Category: Journal

This area is reserved for my occasional ramblings  and musings.

Merry Christmas 2013

By GarfPosted on Cat Christmas Cards, Garf Technology, JournalLeave a commentTags
[caption id="attachment_1829" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Christmas card 2013. Ebenezer Goose at St Faith's, Havant.[/caption] In 935AD, Havant was known as “Hamafunta” – the spring of Hama – referring to the water spring to the south-west of St Faith’s Churchyard. The settlement was located at the crossing point of the track from the Downs to the coast and another track running east to west along the coast. By the time of Domesday Book, 1086, Havant was a village with a population of around 100. In 1200, the monks of Winchester Cathedral were granted permission to hold a market in the town, known… Read More ►

Having a Gander

By GarfPosted on Cat General, Journal, PhotographyLeave a commentTags
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="900"] Having a Gander 2013-09-08[/caption] I always enjoy photographing geese. They are curious creatures and they always seem so keen to pose for me. These particular geese live at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, a fascinating 16 hectare open air site, about 30 km east of my studio. The chap in the foreground seemed particularly keen - right up to the point where he tried to eat my camera. Fortunately it was only my old Fuji HS20 bridge and geese have no teeth! Read More ►

Eighteen Years of GarfNet

By GarfPosted on Cat About GarfNet, Journal, Site BlogLeave a commentTags
1995-08-18 to 2013-08-18 Editors note: quite a lot of this article is obsolete. The site has changed quite a lot since 2013! GarfNet is penguin-powered and full of unixy goodness! Yep! we're "open source" and enjoying every moment of it. GNU/Linux is serving us so well that there is hardly a whiff of the mighty Micro$oft on this site these days. Just penguins and of course, a goose! If you haven't been here for a while, then there are some shiny new things to look at. Firstly there is our new and improved internet radio tuner, linking you to some… Read More ►

Merry Christmas 2011

By GarfPosted on Cat Christmas Cards, Garf Technology, JournalLeave a commentTags
[caption id="attachment_1830" align="aligncenter" width="425"] Christmas card 2011. Ebenezer Goose discusses his Christmas dinner..[/caption] More goosy nonsense courtesy of Mr.Goose's infamous Webfooted Weblog:- https://garfnet.org.uk/mrgoose Take a trip down memory lane and browse all our earlier Christmas cards in our special on-line Christmas Card Anthology:- https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/category/christmas-cards/ Image was created/edited using GIMP, a free, open source graphics package bundled with many Linux distributions. Free download for Windows & Linux... http://www.gimp.org “Tux”, the original Linux penguin was created in 1996 by Larry Ewing, using GIMP. Tux is the official logo of the Unix-based, open-source, GNU/Linux computer operating system. Linux is a registered trademark belonging… Read More ►

Merry Christmas 2010

By GarfPosted on Cat Christmas Cards, Garf Technology, JournalTags
[caption id="attachment_1831" align="aligncenter" width="849"] Christmas card 2010, The Old Cemetery in the Snow.[/caption] The Old Cemetery runs alongside Southampton Common, about 800 metres from where I live and work. It is a beautiful and peaceful place at any time of year. However, it seems particularly photogenic after a heavy snowfall. Earlier Christmas cards:- https://garfnet.org.uk/cms/category/christmas-cards Read More ►

Novatech X16 Pro | Clevo W76TUN review

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Making an x16 Pro work on Linux, TechnologyTags
My first introduction to the Novatech *16 Series was in the Beginning of October 2009 when I bought one for my mum & put Ubuntu 9.10 64 bit c/w Medibuntu multimedia thus saving eighty-five quid (or more) Microsoft Tax. My mum is in her seventies and she really does not like computers at all. Interestingly, she says she prefers Ubuntu to Windows - mainly because she does not have to bother about virus checkers and all those other security annoyances that seem particularly scary for elderly users. She also like the fact that she doesn't have to pay for any new… Read More ►

Novatech/Clevo E16 & X16 Wireless Networking under Ubuntu Linux

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Making an x16 Pro work on Linux, TechnologyTags
This was actually rather annoying. These days one rather expects wireless networking to work "out of the box". Anyway, seems the fix is reasonably simple. These instructions are very specific and therefore need to be followed exactly. They assume you are using the 64 bit version of (K)Ubuntu. I'm also assuming you are using Firefox to download the driver file.which is called:- • rtl8192se_linux_2.6.0010.1012.2009.tar.gz and that you save this file to the default location i.e. your Desktop. OK, here's what you do, once you have downloaded the file onto your Desktop Open a terminal, by clicking the Applications|Accessories|Terminal menu item.… Read More ►

Trying to buy a PC without Windows part 6 – Lenovo

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
IBM is not one of Microsoft's biggest fans, particularly after it was well-and -truly shafted in the OS/2 fiasco. So it seems very surprising that its subsidiary Lenovo refuses absolutely to provide any refunds for unwanted Microsoft Licenses, thus completely ignoring the Microsoft EULA. 2009-11-26 12:57 Good afternoon Garfield Unfortunately we are unable to advise the cost of the Operating System License as this is a bundle price including our OEM costings from MS. Kind regards Lenovo Sales Team Read More ►
Penguin nil-points graphic

Trying to buy a PC without Windows part 5 – Acer, the most shameful response so far

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
On 2009-11-26, I wrote to Acer UK to establish what its policy was regarding the Microsoft Tax. This was its response:- Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer. Regarding your enquiry, The value would be £33.95 for vista home premium. This can only be refunded within 30 days of purchase and to get it refunded you would need to send the laptop into the acer repair centre to have the HDD formatted.  This would not be covered under warranty so would cost £51.99.RegardsJonathanAcer Technical Support Team This is one of the most shameful responses so far and justifies raising the matter… Read More ►

Struggling to make Ubuntu look good

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, TechnologyTags
Editor's note: This article is old and outdated. Blubuntu was eventually fixed in 2010. KDE4 also went on to be really rather good too. That was until they messed it up again with KDE5, but that is showing signs of being rather good now (2018-12-27) too. Seems that Canonical has woken up to the fact that the basic Ubuntu looks, well, rather turgid. Fortunately help is at hand in the form of a theme called Blubuntu. Now, Blubuntu is a great looking theme - far more attractive than Ubuntu's default dung-like hues. Unfortunately, there is a bug in the package,… Read More ►

Stop software patents in Europe

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, TechnologyTags
Editor's note: this petition dates back to 2009 and can no longer be signed. However, you can still visit the site if you wish. The patent system is misused to restrain competition for the economical benefit of a few but fails to promote innovation. A software market environment is better off with no patents on software at all. Healthy competition forces market players to innovate. If you value your computing freedom then sign the petition to stop software patents in the EU. Sign petition now. Read More ►
KDE 4 logo

Upgrade to 64 bit Goosebuntu (9.04 & 9.10)(Jaunty & Karmic)

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
This is a relatively quick and very effective way to beef up your (K)Ubuntu installation. In other words, it's how to install all your favorite Ubuntu apps all in one go! Note this primarily applies to (K)Ubuntu 9.04 & 9.10 (Jaunty & Karmic), 64 bit versions. For (K)Ubuntu 8.04 please visit earlier (and possibly outdated) article:- http://www.garfnet.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=124&Itemid=58 Basically the list below contains most of my favouirite (K)Ubuntu applications complete with their code libraries. The name "Goosebuntu" is not entirely serious - it is just a name we coined in the office. However, the following apps will turn a standard (K)Ubuntu… Read More ►

Upgrading Ubuntu 9.x to Kubuntu 9.x

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, TechnologyTags
Firstly, as ever, please back up anything that is important - as you would with any major upgrade on any computer system! Then you can either use the Synaptic package manager or in this instance it is probably quicker to install from a Terminal window. First you need to ensure the system is fully up to date. Simply type one line at a time followed by the return key... sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade Now your system is ready for Kubuntu. Type... sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop This will install the Kubuntu desktop. The download will take a while because… Read More ►

Trying to buy a PC without Windows part 4 – eBuyer

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
This is the fourth article in a series of case studies illustrating the difficulty one has purchasing a PC in the UK without being forced to pay a "Microsoft Tax". We use Linux on all our PC's and have done so for several years. Therefore we do not need, nor should we be forced to pay for any Microsoft software licenses. This week we focus on eBuyer.EBuyer is another British "pile-em-high-sell-em-cheap" internet-based boxshifter that shifts a heck of a lot of PCs and laptops. We have bought quite a bit of kit from it over the last two years including… Read More ►

Update – Laptops Direct

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
We eventually did hear back from Laptops direct. Amazingly, its sales team openly admits that it ignores the Microsoft EULA! So nil penguin points! But if there were a category for honesty then it would get plenty of penguins! The emails are in reverse order and since I guess the sales person is just "following orders", his/her name and email has been withheld for privacy reasons:- Subject: RE: [Fwd: RE: - Sales Enquiry]Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:19:18 +0100From: [Laptops Direct salesperson] To: '[removed]' References: That is correct,[Laptops Direct salesperson]From: [removed] [mailto:[removed]@garfnet.org.uk]Sent: 14 July 2009 16:16To: [Laptops Direct salesperson]Subject: Re:… Read More ►
Penguin points graphic

Why we object to the Microsoft Windows Tax

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
Rationale At the moment, everyone who buys a PC from a UK supplier has to buy a Microsoft Windows license whether they want it or not. One has no choice, it is included in the price one pays. So, even if you are using one of the many free alternative operating systems such as Ubuntu, Debian or FreeBSD, you are still forced to pay money to a giant foreign corporation, Microsoft, regardless of whether you wish to use its products or not. The Microsoft End User License Agreement states:-"By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not… Read More ►

Surely Ubuntu Linux is only for a minority of geeks & programmers?

By GarfPosted on Cat FAQ, Journal, Linux, TechnologyTags
Minority interest? Yes. Only used by geeks & programmers?  Not necessarily... Ubuntu is a minority interest insofar as it only has a fraction of the users that M$ Windows has. Moreover, despite great improvements in recent years, some configuration issues with Ubuntu are still a pain. However I disagree that you need to be a programmer or a geek in order to use it. And generally speaking, installing Ubuntu on most systems is actually pretty straightforward and generally a lot faster and easier than Windows. Ironically, in my experience, new computer users with no knowledge of computing at all, tend… Read More ►

Update – Dell

By GarfPosted on Cat Journal, Linux, Microsoft Windows Tax Scam, TechnologyTags
This is an update to the Dell OS-free laptop fiasco:-http://www.garfnet.org.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=182&Itemid=331 Seems that whilst Dell cannot be bothered to respond to our enquires with regard to buying laptops OS-free, or whether it is prepared to refund customers for unused Microsoft licenses as per Microsoft's EULA, it is however perfectly happy to spam its customers - even those who make it clear they do not wish to be spammed. This is the gem we received from Dell this morning. And yes, it WAS addressed to "Mr ". can't see this email? View it in a browser Add us to your address book… Read More ►