Linux distros to try

Kind of a memo to myself (much of this from the article on ''Which Distro for You, depending on your uses'', in LXF#118/May)...


For my Pentium 2, 233MHz machine, try Sugar (list of included apps ) for The Girl,

Foresight for Kids, and Qimo, are also supposed to be good -- but have higher system requirements (for Qimo, the FAQ says: ''a minimum of 256MB of memory to run from the CD, or 192MB to install. At least 6 GB of hard drive space is recommended, and a 400MHz or faster CPU''; Foresight needs something pretty modern, IIRC).

There's also an Ubuntu Christian Edition that supposedly has good web content filtering.


For my general desktop PC useage, try Linux Mint. Based on Ubuntu, but with better package management (i.e. D/L-ing new software).


For a multimedia center, LinuxMCE, as cleaner and less complex to set up , than Mythbuntu (although Mythbuntu is easier than MythTV). However, the article's author wasn't sure whether LinuxMCE was still fully active.


For music production, try 64 Studio -- with Ubuntu Studio as a runner-up.


They didn't list one for video editing. Maybe 64 Studio has video editing tools, as well (worth a look).


--GG

Teeny server space

I just discovered that the ''server space'' that I'm entitled to as an employee is... 50MB. And if you exceed that, the IT folks charge your School/Dept./Program/Centre AU$5 (per year) per 40MB. Yow.

Given that I had around 500MB of data... That's AU$50 towards a USB key -- which you would then only fill to an eighth of its capacity.

Yes, I know that maintaining a server costs in equipment and labor than a USB key or external hard drive -- but, sheesh! Fifty megs? By today's standards, that's **teeny**!!!

Isn't it?


--GG

YouTube of Darth Vader dancing to MC Hammer

YouTube video of Darth Vader dancing to M.C. Hammer's ''You Can't Touch This''. (Love the Stormtrooper backup dancers.)

Amusing -- but soooo wrong.


--GG

Good nickname for your infant

When your baby does a diaperload, a good nickname would be ''M.C. Nastypants''.

I'm just sayin'.


--GG

Nifty martial arts webpage

Amusing web page, with a few legitimate insights, on various martial arts.

(Thx to Old Roommate for the link!)

--GG

Another clever home-made clamp

Another work-around clamp, for clamping wide items.

(Click to enlarge.)

If the vertical poles are long enough, hand-leverage should be enough to get a good squeeze.

Perhaps clamp (with c-clamps) a long batten to the top surface, to keep everything lined up.


--GG

Killing the environment with my digital camera

Apparently, my digital camera doesn't like my rechargeable ''AA''-size batteries -- not enough oomph. So, I have to use the super-duper, ''suitable for digital cameras'' (disposable) batteries.

That's a shame.


--GG

Correction on headphones price

Regarding my recent post about wireless headphones:

I had mistakenly stated that they were AU$50 (about US$42). I ran across the receipt, and they're actually AU$40 -- about US$34.

The management regrets this error.


--GG

Father's occupation

Yesterday morning, my daughter's daycare had a morning Father's Day get-together (here in Aussie-land, Father's Day is in early Sept., rather than in June).

One girl was telling me that her dad "fixed things" for a living. So, I expected an auto mechanic.


Nope: paramedic.


Yeah. That works. :)


--GG

Wireless headphones saved my life

Well -- if not my life, then certainly my sanity.

One day a week I go in to work (the rest of the time I work from home, in the evenings). I'm in an "open plan" office, with several other folks.

I prefer to listen to music when I work -- but I try not to inflict my musical choices on others. For a while, I used headphones -- but the cable tended to get in the way of my arms when I was typing. Plus, I tend to get up and down a lot (getting a drink; fetching something from the printer).


Aldi had wireless headphones on sale for AU$50 (about US$42). ((9/6/09 - CORRECTION: AU$40 - ABOUT US$34.)) Picked up a set, gave them a go.

Ahhh.... :)


Plus, I figure I can use them for my home studio, as well: when I'm playing along to existing tracks, but don't want the headphone cable to interfere with my movement.


--GG

Visit sunny Queensland

Just had a nice e-mail exchange with Slag. Slag -- unwittingly -- came up with a great potential slogan for the Tourism Queensland board:

''Queensland: Like Greenland, only queenier"


Love it.


--GG

Garden hose and deafness

Two unconnected thoughts:

1) After two years of living in our house, I impulse-bought a garden hose. Figured that owning a hose is a good homeowner thing to do. I have a big collection of potted plants at one end of the house, but due to water restrictions, until recently you were supposed to bucket-water them. Same with car washing: use a bucket to rinse.

So, no specific need for a hose -- but a good thing to have.


2) Had an updated hearing test for B2 today, and turns out his hearing loss is actually classified as "mild", rather than "moderate". This new diagnosis is consistent with how he interacts with us: there are **very** few instances where he doesn't react to what you've said.


--GG