software days

I added a new link to my list of software in the side column. Foxit Reader is a replacement for Adobe Reader (which is bloated, takes up too many system resources and is a general pain to deal with). Uninstall Adobe PDF Reader and enjoy the freedom.

Let me stick with the subject of software for this post.

I ran into some issues with conflicting add-ons for Mozilla Thunderbird yesterday. Lightning, a calendar add-on, told me it needed to update itself. This resulted in a series of crashes not to mention an immediate panic about the possibility of all my lost emails.

Turns out that a second add-on was conflicting. BirdieSync allows me to sync my smartphone with Thunderbird’s contact list and Lightning’s calendar of events. This update didn’t work well with BirdieSync.

I posted a bug report with Lightning and the developers over there were highly responsive and helpful. Not much later I found out that BirdieSync released an update today to fix the issue. Two great programs and two great group of developers. They deserve the praise.

For this weekend, I’d like to install Linux on my security computer. This is a computer I have setup to record video of any activity outside of my house. I have Windows XP on it now along with a crappy not so good program called ActiveCam. It takes snapshots and video of my home, but it doesn’t email them to me like they should. Come on.. what good is it then. I contacted the developers and they ask me a question about my setup. A month later the same thing. Another month later, the same thing. No hope for resolve.

So, instead of that program, I thought I’d try Zoneminder with Linux. It’s free and looks like a winner. Did I mention free?

Posted in: General »  by: foyleman

2 Responses to “software days”

1. supersword  Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 9:16 am

   It’s nice to know that developers are always willing to help out and iron out bugs. I’ve come across a few programs with issues which I report, but the devs don’t really pay much attention.

   I’ve played around with Linux before, just didn’t find a huge use for it for me. I tried doing alot of it through commands however, wanted something different.

2. foyleman  Says:
   June 29th, 2007 at 10:43 am

   I just installed linux on that computer and the install process was much quicker than I remember (Fedora Core 7). However, I the process is finished and something goes wrong on boot and the computer just keeps restarting. I think it’s an issue with the raid drives. It’s never easy.

Leave a Response

You must be logged in to post a comment.