May 2008 - main - earth.li

cheap desktops - with ubuntu?
by James Freer 22 May '08

22 May '08

As my desktop video card seems to be 'ill' - i thought i'd take a look at current prices of desktops. Looking on ebuyer i was surprised how cheap they were - #144828. For just a plain desktop i was wondering if they were worth considering? http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144979 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144828 Alternatively [as i have a couple of cases] what would folk recommend for a ubuntu motherboard & cpu -- after all there are 000's. thanks james

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[Somewhat OT] a Google question
by Chris G 21 May '08

21 May '08

Has anyone else been annoyed/frustrated by Google asking "Did you mean: " and then, whether you like it or not, searching for what it thinks you meant rather than what you actually typed? I'm sure it didn't used to do this, it quite reasonably asked the "Did you mean: " but then actually searched for what you entered. -- Chris Green

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Do I need anti-virus & spyware with Xubuntu desktop?
by paul 21 May '08

21 May '08

Hi all I'm using Xubuntu as a desktop for web surfing and emails etc. I'm connected to the Net with a wired router (with hardware firewall) and using FireStarter software firewall. Should I be using anti-virus & spyware for Linux as well? The comp is dual booting machine with XP Pro with AVG and Zonealarm. It's a P4 2GHz 512mb RAM with onboard graphics so could handle some realtime monitoring without harming performance. Cheers Paul --------------------------------- Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email.

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Re: [ALUG] MythTV - recording TV
by James Elsey 20 May '08

20 May '08

Hi James, 2008/5/20 James Elsey <james.elsey(a)serengeti-systems.com>: > Has anyone setup MythTV to record TV shows? I've been using Myth for the past 4 or 5 years with version of Linux and a few different cards. I've used the Nova-T cards for recording from freeview. They were good because they output into an MPEG2 stream directly (using hardware encoding) and therefore I could use a less powerful PC for my TV box. Myth also pulls the program guide from them directly so you don't even need a 'net connection but if you don't do that it will use XMLTV to pull listings from RadioTimes. Is it possible to not record the advert breaks, or even to record multiple simultaneous channels? I'm currently using a Hauppauge PVR-150 to record from my cable box (s-video) to MPEG2 (using hardware encoding) and I've previously used a normal TV card with the software encoding. I've used Mini-ITX boards with hardware based MPEG2 decoding to get even lower CPU usage but none of that is necessary. How much am I likely to pay for a freeview TV card? If you have good freeview signal I'd recommend getting a Nova-T card (maybe one of the dual encoder versions so you can record two channels at once. The Myth wiki and the dvb linuxtv.org website are the best sources of information on compatible cards. Ah, one slight problem, I don't particulary get a good signal in my area, sometimes its ok, but for it to work I'd need to hook it up to a larger area that my TV uses, is that possible? In general, my PCs seem to suffer most from the database load (although I am using low power machines) and the commercial detection has varied in quality over the years. I suspect it's best at US TV :-) What sort of size would a 1 hour TV show take on disc? I'm guessing this could in turn be run thru a converter to reduce the filesize? Thanks

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Re: [ALUG] MythTV - recording TV
by Mark Ridley 20 May '08

20 May '08

On Tue, 20 May, 2008 11:20 am, James Elsey wrote: > Has anyone setup MythTV to record TV shows? > > I've been experimenting with MythTV for a few weeks with various media > formats, but I'm quite intrigued to see how TV recording works. > > Most of the tutorials I've found are based on US TV, apart from myth, are > there any other apps that are good for recording from TV / Freeview? > > If anyone has this setup, can you let me know what TV card/apps are best? I have a Myth setup, originally I used Fedora and installed by hand, but recently tried MythBuntu, wow! I didn't really have to do anything but wait for it to install, it detected my hardware and configured it automatically. As for channels, I answered all the questions from the installer, and it just worked. I have two cards, I use a Nova-T PCI for terrestrial TV, and a Nova-S for satellite, although I have not set this one up yet. As a side note, the MythGames plugin works a treat with sdlmame, and I have an X-Arcade dual joystick, which makes 42" Defender heavenly! :) Cheers. -Mark ----------------------------------------------------------- This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. This information is intended to be read only by the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are on notice that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete or destroy any copy of this message.

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Re: [ALUG] [ubuntu] /home backups
by James Freer 20 May '08

20 May '08

Keith Zak provides me with rabbit and hare in quantity - wouldn't fit in a hot dog. james 2008/5/20 <keith.jamieson(a)bt.com>: > James > > ahhh ... nice doggy ... ARGHHHHHHH > > And you cant outrun these ! > > ... fills the hot dog buns nicely though ;) > > > > Keith > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: James Freer [mailto:jessejazza@googlemail.com] > Sent: Mon 19/05/2008 11:04 PM > To: Keith > Subject: Re: [ALUG] [ubuntu] /home backups > > > > 2008/5/19 <keith.jamieson(a)bt.com>: >>>2008/5/19 Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk>: >>>> On Mon, 2008-05-19 at 16:34 +0100, James Elsey wrote: >>>> >>>> BTW anyone now thinking of breaking into my shed to get a 500GB drive >>>> full of music and videos and all my email...I have to warn you I have >>>> guard cats ! >>> >>>I better pop round with my Greyhound and Lurcher! >>>"Guard cats" may last a second. >> >> lol ... lion, tiger ? Cheater ;) >> >> I was after one of these, it keeps the door-to-door sellers away ! >> >> Keith >> > > Zak also provides some keep! > http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/jessejazza/suzie/?action=view&current… > http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l59/jessejazza/suzie/?action=view&current… > > james > > >

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MythTV - recording TV
by James Elsey 20 May '08

20 May '08

Has anyone setup MythTV to record TV shows? I've been experimenting with MythTV for a few weeks with various media formats, but I'm quite intrigued to see how TV recording works. Most of the tutorials I've found are based on US TV, apart from myth, are there any other apps that are good for recording from TV / Freeview? If anyone has this setup, can you let me know what TV card/apps are best? Regards James Elsey Junior Developer Serengeti Systems Limited Serengeti House Kersey Maltings Kersey, Ipswich IP7 6DP Company registered in England & Wales Registration No: 3578108 T: 01473 825 002 D: 01473 825 013 M: 07841 343 879 Skype: james.elsey1 E: James.Elsey(a)serengeti-systems.com URL: www.serengeti-systems.com <http://www.serengeti-systems.com/>

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Re: [ALUG] [ubuntu] /home backups
by James Elsey 19 May '08

19 May '08

>>Depends on your back-up frequency, I find once a month serves me fine >>and once you've set the partitions up, that's it. > - buy a USB drive (50 quid will get you 350-500G) and backup >>Actually a very good point and an option I'd been seriously considering >>(not only for back-ups). The price of HD storage is silly these days so >>back up to optical media is a bit illogical. I have always been concerned of hard disks malfunctioning (too many bad experiences in my early days. And if the PC catches fire, then that other logical drive really isn't much of a good backup :P > to that.(Hell, if you are really skint and live close enough > to Long Stratton to pick it up I'll /give/ you an 80Gig USB drive) > >>There you go James, one can't say fairer than that!! :o) I'd be very grateful! :D > - use rsync to backup to a remote system (I backup hourly to > a separate networked system) > > Mick >>Yes, looked at rsync, nice utility but hourly would probably be to >>frequent for me. Daily would be good. Keith ________________________________ IMPORTANT NOTICE: This e-mail, and each of any attachments transmitted with it, is confidential, is the property of Kewill Systems plc ("Kewill"), and is intended solely for the information of the individual/entity to whom this e-mail is addressed. It may also be privileged or protected by other legal rules. If you have received it by mistake, please notify the author immediately by replying to this e-mail and then destroy/delete this e-mail and all attachments (if any). If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print, or rely on this e-mail. In accordance with Kewill's internal policy e-mails sent and/or received may be monitored. Whilst Kewill takes reasonable precautions (including use of anti-virus software) it accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage should this e-mail contain any virus, or similar destructive or mischievous code. C Kewill Systems plc 2007. Kewill Systems plc (1037515) - registered in England at Bramley House, The Guildway, Old Portsmouth Road, Artington, Guildford, GU3 1LR.

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[ubuntu] /home backups
by James Elsey 19 May '08

19 May '08

Hi Can anyone suggest a good backup procedure whereby I can backup all my photos/mp3s/videos etc under /home? I could back them up to a separate drive, but I only have old hard disks (10gbs) and don't really trust them. I'd like to backup onto DVD but my /home is around 80gb Are there any good compression tools that can compress image files for backup? I'm on ubuntu 8.04 Thanks James Elsey

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Firefox / Ubuntu Greyscale Weirdness
by Martin Collins 16 May '08

16 May '08

Hi, is anyone experiencing the same weird greyscale issue as I am? I don't know if it's Firefox 3.0b5 or Ubuntu 8.04 or Gnome 2.22.1 or Xorg or even my Nvidia drivers that are responsible, but whilst using Firefox it will momentarily (few seconds) lock-up and the Firefox window will turn greyscale (similar to when you click on System -> Quit). It is just the Firefox window because you can bring other still coloured windows to the front and then back again and Firefox is still greyscale? The greyscale will revert back to colour after two or three seconds, will unlock and will then be usable again. It's not a big problem but particularly weird and something I have never experienced before. I am starting to think that this might be a "feature"? I have googled around a bit and can find nothing much - I think I'm alone on this one!! Thanks all. Rgds, Martin

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