which is much less than Gmail offers.

On the upside, Yahoo Mail offers an intuitive, Outlook-like interface. Instant Messaging and RSS integration is available. One slight problem I found with Yahoo is that despite being on Firefox platform, as a Linux user, Yahoo reported that it had not been tested on my system and offered me the classic Yahoo look, there didn't seem to be a way avoid this notification every visit.

Messages can be sorted by all manner of criteria. These include unread, sender, date, size and so on, while searching through your Inbox simply requires you to enter a few keywords. Emails can be flagged for follow-up and you can create filters and folders to help keep everything organised.

Junk Mail is handled well, I checked my account before starting this article and since the last visit – about three days ago, Yahoo had caught 80 spam messages and not unwanted had managed to sneak through. Anything that gets through is easily banished by selecting it and clicking the Spam button.

Windows Live Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail gives you 5 GB (and growing) of online storage, fast search, solid security, POP access and an interface easy as a desktop email program. When it comes to organizing mail, Windows Live Hotmail does not go beyond folders (to saved searches and tags, for example), its spam filter could be more effective, and IMAP access to all online folders would be nice. You can send from other email addresses using Windows Live Hotmail and includes fast search and it accessible via POP in any email program . On the downside it lacks virtual folders and tags for message organization. No IMAP access is available at the moment. One nice feature which will keep your spam content down is the ability to accept mail only from people in your address book. In addition Hotmail does not automatically download images from unauthorized senders, which is a very useful feature in avoiding viruses. A reading pane, drag-and-drop ease and rich text editing lend Windows Live Hotmail a desktop-like handling. You can set up additional addresses to use in the From: line of mail you send with Windows Live Hotmail. MSN also provides access using various browsers and mobile devices.

However, while technically good, actual operation is less impressive, pages were slow to load and operation felt clunky, especially if you were not using Internet Explorer on a Windows XP/Vista platform. The standard spam filter could do with some improvement. You can report spam easily using a "Junk" button, but that does not seem to have much of an effect and spam in my inbox remained as frequent as always no matter what I did.

Calendar integration is a little odd and not connected to the rest of the functions, which is a shame. One user wrote: "I've been using windows live or MSN or Hotmail for years. Although parts of the mail service have improved, other parts fail. Because its free, they are now adding adds in the email pages. I get a lot of junk mail and take the time to block each one, yet they still appear in my inbox. One such spam will automatically launch a fake anti-virus scanner when I try to delete the message. I'm fed up and changing my email to Gmail. I do NOT recommend Windows live unless you can find a way to block the SPAM yourself, because windows live doesn't."

Other users reported problems with Hotmail and their hardware, now to be fair, this may not be the fault of MSN – another reviewer commented "I can't get Hotmail email to come up on my computer ... I only get error on page. I can't even find out how to contact them to send them an email about the problem. If you're considering a Hotmail email account, forget it and move on ... your stress level will thank you."

Results.
And the winner is....Gmail, at least for now its the winner. Yahoo is snapping at its heels in terms of functionality. The ability to find any mail using Google's search function is a big plus and if you use the label feature – which takes a little getting used to – you can reference emails easily, copy to multiple labels and find your message with a couple of words in the search panel!

Coming in second Live Mail would still need to seem some work, but on the plus side the UI is uncluttered and clean where it falls down for this reviewer is the integration with the rest of the Live suite. This is fine if you want it, but if all you are looking for a quick and simple email client, the extras can get annoying. For myself I would actually rate Hotmail higher than Yahoo simply because the interface is more streamlined, but some of the adverse comments from users are worth taking on board.

Yahoo mail while being good has a UI which is a little cluttered and not as well implemented as the Google version but it may suit others. I found it a sluggish and slow to respond. All three do what they say on the tin, but Gmail and Hotmail do it a little more elegantly.

So if you want a webmail client, consider Gmail as your first point of call, chances are you will want to use one of the other Google features at some time, so you may as well jump onboard.

See you in the virtual world folks...

Tuesday 7 April 2009

St Leonards Land

Image by AndyWilson via Flickr

Probably the best thing you can say about St Leonard's on Sea, the poorer cousin of the less than properous, Hastings, is that there is always something happening. Of course whether you want that something to be happening is another matter. St Leonard's often gives the impression that it has just finished playing host to some pop concert or other and the audience is making its way home encouraged by the local police.

Technically, you are not allowed to drink on the street, but that doesn't stop the small legion of thin, dishevelled men and worried looking women from attempting what I have come to call 'The St Leonard's Legerdemain' a sleight of hand trick that holds the can in a cupped hand supposedly hidden from view by the wrist and arm. As a way of keeping the can out of the sight of the local constabulary it is hampered a little by the appearance of the would be alcoholic magician giving the faint impression that they have suffered a slight stroke.

Right now extensive and seemingly overlapping road works mean that the main part of the town gives the impression that its actually still under construction. Even the alcoholics a

Image by Joffley via Flickr

nd junkies have been moved to find quieter and more convivial spots to abuse themselves.

Odd then that despite all this I find it oddly stimulating to live here. There is nearly always something to amuse, or at times to worry. The ethnic mix is never dull with the chance to learn swear words in half a dozen middle European languages. Odd then that although Hastings is a bare mile away, probably less in terms of the official distance, it could be another country at times. It combines a strange and almost schizophrenic combination of poverty and affluence with owned three storey houses rubbing shoulders with the broken windows and moss infected guttering of the rented accommodation. Volvos sit uncomfortably close to rust coated bicycles of uncertain parentage and the tattooed and paint bespattered creatures of the night find themselves vying with the commuter for the contents of the local bizarre.

Not so much a melting pot, more an attempt at cultural arson.

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