Ubuntu

I’ve been playing with the python-elements but it seems like the project is dead.

The upstream website has gone and the packages has had no updates for some time. I’d like to create a simple demo/game along the lines of some of the mini games you find in WarioWare on the Nintendo Wii. The Python Elements (and box2d) libraries seem to fit the bill but I don’t want to code using something that is going to disappear.

I recently took delivery of a new HP ProLiant MicroServer which I wanted to use for various small/home office server type tasks. It’s a cracking little server, ideal for small offices and home users who want a small, low-power server. With only one fan in the case it’s fairly quiet with most noise coming from the hard disk supplied, and any more you put in it.

The reason I got it was because HP are currently giving £100 cash-back (until end of January 2011) on the ProLiant MicroServer. Given how cheap it already is the cash-back makes it even more attractive! It’s not super powerful and certainly not “pro server grade” kit, but perfect for my needs.

For a few years I’ve owned a variety of webcams which I’ve used under Debian and Ubuntu on my desktop and laptop computers. As many others do, I’ve used them with the likes of Skype & Ekiga for video calls and camstream & guvcview for just capturing images. More often than not though, my webcam is pointing out into the garden, taking images and uploading them to my website. I frequently get asked how I set this up, so rather than explain lots of times, I figured I’d blog it.

After watching the two Doctor Who Christmas episodes I thought I’d watch the ‘behind the scenes’ programme ‘Doctor Who Confidential’. During one segment where they discuss the set used in the Christmas episode I spotted a bunch of machines with what look like Ubuntu boot screens on them. If you’re in the UK (or have access to Freesat in Europe) you can see it on BBC HD at 16:55 on 3rd January, or on BBC Three at 04:10 on 5th January. according to the iplayer page. The frame below was grabbed from 38:29 mins in.

At work people often come up to my desk and ask if they can get their password reset. I usually do this and tell them their new password. I’ve decided I’m missing a trick here. What I now do is this.

User: "Please reset my password"
Me: "Sure"
*tapety* *tap* *tap*
Me: "Right, your password is 'ubuntu'"
User: "Huh?"
Me: "Here, take this, it will help you"

I hand them an Ubuntu CD pack. They get to read the cover of the CD pack on the way back to their desk. Perfect.

As regular readers of my blog may recall, I recently gave my brother a PC running Ubuntu Linux. He uses it for surfing the web, getting email and chatting online. He also has an HP PSC 1610 printer/scanner/copier which works under Linux pretty well. He has a Dlink WAP/Modem/Router providing his ADSL connection via wired ethernet.

I had a phone call from him a week or so ago telling me the PC was broken. To cut a long story short he had difficulty getting a disc removed from the CDROM drive and eventually resorted to pulling the power cable out. This resulted in filesystem errors when he rebooted. I’ve not had many of these types of problems so don’t have a huge amount of experience in the area. So I talked him through removing the hard disk (which was easy because the PC he has is very modular) and he sent it to me.