Ads and Adblock Plus

Hi all,

This blog is now a little over two weeks old and I'm still experimenting with the layout. I've added a few ads to the site but if you're anything like me you won't notice, between a hosts file and an adblocker I rarely see anything I don't want to see. If you're not using any of this I hope it won't annoy you too much. I've stayed clear of anything flashy and rotating that could be seen as irritating. At least they're all on topic as far as I could tell.

Remember the year of the Linux desktop?

It´s a long standing joke, but I think two or three years ago people stopped claiming next year will be the year of the Linux desktop.

Not sure why that is. Perhaps because it is so self-evident to Linuxers that the day has already come and gone without anybody really noticing. Perhaps most have accepted that the year of the Linux desktop does not really matter because what is known as Linux will never be able to beat Microsoft or Apple in this space, nor does it even really try or want to. To think otherwise would be a fundamental misconception.

More reviews and areas of interest

Hello there,

both the reviews on Unity Linux and on Kongoni GNU/Linux were received quite well. Got a lot of reads and even the first comments here on this site. Thank you.

My interest is to look at the more obscure and lesser known distributions that don't get much airtime usually. So I'll slowly work myself through them over the next few years. In particular I am interested in distributions from the Slackware, Debian and Mandriva based corners of the Linux world. Also on innovative projects that are not based on anything, like Frugalware.

First look at Unity Linux 2010.1 - Mini Review

Unity Linux had their first release on 09/07/2010 after around 1.5 years of development. The project was created in 2009 by former developers from the PClinuxOS (hereafter abbreviated PCLOS) community. [Some contentious and unneccessary stuff snipped ...] One of them was KDulcimer who at the time had his own project TinyMe based on PCLOS, which according to the website started in 2006. His distribution would in the future be based on Unity Linux. So much for how the two are intertwined.

Wallpapers

Morning.

Couple of days ago when I was really bored, which doesn't happen that often, I sat down and created a few wallpapers from backgrounds in Chatzilla. Very simple ones, but they have the advantage of not distracting from the work at hand. Personally I can't stand wallpapers on my desktop that are too busy, when you can't even find your icons anymore. I mean I like nice wallpapers and pictures and even use some I've taken on my holidays, just not the too busy ones. Sometimes it's better to just get a picture frame.

Anyway, here's my background from the Slackware-channel.

1280x1024

Wallpapers

And here's the Chatzilla one for everybody who's nostalgic about the old Mozilla icon.

 

1280x1024

New Predators movie is out

Finally, another movie in the long-standing Predator franchise is out. This time wittily titled Predators. It looks good, and I'm a huge sucker for anything in the Aliens and Predator universe, so I'll be definitely going to watch this one soon.
Unfortunately this will probably also be just another excuse for a new box set, containing all the old movies plus this one, selling us the same old stuff over and over again, promising slightly different versions, Director's cuts etc., you know the drill. Me, I'm just going to buy this one on DVD and rather miss out on the promises of three minutes that will be different in the boxed set of the movies I already own.

Here are some cool wallpapers and images. And here the trailer on Youtube.

Goodday and Hello World!

Hello, this is my first post and largely for testing if all is well. I left it long before adding yet another blog to the webisphere, after all the cliche goes everybody and their dog has one, and that's probably true.
Well, I had some time last night not pouring over Nmap guides, not testing a distro or writing a review, nope, last night I rewrote the CV a bit and applied for jobs.
Afterwards in Gmail I got adventurous playing with links in the accounts settings and somehow managed to divert myself to Blogspot, so here we are. It all was a lot quicker and easier than I thought. Let's see if we can keep this Blog up.

After doing a few more tweaks today I ended up on the myspace site of an old fave of mine, back as a puberty haunted teenager and young wannabe punk in the eighties. Anti-Cimex, wow, what a hammer. Nice to see they're still around. Not many bands were better at what they did, with the possible exception of their successors of sorts, Wolfpack / Wolfbrigade.

The kings of chaos in Sweden. Ferocious speed thrash that continually displays that disorderly early Discharge attack, but is smashed forth much faster. Hardcore guitar soloing whines generate electric volts, as Anti Cimex spew out an intense onslaught of clamorous nitro-laced aggression. Jonsson´s vocals get rawer with each release. This is one of the most legendary Swedish kängcore bands. They started in 1981, inspired by bands like Discharge, Varukers, Germs, Black Sabbath, Disorder and others. The line-up was Johnsson (bass), Nillen (vocals), Charlie (drums), Jocke (guitar). The quickly released the EP "Anarkist Attack". In 1982 the linup changed, with Johnsson on vocals and Conrad on bass. They recorded the EP "Raped Ass", and in 1984 they released the classic EP "Victims Of A Bombraid", with yet another bassist.

I'm always pleasantly surprised to find anybody from that period is still alive, with all the touring, partying, sleeplessness, troubles with Skinheads and harassment from cops and border guards that was involved.
Most of us got older and eventually a bit mellower, and perhaps also a little bit more adjusted. This is not going to be a blog about hardcore punk, so I'm going to quit now after this inaugural posting.

I'm glad I left South Africa before the Vuvuzelas descended, but would love to be back now. There's got to be a way to make a living there without becoming one of the stranded European and American drifters and junkies that compete with the local beggars, coming up with some sob story how they been robbed of all their possessions on Table Mountain or something, and all he needs from you is $300,- until he can get his passport from the embassy and then he'll pay you back, honest.

Expect more stuff on Linux, Unix, BSD (mostly reviews, less tutorials), holidays and travelling, development cooperation and social injustice. And on English Ale, because Autumn is not far off now.

Until then, good night.