I don’t need to say any more than just watch.

That’s right folks - I have ditched windows off my home PC’s. I now exclusively run Ubuntu Linux on my desktop and laptop (and if I could, my iPod and PDA), and it’s great. There’s a sense of freedom to be had from going this route. No more ’security updates’ every week, or DRM nonsense, or having to pay through the nose to do photo processing or video editing or 3D modelling or web development. Yes, there are still security issues with Linux, and the software is updated frequently, but I don’t have to deal with spyware, trojans from dodgy websites, and can explore the source code and maybe help learn how I could make Linux a better place for all.

I’ve really bought into the whole Open Source philosophy, as it’s a really great and almost Christian model. Work hard at something, get other people involved, improve things, share it for free and pay it forwards.

So, today will be marked in my diary as my Open Source anniversary.

Maybe I should turn this into a photoblog. I seem to be putting more pictures up than anything else, and it also seems to be the most popular section of the site. My photography using the Nikon D40 (an entry level DSLR by many people’s opinion) is pretty good IMHO.

See what you think. And let me know what it’s like. You can comment here. Do any photo’s stand out to you? If you are honest and sincere, and really like one, I could arrange to send you a hi-res version, as I always shoot NEF raw files, and could do it desktop-sized per your requirements.

For those on this planet using Sound Juicer from Ubuntu, I’ve found the default settings for a 192k MP3 :

audio/x-raw-int,rate=44100,channels=2 ! lame name=enc vbr=false bitrate=192 ! id3mux

Copy this to your settings, and this should be brilliant for putting those CD’s to yr iPod….

http://www.sigur-ros.co.uk/band/disco/medsud.php - Details for the new Sigur Ros album - and I can wait to hear this one! From the strength to strength of their previous albums (von,ágætis byrjun, (), takk…) this new one: ‘með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’ looks to be quite something. Time will only tell.

Well, it’s been a short while since I made an entry, so I apologise for that. I have been quite busy at work, developing away as I am paid to do. Coming to the end of a quite major project, I have developed my PHP skills quite a bit, and yes I actually enjoy writing code. I will endeavour to continue writing PHP, at least until I am proficient at it.

One of the things I have noticed in this skillset improvement is that I need to learn more. The combinations of PHP and Javascript can be quite powerful and lead to some complex site solutions. As a Christian, I am praying for more opportunities to develop the custom code side of things.

I’ve uploaded a few more photo’s, some new, some old. Most were taken with my Nikon D40, which I love to use. It’s an entry-level D-SLR, and even so, it’s a very good camera. I’ve recently purchased a 55-200mm zoom lens, and the picture of the Jackdaw was one of the first I made with it. Not bad for the first day’s use, huh?

I’d write more, but as is becoming a trend with me, I write this on the laptop first before posting to the blog. It just gives me time to mull over what I actually write. That, coupled with the fact it’s 1:30 am, I really should be asleep. But working on this recent project has caused a few 3-4am finishes, and I haven’t yet recovered my sleep pattern. I am a twilight hacker, bathed in the luminous glow of the TFT screen. So goodnight, and sleep tight.

The eternal question now arises, as the latest news I read shows OpenSuse 11.0 only 14 days away. The screengrabs I’ve seen with it running KDE 4.0.1 looks well nice. I was an original Suse user, shortly after stating with Storm Linux, Slackware, but stayed with Ubuntu for some time.

I had seriously thought about signing up and becoming part of the dev team, you know, giving back to opensource software after taking it all for free. And I still think that. Maybe I will. Not for this version, but will sign up anyway and get on the bandwagon for 12.0, or, as is more likely, 11.1!

It’s a great opportunity to reflect a good Christian principle - to pay in kind those who pay you in kind… What do you think? For all the good quality free software (I’m not talking dodgy bittorrents here), should you make an active contribution, even if only to give user feedback? There are many aspects to being involved, from submitting a bug report to writing documentation to programming…

I found this link from the FaithNews Network, and thought it was worth a read. Very interesting, especially to note that the healings that have broken out in Florida and are erupting elsewhere are at this time. God is certainly initiating a a time of healing, and that’s a good thing.

http://www.faithnews.cc/articles.cfm?sid=8886

Makes you wonder, what are we doing as Christians today?

Just had to post up this clip from youtube featuring the iPod and running…

There’s a new mix I found of deep tech house on fwd.dj called ‘Landscapes’. Mixed by Steve Edwards, this mix is absolutely awesome, starting really tech then going into deep and droney house. Well worth a listen!!

http://www.fwd.dj/audio/steveedwardslandscapes