Ubuntu 8.04 on my Thinkpad T60p (Part 5)

Today there was a kernel update for Ubuntu. After the update installed I continued to work for a few hours before shutting the laptop down even though the update recommended a restart for the changes to take effect.

Later I started the laptop to check something online - only to get the "White Screen" problem. The symptom is that I could login as normal however when the desktop loads you can only see a white cursor on a white background, luckily the cursor has a dark outline :). The Compiz "Cube" effect still works.

The online howto documents all seemed to go deep into the command line to reconfigure the X Windows system. Some advice given was to update the ATI drivers or reconfigure ATI via the "aticonfig" command.

Then I remembered the EnvyNG program that I used to install the ATI drivers in the first place. I logged in to Ubuntu and chose to use the "Gnome FailSafe" desktop. Actually the FailSafe Desktop was rather nice - basically my full desktop at full resolution without the funky Compiz effects. Then I ran the "EnvyNG" program and chose the option to "install the ATI driver".

After this had completed I rebooted and found the system safe and well - all fixed and the funky effects are back - even though I don't use the cube effect that much at all but life would be poorer without the wobbly windows.

Demonstrating Lotus Sametime

When demonstrating Lotus Sametime I like to show dialogue between real people logged into the system. When a network connection is not available this can get a little tricky.

Mikkel Heisterberg has published a tool via Intravision that allows you to simulate people logged into Sametime in various states such as Avalable, In a Meeting, etc.

I've used similar tools in the past that people have hacked together - however this looks like a really nice solution.

Now, if I just had a little Sametime "bot" that could give answers to questions.

Lunar Transit

The Bad Astronomer has published a movie of a lunar transit in front of the earth. This is simply stunning.

iPhone

While the iPhone continues to struggle to become as fantastic as the Nokia 6021, - it is still a very good way of demonstrating iNotes.


Thanks to macazin.de

After Windows Update - difficulty going online

There was a Windows update for XP over the last day or two - and it seems to create difficulty for some XP users who are connecting via ADSL to the interweb.

The fix that works seems to be - go into add/remove programs and remove the last windows update - and after a restart you are back online.

Three separate home users have all had the same issue today that was resolved in the same manner.

update: from the BBC

F1 moves to Donnington

Formula One will move from the Silverstone circuit to the Donnington Park circuit from 2010 onwards.

Silverstone could have kept the Grand Prix if the government had invested a little money.

According to the BBC Bernie recons...."I believe that the government should have supported them, which would have cost probably less than .002% of the government's commitment for the Olympic Games."

The Olympics are becoming quite expensive - and it looks like they are having great fun with the building projects.

It's great that we still have a British Grand Prix - and Donnington should be fantastic.

Installation of Lotus Foundations - Part 3

Foundations Start

Now that Foundations Core has been installed and is up and running it's time to install Foundations Start. This is the part of Foundations that includes the Domino email server.

From my Ubuntu client – I started Nautilus file browser, clicked on Network Servers and the system found the Foundations server. Windows Explorer should do the same (file - run - \\ipaddress).


Opening the “Foundations” server required the “root” username and password. The shared folders included one called "autoinstall".

Foundations start is supplied in a file called lfstart-domino-2960.pkg. Copy this file to the autoinstall directory on the Foundations Base server.


Once it has been copied click the "Software Update" menu to see when it is recognised.


When you see the "Installed add-on package" is available you can click on "install". As this package contains a Domino server you should ensure you have sufficient ram allocated to the machine. When you have clicked "install" you should see the following message on the "Status" page.

As the install progresses informational messages are displayed like the next screenshot.

Eventually, after 10 minutes or so you should see.....

So easy.