I’ve tried various web based solutions for the obvious benefit that I can access them everywhere, however since I spend a lot of my time in Vim, I wanted something that doesn’t involve a browser, yet offers the same flexibility and access-everywhere (well, where there’s Vim) that a web based wiki offers.

That’s where Vimwiki comes in. Vimwik is a Vimball that, once installed, allows you to create linked documents using a similar syntax to Markdown, Restructed Text etc. By default, it creates a ‘vimwiki’ directory in your home directory. I simply moved that directory to my Dropbox and created a symlink to my home directory.

It also features commands to export one or all pages to linked, local HTML files and allows you to create multiple separate wikis if you want. If, like me, you’re a fan of Vim and wikis, give it a shot!

• http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/what-to-do-after-fresh-ubuntu-1010.html
• http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/10/10-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-10-10-maverick-meerkat/
• http://www.unixmen.com/linux-tutorials/linux-distributions/linux-distributions4-ubuntu/1158-top-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-1010-marevick-meerkat
• http://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/to-do-list-after-installing-ubuntu-10-10-aka-maverick-meerkat/
• https://github.com/sigurdga/gnome-terminal-colors-solarized
• http://www.n00bsonubuntu.net/content/install-bisigi-and-equinox-themes-on-ubuntu-10-10-maverick-meerkat/
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/10/nautilus-elementary-in-ubuntu-maverick.html
• http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/medibuntu-repository-is-available-for.html
• http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/10/9-things-i-did-after-installing-brand.html

And some extra apps that I find uesful:

• Vim
• Shutter
• LAMP, PHPUnit, Pear, XDebug, Phing
• SQLite3
• Ubuntu Tweak
• Firefox (from Mozilla, not Maverick repo)
• Thunderbird (from Mozilla, not Maverick repo)
•  Dropbox
• Chrome
• Bamsamiq
• Adobe Air
• Flash Plugins
• Solarized Vim Scheme
• Adobe Acrobat
• LaTeX (texlive-full)
• Spotify
• Virtualbox

I also keep my key dot files in a Subversion repository that I can check out, and symlink into place.  There may be more streamlined approaches, but this serves my purposes.

I had restored the laptop in this manner at least once in the past, I can’t recall the reason, but I am sure I’d done it.  As with most laptops bought these days, you don’t get a proper Windows 7 installation disk, instead you get some form of cut-down shonky recovery solution.  In my case, this was a combination of a recover partition and an HP utility that could be run from Windows to create recovery disks from that partition.  I have since discovered (too late) that the recovery can be started from within Windows without the need to reboot with the first of the recovery disks inserted.  This option makes the disks redundant, unless you’re in my position where you no longer have a bootable Windows installation.

I followed what I thought to be the appropriate procedure of booting from the first disk, following the instructions and eventually being told to remove disk three and restart the machine.  When the machine restarted, some sort of Windows 7 had started, with a full screen window titled ‘Restoration Incomplete’.  I was unable to start the task manager or launch any other applications to investigate further.

The window had three buttons: ‘Save Log’, ‘View Details’ and ‘Retry’.  Clicking ‘Save Log’ saved a password-protected zip file to the first available USB storage device — I wasn’t given an option of where I’d like to save the file.  I also had no idea why the file was password-protected, nor what the password was.

The next option, ‘View Details’, appeared to do nothing.  The final ‘Retry’ button asked me to re-insert the first disk.  Upon doing so, the disk was ejected and the message was redisplayed.  I tried the restore three times to be sure the problem was consistent and not a fluke.  Having booted from an Ubuntu disk, I used cfdisk and gparted to find out what had actually been done to the disk after the apparent failure.  The previously pristine disk now had three partitions, one of which was flagged as bootable.  Mounting this partition revealed a file that was named so as to suggest it was some sort of error flag.  I deleted the file and rebooted.

I still got the error, but I was also able to start the task manager.  I killed the process responsible for the recovery error window, and the setup continued as hoped.  A progress window suggested files were being installed, and at one point I even caught a glimpse of a Windows 7 task bar!  However, close to the end, the error window appeared again and I was denied access to the task manager.  Subsequent attempts at rebooting consistently failed with the same error.

I tried calling HP to see if they could offer any help.  The representative I spoke to suggested that I’d need to create the recovery disks — the ones I had already explained that I had created.  I told the representative that I had previously used these disks without error, so clearly the HP utility that was originally run didn’t create faulty disks.  However, now absent a working Windows 7 installation I couldn’t try again.  The only option that the HP representative offered me was to pay for them to send me a set of the same disks for my particular machine, at a cost of £50 and with no guarantee that they would work.  No thanks!

Microsoft next.  The license sticker on the bottom of my laptop has worn away, and perhaps I should have noted the number down somewhere.  I tried calling Microsoft to see if they could tell me my license number given a laptop model and serial number.  I was told that nobody kept that information, and that in my particular case I’d have no option but to buy a new copy.

So, in summary a laptop that I purchased came pre-installed with an operating system and a method for restoring that operating system to its original state;  however, that restoration process isn’t fit for purpose.  Despite Windows 7 — and in my mind that ability to rebuild the laptop to it’s original state — being included in the cost of the laptop, I now have to fork out a third of my anticipated sale price to have a shot of selling.

This post isn’t meant to be pro-Linux rhetoric or a piece of Windows- or Microsoft-bashing, but it highlights quite nicely one of the non-technical reasons I choose Linux over Windows.  I feel utterly frustrated having no recourse, no way to reinstall Windows.  Maybe I should pirate a copy?

Here’s the original text, verbatim:

Dear Fellow Resident,

Could the person responsible for the green/yellow trail of “god knows what”
leading from this level (2nd) all the way down the common stairs & into the
entrance halls please show some sense of decency & consideration for their
fellow residents and clean it up immediately.

The weekly cleaning service this stair receives extends only to hoovering of
the stair carpet. The carpets are nto due to be shampooed for the best part of
another year and so if whoever is responsible for this mess does not clean it
up then it will simply lie there for the rest of this year.

This incident clearly happened sometime yesterday afternoon (Mon) and is
possibly due to a bin bag being disposed of with this substance accidentally
seeping out. This may have gone unnoticed by the person responsble
so………… if you took a bin bag down the stairs yesterday afternoon and you
recognise this rather colourfil & distinctive “stuff” as something once
belonging to your apartment then please do something about it!!!!

Thanks on behalf of all residents who share this stair.

In this case, I take full responsibility.  We’d had a Thai soup a few days ago, and I ‘d taken the rubbish out yesterday.  I hadn’t noticed anything, but clearly it’s quite likely I made the mess.  I have of course taken a scrubbing brush and soapy water to the two or three patches on the stairs.

What I take exception to, is the way in which one of our neighbours felt compelled to bring it to our attention.  The note had been typed, so somebody had taken the time and effort to write and print this, when they could have just scrawled a few lines on a piece of paper or knocked on our door to talk to us.  Furthermore, the author didn’t leave their name, nor their flat number; they clearly didn’t want any open discussion about the problem.  I don’t believe a leaking rubbish bag could be considered indecent, nor does it demonstrate a lack of consideration on my part for my neighbours.  Purely being a pedant, I also object to the unnecessary use of quotation marks; the use of a string of full-stops rather than either a suitably placed comma, or failing that an incorrect use of ellipses; and the four exclamation marks.

Since cleaning the stairs, and leaving my reply, somebody from downstairs has knocked on the door to let me know it wasn’t them, and that they’d certainly let me know if they had any problems rather than leaving an anonymous note.  The woman also mentioned I’d failed to clean outside her door but that I needn’t worry about it; “the lady doth protest too much”.

I would much rather somebody tell me if they have a problem with me rather than anonymously moaning.  That way I can either politely tell them to sod off or try to reach some sort of compromise!

Without a doubt, the highlight of my year has to be marrying my darling wife Jo.  It was a perfect, wonderful day, and we all enjoyed a brilliant reception in the evening.  That was followed by an amazing honeymoon in the gorgeous French capital of Paris; and after 27 years, my first trip abroad!  Jo and I also managed to squeeze in a second holiday, or honeymoon-part-deux to Nice in October, which was as equally amazing as Paris — we’ll definitely be back!

We also both managed to stop smoking, which is a fantastic achievement for us both!  I originally stopped at the start of the year, but fell off the wagon when we went to Paris.  Still we’ve both stopped now and that’s what’s important.  I’ve also spent the majority of the year cycling to work, and managed to lose a bit of weight in the process — long may that trend continue!

I also had an excellent year professionally!  I made it to the Highland Fling conference in my home town of Edinburgh.  A brilliantly well organised and run conference with a great line up of speakers.  It made me realise that although I’m not a particularly skilled designer, I haven’t been paying enough attention to front-end tools and techniques; something I hope to remedy in the year ahead.  I also took on a new role with Maglabs as a Business Analyst; I’ll be spending more time gathering requirements and designing software than coding.  This may give me more head space to work on some personal projects and contribute more to this blog!

I managed to release something on Github!  MSIE2VBOX (catchy!) is a little script to automate installation of VMs from Microsoft for testing Internet Explorer on VirtualBox.  It’s a little buggy, but I’m trying to keep up!

… 2012

Who knows what 2012 has in store?! Having had a taste for travelling abroad, I think Jo and I would both like to get away for a holiday again.  There’s a good chance I’ll be travelling more, albeit with work and within the UK, as I continue  to analyse and design brilliant software for brilliant clients.  Sadly that means a few nights away from my lovely wife but I’m sure we’ll cope!  I’d also like to spend more time working on a few personal coding projects, as well as doing more technical writing on this blog.  I’ve also been to far too few local meetups in Edinburgh so I’d like to make an appearance at EdLUG, TechMeetup and EdiPUG more this coming year.

I’ve been playing more trombone this year, and it’s something I want to make more of a habit; I might try and find a band or orchestra to join.  I also want to read more and take more photos.  I might try the whole photo365 thingumy and take a reasonable photo every day in 2012!

Wishing everyone happiness and prosperity for the year ahead!