Xfce Did The Trick

I download Xfce and I now have a working desktop again. No more disappearing title bars in the apps I open. I downloaded Conky, its working well now. The .conkyrc file from Ubuntugeek.com worked just fine. Seems like all that was wrong was updating everything after a clean install prevented the Gnome WM from running 100%. I didn't muck around the configuration anymore, as I just wanted to get a working desktop that I could use Ubuntu in, and as fast as possible. The Xubuntu-related files downloaded and installed in less than half an hour.


I downloaded my usual stuff -- Firestarter, Xmms, VLC, Aria2, Firefox themes and extensions. I tested each before I started doing what I was supposed to be doing a week ago -- backing up our precious pictures over on MediaMax.com. I used to use Xdrive, but free accounts were limited to 5GB and the uploads were faster at MediaMax. Plus Xdrive didn't want to play nice with Ubuntu :-( I'm sticking with MediaMax.

I've a few more gigs to upload ;-) Bye for now.

Kernel Goes Green II

Here's an update. Click on the title above to go to the article.

More Linux in Consumer Phones, Please...

With the cellular phone market still in a flurry over the uber-expensive iPhone, it's easy to overlook some rather nifty development is occuring. Just take a look at this article from Computerworld. It stresses the strengths of Linux, mainly how deep customization can go and that it is free (both in cost and in licensing), 2 reasons that could push app development to a rapid pace. I'd like to see more function-laden Linux phones for the low-end market ;-)

Back With Ubuntu

I was able to install Ubuntu this afternoon. It took a while to update
the whole thing. I used an old copy of Feisty for 7.04 and it took
about 2 hours and a half to get it all down.

I was hoping to get Conky (http://conky.sourceforge.net) working so I
could have a system monitor that was a bit more detailed, but it
didn't want to play. I don't know what I did wrong but I messed up my
desktop after mucking up the the config file (.conkyrc). I initially
found settings from Ubuntu Geek
(www.ubuntugeek.com/conky-a-light-weight-system-monitor-for-ubuntu-linux-systems.html
) which I copied over to my .conkyrc file. I wanted it to display
somewhere else so I tried using different settings and eventually had
to restart. When I got back, any window I opened would only open on
the top left side of the desktop. The title bars also disappeared and
I could move any of the apps I opened, so it was a pain. Every new
window would open on top of the previous active window and obscuring
the one behind it, all on the top left side of the desktop.

I had to return everything to what it was and uninstalled Conky. I
didn't find out what caused it but I have a gnawing suspicion it could
have been enabling the the double-buffer and windowed mode at the same
time. I'll try and install it again tomorrow in windowed mode.

Turning to Wine

After having been hit with a virus yet again, I am contemplating on totally abandoning Windows (yet again). After I get my hard drive in order, I'll be experimenting with Wine to see if I could get a few Windows apps (I need) to work. I've been doing some research and I'll see if I could get IE, M$-Office 2000 and AOL to play with Wine. These are either apps I test (for friends) or something the missus just needs to ease her apprehensions about editing work-related files from home. Wish me luck!