Ubuntu 9.04 – First Impressions

I have been using Ubuntu since 5.10 as my main operating system, and recently upgraded from 8.10 to 9.04 and here are my thoughts.

I decided to be brave and do a full format and install 9.04 with ext4 as the file-system…was this wise? time will tell but the improvements I have seen have been great…will talk about them soon.

There is not a lot of new things that jump out, but here are the ones that have

1. Loading Speeds : With using ext4 my boot times are increased and its very noticeable, I have gone from say around 18 to 22 secs to now 10 to 15secs…so far not file system issues have popped up since its new.

2. Loading Screen : The new loading screen looks very smart and for me a lot nicer.

3. Log In Screen : This again is new and for me its nice but does have a server log-in look to it…but its nice.

4. Notifications : This is very nice and I do like it, but it does have 1 bug where the icon displayed is blurry…hopefully a fix will be out soon.

I have now been using it for one week and so far, I have not noticed anything different (apart from the 4 above points) which is good…you dont want a new learning experience every 6 months (How often Ubuntu release a new OS).

Overall I am very pleased with this version, most of the issues I have had with previous clean installs or upgrades seem to be solved.

I will review 9.04 again when I have played with it a lot more.

The Notebook (2004) – Review

Plot : The movie focuses on an old man reading a story to an old woman in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie’s parents who dissaprove of Noah’s unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, then, with her love for Noah still alive, stops by Noah’s 200-year-old home that he restored for her, “to see if he’s okay”. It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her fiancé and her first love.

Review : I knew nothing about this film, I had heard a friend say it was good and that she had it and that was it really. I spotted it was on Film4, and decided to give it a shot.

This movie is great from start to finish, the acting and story is soo good. When I started watching it, I thought that I wouldnt get in to it and it wasnt for me but that changed and I am glad I stuck with it. Its a romantic tale about first love, with a great cast and a really sweet storyline.

I dont want to say too much about it, so I dont spoil it for anyone but you will need some tissues as its an emotional movie….just go and watch it Its a film you cant really review without spoiling it for anyone….you can only watch and enjoy and maybe cry a little.

Overall a fantastic film from start to finish, its got nothing wrong and is a very emotional film.

My Rating : 10 out 10

Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (2003) – Review

Plot : A re-imagining of the original series in which a “rag-tag fugitive fleet” of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

Review : This was presented as one long movie, when I saw it rather than mini episodes so I will review it as a movie.

I used to watch the original when it was shown on TV (probably repeats), and couldnt remember too much about the show. I spotted this very cheap (miniseries and season 1 to 4 box set) and decided to give it a shot, since it was cheap I dont mind if i didnt 100% enjoy it.

After finishing watching it, I was left a little blank…for me it was just too long as I didnt get a feel for the characters very well and some details were lost as too much was happening.

It was good dont get me wrong, just too long and I wasnt drawn into it as I thought I would be. The special FX and sets are great, and the soundtrack works great.

Overall it was just too long, and too much happened for me to get a feel for the characters.

Next season one…

My Rating : 6 out of 10

Nacho Libre (2006) – Review

Plot : Berated all his life by those around him, a monk follows his dream and dons a mask to moonlight as a Luchador (Mexican wrestler).

Review – I have never really been a big fan of Jack Black, the I saw School Of Rock which I really liked and thought he was really good in. Most of his other films have been a disappointment, and unfortunately this was one of them.

Its not a bad film, it just could have been delivered a lot better as there was too many “we have Jack Black in it so lets just in a few Jack Black style jokes”…which were cheap and not funny. There was a few jokes that were very funny, and I did laugh out loud.

The plot was basic and just didnt improve…nor did it get any worse it just stayed at an ok level.

Overall its just an ok film, and I would probably say skip it and watch School of Rock…but if you are a big fan of Jack Black and havent seen this dont let this review put you off watching it.

My Rating : 5 out of 10

Red Dwarf : Back To Earth (2009) – Review

Plot : It’s been a decade since we last saw the crew of Red Dwarf, but while the crew are older they’re still none the wiser. When Lister’s busy day of annoying Rimmer is interrupted by a monstrous attack, it’s pretty much business as usual ­ until a shock development throws Rimmer, Lister, Cat and Kryten back to planet Earth’

Review : I have been a big fan of Red Dwarf, since I first watched it on BBC2 all those years ago. I have the full series on DVD so I was very excited to see what this would be like.

It was really good to see the guys all back together, I was just hoping for the same click that you saw in the original series. To be honest it was just ok, there was a few laughs and there was a few cringe moments but overall it was just ok.

Part 1 was very slow and very dull, it kicked off when Part 2 started and continued with Part 3 which was a relief. I have been told that if you have seen Blade Runner, then you would be laughing a lot of this new mini series but if not a lot of jokes would fly past you.

Overall it was ok, since I am a fan I DO WANT MORE and have been told by one of the main sources that there is good news on the way. This does leave it open for more, and I hope there is more.

I dont want to say too much about this, just in case users havent seen it yet so I will leave it here for now, when I get the DVD I will do a fuller review.

My Rating : 6 out of 10

My Top 20 Firefox Extensions

I posted not that long ago a list of Firefox extensions I liked, well here is an updated list as I have found a lot more that are very useful and good.

Image Based Extensions :

1. BetterFlickr : Enhance Flickr with a compilation of useful Greasemonkey scripts.
2. Abduction : Ever wanted to take a screenshot of a website, but most of it is off the bottom of the screen? well this allows you to grab the entire website and save it as an image. 
3. Fotofox : This addon allows you to upload photos to several socialnetworks, including Flickr and Zooomr .
4. FacePAD : FacePAD, better known as the Facebook Photo Album Downloader will allow you to download your friends’ facebook albums en masse with the click of a button.

Google Based Extensions :

1. Gmail Notifier : Add several Gmail accounts and Gmail for domain accounts with this great email checker.
2. Better GReader : Preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar for more reading area, add favicons to feed subscriptions and more with Better Greader.
3. Better GCal : Adds collapsible header and sidebar, event title text wrap, colored weekend days, week numbers, and skins to Google Calendar. 
4. Better GMail 2 : Add useful extra features to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, macros, file attachment icons, and more. 
5. WiseStamp : WiseStamp – Enhance your email signatures.
   Easily customize your signature, insert your IM & Social services (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter…)

Video Based Extensions :

1. Video DownloadHelper : This addon allows you to download most embeded media on most websites.
2. Better YouTube : A compilation of some of the best Greasemonkey user scripts for YouTube in one interface.

Other :
 

1. Greasemonkey : This is such a cool addon, once installed you can then add scripts to it which can give you more features on specific websites and allow you to do more when on specific website.  Lots of Greasemonkey scripts HERE
2. Web Developer : Do you create websites, then this addon is a great tool. It has soo many features…..too many to list so just install it and you wont regret it. 
3. Deepest Sender : I moved back to Firefox, after finding Flock starting to get a little slow on me. I loved its blogging tool and so far this is the closest I could find that I feel is just as good. 
4. Adblock Plus : Get rid of unwanted ads with this great addon. 
5. FEBE : FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions and more.
6. SkipScreen : Skips unnecessary pages on sites like Rapidshare, Megaupload, zShare, Mediafire, and more. Try it out, or watch a demo at skipscreen.com
7. Tabs Open Relative : Tabs Open Relative makes all new tabs open to the right of the current tab, rather than at the far right of the tab bar.
8. Old Location Bar : akes Firefox 3’s location bar “AwesomeBar” look and act more like Firefox 2’s old location bar.
9. Nagios Checker : The statusbar indicator of the events from the network monitoring system Nagios.

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) Movie – Review

Plot : Harry finds himself selected as an underaged competitor in a dangerous multi-wizardary school competition.

Review : I decided to continue and watch the next chapter in the Harry Potter story, and I have to admit I enjoyed this one. This had a more adult theme to it, and also had a lot more action and better storyline than the previous films.

You get a hint of a romance starting with 2 of the characters, which was hinted in the last film but nothing event happens. I felt this was probably the best out of the previous films, as it felt very solid and the acting. story and overall tone of the film was just right.

I would continue on to the next, but I cant rent it yet on AppleTV….so will just wait. I am looking forward to reading the book versions, to see how much the films left out.

My Rating : 8 out of 10

Boat Trip (2002) – Review

Plot : Two straight men mistakenly end up on a “gays only” cruise.

Review : I taped this one night long ago and forgot it was on my hard-drive, so I finally got round to watching this and wasn’t expecting much from it. The film is about two guys that piss off the travel agent, and in turn he sends them on a gay cruise which they think is a boat full of single girls looking for guys.

The film is just ok, there were a few laugh out loud momments but mostly just the odd smile on your face jokes. The penis water fountains, and innuendo jokes can be very funny at times…but mostly fail as you have heard them all before.

Its not a bad film, and one that I would probably only recomend if there is nothing else on to watch. The ending is very predictable…but most of the films this style are.

My Rating : 4 out of 10

Small Website Update

After the last update, I noticed that the Trailer & Blooper page and the Trust Blooper page had broken.

With this update, I have fixed these 2 pages.

www.krismunro.co.uk

Dollhouse Episode 8 (Needs) – Review

Plot : Awakening within the Dollhouse, with large parts of their original personalities having returned, Echo, Sierra and Victor plan an escape.

Review : For me this was the best episode yet, with this style of show you know that she is going on a mission each week but this didnt happen so it was a nice surprise.

I like this twist in the storyline, and also that you learned a little more back story of a few characters. The action was good, and also the acting was very good.

Overall a nice episode, and very enjoyable.

My Rating : 8 out of 10