Jolicloud?

I been having some time on my hands, so been tinkering with some live linux distro's (live=running off a cd / dvd / usb with out installing to hard drive). Most of the live distro's have just be retakes off the Debian operating system. Different eye candy , same operation.

On one web crawl came across a listing for what I originally thought was just a chrome app, till i saw the download section. From what I have been able to tell at this time, is that the downloads is just for some very basic offline operations like word processing and location of a internet connection. Its entire operation is more of a proof of concept ,than as a viable operating system.

If you looking into getting a taste of something other than Microsoft or have a out dated laptop you want to reuse, Jolicloud MAY be of use for ya.....at this time its just a neat toy as a browser based operation.

ubuntu 10.04Lts vs 10.10 netbook

I have been a little amiss on doing the blog . The employment issue has played a role in my blogging absence .
Would like to get started again with a entry on a comparison on two of Ubuntu's newest flavors of the Debian os. My current mode of frustration and the plateform this experiment is being conducted on is a netbook by Acer, the Aspire One. Not a monster of processing power with its Intel Atom processor. In car terms, its a Ford Fiesta.

The 10.04 works well in the netbooks limited resources. Fast start ups and handles most operations with out too many problems, tho the screen size is a issue with some programs.Leaving a button off in cyberspace with no way of resizing the window. Ubuntu was kind enough to put out a "LTS" version for netbook screens that seem to of settle most of the screen size issues. 10.04 is still mainly a desktop OS and with the netbook resources your limited to having only 4 to 5 active applications running at any one time.

The 10.10 release has a version that is made just for netbooks with good clutter management and easy to access menu's. the problem I have been having is that its just so damn slow to load. It seems to be hard on the processor. This may just be a symptom of the "new release bug" that ALL ubuntu first releases have or is a indexing issue. On a bright note, I have had as many as six applications running and havent noticed a difference in speed or processing (it was all slow).
In anycase ,I havent giving up on 10.04 yet . I have loaded 10.10 on as a dual boot operation but treating it as a beta application for a few more months.the 10.04 quirks are very minor.

On a side note, several of the features that microsoft taughts as their innovation has been seen in linux 6-12 mths prior as a stable application.

weekend camp out

Had a fun three days of tailgate camping. Its been a few years since I really spent any time (longer than one day/night) around a camp fire. Was really looking forward to the time away. Prep, for the most part, was easy enough. Most of the gear is also my foul weather supplies. Propane lamp,stove and cooking supplies. Basic food items like noodles ,canned veggies and soups.First aid kit ,shelter, sleep gear. Plus plenty of clean water for cooking,drinking, and cleaning. Threw in some extras like fishing pole ,a base ball (throw back item from scouting,multiple uses other than just playing catch)and my yo-yo.Checked the ground tarp for damage and replaced the batteries.

WAS ALL SET......or so I thought. I did a rookie mistake and one that I know better.I didn't check the weather to see what clothing I should consider for the cooler night temperatures. Was just too excited on the chance to get away for a bit.Needless to say the mornings were a little too chilly for shorts and tee-shirt with the only motivator being that hot cup of coffee.

Next step in the game plan will be doing a weekend with the little man and see how he likes it.Implementing lesson learned from this trip and thinking about the next one.

If you don't learn something and have some fun doing it...whats the point.

work history in a tool box

Was doing a little cleaning of my tool box and answering Alons questions of what some of the tools are for when I noticed a pattern to the tool selection of the box.. I have my very first ground sleeve crimper and voltage detector from when I worked for Burns electric. The nut driver/wrench selection was consistent with the sizes used with DishNetwork's ODU assemblies. this continued up to my stint with AT&T with the snips and prep tool.
Twenty years of tools,learned experiences and work history all in one Stanley tool box. Thats a heavy box, in more ways than one.

"18meg down load.....till I run the treadmill."

I am three months removed from U-verse which doesn't mean I don't still hear the stories. A little back story on one.

One of my former customers is a freelance network technician/graphics designer/web master/other titles he decides to call himself that week. A colorful gent who busted my chops when I first arrived about why fiber wasn't laid to his house. I seem to impress him when stood my ground. A few weeks after the install I did a follow up call to see how things were going. This quickly set the ground work for a semi professional relationship.I would call him for computer networking help in areas AT&T would not train or supply reference materials . he,in return, would get some no-nonsense advice about dealing with AT&T and the U-verse equipment.


On to the present..... this morning I got a email from this acquaintance. His wife had purchased a new treadmill. When his wife runs it ,he will lose his xbox broadband connection. Being a gamer also, I can understand the frustration and pain. Felling sarcastic, I sent him the AT&T's list of devices known to cause interference with the 2WIRE modem and the suggested work around (don't use in conjunction with ) .

closing remark..... there are many reasons for the modem shut downs;bad house ground,virtual grounding in the equipment,harmonic interference, etc.......The push to hit the market faster than the competitors has overridden adequate quality control . Problems with the 2wire modems and with the Motorola 1216 STB's (aka whistler) hard drive and cooling fan issues. The Motorola 1225 STB software glitch .SpeakEasy undocumented viop limitations for residential accounts......

And thay wonder why I had this line taped to me desk. " We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. "