At this very moment I am sat in front of my workstation (nothing special there) but it's running Ubuntu - and I have to say, I'm impressed!

I can finally see a suitable candidate to rival Windows for the desktop. The install was a breeze - not only was it quick, but it was only 7 steps. The hardware was found and auto-configured (including the sound and graphics driver) and the whole install took less than 20 minutes.

On reboot I configured the network card and had internet access immediately. I was told that a proprietary graphics driver was available; a click later it was installed and waiting a reboot to grant full 3D hardware support. A few clicks and I had swanky graphical effects on the desktop. Another icon on the toolbar told me there were updates - and accepting that had the system up-to-date in moments.

Surfing was smooth. I opted to install Adobe's Flash player (which worked flawlessly) when prompted; Totem downloaded the necessary codecs when needed - allowing me to watch trailers at apple.com/trailers

Applications -> Add/Remove... allowed me to quite simply find and add applications though the number of applications seemed few.

It's how a desktop should be - quick and simple to get up and running and in its use. I found nothing crashed or failed to work - but I did not try any real stressful tasks.

I feel a little restricted in the environment however - everything is done via point and click - and CLI stuff limited by sudo. I have to face that I'm under control of doing things the Ubuntu way - but for an average desktop user, why would you care?

Of all the Linux's I have tried, Ubuntu has proven itself as an excellent desktop contender.

Work has had me looking at GNUpg (GNU's version of PGP). I've updated my email encryption public key as a result too. The options never seem to stick comfortably in my mind, so (more for myself than anything else) here are some useful reminders on using GNUpg:

.: Create keys :.
gpg --gen-key

.: Encrypt a file called foo :.
gpg --encrypt -e foo

.: List available public keys :.
gpg --list-public-keys

.: Encrypt with "bar" public key :.
gpg -r bar -e foo

.: Decrypt with "bar" secure key :.
gpg -r bar -d foo

.: Delete public key "123ABC" :.
gpg --delete-keys 123ABC

.: Delete secret key "456A" :.
gpg --delete-secret-keys 456A

.: Export ascii version of "789DEF" :.
gpg --export -a 789DEF

Any other suggestions welcome

Thanks to the boss at work giving many of the staff a bonus (woo hoo!) I have bought a few items for my archery setup. This'll get my bow to exactly where I want it. Here's what's on order:

Hoyt Nexus Riser


Beiter Plunger


Beiter Klicker


Hoyt shooting top

The (understandable) thing about a commercial company is trying to dominate every market that exists. So, recently, an online friend called Harmony, introduced me to Nike's new design of Archery shoe:

http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/sneaker-r ... e-Akribis/

I must admit, I like that they have included:

Toe patch allows the bow to be rested on the vamp without abrading the breathable mesh

especially as I always rest my bow on my foot (sometimes, the ground is just too dirty)

Life has it's up and downs - people tell you this. However, seldom do people talk about when life is level. And it's not a bad thing.

It's that time when things are merely trundling along, that you can pretty much know what your week will be like before it happens. This is where I am at the moment. Work is there, archery is there, family is there - and it's all great - but it makes blogging kinda dull.

It's difficult at times to come up with new material to write about, especially as everything is going ok and "as expected".