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Re: [ALUG] free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 24 Oct '10

24 Oct '10

Thanks, guys. Turns out on investigation that 1and1 has a much cheaper basic package than I realized, at around 2.50 a month for the entry level one, but he seems most impressed with the daily.co.uk package. The year in advance is a pretty decent deal. Thanks. Peter

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free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

A penniless artist asked me to suggest free or cheap web hosting. Obviously he will not have a lot of traffic, and what he wants to do is put up his pictures for view, but not particularly high res. So it does not have to have a lot of space. I don't know whether own domain is important or not. Might be nice. Any suggestions? I had thought of 1and1, which seems to do a basic package for around £120 a year including domain. But if there is anything anyone would recommend thats cheaper and still decent, the pennies would help. Peter

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Netbook Dual Boot Distro-Hopping Grub/MBR Recovery Solution
by S 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi I have a non-standard Netbook HP 2133 which for now anyway I want to be able to Dual Boot XP MCE and a Linux Distro. The Mini has a VIA Chip and none of the distros have yet fully got to grips with maximising the Graphics though I read that Ubuntu is getting closer to seamlessly building in a new open-source driver from Via (don't drivers end up in the kernel though?). Bottom line is I hop distros to try to find one that has mastered the trick of all forms of video and flash so that I can finally dump the Windows. In doing so I recently installed Jolicloud in place of Linux Mint. I made a mistake in thinking I could just delete the mint & related swap partition and get "Error 15". I know I can sort it by hooking up an external DVD and doing full reinstalls of Windows and Jolicloud or whatever and maybe next time I'll do the Express install of Jolicloud which I think uses Wubi making uninstallation easy (it says) Whilst I'd like to learn to avoid these messes in the first place, I'd like to know how to fix them much more quickly too. I read on Lifehacker of Wintoflash and thought that would speed re-installations of Windows (maybe it doesn't like MCE version of XP) or maybe the cross disk installation process caught out the software (as it didn't ask me to swap disks) but it doesn't get to an installation/repair type screen, though it will start windows from a grub like menu but doesn't fix boot on restart. I've also tried super grub disk on systemrescuecd-x86-1.6.2 and can access and fully use either of the OSs on the hard disk fine. Having the usb stick in to do this each time is of course daft. GRUB/MBR and Xorg seem to be two that really I need to get to grips with but i've yet to build confidence or even familiarity in digging around much in Linux - kinda just want it to work. Lots (& lots!) of info online but are there some golden rules / infallible-simple-quick sources to go to prevent & sort my problems. Is there a master tool kit on a usb stick. I'll try and get along to one of the meetings sometime. Er, I think that's quite enough Steve >

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multi function photo printer advice please
by mick 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

My HP Photosmart (C5280) has finally irritated me enough to want to get rid of it. It currently refuses to print at all using "recycled" cartridges (always tricky with HP printers in my experience) and is now also flaky with HP branded cartridges. I am also thoroughly pissed off with the cost of Vivera ink and the fact that I have to replace the entire colour (or photo) cartridge when just one colour is depleted. So I have been researching Epson MFPs which have 6 seperate ink cartidges. My needs are classic home user: - scanning 1200/2400 - photocopying - monochrome and colour printing up to A4 - photo printing up to A4 - ideally printing direct from assorted flash memory sticks (I have both sony and SD cards). The Epson photo PX 650 looks as if it would fit the bill, but it does not appear in the linux openprinting database. There is a driver quoted for it which appears to require the installation of the lsb packages but I'm not sure how well supported this might be. Does anyone here have any experience of this printer? And if not, what other epson (or non HP printer which meets the above requirements) can people recommend? The main reason for using HP in the past is the fact that they are pretty good at supporting linux through HPLIP. Shame about the extortionate running costs. Mick (Anyone want a C5280 which /might/ be fixable) --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Android Readers
by Martin Collins 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi, has anyone any experience of some of these new Android E-Readers? I was looking for something to read pdfs, things like Full Circle Magazine (http://fullcirclemagazine.org/downloads/) Linux Format pdfs and some programming manuals I've got - all Linuxy Languages of course. However, these are mostly 7" in size and although probably ok for text, I'm a bit unsure whether they would be big enough for fixed format pdfs? Anyone used one yet. Next do a 10" one but it's a bit pricey (£180) - http://www.next.co.uk/shopping/electric/carryover/10/13 I'd feel better with that one but for that price I could buy a cheap Netbook - maybe that would be the best option. Any opinions greatly received before I splash my cash. Rgds, Martin

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Android phones and Linux, any experience?
by Chris G 20 Oct '10

20 Oct '10

Does anyone hare have an Android based phone and use it with Linux on their desktop? -- Chris Green

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scanners part the second
by Bev Nicolson 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

Hmph. Not because Adam was right but because I have been trying to change permissions for this scanner (I need root permish) and it isn't playing ball. Nautilus claims I already have it. Terminal won't let me. (I've tried chmod) The scanner itself does work, btw but only when I fire up VueScan. Help, please. TIA. Bev.

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is back tonight, Monday 18th October, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Hopefully, see some of you there! Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Re: [ALUG] Intel 2200BG wireless
by Richard McLellan 15 Oct '10

15 Oct '10

I got it all sorted now. I was using Mint Isadora on my laptop but changed over to Xubuntu and it works no problems in there.Thanks for the help on this.

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Kindles - Was Android Readers
by mark fernandes (IFR) 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

I can confirm that Kindles are good bit of kit. I've got cheaper version (without 3G) for work. Wifi and browser works well with limitations of e-paper (no flash - not necessarily a bad thing :-)) I go to lots of meetings for my sins and get issued with lots of docs (=76 pages of dead tree) and our group travel a lot (so baggage limits)- so am trying out Kindle as a solution to these probs. So far, so good - screen is really good, readable in bright sunlight (sadly less of a problem at the moment...). Used also to read my OU Maths course books (formulae etc quite clear). Only time so far I've had to charge battery was when it arrived - it's seems to get by with my USB transfers of books to feed itself. Also, can back it up that way as it is a 'standard' USB storage device on PC. Since you invited it Mick - You're a luddite :-) Seriously, I've always loved books but e-readers enable me to cart my library about when travelling, are searchable and so are v. useful. Both have their place. I've got problems browsing local HTML files and need a program to reformat 3 column scientific paper PDFs into e-reader friendly single column form but despite that am content with the device. See http://codingscience.blogspot.com/2010/10/kindle.html for the ups and downs so far Like so many things, e-readers are horses for courses - if it does what you need then that's the sweet spot. Been quite interested in the debate so far (Will especially try out the debug mode...) All the best, Mark Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton: Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

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