Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category:
TWiki 4.1 Dreamhost
Doing this was considerably easier than I thought it would be!
You will need ssh access or using the http://webftp.dreamhost.com would also be fine.
Create the directory in which you would like to keep TWiki in my case it shall be blog/ because I will be also trying to convert this wiki into a blogging application for testing and documentation purposes that I will be trying to do.
Dreamhost in it’s webftp.dreamhost.com has a good feature where you can upload zip’ed or any archived file and it will extract it for you failing that you can always use your ftp account but will have to be unzipped at before had and uploaded as a extracted folder, this can take some time. If you have shell access you should already know how to extract a tgz or zip file.
Once that is done you can follow the rest of these instructions:
Read more »
Google warns Aust copyright laws could cripple Internet
What kind of bullshit is this?
Google warns Aust copyright laws could cripple Internet
He says rather than adopting the narrow “fair use” definitions contained in the legislation, Australia should adopt a US-style open-ended fair-use defence to ensure a flow of and access to information.
“In the past when Google has been sued… one of the things it did is take down its links and content,” Dr Rimmer said.
“Google could very well become more reluctant to provide such comprehensive image and news services… and with geo-identification technology you can also offer certain content in some countries and not others.”
I’m probably running my mouth off here again, but it is this kind of stuff that well relegate us even further into the backwaters of the digital age and Internet access.
My Web 2.0 Life
As I involve my self further and further into the Web 2.0 world I find that more of my life is going online, this blog is one example.
I started out reading other blogs, I suppose because I always thought that everyone had an interesting story to tell and I wanted to know about them, after a while I thought that I might give it a go so that I could have somewhere I could express thoughts and some motivation to go out and see the world (Melbourne) and report back. I am slowly finding more and more interest in blogging which in one way or another had lead me to other places online:
Comments
Ever since I started the whole blog thing I have always wanted a better way to keep track of the comments that I have made on other blogs in case there was a response to a questions that I wanted or it turned into a interesting conversation.
I had seen del.icio.us and how it managed bookmarks but I had also seen scuttle and it had the same sort of concept even though it was a little bit late into the game, but the attractive thing to me about scuttle was that it allowed you to download the source and run it on your own servers, which I have done of course. So I have been tracking the comments Read more »
Nokia 6233
Finally got myself a new phone, after months of searching and looking at different phones, then looking on ebay and the prices and if I could afford them. I decided ’stuff it’ and went to the optus shop and grabbed a Nokia 6233.
I was already looking at the slide-phone Nokia 6280 as a possible option and seen the Samsung D600 in action so I was looking at the D900. But in the end it just got to the point where I needed a new phone and didn’t care what I got as long as it worked….well and kinda cool as well.
After years (about 5) of not ever using a Nokia I finally got myself one, honestly I can see the reason that they sell so well. The have a target audicence with each of the line ( I think that the 6 Series is target towards the business audiece) and eveything that they want is availale in the price range. I suppose the big advantage is the fact that the user base is so large there are many people making stuff for them - games and themes are one of the first things that I tried out.
Pretty happy with the phone, I’ve only had it for a week and I’m a little amused that I fussed over features such as radio, mini SD card, message storage, address book. I have just been using it as normal and haven’t really touched any of the extra stuff…well that is until now.
Now I just have to decide if I should upgrade my PDA…maybe I should have got an O2 Mini
Palm Tungsten|T
My first real foray into the gadget world would have to be the purchase of my first PDA, being the Palm Pilot Tungsten|T.
In the early days of 2000 a device of this nature set me back $1000, and at that age it was by no means a small amount, I spent a considerable amount of time repaying it and finally paid it off. The years have passed and it has gone through times of use and non-use but I have always come back to it to sort things out or organise events and things to do, I always find it useful.
First it was using it with Windows and the Palm desktop, as ugly as it is, it does work and keeps all my contacts and calendar in one place, useful for reminding me about birthdays and things to do. I consistently have to plan for things in advance and always seem to forget about them, but with the calendar I was able to plan and remember which helped greatly.
Then came along my first phone with bluetooth (K700i), bluetooth was already being used when I got the PDA with friends who were ahead in the mobile phone game and those who got PDA’s after me. Mainly it was just playing around, passing files to each other, and a great little app that I can no longer find, blueboard let a number of users could share a virtual whiteboard and draw and pass messages to each other….hours of endless childish fun!
Read more »
Dell 2007FPW Monitor
Basically I was looking for a new monitor because I have been getting by with just upgrading from my 17 Inch CRT to a 19 inch CRT, which was fine because it gave more space but still didn’t solve my problem of desk space, power, noise and most importantly image quality. Doing the research I found out that the Dell Monitors to be pertty much up there for quality but the price was a bit steep but since I have been waiting to get a new monitor for sometime and with seeing the prevalence of the LCD screens at the moment and the fact that you can get screens that are larger than mine for half the price than what I paid for the CRT, I thought that it was time that I made some space on my desk and got a better monitor.
So the hunt began and frankly ended with the Dell 2007 20 inch wide screen, I hate the fact that when ever you buy something brand new immediately afterwards to find similar brands that are cheaper or better but still have to live with the fact that you got yours and can’t do a thing about it because you rushed into it not wanting to wait.
That aside after using it for about a week or so I’m extremely happy with it, not only is it crystal clear compared to the 19 inch CRT sitting next to it ( I can actually see the flicker of the CRT out of the corner of my eye now) but I can fit more on the screen, even though I have lost a little dimension in height.
I like the fact that I can fit two windows next to each other, and I can have more space to place my terminals, I have now realised a love for having two monitors, while the CRT is just sitting on the desk until I can find a suitable buyer for it using it has allowed me opportunities that I didn’t think were that useful. Such as being able to see more of an excel spreadsheet and having a referral documents or pages while writing the final document on the LCD and lack of alt+tab has saved a bit of hand stress and general annoyance.
These a many other reasons have brought to me to the final decision that I will look for a half decent 19 inch LCD once the purchase of my new computer has been finalised.
I love getting new toys to play with !
iRiver H10 20gb
I have been trying to choose between the iRiver and an iPod, but I was always leaning towards the iRiver for various reasons, mainly the fact that I would be able to manipulate files without iTunes, but as it turns out this isn’t such a band thing.
Recently the choice was made for me with and iRiver H10 20gb, so far I’m pretty happy, it probably helps that I’m slightly technically minded so I don’t mind using alternative methods and using multiple tools to load songs and re-build the database so all the tags get read.
The only thing that I haven’t figured out is how to automatically sync podcasts, which I will be investigating in the next couple of days. The iRiver that I did get is one that uses the MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) I wasn’t really big fan of this idea in the first place so I thought that I would give it a shot, turns out it didn’t work too well in my case, were as instead of transfering the audio files across it copied them to a different location and attempted to re-encode them into wmv format…not cool!
The Only Downside
I love where I work, and I think that it’s the one of the best industries to be in, there is always something exciting around the next corner or coming up, each day there is something different and I am able to consistanly challenge myself with new problems or solving odd situations.
But the only thing that I do hate about my job is the fact that I am always waiting for computers, being an IT tech means being at the mercy of computing power. I always seem to get caught in the moment where the computer is doing something and I’m waiting, essentially looking like I’m doing nothing but really doing something.
Anything from installs to reboots can take time up which makes the job seem like it takes longer than it should and sometimes unjustifable because it did take so long even though you are working the whole time. A lot of the job is troubleshooting, when something goes wrong you have to know what to look for and testing takes time, for me it’s rather annoying because it feels like it should take less time but doesn’t. Searching for solutions to see if anyone else has had the same problem either finding the solution or not finding it.
Considering all this as far as downsides go it’s pretty minor, I wonder if other people have the same thoughts or situations?
Cross Media Ownership
There are two things that have always worried me: a curry that isn’t spicy and too much power in one place, although the proposed media changes do leave a funny taste in my mouth it’s the second reason that has me concerned more.
I’m rather cynical about most things, it’s the reason that I mainly concern my self with abc radio particularly Triple J and why I love Media Watch, the main thing that irks me about the new cross media ownership legislation is that fact that in the beginning there will be a raft of takeovers and attempted take overs and current big players in the market try to get a foot hold, while this won’t concern the the consumers of the media market it will eventually effect them.
I don’t think that foreign ownership/investment is always bad, business is after all about making money and if there is a market making money, investment will soon follow. What does concern me is the fact that media has proven its self time and again to be such a powerful medium, both with the ability to make certain individuals powerful, a recent occurrence is the event surrounding Jonestown, and to influence opinions, which can be seen around election time when media outlets with ties to certain political parties try to push their own interests and I’m am sure that there are cases around the world where this also holds true. But I do have a problem with foreign ownership in the fact that I am afraid that they might push their own agenda or show reports that they only want us to hear, since we are not really connected to their world it does allow only a few channels for news and media to flow through. Obviously I’m thinking of Rupert Murdoch, Head of News Corp. and former (or current) Australian will be at the forefront trying to buy up some media outlets at least.