Circuit Riders In The Fens

Who says geeks don't have a sense of humour!

2008-03-05T20:29:00.002Z

Read this

Oh my goodness, we really don't do anything to help ourselves and our rep with the general public!

IT's CHAMPION (the wonder horse!)

2008-02-21T12:46:00.003Z

(I bet you're all far too young to remember one of the staples of the summer holiday TV back in the days when there were only 3 channels, TV finished about 2am at the latest and they played the national anthem at station close down)

I digress.

Checkout www.aflsocialenterprise.org/icteast the new website for the Regional ICT Champion for the Eastern Region, Mr Paul Ruskin (who also just so happens to be my boss)

This is a great site and it will keep you in touch with what is happening in the region, upcoming events, general info and sign posting, funding advice etc.

So, go on, make his day! You know you wnat to

Microsoft Strike Again

2008-02-20T21:18:00.002Z

Not being content with releasing VISTA on to the world when it was not the complete article, then releasing updates that sent some PC's nuts, in the infinte wisdom the technical gurus at MS have decided to pull the problem update. Hooray! But there is still no fix for those computers that went doolaley! B O O ! !

Now there is concern that this latest 'issue' may delay the release of VISTA SP1!

Broadband firms hoodwink public over download speeds

2008-02-19T09:06:00.002Z

Shock! Horror! Do they really!

Well according to the Inquirer, apparently so!

"BROADBAND SUPPLIERS have come under fire for misleading the public over download speeds, with a survey showing the average UK speed is a sluggish 2.95Mb."

The Full Article

Why am I surprised at my lack of surprise?

Do you want fires with that, Have an Nice Day!

2008-02-08T08:50:00.002Z

OK!

1. I know that fast-food burger chains are sh!te
2. Staff in these emporiums are either students earning some beer money or lifes less fortunate people who at least have gone out and got a job
3. If you chose to eat in places like this you deserve everything you get

On our way to a gig tonight a friend and I stopped at just such a eatery!
The chain shall remain nameless.

We enter the restaurant to find one very suspect looking employee standing by the till looking at the queue waiting to order. As previously mentioned we know that staff are very likely not to be the fizziest drink in the fridge, but our friend, lets call him/her (oh yes you really couldn't tell even the deep voice and the beard were no guarantees I can assure you) Hermi.

Hermi eventually starts bagging up meals that have been order by those in front of us. I wouldn't say they were slow, but by the time s/he got one lot of meals bagged the sell by date had expired, some other chap who was 17 when he came in and left drawing his pension, was complaining that
[a] it was taking a long time to get his order
[b] they had got it wrong - wanted 3 lumps of regurge in buns and he got two
[c] having realised that he had only been charged for two Hermi asks the chap for payment for the 3rd. This is more that he paid for the previous two! I'm not surprised, in that time inflation most have gone up!

Finally we get to order our meals. Hmm! 2 lumps of recycled meat product topped with cheese and bacon, a cup of orange food colouring topped up with gas, and a bag of yellow thin things that resemble corn sticks, claim to be chips, sorry fries, but they have been as near a potato as the meat in the burger has a cow!

So in summary a not very fast fast food outlet with dodgey staff!
I love the signs you see in pubs, "We don't do fast food, we do good food prepared as quickly as we can"

Yeah well, jog on. This was definitely not fast food served slower than slow.

How To Win Friends And Influence People

2008-02-07T16:20:00.001Z

I take pride in the fact that I'm a Circuit Rider. I enjoy my job and the chance to benefit others by my good works. The fact that I am one of a small but growing band of IT professionals dedicated to making the VCS a better place also gives me the 'warm rosey glow' factor I did not have in the Private Sector.

The one thing we seem to suffer from when we talk about our work as Circuit Riders is people hear the word IT and they instantly hear GEEK and this has an effect similar on their brains as the infamous Babel Fish of HGTG fame and instantly translates every thing said in to some obscure and ancient Japanese dialect.

And we really don't help ourselves. You only have to read some of the various mail lists ...

On a list i regularly visit someone posted a link to an article by Stephen, Col Melchet, Fry (yes that Stephen Fry) about open source and Linux. It illicited 20 responses so far from various individuals. Most of them were in the first hour of posting the original article.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and as to freedom of speech, go for it, but why is it when ever anyone tries to injecty humour in to a topic we get the same camps making the same points over and over again.

The fastest way I know to get a response from one of these lists is to post a comment that says
Bill Gates is King
or
This free software is great!

Come on chaps! Lets prove to the world we to have a sense of humour!

What Is A Circuit Rider - Definition #117

2008-02-07T15:06:00.000Z

At a recent event at which we were invited to give a presentation about Circuit Riders & Circuit Riding, the introduction by the chairman was brilliant!

" We welcome blah blah from blah to talk to us today about What Is a Circuit Rider and see how different reality is to our image of a man with a screwdriver on a push bike wearing lycra!"

Hmm! All parties will remain nameless, however, I'm still coming to terms with the fact I'm not sure it was a vision the chairman wanted shattered or not!!!!

Just for the record, the last time I would have been fit enough to wear lycra the damn stuff wasnt even invented! Anyway, I've heard it chaffs!

Who Do You Trust!!

2008-02-04T20:16:00.000Z

I made a pact with myself that I would try and post something on this blog at least three times a week. Yeah right! So far in 2008 this my second post so 1 month is my record so far.

Reading an article on my favourite site The Inquiry I was intrigued about the claim of a company called IronKey who claim to have the safest, most secure USB flash drive in the world.

Not only does it have "AES encryption, but also has duel channel SLC Nand flash, PKI and a crypto chip."

This has come from a project originally funded by the US Government, so if you can't trust them... ;)

Oh it even has (cue mission impossible muzak) a self destruct mechanism if it detects its under attack or you enter the wrong password 10 times.!

My favourite descripton though is - it is heavy and therefore feels expensive!

Find out more here

Trouble 't Mill

2008-01-17T22:57:00.000Z

Happy New Year!!

I see the bad moon arising.

I see trouble on the way.

I see earthquakes and lightnin.

I see bad times today.

Chorus:

Dont go around tonight,

Well, its bound to take your life,

Theres a bad moon on the rise.

Is this soon to become the anthem of the IT industry?

We all know the Vista is far from Buena. What about all those poor Vista users who had their machines auto updated by Dear Uncle Williams team of fixers only to find their machines didn't want to be upgraded and refused to work!

We all know how people are generally resisting the operating system (as borne out by the fact a lot of major manufacturers and box shippers are still supplying machines with XP!)

Now it would appear as if Microsoft are going to turn in to the school yard bully and make us play with their ball whether we like it or not. According to the Inquirer dear old XP is a dead man walking with July being muted as date for its demise.

But then a major player wouldn't really shoot itself in the foot by withdrawing what has been a major seller for them without having a really good replacement ready to go, would they???

Anyone old enough to remeber a certain Ford Motor Company who stopped production of the Cortina and Granada models (both much loved by the business world as the company vehicle of choice) before having a suitable replacement? The Sierra arrived about 14 months afterwards and was a dog. Directors at Vauxhall were sending the opposite numbers at Ford thank you letters for making, overnight the Cavalier the leading company car!

Will the Open Source brigade see this a chink in Bill's armour and a glimmer of hope for Linux to get a look in? Hmm? It is a greener option they say! Check out Linux for Cynics for a flavour of whats out there!

Simply Bowled Over

2007-12-19T14:25:00.001Z

On the evening of Thursday 13th December 2007 - AFL Social Enterprise Division -minus one member of staff who couldn't come out to play as he had to stay in and wash his hair :) - descended on Strikes Bowling Alley in Ely for a little soire of food and bowling!

Beat The Boss was the aim of the night! But it really isn't the winning or losing but the taking part that counts. No. Really.

Everyone had a really good time and to prove it here are a couple of photo's from the night.

Serious Pre-Tournament Training!

Sisters, Sisters, there were never such devoted Sisters!

The Boss

The Italian Job

(He Thinks He's The Boss!)

Oh What Fun We Had!

Did we beat the boss - hell no! (It was in the contract!)

The A-Team

2007-12-19T13:58:00.000Z

In 2004 a charity started a Circuit Rider project through a government backed initiative. These men propmptly escaped from the confines of their host charitys' M&A's to the underground of Social Enterprise.

Today, still backed by funding and charging for services, they survive as Circuit Riders of Fortune.

If you have an IT problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them not in the pub, maybe you can hire the i-TRUST team!

Col Hannabal Smith

Lt. 'Face' Peck

Sgt BA Baracus

Capt Howlin' Mad Murdoch

Reporter: Amy Allen

What do you mean did we have fun at the Xmas Party? What Party!!!!

Cambridgeshire Circuit Riders Get Everywhere

2007-12-14T12:59:00.000Z

Even on the Regional page of the Capacity Builders Website! And not the page covering the east of England, Oh No. The 'home' page for that section, Oh yes!

And is that the shuttle that Peter is standing in demonstrating the wonders of technology...?

Orange Becomes Bitter Over Freeserve

2007-11-21T08:31:00.000Z

From the Inquirer

Orange suspends old Freeserve accounts
Naughty boy, you're not paying us anything
By Tony Dennis: Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 8:46 PM

ICONIC FREESERVE was a market leader in the early days of the UK Internet scene. But the ISP has been sold on and become part of Orange/Wanadoo. So your email account might get suspended.

The INQ was alerted to this problem when a reader's email address suddenly stopped working. Well, suddenly is a bit of an exaggeration. He hadn't used it for something like 17 days.The upshot was that downloading and sending emails via Microsoft Outlook stopped working even though the facility had worked for years.

The reason is simple. Our reader had grown tired of the service offered by Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange and migrated to Talk Talk.So, in effect, he wasn't paying a sausage to Orange. Naturally the company take umbrage at such outrageous behaviour and cuts off access to your Freeserve email account.

The INQ has looked this up and officially Orange says it will cut former Freeserve users off after 219 days.

But don't despair. There's a way to reactivate your Freeserve account. If you go onto the Orange Uk home page, you'll see a menu marked 'Your Account'.

Under that is an option marked 'restore Internet account'. It's very easy to use this facility to restore an old Freeserve account if it's been disconnected.

There's only one problem. Your Freeswerve email address will now only be accessible as web mail so you can't get to it via Outlook, for example.
You can't blame Orange, though. If you've given up using its broadband/dialup service, it is – in effect- providing you with access to your old Freeserve address for free. µ

Well SKiLD!

2007-11-07T17:18:00.000Z

Wed 7th Nov 2007 - Peterborough CVS

SKiLD Workshop

ICT for Development Workers

Workshop Leader: Paul Ruskin/Paul Jefford

As part of the SKiLD Learning Activities program for development workers a workshop was run on ICT for Development Workers at Peterborough CVS today.

The workshop was an enormous success and all who attended felt it was very worthwhile.

The aim of the day was to ask those present what question they had about ICT, what questions they get asked about ICT, how do they deal with these questions, where do they turn for answers?

Delegates came from St Albans, Ely, Peterborough, North Herts, South Lincs and Burnley - so all nice and local!

We would like to express our thanks to all who attended, to Peterborough CVS for hosting the event, to the person who gave up their parking space for us and to the caterers for a slendid buffet lunch!!

Here are some pictures from today's session:

The group in discussion

Telling It How It Is!

Exercising!

Quick before he gets back!

Do you WILF?

2007-10-28T10:00:00.000Z

66% of Internet Users have done it.
You are 60% more likely to do it if you live Scotland than elesewhere in the UK.
Men are bigger WILFers than women :)
If you are over 55 you are 3 time less likely to do it then if you are 25.

A term derived from What Was I Looking For - WILFing is the art of surfing the net without real purpose, and, according to various reports could soon become a national pastime.

I have to admit here and now to being a serial WILFer. My excuse is I use iGoogle as my web browser home page. I make use of the facility to customise the page to have sections, in fact I even have tabbed pages so my content is over three pages.
Page 1: Dedicated to useful Work and Personal Shortcuts, News, Sport, Weather etc.
Page 2: Various Games
Page 3: Really Sexy - all things FOSS

In fact it was a spot of WILFing that lead to this blog entry.

I went to look up the opening times of the local vets and my browser opened on the FOSS page and I saw an article about "Open Source: The most disruptive force in IT today ?" Of course I had to take a look and then found that the FULL Article does not exist so I followed the links to the the related sites... and so it began...

That Will Teach Me To Go On Holiday!

2007-10-24T18:09:00.000+01:00

How times change.

50 Years ago a campaign started to get us to Go To Work On An Egg! (Mind you its easier to go to work on egg than it is to get anywhere by public transport!)

Where was I, ah yes, the likes of Tony Hancock and Patricia Hayes extolling the virtues of the egg as the breakfast food.

I remember well the advert with Ms Hayes playing a Landlady and asking of her lodger "How do you want yer eggs? Fried or Boiled?" and the lodger replying "Eggs Risotto please Mrs P" to which she said "What's that? Fried or Boiled?" They don't make them like that anymore (thank goodness). In fact these adverts were eventually banned as they deemed to promote an unhealthy, unvaried diet!

Then we moved to time when eggs were positively BAD for you. If the Salmonella didn't get you, Edwina Currie did.

Well I can tell you here and now that eggs are bad for you. Although not suitable for wide scale damage as an antipersonnel device they are almost perfect!.

There I was enjoying the first morning of may holiday - spent I'll have you know finishing off a set of slides for a presentation and writing a proposal - when to quote John Cleese in the Cheese Shop Sketch "I became all 'ungry lyke!"

I know thinks I, I slice of nicely toasted wholemeal bread topped with a delicately poached EGG would be a treat! Oh how wrong was I.

1. I did not check the toaster before inserting the bread and had not realised that my son had turned it to a setting so low that rather than toast the bread it just made it warm and soggy. So I turned the toaster up and put the bread back in. The phone rang and although only a short call it was time enough for the toast to burn because I had forgotten Brevelles Forth Law of Toasting - namely " Bread will burn no matter what the setting if it has previously been in the toaster at any time!"

2. Then to the preparation of the eggs.

In to a pan of boiling water that had agitated with a spoon to create a whirlpool in the water I add the first egg, the second egg fell apart as I cracked it and went all over the worktop, so I tried with another egg and this cracked ok but on entry to the pan seemed to disintigrate.

3. I left the eggs for the required time, lid on, heat off. I removed the eggs or in this case eggy messy from the pan and placed on top of the toast. It was not properly cooked, and although I like my steak on the rare side of blue, eggs are something even I won't eat if not cooked properly.

What followed next was a real top chef hissy hit as I slammed around the kitchen swearing at all the utensils, the dish washer, the cooker, the toaster, even the poor old cat! Then I calmed down and thought don't be a prat. Stick it in the microwave for a few seconds that will finish it off.

It is at this point I have to exercise my Public Duty an say

"DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!"

"NO REALLY! DON'T"

The eggs first visit of 20 seconds to the microwave improved the situation viz-a-viz the physical substances of the foodstuff and to complete the transformation a further 15 seconds was deemed necessary, in fact a further 12 seconds was applied.

The plate on which lay the toast upon which the eggs nestled, was removed from the microwave and a quick visual inspection showed the egg to cooked!

Holding the plate I then moved to the other work top to pick up my cutlery and then turned to sit at the kitchen table. ( About 3 steps and 5 seconds after removal from microwave).

I heard a funny phsssttt sound and in the split second I realised it was the egg, it exploded, or more accuratley the Yolk Exploded taking the white with it. This obviously made me jump! But not as much as the lumps of egg shrapnel that had attached themselves to various parts of my face, including the lids of the left eye.

Egg has a similar property to hot jam in as much as if you get it on your skin, it sticks and burns and it is very difficult to get off and apply anything cold to the area of the burn.

So I am flaying around the kitchen sink 'blindly' trying to find a cloth with which to bath my damaged eye. I find the cloth - hurrah. A quick dowse under the tape to soak with cold water to apply to my eye! This procedure started well. It was about 5 seconds in that I found out there was something else of a cleaning product nature on the cloth and as fast as the cool was soothing my damaged eye, the other element was making it worse!.

I eventually managed to find a clean cloth and administer the necessary first aid.

But if this what happens when you take a holiday you can stuff it! I'd rather remain tired, miserable, stressed, lonely and morose - it's a lot safer!!

For those of you that are interested I managed to secure one of the photo's taken by the Investigation Team that arrived shortly after the explosion. This is what was scrapped up from the floor. You can still see the wires!!!

Here's One I Made Earlier....

2007-10-16T20:26:00.000+01:00

Having already in an earlier post waxed lyrical about the need to have watched Blue Peter to be a true circuit rider.

I have even more evidence...

I think the following could become the Circuit Rider Motto

"We the (un)willing

Lead by the Unknowing

And having achieved so much from so little so often

We are now able to make anything out of nothing"

Any way only a true circuit rider could turn

hee hee can yu guess what it iz yet?

That's right

In To

A fully working office for our Projects Division

All 0ut of old cardboard boxes, sticky tape, bag ties, the foil off yoghurt pots, string,

round-nosed scissors(we got an adult to help with the cutting out) poster paint, cotton wool, Lesley Judd, and lots and lots of sticky-backed plastic!

We took the "Build An Operations Room For Your Male Action Figures" make and adjusted it a bit! Just hope we got the scale right! I think we should have used rubber solution glue to stick things together. I said they only use double-sided tape on the 'make' coz it was quicker and to show you the finished object! Would they listen?...........

In Recognition of Services Above & Beyond...

2007-10-14T10:10:00.000+01:00

Social Enterprise Division

On the evening of 12th October 2007 the management team of Advice For Life invited the staff, and their partners,of the Social Enterprise Division to join them for a meal at Montaz, an A-La Carte Indian Restaurant situated in Market Street, Ely.

This was to acknowledge

the success of the division and pay tribute to the extremely hard work of all the staff
the sacrifices made by the partners and families and to thank them for putting up with the long hours the staff work

It was also to applaud they way the division and the 'team' has grown and developed over the last 10 months going from

"Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley'd and thunder'd;

Storm'd at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred."

extract from the Charge Of The Light Brigade - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

through

"If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!"

extract from IF - Rudyard Kipling

"From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother;"

extract from Henry V - William Shakespeare

On behalf of my fellow workers with the Social Enterprise Divison I would like to put on record our thanks for being given the recognition we deserve and say " It's about time!! :)"

Seriously! Thank You Very Much !

I would also like to thank my mum and dad for making me possible.... ;->

This Is One Small Step For UK ONLINE. One Giant Leap for AFL

2007-10-12T14:18:00.001+01:00

Live from the surface of planet Red Square, Ely.

I am writing this entry live from our mission to Ely Market Square.

Take Off was delayed by 45 minutes due to a rogue car being parked to close to the support gantries so the launch pad had to be re-sited!

We arrived on the square at 09:50 UK BST and had the Shuttle up and running by 10:05 ready to deliver UK ONLINEs Get On Line Day. A small technical problem arose at 10:30 which was a bit of a Huston We Have a Problem, this resulted in an unscheduled EVA to repair an transmission cable. Flt Lt Poulter carried out the repair with his teeth an a small piece of chewing gum wrapper (kidding! it was a bit of polo packet!) ;)

It is now 14:30 and the mission is going well. The indigenous population are friendly, and the flight crew have invited several people to join them on the flight deck and recieve free gifts in exchange for playing a simple on-line day.

Here are some pictures of the mission so far.

@spire - safely landed on the surface of Red Square

One of our younger visitors enjoying a visit to the shuttle

Commander Buchan in conversation with an interested visitor.

Circuit Rider Attacked By Fen Tiger!!

2007-10-12T07:46:00.000+01:00

What are the odds?

To be on the receiving end of the infamous Fen Tiger's attentions not once but twice!

Preparing for yet another action-packed day as a Circuit Rider - (each day is a cross between Forrest Gumps "Life Is Like A Box of Choc-o-lates ye neva know wot ya gonna get" and Stars In Their Eyes - Tonight Matthew I'm Going To Be ...) - and having woken up with the headache from hell and therefore resorting to my favourite remedy for this - the 4 T's (Tea, Toast, Tablets and Twenty more minutes in bed) - it was whilst I was munching on my Vegemite toast that the fabled creature appeared and pinned me down and forcibly removed the toast from my plate!! Honest!! - She (yes the Fen Tiger is in fact a Tigress) even got me to 'cut' up the toast in to little fun size pieces so it was easier for her to manage!

I was a bit slow off the mark this time so I was unable to capture the creature on camera but my first attack.

However, here are the newspaper article and a picture of the felonious villian from that occasion. (More Here)

PS: Today Matthew I'm Going To Be An Astronaut! See Come On, Turn Up, Drop In

A Techies Lot Is Not An 'Appy One

2007-10-11T22:14:00.001+01:00

When a user's not engaged in his employment (his employment)
He likes to go a browsing on the net (on the net)
Downloading lots of things for his enjoyment (his enjoyment)
I wonder just which viruses he'll get (bugs he'll get)
He calls to say his PC keeps on freezing (keeps on freezing)
And swears it isn't anything he's done (thing he's done)
The excuses they will use beyond believing (beyond believing)
No, a techie's lot is not a happy one (Aaaaah)
With virus-cleaning duties to be done, to be done
No, a techie's lot is not a happy one (happy one)

When a user calls to say their PC's broken (PC's broken)
The screen is black 'cause there's a power cut (power cut)
You know they're much too thick to own a 'puter (a computer)
It's very hard to keep your mouth tight shut (keep it shut)
When a user says she's got a broken cup-tray (broken cup-tray)
It turns out that she means the CD-ROM (CD-ROM)
And they think their PC's so ****ed up they (so ****ed up they)
Know a techie's lot is not a happy one (Aaaaah)
With technical supporting to be done, to be done
No, a techie's lot is not a happy one (happy one)

When the phone rings for an element'ry blunder ('ment'ry blunder)
When the problem that's described is quite absurd (quite absurd)
And it's happened twice before - so it's no wonder (it's no wonder)
That "USER" is a bad four-letter word (letter word)
And the error's nowhere near what they're reporting (they're reporting)
It makes you wish you're carrying a gun (-ing a gun)
And to all the idiots that we're supporting (we're supporting):
A techie's lot is not a happy one (Aaaaah)
With user-interfacing to be done, to be done
No, a techie's lot is not a happy one (happy one)

With apologies to the legendary Gilbert & Sullivan's When a Fellon's Not Engage (or A Policeman's Lot) from The Pirates of Penzance.

I am greatly indebted to Phil Alexander for this brilliant parody! (this is only one of around 700 parodies written by Phil)

Come On, Turn Up and Drop In

2007-10-11T20:55:00.000+01:00

(apologies to Mr T Leary)

@spire - The Shuttle

It was action stations today at launch control (Cape Lancaster Way Business Park) and mission control as AFL Shuttle @spire and its crew prepare for their latest mission.

Operation Get On Line Day is due to commence at 10.00am on Friday 12th October - UK BST.

Part of Families Week, Get On Line Day, is an UK Online initiative aimed at getting more people using the web and computers.

Shuttle Commander, Peter Buchan, is joined by Paul Jefford (a vetran of early shuttle missions) and a first time Shuttlenaught - Giulia Vicari, an Italian Student, working with AFL's Social Enterprise Division.

This mission will be exciting as Shuttlenaught Vicari will be docking with the Shuttle once it has landed on Ely's Market Square. Commander Buchan's usual Co-Pilot will be flying the special mission to meet up with the shuttle to allow Sig.na Vicari to transfer to main mission.

There was a slight problem reported yesterday when engineers realised that one of the rocket housings needed a bit of a 'touch up' to the finish after a recent structural repair.

However a support team managed to put this right this afternoon when Peter turned up with a can of black hammerite smooth.

Early indications are that the weather should not interfere with the mission but this is mid October, England, UK so basically who trusts weather forecasters!

Details of the shuttle's latest mission will be posted on this site as soon as possible after the event.

Microsoft Re Write Dictionary Definition of Open Source!

2007-10-04T12:03:00.000+01:00

One of the many dictionary definitions of Open Source

"open source
n. [common; also adj. `open-source'] Term coined in March 1998 following the Mozilla release to describe software distributed in source under licenses guaranteeing anybody rights to freely use, modify, and redistribute, the code. The intent was to be able to sell the hackers' ways of doing software to industry and the mainstream by avoid the negative connotations (to suits) of the term "free software". For discussion of the followon tactics and their consequences, see the Open Source Initiative (http://www.opensource.org) site."

However, the following article posted on the Inquirer, shows that Microsoft beg to differ.

Microsoft "Open Sauces" .NET
In a very proprietary way, complains bloke

have a read a learn the error of our ways.

Thank you Microsoft!

A Day In The Life Of A Circuit Rider

2007-10-03T20:59:00.001+01:00

What makes a good circuit rider?

An understanding of the VCS? Possibly!

A good technical back ground/good technical knowledge? Will help!

An understanding of applications both open source and 'Microsoft'? Ditto!

Knowing how to work a projector at an AGM? Does carry a few brownie points!

Excellent Working Knowledge of PowerPoint. Obviously!

No1 Most Important - Watching Blue Peter As A Child!!!

How else would any self respecting Circuit Rider know how to turn a flower pot stand in to a projector stand using

2 x Tea Trays
1 x NetGear Print Server (in its packaging)
1 x 12" long piece of scrap wood 3/4" x 1/2"
White Electrical Tape
Masking Tape

Not a yoghurt pot, brass paper fastner, no rubber solution glue or any sticky backed plastic in sight!

Don't let the bugs bite!

2007-10-03T20:53:00.000+01:00

INQ Guide to free anti-virus software
Windows for Doughnuts Free anti-virus
By Liam Proven: Wednesday, 03 October 2007, 5:25 PM

THIS IS ONE of the most critical components of the setup of any PC today. A machine doesn't need to be on the Web to be at risk; there are decades-old viruses that can still spread by disk transfer, and new ones that can infect USB thumbdrives.

Direct infection across local-area networks is also a common problem; someone takes a laptop outside the company LAN, picks up something nasty in an Internet Café, later on reconnects in the office and the bug is on the rampage.

Companies such as Symantec and McAfee make good money selling anti-virus solutions, both to big businesses and to home users. If you buy a new PC from one of the big vendors, it's quite likely to come with some kind of anti-virus preloaded, but all too often, it's only a trial or demonstration version, and after a month or three it will stop working. Generally, the program still runs but it no longer gets updated definitions.

A common misconception is that an anti-virus program will protect against spyware too. Most do not. We'll look at anti-spyware in a later article.

But my old copy of Norton works fineA common trap to fall into is to just keep renewing the updates subscription for a commercial program. In a word: don't. Get a new version.
New types of virus appear constantly, as today, they're big business: collections of infected, remotely-controlled computers are used for sending spam and for organizing "distributed denial of service" attacks, where business sites such as online betting shops are held to ransom. It's not a lucrative business on a per-PC basis, but today, one of the biggest supercomputers in the world is a "botnet" - a team of millions of compromised PCs, remotely controlled from illegal websites and chatrooms. With such resources at their disposal, crooks can make a good profit. If you can send several million spams a day, even a success rate of 0.01% can make a lot of money from hapless idiots who think that a pill can make them taller or a bodypart grow bigger.
The snag is that an out-of-date anti-virus program, even with the latest definitions, can't catch the new viruses that later versions have been rewritten to spot and remove. Obsolete anti-virus is worse than none, because it imbues you with a false sense of security. Users think they're protected - the past-it program may be giving their PC a clean bill of health - but actually, they could be infested.

Many of the leading commercial anti-virus tools can be upgraded over the counter for half the cost of buying that years' new update, but why bother, when you can get protection for free?
When choosing a free anti-virus program, there are some important things to watch out for. The essential features of a full anti-virus program are real-time monitor and some kind of virus removal procedure. Several companies offer free scanners, but a scanner alone is not enough. For one thing, while it's useful to be able to scan your computer as a check, a simple scanner doesn't sit in the background and monitor file activity on your PC, so it won't notice if you receive an infected file by email or instant message, or insert an infected disk. This is called real-time monitoring and it's a must-have.

Secondly, some free programs will tell you that you've caught something nasty, but they lack any ability to remove what they've found. There are three main ways to treat an infected file: simply delete it, the easiest and safest; or to quarantine it, move it into a protected safe storage area where it can do no harm, for later inspection or salvage; or finally disinfection, which attempts to remove the virus from a document or program and leave you with a safe, usable file. This last is the hardest to do successfully, and whereas it can sometimes work, it's safer and better to bin the dodgy doc and get a clean copy from elsewhere - like your backups. You do keep backups, don't you?

There's no harm in having a scanner, but it can only be a second line of defence, to be used to verify that your main program is telling the truth and that you really are clean.
Czech this outFor some reason, the Czechs dominate the world of free antivirus. Both the best-known program, AVG Free from Grisoft, and the highly-regarded runner-up, Avast Home from Alwil, are from the Czech Republic. In the country next door is Avira in Germany with its free AntiVir.

All have the same snag: they're only free for non-commercial use. For home, personal or nonprofit users, they're a bargain, but business users must pay a modest fee or look elsewhere. Avast has, if anything, the best reputation, but has the slight snag that the free download only works for a couple of months. To use it for longer, you must register with a valid email address, and re-register annually.

Along with their free firewalls, both PC Tools and Comodo also offer a free antivirus program. Both cover the essentials and the websites don't mention any riders about business use.
The only big open-source offering in anti-virus is ClamWin, the Windows version of ClamAV, the popular Linux scanner used on many email servers. It's kosher for use in corporate environments, but it doesn't do real-time monitoring, as this isn't a problem on Linux.

An example of the hazards of spyware is VCatch, a rather ineffective free antivirus program with a nasty payload. Avoid.

L'Inqs
AVG Free 7.5 from GrisoftAvast Home from Alwil
PC Tools Free Antivirus Comodo Free Antivirus - note, still in beta test.
Avira AntiVi

For belt-and-braces security, here are some decent scanners to check that you really are clean.
ClamWin
BitDefender Free (Download here.)

Online scanners. These run inside Internet Explorer, so need no download or installation.
McAfee FreeScan Panda ActiveScan

Big Brother Is Watching You

2007-10-02T22:50:00.000+01:00

Mr Blair was right (Eric not Tony).

UK coppers empowered to demand your encryption keys

All you data is now belongs to the plod

By Nick Farrell: Tuesday, 02 October 2007, 4:37 PM

FROM today it is a crime to refuse to decrypt data for coppers investigating a crime.

Under part three, Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) if Inspector Knacker of the Yard knocks on your door and wants to have a snuffle on your hard drive and finds a blob of encrypted code he can make you decode it.

If you refuse, and the copper is investigating acts of terrorism, you could be eating five years of porridge at her Majesty's Pleasure. If it just happens to be an ordinary crime that the copper is investigating you could be up for two years jailtime!

Full Article Here

Its for Chaaaaaaaritee Folks!

2007-10-02T12:26:00.000+01:00

It's official pop pickers! There are Flowers in the Rain! (Opps really showning my age here)

DON'T PAY FOR SOFTWARE!!

BBC RADIO ONE SAYS SO!

On Jo Wiley's show during a "consumer information slot" the consumer guru said "Don't pay for Anti Virus Software because there are good, free, programs out there like AVG that are free for home users". He then went on to say " Are you student just of to Uni, new laptop? Paid out £200 or more for Microsoft Office - apart from the fact you can get a Student Pack for greatly reduced cost - better still there is a product called Open Office which is 'free' and just as good."

Now all we need is for it to be published in the 'Super Soar Away Sun' and we'll know it's true!!!

Vista Not Buena For Microsoft

2007-09-30T22:13:00.000+01:00

Microsoft told to abandon Vista
Give up and start over

By Egan Orion: Saturday, 29 September 2007, 12:30 PM - The Inquirer

THE NATIVES are getting restless, a bog post at Cnet urging Microsoft to dump Vista reveals.
Accompanied by a picture of the Windows Vista Ultimate edition box labeled " The Microsoft albatross," writer Don Reisinger's piece entitled "Why Microsoft must abandon Vista to save itself" begins "While Vista was originally touted by Microsoft as the operating system savior we've all been waiting for, it has turned out to be one of the biggest blunders in technology."

After taking the Vole to task for the lack of value in Vista Ultimate, he goes on to build a case that Vista is a disaster and Microsoft should just dump it and start over. Disappointing sales, check. OEM PC sellers sticking with XP, check. Apple's Mac sales surging, check.

He writes "With each passing day, it's becoming blatantly clear that Microsoft released Vista too early and the company's continual mistakes and promises that can't be kept are further annoying the Windows faithful."

He discounts the widespread hope among Windows users that a Service Pack will fix Vista, asking "Will SP1 eliminate the ridiculous Microsoft licensing schemes? Will SP1 drop the price on the higher-end versions? Will SP1 eliminate the need for users to buy a new computer just to use the faulty OS?" He takes the view that, while a Service Pack might fix some of Vista's known bugs and flaws, history suggests it will likely introduce new ones.

For the full Inquirer Article click here

For more on this story click here

Our advice to our clients has been stick with XP Professional - better the devil you know!

Crab Apple Sauce

2007-09-25T14:35:00.000+01:00

Wozniak hates Open Sauce
Undoes all the good Apple bought into the world
By Nick Farrell: Tuesday, 25 September 2007, 8:47 AM; The Inquirer

In an interview with eWeek the wizard of Woz (Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple) calls Open Saucers "... a group of people who want to undo the forces of industry that have given us so much in terms of wealth".

He also says "there are always people who want things to be free and the open-source movement starts with those sort of people"

and continues with "the good points in Open Sauce have nothing to do with whether the software is free or not ... the best part about it is the idea of developing something and then making it known ..."

Who yanked his chain?

Read the Inquirer article here

Read the eWeek article here

Whose Been Sitting in My Chair?

2007-09-13T21:13:00.000+01:00

Wicked Uncle Ernie (apologies to Messrs Daltry, Townshend, Entwistle and Moon) has been at it again.

According to my favourite online publication - the Inquirer - in a report by Nick Farrell, Microsoft have been indulging in some very naughty, underhand behaviour...

"Microsoft fiddles with your Windows without permission

Even if you have auto-updates switched off"

SOFTWARE GIANT, Microsoft has been caught updating punters' Windows machines without asking them.

Scott Dunn of Windows Secrets has noticed that Windows Update (WU) has recently started altering files on users' systems without displaying any dialogue box to request permission.

So far, there is no indication what the changes actually do either. There are no software conflicts caused by the patches and no reason to kill them off.

However as Dunn said it is more of a concern that Microtus Sneakicus thinks it is allowed into your computer to tinker with files without asking. You never know what they could get up to.

Read the full article here

Wednesday 12th September 2007

2007-09-12T10:32:00.000+01:00

I enjoy reading!

I like to be able to dissappear off in to a world of fiction and lose myself in a darn fine yarn.

On some occasions it is even possible to empathise with the characters and feel what they feel.

Take this morning for instance. I now know Harry Potter feels!

OK, I 'd just like to say

I'm not a fictional character - I think therefore I am
I'm not a wizard - although I like to think in my role as a Circuit Rider I have performed the odd piece of magic
I'm not a skinny runt with a lightening shaped scar on my head - I'm more of the Dudley Dursley build if I'm honest.

But I do now, know what its like when your family forgets your birthday!!

When they do finally twig that today is one they should remember it is with that casual oh well you don't really count birthdays at your age anymore, do you!?

However much that last statement might have a basis in truth it still doesn't forgive them.

It's a good job I don't hold grudges!

The people at work remembered (mind you I did put it up on the board!)

Caveat Emptor

2007-09-12T10:18:00.000+01:00

Just when you thought you'd heard everything and thought it safe to stick your head up over the parapet once more, along comes another tale of rank stupidity that makes you wonder how we ever got clever enough to come down out of the tree's!

PC World claims Linux melts laptops shouts the Inquirer in another article by Nick Farrell.

OS Swap blamed for manufacturing fault!

THE "TECH" PEOPLE at PC World seem to think that Linux is responsible for creating manufacturing faults.
A Slashdot reader took his five-month-old laptop into PC World with a broken hinge to the display which had cracked the plastic casing.
However the technical wizards at PC World refused to fix the fault because the punter had replaced the pre-installed Windows Vista with Gentoo Linux.
They claimed that installing Linux had voided his warranty and there is nothing they will do for him.
Like many indignant Brits he asked to speak to the manager and was told that he had been ordered to refuse any repairs if the operating system has been changed.
More here. µ

This sounds like a basic infringement of a buyers statutory rights under an item being fit for purpose. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Internet Security - Content Blocking

2007-09-08T00:04:00.000+01:00

Having recently been asked to provide a quote for one of our support clients to provide an Internet protection/content blocking package, my fellow Circuit Rider, David Poulter, after wading through the usual subjects like Cyper Patrol, Net Nanny, etc came across a the following product;

Features Include;

Content Control (through blocked site list and a word list - both updateable)
Time Control - set times when the Internet is actually available
Usage Logging & Email Notifications - check what is going on and receive reports by email
Application Usage Restrictions - decide what applications are accessible
System Restrictions - stop unwanted installs and protect sensative files

It is easy to set up and appears to be a very powerful tool and the software is free to download! Which makes it even better. More Here

But it doesn't stop there, as Crawler Parental, the organisation behind this product have a whole suite of really useful looking applications that could find a place in most Circuit Rider Tool Kits. Check them out!

We'd be keen to hear from anyone that is using, has used, or tries out any of these products! Let us know what you think!

Microsoft Announces Details Of Service Packs

2007-08-30T10:11:00.000+01:00

Microsoft shouts service pack plans Vista SP1 and XP SP3 en route
By Wily Ferret: Wednesday 29 August 2007, 18:33 (The Inquirer)

MICROSOFT HAS finally publicly announced its plans for the roll out of beta versions of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 3. In a long Q&A announcement, the Vole has published the details of what's in, what's out and when it's due.

Vista SP1 will be entering beta "in a few weeks" and will be "released to a moderate size audience". Interestingly, this audience does not include standard MSDN and Technet subscribers, as might usually be the case - it seems that Microsoft wants to drill down a little and hand-pick its own testers. The update, we are told, is focused on improving reliability of third party applications and drivers to reduce the number of blue screens, as well as adding business-level improvements.

For example, Vista 64-bit can now boot from an EFI machine, meaning Intel Macs can get the full Vista experience. ExFAT is supported, enabling the usage of a new range of flash storage devices. There's the controversial DirectX 1.01 update, as well as Secure Sockets Tunnel Protocol, an enhancement to Vista's VPN platform.

There are a few decent improvements for IT managers, too, many of whom will have been waiting for SP1 before deploying Vista widely. Bitlocker, the drive encryption tool in Ultimate and Business editions, can now lock any local drive. There's improved support for printers, and better network diagnostics for end users.
Crucially, there's no mention of any security updates, which means either than Microsoft isn't talking about it, or that security updates are really being dealt with through the regular 'patch Tuesday' events. Vista has consistently proved itself to be a more robust platform than XP when it comes to flaws and holes in the OS.

However, there is a cryptic mention of the Windows Server 2008 issue (the Vista client has to be updated to work with the new version of the kernel being rolled out in the server OS). Microsoft alludes to this by saying that some common files between the two strands of the codebase will be updated in the service pack - and whilst "most of these changes do not change the features or functionality of Windows Vista", nonetheless "some of these changes may increase the reliability of Vista SP1".

The download is around 50MB for the 32-bit version. The full release is expected, the Vole sayeth, in the first quarter of 2008.

As for XP SP3, the news is rather less exciting. The full thing is scheduled, rather vaguely, for the first half of 2008. The service pack is basically a "roll up of all the hot fixes and patches including security updates, out of band releases and hotfixes". There are, we quote, "no new features" in the service pack, with the bare exception of Network Access Protection, a Vista feature being ported backwards to XP machines connected to Server 2008.

As for the Server platform itself, the 2008 date appears set on February 27. That's when things start getting interesting

Court orders Linux geek to use Microsoft !

2007-08-24T11:33:00.000+01:00

Cruel and Unusual Punishment! (article written by Nick Farrell and posted on the Inquirer)

A COURT has ordered a pirate, and Linux user, to dump his favourite open sauce software and install Microsoft Windows instead.

Scott McCausland, ex-administrator of the Elite Torrents Bit Torrent tracker, pleaded guilty to two charges - ‘conspiracy to commit copyright infringement’ and ‘criminal copyright infringement’. He was sentenced to five months in jail and five months home confinement.

However, the jail sentence was a walk in the park when it comes to his probation order which seems designed to humiliate him.

The probation service have ordered that his Internet connection is monitored by the US Government to make sure he doesn't do any more pirating.

Unfortunately the Government does not have any monitoring software which is not Windows based. So, McCausland is forced to lose all his Linux street cred and become an enthusiastic Vole supporter.

His crime was uploading a copy of ‘Star Wars: Episode III’ onto the internet hours before the theatrical release, so all this seems a bit steep.

McCausland has contacted his brief about the cruel and unusual punishment. He said he didn't mind being monitored, but changing to Windows means that he has to buy lots of expensive software while he is unemployed.

More here

Memory Chip prices to skyrocket says chief

2007-08-20T17:47:00.001+01:00

Chip manufacturer Samsung are expecting to be able to triple current operating profit levels as it predicts memory prices are about to 'go through the roof'.

Reported in the Inquirer:
Chu Woo-sik, chief of Samsung's investor relations team told Associated Press that the market demand for DRAM and NAND chips is really strong. As a result the outfit can raise its contract prices.

Get more on this story here

PC ON A STICK

2007-08-17T20:18:00.000+01:00

PortableApps.com Suite
your computer, without the computer™

PortableApps.com Suite™ is a collection of portable apps including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, sudoku game, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. Just drop it on your portable device and you're ready to go.

I have been running my email on a 1GB stick for the last few months and it's great. No matter what machine I'm at as long as it has a USB port and an Internet connection I have my email with me. In fact I have a version of Firefox, OpenOffice, I even have AV! It really is a PC on a stick.

A very easy to use, cheap, solution if you need your email on the move.

You just have to remember to back it up very regularly otherwise you can easily lose EVERYTHING!

New Clam Sauce!

2007-08-17T19:49:00.000+01:00

Sourcefire has announced it is buying ClamAV the open source AntiVirus and AntiMalware project says the Inquirer

The firm will fold the acquired tools in with its Snort threat management product. There’s more on the deal and its significance in an FAQ here.

Is this new sauce a good move? Only time will tell.

Click here for the full article

net:gain - update

2007-08-04T23:46:00.000+01:00

+++++UPDATE+++++UPDATE+++++UPDATE+++++UPDATE+++++UPDATE

AFL SED is proud to annouce that further to the recent pathfinder training session run at its Ely base, net:gain have granted David Poulter and Paul Jefford their acreditation as licensed net:gain trainers.

Mr Ruskin has also been certified as well, not before time we hear some of you cry! :)

AFL now has three official net:gain trainers. This means work can begin in earnest in developing the next stage of the course, as well as developing the pathfinder session in to a PROMOTIONAL package and a separate WORKSHOP1 session.

Another Successful Mission For The Shuttle

2007-08-03T12:59:00.000+01:00

AFL Social Enterprise Division proudly announces another successful mission undertaken by its Space Shuttle Etheldreda.

Launched on Wednesday 1st August 2007 at 07:30 from its launch pad at Lancaster Way Launch Control (gratefully sponsored by N&C Glass), the shuttle made a relatively short journey in to the wild lands of Suffolk to appear at an event being run by Suffolk Young Carers.

The mission was led by the new Shuttle Commander, Peter Buchan, AFL SED's latest appointment, who has joined the team on a part-time basis. Peter was ably assisted by David Poulter, AFL SED's recently appointed new full time Circuit Rider.

The official report on the mission is still pending but the initial feedback is all positive. The was a lot of interest shown in the shuttle whilst it was on site so it is likely this will not be the only mission to Suffolk. In fact Mission Control, based at ::e-space south in Ely, received a phone call from some one who passed the shuttle on its journey down to Suffolk, asking how they go about booking it!

Congratulations to all involved.

Below is a picture of the landing site with the shuttle having made a successful landing.

For Details on how to hire the Shuttle or the Satellite Broadband Equipment contact

Shuttle Mission Control

on 01353 644027

Linux Phone Now Available!

2007-07-21T13:04:00.000+01:00

WOW. Move over MS with your Mobile Windows! Ditch that MS based SmartPhone, there is a new kid on the block made by FIC of Taiwan.

In fact there are two models available.

Available in black/silver and orange/white finishes and cost $300 for the base model and $450 for the advanced.

What are the NEO's USP's

1. Only being sold in the US

2. Definetly not for use by the general public - being targeted at developers only.

3. Neither model has an integrated GPRS data access feature - and blurb on upcoming improvements fails to mention this either

4. You shouldn't rely on being able to make a call either

5. You can't send or receive txt msg's.

6. Doesn't integrate with Blue Tooth

7. There is no ability to set network preferences either

So lets all not rush out and by one just yet. However, knowing what the OpenSource community is like it won't be long before these issues are resolved.

Read more about these phones by clicking here and here

Who has the cheapest Broadband?

2007-07-16T15:10:00.000+01:00

Global broadband prices revealed - reports the BBC News Website

Countries with the fastest broadband use fibre optic networksBroadband users in 30 of the world's most developed countries are getting greatly differing speeds and prices, according to a report.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report says 60% of its member countries net users are now on broadband.

Read the rest of the BBC article here

BBC caves in to open source downloaders

2007-07-13T13:44:00.000+01:00

In what is turning out to be a bad time for the Beeb, (with the incident over Blue Peter, and upsetting Her Majesty The Queen), it seems they are now having to sit up and take notice of the open source community as well.

BBC caves in to open sauce downloaders - writes the Inquirer;

"THE BBC TRUST will talk to people from the open source community who are bothered that the corporation's "iPlayer" will only work with Windows XP at launch on the 27th of July.
The Open Source Consortium (OSC) complained to the BBC, to the Department of Trade and Industry and to Ofcom that Linux didn't seem to be on the corporation's iSmorgasboard."

Read the full article on the Inquirer here

Read more about this story on the BBC website

Read more about this story on the Open Source Consortium website

AFL SED adds another string to its bow

2007-07-12T23:51:00.000+01:00

AFL's Social Enterprise Division added another string to its bow today with the completion of a successful net;gain pathfinder workshop which means it is well on the way to becoming a fully accredited net:gain centre.

Paul Ruskin, Director of Social Enterprise for AFL, said he was extremely pleased to be able to add net:gain to the SED stable, as he feels that the net:gain program not only reinforces, but enhances the work carried out by AFL's circuit rider project.

"Having an ICT strategy is becoming a must for all VCO's as funders and stakeholders are starting to require this as part of funding bid process. Helping VCO's develop their own ICT Strategic Plans has been at the heart of the work our Circuit Riders carry out - put simply, by the organisation better understanding what is they need to do, and to have, to deliver and fulfil their commitments to clients, stakeholders, staff and volunteers, it makes our job as technology providers and facilitators that much easier. It means we can more effectively deliver one of our key aims which is to make ICT an easy to use tool whilst ensuring it's not a burden in terms of access, time or cost".

The pathfinder workshop was lead by Paul Jefford and David Poulter from the Cambs Circuit Rider Project, both of whom are now on the verge of obtaining their licences as full net:gain trainers.

The workshop was attended by representatives from the newly merged voluntary services in Ely, Age Concern (UK and West Norfolk District), COVER, AFL, and Care Network.

The days proceedings were over seen by Serena Malone from ruralnet, the organisation responsible for net:gain.

We would like to express our very sincere thanks to all who participated in the workshop and making the day a success.

Below are some photos of the day!

AFL's very own Batman & Robin
a.k.a as Paul Jefford(l) and David Poulter(r)

Flying the company flag 1 - the new CCRP banner

Flying the Company Flag 2 - the new AFL SED Banner

The dynamic duo in action!

Delegates enjoying a nice refreshing cuppa before
embarking on the next step of the workshop

Italian Government Undertakes Europes Biggest Switch To FOSS

2007-07-12T21:01:00.000+01:00

Italys parliament has unveiled plans for the largest governmental switch to Free & Open Source Software writes the Inquirer

"The IT department of the Italian parliament presented plans on Wednesday to begin migrating some 3500 desktop PCs, including those of its 630 MPs, away from Windows to SuSE Linux starting this September. The Camera dei deputati will also run SuSE on all of its two hundred servers."

Read more here

Capacitybuilder Annual Conference Update

2007-07-07T11:11:00.000+01:00

If you are interested the Capacitybuilders website has been updated with news about the conferece and the release of their publication of Destination 2014.

Click Here

HELP - G33K ALERT

2007-07-05T22:32:00.000+01:00

Although I have worked in the IT industry for approx 14 years I have never considered my self a geek/nurd etc.

However, having got the 'lets just have a play' bug I have been looking at running Linux on MS Virtual PC 2007 with some limited success and also trying to run Linux On A Stick (USB Flash Drive).

Why? Why Not!

But it has been one of those things where I have got compulsive over trying to make the damn thing work!

So as I am writing this post on a Linux PC that is running from my 1GB flash drive does that mean I am doomed? :)

I have tried several flavours of Linux
Debian
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
Xubuntu
Knoppix
PCLinux
Centos
Kbuntu
Feather Linux
DSL (Damn Small Linux)
and
Puppy Linux (which is the one that worked for me) - It has a very MS Windows feel, and comes with various apps installed.

I am attempting to Load Open Office, FireFox and Thunderbird. Unfortunately the Portable Apps I run on my other 5GB Flash Drive which gives me OpenOffice, FireFox, Thunderbird, Sunbird and some others I cannot recall, only comes in Windows version a.t.m. however a Linux version is promised soon according to the website.

I'll let you know how it goes. Oh well must dash, now where did I put that Scholl Footware catalogue... ;)

Capactiybuilders Annual Conference - Birmingham 3rd July 2007

2007-07-04T22:51:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday 3rd July 2007, Birmingham Botanical Gardens played host to this years annual Capacitybuilders conference.

As well as hosting the A.G.M. the conference also provided the platform from which Destination 2014 - Capacitybuilders vision for the future of the 3rd Sector was launched. Taking in to full account the various views expressed during the consultation this document is designed to clearly express the way forward for Capacitybuilders in relation to the ChangeUp programme as a whole.

Destination 2014 was presented to conference by Simon Hebditch, (pictured) Chief Executive of Capacitybuilders.

(For More Information on Destination 2014 Click Here)

Although there was not time to absorb and digest the full content of the publication, the main points were highlighted by Simon during his speech and the murmurings from the conference floor seemed to be positive.

The conference was also a chance for each of the regions to show case some of the projects being funded by Capacitybuilders money.

AFL were invited to showcase their Shuttle - Mobile ICT Suite - project as well as some of the work of the circuit rider project - Cambridgeshire Circuit Riders Project.

The two Pauls, Ruskin & Jefford - sounds like a bad 1930's musical hall act! - were on hand to represent their projects and the organistion, as well as supporting the most attractive dusky pink sashes, with pride! ;)

Capacitybuilders have also highlighted the Shuttle project as an example of the work they do in supporting the regions and we should be getting a copy of the case study they commissioned very soon, so watch this space!

All in all it was a good conference. Very educational, we learnt that Birmingham has not one, but two botanical gardens! We also found out that a large part of Edgbaston is a massive one way system, and they have an adversion to turning right!

Interesting Blog

2007-06-27T21:32:00.000+01:00

A blog about ubuntu

2007-06-27T13:45:00.000+01:00

Recent on line articles that may be of interest

How to revive an old PC

OSX crash hits Glastonbury

IT Management: Avoiding the Pitfalls of New Technology Deployments

Giant Penguins Once Roamed Peru

(pictures)

GPL compliance issues are tearing Joomla! apart

2007-06-21T00:51:00.000+01:00

By Tina Gasperson on June 20, 2007 (4:20:47 AM) (posted on Linux.com)

Joomla! project leader Louis Landry and his colleagues want to protect the project they love. That's why, after two years of allowing proprietary plugins for the open source CMS, the group has decided to ask third-party developers for voluntary compliance with the terms of the GNU General Public License, under which Joomla! is licensed. Those developers are complaining that it's unfair for Joomla! to reverse its position after "a bunch of companies spent millions," according to one developer employed by a company that markets the proprietary extensions. Landry says he and the Joomla! team were wrong to have allowed the exceptions, and a return to compliance is essential in order to legally protect the open nature of Joomla!.

Read the Rest

Open Source Inevitable - according to IBM SVP

2007-06-18T15:30:00.000+01:00

IBM SVP Steve Mills: Open Source Is Inevitable

Read all about it!

Linux PC Authenticates as Genuine Windows

2007-06-18T14:49:00.000+01:00

Apart from the question - Why? and the obvious answer - because...!

Read the article at slashdot.

There is also another article on the same site about how Red Hat has received another level of security certification.

slashdot - don't fear the penguins!

March Charity makes it sweet (IT Suite-!) for Young People

2007-06-15T16:35:00.000+01:00

Young People March (YPM) is a voluntary organisation, established in 1993 and achieving charitable status in 1994. The centre is run with help from adults, and young people who volunteer, bringing a wide range of skills from the local community.

YPM wanted to provide an I.C.T. suite for young people providing them with PC’s, Internet access, and access to commonly used software application such as Microsoft Office.

Paul Ruskin, Director of Social Enterprise of Advice For Life, the organisation which runs the Cambridgeshire Circuit Rider Project, met with Young People March, to discuss the Computer Suite Project and identify what exactly Sarah and Jayne wanted to achieve.

Having a clear understanding of what was required meant Paul was not only able
to procure the I.T. equipment and furniture at very favorable rates, but, with the resulting savings against previous quotes, could also provide a full ICT support contract and some software application training.

The furniture was built on site by the suppliers and the ICT equipment was installed by Paul Jefford, Circuit Rider Manager, and his son Daniel, who was on his weeks work experience from Ely Community College at the time.

What Young People March Thought About The Project

Dear Paul(Ruskin)

I just want to say thank you very much for the help, support and management of our new computer suite. The organising and delivering was spot on we never had to worry about a thing which was a tremendous help to us as we are not great in the installation and purchasing of such equipment. Everyone here at YPM is very grateful and very pleased with the end results. It was great to meet you and feel comfortable knowing you had our interests at heart in what you were providing for the young people at YPM.

Since the computers have been installed they have been extremely popular and we are seeing more young people in the centre which means we are providing a better service for the community, keeping the young people off the streets and reducing anti social behaviours, they love it some of the young people have never had access to this facility so thanks to Leader + and yourselves we feel privileged to be able to provide them with this opportunity.

I would also like to thank Paul (Jefford) and his work experience student for their part in the set up, again very nice approachable people a job we could not have managed ourselves and with their knowledge and advice we felt very satisfied with your service.

We are looking forward to the training and we will see you soon.

A big thank-you from all staff and members of
Young People March

Regards

Sarah Brown / Jayne Manders (centre managers)

Linux Distros Of The World Unite!

2007-06-15T16:32:00.000+01:00

Latest from the Inquirer - a report about what should happen now that Microsofts lawyers have done a deal over the 280 odd patents it thinks the various versions of Linux infringe!

In Space They Can't Hear You Scream At Your Computer

2007-06-14T19:14:00.000+01:00

Could we have found another user for our 'Space' Shuttle?

I have come across reports of problems with the computers on board the International Space Station! (See upgrading to Vista wasn't such a good idea, was it!)

Posted on the Inquirer today;

International space station computers crash

In space, no one can hear you scream
By Nick Farrell in Gallifree : Thursday 14 June 2007, 16:13

THREE RUSSIAN computers onboard the International Space Station have crashed causing the station to lose its ability to move.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, only one computer was needed to be able to command jet firings but none of the three will work.

Apparently, they have tried turning it off and turning it on again but that didn't do nuttin. It is also a bit tricky getting the technical support bloke or bloke-ette up that far.

The three computers have crashed before. In fact, just before a fairly crucial bit of installation work. The shuttle Atlantis managed to control the station for bit but that is not really enough for the long term.

If the Russians can't get the computers going they might have to un-man the station for a bit. Which will be annoying, if technical support does get up there they can only guarantee 'mornings' or 'afternoons'.

You just know that if the cosmonauts just pop out for a moment that will be when technical support will make an appearance.

More here

I wonder how much diesel we would need to get there and back!

Fashion For Techies

2007-06-14T03:53:00.000+01:00

Well folks we all know that the first thing on the mind of any serious techie when they wake up in the morning is what shall I wear today!

We are after all recognised for our fashion sense and overall satorial elegance!

To prove this here is a list of the Top 10 Shirts for G33Ks!

My own personal favourite? - The T-Equalizer!

What is geeky about the T-Equalizer tee shirt?

For starters, it's the most unique piece of clothing we've ever seen. A graphic LED equalizer is built in to the front of the shirt with a fully functional EL (Electro Luminescence) panel. When four AAA batteries are inserted into the pocket inside the shirt, its equalizer will light up to the beat of music playing in the background.

Web inventor gets Queen's honour

2007-06-13T20:58:00.000+01:00

Sir Tim Berners Lee, credit as being the inventor of the world wide web has been awarded the Order of Merit, one of the UK's most prestigious honours.

Full Story Here

Taking The WEEE !

2007-06-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

EC Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill. It seeks to achieve this by making producers responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recovery of waste electrical equipment, and by obliging distributors to allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was agreed on 13 February 2003, along with the related Directive on Restrictions of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS).

The implementation of the WEEE Directive in the UK has been delayed. It was due to be transposed into Member State legislation by 13 August 2004 and come into force by 13 August 2005.

The UK Regulations implementing the WEEE Directive were laid before Parliament on 12 December 2006 and enter into force on 2 January 2007. Non-Statutory Guidance was published on 28 February 2007 .

There are a couple of interesting articles that are worth a read.

But how do small businesses cope with the cost of implementation. Is the government really taking the WEEE!

WEEE directive threatens Microsoft OEM sales

UK government takes the WEEE out of IT retailers

Vista Minute! Could it be new MS Operating System is not faultless?

2007-06-13T13:44:00.000+01:00

Just when you thought Vista had achieved global domination, some hardware suppliers (including Dell and HP) are offering systems with a choice of XP and Vista.

Stick with what works - you know it makes sense. Perspectives on Vista from TechSoup and the ICT Hub Knowledgebase and experiences from users.

Greener IT

2007-06-13T12:38:00.000+01:00

Google and Intel are promoting greener IT.

The following article is published on the BBC News site.

The Regional ICT Champion Eastern Region - On Tour

2007-06-12T23:02:00.001+01:00

The Regional ICT Champion Tour Bus stopped today in Stevenage, Herts as guests of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Consortium, (HIC).

Invited to present information about the successful Circuit Rider project being run in Cambridgeshire, and to run an afternoon session to assist HIC develop a Strategic ICT Planning document.

Thank you to HIC for inviting the Regional ICT Champion to their meeting.
Thank you for the nice lunch.
And a very big thank you to everyone who took part in the afternoon workshop.

Here are some picture of every one hard at work in the afternoon workshop.

Safari for Windows

2007-06-12T22:40:00.000+01:00

Anyone who has downloaded Apple's Web browser, Safari, for their windows machine may be interested in the following article

Apparently it has a security hole in it! What fun!

Space Shuttle Etheldreda

2007-06-12T19:04:00.000+01:00

Launched at 09:05 from Cape Lancaster Way Launch Centre, AFL mission control,Ely,reported a succesful touch down on 'Red Square' a.k.a Ely Market Place, at 09:25. Apart from a minor problem on final approach the flight & landing were perfect.

The mission;
Set Up The International Space Gazebo and make contact with the indiginous population and spread the word... (by inviting as many as wanted on to the shuttle itself to see what was what, and also use some of the equipment!)

Having succesfully completed it's mission AFL Shuttle Ethelreda took off at 14:30 and arrived back at launch centre at 14:45. The flight crew also brough back Astronughts Matthews and Benato who had been part of the Space Gazebo build team that arrived at the landing site earlier that day on a scheduled space flight.

Having been transported back to mission control - e-space south, Ely - there followed a mission debriefing session after which the jubilant Space Crew was re-united with its friends and family!

Below are some mission photographs:

The Flight Crew Preparing For Take Off - Loading Lunar Command Module Discovery

Final Briefing : L-R Capt Matthews, Cprl D Jefford, Capt Benato, Gen Ruskin

Space Shuttle Etheldreda in all her glory

First Contact!

Welcome

2007-06-12T18:36:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the Cambridgeshire Circuit Rider Project Blog!

What is a circuit rider? These days it normally means an IT specialist that works in or for the voluntary sector providing support, consultation, training and strategic advice to the voluntary sector. Circuit Riders are also known as e-riders.

Circuit Riding has its roots in the deep south of the USA at the turn of the 20th century. There were not enough church ministers for the number of churches. So they rode from church to church (on a circuit) providing religious comfort and ministering to the local parishioners.

You can find out more at more about Circuit Riders here