Going Open Source

So I finally found the nerve to uninstall MS Office 2000, which I have faithfully relied upon for 5 years for my letters, spreadsheets and database needs. I've never really had the money to keep current with MS Office versions, and never really had the need either, but Office has now moved on a bit, it was crunch time. Lately I've been on a sharp Unix learning curve, for work, which inspired me to install Linux on my 'puter duel booted with Windows XP. Later I decided to revamp an old laptop with Linux and it's worked quite well. It was during this I discovered the beauty that is Open Source (free). I also came across OpenOffice.org. I have now decided to become an Open Source Evangelist and broadcast the deep joy in my heart that it has brought. For almost every copy of proprietary software out there, there is an open source alternative, so I've decided to list a few that I have been using for a couple of months now. I can say, with the exception of being on a Vista operating system, I am probably using 60% Open Source software. I encourage you to join the revolution: Product: Microsft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook) Open Source Alternative: OpenOffice.org (Writer, Math, Calc, Impress + Draw and Math) Opens most MS Office documents without problems, doesn't include an email/organiser but that can be solved with Thunderbird. Also allows you to create PDF files. The only thing I find problematic is converting my MS Access DB', I may have to re-install Access 2000 or invest in the latest one, however I have not needed to use mdb files in my latest job. Product: Internet Explorer Open Source Alternative: Firefox Think this one does probably doesn't need explaining but for those of you still using IE, all I have to ask is... why? Firefox beats IE hands down and not just with its themes. Firefox allows you to add extensions that can perform any of IEs functions and more. Currently the extensions that I recommend are: PDF Download, Save as Image (allows you to capture part of the page you are viewing), Web Developer, Firebug (detailed source view), Adblock Plus and Tabmix plus (undo/list closed tabs) to name a few. I also find as a blogger/web developer Firefox shows you the page as your HTML is written (mistakes are shown), whereas IE is really good at reading the HTML and then correcting small mistakes, so unless you read through your code, you don't notice them or realise you've done it wrong. Product: MS Outlook/Outlook Express Open Source Alternative: Thunderbird/Sunbird At first I had reservations switching from Outlook. This is a difficult one to beat. I had it syncing with my Orange SPV mobile, as well as my contacts, emails and calendar in one place. When I first installed Thunderbird last year, it didn't have a calendar function, I have no idea if it syncs with mobiles and when I tried to import my Outlook emails (I have kept most since 1999), it crashed about halfway (solved by importing seperate folders and smaller sets). Nevertheless I really wanted to move to Thunderbird for the uber-coolness. A few months later they solved the callender problem with Sunbird, and after that, a plug-in extension for calender functions in Thunderbird, brilliant! Product: Paint (installed with Windows) Open Source Alternative: Paint.net A great alternative to Windows standard bitmap editing program. This allows you to do much more editing functions, check out the banner for Dark Side of the Light, which I did using Paint.net and Photo Impact (not open source). Product: Winzip Open Source Alternative: 7zip I downloaded this last week before I installed Vista. Winzip have now stopped allowing their software to work after the 'trial period', so you can no longer abuse their trust. 7zip has more functions than Winzip, including the ability to split volumes, allowing you to move the volumes to CD or DVD later. Product: Windows Media Player Open Source Alternatives: DivX/VLC/Winamp I started to find that Media Player is a huge CPU junkie and was slowing down my other 'puter tasks to a grinding halt on some occasions. Not only that, it seems to always want to connect to the internet for a licence here, a codec there. I found a great no-nonsense, no thrills, just-play-the-damn-thing player to be DivX. It does basically what it says on the can, plays your AVI and MPG files. In the even that DivX can't play a file or sound, you can try downloading additional codecs, or use VLC, which will play absolutely anything. It's not as glamerous, and has lot's of little tweaks and settings that you probably won't need to use. For music, it has to be Winamp, which will just play your music, allows you to sort and rate as well has having visualizations which don't judder. Product: Frontpage Open Source Alternative: Nvu This is a great lightweight web developer for those who know a bit of html, xml or css, but find themselves either too lazy or short on time. I used it to put together some of the pages on this website (which still looks a bit lame, I know but I intend to make further changes). If you want a straight up text editor try PSPad, which allows you to write/edit documents in a variety of languages with usefull editing tools and even a preview function for webpages. Those are just some of the software replacements I have installed, I do have some semi-open source or free software (as part of other hardware/software bought), but from now on, it's Open Source all the way. There are not always going to be appropriate or as versatile alternatives to what you can buy off the shelf, but for most general computer and office tasks there is are many that will do as good as, or better, and there's usually a community or good support behind it. It's just a case of googling "open source".

Mission Accomplished?

Source: Tell us the MISSION Referral: Osterley Times

Xubuntu...

Is what I went with in the end. I am now posting this from my 266mhz, 64mb ram Laptop with Xubuntu installed... it's a Xubuntop! I actually had it up and running with the wireless last week but I found the OS just a tad slow to respond, as well as surfing. I then de-installed it and tried Vector Linux (also based on XFCE) which was reasonable speed at performing tasks on the desktop, but once I got the wireless going and onto Firefox the thing fell over. Xubuntu runs Firefox, but as I type the letters take half a second to appear onscreen. I still may go back and test Damn Small Linux, I also downloaded some over ISO distributions I will try soon. I currently have no sound, the software updates take hours to download, indeed the Xubuntop itself took over 10 hours to install. But in the end the wireless is actually easy to install since Xubuntu has the drivers for my card (Netgear MA521). Video and even YouTube is a no go. I could do it but I'm not going to attempt to add pictures to this post. But it will be useful for the odd game (I intend to download Pingus) and for some lightweight blogging. No links in this post, sorry but once again it would take me a while to load web pages! Just highlight any of the words and right-click, select google "..." to search for it (don't know if that works in IE). Xubuntu is a version of Linux and open source ('freeware' for you who are still hooked up to Microsoft), I'll be doing a follow up post on my move to open source software soon, and how I almost ditched Vista for a Linux OS on my main PC! Unfortunately I shall be remaining with Vista for now (it was a free upgrade) but again, I can't recommend this enough, if you have any one these below, step out of the boat and go for Linux: A slightly older machine that could not support Vista Can't afford or refuse to pay the high cost for Vista Desire to cut dependency on Microsoft Want to get your hands on tons of free, secure and up to date software A system that doesn't crash or hit you with the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) every now and then. And If you want to try an alternative to MS (and wanting to avoiding Mac), but are still unsure of Linux and how it all works. Don't be afraid, there are Thousands of helpful people out there on the forums, hundreds of different brands of Linux for different levels of knowledge and experience I recommend Ubuntu as it comes with lots of drivers and software pre-installed, lots of Microsoft Asylum seekers are switching to it and raving about it. It has great support forums.

Hiatus

I haven't been blogging for a while. The truth is I've been trying out different versions of Linux on an old Compaq Presario. Specs: 64mb Ram (feel the speed!) 4.1gb hdd 266mhz P2 with MMX Whopping 800x600 screen resolution! So I've tried Damn Small Linux, Damn Small Linux-Not, Vector Linux and now Xubuntu- all which have worked (Xubuntu being slightly sluggish). I also tried a couple of Puppy Linux versions and Debian but I couldn't get the GUI to boot despite googling forums. The main problem I have on all of these flavours is to get my old Netgear MA521 wireless card to work. There are 2 ways of doing it, with Netgears driver and with the source files from Realtek, but so far I've failed on both, there are different problems with each OS I use. (If anyone has any suggestions- either a Linux OS or Netgear solution, please email me or leave comments- thanks!) Still it's fun to learn. If you have an old computer, I highly recommend injecting some new life with a low ram Linux alternative. There are little or no copyright laws to worry about, and lots of free support forums with people willing to answer your newbie questions. This blog shall be on hiatus until I can get the damn Netgear card to work, then I shall signify my victory by blogging a post from my new (old) Linux laptop.

Howard Opens His Mouth, We All Have To Smell It

Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard is considering banning individuals with HIV from Australia, saying they should not be allowed into the country. Good call Mr Howard, because, you know, anyone with HIV must be a raving, sex maniac desperate to screw anything that moves. Actually, I'll support his stance as long as he promises to take back all the Australians that have invaded Londonland, and promises not to let himself or any other Australians, HIV or otherwise, out of Australia. Nice one.

How to be Pro-Life and Pro-Choice

Image Source: Abort73.com As a Christian, I believe that scientifically, life starts at conception. In fact I kind of believe that life doesn't start there, since the tissue is always 'alive' though egg and sperm are separate. But of course I have trouble with that theory, since, if you follow it to it's logical conclusion then you're basically committing genocide every time you spank the monkey. So then I kind of also think that life starts not just with the biological, but the soul. Since I believe the soul does not end with death, then why should the soul simply start with conceived life? Indeed, the bible itself testifies the fact that "Long before [God] laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind..." (Eph 1:4 Message). So it seems to me that our bodies are just a temporary vessel, condemned to death, but we are not without hope of eternal life. I guess this puts me slightly in the 'pro-choice' camp. However, I have given this a lot of thought and I've come up with a solution to the whole debate, as well as getting around the controversy over the age of the fetus. It's simple. If a woman is considering an abortion, give her the option to wait until the fetus is born, then she can be free to decide if she still wants to abort. They could extend this to maybe 5 years after birth, just in case it doesn't work out with the fetus. By the way, no apologies for the image. Reality is often sick, and the truth can be pretty ugly.

Captive Audience

I haven't said anything on the 15 British sailors who were taken captive by Iran. It's pretty obvious it was a sick publicity stunt in order to goad the US and UK governments. Ahmadinejad has to know that Bliar is on his way out and holds little sway with the British public or even elements of his own party. It is hardly likely such a dubious case as made for the Iraq war could be made for Iran now without solid reasons. Regardless, it must be a harrowing experience to be taken captive as many former innocent Guantanamo Bay captives will tell you. But the most striking element of this media circus is how Iran has unwittingly or otherwise, proved that there is no need to use torture to extract the confessions you want- at least not when it comes to British soldier-sailors. Image: Beau Bo D'Or I had respect for them when they refused BA's complimentary champagne and for changing back into uniform once safely on the plane. Unfortunately they began to lose this respect as the truth emerged that they offered zero resistance to the Iranian authorities, going the extra mile for the Iranian propaganda machine and making money (with the exception of Captain Chris Air) from the experience when others who have gone through much worse situations have not. Which is why I find Inspector Gadgets opinion the most common sense and on-the-money, that I have read so far.

Housing Market Myths: House Prices Always Rise

Some months ago I posted my intentions to blog regarding the UK housing market. I will begin with addressing some of the myths that are commonly cited with absolutely no backing, usually by vested interests (VIs) and home owners. The First Myth: House Prices Always Rise This is usually the first one pulled out by those VIs who want to motivate you to stretch yourself to get on the first rung of the ladder. Statistics prove the exact opposite. Certain areas will rise and fall depending on age population, land value, attractiveness of the area and changes in infrastructure just to name a few. Below is a graph of average prices in the postcode area I currently live (edited to remove address details): And here is a more detailed graph for flats and semi-detached in the same road: Data: Yahoo House Prices I wanted to put detailed prices of individual properties but it was proving too much hassle to smudge the addresses in my imaging software. What the individual figures do show is people are not checking prices in the area and getting ripped off for similar properties. One example of this is: 103 My Street, 19 Jul 2002, Leasehold Flat, £174,950 100 My Street, 6 Sep 2002, Leasehold Flat, £100,000 That's almost £75k decrease in price of a similar property within 3 months! I just plucked this one example from the list with relative ease. I regularly find it happening in areas myself or family members living in different parts of the UK. I guarantee if you go to Our Property or Yahoo House Prices right now and enter your postcode you will find many examples in your own area. Historical data shows that house prices move in cycles and, while growing over the long term (along with inflation), that each 'boom' is followed by a 'bust'. Graph Source: Housepricecrash.co.uk (HPC), Nationwide data So what's my point- house prices are rising, right? At the moment yes, and it's good news if you bought your house anytime between 1995 and 2001, and especially if you intend to sell now, or live in it for another 10 years. However for those who have bought in recent years, it doesn't look as good, we are either at or nearing the top of a bubble which will not last. The problem comes down to something called negative equity, and those who have bought recently are going to experience what it feels like. Let's just say you buy a house which is currently valued at £200,000 with a mortgage of 90% at £180,000. If the price of the house goes up to, say, £220,000, then when it comes to selling you're £20k better off. But what if the price drops £20k? You now have a house that is worth £180,000 and you stand to lose you're original £20,000 deposit if you want to sell. Ouch! ...and we're only talking of a drop in value of 10%. Just look at the last crash on the graph- approximately 30% drop in 2 years. Why did this happen? Because demand dropped- first time buyers (FTBs) could no longer afford to buy. When this starts to happen, investors start to lose confidence, when that happens the bottom drops out of the market. This is basic economics. Take a look at this second graph, showing the price to earnings ratio of FTBs (courtesy of HPC): Yes we all know it but refuse to acknowledge it- FTBs are now currently borrowing up to 6 times there salary as opposed to the long-term average of 3.5. Sadly these people will be the hardest hit by negative equity and will have to sit it out a long time in their 2 bedroom flat while others are buying 4 bedroom houses for the same value. "But the government won't let it happen!" Unfortunately, the government has little control over house prices as they so far reluctant to regulate and enforce existing regulations on mortgage lenders or estate agents. Gordon Brown has sailed the wind of this boom, and tweaking the economy by keeping interest rates artificially low can only prolong the inevitable. For earnings to catch up with prices, interest rates must rise, and when this happens, it will all come tumbling down as people rush to sell, being unable to afford their mortgages. Finally, America's bubble has already started to deflate, which means Britain cannot be far behind. Perhaps the boom and bust cycle is best explained in the form of this rollercoaster simulation based on real US house price statistics by Speculative Bubble: Previous: The Next Housing Crash: Prelude Next: Myth: Low Interest Rates Means I Pay Less

How To Speak New Zealand

Continuing my trend of insulting other nationalities, say out loud for full effect. Milburn - capital of Victoria Peck - to fill a suitcase Pissed aside - chemical which kills insects Pigs - for hanging out washing with Pump - to act as agent for prostitute Pug - large animal with a curly tail Nin tin dough - games console Munner stroney - soup Min - male of the species Mess Kara - eye makeup McKennock - person who fixes cars Mere - Mayor Leather - foam produced from soap Lift - departed Kiri Pecker - famous Australian businessman Kittle crusps - potato chips Ken's - Cairns Jumbo - pet name for someone called Jim Jungle Bills - Christmas carol Inner me - enemy Guess - vapour Fush - marine creatures Fitter cheney - type of pasta Ever cardeau - avocado Fear hear - blonde Ear - mix of nitrogen and oxygen Ear roebucks - exercise at the gym Duffy cult - not easy Amejen - visualise Day old chuck - very young poultry Bug hut - popular recording Bun button - been bitten by insect Beard - a place to sleep Sucks Peck - Half a dozen beers Ear New Zulland - an extinct airline Beers - large savage animals found in U.S. forests Veerjun - mythical New Zealand maiden One Doze - well known operating system Brudge - structure spanning a stream Sex - one less than sivven Tin - one more than nine Iggs Ecktly - Precisely Earplane - large flying machine Beggage Chucken - place to leave your suitcase at the earport Sivven Sucks Sivven - large Boeing aircraft Sivven Four Sivven - larger Boeing aircraft Cuds - children Pits - domestic animals Cuttin - baby cat Munce - usually served on toast

Are You Aiding Criminal Activity?

Danny O'Brien of the Electronic Frontiers Foundation is giving a lecture "are you a Copyright Criminal"? Have you ever... ...watched a video clip on YouTube? ...recorded a TV show to watch later? ...viewed Facebook from a school machine? ...written fan fiction? ...forwarded an email without permission? ...posted anonymously on a discussion site? ...downloaded or edited a mash-up? ...transferred a DVD to watch on your iPod? ...made a parody of a corporate logo? Answer "yes", and somebody out there already thinks you're a criminal. And if it's not already illegal, they're out to ban it. - Danny O'Brien, Samara Lectures

Grave, Orwell, In, Turning, His, George

"On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move." - This Is London Referral: BoingBoing How ironic and sad. Welcome to modern Britain, where it is 1984.

Bremner, Bird, Bush, Blair and Fortune

A while back I posted the video of Blair's comic relief and hinted at a possible post-downing street career. Who would have thought his partner in TWAT (The War Against Terror) could the other half of a possible comic duo? To give credit to Bush, his self-depreciation is quite funny, his self-awareness is surprising and somewhat sad, considering what he could have achieved if he had used it to better himself. Referral: Iain Dale

Peaches

Peaches Geldof wrote an article for Guardian's Comment is Free the other day. Lot's of bloggers have already gone over this one so I won't comment, instead I want to share some of the comments others left for her: --- Dear Peaches, old fruit, May I ask whether it is the case that you currently live with your sister, your boyfried and your sandwich which looks like a dog? May I ask where your father is in all of this? He would do well to remember that charity begins at home. But back to your living arrangements: is this how the longer generation now lives? Or have I been temporarily sucked into a postmodern vortex not representative of wider Britain? Don't pay any attention to the windbags commenting above. It's envy - they didn't get too sleep with sandwiches when they were 18. Lots of love, mwah, mwah, Deepheat --- The Guardian - 1st for incisive cutting edge writing. Pah. An article on how teenagers blog about 3 years too late, written by someone who wants to be Britain's Paris Hilton. This is tabloid fodder stuff - Guardian. MUST DO BETTER. --- Dear The Guardian, Can I call you 'The'? I have some great ideas for some columns I was hoping to pitch. One is about the different types of wood smoke, another is about whether anyone actually *really* remembers the 80s. And a third is about a boy I know who jumped out of a tree. Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you require me to write these. Thanks. --- Talentless wannabes with famous last names being handed a sizeable chunk of public space though they have nothing to tell us other than that their dog shat on the carpet ... this *is* Victorian England all over again. --- Peaches: You will be pleased to know that I have just discovered that your dad did not actually say, as I had always thought, in his piece 'I don’t like Mondays': They can see no reasons 'Cause there are no reasons What reason do you need to be sure, to be sure, oh, oh, oh,? But in fact he stated: They can see no reasons 'Cause there are no reasons What reason do you need to be shown, oh, oh, oh,? Result. --- I thought it was alright, more articles about celebrity dogs shitting on carpets please ---

Rush Hour Delight

Considering current problems with infrastructure, costs, service levels, ticket prices and safety, what would be the effect if an extra 1 million people used public transport tomorrow instead of cars?

Big Brothers Charter

The American rhetorical right has published a new Big Brothers charter, and encouraging fellow fascists and Neo-Nazis to sign up to snoop on fellow citizens and report any behaviour which is deemed to be liberal or constitutional. The charge is being led by Michelle Maglalang (for it is she, beneficiary of being born under a work visa, being of Filipino immigrant descent). Here is a copy of the Big Brothers charter: Dear Suspect/Fellow Citizen/Liberal, You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours. I am Big Brother. I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on your lift. I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss. I am Big Brother. I will continue to exploit the example of the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be murdered in the name of Islam, to futher my politics of hate. I will never forget to exploit the example of the passengers and crew members who tackled al Qaeda shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean, to further my politics of fear. I will never forget to cite the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be 9/11 hijackers on a test run. I will spy on you when homeland security officials ask me to “report suspicious activity.” I will embrace my local police department’s admonition: “Big Brother is watching you.” I am Big Brother. I will accuse you of Jew-hating and America-bashing. I will accuse you of hate-mongering. I will raise my voice against religious minorities. I will indoctrinate your children into the politics of hate and fear in our schools. I will spread violent propaganda on the Internet. I am Big Brother. I will support law enforcement initiatives to spy on my neighbours, cut off their funding, and accuse them of murderous conspiracies. I will attempt to undermine immigration laws and obstruct justice for immigrants. I will impose my politics of hate and fear in my taxi cab, my restaurant, my community pool, the halls of Congress, our national monuments, the radio and television airwaves, and all public spaces. I will not tolerate alternative points of view. I will not be cowed by your Beltway lobbying groups in moderate clothing. I will not cringe when you shriek about “profiling” or “Islamophobia”. I will put my family’s safety above sensitivity. I will put my country above multiculturalism (under which Michelle Maglalang prospered, being of Fillipino descent). I will not submit to your will. I will intimidate with my politics of fear and hate. I am Big Brother.