Danny's Space

Ubuntu Karmic just updated to kernel 2.6.31.21 today of all day.  It's the final release of Lucid.  I plan to use Karmic beyond the final release date of Lucid.  Maybe 3 to 4 weeks past the availability of Lucid.  But I'm downloading (via bittorrent) Lucid today and burning the image to a cd-r now lying in my desk. I've downloaded the brand new Ubuntu Manual pdf file from this link:  Ubuntu Manual.   It's gorgeous and it came from the community as a free service.  Printed version is available for a fee.

I plan to download the long term support version of Ubuntu when the final release is out on April 29.  Another milestone and triumph of this community based distro is coming along nicely from what I can read from reviews. Since switching to Linux (ubuntu) I have not encountered any show stopper when installing the latest version on my hard drive.  I am however concerned about the new open source nvidia driver nouveu included in Lucid Lynx. Any new driver especially a graphics driver is going to be difficult to fix if it doesn't land on its feet the first time it boots.  I've modifed my plan to download the final release but delay a while about installing this on my hard drive.  I just want to make sure I'm doing this with the least hassle on my part.

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) is evidence and tangible document of our economic and historical link to India, Indonesia and the rest of Asia before the arrival of Magellan.  It is the oldest proof of writing in the Philippines preserved in the National Museum.  It is hard evidence that our ancients were writing their laws and recording important events in their little corner of the world. LCI contained a date in Hindu astronomy  corresponding to April 21, 900AD.  Someone by the name of Namwaran was released of his debts by the Datu of Tondo.  Probably a slave freed after faithful service. The LCI must be a very valuable item in Namwaran's house.  Debts for the ancients are passed on to their sons and daughters.  So if he earned this (in battle or civil service) it is redemption indeed.

The sun rose up as my phone rang.  My brother is making a phone call--making small talk but really wants to know about Skype.  He wants to set up his web cam.  I was worried about my internet connection for ages now. I boot up and open Empathy, downloaded Pidgin, opened the browser to google something up.  Hey it works.  Did the Smartbro fairy visited me in the night?  Have my wishes been granted?  I took it for a spin in Speedtest.net.  It gave me 1.67 Mbps and Smartbro's signature 0.22 Mbps upload speed.  But it's working.  Smartbro's back. 

The thing is I can call their customer service and generally they want to help me.  The problem remains the same.  They are suppose to be upgrading us to 2 Mbps but instead I am suffering random drop in connection.  I am fed up with the capricious nature of Smart broadband and I am really in the market for a new internet service provider.  The only alternative is Globe.  I also hate Globe.  Their connection is also as poor and their customer service worse.  Techs and installers alike know that 'matakpan lang ng puno ang antena' the signal is lost and you have to restart, reset the connection which inevitably drops once again and you go through the same dance again. 

Beyond the big debate about moving the window buttons (max,min,close) from the right to the left side, Izo from Design By Izo, is proposing a workflow and upload button where the window buttons were formerly located.  He proposes two new button concepts for Ubuntu that to me make real sense, productively and logically. The workflow button bypasses the action of opening up another application and opening an active file.  The workflow button enables jumping from one application to another bringing the active file with you as you go along.