http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsamwel/laptop_mode/tools/index.html
Using the instructions here I was able to easily squeeze some more battery life out of my laptop while running in Linux. If this keeps up I won't have a reason to use Windows anymore, hah!
Sunday, February 27, 2005
SimplyMEPIS Day 3
A few days ago the Linux distro I had been most anticipating, SimplyMEPIS 3.3, was released. I downloaded the ISO, checked the md5sum, and immediately burned the CD. The LiveCD bootup went well, with a few minor error messages here and there. But I was not discouraged. Once the LiveCD finished booting I tried to activate my wireless. This caused the Mepis System Center to freeze. I tried again and got the same result. Hoping that once it was installed it would work, I formatted my Linux partitions and let it go. This time things went worse-- on startup it was getting page faults when loading the IPW2100 driver. This never happened in SimplyMEPIS 2004.06.
This is when I decided that I would rather have a stable Linux installation than a "bleeding edge" one with the latest packages. SimplyMEPIS 2004.06 (contrary to what the name suggests, came out in mid-December) installed like a dream and everything worked "out of the box," so to speak. I did an "apt-get update" followed by an "apt-get upgrade" and all was still good. Tuxrucer using 3D acceleration worked without installing additional drivers. GLQuake worked as well.
Since I am running MEPIS on a Centrino laptop I needed to enable CPU speedstepping (i.e. slowing the CPU down when the speed isn't necessary) to save some battery life. After a quick search on the mepislovers.org forums I was ready to go, effectively doubling my expected battery life in Linux. Unfortunately the battery still does not last as long as it does in Windows. Currently I'm getting between 3-3.5 hours in Windows XP Pro and 2 hours in Linux while doing everyday operations such as instant messaging, web browsing, word processing, etc, with my wireless networking enabled.
Using KDE System Guard I've been keeping an eye on the memory usage of Linux and have been comparing it to the numbers in XP's task manager. XP's task manager usually reports about 250 mb of swap being used while just having instant messaging and a web browser (Gaim and Mozilla Firefox) running. Linux reports no swap being used and only about 256 mb of physical memory occupied with the same applications. Wow! And I was worried that my 256 mb swap partition would be too small. Linux seems a bit quicker for this "everyday use" as well.
In the past few days (this being day 3) I have been spending the bulk of my computing time within Linux and I am loving it.
This is when I decided that I would rather have a stable Linux installation than a "bleeding edge" one with the latest packages. SimplyMEPIS 2004.06 (contrary to what the name suggests, came out in mid-December) installed like a dream and everything worked "out of the box," so to speak. I did an "apt-get update" followed by an "apt-get upgrade" and all was still good. Tuxrucer using 3D acceleration worked without installing additional drivers. GLQuake worked as well.
Since I am running MEPIS on a Centrino laptop I needed to enable CPU speedstepping (i.e. slowing the CPU down when the speed isn't necessary) to save some battery life. After a quick search on the mepislovers.org forums I was ready to go, effectively doubling my expected battery life in Linux. Unfortunately the battery still does not last as long as it does in Windows. Currently I'm getting between 3-3.5 hours in Windows XP Pro and 2 hours in Linux while doing everyday operations such as instant messaging, web browsing, word processing, etc, with my wireless networking enabled.
Using KDE System Guard I've been keeping an eye on the memory usage of Linux and have been comparing it to the numbers in XP's task manager. XP's task manager usually reports about 250 mb of swap being used while just having instant messaging and a web browser (Gaim and Mozilla Firefox) running. Linux reports no swap being used and only about 256 mb of physical memory occupied with the same applications. Wow! And I was worried that my 256 mb swap partition would be too small. Linux seems a bit quicker for this "everyday use" as well.
In the past few days (this being day 3) I have been spending the bulk of my computing time within Linux and I am loving it.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Intec dance mats suck
One of the reasons we got a PS2 was to play Dance Dance Revolution. So, on the same day we got the PS2, we bought an Intec dance mat and DDR Extreme; all was good. Soon afterwards we even bought a second mat. Woohoo! Then things went sour...
The first dance mat suddenly stopped working. Not just a single sensor, but the whole thing stopped working altogether. We took it back to EB and exchanged it for another (which will be referred to as the third mat).
A few days later the second mat began to act up. The "up button" sensor wouldn't always work. This was remedied by putting some cardboard under the said sensor.
One day, out of nowhere (again) the third dance mat stopped working. We went to take it back to EB, but they were out. They assured us that we will get one as soon as they come in. To add insult to injury the second mat decided to quit as well.
Data:
PS2 purchased December 26
Three dead Intec dance mats
Three dance mats in less than two months
Conclusion:
Intec = teh suck
The first dance mat suddenly stopped working. Not just a single sensor, but the whole thing stopped working altogether. We took it back to EB and exchanged it for another (which will be referred to as the third mat).
A few days later the second mat began to act up. The "up button" sensor wouldn't always work. This was remedied by putting some cardboard under the said sensor.
One day, out of nowhere (again) the third dance mat stopped working. We went to take it back to EB, but they were out. They assured us that we will get one as soon as they come in. To add insult to injury the second mat decided to quit as well.
Data:
PS2 purchased December 26
Three dead Intec dance mats
Three dance mats in less than two months
Conclusion:
Intec = teh suck
Ubuntu Linux Thoughts
In my never ending quest to find new ways to procrastinate, I decided to give Ubuntu Linux a try. Initially I tried the "Warty" LiveCD version and was disappointed right away by the lack of support for my laptop's wireless. Afterwards I decided to give the stable 4.10 "Warty Warthog" installable release a try.
Initial impressions: Very nice, clean interface. User-friendly menu system. Stable. Good selection of packages.
After playing with this distro for a couple of hours it has become painfully obvious - it just isn't for me. I am not looking for a new primary OS since I still need to run Windows applications to do some school programming assignments. My plan is to have relatively small partitions for my Linux installation while still having the bulk of my documents and media files on my FAT32 partitions so they can be accessed from both OS'. Every distro I have ever used has automatically mounted my FAT32 drives, until Ubuntu. I had to manually edit the /etc/fstab file and create mount points before I could even mount these partitions.
Another feature I am used to being able to use is to copy my fonts over from Windows. Let's face it, Linux fonts are rather lacking. So I copied and pasted all my truetype fonts from my Windows/Fonts "folder" into Ubuntu's font directory. Apparently the files transferred, but they weren't showing up in the file manager, nor were they showing up in OpenOffice. After some Googling I found out that I was supposed to manually edit a text file for the fonts and add an entry for each one. Thanks, but no thanks.
I am not saying that Ubuntu is a bad OS. It seems perfect for someone who is looking for a user-friendly, memory-efficient and secure primary operating system. For transitional Windows/Linux experimenters like myself, however, I'd have to say that Mepis is what the doctor ordered.
Initial impressions: Very nice, clean interface. User-friendly menu system. Stable. Good selection of packages.
After playing with this distro for a couple of hours it has become painfully obvious - it just isn't for me. I am not looking for a new primary OS since I still need to run Windows applications to do some school programming assignments. My plan is to have relatively small partitions for my Linux installation while still having the bulk of my documents and media files on my FAT32 partitions so they can be accessed from both OS'. Every distro I have ever used has automatically mounted my FAT32 drives, until Ubuntu. I had to manually edit the /etc/fstab file and create mount points before I could even mount these partitions.
Another feature I am used to being able to use is to copy my fonts over from Windows. Let's face it, Linux fonts are rather lacking. So I copied and pasted all my truetype fonts from my Windows/Fonts "folder" into Ubuntu's font directory. Apparently the files transferred, but they weren't showing up in the file manager, nor were they showing up in OpenOffice. After some Googling I found out that I was supposed to manually edit a text file for the fonts and add an entry for each one. Thanks, but no thanks.
I am not saying that Ubuntu is a bad OS. It seems perfect for someone who is looking for a user-friendly, memory-efficient and secure primary operating system. For transitional Windows/Linux experimenters like myself, however, I'd have to say that Mepis is what the doctor ordered.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
More Linux
After the annoying issues I had with Mandrake 10.1 I became bitter enough to uninstall it from my desktop PC (PIII 800 with 384 MB of RAM). I then promptly replaced it with Mepis Linux, which has been an absolute breeze to use. The Mepis LiveCD even runs nicely on my laptop, detecting all my hardware properly. I would install it on my laptop as well, but I am waiting for the new version which is due any day now. I think I will also try Ubunto's LiveCD in the meantime.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
EverQuest II - /pizza
Ever get hungry during a long session of gaming, but were too lazy to get up and make yourself something to eat? Sony and Pizza Hut bring you: EverQuest II - /pizza.
Order pizza while you play, yay. Now your lazy MMORPG-playing ass only needs to get up to use the toilet, or answer the door when the delivery man comes. Now THAT's progress!
Order pizza while you play, yay. Now your lazy MMORPG-playing ass only needs to get up to use the toilet, or answer the door when the delivery man comes. Now THAT's progress!
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Naruto CAW's
Lately I have been playing around with the create-a-wrestler (CAW) function in Smackdown vs RAW for PS2. In the picture above are five characters from Naruto: (left to right) Kakashi, Naruto, Rock Lee, Kabuto, and Orochimaru.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Go Firefox!
This image says it all:
Whoo!
If you haven't already done so, Get Firefox-- the best web browser on the planet.
All entries on this blog were posted using Firefox under either Windows XP Pro or Linux.
Whoo!
If you haven't already done so, Get Firefox-- the best web browser on the planet.
All entries on this blog were posted using Firefox under either Windows XP Pro or Linux.
Naruto Licensed
It is kind of a bittersweet thing when your favorite anime series gets licensed by a North American distributor. On the plus side, more people will be able to enjoy the series, and you will get a chance to own it on DVD. On the other hand, the dubbers tend to take liberties on the translation and rename characters-- not to mention the fact that most websites will no longer post torrent files for licensed series'.
Naruto has been officially licensed. For me this is more of a bad than good thing because:
A) Naruto is the only anime I've really been able to "get into".
B) Cartoon Network isn't available in my area.
C) I have watched every episode to date, and would have to wait approximately 4-5 seasons to wait for the North American release to catch up to where I left-off.
I guess I could always try getting into another series. I am open to suggestions! Leave them in the comments below!
Naruto has been officially licensed. For me this is more of a bad than good thing because:
A) Naruto is the only anime I've really been able to "get into".
B) Cartoon Network isn't available in my area.
C) I have watched every episode to date, and would have to wait approximately 4-5 seasons to wait for the North American release to catch up to where I left-off.
I guess I could always try getting into another series. I am open to suggestions! Leave them in the comments below!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Knoppix Revisited
Mandrake appears to have developed an annoying little quirk where KDE applications (including Konsole) will not launch upon initial login. Logging out and logging in again is a workaround for this, but is extremely annoying.
On the other hand, Knoppix is running perfectly right now. The display is now working properly in 1400x1050 (thanks to some so-called "Cheat Codes") and wireless works. Now I'm thinking of trying Debian, which is the distro that Knoppix is based off of.
EDIT:
I tried Knoppix's "experimental" Linux 2.6 kernel and it won't pickup my Lexar Jumpdrive! It's a shame because that's where I store my persistent /home directory and settings. I have two options: keep using the stable 2.4 kernel (and lose my advanced power-saving controls), or use 2.6 and move my /home onto one of my hard drive partitions. I think I will stick with 2.4 for now since I don't know if 2.6 has additional issues.
On the other hand, Knoppix is running perfectly right now. The display is now working properly in 1400x1050 (thanks to some so-called "Cheat Codes") and wireless works. Now I'm thinking of trying Debian, which is the distro that Knoppix is based off of.
EDIT:
I tried Knoppix's "experimental" Linux 2.6 kernel and it won't pickup my Lexar Jumpdrive! It's a shame because that's where I store my persistent /home directory and settings. I have two options: keep using the stable 2.4 kernel (and lose my advanced power-saving controls), or use 2.6 and move my /home onto one of my hard drive partitions. I think I will stick with 2.4 for now since I don't know if 2.6 has additional issues.
Mandrake Linux 10.1
I decided to finally do what I had planned to do a year ago: set up a dual WinXP/Linux dual boot on my Acer Travelmate 800 laptop. I had put it off up until now because of the lack of Intel Pro Wireless 2100 (aka the Centrino wireless) support. When I saw Mandrake 10.1 now had "full support" for Centrino I just had to try it.
Now I'm wondering if false advertising can be charged for something I got for free. Apparently "full support" in the Mandrake world means, "It will detect your wireless, it will identify your wireless, but will not let you set up connections." Perfect! So I ended up having to do what I COULD have done with any non-Centrino supporting distribution: install third-party drivers.
Oh, but the fun didn't end there. After the drivers were installed properly and a connection was established I thought everything was okie-dokie. WRONG! For some reason the wireless connection will not initialize properly at boot-up, so I have to go in as root and reconfigure the connection EVERY TIME I BOOT UP LINUX. Bravo!
To its credit, Mandrake seemed to detect and properly configure everything else on my Acer Travelmate 800. Even the ATI display worked nicely right away even at 1400x1050 resolution.
Before trying Mandrake 10.1 I tried the latest version of Knoppix, which is a Linux distribution that runs off of a bootable CD. I found it was a lot less painful to set up than Mandrake. Wireless worked right away, as promised. The frustrating thing was that my display would not work at anything higher than 1024x768! You would think with all thise open-source stuff these programmers would be collaborating to get things working consistently across distributions. Now it looks like I have to choose a distro based on which of the two I value most: proper display or wireless, which is pretty sad since my hardware for both is extremely common.
I'm not giving up on Linux completely, however. When I get the time I will probably fiddle around with it some more. But right now, at least in my view, it is not ready for prime time. Until the next time I get desperately bored, I'll see you in Windows XP Pro.
EDIT (1:02 PM):
I think I am going to give Knoppix another try. I found some tweaks that MIGHT get the display to work properly. Wish me luck!
Now I'm wondering if false advertising can be charged for something I got for free. Apparently "full support" in the Mandrake world means, "It will detect your wireless, it will identify your wireless, but will not let you set up connections." Perfect! So I ended up having to do what I COULD have done with any non-Centrino supporting distribution: install third-party drivers.
Oh, but the fun didn't end there. After the drivers were installed properly and a connection was established I thought everything was okie-dokie. WRONG! For some reason the wireless connection will not initialize properly at boot-up, so I have to go in as root and reconfigure the connection EVERY TIME I BOOT UP LINUX. Bravo!
To its credit, Mandrake seemed to detect and properly configure everything else on my Acer Travelmate 800. Even the ATI display worked nicely right away even at 1400x1050 resolution.
Before trying Mandrake 10.1 I tried the latest version of Knoppix, which is a Linux distribution that runs off of a bootable CD. I found it was a lot less painful to set up than Mandrake. Wireless worked right away, as promised. The frustrating thing was that my display would not work at anything higher than 1024x768! You would think with all thise open-source stuff these programmers would be collaborating to get things working consistently across distributions. Now it looks like I have to choose a distro based on which of the two I value most: proper display or wireless, which is pretty sad since my hardware for both is extremely common.
I'm not giving up on Linux completely, however. When I get the time I will probably fiddle around with it some more. But right now, at least in my view, it is not ready for prime time. Until the next time I get desperately bored, I'll see you in Windows XP Pro.
EDIT (1:02 PM):
I think I am going to give Knoppix another try. I found some tweaks that MIGHT get the display to work properly. Wish me luck!
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Gmail Invite, anyone?
Gmail has exploded with invites recently. I currently have 50 to give out. Want one? Just email me and it's yours.
For the uninformed, Gmail is Google's free email service. 1 GB mailbox, quickly and effectively search through your emails without ever deleting anything, yadda yadda yadda. I have been using it as my primary personal address for a while now and I am loving it.
For the uninformed, Gmail is Google's free email service. 1 GB mailbox, quickly and effectively search through your emails without ever deleting anything, yadda yadda yadda. I have been using it as my primary personal address for a while now and I am loving it.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Quote of the Day
"Ah, lamentably no. My gastronomic rapacity knows no satieties."
- Homer Simpson, when Marge asks if the subliminal weight-loss tape is working.
This quote has been stuck in my head for the past 15 hours or so, and I have no idea why.
- Homer Simpson, when Marge asks if the subliminal weight-loss tape is working.
This quote has been stuck in my head for the past 15 hours or so, and I have no idea why.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Low carb cereal tastes like...
... nothing. Seriously. This cereal tastes like nothing.
In an effort to keep my ninja reflexes at their peek (for faster button pressing and double-clicking) I tried Kellogg's Special K Carb-Fit cereal. Although people on the Lowcarber.org forums seem to like it, I don't care for it much myself. Give me a big ol' bowl of Cheerios or even Frosted Flakes instead any day. I don't need to be a carb-counter.
In an effort to keep my ninja reflexes at their peek (for faster button pressing and double-clicking) I tried Kellogg's Special K Carb-Fit cereal. Although people on the Lowcarber.org forums seem to like it, I don't care for it much myself. Give me a big ol' bowl of Cheerios or even Frosted Flakes instead any day. I don't need to be a carb-counter.
Enterprise Cancelled
I know this is old news but felt I should say something.
It figures that UPN would cancel the only show I watch on their network-- Star Trek: Enterprise. If they were going to cancel this show they really should have done it during either the first or second season, where the majority of the episodes were pointless. I thoroughly enjoyed the third season, and the fourth season has been even better. Unlike previous seasons, the fourth has been tying up loose ends and integrating it self rather well with Star Trek canon (at least from my view, but more zealous Trekkies may disagree). I know I'm going to keep watching until the final episode on May 13.
With Enterprises', as well as UPN's, ratings being lower than expectations I guess something had to give. There are also rumours that certain actor(s) on the show were not happy with their character(s), and the show overall. It looks like the Star Trek franchise's future is quite grim-- with the disappointing box office from the last movie, Nemesis, and now this.
Click here for the official announcement.
It figures that UPN would cancel the only show I watch on their network-- Star Trek: Enterprise. If they were going to cancel this show they really should have done it during either the first or second season, where the majority of the episodes were pointless. I thoroughly enjoyed the third season, and the fourth season has been even better. Unlike previous seasons, the fourth has been tying up loose ends and integrating it self rather well with Star Trek canon (at least from my view, but more zealous Trekkies may disagree). I know I'm going to keep watching until the final episode on May 13.
With Enterprises', as well as UPN's, ratings being lower than expectations I guess something had to give. There are also rumours that certain actor(s) on the show were not happy with their character(s), and the show overall. It looks like the Star Trek franchise's future is quite grim-- with the disappointing box office from the last movie, Nemesis, and now this.
Click here for the official announcement.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
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