Well, I downloaded the 4.3GB install DVD for Mandriva 2007, and so far I have only installed it on my old workhorse 1 Ghz AMD. Install went smooth, and the eye candy in KDE is very nice.
From some very light usage so far, it seems more stable than the 2006 install. However, I think that some of the squirrely behavior might be due to a failing graphics card, which isn't really the fault of any OS.
From what I have seen so far, Mandriva with KDE is a very smooth and polished OS, if a bit slow on that older machine. However, IceWM is still a very viable option and let me get my work done very quickly.
I will post more after I have had the opportunity to use it more.
Showing posts with label Computers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Computers. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 10
Tuesday, October 3
Mandriva 2007 Released
The newest flavor of my distro of choice was released this morning. I am downloading it now.
This new version includes the latest Gnome 2.16 and KDE 3.5.4. Posts about the release have made much of a new 3D desktop.
Since Mandriva 2005, my linux has not been as stable as I would like. (It is more stable than Windows, but that ain't much of a complement). I am going to try out 2007, and will report my thoughts here. However, if it suffers from as much feature bloat as 2005 and 2006 without comparative stability, I will be searching for a new distro. I hear great things about Ubuntu ...
This new version includes the latest Gnome 2.16 and KDE 3.5.4. Posts about the release have made much of a new 3D desktop.
Since Mandriva 2005, my linux has not been as stable as I would like. (It is more stable than Windows, but that ain't much of a complement). I am going to try out 2007, and will report my thoughts here. However, if it suffers from as much feature bloat as 2005 and 2006 without comparative stability, I will be searching for a new distro. I hear great things about Ubuntu ...
Wednesday, June 14
Problems with Linksys PSUS4 firmware rev 6033
In one location, I am using a Linksys PSUS4 printserver, firmware rev 6033, on a small LAN in a mixed operating system environment. The PSUS4 is connected via USB to a Brother HL-1440 printer.
Whenever the printserver is sent a large print job, it hangs the device. Worse, at least on my LAN for some reason whenever the device hangs every other device on the LAN, except the device originally sending the packets/printjob to the PSUS4, loses its connection to the router.
This may be related to a DoS vulnerability previously published on the device, more information here. If you use this device, I recommend restricting HTTP access and monitoring the jobs sent to the device. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any IP filtering built into the device.
Due to these vulnerabilities, I cannot recommend the use of that device. Linksys has known about this DoS vulnerability for more than a year, and they are still propagating a firmware revision from 2004.
Whenever the printserver is sent a large print job, it hangs the device. Worse, at least on my LAN for some reason whenever the device hangs every other device on the LAN, except the device originally sending the packets/printjob to the PSUS4, loses its connection to the router.
This may be related to a DoS vulnerability previously published on the device, more information here. If you use this device, I recommend restricting HTTP access and monitoring the jobs sent to the device. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any IP filtering built into the device.
Due to these vulnerabilities, I cannot recommend the use of that device. Linksys has known about this DoS vulnerability for more than a year, and they are still propagating a firmware revision from 2004.
Wednesday, June 7
More on Google Spreadsheets
I have now had a chance to play a little bit with Google's spreadsheet. I still have grave concerns about its security and HIPAA compliance, which to my mind makes it little more than an academic exercise. However, it still could be a useful tool for data that doesn't have any sensitivity.
One problem with this system for complex spreadsheets are outside cell references. In many cases, I have one spreadsheet that generates a figure, which is used by another spreadsheet as an input toward a separate figure, or for a report. In actuality, many of my work reports concatenate data from multiple spreadsheets.
This is a problem here. Unless I am missing something, any spreadsheet on Google's servers has to live in its own sandbox, without referencing any data not somewhere in its own workbook. This is a severe restriction on complexity.
One problem with this system for complex spreadsheets are outside cell references. In many cases, I have one spreadsheet that generates a figure, which is used by another spreadsheet as an input toward a separate figure, or for a report. In actuality, many of my work reports concatenate data from multiple spreadsheets.
This is a problem here. Unless I am missing something, any spreadsheet on Google's servers has to live in its own sandbox, without referencing any data not somewhere in its own workbook. This is a severe restriction on complexity.
Tuesday, June 6
Google now has a Spreadsheet. Hmmmm....
As anyone with a browser probably already knows, Google has a spreadsheet. From all reports, it is another AJAX tool, like their maps. I haven't played with the tool (hopefully yet), but I have signed up to play.
The benefits seem clear; write a spreadsheet and anyone you think should be able to edit the document, can edit the document. What's more, every time anyone updates figures, everyone on that sheet's access list would have live access to the most recent "version" of the document. No more multiple-versions of the same sheet, and no more losing figures because edits were made to old versions. I agree, email attachments are not very convenient.
However, would I use this tool for most jobs? Definitely NOT. Why?
Spreadsheets usually contain information that most companies, individuals and organizations would like to remain private. In today's world, in addition to normal competitive pressures, we have to keep in mind fiduciary responsiblities and requirements under laws such as HIPAA. While I may be able to create a list of authorized individuals to access my spreadsheets, I am unable to ensure that the owner of the system, Google, wouldn't have the ability to access the document. In addition, I have no way of knowing just how secure Google's servers really are.
Google has created what looks like a valuable and powerful tool. However, unless there can be some firm guarantees of data security and privacy it is just an academic exercise.
The benefits seem clear; write a spreadsheet and anyone you think should be able to edit the document, can edit the document. What's more, every time anyone updates figures, everyone on that sheet's access list would have live access to the most recent "version" of the document. No more multiple-versions of the same sheet, and no more losing figures because edits were made to old versions. I agree, email attachments are not very convenient.
However, would I use this tool for most jobs? Definitely NOT. Why?
Spreadsheets usually contain information that most companies, individuals and organizations would like to remain private. In today's world, in addition to normal competitive pressures, we have to keep in mind fiduciary responsiblities and requirements under laws such as HIPAA. While I may be able to create a list of authorized individuals to access my spreadsheets, I am unable to ensure that the owner of the system, Google, wouldn't have the ability to access the document. In addition, I have no way of knowing just how secure Google's servers really are.
Google has created what looks like a valuable and powerful tool. However, unless there can be some firm guarantees of data security and privacy it is just an academic exercise.
Friday, June 2
Picasa for Linux!!!
Picasa, by Google, is a great image organization tool. IMHO, there hasn't been a linux tool that could match it.
Well, now there is. Picasa for linux was announced this week. Go download it, it works great.
Well, now there is. Picasa for linux was announced this week. Go download it, it works great.
Wednesday, February 22
Logically Concatenate unrelated Tables in MS Access
OK, I am at a bit of a brain freeze, and thought that I would turn to you, my brilliant readers, for a bit of help. I have a series of unrelated tables in MS Access. They all have identical field structures, but there is no relation built into them.
I would like to construct a query that will return a result that concatenates all of these tables. I don't want to just append all of these tables together; I want to keep them separate.
Ideas? Solutions?
I would like to construct a query that will return a result that concatenates all of these tables. I don't want to just append all of these tables together; I want to keep them separate.
Ideas? Solutions?
Monday, January 17
*nix Powered, Temperature Controlled Brewing Chamber
I greatly enjoy my own homebrew, and am usually frustrated in my attempt to keep my wort at a specific temperature (which is absolutely necessary for lagering, and very helpful for brewing ale).
Anyway, today on /. is a link to the code and hardware instructions to convert an old fridge into a *nix-powered controlled temperature chamber. Slick!
Anyway, today on /. is a link to the code and hardware instructions to convert an old fridge into a *nix-powered controlled temperature chamber. Slick!
EXIF data script
Happy Monday! The cold front broke yesterday, and now all of Great Falls is basking in the balmy 40ºF. Too bad. I love every part of the "bitter" cold, except the heat bill.
Anyway, I spent much of yesterday arm deep in my *nix box (Mandrake 10.1), trying to write a regular expression that would help organize my image directory. I just rebuilt the machine, and when I tranferred over my files, the file date/time was adjusted to system date/time of the transfer.
Anyway, I want write a script that will parse out the EXIF image creation date/time for every file in my image directory (including the entire subdirectory structure), and change the file date to the EXIF date. I would also like the file name prepended with the YYYY_MM_DD-hh_mm in those EXIF headers. The script should look at every file in the directory and only adjust those with a valid EXIF header. Because of the different programs/devices used to capture images, it should be able to find images with non-standard file extensions (i.e., *.JPG; *.jpg; *.jpeg; etc.)
I played around with jhead, to no avail so far. Any ideas?
Anyway, I spent much of yesterday arm deep in my *nix box (Mandrake 10.1), trying to write a regular expression that would help organize my image directory. I just rebuilt the machine, and when I tranferred over my files, the file date/time was adjusted to system date/time of the transfer.
Anyway, I want write a script that will parse out the EXIF image creation date/time for every file in my image directory (including the entire subdirectory structure), and change the file date to the EXIF date. I would also like the file name prepended with the YYYY_MM_DD-hh_mm in those EXIF headers. The script should look at every file in the directory and only adjust those with a valid EXIF header. Because of the different programs/devices used to capture images, it should be able to find images with non-standard file extensions (i.e., *.JPG; *.jpg; *.jpeg; etc.)
I played around with jhead, to no avail so far. Any ideas?
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