Taking Notes Episode 142

This is a brief ASW post*

I was kindly asked by Bruce Elgort to take part in the Taking Notes podcast No142 on behalf of LDC, where we discus the latest round of NoSQL databases and how they relate to IBMs offerings, it was a proud and nerve racking moment for me, so if for some reason, you’re in the IBM Domino community or interested in NoSQL and have not seen the pod cast listed under the Taking Notes Page or Bruces blog, you can find it here

  • Also Bruce wont leave me alone till I post it.

Old Comments

David Leedy(22/11/2011 19:17:59 GMT)

Great Episode!

Mark Myers(22/11/2011 18:45:06 GMT)

@sean it was an honour to be asked by bruce

Sean Cull(22/11/2011 18:38:27 GMT)

I really enjoyed this podcast. Its good to know what else is happening out there.

Bruce(22/11/2011 18:26:18 GMT)

You signed a contract 🙂

Mark Myers(22/11/2011 19:38:40 GMT)

@David, it strange ive find out that no one ever tells Bruce/Julian if they enjoy the episodes (well i cant see any comments on the blog)

Used Linux applications List

Due to a hatred of the new ubuntu UI (I like a desktop UI on my desktop rather than being forced to use a tablet layout), the time came to switch Linux version (in this case to Mint Linux as it has a nice simple UI but means I can still use all the debian packages)

As it was a complete wipe of the HDD, i noted down all my Linux apps for reinstall and figured that maybe one or 2 others might find the list useful

VMWare Workstation (without which Linux would not be a suitable desktop operating system for me)

Jungle Disk Backup (Desktop Version and Server Management)

Guake Terminal (a simple and persistent terminal on the hot key F12)

Btnx (mouse mapping deamon and GUI)

Thunar File Manager (very powerful file rename accepts regex)

Truecrypt (because only the paranoid survive, and i carry client data)

FileZilla (the de facto Linux FTP client)

EASYTAG (The best audio tager for Linux)

LYX Document Processor (a great GUI for LaTex word processing)

Prey (enabling you to disable/track/find lost electronic equipment)

Streamripper (command line Internet radio ripper)

Mainstream (thankfully ported to Linux)
Skype
Lotus Notes
Spotify
Crome
DropBox

Games
Amnesia and Penumbra Games (quite the most shit my pants scary games ive every played esp Amnesia)
The humble bundle Games (i get them when ever there is a new bundle)

Linux Standard (Normally installed with most Linux distros now, but still used all the time.)
Libre Office
GIMP
GNome Mplayer
Audacious (the best music player for Linux)
VLC (for the rare times Mplayer does not handle media)
Mozilla Thuderbird (for backing up my Gmail)

Old Comments

Bill Malchisky(21/11/2011 03:49:18 GMT)

Nice list and post. Here are a few more apps that I use, which may be helpful as well.

Adobe Acrobat, Flash plugin
Transmission BitTorrent Client
Tomboy Notes
Tetravex, Sudoku, Klotski, gBrainy, Atomix (games)
Remmina Remote Desktop Client (the best)
Archive Manager
WiFi Radar

Mark Myers(21/11/2011 09:32:58 GMT)

Ooo like the “Remmina Remote Desktop Client” that one to use, thanks for the add ones, ill have a look at them.

have you tried the Amnesia game?

New Anime Series- Mashiro Iro Symphony

First Episode Review for: Mashiro-Iro Symphony

Summary : A brother and sister start at a school that has only just started admitting boys (that’s a common theme this season) , and with a group of new friends they face the horrors that school life can bring (such as the “help injured animals” club not having enough members)

Animation : Soft cell animation, very nicely done, a real treat for the eyes, the girls in the series are perhaps so perfectly ‘anime’ as to reinforce every stereotype a western viewer would have heard about them (indeed the eyes are so huge, other features are a mere suggestion at times)

Plot Potential: Not sure there is much, it is very slow moving as the is a lot of slow-mo head flicks, hair flicks, skirt flicks etc which tend to get in the way,

Characters: With perhaps the most ridiculous cat/pom pom thing i have ever seen, it’s a cute overload

Music: Soft tinkling piano

Reminds me of: An 80’s clamp anime with all the drama removed

Overall: Quite frankly not even the showiest western vampire series have anything on this when it comes to the world being populated only be beautiful people with long hair, but its a pleasant background to have on and reminds me strangly of having a tropical aquarium tank in the flat (yes yes i know)

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime’s that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!

Old Comments

elior(02/12/2011 23:49:37 GMT)

oh i understend you watched only episode 1 so you dont know how this anime unpredictble heartwarming and have nice atmosphere right?

Mark Myers(03/12/2011 15:46:07 GMT)

Fair point, the reviews are here so people can keep up with that new animes that come out ( i used to have a devil of a time find out out which ones had just been released) so i often miss the point on anime that grow as the episodes progress, i will take your advise and revisit this one

Mashiro(23/12/2011 08:43:41 GMT)

Having Just watched the 12th episode, weird for a guy to admit this, but its my favourite show now.

But that’s coming from someone that has to read the subtitles.

Mark Myers(25/12/2011 23:17:03 GMT)

@mashiro its funny, an anime series can just take you like that, and suddenly your addicted to it

Moving from Ubuntu to Mint Linux 11

Ubuntu has been the king of the hill as far as desktop Linux distros go for a while now, but with the recent UI changes and movement away from the gnome shell many people feel they have fumbled the ball a bit, I was one of them, I considered just replacing the UI with gnome 3 but I would have to do it every time 6 months, and as Bill Buchan often points out that’s a bit “hair shirt”, so i chose Mint Linux instead, as it seemed completely aimed at my kind of usage and is build off Ubuntu (mint 11 is based on ubuntu 11.04),

The install was fast and all hardware worked straight away (on a thinkpad w510), the UI is clean, crisp and very simple to use, it feels how people were hoping vista would be and how Win7 should be.

Good points

  • Stupidly fast, too fast in places as screens can change in less than the blink of an eye leaving you a tiny bit confused, but what a perfect way to be confused
  • 99% of all the debian/ubuntu stuff works flawlessly (vmware being the most important, Lotus Notes did not but I’m betting that’s an IBM oddity)
  • The built in programs are completely up to date, I installed the complete version which contained Media players and codex etc etc, and the issues that i had been fighting with on ubuntu with 10bit video were completely gone
  • PAE memory management works straight out of the box
  • As its built off ubuntu, if you have your old ubuntu home directoy backed up you can just restore it and all your setting are back in a snapBad points
  • The compiz window manager does not handle multiple screens very well particularly multiple xsessions, thankfully there is a fix Here
  • The new software manager that they are so proud of is a bit slow and clunky compared to Synaptic Package Manager, but you can use them interchangeably without any problem
  • I miss my second panelSooo, conclusion, if you use Linux as I do as a fast host to run your vmware images and do admin/web work then i completely recommend it,

Old Comments

Joe Litton(20/11/2011 17:37:57 GMT)

Doing same here. I fear that Canonical’s desire to massage Ubuntu for mobile may have killed its usefulness for desktop. But as long as the Mint folks can keep basing on Ubuntu and offering such a nice UI, I’ll be happy Emoticon

Mark Myers(20/11/2011 17:57:13 GMT)

@joe though i would be interested if you could tell me if you can get notes to work, it installs and loads fine but wont render notes database to the screen when you open them Emoticon

Mark Myers(20/11/2011 17:54:26 GMT)

Cool, im really pleased with it, the speed is blowing me away, hope its good for you as well

New Anime Series- Bakuman S2

First Episode Review for: Bakuman S2

Summary : This Continues from the first series of Bakuman where 2 high schoolers fight to be manga artists and make their dream of a published Manga come true, at the end of the last series they were serialised and this series continues on from that point

Animation : Quite reasonable, simplified and stylised faces but the human movement is good and pleasant to watch

Plot Potential: Well, other people like it enough for a second series, but dealing with work stress does not rock my boat as a plot line.

Characters: Quite eccentric and stereo typed, and not as deep as i would expect

Music: Nothing Special

Reminds me of: The first series (naturally) Bakuman and is you want an exciting alternative Death Note

Overall: Even though this is done by the same people as Death Note the subject matter kills it for me, i spend my life working to tight deadlines so watching other people do it on a cartoons holds few thrills, but there is no denying that its a qualty cartoon

Disclaimer: These are mini reviews of anime’s that are fresh out in Japan and are not licensed in the UK, buy them once they have been licensed or at the very least buy the merchandise, remember if the anime makers make a loss, THEY WILL STOP MAKING ANIME!!