I got my new laptop configured with Ubuntu Dapper this morning. Seems like everything is working, with only a few hiccups. Probably the biggest bummer is the Atheros WiFi chipset has some non-free driver components, which makes working with it kind of a pain. Otherwise the hardware seems Mostly Free, which is kind of surprising for a micro-laptop.
Dealing with the WiFi chip has been the real nightmare for most of my latest computers. I'm not sure I understand why the driver support for this feature set is so spotty in Linux. So many vendors? Vendors trying to protect "trade secrets" by not releasing specs? I'm guessing it's probably the latter, which seems kind of silly when this protocol is so widely used and implemented. It seems to me that in this commodity market picking up the long-haired wild-eyed Linux user contingent, however marginal, is enough to get a competitive advantage over other chipmakers.
But that's probably just me. What do I know? I just hope that conferences like FreedomHEC grow and make the entry into Linux development easier for hardware manufacturers.
I guess I should probably write up an installation report at Ubuntu on Toshiba Portégé R200?... Most of it will be just, "Works fine."
tags: toshiba portégé r200 atheros linux ubuntu ultraportable laptop
YULblog Meetup
I managed to get to the YULblog meetup last night at the bar Quincaillerie on rue Rachel. It turned out to be just as big and open a venue as promised; YULbloggers were up front in the windowed area, which meant a lot of light and air. The walls and ceiling are still painted black in the back side of the building, giving it a gloomy cavelike atmosphere. I think it's a leftover from the 980 disco days.
I got to spend some time talking to Patrick Tanguay, who runs YB and is an interesting and personable guy. I also managed to meet Martine, the local blogger who organized the flashmob pillow fight a few weeks ago, and her special fellow Ed. Ed and Martine just got back from a long trip to Italy, which made for some interesting conversation.
I also met Andie (sp.?), a recent Montreal arrival from Rome. It was her first YULblog meeting too, so we got to compare notes. Everyone thought it was quite a gas that I'd converted the old Wikitravel server into a personal site with a blog; "Isn't that the wrong way around? Aren't people supposed to go from blogs to wiki, and not vice versa?"
I don't know about that, but I guess I'm on my way to being blogger-identified. The long slide continues.
tags: yulblog blogs montreal quincaillerie
Google Browser Sync
So, just in time for me installing Firefox on two new OS installations (Windows and Ubuntu sides on new Portégé) comes Google Browser Sync, a tool for syncing the bookmarks, extensions, and configuration information from two or more Firefox installations. It works great, and saved me quite a bit of time. It might just be me, but it seems to slow down most browser-config related activity; I guess that's because it's hooking the actions and relaying them to the Google servers somewhere.
I'd prefer it if there were a Free extension for this same feature, so that I could use my own storage system rather than depend on Google's (since I have no idea what they're doing with my data). But convenience wins out over paranoia again here.
tags: google firefox browser sync
Adios John
Our friend John Usher, who just turned in his doctoral thesis to McGill, is leaving for England in two weeks, and we won't be here to see him off. So we got together tonight for poutine at La Banquise, which is right down the street from us. LB is one of the poutine shops in Montreal, best loved because it's open for 3:30AM drunken post-bar poutine pig-outs.
Niko Ritoux called at the last minute and joined us, too. He's off for Paris for a family wedding, so it was like the monthly meeting of the Going Home Club or something. Niko is a tech journalist for the local press and TV, but his summers are always slow since TV doesn't record during the summer. So it's the optimum time to take a few days in Paris.
The problem is that John's not coming back any time soon. He had a post-doc at McGill for a year, but apparently the funding fell through and now he's looking for other work. It seems like there's a lot out there for him -- he's an extremely skilled audio researcher -- but not work that he can put together to stay in Montreal immediately. So he's going back to England for a couple months to work things out.
(Immigration officials take note: when you have highly-skilled professionals who want to stay in your city, province and country and make their life there, find a way to get them to stay. It's too bad John's going, but I wonder how many other people have to leave Canada or Montreal for simple reasons like this.)
Anyways, poutine at Banquise was delicious, and we headed back home to put Amita June to bed and hang out some more. It was good having people over at our house for a while, and although we'll miss John we plotted out a few times we'll be crossing paths over the next few months. He'll be back to defend his thesis in September, so we'll see him then, but... oh well.
tags: john usher poutine la banquise niko ritoux montreal mcgill
On the subject of poutine
Stumbled across this great poutine reviews page on montrealpoutine.com. It's an excellent review of some of the best versions of this only-in-Quebec dish. It lists some of my favorite places (Chez Claudette, the aforementioned La Banquise, and L'Anecdote). Top of this fellow's list? Maamm Bolduc, a restaurant right around the corner at Marie Anne and Delorimier. Who knew? I'm going to have to stop in for lunch when we get back from California.
For now, it's off to bed; we're on an 8:30AM flight tomorrow morning, meaning we better be out of the house before 6. Youch.
tags: poutine chez claudette lanecdote maaamm bolduc montreal reviews