System i Addict

I am sure you are wondering what I am talking about. The other day I noticed while eating that the crown on my left side upper (number 13) was a little pressure sensitive.  The dentist yesterday referred me a specialist about a root canal. Not that she thought I needed one, but she thought the tooth might have cracked under the crown and a root canal could solve the issue.

I was able to get into the root canal doc yesterday too and he did some digital x-rays, which is way cool, rather than having to developed the film, and it showed that I might need that root canal.

Most people hear the words root canal and think PAIN and SUFFERING! Which at this point, some 12 hours later I am OK. My gums are sore from the injections, but nothing to bad. I had to take a Tylenol last night just to make sure I was not chasing pain later in the night, plus I had a headache.

With that said I am sure there are some ROOT CANAL horror stories out there but so far mine has been pretty good. They showed a video before the procedure that was funny, informative and had a guy in it that I knew in the Navy.

My insurance paid for most of it, not a bad day $800, I would have rather spent that on my Volvo or other crap but teeth are important.

This is not the video they showed me, but it does explain the root canal process a bit and shows it’s nothing to worry about. I did not get a post and the Dr. had a big microscope that he could look into the tooth with which was pretty neat.

“Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais has found himself outperformed by team mate Sebastian Vettel at recent races. Bourdais, however, believes he is gradually getting a grip on the main cause - the mismatch between his driving style, and the handling characteristics of the team’s car.

Bourdais made a strong start to his rookie campaign, scoring at the season opener in Australia, but ever since the introduction of Toro Rosso’s new STR3 machine at May’s Monaco Grand Prix, the four-time Champ Car champion has struggled to match Vettel.” F1.com

I would disagree with Mr. Boudias. He is a marginal driver who from some reason continues to get rides from big sponsors. He is taking up a seat in a car that someone with actual talent could be using to get better. I realize that someone has to be at the bottom of F1, not everyone and be P1, but the truth of the matter is he stunk here in the US driving Champ Car and now he somehow worked his way into F1 and is still bad, and consistently bad.

““I somewhat regret the time I’ve spent over these last few weeks looking for grand ideas on how to adapt the car to my driving style,” he said. “Now I am concentrating on a few details, I’m taking small steps, and it seems to be paying off. But it’s still complicated. That’s just how it is… ”” F1.com

He used the same excuses in the states when he ran and then you ask how did he win the Championship then smarty pants? A couple of things happen, Paul Tracy who is a talented driver made mistakes and while I don’t think Paul could run in F1 either he does not try to. F1 and Champ Car are very different. The tracks are not the same, the cars are worlds apart and drivers who move from Champ or Indy to F1 don’t do so well.

Plus I think Champ car the years Mr. Boudais won were just years when everyone else was starved for money and parts. So many of the teams in Champ Car didn’t have sponsors willing to pay big money because they got no return. Again like in Karting if you have more money you win and beat those with less money. I think his Champ Car wins came from equally spend wads of cash. He was on the most well sponsored team in the league.

Lastly Mr. Boudias is a smug and always has his nose in the air kind of jerk. I am not going to lump him in and call him French, because that would be rude to the French. He does not like his fans, he does not like people. He does not interview well. None of the others drivers are “tight” with him and his just looks the part of a prick.

Maybe next year they will find a driver that can drive, not make excuses and let Mr. Boudais come run NASCAR where you only have to turn left, mostly. That would be fitting.

Link to Story on F1.com

NOTE: If you are going to post comments about the blog and such, make sure you are a real person, not some hack whiner behind a bogus email with a fake name, Race Fan! More like Coward! Oh and if you don’t like what I am saying make sure you actually have the “******” to post who you really are and not some fake name and bogus email address. How pathetic, oh and you and my 9th grade English teach now both know I can’t write….what a surprise!

Link to Ubuntu on Best Buy for $19.99

Ubuntu Linux offers all the power of Linux in a package that’s simple to use and easy to learn, even for users who’ve never used Linux before. The OpenOffice complete office productivity suite includes word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software to provide you with all the key desktop applications you need for success, while still allowing you to open, edit and share files with users of Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, KOffice or StarOffice. Surf the Web with ease using Mozilla FireFox, which features tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking and more. Easily instant message people on your AIM, MSN, Napster and Yahoo buddy lists from a single window with Gaim instant messaging. Manage e-mail, photos, music and more easily, and keep your computer safe with powerful firewall and antivirus programs. With Ubuntu Linux, your computer operates smoothly and efficiently, saving you time and preserving your peace of mind.

I was reading Bill Higgins blog post about converting from Windows to Ubuntu on his work desktop. While I am impressed with his little write up I would like to offer him a little something if he has not already found it.

WINE or Codeweavers Crossover Office :: Crossover for Linux

I have a standard updated as of today version of Ubuntu 8.04 running on a DELL Optiplex 755. It’s a pretty good little second machine. I have installed the Lotus Notes client on the Ubuntu desktop and have take a few screen shots to share with all of you.

As for the install, it’s easy and that is how you do software. There are a few things out of place in the client but all seems to be working. Still tinkering but I wanted to get these posted.

Installing from DEBs that came right from IBM. I didn’t have to make them!

Part of the Wizard

Lotus Notes Wizard looking for the ID file

Lotus 8.5 DB properties. Sorry for the black outs. Had to for my purposes.

FIle Menu

Lotus 8.5 Open Menu

Lotus 8.5 displaying an Image and it worked first time. No problems there.

A little image of what you get when you download the TAR files from IBM. Hope that all makes sense. Looks like a football play?

Side Notes: I am excited as to the future of Lotus Notes. I really am. A Linux/Ubuntu install and the new Mac client is well and good, but when am I going to be able to trash my Windows desktop as an Administrator or a Designer? How far out is that? I know I can use the Web Administration but that creates overhead on my servers and if one of them is down it spoils the works. I really want IBM to build a Lotus Administration Client for Linux and if you are felling cheeky a MacOSX version too. I would also like to see a clear path to Eclipse and how that is coming. IMHO it should have been out years ago, but again it’s not here and we are all kind of stuck in the middle again with Notes 8.5 for Linux and for Mac but no way to build new applications or administer them. If Microsoft wants to take pot shots at you this is the way they are going to do it. Point out that Lotus is only delivering some of the tools on some of the OSes and playing favorites. It may be FUD but it’s what they have to work with.

Lotus needs to step it up and stop playing delivery man all the time and just give me what I have been requesting going on five or nine years now. I want my Administration Client and my Designer Client on Mac and Linux (Ubuntu) and I want it now. I don’t want crying about numbers or statistics, I just want it delivered and I expect it from a company as large as IBM who cries all the time about how poor Windows is and then forces it’s customer base to keep using it. You can’t have it both ways.

I can feel the downloads starting, the bit torrents are a buzzing and the next release is only a day away. I know this has nothing to do with the i or IBM but it’s important and needs to be talked about. The next version of Ubuntu is a day away! OSNews

Ubuntu 8.04RC

“All in all, this release packs some interesting new features and frameworks, some of which should have been part of any Linux distribution three years ago. It is quite clearly a beta though, and definitely not ready yet to be labeled as a ‘long term support’ release. Let’s hope they take their time to polish the rough edges, and deliver a stable release. It is needed.”

Lets just hope!

And despite his excitement about the possibilities now that the operating system is done, Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth said he knows there’s a lot of competition in the enterprise marketplace.

“We’re modest about where we stand,” Shuttleworth said. “We know we’re a new entrant in that game and that we have a long way to go still.”

In addition to releasing the new server edition of the operating system, Ubuntu also will release Version 8.04 desktop Linux on Thursday. Both versions will be available for free download at Ubuntu’s Web site. Both are LTS releases and will be supported by Ubuntu’s commercial sponsor, Canonical Ltd., for five years, much longer than Ubuntu’s standard 18-month support cycle, he said.

“The LTS [does] appeal to those who are making larger scale deployments,” such as businesses, that want to replace their systems again for a long time,” he said. “I think this is our most significant release ever.”

Link to Article 

I love a good desktop fight. PCMAG.com has posted an interesting read about Ubunut vs. WindowsXP vs. Windows Vista vs. Mac. Read and take note.

I am a Mac & Ubuntu fan. I have a distain for Windows that is more than just the normal “Hate the biggest company”.

This review is using 7.10 of Ubuntu and 8.04 is right around the corner. I think it would do much better in some areas if they were to place the full 8.04 vs. the others. Will have to wait for that one.

Summery:

Price: Ubuntu
Installation: MacOSX
Interface: MacOSX
Bundled Software: MacOSX
Third Party Softwar: WindowsXP
Drivers & Hardware: WindowsXP
Networking: WindowsXP (WTF  - MacOSX Networking is seemless?)
Security: Ubuntu & MacOSX
Winner: MaxOSX

“In our First Looks review of Leopard, we gave it a great score (4.5), and despite some disagreement —you expected complete unanimity?—we again found it worthy (with a final score of 4). Mac OS 10.5.1 is the product to pick for our mythical average user who wants something secure, easy to install, and easy to master. That you can also run Windows and Ubuntu on today’s Intel-based Macs—enabling you to use all these OSs on the same PC—is just gravy.”

My opinion if anyone cares:

I know PCMAG.com is a Microsoft leaning MAG. I have read them for years and they always lean to Microsoft when they have the chance. The only reason you leave in WindowsXP is so that you don’t leave Windows out in the cold. Hell for that matter let’s include BeOS  and MacOS9 as well. It’s just as old? I would take issue with the decision to leave in what is now n 8 year old and tired, flawed, and patched OS. Why not just deal with new OSes?

Next is the networking, I don’t agree at all with then completely leaving out the justification for why MacOSX 10.5.1 losses out to WindowsXP in the networking area. My MacOSX 10.5.1 is a networking beast. I don’t have to think about it, it just works. WindowsXP networking didn’t get decent until that SP2 came out some 5 years into it’s life.  WiFi on Mac just works and so easy my wife can do it over the phone without much problem. WindowsXP would have driven and did drive her crazy. Shame on PCMAG for not being fair.

I do agree with the winner and would like to see this done again in 6 months with WindowsXP out of it, let Windows Vista stand on it own (LOL), and put Ubuntu 8.04.1 in the mix and we wont see Windows winning much at all.

MacOSX as I have said for years is my favorite OS by far. Ubunut is getting there.

I was doing my morning reading and Ubuntu 8.04 is out in the open. Here is a link to a link on ARS Technica

The cat is out of the bag. Lotus anno0ucned today that they will be supporting Ubuntu and Lotus Notes. This is great. Thank you, thank you , thank you Lotus Team!Also Lotus Notes 8.5 for MacOSX is on the way as well.LINK

Ed Brill Comments on Notes for Ubuntu. Thanks Ed - I knew you knew and couldn’t let us know! 

Pretty cool that people are starting to get it that you don’t need Windows to use a computer, you can use Linux/Ubuntu or MacOS X. So make this a good thing for Wal-Mart and go buy one to show your support.

Link to WIRED Post

Order Yours Here

That kind of snuck up on me. I didn’t see it coming with everything else that has been going on here.

So I will be trying to upgrade tonight and you can too.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

I was doing a little looking around Google.com and found something that is neat. The trend for desktops in the world is going down for Windows and up for Ubuntu and MacOSX

Link to Data

I am not sure what to make of this, but it can confuse a person like me.

Link to SLASHDOT 

Link to Goklaw

This is too funny not to show you. Microsoft has a site for downloads of various software products, not just their own. It’s called Windows Marketplace. Yesterday, for a brief shining moment, you and 10,000 or so other people could and did download Ubuntu Linux from a link on that page — thank you, Google Cache — which sent viewers to CNET for the download.

LINK

Development plans for Ubuntu 7.10 (codenamed Gutsy Gibbon) were announced last night on the Ubuntu development mailing list. Scheduled for official release in late October, Gutsy Gibbon will include version 2.6.22 of the Linux kernel, GNOME 2.20, and Xorg 7.3. Kubuntu 7.10 will feature KDE 3.5.7 and offer optional packages for KDE 4.0 RC2. Ubuntu 7.10 Server Edition will feature some nice additions, including support for Novell’s AppArmor security framework.

Ubuntu 7.10 will be the first Ubuntu release to offer a complete mobile and embedded edition built with the Hildon user interface components, which are also used by the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet’s Maemo platform. The Ubuntu mobile and embedded edition is most likely intended for use on upcoming portable computing devices being developed by Intel. This will also be the first Ubuntu release to include compositing support by default by fully integrating Compiz Fusion, a window manager that merges elements of Compiz and Beryl.

LINK

My recent switch to a single-boot Ubuntu setup on my Thinkpad T60 simply floors me on a regular basis. Most recently it’s had to do with the experience of maintaining the software. Fresh from a very long Windows 2000 experience and a four-month Windows XP experience along with a long-time Linux sys admin role puts me in a great position to assess Ubuntu. Three prior attempts over the years at using Linux as my daily desktop OS had me primed for failure. Well, Ubuntu takes Linux where I’ve long hoped it would go - easy to use, reliable, dependable, great applications too but more on that later. It has some elegance to it - bet you never heard that about a Linux desktop before.

I like this piece. It’s well done and sticks to what he found to be true for him and his day to day work. You may find other things but I think more over you will find Ubuntu very nice and usable.

It’s a little Ditty about how one Library got 3 used computers and not Windows License and used Ubuntu to make the work. Super!

Link to YouTube Video 

Let establish some contants….

1 –> I like the System i

2–> I like Linux

3–> I would like to see Ubuntu or a free version of Linux for the System i5

I found this and know I have to do enought reading to make it work and maybe “ROLL MY OWN” linux with the iSeries Kernal in it? Can I make that happen?

iSeries SMP Kernal for Ubuntu

Dell is trying a second time to sell personal computers with Linux preinstalled, this time using the up-and-coming Ubuntu version of the open-source operating system.

At the end of May, the No. 2 PC maker will begin selling some consumer-focused laptop and desktop models with Ubuntu’s new “Feisty Fawn” version of Linux installed, Dell spokesman Kent Cook said. The company announced the Linux move on Tuesday on its IdeaStorm site, launched in February to gather feedback directly from customers about what they want.

This is just cool. Maybe then my current laptop will get a little attention so that it all just works like it is supposed to.

link to Post

Is Linux finally ready to take on Windows as a desktop OS? We tried out both Vista and Ubuntu on individual PCs to see which works better. Here’s who won.

This seems to be one of the most even reviews I have read and will reread it many times to make sure I fully understand it and can consume it.

The last comments seem like the place where the injustice is. At no point does the author seem like either one better. They are still very different OSes.

“Ubuntu’s best strength is handling the ordinary task-based day-to-day stuff. Vista has a level of completeness and polish that some people find it hard to do without. ”

Thanks Switzerland for you super grey outlook and neutral opinion on nothing.  Nice way to not make a point and say what you really feel. I think there were times in the article when you could feel the author start to lean to one side and then at the bottom they call it a tie….oh well. I think we can all read and see who really won. Might I add Vista is expensive and you really don’t own the copy you just purchased and Ubuntu is free and so is the support.