Category Archives: Computers

Not so much dropping the ball as kicking it away

I’ve been testing out Windows 7 at work for a couple of weeks now, largely because I need to keep abreast of developments in new operating systems (and then identify issues with supporting them). I actually like it more than … Continue reading

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Project media server

As I’ve often said, “Ubuntu on the desktop, Debian on the server” is the way to go. That said, I’ve mixed and matched the two a fair bit over the past couple of years, and would now say that as … Continue reading

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So you want to buy a netbook?

One question I get asked a lot is some variation on “what computer should I buy?” My answer usually involves asking what it is going to be used for, what the budget is, and if the user has any preconceptions … Continue reading

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Weird hardware fault

I’ve narrowed down what the problem is with my (otherwise fully functional) iBook. It basically won’t recognise the charger until the battery is totally drained. This would be quite annoying if it was still my main laptop, but as I … Continue reading

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Changing hostname in Mandriva

I’ve been doing a bit of work on Mandriva recently, and I always forget that there are two places you need to change the host name before it “takes”. in /etc/sysconfig/network add the following line: HOSTNAME=hostname Where hostname is whatever … Continue reading

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Holidays and other things

As of 4pm tomorrow I’m on holiday for 10 days. It’s the first break of any length I’ve had for a few weeks, and I am very much looking forward to it. Last time I was off I ended up … Continue reading

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Mass converting .bmp to .jpg

I’m largely posting this because I’ve had to do it twice recently and forgot how to do it both times. The command to convert a whole folder of images from .bmp to .jpg (on Linux, obviously) is: mogrify -format jpg … Continue reading

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Synching with folders outside of /dropbox

This could probably be summed up in a few words (the words being “use symlinks”). Basically, what I wanted to do was to sync several folders outside my dropbox folder (for various reasons). The solution was to create a shortcut … Continue reading

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Bugs and how to hug them

I think this is still the best guide on how to report bugs that exists. There are also a lot of useful standard replies here. Now go hug some bugs!

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More productivity

This afternoon I did a bit more work on our home server (the one I built from bits of my old dead PC). It’s now running: A full installation of Mediawiki, with a few extensions, which Steph is using a … Continue reading

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