One more reason to get rid of hotmail.

If you are a Landlord or Tenant and need to file a depute you can not do it with hotmail. Please Microsoft give up your proprietary ways and join open standards.

Dell Mini 9 and Empathy vs Skype

Well I received my Dell Mini 9 that I ordered 2 months ago to the day. 60 days to received my order from Dell, that has to be a record. Started to wonder if the computer would be obsolete before I could use it. I wrote this on dell.ca, but they deleted it probably to keep other buyer still spending money. It sure is nice to have your own blog where you can put any info you want. I enjoy reading other peoples blogs better than reviews, because you know there is no hidden agenda. Sure if you post a review on a sellers website it might be relevant info for the nest buyer, but how many reviews get deleted? It is best to use Google's blog search or have your friends buy the device before you do. In this case I have done so and I recommend the Dell Mini 9. It is small and easy to use and uses the most GPL Licensed software of any other Linux machine on the market. Now to get Empathy running. Did you know the XMPP is 10 years old. It was conceived the same time as the ISS. The International Space Station has gone from only 20 tones to over 300 tons in 10 years. Empathy will do more heavy lifting than Skype will every do.

Cookies and why they are bad.

I came across this cookie monster picture and because cookies are coming more and more common because of web 2.0, it seem appropriate to comment on why enabling cookies on your browser can be bad. To turn them off go to edit -> Preferences. Tracking cookies, placed on your computer without your knowledge or your consent, are definitely spy-ware. This is what face-book and eBay do, they track what you view with your computer and build a user profile to get you to buy more stuff from them. Be careful. Most sites are good and use the cookies to help you browse more effectively. To limit your risk I would enable delete cookies every time you close your browser.

The headaches of Software

I got to try out Linpus Linux this weekend. After reinstalling the system because of a forgotten password we were ready to hook up the printer. The Canon Pixma ip2200 isn't found in the Acer Aspire One repositories so I had to download 2 rpms (yes it is fedora based)from Canon's website. Acer sure doesn't make these mini notebooks easy to configure a least compared to the Dell Mini 9. Also the keyboard on the Dell is easier than the Acer. Companies need to spend more time helping Linux contributors out so they can sell products that are easier to use.
Even the Dell Mini 9 (the one I recommend) doesn't use the full one gig of RAM by default. You have to recompile your kernel to get the full use of all the memory you bought. Mind you for $389 how can you go wrong. Why not give everyone who edits dells help pages free credit vouchers. Most of the current crop of Linux users are power users. I guess this will change by 2009 when there will be more laptops running Linux than Windows XP thanks to all the mini notebooks getting sold with Linux pre-installed.

How to connect to Rogers 3g network

I tried to get this Dell Inspiron 1525n Laptop onto the Rogers mobile network via their Internet Stick, but no luck. It might have been my Ubuntu setup, but I usally first blame the ISP. I wonder if someone knows what settings I should have entered. The girl at Rogers says "it automatically should work". One guy said I should try these settings. Has anyone gotten this to work?
* Name: Rogers
* APN: internet.com
* Username: wapuser1
* Password: wap
* MCC: 302 - should be preset correctly
* MNC: 72 - should be preset correctly (if 72 does not work, try 720)
I found this link helpfull. http://www.timetraveller.org/rogers/

How to connect to a wifi router

After clicking on the power indicator stairs on your top panel you need to go and select which Wireless Router you want to connect to indicated by the drop down list. In this example only Fon_Free_Internet would allow you to connect without knowing the wireless password. Click on the network of your choice and if it is a secured Router then enter the password and press enter.

I started using Empathy to Jabber (bye Pidgin)

The neat thing about Empathy 2.24.1 is that it supports VOIP, sure it has some bugs, but what software doesn't? It works great for chatting or talking with all my Jabber (Gtalk) friends and hey, it is open what can be better than this?

Sales pitch

In Hythe Internet down to $6.25 per month and phone lines down to $2.50 per month and Software is Free.  It is time to start sharing the wealth. Come and Learn what Ubuntu can do for you.