Intrepid
I noticed on the web that Ubuntu 8.10 was available, but found it weird that update-manager didn't warned me about this available upgrade. Turns out that the default set-up for Hardy is to subscribe to LTS upgrades only. Weird choice of Canonical... Modifying the sources list through System > Admin > Software Sources > Updates, and selecting the 'Normal Releases' entry enabled the upgrade through update-manager.
On my desktop, the upgrade went without a hiccup, but I got more trouble on my laptop : I copied alot of the files in /var/cache/apt/archives to my laptop, which was a no-no apparently for the upgrade to perform decently. Update-manager decided that the upgrade consisted of 3 packages, which I only noticed after I pressed the 'Continue' button. After this 'upgrade', update-manager was completely foobarred, so I had to switch to apt-get dist-upgrade cycles to get things working again. But in the end, everything went fine from there.
I started the upgrade on my eeePC also, but had to create an extra logical volume on the 16GB media in order to give the upgrade the 1.5GB space it required.
Intrepid is booting way slower than its predecessor, but in the general use, is feeling faster than Hardy.
On my desktop, the upgrade went without a hiccup, but I got more trouble on my laptop : I copied alot of the files in /var/cache/apt/archives to my laptop, which was a no-no apparently for the upgrade to perform decently. Update-manager decided that the upgrade consisted of 3 packages, which I only noticed after I pressed the 'Continue' button. After this 'upgrade', update-manager was completely foobarred, so I had to switch to apt-get dist-upgrade cycles to get things working again. But in the end, everything went fine from there.
I started the upgrade on my eeePC also, but had to create an extra logical volume on the 16GB media in order to give the upgrade the 1.5GB space it required.
Intrepid is booting way slower than its predecessor, but in the general use, is feeling faster than Hardy.
Geen sneeuw meer op je TV ?
Sinds begin deze maand is de VRT gestopt met analoge uitzendingen (via antenne dus). Deze worden vervangen door digitale DVB-T signalen (die wel analoog worden doorgezonden). Een flinke mediacampagne met ditto website moest alle resterende antennekijkers hiervan op de hoogte brengen. Ik vermoed dat de meeste TV-kijkende Vlamingen meewarig hun hoofd schudden met deze berichtgeving : in het door de kabelmaatschappijen geregeerde medialandschap in Vlaanderen zijn slechts zo'n 60000 kijkers nog antennekijkers.
Ontvangst van DVB-T is de laatste maand stukken moeilijker geworden voor wie met binnenhuisantenne werkt; goed beeld is hier soms millimeter richtwerk met de antenne, en kan at random ineens veranderen. Inderdaad geen sneeuw meer, maar wel blokjes, en een beeld dat soms seconden blijft hangen. Hallo, VRT ?
Sinds begin deze maand ook, is Canvas+ beschikbaar op DVB-T. Wie de vorige maanden zijn setop-box configureerde, doet dat dus best nog eens, wenst men Canvas+ op de magere kanaallijst toe te voegen. Eén+ volgt begin volgend jaar.
Ontvangst van DVB-T is de laatste maand stukken moeilijker geworden voor wie met binnenhuisantenne werkt; goed beeld is hier soms millimeter richtwerk met de antenne, en kan at random ineens veranderen. Inderdaad geen sneeuw meer, maar wel blokjes, en een beeld dat soms seconden blijft hangen. Hallo, VRT ?
Sinds begin deze maand ook, is Canvas+ beschikbaar op DVB-T. Wie de vorige maanden zijn setop-box configureerde, doet dat dus best nog eens, wenst men Canvas+ op de magere kanaallijst toe te voegen. Eén+ volgt begin volgend jaar.
Hayke
Sinds gisteren terug de trotse bezitter van een huisdier, en wat voor één ! Hayke is een Berner Senner teefje, dat uit een nest van 10 pups komt, en nu onze huiskamer vult met zijn drukdoenerij. De eerste nacht verliep gelukkig redelijk geruisloos, want zo'n eerste eenzame nacht is voor veel pups serieus wennen.
Snow in London
I stayed in London last week for a course of Implementing Cisco SAN networks solutions. It was the sixth time in London, and I must say I like the melting pot of cultures, languages and people London is. It even snowed on Tuesday night, first time in 34 years it snowed there in October.
Only drawback the course had, was that the course location changed on the last minute from central London to Brentford, 17 km from my hotel. This meant a 10 minute walk from my hotel to the underground station, 30 minutes on the tube, and finally a 20 minute walk to the class room, and all of that twice day. Aw, my aching feet !
Only drawback the course had, was that the course location changed on the last minute from central London to Brentford, 17 km from my hotel. This meant a 10 minute walk from my hotel to the underground station, 30 minutes on the tube, and finally a 20 minute walk to the class room, and all of that twice day. Aw, my aching feet !
The 4 seasons
I received a coupon as a christmas present last year, which lets me choose a picture to be printed out on canvas. I got the idea to build a collage from several landscape panorama's at 4 moments throughout the year. The result is an impressive view at the change of the local nature during the different seasons. Today uploaded to Flickr, tomorrow in my living room.
Laphroaig, 10yo
It is a wide and wonderful whisky world out there and the only way to explore it is one dram at a time. It took me a while to get to Laphroaig (the name means "the beautiful hollow by the broad bay"), a pure monument in the whisky world, and Lagavulin is to blame for this. Lagavulin was my first real peaty whisky, which at that time I found it quite too salty, and I assumed Laphroaig had the same kind of taste. Quite wrong, it seems.
This is the stuff that can polarize whisky drinkers. There are tastings where both men and women absolutely LOVE the stuff, whether new to malt whisky or not. I have also met folks who spend thousands of pounds a year on whisky and swear they would never touch this stuff. Amazing. Interesting. Crazy.
The bottle came with a small booklet, which contained information about the Friends of Laphroaig. There, you can claim your own piece of land (a square foot large) at the distillery, which you can let for the yearly price of a dram of Laphroaig, to be claimed at the distillery.
The smell : smoke, peat a hint of medicine, and pretty much nothing else. For one or other weird reason, my wife finds the smell absolutely revolting.
The taste : as complex as a one-dimensional line. Brutal, and as soft as a punch in the stomach. Smoke and peat all over the place. Oily, a little salt, but quite within the limits. Licorice root, sand, walking along a beach on a misty and rainy November afternoon. Surprisingly elegant, rounded and balanced.
Big, brutal, and excellent. A must-have in every whisky lover's liquor cabinet.
PS : at the shop, I got the chance to taste a 19 yo Laphroaig. Impressive, very sharp and spicy. Quite heavy with its 56% and its 93 euro price tag. But absolutely worth every dime of it.
This is the stuff that can polarize whisky drinkers. There are tastings where both men and women absolutely LOVE the stuff, whether new to malt whisky or not. I have also met folks who spend thousands of pounds a year on whisky and swear they would never touch this stuff. Amazing. Interesting. Crazy.
The bottle came with a small booklet, which contained information about the Friends of Laphroaig. There, you can claim your own piece of land (a square foot large) at the distillery, which you can let for the yearly price of a dram of Laphroaig, to be claimed at the distillery.
The smell : smoke, peat a hint of medicine, and pretty much nothing else. For one or other weird reason, my wife finds the smell absolutely revolting.
The taste : as complex as a one-dimensional line. Brutal, and as soft as a punch in the stomach. Smoke and peat all over the place. Oily, a little salt, but quite within the limits. Licorice root, sand, walking along a beach on a misty and rainy November afternoon. Surprisingly elegant, rounded and balanced.
Big, brutal, and excellent. A must-have in every whisky lover's liquor cabinet.
PS : at the shop, I got the chance to taste a 19 yo Laphroaig. Impressive, very sharp and spicy. Quite heavy with its 56% and its 93 euro price tag. But absolutely worth every dime of it.
Pup
Hoera ! Onze nieuwe pup zijn we gaan kiezen, en we hebben één van de aktievere eruit gehaald. Wat 3 weken geleden nog de grootte had van een cavia, is momenteel uitgegroeid tot een gemiddelde teddybeer. Enorme aaibaarheidsfactor, maar wel flinke bijtertjes. Enkele bite marks zorgen voor een 'mooie' herinnering, en waarschijnlijk een indicatie van wat nog komen moet. Binnen 2 weken is 'em de onze, en is het byebye met de rust...
Start to walk
Onlangs een pedometer gekregen, u weet wel, zo'n dingetje dat je voetstappen per dag telt. Ik heb het eens meegenomen tijdens een normale werkdag, en ik moet zeggen dat de resultaten nogal verrassend zijn :
Op een ganse werkdag (van 6h t/m 18h) heb ik zo'n 4459 stappen gezet, wat neerkomt op 2.67 km en -hou u vast- slechts een energiewaarde verbruikt van 161.2 kcal, wat niet eens 10% is van een normaal energieverbruik. Dat ik mijn gewicht nog redelijk onder controle heb, is bij deze uiterst meegenomen !
Op een ganse werkdag (van 6h t/m 18h) heb ik zo'n 4459 stappen gezet, wat neerkomt op 2.67 km en -hou u vast- slechts een energiewaarde verbruikt van 161.2 kcal, wat niet eens 10% is van een normaal energieverbruik. Dat ik mijn gewicht nog redelijk onder controle heb, is bij deze uiterst meegenomen !
Learn to identify the constellations
"Once you were hanging out with a lady friend and you were looking up at night. She asked you if you could identify any constellations for her, or a particular star. Probably you couldn't. Only if you were a badass you could."
Are you feeling lost every time you gaze up at the night sky ? Would you like to find your way between are those flickering stars ? Quietbay.net has a nice overview of several constellations to identify, so you'll be a starry night pro in no time.
Are you feeling lost every time you gaze up at the night sky ? Would you like to find your way between are those flickering stars ? Quietbay.net has a nice overview of several constellations to identify, so you'll be a starry night pro in no time.
No HDMI sound with the ASUS M2A-VM mobo
Our good old CRT television died last week. Suddenly, without any warning, it refused to start up. So I decided to shop for a LCD television. I chose for a Samsung 81" TV. No full HD, cause I still use DVB-T as the primary TV-signal source. However, connecting my HTPC to the TV by composite signal gave a bad image quality. Connecting with a SCART was even worse. So I decided that it was a good moment to try out HDMI, which gave a perfect image, but alas without sound.
I first checked the BIOS, as it gives an option to enable or disable HDMI sound. It seemed to be enabled, so I had to look for another reason for the absence of the HDMI HD audio device in Windows. Finally, I found that one needs to update the ATI HD sound driver in order to create the RealTek HDMI sound output. Here’s a link to realtek’s driver download for HDMI. Download "ATI HDMI Audio Device ", install it, and after reboot, select in the Windows Audio setup the Realtek HD audio device as the default device. After that, you're ready to rumble.
I first checked the BIOS, as it gives an option to enable or disable HDMI sound. It seemed to be enabled, so I had to look for another reason for the absence of the HDMI HD audio device in Windows. Finally, I found that one needs to update the ATI HD sound driver in order to create the RealTek HDMI sound output. Here’s a link to realtek’s driver download for HDMI. Download "ATI HDMI Audio Device ", install it, and after reboot, select in the Windows Audio setup the Realtek HD audio device as the default device. After that, you're ready to rumble.