Hardware can get odd over time.

The 'Safecom' ADSL modem we've been using for the last 6 years started failing last week, and died completely this weekend. About 3-4 years ago I bought another for a friend to use, only for her to then go and get a BT broadband package that included modem etc, and so it was surplus to requirements. Because it was more modern than our existing one I tried to install and use it here, but it simply wouldn't work (it was an ADSL 2+ jobby - maybe BT weren't up to date round here?).

Anyway, tonight I thought I'd just 'see' if it could be persuaded into life. Plugged it in, switched on, VOILA, a connection. I didn't even have to set it up - all the settings had been remembered from when they were installed several years before!

Maybe it's windows that wouldn't work (since this machine is Linux) I wondered, so I got Ben to check for a connection wirelessly and that was fine, ditto Chris's accounts PC upstairs. So I've got 40 quid's worth of modem/router that I don't need on the way from Ebuyer - maybe I should keep it for when this one breaks down?

One of our cats is so lazy

Chris suggested his paws should be soft and his tummy calloused.

The mobile phone question is closer to be ing answered.

Criteria are becoming clearer: looks like it'll have to be O2 as a network (also includes Tesco, since they use O2) and it needs to be able to sync with the Mac, which likely excludes nearly everything except Nokia.

Since I seem to be in a posting mood.... seeking a phone.

Like it says, I'm seeking a replacement phone. There's a strong temptation to defer this until a time when I'm less busy, although the present Sony Ericsson has become tired, with less battery life, occasional hangs and some bad screen artifacts.

The issue is whether to go for a smart phone - will all the advantages and drawbacks of that - or to just do the 'ordinary' candybar thing again that can be used for calls & texts.

Why would I want a smartphone?

Toys aside (and I'm getting a little too old these days to easily justify toys) the advantages would be to collect email and have internet access without having to lug a laptop around, plus as a music/video player when (if?) we travel. Some (like the Nokia N8) also have cameras that actually take pictures that are of acceptable quality.

Why would I NOT want a smartphone?

I think far too few ask this question. The chief arguments against are because they're brick-like, fragile, over-complex, have no battery life to speak of (1 day of 'normal/heavy' usage seems typical) and cost silly amounts of money. With the Christmas deals I've seen this last is less of an issue for some models, although the iPhone loses out really badly in the cost area.

So I don't know.

The Nokia X3.2 candybar looks like a nice compromise, with many advantages (like long battery life, small size - it's beautifully slim, if a little wide, and sensible buttons) while also having a bigger screen with capacitive touch control. And it seems relatively cheap too. Ben has a Sony Ericsson Elm, and that seems good, but it has their daft proprietary headphone connector, making it useless as an MP3 player without an adapter (I can't use typical mini-earphones).

If I'm quick I can probably get almost as good a deal as I have now (600min/500txts/unlimited landline - £20 SIM only) with a phone chucked in. But the offers round here run out 4th Jan.

Maybe waiting is the 'sensible' thing to do - it's rarely good to hurry.

It probably seems like I change operating systems like (some) others change underwear.

Well, hopefully a little less frequently than that - for their sake, rather than mine!

My love affair with openSUSE was on the wain toward the end of the year, with the old irritation of system pauses becoming increasingly evident, as well as overall performance degrading generally and annoying issues with DVD playback that prevented Chris from using the computer. Also that OS tended to use older versions of software, thus Digikam was on v1.2 instead of the current 1.7, KDE on 4.4 instead of 4.5 etc etc and printing was really flakey. To cap it all it refused to access the files in another copy of openSUSE that had been installed on a 250Gb drive  that was no longer being used to boot, and had some images that I'd wanted to recover from there.

So a few days ago I'd decided enough was enough, backed up recent work plus firefox/thunderbird/opera and did the re-install from scratch trick with PCLinuxOS 2010.12.

I've tried this distro before, and although I quite liked it, the branding everywhere gets old very quickly, and it lacked the speed of a new SUSE install while looking less attractive than Sabayon. It also comes with much less 'in the box' - just as a single 700Mb CD with enough to get you up and running, plus automated installers to download open office, language packs etc. It doesn't ship with libdvdcss - more later - or even the usual card games. The upside is that installation is fast - around 20min tops to having the system ready to surf. The downside is that you've then got to spend time finding and dowloading the packages you want to use.

It used the Synaptic package manager - slightly unfamiliar to me, and frustrating in that I couldn't make it open downloaded .rpm files. It does however seem to do a good job, and once I'd told it to refresh repository content, a lot of stuff that I'd wanted to DL & install was available. This includes libdvdcss2 that is essential to play commercial DVDs, and that I'd been trying for ages to install without success - it's available from the refreshed repository and worked fine.

Other hassles included a delay on DVD audio playback, putting voice & image out of sync, but I *think* that's fixed now too with more drivers that were installed 'automatically', but only when I started looking at installed drivers in the hardware manager. Ho hum.

What about the perennial bugbear with Linux distros - screen fonts? Well, they're pretty fair, probably as good as SUSE and only a little behind Sabayon. The display is sharp and crisp, probably thanks to the Nvidia driver being used, athough the Nouveau driver in SUSE looks fine too, but in this case I can use full 3D acceleration for the full set of screen effects.

So how long will I keep this one?

Probably either until it develops a fault that I can't put up with, or until something else more interesting comes along that I really want to try. I'm quite enjoying it at the moment: it doesn't have the 'wow-speed' feeling, but it does seem to work smoothly and, so far, effectively. Sometime I should try windows 7, but since I'll have to buy a real commercial copy of that I may just bung it on the Macbook along with Office.

We've just seen Tron 3D

And, to be honest, it was a bit disappointing.

The original did well be using simple graphics, clean lines that were almost cartoon-like. This version is incredibly detailed, and as a result it loses so much impact as to be a much weaker film. I can't fault the effects, some of which were extremely clever, but because there is so much detail it stops becoming immersive, which is a real shame. The big, wide shots are too big and wide.

And there's a distinct feeling that they picked up a bunch of ex-Matrix programmers.

The next 'must-see' film is probably 'Voyage of the dawn treader', also in 3D. I understand the story has been changed substantially, which in this case may not be a bad thing at all.

I've just found the bass I want for church.

'Twas the day before Christmas.

As in the day time before we start our Christmas festivities - being 'funny foreigners' we do stuff Christmas eve. This time we're paying someone else to feed us all (and do the washing up) eating at The Dashwood, which sould be nice.

All the pressies are wrapped, food's in, fire lit, cell sub-cultured or in liquid Nitrogen storage and Ben is out digging snow off a parking space, so my brother and his family can park here.

So why do I feel so bushed?

One day

My sense of humour will get me in trouble on facebook.

Actually it already has.

Several times.

Still, someone can only de-friend me, and only once at that.

The outside thermometer said -10'C this morning.

The temperature's been doing funny things - it looks like the snow has compacted overnight and there's signs of melting, with icicles hanging off the shed, yet the temperature is really low outside now. There was ice inside the windows when I got up, and we had ice falling down the chimney into the stove too.

A snow plough went through last night, and the road doesn't seem so bad now (when I was dropped off yesterday afternoon by our friend, Mark, the snow was rubbing on the bottom of his truck) so I'm wondering whether it's worth digging out the (one remaining) car. At the moment we've plenty of food, but I'd prefer not to push our luck too hard. I also feel really achy this morning, and woke bunged up and struggling to breathe. Could be that Chris's cold has taken the opportunity of me being stressed and tired yesterday to work it's way in.

There's supposed to be a communal meal happening at the chapel tonight, but it's not at all likely that our guests will be able to make it. Also Ben was in another village Friday night, and although he's managed to walk to Woodstock, there's only a moderate chance of him making it home in the next couple of days.

I'm really glad I went in yesterday though - it gave me a chance to set the cells up to last a couple of days without attention, and so they are fine today. Monday I'll probably get the mountain bike out and ride in, since that's likely to have better grip than a car, and provided I don't hurry it should be fine.

We both feel quite sorry for the birds, as almost all the food is now buried. We put bread out Sat breakfast time, but of course that got buried in an hour.

From snowy Somerton.

I can hardly believe the snow this morning

-4'C and snowing hard - and getting harder! I drove to work (where I am now) and the car has a couple of inches on it in 45min. Driving home may be 'interesting'.

*edit*
Driving home was impossible. I walked a mile or so down camp road in the snow to a friend's house, and he kindly gave me a lift back to the village.

We've now had well over 12" and it's still falling hard, though I understand the skies should clear later this evening so the temperature can drop. I'm supposed to be preaching tomorrow, but really not sure that we'll make it (Dear God, you could have just told me you didn't want me to talk - you really didn't need to go to all this trouble for me to get the hint!).

Monday it looks like I'll be walking to work again. At least I was able to deal with my cells today, so they should be alright for a couple of days without attention. Pretty sure we've got enough food to take us through to Tuesday/Wednesday, so we'll be OK for a while.

Looks like this is about to become a regular occurrence.

Just looked at the BBC weather forecast

And I reckon they've got ours mixed up with Prague. If it hits -9 in Bicester it'll probably be -12'C in the valley, and it's at that point that pipes freeze, waste pipes block and we have to turn the heating up.

Meh.

According to Chris

I now sneeze like an old man.

This is NOT encouraging, especially since my allergy seems to have been progressing and I sneeze quite a bit at the moment.

As the younger ones seem to say a lot, meh.

Frustrated by mediocrity.

Everything I do, I seem to do tolerably well, but nothing is ever REALLY good. I have an over-optimistic view of my abilities, and frequently view myself as better than I really am.

Do I keep doing things only tolerably well or do I just decide someone else is always going to do it better and just leave them to get on with it.

That is not a question, despite any appearances to the contrary..

This afternoon I was mostly

doing cell culture.

And very pleased to be doing it I am too.

My shoulders and neck are likely to be a fair bit stiffer by the time I get home tonight, from being hunched over a microscope, sucking little balls of cells out of jelly. It's funny how we look forward to doing something, only to realise the effort involved when we actually get to do it.

what would you think if wikileaks.....

.....showed that someone we all vilified was actually right all along?

Like Dubya?

I don't know that the information in the linked article is actually correct, but it's definitely worth considering.

We have a tree.

And it's staying outside for 1 week minimum!

Her.....

       "Are you being like Superman?"

Me  "Would you like to be Wonderwoman?"

Her "We're more like the incredibles.....

.........

        Does this make my bum look big?"

Me  "No, but it feels nice."


Kinda Randall & Laura stylee.

Just one of those days.

Had a really thick head this morning by the time I arrived.

Trying to establish a new technique: baseline method involves centrifugation, and after the first run I managed to kill the C'fuge. Backup method did not work. 1 day at work + lots of driving and nothing to show for it is not impressive.

-8'C at 6.38am this morning

Freezing fog all the way down the A34. However +1'C here in (grey) Hampshire.

I wonder how the guys in Canada cope with the cold, dry air?

2 weeks of dry, frosty weather and the skin on my hands is terrible, despite hand lotion use. This morning there was blood on my towel, and despite checking carefully, I could find no cuts on my body, only to realise it had come from a finger which had (painlessly) split.

Overall my fingers are really sore though, and having them in sterilising alcohol frequently isn't helping (and it quickly makes you realise how many cuts you have!). To trump it all, I've just acquired a paper cut on a knuckle that's taken ages to stop bleeding.

Winter is traditionally a time for hardship and suffering - guess I'm being close to nature, in this area at least.

Looks like the thaw is here.

About 4" snow got dumped last night, but temps are up to around 5'C, and it's pretty much all melted now!

Wonder whether it'll get cold again next week?

So here I am at work on Saturday morning.

It's a reminder that what I do involves the living and not the dead.

I have some cells growing that were acquired on Wednesday morning - they are a cancer cell line, and are growing like the proverbial weeds. It is important they don't get over-grown, so here I am, blogging while the culture medium warms up so I can passage them on.

It's likely I'll be here tomorrow too. Being entirely responsible for everything you do for work gives an entirely different perspective, especially when you pay from everything you use too. It would be 'reasonable' as a salaried technician to stretch the cells a long way, risk them doing badly, then take another week or 2 to recover them with all the extra culture medium, flasks etc required to support that. Or I can send a few hours over the weekend getting it right first time.

Messages about 'good shepherds' also spring to mind. I wonder how often I've left someone I could care for to 'stew over the weekend' when a little timely care might have helped them grow strong and healthy?

That's it for my Prague pictures now.

So here's another example - click on the image to visit the album.



Have to start on Chris's next. I'm glad she took a few this time: very often she'll see something and I'll take a picture of it, which discourages her from doing so too. This time I deliberately tried not to take pix of things she saw and pointed out, and she responded by doing it for herself.

*edit*

Just uploaded Chris's pics from the camera to PC. I really DO need to find her a better camera, because this one can't cope with being used to just P&S.

And tonight

we got Ben back. He seems good, but is pleased to be here despite the weather. Glad to have him too.

Home from snowy Prague

to a snowy Somerton.

Just a few pics for now.

Hitting the cooking brandy

Times are tough in our household.

Well, maybe not *quite* that tough.

Last Saturday we had some friends over, and for various reasons had a substantial body of time to plan and shop for dinner with them, which was really nice. I knew she was vegetarian, so plumped for Fondue Savoy with a nice sweet salad, a good bottle of reisling and baked apples to follow. In order to perk the apples up a little I bought some cheap Tesco brandy to pour into the centres and around them to add flavour. I didn't know she was also teetotal, but ho hum, alcohol evaporates while cooking and no-one was any the wiser.

Tonight I had a 'wonder just how bad it is' moment and go the bottle out.

BAM! straight back to childhood.

My mother used to keep cognac for cooking, and occasionally I'd get the bottle down and take a tiny amount. This was when I was small - somewhere between 5 and 9 - but the flavour and general alcoholic overtones where just like that cognac for me. I guess that may be why I developed a taste for Whisky in my teenage years.

I've just tried a couple of new distros.

PCLinuxOS and Linux Mint KDE (9, not 10, unfortunately).

PCLOS is looking likely to become my next OS. From the CD it was fast, generally clean and is running KDE 4.5.3, Digikam 1.50. It felt as snappy as openSUSE, which was a good thing.

Mint is interesting in KDE 4.4 (possibly better in 4.5) with better font display than the gnome variant (which is pretty stinky, nearly as bad a Unbuntu, and similar to Fedora). It also came with Wine ready to run direct from the CD, which will be interesting as I'd like to start trying Windows apps on Linux. They even had the windows style font down pretty well, which was surprising.

Why look at other distros?

There was a Sabayon update last week, and my Sabayon drive is now inaccessible. Apparently because it's a logical volume, rather than partitioned conventionally I cannot see the small number of unique files I had on there (just a few images and emails). It might be possible to rescue the OS by editing the PAM file but I don't know enough command line stuff to do it and no-one on the Sabayon forum appears interested in helping. I could try to learn CLI and then attempt it, but frankly life is too short, and that OS is going to be toast shortly.

I really liked it while I used it: the best, crispest fonts this side of Microsoft, generally quick and responsive. It wasn't flawless, with an odd diminished volume issue forcing me to turn the amp up really high to hear DVDs, and printing was a bit skanky, though reliable once I'd sorted out HPLIP. I also had to reinstall VLC to get DVDs to play.

So another day, another OS by the look of things.

*edit*
I'm posting from Mint 9 now - the fonts ARE too fuzzy, and this OS won't make it onto my hard drive.

My age has become apparent

And my changing tastes.

The Register has produced a list of the 'top 10 arcade games of all time'. While I recognise and remember playing happily the first few, everything from 'Outrun' onward never caught my imagination or drew me in. Maybe it was because they were so generic (and heralded the early 1st person shooters, like Wolfenstein) but maybe also it was because I was married by then and 'had a life'.

There's a couple missing too:
Firebird Phoenix (IIRC) was highly addictive and a stage on from Space invaders and Galaxian.

Vanguard was another that we spent many happy hours feeding 10p pieces into.

Finally, whatever happened to Asteroids - a contemporary of Space Invaders, and one that saw at least as much play.

Charles was a ZX81

And William is an iPad.