The Official Ubuntu Book – 5th Edition
I received my copy of the new Ubuntu book on Monday. Happy times! I have Matthew Helmke to thank for the copy of the book as well. I guess at this point, I should point out that I was asked to review said book.
From what I read, the book can prove incredibly useful to newcomers, and old-timers alike. I really do think it's well written, helpful, and I would quite happily recommend it to anybody looking for a book on Ubuntu. Not to mention, the book is compact (much thinner, but equally as full as, some other Ubuntu books I own), and very stylish...that's my opinion of course...but I think this book would look quite the part sitting on anybody's bookshelf.
See for yourself:
The book can be bought on Amazon (UK site link), or many other bookstores.
A Practical Guide To Ubuntu Linux
First off, you can find the book here.
I was asked if I'd be interested in proof reading/reviewing (I don't really know what else to call it) this book back in the middle of September. After a few confused questions on my part, I agreed. So a few weeks after I received the first of several chapters to proof read and comment on, which I enjoyed doing, partly as it gave me something to do, and partly because I'd never done anything like it before, so it was a new experience.
I actually learnt quite a bit in the process as well, for example the first chapter I received was on LDAP, which...I'd never used or looked into before. So I did a little research into basically what it was, and what it's purpose was, and then read the chapter on setting it up. Luckily we touched on the topic on my University course too, so I had a heads up on that one! 
I really enjoyed reviewing this book, and I'll definitely be using it as a reference (I got my copy the other day!), and possibly reading the apache/ssh server sections to see if there's any tips on securing them, or any simple tweaks to improve them. I know a couple of other Ubuntu Forum Staff got asked to review it as well, as their names appear just in front of mine in the "Thanks" section at the front of the book.
So once again, I'd like to thank everybody I had contact with at Pearson publishing, both for giving me the opportunity to do this, and for putting up with me in the process (I'm sure I asked some stupid questions at some point, so it's best to apologize just in case 
). Hopefully I'll get asked next time too!
A Practical Guide To Ubuntu Linux
As Requested by Jacob
Qosmio Review: Part 2
Bundled Software
As I'm sure nearly everybody who has bought a new computer, has had the torture of preinstalled (a.k.a bundled) software. Most of us will remove it, as they're usually 30, 60 or 90 day trials of some program you probably won't need.
Some of the worst in my experiences are:
- AOL, it is truly terrible, though I've not seen it for a few years now
- McAfee/Norton, if I want anti-virus, then I will get Anti-Virus!! [Note - I use AVG Free for my Windows machines, it works perfectly well, at no cost!]
- Manufacturer software (I've noticed HP have a lot of software coming on their laptops still:()
So, with a brief history of that, here comes the details of the bundled software on the Qosmio G40 I received:
- Loads of Toshiba Apps
- Norton Internet Security 2008 Trial (90 days)
Now as I stated above, I don't really like preinstalled software...I can cope with the manufacturer applications, in fact, they actually seem pretty useful on this laptop, as they include an HD DVD player, which for some odd reason, wouldn't work unless I opened the app then inserted the HD DVD, more on this in a later part. Also included was the Fingerprint reading software, which allows me to log-on (and more!) using a Fingerprint, which is pretty cool.
And Norton...well...I make it no secret that I dislike Norton software, I think it slows the system down after a while, so the first thing I did (after installing Firefox) was uninstall it, re-enable the Windows firewall, and then download and install AVG Free.
That's really all the software that came bundled with it...a couple of useful ones included to (I noticed Adobe Acrobat Reader was already installed). So that was quite good to see, I'm glad manufacturers are cutting down on the amount of software preinstalled.
Update: I have to say that I did in fact forget the most important piece of bundled software. The laptop came with Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate Though annoyingly I had to go through the process of installing all the updates 
Qosmio Review: Part 1
First off, let me start by saying, I have absolutely NO idea exactly how many parts this review will have, but anyway, onto the first part!
System Specs
Ok, so from what I can gather, the laptop has the following:
- 2x 200GB Hard Drives
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.40GHz)
- 2GB RAM
- Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT (512Mb w/HDMI out)
- HD DVD-R Drive (i.e. can write HD DVD's)*
- Intel Wifi 4965
- Harman/Kardon speaker system**
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 17" Full 1080p HD Screen (actual resolution 1920x1200)
- Array of Touch-Sensitive Buttons
- Fingerprint Reader (I use this to log onto the PC, I think it's awesome :p, it must be the big kid in me!)
- TV Tuner
- 2.0 Megapixel Built-in Webcam
*I do have an HD-DVD player, so I've tried this briefly. Though as I'm sure many are aware, support for HD DVD will be non-existent after around June time. Sad as it is, therefore I hope that future Qosmio models come equipped with a Blu-Ray drive rather than HD-DVD.
**I've never heard of Harman/Kardon though I have to say, the speakers on this laptop are BRILLIANT, not just decent for a laptop, they're really good anyway, and I can safely say, they are the best speakers I have ever heard on a laptop, it even beats a fair few desktops on this! It's even got a sub-woofer!
Update: Added TV Tuner, Webcam & Fingerprint reader to the list of hardware
Login
OpenDNS
Joeb454 on Twitter
- Got quite confused then. Just seen a tweet from a "Christina Rankin", mind automatically told me it was @chrisrankin 3 days ago
- Wish the #BBCNews site had support for mobiles with the videos. 3 days ago
- Just seen a picture of @TheTimeZebra dressed as a reindeer... 4 days ago
- RT @AnnieWanKenobi: 'It's a chap!' Midwife Admiral Ackbar. 4 days ago
- Working in the future, as you do… http://t.co/Dg7Rq8zi 1 week ago
Blogroll
- Artificial Intelligence
- At Home With Jono
- b-initials
- Collin Pruitt's Blog
- Copyrighteous
- Drubin’s Blog
- Just North Of The Eyebrows
- Linux Techie
- MadnessJack
- Matthew Helmke (dot) Net
- Motho Ke Motho Ka Botho
- moxiefoxtrot
- Nhandler’s Blog
- Planet Ubuntu
- Silver Fox's Space
Planet Ubuntu
- Jeremy Bicha: Ubuntu Classic, Now With Indicators
- Jim Kielman: Ubuntu Forums Ubuntu +1 update for February 10/2012
- Kees Cook: kvm and product_uuid
Categories
- Apple (10)
- Internet (59)
- Linux (98)
- Ubuntu (89)
- Community Interviews (14)
- Ubuntu (89)
- Music (3)
- Other (26)
- Programming (9)
- Reviews (9)
- TV (6)
- Uncategorized (11)
- Uni (20)
- Xbox 360 (18)