Geany IDE

I was looking for an IDE to play with some C++. As you do. And while looking for one thats in the ubuntu repositories I came across Geany.


Reminds me a little of devC++ on windows. Comes with templates for html, php, ruby, pascal, java, D, C and C++. Its lightweight and fast. Doesn't take long to load. Not much to setup for C++. I just installed G++ and I was off. Code completion in some languages. However there inst one (yet) for C++. You can run it on every OS that supports GTK+.

If you want to install it on ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install geany

If you want complie C++ install G++:
sudo apt-get install G++

You can find other builds from Geany.uvena.de

What the hell is a Foxkeh!?

" Foxkeh is a mascot created by Mozilla Japan to help introduce Firefox to new users in Japan. "

...Oh right uhm I knew that, why didn't you!
www.foxkeh.com

Haiku OS

I'm really impressed with this inspired BeOS operating system, haiku. It was known as openBeOS. The project changed it's name in order to avoid trademark crap with Palm (who bought the original BeOS in 2001).
It's remarkable what the project has archived since it began in 2001. Building a whole new OS that is compatible with BeOS on a binary/source level. That means you can run BeOS software from years ago.

After coming across the projects website haiku-os.org. I downloaded the vmware player image and had a play around. Its not a very big image, only 27mb. I downloaded the Happy Easter Edition with Basic Network Support, although I wasn't able to get vmware to network.

When you boot it your shown this neat looking desktop.


As you can see. It comes with the BASH shell. Which is good. Its the only thing I am comfortable with on this OS.


Even though it's a small image there are a few demos and applications. Iv read somewhere it can play mp3's and avi files with the media players. If your looking for a browser in the image below there inst one to my knowledge however you can get a build of firefox!. The interface looks like BeOS, not sure if it feels like BeOS, having not played with it before. However, it works well. Not over the top yet nice on the eyes and simple.

Haiku is still in development. I think its very promising. I could spend a few hours on this just playing around with everything. One thing I am wondering about with the ability to run BeOS software would it be able to run Apache for BeOS. Getting it up and running as a sever would be sweet.

Download a test image from haiku-os.org/downloads

VLC the killer media player

This GNU application is a fine example of open source software. It's packed with features, lightweight and simple to use. It's very useful for both linux and windows.

Last week mark backed up some old videos onto DVD. After finalizing it he tried to play it on a windows xp system with basic codecs that are built in. The DVD wouldn't play because xp didn't have the codec to play it. This has happened to me when ripping my favorite tv shows (for my own use, no sharing) on linux. Theres a lot of easily available codecs that are great for linux/unix os's but less for windows. Well anyway after the dvd wouldn't play I visited and had a look. After remembering the VLC player being useful for this stuff, I downloaded the windows build and within 2 minutes I was playing the DVD. I could have spent all day installing daft windows codecs. That would mean surfing the web, downloading and installing. Why bother when theres VLC which comes with:

• libavcodec
• libdvdcss DVD decryption library

The big feature of VLC is its stream capability's. It can read video and music streams. VLC standing for VideoLAN client. If you downloaded the server VLS you can stream media over your network. You could listen to music from another pc for example. You can ever telnet into VLC to operate it remotely. This player is full of features. You can find something new everyday on this thing.

VLC on ubuntu linux


Ubuntu 6.10 - 7.04 Apt-get Commands
You need to check that you have a "universe" mirror in your /etc/apt/sources.list.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vlc vlc-plugin-esd mozilla-plugin-vlc

Or... Open Synaptic (System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager). In Settings -> Repositories, make sure you have a "universe" repository activated.

Search for vlc and install it. You should also install vlc-plugin-esd, mozilla-plugin-vlc (and libdvdcss2).

Other platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, BSD, Windows CE, and Solaris. Download from here www.videolan.org/vlc/

My Bitter is done

Well my bitter is done. Its aged enough. I don't think it will get any better with age so here's to drinking it :D This is the first beer iv ever put gas in to. Gives it a smooth head that goes well with the beer. Its a smooth drink that is pretty sweet bitter with a fruity taste. Without gas it tastes like rite flanker but more bitter less fruit.



This just shows you how easy it is to make a good ale. I made this one the 25th of march and I blogged about making it. It didn't cost me to much to make because I was using left over hops from other beers like my barley wine. With some malt, a few hops, a cheap extract kit and dried yeast I am impressed that it tastes good enough to be in a brew pub. I followed no recipe (though I did write down what I did when making it), just used common sense and kept it simple.

Cider Update

A few days along...

Its gone a bit neon yellow. It's a lot lighter than it looks. Some of the odd apple bits gone to the bottom.

Cider Making o'r

Yesterday I made some cider with 16 apples and some wine yeast. Oh and also a whole bag of sugar! This stuffs going to be really really really strong. I got the idea from the alaskan bootlegger's bible, which has a few cider recipes that are practical. A lot of the sugar went stright to the bottom of the demijohn so I had to stir/beat the hell out of it and within an hour it was really going. Over night a lot of it went up the air lock so it has to be good stuff.

Alcazar Maidens Magic

This is a beer from a brewery not far from me in Nottingham called Alcazar. This is a beer apart of a Sherwood range fence the name. It's a brown ale. Dark red brown colour. Quite a lot of carbonation and good head. Theres a pleasant sweet burnt malt taste to it. With a nutty caramel hint to it which you can also smell. Little hops that give it a fruity finish. The body is smooth and light. Smells stronger than the 5% labeled on the bottle.

Rating: Good
As you can see am a professional at rating beer
Overall: Good brown ale yet not as good as speckled hen but maybe better than newcastle.

Desmond a Celtic fan?

Anyone noticed the latest episode of lost has references to celtic.
For example while talking to some woman he broke up with
"we dated for six years and the closest you came to a religious experience was Celtic wining the cup"

youtube video

Another one is Desmond drunkenly singing the Celtic song. The one that goes Hail Hail, the Celts are here but he's singing the second verse For it's a grand old team to play for.

youtube video

Wouldn't Desmond being Scottish go for hearts or rangers? Maybe hes got Irish links or something who knows. Its lost. He might be an alien for all we know. Another thing is that the episode was shown in the UK on the same day Celtic won the SPL. Weeeeeeird.

Finally ubuntu 7.04 installed

Finally! I have downloaded it with the checksum right. Took about 10 times to get a good copy. I downloaded the alternative edition (text install version) since I was impatient to go through the GUI install. I only have 256mb anyways. It installs like a dream with the text install, no waiting around for windows to pop up.
No changes effecting the speedtouch modem scripts. I'm using the normal scripts from www.linux-usb.org/SpeedTouch/ubuntu/index.html.
All I need to do now is install mp3 and video codec support which ill do tonight and post the commands under ubuntu/hacks or something. As with other hacks I may find :)

The desktop effects work better than I thought. Its a lot faster than any install of compiz/beryl iv ever tried. Another thing is iv gone back to using gnome for a while. Who knows how long that will be.


I like the gnome theme applet. Lets me get rid of the brown.