About Me
I'm a thirty something engineer with an interest in Computing (particularly Linux), Psychology and Mathematics. Married with three kids, I've been studying with the Open University since 2008, I'm focussing on BSc (Honours) Computing and IT (B62).
An enthusiastic but amateur runner.
Yeah and a total geek.
Tag Archives: Planet Ubuntu
A quick thank you
I needed wxMaxima but the version in the repositories is a little older (one major revision). Compiling from source is straightforward but a recent discussion I had with students showed they shied away from it. So I figured I’d try … Continue reading
Posted in Ubuntu
Tagged CAS, Mathematics, Maxima, Packaging, Planet Ubuntu, Thanks, Ubuntu
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Forget everything you knew about coding (or perhaps remember, depending on your age)
This Christmas I’m going to embrace the past. COmmon Business Oriented Language (COBOL) 85 standard was the first language I was taught. Napier University was a feeder into the banking and insurance industries in Edinburgh at the time and they … Continue reading
Developing a developer
Still some way to completing my degree part-time (at the end of this academic year I’m half way). I’m not soliciting my services – just looking for advice from the community and if anyone has a few minutes it’d be … Continue reading
Posted in Computing, Personal
Tagged Linux, Open Source, Open University, Planet Ubuntu, Volunteering
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Assumption
Someone asked me yesterday “You’re good with computers, can you give me a copy of Photoshop?“. Aside from the fact I run Linux on most of my computers, I’m not keen on being accused of software piracy on the basis that … Continue reading
Best Linux comment ever
Extract from an article over at “The Art of Manliness” that gives instructions on editing hosts to block time wasting sites: Linux If you’re using Linux, you’re probably a geek and don’t need some guy who blogs about manliness to … Continue reading
Finally succeeding?
I read an article by James Somers at The Atlantic called “How I Failed, Failed, and Finally Succeeded at Learning How to Code”. Continue reading
Posted in Coding, Computing, Open University
Tagged Coding, MS221, MST121, Planet Ubuntu
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Calculators
I’ve just started a maths course (MS221 with The Open University). I completed MST121 with a cheap Casio FX991 calculator (it cost about £15). The time has come to buy something a bit more, well grown up. I’ve been looking at offerings … Continue reading
I killed my PS3
I’ve been playing the brilliant “Assassin’s Creed – Brotherhood”. So much so that I’ve killed my PS3 – it now overheats and turns itself off after about three minutes (if its booted from cold), beeps three times and flashes the … Continue reading
Don’t fix it, censor it
The Security Research Computer Lab at Cambridge University posted an article about industry response to a fundamental flaw in the “chip and pin” system in February. The paper, by Omar Choudary (a PhD student), highlights a flaw in the standard that permits … Continue reading
Linux is not a get of jail free card
I’ve been having line problems with my ISP – British Telecom. To cut a long story short we see a 75% speed drop, phone BT, jump through umpteen hoops and they reset the profile at the exchange. The fault is … Continue reading
