edafe.org » edafe

Beware the creeping cracks of bias

edafe — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:19:46 +0000

“Nothing will corrode public trust more than a creeping awareness that scientists are unable to live up to the standards that they have set for themselves.” Daniel Sarewitz worries that over-selection and over-reporting of false positive results will increasingly put the value of science into question.
www.nature.com

The Debian Administrator’s Handbook

edafe — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:51:12 +0000

“We wanted the book to be freely available (that is under the terms of a license compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines of course). There was a condition though: a liberation fund had to be completed to ensure we had a decent compensation for the work that the book represents. This fund reached its target of €25K in April 2012.” Raphaël Hertzog and Roland Mas hope that you will enjoy the book.
debian-handbook.info

How Linux is built

edafe — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:46:54 +0000

“You use Linux everyday, whether you know it or not…”
The Linux Foundation
youtube.com

Seeing terror risk, US asks journals to cut flu study facts

edafe — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:16:47 +0000

“Ever since the tightening of security after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, scientists have worried that a scientific development would pit the need for safety against the need to share information. Now, it seems, that day has come.” Denise Grady and William Broad report on moves by the US government to effectively censor influenza research.
www.nytimes.com

Airport security — this house believes that changes made to airport security since 9/11 have done more harm than good

edafe — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:15:04 +0000

“Spending billions to force the terrorists to alter their plans in one particular way does not make us safer. It is far more cost-effective to concentrate our defences in ways that work regardless of tactic and target: intelligence, investigation and emergency response.” Bruce Schneier debates the former head of the Transportation Security Administration, Kip Hawley, on airport security. This is from the first of Schneier’s three statements on the topic.
www.economist.com 20 March, 23 March, 28 March

Sebastian Junger remembers Tim Hetherington

edafe — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 09:11:38 +0000

“You and I were always talking about risk because she was the beautiful woman we were both in love with, right? The one who made us feel the most special, the most alive? We were always trying to have one more dance with her without paying the price.” Sebastian Junger writes after the death of photojournalist Tim Hetherington in April 2011.
www.vanityfair.com

Facebook can tell you if a person is worth hiring

edafe — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:07:37 +0000

“But there’s another good reason for checking out a candidate’s Facebook page before inviting them in for an interview: it may be a fairly accurate reflection of how good they’ll be at the job.” Kashmir Hill reports on a study that will be read by HR consultants the world over.
www.forbes.com

Canonical’s ticking time clock

edafe — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:32:27 +0000

“Ubuntu could have stayed relevant if Canonical hadn’t tossed aside its user base to pursue Unity and tablets.” Barbara Hudson shares her doubts about Canonical’s apparent strategy for Ubuntu.
www.linuxinsider.com

The eurozone, the ant and the grasshopper

edafe — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:59:19 +0000

“When the ants and the grasshoppers are distributed across the division separating surplus from deficit nations within a badly designed monetary union, the stage is set for a depression that sets all against all in a vicious spiral from which only losers can emerge.” Yanis Varoufakis explains why he thinks that countries in the euro zone can neither bail out nor be bailed out of the current crisis.
www.channel4.com

Der Anruf des Bundespräsidenten

edafe — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:28:45 +0000

In German
“Für alle, die keine Fans der ‘Bild’ sind, ist es schon schwer erträglich zu lernen, daß der Bundespräsident das Blatt als eine Art Verfassungsorgan behandelt. Besonders deprimierend aber ist der Umstand, daß er auch in dieser einseitigen und insgesamt übersichtlichen Kommunikation zu keinem klaren Wort fähig ist.” Nils Minkmar explores Christian Wulff‘s attitudes towards the editorial independence of the press.
www.faz.net

“German President Wulff reportedly sought to prevent tabloid Bild from publishing a damaging article about his private loan arrangements.”

How doctors die

edafe — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:02:44 +0000

“Doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little.” Meanwhile, Ken Murray is determined to go gentle into that good night.
zocalopublicsquare.org

DNA sequencing is caught in deluge of data

edafe — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 20:05:10 +0000

“We are going to have to come up with really clever ways to throw away data so we can see new stuff.” Andrew Pollack reports on how the recent plunge in the cost of DNA sequencing is presenting scientist with new, as yet unresolved, challenges of a different kind.
www.nytimes.com

The curse of TINA

edafe — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:51:38 +0000

“Think Tanks surround politics today and are the very things that are supposed to generate new ideas. But if you go back and look at how they rose up—at who invented them and why—you discover they are not quite what they seem.” Adam Curtis looks at the history of the Think Tank in the UK and asks why modern politics, for all its Think Tanks, seems so paradoxically short of new ideas.
www.bbc.co.uk

At 52, an exonerated man is victorious in the ring

edafe — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:21:37 +0000

“Four rounds in a boxing ring could not undo 26 years in prison, but Dewey Bozella made the most of them, winning a unanimous decision Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in what he says will be his only professional fight.” Peter Applebome reports on Dewey Bozella’s debut as a professional boxer. Death penalty, anyone?
www.nytimes.com

This story immediately reminds me of Rubin Carter, a man who was wrongly convicted and spent 20 years in jail.

This Dianamania is a slur on Jobs

edafe — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:54:34 +0000

“What the Jobs hyperbole means is that your world is no bigger than your media. Or your computer. There can’t be a more tragic expression of the internet’s self-absorption.” Following the media’s response to the death of Steve Jobs, Andrew Orlowski would like to keep things in perspective.
www.theregister.co.uk

Meanwhile, Richard Stallman is not sitting on anybody’s fence and declares Steve Jobs to have had a predominantly “malign influence on people’s computing”.

It’s the end of the web as we know it

edafe — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:59:31 +0000

“You can turn your back on the social networks that matter in your field and be free and independent running your own site on your own domain. But increasingly that freedom is just the freedom to be ignored, the freedom to starve.” Owing to the exponential growth of social networking, Adrian Short regards the original dream of a common information space to be under threat.
adrianshort.co.uk

For 10 years, we’ve lied to ourselves to avoid asking the one real question

edafe — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:20:31 +0000

“When the Israeli Prime Minister gets even the US Congress to grovel to him, the American people are not going to be told the answer to the most important and ‘sensitive’ question”. For Robert Fisk, large gaps remain in our knowledge surrounding events since 9/11.
www.independent.co.uk

Farewell Facebook

edafe — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:21:53 +0000

“Can I be facebookfriends with my parents? Should I add someone I don’t really know? Will other people think my status update’s funny?”
Joep van Osch
youtube.com

Don’t be fooled by the lull—the NHS is still at great risk

edafe — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 07:29:26 +0000

“New research in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine this week shows the UK is among the most efficient health services in the world, in lives saved per pound spent.” Polly Toynbee further questions imminent public service reforms … Continue reading →

Introduction to VoIP

edafe — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 15:00:33 +0000

“Clearly, the future of telephony is the Internet, for which geographic location and distance don’t matter.”
Andrew Sheppard

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) enables you to use the Internet for making phone calls. Calls from one VoIP phone to another are free and long-distance calls to a landline can typically be made for the price of a local call. VoIP also enables you to receive calls anywhere you connect to the Internet.

What Do You Need?

VoIP telephony requires reliable broadband connection to the Internet with a speed of at least 128 Kbps in the upload direction. In addition, there are three different types of hardware to chose from:

1) Peripherals, such as USB handsets, are relatively cheap to buy and plug straight into your computer. Used in conjunction with suitable software, they instantly turn your computer into a VoIP telephone. The most obvious drawback to such a solution is that your computer needs to be switched on to receive incoming calls.

2) Dedicated IP telephones are generally more expensive and function as independent devices on the network. However, setting up an IP telephone behind a router/firewall with Network Address Translation (NAT) can present you with additional configuration challenges.

3) Analog telephone adapters (ATAs) connect your existing telephones to VoIP services. ATAs usually have built-in ADSL modems (Annex A or Annex B, depending on your country) and, in addition to VoIP telephony, are capable of providing the computers in your home with broadband-access to the Internet. In Europe, and probably elsewhere, the ATA currently is the best tool for Voice over IP.

Session Initiation Protocol

Like any other application on the Internet, telephony services need to communicate by an established protocol. VoIP services that use the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) benefit from the fact that SIP was designed as an open standard. As a result, any SIP-capable device should be able to link up with any other. What this means is that everybody can call anybody else and for free.

Why Not Use Skype?

Skype is a VoIP service with more than 663 million users as of 2011. It helped start the VoIP revolution. However, Skype uses a proprietary protocol that is subject to a number of security concerns and prevents free calls to and from anyone outside of the network.

What about Vonage?

Up until 2007, Vonage held on to the top spot as the largest provider of Internet-based telephony services in the US. Unlike Skype, Vonage does employ SIP to connect your calls. But it is still very much a closed system, because Vonage require you to use their own proprietary hardware and prevent direct connections to and from other SIP-based providers.

Service Providers

Connecting a call over the Internet is the basic task of an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP). Additional services, such as voicemail and incoming numbers that can be dialled from normal telephones, are often available at no extra cost.

Skype and Vonage are by no means the only culprits when it comes to selling their customers short. The fact that a service provider is using SIP to connect your calls does not always equate to a service that is open and free from artificial restrictions. In particular, beware of providers that proclaim to offer a SIP-based service but then disable the facility to call users on other networks for free.

Because dedicated SIP devices can manage up to ten different accounts simultaneously, there is no need to limit yourself to just one provider. Pick and choose to create a mix of services that best suits your telephony requirements.

Expect No Less

So what should you be looking for in a good SIP provider? The first thing to bear in mind is that when it comes to setting things up, SIP is very much like email. On signing up, a provider should issue you with a username, a password, a SIP address and information about their SIP registrar. If any of these are missing or not documented, for whatever reason, just find another provider who does not keep this information from you.

Your SIP provider should offer a gateway to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), enabling you to make calls from your internet telephone to regular landlines and mobiles. Not all providers charge the same rates, so compare their respective tariffs. Billing should be by the second, and not the nearest minute.

Often there is a telephone number that others can use to call you on your internet phone. Be sure to find out what rates apply to calls to such a number. True geographical numbers are best, as they will always be charged at the same rate as regular numbers with the same area code.

Your SIP address should work exactly as you would expect, in that anyone with a SIP device or compatible software should be able to use the Internet to call you for free. Otherwise, you might as well be using Skype or Vonage and never really experience the power of true Voice over IP telephony.

Testosterone and high finance do not mix: so bring on the women

edafe — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 09:20:27 +0000

“There’s been a lot of academic research suggesting that men think they know what they’re doing, even when they really don’t know what they’re doing.” Tim Adams reports on why a sufficiently high percentage of women in decision-making positions might have prevented the 2008 financial crash.
www.guardian.co.uk

Bicycle weight and commuting time: randomised trial

edafe — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:11:13 +0000

“Evidence based cycling is not high on the bicycle salesman’s agenda. No one will tell you how much more efficient one bicycle is over another; they just say it is better.” Steel or carbon? Jeremy Groves buys a new bike in the hope of saving up to five minutes on his daily commute…
www.bmj.com
With thanks to Lutz Meißner.

Why isn’t Wall Street in jail?

edafe — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:17:50 +0000

“Evidence indicates that when it comes to Wall Street, the justice system not only sucks at punishing financial criminals, it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism for protecting financial criminals.” Financial crisis ongoing, Matt Taibbi’s article should be of interest to anyone.
www.rollingstone.com

NHS turmoil is just the start of Tory ideology run wild

edafe — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:04:34 +0000

“Cameron’s government can be voted out but it will be virtually impossible to return services to a public realm that no longer exists. Ownership of the contracts and companies moves on, and the public sector loses any capacity to take them back.” Polly Toynbee casts doubt on public service reforms in the UK.
www.guardian.co.uk

Passagierselektion macht es Terroristen leicht

edafe — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:57:23 +0000

In German

“Natürlich müssen wir uns darum bemühen, die Kontrollen an den Flughäfen effektiver zu machen. Profiling nach Herkunft und Religionszugehörigkeit aber ist eine schlechte Idee, die das Fliegen weder bequemer noch sicherer macht.” Peter Neumann believes that the use of passenger profiling would actually have detrimental effects on aviation security.
www.spiegel.de

Apple v Google

edafe — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:19:26 +0000

“Apple’s and Google’s war for the phone in our pockets is the biggest clash since Apple v Microsoft for the space on our desktops” and, according to Robert Lane Greene, likely to impact the way we experience the world around us.
moreintelligentlife.com

Lies, damned lies, and medical science

edafe — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:21:34 +0000

“I’m not sure that more than a very small percentage of medical research is ever likely to lead to major improvements in clinical outcomes.” David Freedman reports on John Ioannidis and his quest to improve the quality of medical research.
www.theatlantic.com

Growing up digital, wired for distraction

edafe — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:38:47 +0000

“Video games don’t make the hole; they fill it,” says Sean, a student at Woodside High School. Matt Richtel highlights the ways in which technology causes young, developing brains to become habituated to distraction and to switching tasks, not to focus.
www.nytimes.com

Small change

edafe — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:25:10 +0000

“Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is.” Malcolm Gladwell looks back at the beginnings of the civil-rights movement and tells why the next revolution will not be tweeted.
www.newyorker.com

Windows applications making GRUB 2 unbootable

edafe — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:03:05 +0000

“We need to defend ourselves against the predatory practices of some companies making us look bad: a relatively small number of people do enough detective work to realise that it’s the fault of a particular Windows application, but many more simply blame our operating system because it won’t start any more.” Debian developer Colin Watson asks for your help in an effort to mitigate the problems caused by antifeatures built into Windows software that result in broken Windows/Linux double-boot systems.
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~cjwatson/blosxom

Ban homeopathy from NHS, say doctors

edafe — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:45:03 +0000

“Tom Dolphin, a member of the BMA’s junior doctors’ committee, backed the motion. He said he had previously described homeopathy as witchcraft, but now wanted to apologise to witches for making that link.” The British Medical Association calls for an effective end to the funding of homeopathic remedies by the NHS.
www.guardian.co.uk

Cycling’s mystery man shows his face

edafe — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:07:30 +0000

“Over his nearly three years of obsessing over, satirizing and deftly puncturing the sport of cycling, the anonymous blogger Bike Snob has made his worldview clear. He loves to ride his bike. He wants you to ride, too. Just maybe not on those florescent wheel rims.” The identity of the Bike Snob NYC has been revealed, solving one of cycling’s last great mysteries.
online.wsj.com

In Search Of…

edafe — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:32:13 +0000

NERD
Virgin
2001

It may not be racist, but it’s a question I’m tired of hearing

edafe — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:54:36 +0000

“Last weekend, I had The Conversation for the 3,897th time—and this time, it took place in central London just two roads away from the hospital where I was born.” Where is Ariane Sherine really from? I think we should be told…
www.guardian.co.uk

I’m New Here

edafe — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:00:43 +0000

Gil Scott-Heron
XL Recordings
2010

If the bike fits…

edafe — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:32:31 +0000

“Following on from last week’s show on well-being, we look at the importance of getting a good fit between rider and machine.” Scherritt Knoesen and Jack Thurston talk about finding the right position on your bike.
thebikeshow.net

No Longer At Ease

edafe — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:41:33 +0000

Nneka
Four Music
2008

last.fm

Redirecting mail for the local root user

edafe — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:46:23 +0000

postfix is Ubuntu’s default mail transfer agent (MTA) and can be configured to deliver mail using a relay host that requires SMTP authentication.

Get the necessary packages with the following command:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install postfix bsd-mailx

Begin to configure your postfix installation by choosing satellite system as the general type of configuration. Enter the local machine name as the mail name (eg mycomputer.edafe.org) and the SMTP server address of your email service provider as the SMTP relay host (eg smtp.relayhost.com).

Edit the file /etc/postfix/main.cf and add the following:

smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd smtp_sasl_security_options = relay_domains =

Create the file /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd and make the following entries:

smtp.relayhost.com user:password

Substitute smtp.relayhost.com with the address of the SMTP relay host and user:password with your login details.

Continue by executing the following three commands:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo chown root.root /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd user@ubuntu:~$ sudo chmod 600 /etc/postfix/sasl_passwd user@ubuntu:~$ sudo postmap hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_passwd

Instruct postfix to reload its settings with the following command:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/postfix reload

Making changes to the alias table

The aliases table provides a system-wide mechanism to redirect mail for local recipients.

Edit the file /etc/aliases to contain the following entries:

postmaster: root root: user@yourdomain.com

Substitute user@yourdomain.com with the email address that you would like mail for the root user to be redirected to.

Finally, update /etc/aliases.db using the following command:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo newaliases

Mail for the local root user from now on will automatically be forwarded to user@yourdomain.com , using smtp.relayhost.com as the relay host.
www.postfix.org, help.ubuntu.com

Is aviation security mostly for show?

edafe — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:29:09 +0000

“Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country’s way of life; it’s only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage.” In the wake of last week’s failed bombing of an airplane over Detroit, Bruce Schneier asks us to leverage the inherent strengths of our democracies.
edition.cnn.com

Monitoring hard disks with smartmontools

edafe — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:56:13 +0000

SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology and is built into most modern hard disks. The smartd daemon is part of smartmontools and monitors a disk’s SMART data for any signs of hardware problems.

SMART is available with Parallel and Serial ATA disks, drives appearing as either /dev/hd* or /dev/sd*, respectively. Use the following command to obtain relevant information for your system:

user@ubuntu:~$ df -hl

If required, start by configuring postfix to redirect mail for the local root user.

Get the necessary packages with the following command:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install smartmontools bsd-mailx

Configuring smartd

Edit the file /etc/smartd.conf and comment out any lines beginning with DEVICESCAN.

If you are using a netbook or a laptop, add the following line for the smartd daemon to monitor the device /dev/sda:

/dev/sda -a -d ata -n standby -o on -S on -m root -M daily -M test

If you are using a desktop or a server, add the following line for the smartd daemon to monitor the device /dev/hda:

/dev/hda -a -d ata -n never -o on -S on -s (L/../../7/04|S/../.././02) -m root -M daily -M test

See man smartd.conf for more information on how to tailor the operation of smartd to your needs.

Starting smartd

Edit the file /etc/default/smartmontools and uncomment the line containing start_smartd=yes.

Restart the smartd daemon with the following command:

user@ubuntu:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/smartmontools restart

Verify that the local root user has received a test message from the smartd daemon.

From now on, the smartd daemon will monitor the disk and, in the event of impending disk failure, alert the local root user by email.

How constant beatings have caught up with campaigner Peter Tatchell

edafe — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:18:57 +0000

“Only Peter Tatchell could be so enraged by something that is meant to calm him down. But as he grapples with the complicated security locks on his front door to let me out, it strikes me that perhaps the rest of us are lucky that he cares enough to carry on fighting, whatever the cause.” Elizabeth Day talks to Peter Tatchell, a man deserving of some respect.
www.guardian.co.uk

1.3 million reasons to re-invent the syringe

edafe — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:08:10 +0000

“25 years ago I read a newspaper article which said that one day syringes would be one of the major causes for the transmission of AIDS. I thought this was unacceptable so I decided to do something about it.” Marc Koska’s K1 syringe improves on an old design.
www.ted.com

Legs To Make Us Longer

edafe — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:30:06 +0000

Kaki King
Megaphon
2004

last.fm

OpenOffice.org

edafe — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:05:08 +0000

OpenOffice.org is a free, multi-platform office suite. It includes key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, drawing program, and database module.

OpenOffice.org is an Open Source project and available on all major platforms, including Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. At present, you can choose from more than 100 different language options.

OpenOffice.org avoids the risk of vendor lock-in because it uses a standardised, XML-based file format that makes interoperability easy and your documents future-proof.

OpenOffice.org is compatible with Microsoft Office. The latest version imports .docx files and continues to be able to read and write all the other Office formats.

Get OpenOffice.org

“OpenOffice.org is released under the LGPL licence. This means you may use it for any purpose—domestic, commercial, educational, public administration. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, employees—anyone you like.”
download.openoffice.org

Contribute

Submitting Bug Reports

“Simple end users are really critical in the process of making the code better. It’s important for end users to understand how important they are in the process.” OpenOffice.org developer Florian Reuter discusses some of the issues and explains how you can take part.

Support

OpenOffice.org Forum

Interact with other OpenOffice.org users to help with your questions.
www.oooforum.org

OpenDocument software

edafe — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:01:13 +0000

“This is an overview of software support for the OpenDocument format, an open document file format for saving and exchanging editable office documents.”
en.wikipedia.org

BLACKsummers’night

edafe — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:34:55 +0000

Maxwell
Columbia
2009

last.fm

Cannondale Cross XR 7

edafe — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:42:23 +0000

Cannondale Cross XR 7 08, wheels Mavic C29ssmax, fork Trigon XC06A, front brake Avid Juicy Ultimate 160 mm, rear brake Avid Juicy Ultimate 140 mm, chainset SRAM Rival 180 mm, chain SRAM PC1090, pedals Crankbrothers Egg Beater SL, seat post Easton EC90, saddle Selle Italia SLR, bar Easton EC90, tyres Schwalbe Kojak 28 x 1.35, weight 8.5 kg

Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals

edafe — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:53:45 +0000

“When we look at the pattern, one thing comes out very clearly. People say HIV is very high in Africa. I would say, HIV is very different in Africa.” Using Gapminder World, Hans Rosling empowers you to think more clearly about the the ways in which HIV impacts on Africa and the wider world.
www.ted.com

Introduction to OpenOffice.org 3.1

edafe — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:23:13 +0000

“This is a quick introduction to some of the new features in OpenOffice.org 3.1.”
youtube.com

Whodunnit?

edafe — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:30:25 +0000

“Clearly, somebody in this room murdered Lord Smythe.”
youtube.com

Desktop Linux for the Windows power user

edafe — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:33:25 +0000

“As a lifelong Windows user, system builder, ex-gamer, and performance freak, I’m not drinking anyone’s Kool-Aid. I just want the most amount of control over my system as possible, and at this point in time, Ubuntu is the best follow-up to Windows XP.” Adam Overa walks the Windows user through the Ubuntu installation process from downloading the CD image to finding help online.
www.tomshardware.com

How VoIP works

edafe — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:53:11 +0000

“VoIP can turn a standard Internet connection into a way to place free phone calls. The practical upshot of this is that by using some of the free VoIP software that is available to make Internet phone calls, you’re bypassing the phone company (and its charges) entirely.” Robert Valdes and Dave Roos would like to change the way you communicate.
www.howstuffworks.com

After Iraq, it’s not just North Korea that wants a bomb

edafe — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:36:32 +0000

“The idea that there is something irrational in North Korea’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons is clearly absurd. This is, after all, a state that has been targeted for regime change by the US ever since the end of the cold war, included as one of the select group of three in George Bush’s axis of evil in 2002, and whose Clinton administration guarantee of ‘no hostile intent’ was explicitly withdrawn by his successor.” Seumas Milne identifies the single greatest driver of nuclear proliferation.
www.guardian.co.uk

OpenOffice.org 3.1: the next generation

edafe — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:48:28 +0000

“The latest version of the open-source office suite OpenOffice.org 3.1 has just arrived, and it’s a good one. While some of the improvements are visible to the naked eye, I found that the most important changes were hidden under the hood.” Steven J Vaughan-Nichols takes the latest OpenOffice.org release for a spin.
www.computerworld.com

Linux Outlaws 92: New User Special

edafe — Sat, 23 May 2009 11:08:29 +0000

“We tell you how to burn and install your first distribution, we try to explain some often used terms as well as some philosophical and political issues and we cover the basic concepts behind the OS.” Dan and Fab give … Continue reading →

The skills of Danny MacAskill

edafe — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:20:12 +0000

“Holy crap.”
BikeSnob NYC
dannymacaskill.co.uk

Carbon posts for comfort

edafe — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:42:24 +0000

If you are a cyclist and would like a more comfortable ride, you might want to consider switching to a seat post made from carbon fibre. At a diameter of 27.2 mm, the Easton EC90 is the most compliant seat post that I have used to date. With enough of the post exposed, it offers a much more comfortable ride. If you require a larger diameter seat post, the theoretical advantages of carbon over other materials are much less likely to be realised in practice. At a diameter of 30.9 mm or greater, I’d stick with aluminium. Use a torque wrench and carbon assembly paste.

How to stop the drug wars

edafe — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:19:04 +0000

“The war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.”
www.economist.com

Twenty reasons never to fly Ryanair

edafe — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:52:49 +0000

“Depressingly, all publicity is good publicity when you are the world’s leading budget airline and Ryanair doesn’t give a damn whether you like it or not. But while the airline can be cheap, the customer service truly sucks. So, here are 20 things to remember next time you are led into temptation by those 1p flights.” Laura Whateley has done her research.
timesbusiness.typepad.com

The Beach of Death

edafe — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:15:27 +0000

“She’d been treading water for seven hours, before local fishermen found her in the water.”
current.com