New Ubuntu installs

In the past month or so I've installed Ubuntu on three computers: Rebecca's old laptop, my new laptop and my desktop at school. Overall I was quite pleased the with install process and the final result.

All the installs were performed using a USB flash drive. I started with Rebecca's old laptop and I used all 40 gigs for Ubuntu, removing Windows from the machine. I caused some trouble for myself by partially disabling the wireless on Windows, which I then had to go back and fix at an inopportune time which cost me some minutes. I also tried at first to use a flash drive that wasn't fast enough, which cost me about an hour. The good news is that the laptop is now much more usable than it had been, both in terms of hard drive space and the resources required to run the OS on a minute-to-minute basis.

The other two installs were different in that they were dual-boot installs (ie. the Windows OS was left functioning). These took a little more internet research and a little guidance from an officemate but went as smoothly as was reasonable.

I'm now using Ubuntu almost exclusively at work and home. As I go on I hope to notice productivity increases from easier access to some programs.

Score

Cameron 34

Neil 25

A Few Quick Notes 270

-We had another pretty nice Winter's day today. It seems that it was at least a few degrees below zero all day with almost no wind or precipitation to make this unpleasant.

-A few days ago I decided that I would bake a few loaves of bread to day. As usual this was a pretty painless process.

As I have this new time-lapse video software I thought I might try to capture the changes that occur while a loaf of bread is baking. Without too much effort I was able to position my computer in front of the oven and capture the event. Once I reviewed the footage I noticed that the oven window was so dirty that it really obscured the view of the bread. So while I ended up getting pretty poor footage, as you can see below, I did end up cleaning the oven window, which I wouldn't have thought about doing otherwise.



[Embedded video]

-While the bread was rising and baking I took care of a few plant related issues. I removed some soil from some papyrus I am trying to grow and also planted a few seeds. Also, I finally got around to repotting a succulent that had outgrown its pot.

Most of the seeds I planted were scarlet runner beans, with the idea that they will be able to climb the rack on which they are growing. I also planted a few water melon seeds (which might be a bit of a stretch), some corn, and chives. While I realize that I am being somewhat over-ambitious for apartment farming, I do like that I am at least trying a few of these things, even if the plants don't end up producing edible fruit.

On a related note, the dill, thyme, and chives I planted a few days ago seem to have started to sprout. This this point they are at about the same point they were when they died in the fall, so I can't yet tell if these will be successful, or if they too will die for no apparent reason in a few days.


Blog-off
Cameron: 7
Neil:0

A Few Quick Notes 262

-We seem to be back to the below zero temperatures I am so fond of. As far as I can tell, they should be spending the rest of the week with us, which is nice as it might bring a little regularity to my life.

-This morning while preparing breakfast and working on a paper I slapped together a two loaf batch of bread. Though smaller usual, I am pretty pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately, Neil and I have managed to consume almost all of the first loaf already, which suggests that I shouldn't hold out too much hope that this bread will hang around for a long time.

-We had gnocchi, pork chops, and vegetables for dinner tonight, talk about exciting. I like to mix things up every once in while so we had broccoli instead of corn and green beans.

-I will have quite a busy day tomorrow. Aside from having six straight hours of seminars, I have to be involved in leading the first 3 hours, and then make a presentation in the second three hour session. The best part is that I don't really have a break between the two sessions.

A Few Quick Notes 131

-If I recall correctly, today was a pretty nice day, at times warm and sunny. Unfortunately, it seems that I spent must of the sunlight hours either asleep or in a building facing away from windows.

-Speaking of windows, today I tried to clean the windows in our living room. Surprisingly, I went to the extent of taking them out and placing them on the floor so that I could properly clean both sides. The only problem with all of this was that our $1 window cleaner just isn’t that good. Instead of nice, clean windows, we have clean-ish windows with a white-ish film.

At least there was some improvement, as I don’t think that I could have handled looking through incredibly dirty windows all winter long.

-Today in my business information class the director of Concordia’s libraries addressed us. I guess this was on schedule, but I seem to have overlooked it, as I was somewhat surprised by his presence. Actually, I am pretty sure it was on the schedule; I just didn’t quite pay attention to his title.

-After class I made a batch of humus. Maybe in a few minutes I will get around to sampling it before I go to bed.