Archive for January, 2007
Xubuntu – Perfect OS for Old Computers
January 31, 2007 8:54 pmSince Vista has has come out, many might want to try it, but at the same time many computers won't support it. I mean the interface looks nice, but do I need it? Only recently I find out that Xubuntu is a version of Ubuntu that is decided for lower end computers, the difference is that it uses xfce4 instead of gnome. You might not agree with me that Xubuntu is the perfect OS for old computers, but I guess you would agree that it's one of the best 
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As some of the computers in our house are 3-5 years old now and can get quite slow sometime, xubuntu is the perfect OS for them. It's just so fast compare anything I have used, for some applications a 5 years old laptop runs faster than a centrino 1.6, just amazing. Now we have 4 out of 8 computers in the house are now running Linux, and there is going to be a 5th one very soon 
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The hardest part of switching from Windows to Linux is the beginning, and often people would often ask "Can I go on the internet?" or "Does it have MS Word?". The simplest way is to try it out, even running it off the CD everything works already you can use firefox and many applications. If you only use your computer for word editing, excel, web broswer and music (not itune, although there are replacement), messenger and NO GAMES, xubuntu is perfect for you. Many gamers want to switch to Linux, but they can't because the support for games in Linux is still not as good as Windows. But assuming that your laptop is more than 4/5 years old, you don't really play game on it anyway so it won't be a problem.
For one of our computers, we just install it and everything works. Even the EagleTec WT-2400G wiressless that we spent a long time finding the driver for in Windows works without the need of any extra drivers. The switching is much easier than you think, and there is nothing to lose. Download the CD for free from the Xubuntu website and load the OS from the CD, check everything works and decide if you want to install or not.
So why try Xubuntu?
- It Works!
- It's Free!
- It's Fast!
- It's Open Source!
Want to find out more or give it a go? Follow this link, enjoy.
IPB Forum got Hacked!
January 27, 2007 4:20 pmThe ULUBUDA forum got hacked again! The forum was set up about 3 years ago and I chose to use IPB back then. IPB is a nice software and the 1.2 version was free, but it's no longer supported and hence it has many security issues. It has been hacked quite a few times in the past few months, but it was not serious enough for me to change it.
Yesterday it was hacked again and this time the user even have access to my whole server, so I have no choice but to switch to SMF (Simple Machine Forum). I have been using SMF for a while for other sites but the main reason why I don't want to change is because I worry I will lose all the data. Luckly SMF comes with converters and it helps be convert everything from the IPB board to the new forum. Everything works except some very little information lost, i.e. showing the most recent topics on the board index.
After the installation I really start to appreciate SMF features and the erse of use, it just works! Although I have been using it for quite a while, I appreciate it much more when I switch from IPB v1.2. If you are still running IPB free version, I would recommend switching to another forum engine. Now everything is working nicely, just a few things to customise, thanks SMF 
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六祖大師法寶壇經偈頌
January 25, 2007 12:07 am飭終須知
January 21, 2007 1:58 pmDigital ASIC
January 17, 2007 11:20 pmThis is what I have been busy with the whole of last week, making a Biquad filter chip at transistor level. It is a coursework in groups of four, however are group has only three people so more work! Not many Imperial undergraduate are taking the courses in final year anymore, less than 10 of us (~20%) I think in the whole course. Luckly our group work together happily and got the chip. Not the best chip in the world but we tried our best. Designing circuit at transistor level is a lot harder than VHDL and very time consuming. I was in charge of building a 32×8 ROM and here it is…
If you are interested, click on the image to see the rest of the components that we designed. Sorry, I have to take out the full size images to avoid students from plagiarism.
