Well I’ve been installing Linux every six months, or so, to see whether I should have one machine running the operating system in the office and every year I come across the same problem – I can’t get my printer to work over the network, my network scanner doesn’t work and I find it difficult to get it working seemlessly. Now, as a Network Manager, if I can’t get it working easily, how is the man in the street ever going to do it – and if the man in the street can’t use it then it isn’t ready to be called the operating system of the year?

Now Windows has its problems, and Vista made no effort to endear the brand to its users. But when a user installs an application, they want it to appear on the Start menu so that they can access it easily. Sounds common sense and Vista, bad as it was, managed this. Why, then, do I install some applications on my Mac and then find it difficult to run that application; having to navigate to the program’s folder on the hard disk and double-click over the executable file to run it? You install a Windows application and you instinctively know where to go to run that program.

Recently, I installed the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, the only flavour I think the man in the street has a chance of being able to use (there are hundreds of version of Linux from different manufacturers and they aren’t all compatible), on my netbook and I have to say that I was impressed – my network printer worked, but not the scanner unfortunately. It was easy to use, somehwat easier than Windows to be truthful,  but I downloaded and installed an application.

What an operation! I had to access a command line and type a long instruction (that was very easy to mistype) to get the installation running. Once it was installed, I couldn’t find the link to get the program running. This is still the bugbear of Linux – it’s a technical operating system and not for the man in the street. A recent look at the Ubuntu magazine shows it peppered with command line instructions that users have to type in to get operations, that Windows executes with the click of a mouse button, working.

Nope, 2010 is not the year of Linux and I doubt 2011 will be either. It’s close, but if you’re running equipment more than a year old and have no concept of what a command line is – Linux is not for you.

As to the Mac, it’s still a gorgeous hardware platform, but massively expensive to purchase and maintain and somewhat difficult to operate at times.

As for Windows, familiarity is the key. We use Windows computers so much at work and home that we have become instinctively comfortable with it, just like breathing and eating. And now that Windows 7 actually works and is very reliable, it would be folly not to seriously consider it when purchasing your next computer.

2010 is the year of Windows 7 and long may it reign.

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“While the application you have inquired about is hosted on LinkedIn’s platform, the details you have inquired about were designed by our partner, WordPress. Based on our review of your inquiry, we expect you will receive the most accurate and up-to-date assistance from our partner. Please contact them directly.”

Right, so the creator of the Wordpress plugin is going to know what my LinkedIn ID is and LinkedIn isn’t. As it happens, the creator of the Wordpress plugin did know what my LinkedIn user ID was, it was my screen name – not the code embedded in the URL as I’d read elsewhere on the Internet.

Thanks LinkedIn; in my many years in the computer industry I’ve come across countless situations where one company has blamed another for a problem and vice-versa, but never seen a company tell me that another company could advise me better on their own product before – it’s a new one on me.

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Back in 1982 I arrived in Porthcurno, Cornwall, fresh out of college and wet behind the ears. The attraction of Porthcurno? Apart from the fantastic beach, gorgeous blue water and weather, it was a remote Cable & Wireless out-station were people from all around the world came to learn about all sorts of communication equipment.

Well Porthcurno has just been awarded a great accolade – it’s one of Britain’s top ten beaches. But there’s more to Porthcurno than that.

Cliff-side theatre

Aside from the fantastic beach, there is the intriguing Minack Theatre which was built in to the cliffs by Rowena Cade in the 1930s. Whilst not being a mainstream theatre-goer, I recommend everyone attends at least one play there for the atmosphere. There’s nothing like watching HMS Pinafore with the wind in your hair and the Atlantic Ocean for a backdrop – no other theatre comes close.

Communications galore

The Cable & Wireless training college is now long gone, but before it was established as a place of learning it was one of the most important places in the world – so important that it was heavily defended during World War II.

Porthcurno, or PK as it was more commonly known in the communications world, was were many of Britain’s communications cables slipped down the beach, in to the ocean, and off to all corners of the world. Porthcurno was the centre of the Victorian Internet.

The sands shift nightly on the beach and often reveal their secret, armour plated submarine cables that will, at one time, have linked Britain with every continent on the planet. But it doesn’t stop there, about a quarter of a mile north of the beach is the Porthcurno Telegraph museum.

The museum traces the history of communications in this remote part of the United Kingdom and is a fascinating visit for the whole family.

Porthcurno – one of my top locations in England

Cornwall holds a special place in my memories. It is a special place and I suggest you book your trip now.

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Tins of beans are microwaveable, recyclable and good value

Tins of beans are microwaveable, you put them in a dish, put them in the microwave, heat them, take them out and heat them.

Tins from baked beans are recyclable - the paper wrapper goes in the paper bag, the tin goes in the glass and metal box.

Tins of beans are good value for money – about (exact price escapes me) 25p for 450g.

Enter the new microwaveable baked beans pouch

Yes, they’re microwaveable. Good, no better than a tin of beans then.

No, the pouch proudly states that it cannot be recycled.

Pouches of beans are not good value, costing the same as a tin but for only 200g.

So, great taste, less waste?

I think not – not for the pouch anyway – it’s good old tins of beans for me.

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I attended the Norbreck Amateur Radio Exhibition in Blackpool earlier today as an exhibitor and I am constantly amazed at how many G callsign holders seem to think they are immune from having to move to a working frequency whilst they have a chat. I lost count the number of times calls were issued, and then conversations held, on the 2m calling frequency. Just because you’re at a rally doesn’t mean you don’t have to adhere to the very rules that you would crucify a newly licensed foundation Amateur Radio operator for not upholding every other day of the year.

I know several of my recently successful foundation candidates were at the exhibition purchasing their first pieces of equipment. What must they think after I drilled home that you must follow the rules – what an example to be set by those more experienced Radio Amateurs that should know better.

Maybe some of our more experienced Amateur Radio operators should go back to school and resit a Foundation course – I wonder how many of them would pass?

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Reading the Daily Telegraph today I read on the front page how big firms are slashing prices ahead of the election to try and tempt buyers in to the shops rather than have them delay their expensive purchases until after the election.

The Telegraph gives several examples of such drastic price cuttin. Take the a offer of a satnav system discounted from £299.99 to £129.99 at a major high-street retailer. This organisation has more than one “Upto 50% off SatNav” sale each year. What they actually do is put the price up to the full £299.99 for a few weeks in the year to be able to be able to legally claim these massive discounts, but in truth the units are sold at the lower price for more weeks in the year than they are at the higher price.

The same organisation sells camping equipment for ridicously high prices for a few weeks early on in the year and then discounts them by 50% for the majority of the remaining season.

It is now common practise for stores to offer such massive discounts, but it might appear to the more observant to be nothing more than a scam – making the public believe they are getting a bargain – when they’re not. Given that these products spend most of their shelf life at the discounted price and that the retailer could not afford to make a loss, or very little profit, on these items for such a long period of time, it is obvious that the companies could really afford to sell the products at just above the massively discounted price all year around and still make a decent profit.

Sales are no longer sales, it’s just that the period in between them is an opportunity for these companies to make a massive profit on the ’sale’ items whilst they comply with the law on sales.

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The station was rounded off with a Watson Walkabout antenna mounted on a 5′ aluminium pole and a 1/4 wave wire counterpoise for 40m. However this, combined with the abysmal location in urban Coventry and low power, probably conspired to limit the number of contacts to just one – IZ3JJD in Padova on 20m.

Powering the station is a 24Ah lead acid battery which should be enough to provide power for at least 8-10 hours of continuous use if my calculations are correct. Whilst the weight of the battery would cause problems carrying the station to the top of a summit, it would not pose a problem for future camping trips. We have on hand a solar charger to trickle charge the battery during daylight hours.

Despite the single contact the exercise did highlight a number of things:

• A small low cost netbook can comfortably run a PSK-31 station without any performance issues on the part of the netbook.
• Using a smaller and lighter 7Ah battery, we could probably operate PSK-31 from a summit for around two hours.
• Walkabout antennas do work, but better in open spaces that urban environments.

Our next experiment will involve using the Snowdonia Radio Company’s HF vertical antenna as we will be able to use this on our summer holidays at the camp site we frequent (though every year the antenna has got bigger and bigger – this is probably our limit).

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Originally designed in 1961 the 44′ steel hulled boat became the mainstay vessel of the US Coast Guard rescue service. The boats were not designed for high speed, but rather sustained search and rescue missions up to 50 miles out to sea in 30′ waves. Her 250 mile range gave her a wide range with the capacity to house 21 survivors and tow a 125 ton vessel that might have become disabled.

The design was extremely successful and this resulted in 110 44′ lifeboats being built for the US Coast Guard. Many more vessels were built for rescue services in other countries, including the RNLI.

Our image shows the Whitby Pilot (St. Hilda), an ex-RNLI Waveney lifeboat, captured on 31st March, 2010, in Whitby harbour. Ironically a Waveney (White Rose of Yorkshire, 1974-1988) served Whitby but it went to Canada upon being replaced by a Tyne.

Links

• 44′ motor lifeboats
• US Coast Guard 44′ Motor Lifeboat Restoration Project
• Whitby lifeboat

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Henry Greathead was the first person to produce a purpose-built lifeboat in 1789 and he went on to build a further thirty boats, of which the Zetland was one.

Links

• Zetland history
• This is Redcar
• Henry Greathead
• The History of the RNLI Zetland Lifeboat [pdf]
• Redcar Lifeboat

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Prior to the launch of the Oakley class of lifeboat, self-righting boats had a narrow beam, a high bow and stern (which contained air boxes) and a heavy cast iron keel to return the boat the correct way up if she were to capsize. Unfortunately, this design made the boats less stable and more likely to capsize and crews had mixed feelings as to whether a more stable non-righting boats was preferable to a less stable self-righting boat.

Oakley, the class’ designer, came up with a broader beamed boat which used water ballast, instead of air boxes to right the capsized vessel, and it proved to be a great success with twenty six boats being built.

Links

• Filey lifeboat
• Filey Bay
• The significance of the 37′ Oakley class lifeboat

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