Time to do year end back ups.

Mostly, I have used this Dell Studio this year, so this is what I will concentrate on backing up now, for year end back ups. The Macbook and eMac are already backed up. That leaves the Kubuntu Dell Vostro and the Alienware M11X to back up as well.

Dell replaced the keyboard on the Dell Studio laptop as I asked them to do.

Dell did not mind that my computer is dual boot linux/windows 7. They simply replaced the keyboard as I asked them too.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 was purchased for the Remembrance computer.

I just installed Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 on my home build PC. The license for Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 had expired.

Replacing the Dell Studio keyboard.

I am sending my Dell Studio laptop to Dell to have the keyboard replaced. It is still under warranty so this will not cost me money. To prepare, I am first backing up all my files to my network drive. Then I will create a dummy account for the technicans to log into at Dell.

I thinking of buying a new hard drive for Remembrance the home built PC

I am considering buying a 1 terebyte drive for my home built PC for backups.

I backed up the Dell Studio laptop.

I backed up the My Documents and Desktop folders on my Dell Studio Laptop that is the Windows 7 side.

Studying PERL again.

I have yet to get used to programming with PERL. Yet it offers me a lot of efficencies in the work I do.

Updating cycle today.

While my day to day computers update themselves, some of my machines are off most of the time, so I turn them on from time to time and update the operating systems. I may try to update my Trinity Indimixx OS today on Remembrance the low energy use desktop PC I built from parts in fall 2008.

HP6840 printer works well with Kubuntu 10.04 Linux

I was able to get the HP 6840 printer working fine with my Kubuntu laptop. I installed a few extra HP softwares from the regular software update. It printed just fine. I did this test for Computers for Communities (C4C) ( Ottawa Chapter). the printer was donated to C4C.

Office 2010 studies from For Dummies books.

There is too much to know to claim to be a smart computer programmer, computer scientist or computer user. That's an explanation for why I accept the For Dummies series of books as helpful. I am studying from these books Office 2010, Perl and UML2. I admit I got furthest with the Perl book so far, and with the ULM2 book I have gotten nowhere. I did though start to read this past week Office 2010 For Dummies and also Excel 2010 For Dummies. I will be paid to use these applications at work in the future, so I study these to improve my work skills and efficiency. These are though not my main knowledge sphere, my main knowledge sphere is as a procedural programmer at present in the SAS language.

I gave away the Dell Mini 9 to a young person.

I gave away the Dell Mini 9 with Kubuntu installed. I also installed many games on this netbook. I had some trouble with the Network Manager application. It got turned off and I could not restart it. This young person will probably have no support to keep this netbook updated.

It is difficult to keep all my computers up to date.

I probably have too many computers now. I did repair the Macbook top, keyboard and track pad with a used UK version of these. It works but I have lost the front power light and wake up sound. I had promised to give this laptop away and can now do this once everything is backed up. I had planned to save up for a Macbook Pro but now prefer Linux computers. I have changed the operating system on my newish Vostro 1015 laptop to Kubuntu from Ubuntu and have the wireless working and have it working with my new Epson all-in-one printer, thanks to the useful information on the Ubuntu forums about this Epson 610 printer. I keep my XP 64 bit desktop updated. I keep the Debian updated on it and am in the process of upgrading it to Debian 5. I need to update the Trinity OS on it and have some instructions on how to update that to the Ubuntu base 10.4 OS for Trinity. I am considering giving away my netbook to a young girl in the family. I will install Kubuntu first on the netbook and wipe out the other OS on it, so I should back it up today. I will need to buy the parents in the family a book to help them maintain the netbook. Besides my Vostro 1015 laptop, I also am using a new Dell Studio 17 inch laptop running Windows 7. I also have my sub laptop, an Alienware M11X which is fully paid for now. It runs Windows 7 and Debian 5.

I bought an Epson Workforce 610 all-in-one printer

I just purchased a new all-in-one printer. Here is the link to the downloads page: Epson Workforce 610 all-in-one printer

Backing up Macbook for non use.

The first Macbook I have owned is four years old and is an original model bought about 2 weeks after the Macbook model first went on sale in June 2006. The "N" key is now not useable. I tried to fix this by buying a replacement "N" key but bought the wrong model's key. I then tried to fix this by buying a replacement keyboard only to find out after taking the Macbook apart that the keyboard is fused with the top of the laptop and instead I needed to buy a replacement top including keyboard. This would be about 60$ plus shipping on ebay and I can not afford it right now.

This means I will not use the Macbook until the top can be replaced. So I am backing it up and preparing to move my work to my new Dell Studio laptop. I am archiving Mac Mail right now and have also copied the Desktop folder and am starting to copy the Mail and Mail Download folders which are in the User's Library folder. The archive though will produce mbox folders which can be imported into Linux e-mail clients/softwares. I am also copying the Documents folder. If I have time I will copy the whole Library folder to backup.

The first back up I am doing is to my Linksys network drive which is very slow. As I do this I then copy the files from the Linksys drive to my Dell Studio, so I will have access to all my Macbook documents. After this I will back everything up to a portable USB drive.

I will also have to psychologically get out of the habit of using the Macbook..

The Dell Vostro with Ubuntu won't play my Stargate SG1 DVD's

The Movie Player application in Ubuntu won't play my Stargate SG1 disk. I had to watch it with Windows Media Player on the Dell Studio 17.

My computers are working fine.

All my computers are working fine. The Macbook and eMac have none functioning disk burners so I need to burn disks on the Remembrance desktop or the Dell Studio laptop.

I reinstalled Ubuntu 10.04 on the Vostro and it is working fine now.

I was able in under 24 hours to download a copy of Ubuntu 10.04, burn it to disk and last night reinstall the OS on the Vostro.

The Dell Vostro 15 now won't boot into the desktop only a terminal window.

It seems I have failed to upgrade to Ubuntu 10.04. A Dell Linux support technician recommended reinstalling from a 10.04 disk which I am making now.

Looking for more RAM for my new Vostro 15 with Ubuntu Linux

I will start looking for more RAM for this Vostro 15 inch laptop. I spent the first day with this laptop upgrading the OS to Ubuntu 10.04. It came new from Dell with Ubuntu 8.04 for 349$. I messed up the Evolution e-mail by trying to load a back up Evolution file without uncompressing the file first. At least the wireless is working and that could have been a big headache. I did get Thunderbird e-mail software working yesterday. Ideally I would like to get Evolution working again or e-macs. This laptop takes PC2 DDR2 800 SODIMM RAM and has 1 GB RAM now. I will need to access the RAM and most probably want two 2 GB RAM sticks to bring this laptop up to its 4 GB maximum.

Book review being worked on for local SAS user group.

I am working on a book review for a local SAS user group. I will give the presentation June 9 in the morning at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The review covers the book ODS: the Basics by Lauren E. Haworth. So far the book has proved useful to me at work.

I have ordered a second monitor.

I was able to borrow money to order a second monitor. Again I bought as G series Green monitor from Dell and again on sale.

Success with Evolution e-mail client and Sympatico Internet Service

I used SSL encryption for receiving e-mail and "password" as the encryption type. For sending e-mail I used TLS encryption and "login" as the authentication type. It works. Therefore good bye 4 year old Macbook for e-mail. I actually used the "check for supported types" button and the other choices in both cases were crossed out after the check. I think, if you start with the above choices and use the "check for supported types" button you will then get "the check for supported types" button to work. I think, if you have different types selected, the "check for supported types" button will not work.

the challenge to get Thunderbird e-mail software working with Sympatico Internet.

I want to get Thuderbird working with my ISP who won't support me setting it up.

I did get the Dell Studio 17 inch wide screen laptop.

This new laptop is now running Debian 5 on one of its two hard drives. I am typing this in Iceweasel the Debian version of Firefox. I have used the Mix Tab, and Tree Tab Style add ons for Firefox as I do these days. I am also trying out History Tab another Firefox add on. I have just spent about two hours blogging and social networking with Iceweasel and had no issues. Next, I have to test an e-mail software. Then I can prepare to give away my old Macbook.

The laptop has a 17 inch widescreen LED screen. It has an Intel i7 processor. The laptop has two 320 GB hard drives allowing a clean install of Debian 5 on its own drive. So far I have not been able to get Grub working in either Ubuntu or Kubuntu on either my Dell Alienware M11X or this Dell Studio. It may be that both are running Windows 7. Debian seems to install and allow dual booting with no problem.

I decided not to buy the Dell Studio 17 laptop.

I already have a fair amount of debit with Dell so decided not to buy on credit the Dell Studio 17 laptop.

I may be buying a Dell 17" Studio laptop.

I am waiting for the loan approval for the purchase of a Dell Studio laptop with 17 inch screen. I will install Kubuntu on this laptop and it may become my main machine.

I installed Kubuntu 9.10 on my Dell Mini 9.

I used a software from sourceforge recommended by Ubuntu to create a bootable USB drive with the downloaded Kubuntu iso operating system disk. I now have three operating systems each using just under 20 GB installed on my Dell Mini 9 netbook.

The "N" key on my Macbook keyboard cracked.

The "N" key on my 3.75 year old Macbook cracked a few days ago. Today I ordered a replacement key from an ebay seller.

Today I am volunteering in computer refurbishing.

I am helping with getting a computer refurbishing non profit off the ground. We have been going for a little more than a year now. We have a workshop now and a number of committed and knowledgeable volunteers. We install Edubuntu on older computers we receive as donations and then in turn donate these computers to community groups.

The next Dell puchase is a Green 22 inch monitor.

I could not fit my LG 19 inch wide screen monitor on the dual arm monitor mount because the mounting holes on the LG are 35 mm X 75 mm. So I bought a new monitor from Dell on credit. Credit seems to be easy with Dell and I have probably now over extended myself with Dell Financing. At first they would not approve credit on a new monitor. I was trying to buy two so they would both be on the dual mount arm and by buying two the purchase total price would be high enough for a loan rather than revolving credit and that would mean a more favorable interest rate on the credit. I seem to have been denied that more favorable rate now and am about 3,000 dollars in debit to Dell Financing on these 19% loans. Instead, in the end, they approved a single monitor purchase at 30% interest. So far, as of today before the monitor has been charged I have fully paid off this 30% interest account. I have fully paid for an e-book I got because it was easy credit and a Linux based OS. Then I got with this second laptop tray for the dual arm mount and have now fully paid that off too. Now I must pay off this new monitor soon. The new M11X laptop is on a 6 months no interest loan plan at 19% interest and I have a plan in place to save up the money to fully pay it off in four months. Then if both of these repayment plans work and nothing new is purchased I will owe less than 2000$ at the 19% interest rate. I will save close to 500$ by paying the loan off for the laptop. The new monitor is here http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=320-7958

I have the new laptop working now with lots of software.

I installed Office XP, Office 2007 student version for productivity suites and have used these already for school related work. For games I installed Eve Online, Eve Monitor, and Second Life and updated World of WarCraft which I do not actually play yet. For Internet software I installed Firefox 3. For statistical work I installed SAS, SAS Enterprise Guide, and JMP.

I have now fully prepared the laptop and my friend has it and is happy with it.

I took me about 12 hours to fully reinstall the Vista operating system and delete the windows.old folder. Much of this time was taken up installing drivers too.

I am installing drivers for the Dell Inspiron after installing Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit.

It is taking a while to install all these drivers. I have taken a break now to make sure I delete the windows.old folder. I had software licenses on this Inspiron I can not share so must make sure everything is gone. I could have wiped the whole drive but decided not to do that. So now I have many drivers and the Dell system software installed. Before I continue to install more Dell drivers and software I am deleting about 25 GB of data in the windows.old folder.

I have left Yahoo domains for almost all my domains now.

I have one domain left with Yahoo and that is because the hosting for that site is with Yahoo. They raised their prices and closed Geocities and I know they have to make money but both of those moves have cost me time and money. I moved to a Canadian domain name register now. It is an expensive time of year for me as many domains become due now for renewal. I also have no web mastering income this past year nor any planned for 2010.

I have backed up all the user files on the Inspiron and am now restoring windows.

I am now reinstalling Windows Vista on the Dell 1545 Inspiron, a friend is buying it from me and I am setting it up for him. I have a new Alienware M11X for a windows laptop.

I am typing this on my Macbook while it is suspended above the coffee table on a dual monitor mount.

This seems to work well for typing and allowing me to actually see the keyboard as I type. The laptop is being suspended on a laptop tray while I type this. The screen is now eye level although my hands are having to reach up a little bit. I will try this for awhile. I am using a Ergotron dual mount arm to do this.

The one thing is my LG W1952TQ monitor will not mount on the vesa mount. So I may have to find another monitor for this mount arm. I may try to trade this monitor with someone for a compatible monitor.

Back ups and the back up cycle ad hoc deletion of back up folders for the Mac computers.

I have been deleting old Macintosh documents, mail and desktop folders from the network drive. This deletion is ad hoc merely deleting folders with dates between the earliest back ups and the oldest back ups. This is being applied to both the Macbook 1 and eMac 2 back up folders. I am backing up both of these computers about once a month to the network drive. I also use two USB external drives and one external firewire drive to make the same back ups at times, in case the network drive fails. Nothing is off site yet, so I am really not backed up.

Updating Fink and Fink Commander on my Macbook.

I have to use the Otter/Mace9 automated theorem prover for some school work in knowledge representation. I have it running on my Ubuntu Dell Mini 9 netbook already. Since I am typing up my school work in LaTeX on my Macbook, I want to run Otter/Mace9 on my Macbook. I usually install GNU software like Otter/Mace9 with Fink. So I am having to update Fink and Fink Commander.

Now after writing this, I searched Fink and could not find Otter in Fink. I will try to install it in a Macintosh package from the Otter/Mace9 web site. For now I have Prover on the Macbook which is a newer version of Otter/Mace9. I would like to use the old version still.

May be the newer version Prover will help me get started with Otter because so far I have not had success with the resolution function in Otter on the netbook. And the resolution function and then refutation is the point of this Otter software

I am anticipating the M11X gaming laptop now.

The shipping date for the M11X is set for March 12th. I am anticipating that I may receive it some time this coming week.

I have a buyer for the Inspiron 1545 now and the Alienware M11X has been ordered.

I have found a buyer for the Inspiron 1545 just before I signed the agreement to borrow the money from Dell Financial Services to pay for the Alienware M11X. The M11X does not have the new Intel i processors and weights more than a comparable Asus laptop with a different graphic card. The M11X weights less than 4.5 pounds. This is related to consumer satisfaction and depression. So I will realize this relation and carry on loving and liking this new laptop. I hope to pay off the loan with my tax return.

The sales preparation process for selling the Dell Inspiron 1545 used to a new owner.

The first step I figured was to find all the disks that came with this Dell Inspiron 1545 15 inch wide screen laptop.

I did find those. I need to have the restore disk so I can reinstall the OS so the new onwer can have a clean OS and start fresh. I may also look into some way of securely erasing the drive without crapping up the format so the restore disk will still work. So step one is good to go.

The step two is to back up all my user files on both the Windows side and the Debian side.

This may be difficult to make sure I have all the data in all the folders such as software user data folders. If I am going to get a new Windows 7 computer there may be some data and application transfer techniques these days to simply transfer the data from the Vista 64 bit on the Inspiron to the Windows 7 Home Premium on the new Alienware M11X. For now I am backing up files to a small external USB drive with 91 GB free space. This is one of the few USB drives I have that can be seen by Windows and Linux and Macs. I will also back up to my Linksys network drivebay. So step two is in progress.

Considering buying a Dell Alienware gaming laptop and selling the Dell Inspiron laptop.

Last winter my Internet provider offered me a discount on a netbook from Dell. Therein I discovered Dell computers and the Dell finance easy credit. I also discovered that the netbooks were available with Linux. I bought a netbook with Ubuntu 8 and that has since been upgraded by myself to Ubuntu 9 netbook remix and I have also installed now the Transmission OS from the Trinity Audio Group also known as Indamixx OS. This is a specialized Linux based music OS.

I then ordered an Inspiron 15 inch wide screen laptop from Dell. Then later in the summer I ordered a Dell Mini projector. I am now considering selling the mini projector and a screen I had bought on ebay. I am also now considering selling the Inspiron laptop and getting an 11 inch Alienware M11X gaming laptop.

It looks like I will be able to sell these 160 GB hard drives and only have a small loss.

It looks like I can get my money back for these two 160 GB hard drives I bought and get most of my money back from the sale. I will find out in about 10 hours if this is possible. I placed an add on a local web classifieds to do this sale.

I was still unsuccessful at installing harddrives in the Rackable Systems server.

I tried with two used IDE 160 GB drives and was still unsuccessful at installing hard drives in this server. I will stop buying things now for his project. I will perhaps sell off the harddrives.