Off topic

Well the knee is a lot better today. It still looks a bit swollen but doesn't really feel too bad. But as a precaution - and this goes against the grain - I have decided to give it a days rest just to be on the safe side, plus it gives me a days taper before the Bridge Inn 5k tomorrow.

So what's the off topic all about - and no, I'm not talking about an out of date Topic chocolate bar. I decided to be bit nerdy after the race and install the much talked about Linux distribution called Ubuntu onto a spare usb disk I had lying around. I have to say the installation was really quick and easy. It detected all the components of my laptop; sound card, graphics, bluetooth, network and even the wifi - which automatically connected to my router without any problem what so ever. And all that only took about twenty minutes - job done.

So what do I think of it? Well my first impressions are that it's easy to install and use plus it looks good. It does all the things I need it to do; it plays all my music and video without a hitch, it loads my documents and photo's (it even runs picasa - which is an excellent photo organiser). You can even enable fancy 3D graphics (subject to your graphics card) which adds a whole range of fancy window decoration, transparent windows and 3D effects - none of which you need but it gives it that 'wow' factor - and even with that switched on it still feels more responsive than XP. Will I make the switch? - no. There are just too many programs I use that only run on windows so I won't be switching any time soon but Linux, in the form of Ubuntu, has come on a long long way over the last few years. Ubuntu's Feisty Fawn takes linux out of the realm of the nerd and brings it to the masses. And the best thing..... it doesn't cost a bean, nadda, zilch - just download, burn to a CD and off you go.

Thought for the day: If something goes wrong, blame the guy who can't speak English.