Don't throw out that old computer...

Every Thursday around 9pm I see a man in his mid-sixties riding his bike around my neighbourhood. At first I thought it was a bit odd to see someone of his stature riding around on a bike after the sun went down. While coming home late one evening I finally discovered why he was riding around so late, he was picking through everyone's trash. (Friday is garbage pickup day in my neighbourhood)

How does this relate to not throwing out an old computer? I'm getting to that. A friend recently picked up a computer at a garage sale for $5.00 CDN. The computer in question was a Celeron 533MHz with 64MB of RAM, and a hard drive over 10GB - more than enough to run a Linux server with a little work. This was someone's junk! With another 64MB stick Kev. could run a full blown Ubuntu desktop. (Though 256MB is starting to become a minimum)

I also picked up a "junk" machine. At work we strip anything less than a Pentium II 233MHz (which goes for $15CDN). This Pentium I 90MHz, 16MB of RAM, 1.3GB hard drive came in. What's great about this little box is that it's small, about the size of a size 12 shoe box, but a bit wider and about half the height. The box has no CD-ROM, but it might be possible to put a notebook-style cd-rom in it. Given my experience installing Linux over a network in the past, it didn't concern me that there was no CD-ROM. For those curious, the box has a model number: PDA-2000.

Of course I had to upgrade the box. I removed the Pentium 90 CPU and replaced it with a 133MHz CPU, and replaced the 16MB of RAM with 64MB. I left the 1.3GB hard drive because my plan is to build a simple game server. Lastly, I added a sound blaster, for no reason at all. Yes, the hardware sucks, but the convenience outweighs having a 2GHz processor inside.

Al Gore, who knew?

The world knows all about the past couple of "U.S. Elections." I don't think more needs to be said about what went on during the elections. I try not to stretch too far out of the Linux-blogging realm, but I'm making an exception tonight. While looking through Google Video I came across a brilliant trailer for "The Inconvenient Truth;" a docu-drama about global warming starring Al Gore.

After seeing snippets of Gore talking I want to watch the movie. Gore seems much smarter than the little I saw of him during the first U.S. election; though admittedly I didn't watch it close.

Linux Games... and iMacs

If you've glanced at my profile you'll see that I maintain a number of web logs. Maintain is probably a bad word to use because I've let languish most of the blogs. I've started a number of web logs and occassionally contributed to them. One of those blogs, Linux Games: http://www.linux-games.ca/ recently got a wordpress overhaul. I've started trying to post every second day, but today I couldn't because I forgot the admin password. I still have the password, but it's in a book. Writing down passwords isn't very secure, but I have to remember a lot of passwords in my line of work, so it's easy for me to forget.

I've been talking on Linux Games.ca about simple games. I was going to blog about Mahjongg this evening, but the post will be delayed until tomorrow (provided I remember to bring the book). What's interesting about my recent effort to blog about Linux Games is that I haven't used the same computer twice for any post. One post was done from a SuSE 10.1 workstation. Another post was done from my Compaq Armada E500 notebook. This post, and tomorrow's post will be from an iMac running Ubuntu Linux.

About 3 months ago I set up Ubuntu on the iMac to help train volunteers at The Working Centre. Unfortunately I became so busy that our hourly training sessions slipped, and the machine sat collecting dust -- until now.

Linux on the rise, Microsoft slipping, but not sinking...

There are always zealots predicting the death of Windows. While I'd like to see Microsoft's share drop to about 50% of the market, I bear the evil empire no ill will (snicker). All joking aside, despite Microsoft's best efforts to boost Vista, it seems like a sinking ship. Microsoft has delayed the public release a couple of times. Now OS ews reports that Microsoft has once again been sending information back to HQ without proper disclosure.

In many ways Vista's release reminds me of the Windows 95 release; dates got pushed back, and features (32bit file system, voice recognition) got pushed back, or never showed up at all. Microsoft Watch has an article about Vista feature that has been recently dropped due to security concerns.

In the midst of all this, ZDNet UK reports that Dell now considers Linux among it's industry standard OS's. Whether this means that they will install it on more machines or not remains to be seen. But if public awareness is any gage, a lot of people know a little about Linux. Even if they don't understand it, many are starting to warm to it.

FreeBSD-based LiveCD

Before jumping full ship to Linux I was a FreeBSD guy, I even published a paper rag called FreeBSD Newbie. I've always had a bit of an affinity for FreeBSD, even though I'm a through and through Linux nerd. Now there's a FreeBSD-based Live CD, so I can still have my Linux cake, and gnaw on a FreeBSD bone too. The distribution is called Frenzy. It has a simple logo, and cool mascot. Can't wait to try it.

Download: ISO (about 200M)

"You must own a Linux-compatible computer" government says

There was a post on Slashdot today about an article in the Taipei Times which states "The government-run Central Trust of China has mandated for the first time that all desktop computers purchased from now on must be Linux-compatible." Finally, a government with stones!

What's cool about this announcement is that it means there will be less commodity hardware designed for only one OS. Yes, prices might be a bit higher, but hardware prices have come down so much it's difficult not to own a couple of PC's these days - even if one is a Pentium I.

Linux is on the move again in China, and with the population there you can well imaging the amount of open source code potential.

Matter of Taste Barista championship winners!

Anyone who knows me knows I can usually be found at Matter of Taste (MOT) coffee shop when I'm not at work. I've always said Matter of Taste has the best coffee around, and now they have a plaque to prove it. Owner Phong Tran came in second at the Barista championship last Friday, making Phong the most skilled Barista south of Collingwood. Kate, a barista who works at Matter of Taste, placed fifth. Another Phong & Dawn-trained barista, Amber, who now works for a cafe in Toronto, came in sixth. Of the top 6 baristas, 50% were trained at Matter of Taste.

I couldn't attend, but Phong filled me in on the details Saturday, "Lindsay, put on an amazing show." Lindsay, another of Phong's baristas, didn't place in the top 6, but certainly made an impression. Both Lindsay and Kate were asked by Elektra to pose with the Elektra Classic Espresso machine.

Matter of Taste has a really relaxing atmosphere, and the owners, Phong and Dawn, are both very approachable. MOT has a relaxed dress code which seems to consist of black top and jeans. Before the competition Kate and Lindsay were chatting about dressing up for the 'host' role, and as everyone can see, they both look great!

Kate has been training as a Barista since January, 2006, making her fifth place finish is an amazing accoplishment. Being a "regular" I got to hear about the long hours Kate prepared for the competition. There were baristas in the competition who have been baristas for years, who didn't place in the top 6. No doubt Kate's hard work contributed a great deal to her victory.

A big congratulations to all the staff of Matter of Taste! You're all the best!