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By Anton Piatek, on September 30th, 2009%
After moving into our new house, I contemplated running a pile of ethernet cables before we got the new carpets laid, as I have always had issues with wireless. In the end I didn’t find the time to rip up floorboards and skirting boards to lay the cables I wanted, and as it turns out the solid brick walls reduce the wireless networking strength down to almost useless (it sometimes connects upstairs, and sitting at the wrong side of the dining-room table loses the signal).
I decided that powerline networking might be a better solution. I looked at linksys’ range and decided on the PLK300 kit which is a 200mbpss kit with a 1-port adapter, and a 4-port adapter. I suspect that 200mbit means 100mbit/s in real terms as powerlines have only one pair of wires, so it is simples (as opposed to ethernet’s two pair that gives full duplex).
Getting the encryption was simple enough – press the right incantation of buttons, but I actually have no way of testing the encryption works. As for real-world speeds, I only get about 4-5Mb/s (32-40mbit/s) which is not as fast as I was hoping, but the wiring in my house is probably quite old and it is going from the downstairs power ring to the upstairs ring. I think it is probably fast enough, and as wireless is slower (and less reliable) the only other alternative is carving up the floor and walls to run cable – and I am too lazy…
Of course, as the devices are just ethernet bridges, it works seamlessly with linux and my existing network, and has almost no configuration. The power rating of these devices totals about 50W, but they seem to use less than that according to my Current Cost meter.
By Anton Piatek, on September 29th, 2009%
I wrote a while ago about the speed of virgin broadband vs. Be but my internet has been feeling rather slow recently… So I decided to take another speed test.
For reference the previous test got 9Mb/s download and 0.49Mb/s upload. The old speed wasn’t too bad, but still wasn’t as good as Be provided.
Obviously this new one is slower – the question is why? this test was about the same time of day, and as luck would have it the same day of the week. Is July a quieter internet usage month that September? Or has my service just become over-subscribed?
I will certainly be thinking carefully when it comes to the end of my contract… as paying for 10mbit and getting 2.4 is hardly value for money…
By Anton Piatek, on September 29th, 2009%
We bough a book on Hampshire and New Forest walks about a year ago, and finally actually did one of the walks in the New Forest. We did a really nice walk from Standing Hat, Balmerlawn near Brokenhurst.
The walk was a 8km walk, and the book suggested 2.5 hours but we spent 2 hours walking (which left time for a very nice lunch in a grassy clearing in the woods)
There are a lot of cycle trails in this part of the new forest, so we are planning on cycling there when we figure out a good way of getting bikes there (bike racks are not that cheap)
  
By Anton Piatek, on September 27th, 2009%
About a year ago I decided I should do some cycling again, having not really cycled for quite a few years.
We went and bought helmets (as mine no longer fitted – yes, that long ago) but then I decided my bike really needed a service. So I borrowed a pile of tools from my dad and started dismantling nearly every part of my bike to give it a full service. I regreased all the bearings, which probably needed it as they grease had completely dried up.
Yesterday I finally finished by putting back together the rear wheel (it turned out I had assembled the rear axle the wrong way round and it didn’t fit properly). We popped out for a short 30 minute ride around eastleigh park, which was great fun. It turns out I only have 2/3 of my gears as the front changer needs more adjusting (not sure how I didn’t notice that before setting out).
The only problem was that at the end of it, I had quite a sore backside from my rock-solid seat. We were planning on taking the bikes to the New Forest today, but it was just too sore (not to mention that a bike rack for the car is rather expensive, and the cheap rear-mounted ones require a numberplate and indicator light board on the back, which is a real pain).
Hopefully will find a way to fit them in the boot on another weekend and actually try out some of the many cycle trails around the New Forest
By Anton Piatek, on September 23rd, 2009%
8pm Tuesday night, and I am watching some trash on TV (or maybe it was a dvd – I don’t remember). There is a knock at the door, and I open it to find an ID card for the TV Licensing company…
I recently moved house, and tried to change address with them via their automated phone system. In fact I tried again for each red letter I received warning me that I didn’t have a TV license (two I think).
Anyway, the guy turned up saying “we have the technology”, obviously referring to the idea that they can “detect what tv you are watching from outside your house”. I never got how that works, especially with a LCD tv. Given that they have to be invited onto your property to see what is on your tv, and are trespassing if they don’t, then I am not sure how they can actually fine you if you say you don’t receive TV.
Of course the real joke is that I do have a license, and it is paid via Direct Debit. The problem is that they do not have the technology to change the address on that license as I have tried several times. The guy said he would do it when he got back to his hotel (the gprs connection on his handheld device apparently wouldn’t let him do it then and there), but I honestly expect to get another threatening letter.
How much money would they save if their automated phone change-of-address system actually worked? Surely it must be cheaper than sending a guy out all over the country, only to have him get shown a load of valid licenses that have the wrong address still…
By Anton Piatek, on September 22nd, 2009%
I recently noticed that 2nd-4th October is Ubuntu Global Jam. There is actually a meetup in Birmingham:
Ubuntu Global Jam – Birmingham (UK) – Source Guru
So, if you’re interested in helping make Ubuntu a better distro, and live in (or can travel to) the Birmingham Area in the UK, then you’re welcome to come along.
The Jam is on the 2nd-4th October, and we’ll be around on all three days…. Last year we had a great time, with refreshments (including beer) provided. Juggling penguins, and one person sleeping underneath the conference room table overnight. Hopefully we’ll also have the live Video Streams up and running again for anyone who can’t make it (or other Ubuntu Jams) to join in with!
However another question also occured – how much interest would there be in the south of England in order to try and organise one closer to home. We don’t really even need an official Ubuntu developer, as there is plenty of instructions and irc can provide access to developers real-time if we need them.
The only thing we need is a venue (I could possibly get use of the IBM site again) and enough people that want to contribute something to Ubuntu. The contribution could be packaging new programs, fixing bugs, raising bugs, improving documents, or translating documents (translation into British English anyone?)
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