Last month the new version of Ubuntu was released and with it came the Unity interface. The theory behind this interface seems to be that most netbooks have proportionally more screen width than height and that means it makes sense to put the menu on the side. That seems fine, but I found that I was forever scrolling sideways on websites and that little bit of lost width was frustrating.

So, I decided it was time for a change and that I would try openSUSE – GNOME version. I had some problems with the wireless driver, which had also been flaky under Ubuntu, and decided to install from scratch. I used those available from Dirk Hoeschen, with the install script modified to put /sbin/ in front of the relevant commands.

Initial impressions are favourable. I am having to relearn some part of the command line, particularly with regard to package management with the move from apt to YaST. The suspend and resume works well and seems to be quicker than on Ubuntu. Also, I finally got the screen brightness commands working, using a mixture of sudoers and a relevant script fill – though that would also have been possible in Ubuntu.

I settled on the Samsung N210, with a memory upgrade to 2GB. I have set it up to dual boot Windows 7 and Kubuntu. I’ve not really used Windows yet and intend to change to the specific netbook version of Kubuntu when the new version comes out.

My initial impressions are good. The battery lifetime is impressive and the machine is near silent. The smaller screen takes some getting used to, but with some suitable change of settings there is still plenty of screen space.

Also, I have moved server recently. Hopefully everything is up and working correctly. If not let me know. The move was fairly painless – just a little while spent working out where all the setting were kept.

Hot on the heels of WordPress 2.5.0 is the security update – WP 2.5.1.

Rumours that I have as many draft posts as SKG are false – though more than ten will exist soon if I keep leaving them unpublished!

The most noticeable change is the redesign to the admin section. It is certainly a big improvement on the old.

My Route

From waking up on Saturday morning I was never feeling too great and this was reflected in my run. While my navigation and route choice was ok, I never managed to get a decent pace going.

For the first couple of controls my navigation was off. I was not taking enough notice of the map and compass – meaning I was running a way off. Through the next section I kept up a reasonable pace and navigated well. I had a small wobble on the way to 6, but sorted this out when I found 10 on route.

After getting to the spectator control I should have retired – I was not running well. I finished in just over 71 minutes, but should have taken 50-55.

How-To Geek recently posted instructions on setting GMail as the default mail client in Ubuntu. In the comments are equivalent instructions for Kubuntu users and there is an altered script that also deals with cc/bcc/subject/body.

Related to this is the question: ‘WordPress Visual Editor – Do you Use It?‘ I do not, switching to the basic editor wherever possible,

Less Watts
This site, from Intel, describes methods available to reduce power consumption on all types of machines running Linux. Available is software and tips that work to keep the machine running optimally, while reducing the amount of power used.

Is the 50 watt PC possible using commodity parts?
The answer to the question seems to be no, but not by much. For those building their own machines this gives some good tips for which products to look at to keep power usage down.