Driving along the M25, my son noticed some large graffiti on a bridge ‘Give peas a chance’ Norman Junior III: ‘Hmm - that’s interesting ‘Give peas a chance’ - what does that mean ?’ Me: ‘Well these days broccoli and green beans are getting really popular so these people just want us all to give peas a chance.’ 17 seconds silence then both of us burst out in uncontrollable laughter. ...

After the Yak was shaved, we suddenly realised we had missed ‘Football Focus’ and proceeded directly to the casting couch. I fully appreciate that evaluating a Linux distribution is just 18 minutes and 32 seconds isn’t probably sufficient to probably gain a full picture of the capabilities (or otherwise) of any software let alone a full blown operating system. However, this superficial, high level, cursory review of all the distros below is useful as it solely focuses on the installation process, ease of use - both of which are key for prospective Linux users; particularly those people who might be looking to migrate, as in my case, from Windows. ...

‘How I ditched Windows and embraced Linux’ - the prequel. On Saturday morning, I thought it might be fun to install Linux on my home computer. A year ago, I had experimented with a few Live CD’s and actually installed Ubuntu (not officially supported) followed by Oracle Enterprise Linux (officially supported) on my work laptop (Thinkpad T61). For various reasons, I subsequently had to reverse that change so I thought it might be worthwhile and interesting to install Ubuntu on my own computer (an ageing but reliable Dell 4500). ...

[Obligatory hat tip to ‘How to stop defragmenting and start living’. As an aside, if you’re an Oracle DBA and haven’t read this whitepaper, please do so. Now.] I have used various devices and software over my 76 years on this planet to listen to music: Record player Cassette player Transistor radio Ears WinAmp SonicStage Windows Media Player 18 months ago, I finally caved in and bought an iTouch which I use a lot; mainly for listening to music and podcasts at airports. ...

This morning I commuted, Reggie Perrin style, from my leafy suburb into the heart of London by train. Nothing too unusual about that. After I paid for my daily travelcard, I took my place on an unusually crowded platform. An unusually crowded platform normally means only one thing. An lengthy delay inevitably followed by an overcrowded, late running train. Sure enough, I soon gathered that there had been a fatality on this section of the railway line last night which caused major delays and now had a knock-on effect to this morning. ...

Last Friday, Norman Junior III emerged from his bedroom, looked mournfully at me and pronounced in a quiet voice: ‘Dad - I’ve got the three red rings of death.’ ‘Just have an aspirin and sit down quietly for a bit. Your mum will be back soon.’ ‘No Dad - not me. It’s my XBox. It has the dreaded three red rings of death and won’t boot.’ And so we embarked on a prolonged saga that involved a fruitless hunt for a two year old receipt that revealed plenty of interesting long lost items but not the actual receipt from Game. ...

‘Not in my lifetime.’

I have experimented at various times with both Tumblr and Posterous which are hosted blog services. I tend to view them as useful services for a scrapbook style blog, a linkblog, a lifestream or even a fully fledged blog. If I was starting a blog today, I would probably use one or the other. Posterous, in particular, has been getting a lot of coverage recently and I like the ease of use, the ‘Post by Email’ facility and continue to follow developments with interest. ...

Spontaneously. ‘Do you think we used enough dynamite there, Butch ?’

I believe Michael Shields is guilty of attempted murder by dropping a paving slab on a Bulgarian waiter’s head, putting him in a coma for 4 days. I find it worrying and bizarre that Jack Straw sees fit to grant Michael Shields a ‘Royal Pardon’ in the light of an ‘oral confession’ made by another individual when Shields’ parents just happened to pay him a visit. Particularly, when Jack Straw was fully aware of this information when Shields returned to serve out the rest of his sentence in England back in 2006 and rejected an appeal as recently at 2 July 2009. ...