After about two hours of prep and download time, I've got Ubuntu 11.10
up and running on my old TravelMate 2420; now triple booting
Oneiric, Fedora 15, and Windows XP.
After the headaches that 11.04 gave me, I've been a bit
hesitant to install the newest version of the distro that introduced me
to Linux. The 2420 is not a performance computer, even with the memory maxed out. Onboard graphics and a Celeron M processor really limit this to being a work machine. That said, it will run Office 2010 and Visual C++ Express Edition; and according to MS, has enough oomph to run Windows 7 without the Aero interface.
Installation
I didn't have any blank CDs or USB drives handy, which is another reason I've put off installing. I was eventually able to find instructions for using the contents of the Network Install disc to install from the hard drive, and it was right there in Canonical's online documentation. Not recommended for first-time installers, though; but if you've used Debian's Expert Mode install, you'll feel right at home. The only snag I hit was on the task select screen. Apparently, sometime between the installer being finalized and now, the task for installing extra fonts has gone bye-bye from the US Mirror.
Since this install method was based on the netinstall CD; I'm gonna warn off anyone with data caps or dial-up. Besides, you'll get a much quicker install from the Live CD; since you don't have to download the system on the fly.
Running
This is where I saw the biggest improvement. The early Ubuntu
One integration really slowed down my computer while syncing; whether
because of better load handling, better network drivers, or something
else, it's not nearly as noticeable in 11.10. I haven't had a chance to test the Atheros wireless drivers; which were a big fail for me with 11.04. The combination of issues really crippled my laptop. Since the issues with the wireless driver were fixed with a kernel update, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt that it will work, unless it just doesn't.
Aesthetic
Ubuntu has really taken to a darker default color palette in recent releases. It's not a bad thing; but it is noticeable especially coming from the blues of XP and the silvers of GNOME-3 on Fedora.
For me, the launcher/dash/dock on the left doesn't really impress me, but it's not a distraction either. The auto-hide feature is nice, and relieves my biggest concern: screen space. The other thing you'll probably notice right off is the lack of menu bars on your Windows. Mac OS 9 (if I remember correctly) did the same "single menu bar" thing across the top of the page. This will probably take more getting used to just because it isn't used much.
There's also a load of icons and menus in the top right corner; which have some interesting integration: Banshee (the default Music Player) can be accessed through the volume control; Chat and Mail applications tie into the messaging control; and pretty much all of your system settings can be grabbed from the gear in the corner. Also on that gear are options for Suspend, Shutdown, and Hibernate; which are noticeably hidden in GNOME-3.
I do keep coming back to GNOME-3, don't I? It's for a good reason: Unity really split the Gnome community and garnered a lot of hate when it first debuted. Not unfairly, either. As big a change from previous versions as GNOME-3 was; Unity split off and went in a similar, but distinct direction. Personally, I haven't decided which I like more, if either. I have been leaning to GNOME-3, but again, it stems from my problems with the cloud service less than Unity.
Overall Impressions
About the only thing that really bothers me about Oneiric is the "Apps Available for Download". Other than the fact that most are full-fledged programs, I'm not sure why we need to have them on non-admin accounts -- the ones that can't install software through the base interface anyway.
Otherwise, I found it to be user-friendly and usable. The things that your basic user is going to look for are already in the launcher, save for the email client (Thunderbird) which is stuck in a envelope on the top bar. The log-in takes longer than I'd really like, but that may be a function of my older hardware rather than Ubuntu.
Recommendation
If you've got some time, and any interest in Linux or computers in general; there's no reason not to burn a copy of the Live CD and try out Ubuntu.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Lessons from Dad, or thoughts on school prayer and the Pledge
My dad wasn't around a whole lot when I was young. As a kid, it was just the way things were. Dad would wake us up for school as he headed out the door; and was usually home for dinnertime. As I got older, it was less noticeable...and if he wasn't home in the evenings, he either got hung up on a service call or because there was a fire or ambulance run he had to go on. And even if the service calls were annoying, the other was okay, because he was helping people.
That was always a source of pride for me. Not only was my dad a fireman, he was an EMT, too. Yeah, he was a mechanic -- and a damn good one, judging by the customers that followed him the few times he changed companies -- and he would eventually let his EMT certification slip for reasons that were his own, but there's still a set of bunker gear in the back of his truck, in case his pager goes off.
A lot of who I am, I owe to my father. Not just the opportunities his hard work afforded me, and not just the things he tried to teach me.There are mannerisms that I've picked up over the years, from giving long-winded explanations to never answering an obvious question without trying to get the person to work it out for themselves. Dropping his voice when he was frustrated instead of raising it. Trying to find the causes for a problem instead of treating the symptoms.
And then there are the things I picked up from watching how he acted. The times he would give people second chances, and the reasons when he wouldn't. The way he never seemed to get angry -- upset and frustrated, yes; but very rarely angry -- unless someone was going to hurt another person. The importance of keeping promises, even implicit ones.
I think that last one is something that gets me in trouble some days; or at least keeps my mouth shut. So, if you really want to know...
Prayer in Schools
I'm all for prayer in schools. But I'm also dead set against the faculty and staff deciding which god (or, if you rather, which version of God) to pray to. And while that's a good part of my reasoning behind it (would you be for prayer in school if you knew that on Wednesdays, your kid would be praying to Hermes at the start of the Public Speaking class?), it really comes down to the basic "give you the answer" vs. "give you the tools to figure it out" debate. That said, as long as there's a belief that it will give them some sort of edge, there will always be prayer in school. Private prayer, between the child and their god; as it should be.
Pledge of Allegiance
When all is said and done; two of the few things it is truly fair to judge someone by are the promises they've made, and the promises they've kept.
Without even getting into the history of the flag salute, or the McCarthy-era changes to it; the Pledge of Allegiance always bothered me growing up. It never felt patriotic, just vaguely disturbing; and that was before we learned what the words actually meant. Why "pledge", and not "give my", "swear", or just plain "promise"? And why "allegiance"? Why swear to the flag first, instead of the nation; and why to the nation instead of the people, or even the ideals? These questions bothered me. And maybe I thought about it too hard; maybe I should have just stood and said the words like everybody else. But the thought of doing that bothered me to; that was making a promise that I didn't really mean. Not that I wouldn't keep it, but without really understanding what you were saying -- and really, what K-4th grader really understands what allegiance is? -- it's just rote memorization. Which is good for multiplication tables, not so much for ideology.
It's the kind of thing that makes me cringe/laugh when I hear the phrase "liberal indoctrination" used in relation to schools; in a "pot, meet kettle" sort of way.
I guess my point is that it's not about trying not to offend other people. But it's not about going out of your way to try to offend them, either. A little consideration is all that you really need, the realization that not everyone thinks or believes the same things that you do.
That was always a source of pride for me. Not only was my dad a fireman, he was an EMT, too. Yeah, he was a mechanic -- and a damn good one, judging by the customers that followed him the few times he changed companies -- and he would eventually let his EMT certification slip for reasons that were his own, but there's still a set of bunker gear in the back of his truck, in case his pager goes off.
A lot of who I am, I owe to my father. Not just the opportunities his hard work afforded me, and not just the things he tried to teach me.There are mannerisms that I've picked up over the years, from giving long-winded explanations to never answering an obvious question without trying to get the person to work it out for themselves. Dropping his voice when he was frustrated instead of raising it. Trying to find the causes for a problem instead of treating the symptoms.
And then there are the things I picked up from watching how he acted. The times he would give people second chances, and the reasons when he wouldn't. The way he never seemed to get angry -- upset and frustrated, yes; but very rarely angry -- unless someone was going to hurt another person. The importance of keeping promises, even implicit ones.
I think that last one is something that gets me in trouble some days; or at least keeps my mouth shut. So, if you really want to know...
Prayer in Schools
I'm all for prayer in schools. But I'm also dead set against the faculty and staff deciding which god (or, if you rather, which version of God) to pray to. And while that's a good part of my reasoning behind it (would you be for prayer in school if you knew that on Wednesdays, your kid would be praying to Hermes at the start of the Public Speaking class?), it really comes down to the basic "give you the answer" vs. "give you the tools to figure it out" debate. That said, as long as there's a belief that it will give them some sort of edge, there will always be prayer in school. Private prayer, between the child and their god; as it should be.
Pledge of Allegiance
When all is said and done; two of the few things it is truly fair to judge someone by are the promises they've made, and the promises they've kept.
Without even getting into the history of the flag salute, or the McCarthy-era changes to it; the Pledge of Allegiance always bothered me growing up. It never felt patriotic, just vaguely disturbing; and that was before we learned what the words actually meant. Why "pledge", and not "give my", "swear", or just plain "promise"? And why "allegiance"? Why swear to the flag first, instead of the nation; and why to the nation instead of the people, or even the ideals? These questions bothered me. And maybe I thought about it too hard; maybe I should have just stood and said the words like everybody else. But the thought of doing that bothered me to; that was making a promise that I didn't really mean. Not that I wouldn't keep it, but without really understanding what you were saying -- and really, what K-4th grader really understands what allegiance is? -- it's just rote memorization. Which is good for multiplication tables, not so much for ideology.
It's the kind of thing that makes me cringe/laugh when I hear the phrase "liberal indoctrination" used in relation to schools; in a "pot, meet kettle" sort of way.
I guess my point is that it's not about trying not to offend other people. But it's not about going out of your way to try to offend them, either. A little consideration is all that you really need, the realization that not everyone thinks or believes the same things that you do.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Super Mario 3D Land
There are very few things that can make me ragequit so hard I don't want get back in and replay the game. Insane difficulty isn't that big of a deal; awkward controls can be overcome; bad camera angles can be compensated for. But I've noticed one thing that sets me off.
Collection quests, or rather, unexpectedly needing to complete a collection quest. Now, I'm not talking about the old MMORPG grind where you've got to get so many of that odd drop from a hard-to-get-to enemy; that's something different. Let me explain.
I haven't played a Mario platformer in quite a while, I'll admit. Although I do like the genre, it's not my favorite, and if I have the time to play, I'll probably pop in a JRPG instead. But since I haven't had the chance to try out many of the new games for the 3DS, I thought I'd move Super Mario 3D Land up to the top of my rental list. Now, part of this may have been the fact that you don't get the booklet with a rental; but I really didn't feel the need to search out every Star Coin on every level. And yes, I did notice that on the course select screens some of the levels required you have a certain number of the Star Coins to play them. The majority of those, however, could be skipped. I didn't, because I always had enough.
Until the end of World 5. What had been optional became mandatory, and to enter the castle -- and keep playing the game -- I would have had to go back and find 50 of the damn Star Coins. What I thought was a side quest was now the main mission; with no foreshadowing. If you would have had to collect 10 coins in each world to proceed, I wouldn't have minded. It would have even made sense in what little story there was. But to show up as a condition to continue halfway through the game was a bit more than I was willing to take.
That said, getting to most of the Star Coins is fun and challenging; though experienced platform gamers shouldn't have a problem with it. Heck, I don't play platformers that often and other than the 3D perspective being a bit tricky in places (tip: watch the shadows), I wasn't having that much difficulty with the game. But that one design choice just ticked me off to no end.
Graphics are bright and cheerful, exactly what you'd expect from a Mario game, and the classic enemy designs still translate well to 3D models. All in all, it's probably a game I would mark as a keeper, and from the Black Friday numbers, a lot of people are thinking it is a console-seller. I can't disagree: it makes use of the hardware. The 3D effects are well done but not cheesy; and there are sequences that make use of moving the 3DS to get a better view of the stage, which I assume uses the front-facing camera to track location. It's a solid title, and I think a good addition to the Mario library of games.
Collection quests, or rather, unexpectedly needing to complete a collection quest. Now, I'm not talking about the old MMORPG grind where you've got to get so many of that odd drop from a hard-to-get-to enemy; that's something different. Let me explain.
I haven't played a Mario platformer in quite a while, I'll admit. Although I do like the genre, it's not my favorite, and if I have the time to play, I'll probably pop in a JRPG instead. But since I haven't had the chance to try out many of the new games for the 3DS, I thought I'd move Super Mario 3D Land up to the top of my rental list. Now, part of this may have been the fact that you don't get the booklet with a rental; but I really didn't feel the need to search out every Star Coin on every level. And yes, I did notice that on the course select screens some of the levels required you have a certain number of the Star Coins to play them. The majority of those, however, could be skipped. I didn't, because I always had enough.
Until the end of World 5. What had been optional became mandatory, and to enter the castle -- and keep playing the game -- I would have had to go back and find 50 of the damn Star Coins. What I thought was a side quest was now the main mission; with no foreshadowing. If you would have had to collect 10 coins in each world to proceed, I wouldn't have minded. It would have even made sense in what little story there was. But to show up as a condition to continue halfway through the game was a bit more than I was willing to take.
That said, getting to most of the Star Coins is fun and challenging; though experienced platform gamers shouldn't have a problem with it. Heck, I don't play platformers that often and other than the 3D perspective being a bit tricky in places (tip: watch the shadows), I wasn't having that much difficulty with the game. But that one design choice just ticked me off to no end.
Graphics are bright and cheerful, exactly what you'd expect from a Mario game, and the classic enemy designs still translate well to 3D models. All in all, it's probably a game I would mark as a keeper, and from the Black Friday numbers, a lot of people are thinking it is a console-seller. I can't disagree: it makes use of the hardware. The 3D effects are well done but not cheesy; and there are sequences that make use of moving the 3DS to get a better view of the stage, which I assume uses the front-facing camera to track location. It's a solid title, and I think a good addition to the Mario library of games.
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