Windows Azure

Looks like Microsoft is to release "Windows Azure", a new cloud based platform. Looks like you buy it, then all your data is stored somewhere in the deep dark underbelly of the MS network. I can almost hear the tinfoil hats rustling... 

Apart from all the obvious privacy concerns, I think that if Microsoft implement this well it could just work. Then again, everyone says that before a big MS release :P

Full article here:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/10/27/Microsoft-launches-Windows-Azure-for-the-cloud_1.html

Arch Linux

So, I downloaded the Arch Linux .iso and got to work installing it on my tester PC. Install was relatively painless, (suprisingly fast might I add), it had me selecting exactly the packages I wanted which was a nice touch, then had me edit my own config files, which struck me as kind of opaque for newbie users. I had no problem having done them all before, but I'd imagine someone less experienced being a little put off. Everything is well documented on their site (http://archlinux.org), they have quite an impressive wiki going there.

Now. How does it run then? Not too badly, I had the usual trouble with Xorg not finding drivers and what-not (right now that computer is still X-less...) but thats more my fault than Arch's, I chose to install an sshd too, and that doesn't work for some reason, keep getting an error when I try to login remotely. Thats another day's problem though... Pacman (Arch's wonderfully named package manager) seems alright, took me a while to figure out to be honest, I'm used to apt-get.

Conclusion: Quite a nice distro if you know what you're doing, if you're comfortable with editing config files yourself then go for it!

Google to release Android source code

Looks like Google has released the source code for their "new" Android mobile platform: http://source.android.com/download. Looks interesting, but I don't think I'll bother to be honest... I have a lot to be getting on with already apart from writing apps for a platform where Google has the right to kill your app at any time and on any phone they please: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/android_kill_switch/.

Favourite quote from the download page: "To build the Android source under Linux, you will need Ubuntu." Need? Ubuntu?

:D

Arch Linux

I've been thinking recently about how I'd like to have a look at a new distro, after about a year now of using Debian Etch I'd like a change. So, after looking at Gentoo and not really liking it (I'm a busy man and don't have time to compile everything from source!) I've settled on trying Arch Linux, with its promises of being nice and light and configurable. So, tonight I'll download the .iso and I'll let everyone know how it goes. I wouldn't have to download it myself if Steve had just brought me in the install disk today in school but no. He forgot. Friends eh?

Linus' Blog

Turns out Linus Torvalds (father of the Linux kernel and general legend) has jumped on the blogging bandwagon recently, http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/. Dropped him a quick comment...

Tilda

Just discovered a nice little app for Linux called Tilda, allows you to have a drop down terminal that you can show or hide at will. Pretty neat stuff, I've mainly been using it to do quick command-line stuff while keeping a browser window open (it stays on top of all the windows if you want it to.) Check it out here.

AOL to Nuke User's Content

http://techdirt.com/articles/20081021/0206432604.shtml

Wow, that sounds like a nice way to lose the (probably very few people now) that actually respect you as a company... Well done AOL :P

Update

I ended up just quitting MS Word. Losing 30 minutes work. Bleh.

Binary Rain

Hey, just thought I'd start a blog while I'm waiting for MS Word to unfreeze itself, I was working on some Data Flow diagrams for my ICT project and it just froze :( I wish the school computers ran a decent operating system...

So, let me introduce myself, I'm Josh Lockhart, student, musician and all round computer enthusiast. I play guitar, write C and use Debian GNU/Linux. I'll probably end up just writing about things that I've been doing on my computer in this blog, that is if I stay committed to it :P

I go to school, I'm in Upper Sixth and I study Maths, ICT (Information and Communications Technology, the worst subject and course known to man) and Chemistry. I live in Northern Ireland.

Wow, Word is still not responding...