Slicehost

 Internet, Linux, Ubuntu  16 Responses »
Oct 212008
 

Now, I’m sure a great many of you have at least looked into getting dedicated web hosting or VPS Servers at some point or another, I know I have! The real killer on it for me, was partly cost, and partly due to the fact that I would be limited as to what was on there, as I couldn’t install anything on the server – no company would give you root access for obvious reasons.

Well I found out that’s not quite true! Slicehost give you FULL root access. How or why may be what you’re thinking…well it’s because you actually have a virtual machine on one of their servers. What’s even better is that they’re not slow servers either!

I personally have a 256 Slice as I don’t really need a massively powerful server. I’ll let you read the other types of slices on their website, but the 256 Slice gives me:

  • 256MB RAM
  • 10GB Hard Drive Space
  • 100GB Bandwidth

I personally think it’s a brilliant idea, and it costs me $20 per month (now as I’m in the UK that works out to about ¬£11.50). Some people may have noticed that I’m on IRC 24/7 now too…screen and irssi work great for that ;) I should also point out that all the servers you can install are Linux servers, they offer plenty (I noticed Gentoo 2007.0 got updated to 2008.0 recently) – mine runs…Ubuntu of course :D

From my (albeit brief) experience, I’d highly recommend Slicehost to anybody looking for hosting of any sort next time you’re in the market for it.

 Posted by at 22:48  Tagged with: , , , , ,

ISP’s Require MS/Apple…Apparently

 Internet, Linux, Ubuntu  17 Responses »
Oct 152008
 

So I called my ISP last night. My broadband connection is running at 1.2MBps down 66kbps up – This is, quite frankly, appalling – When I moved into this house in July, we were receiving 8MBps but now we’re on such a measly connection (6 people live here, and use the internet, 4 Machines accessing the net at any given time).

I called up – after holding for 15 minutes (no joke) I finally got to talk to somebody, who was more than likely reading straight from his script. Here’s a little example of what the conversation went like:

Tech Support Guy: Ok, so what operating system are you using on your computer? Windows or Mac OS?
Me: Errm…Linux actually
TSG:…………………
Me: Ok I’ve moved to a Windows Vista PC

That – in all seriousness – is just not acceptable! They provide an Internet connection, not a software package. Since when did I need Windows or Mac OS* to be able to browse the internet!???!?! I really think that ISP’s need to realise that the service they provide is platform independent, and stop asking customers to “Please click on the start menu, then the big ‘E’ for Internet Explorer”. It’s just frustrating and patronising, it’s no wonder people still think that IE is THE Internet!

 Posted by at 16:53  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Configuring a Wireless Repeater

 Internet, Ubuntu, Xbox 360  3 Responses »
Oct 122008
 

Ok, so not strictly Linux related, but technical nonetheless, and I was using Ubuntu when I set it up ;)

I have a BT HomeHub (V1) which I…modified…to use the firmware for the router it was originally (a SpeedTouch 7G) so I could use it with a different ISP. This was back in June/July, and I’ve been having to boot into Vista (sad I know) to get internet access to play on Xbox Live, etc.

So I finally gave up today, and got around to trying to configure another HomeHub – this one with the BT Firmware as the repeater. After a lot of tweaking, I found the solution to be quite simple, and I found it here.

Now, I have 2 ethernet ports in my room, and my laptop hovers at around 95% all the time now, which is nice, better than the 40-68% I was getting before anyway. It also means I can have my Xbox 360 online without paying out for either a really long eth cable, or a wireless adapter for the 360 (they retail at around £60 here in the UK).

Either way, I’m happy with it, so I won’t complain :)

Edit: I forgot to mention, I experimented a little after setting it up (and nearly broke it!) and I configured the 2 routers to broadcast the same (E)SSID, which seemed to be ok, and caused a little confusion initially on my laptop, but it seems to work just fine now, and my laptop automatically switches to whichever has the strongest signal :)

 Posted by at 20:31  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Google Chrome

 Internet, Ubuntu  7 Responses »
Sep 042008
 

There’s been what I would describe as “mass press overload” on Google Chrome since it’s release a day or 2 ago (depending on time zones). So I thought I’d join in ;) And yes – I’m currently posting this from Chrome, running on Windows Vista.

Unfortunately, I can’t try it out on Ubuntu just yet, as there’s no Linux builds, and trying to build it from source won’t work, many have tried. People were hopeful that it would run in wine…No dice. So we’ll just have to wait. Until then, I can continue merging and moving threads about on the forums. Which have been literally inundated with threads regarding the browser, so there is now a “Google Chrome MegaThread” :p

I have to say, I actually quite like it…now that the EULA has been revised that is. And it renders very quickly (Yes – faster than Safari, which according to Apple is “the fastest, easiest-to-use web browser in the world” – perhaps they should rethink that statement?).

As this blog seems to be getting a lot of hits still concerning Acid3, I tried Google Chrome from the same acid test website. And it gets….78/100! I think that’s pretty respectable, though it fails the LinkTest (screenshot supplied below).

Anyway – more on this later, possibly when there’s major improvements or a Linux version :)

Update: I forgot to add the screenshot of the Acid test, here it is!

 

Acid3 Test Results

Acid3 Test Results

 Posted by at 15:03  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Identi.ca

 Internet  No Responses »
Aug 272008
 

I recently signed up to Identi.ca (around Monday evening GMT).

Basically it’s like Twitter but it’s Open-Source, and has a large following from the Ubuntu community, a lot of the members from the Forums are on there too :) As well as being open-source, it supports OpenID which means you can use 1 login across multiple websites (read the link for more info).

In all I actually prefer it to Twitter (I deleted my Twitter account). You can find me at http://identi.ca/Joeb454

 Posted by at 14:21  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Gmail Redesigned

 Internet  2 Responses »
Jul 272008
 

I’ve just installed the “Stylish” addon for Firefox, so that I could use the Gmail Redesigned CSS sheet for my Gmail.

Personally I prefer it much more than Google’s own offering, as it seems a lot more polished (visually) and it’s a little easier on the eyes, especially in low light scenarios.

I suggest you check it out :)

 Posted by at 00:49  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Ubuntu Forums

 Internet, Ubuntu  No Responses »
Jul 232008
 

I just got a little shock!

I just refreshed the forum main page (as it had been sitting there idle for about 10 minutes while I chatted on IRC and played Xbox :D )

And up comes a little pop-up telling me I have a PM, which didn’t surprise me, I do get them from time to time (honest), and then I read the title: “Interested in being a part of our staff?”

I was incredibly surprised, but honoured, so I said yes. And that is the simple story of how I became a Moderator/Staff Member on UbuntuForums.org :D

 Posted by at 01:19

Famous Online!

 Internet  No Responses »
Jul 122008
 

I’ve just had a look over at TalkToshiba (I’m wondering if they have any small/portable notebooks for a trial…hint hint…) and I notice that my blog is listed there on their “sidebar” – admittedly it is at the bottom, but still, it’s nice to have some publicity, especially from there :D

Anyway, if any of you guys from TT are reading this, let me know if you have some small/portable laptops for a trial (15″ or less ;) )

 Posted by at 23:47  Tagged with: , , ,

Ubuntu Story

 Internet, Ubuntu  1 Response »
May 272008
 

I just came across a pretty nice website about Ubuntu, I actually mainly wanted to mention it because I love the theme on it, it looks very nice (while keeping Ubuntu style colours – which to some may just mean “brown”).

Anyway you can find it at http://www.ubuntustory.com

 Posted by at 11:44  Tagged with: , ,

Browser Comparison – Acid 3 Test

 Internet  9 Responses »
Mar 142008
 

So, as requested, I decided to compare the beta’s of all the latest browsers using the Acid 3 test with somewhat surprising results…Below you will find screenshots of the results from IE8 Beta 1, Firefox 3 Beta 4, & Opera 9.5 Beta.

Internet Explorer 8 Test Result:

IE8 ACID 3 test

Firefox 3 Test Result:

FF3 Acid Test

Opera 9.5 Test Result:

Opera 9.5 Acid Test

 

As you can see – IE8 fails miserably! It initially only gets 10/100, but after a few seconds it increases to 17/100, which I find odd. Though admittedly IE8 is intended for developers to begin getting their pages compatible with IE8. Opera 9.5 also fails the test, though with a more respectable 60/100, which increased from somewhere around 47 after about a second or so.

Finally, Firefox 3, which scores 67/100 is the only browser I tested which doesn’t have the word “fail” on the end result, though I don’t think that counts as a pass because it didn’t score 100.

For what it’s worth, the end result should look like this reference rendering (as provided by acidtests.org).

 Posted by at 14:34  Tagged with: , , , ,
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