Lubuntu, Sweet and Simple

'Tis a gift to be simple...

Most friends know that I've been using Ubuntu Linux for a good long while.  I like that it's free to own and distribute (along with much of the bundled software like Libre Office), easy to use, relatively virus-free, and it's a good conversation piece when talking about computers.  When I got my current laptop last Christmas, it had Windows 8...for about a week or so before I switched to Ubuntu.  It's not a perfect relationship, with occasional glitches, set backs (iPod not working, etc), and needs to completely reinstall Linux (usually due to a mistake on my part).  However, I digress, I'm really happy with it.

In the past few weeks, my Ubuntu had been acting funny (I had been running LTS 12.04.1).  Randomly, it would say there was an internal error and either nothing would happen or I'd have to reboot.  I looked up answers to this problem, but nothing was giving me the long term solution I was looking for.  Either out of impulse or whatever, I decided to switch to Lubuntu.

Lubuntu is Canonical's variety of Linux for those with low power machines, based on the LXDE platform.  My last laptop (with a 1.6 ghz processor and 2 gigs of RAM)  had it and ran it beautifully until it died, ultimately living a LOT longer than I or most people would expect.  It's not meant to be flashy like Ubuntu, but if you have an older computer and/or simple needs, Lubuntu is definitely a viable option.  It's giving life and purpose to outdated computers in the face of designed obsolescence.  It made me happy to feel that my old laptop could run circles around newer machines equipped with Windows 7 or 8.

It would seem like overkill to put an OS designed for low-end computers on a machine that's anything but low-end.  However, I know my needs and I feel that Lubuntu addresses those superbly.  While I'm not particularly big on Abiword or Gnumeric, Google Docs works fantastic in the Chromium web browser (then again, with most things related to productivity moving online, it seems all you need IS a web browser nowadays.  Just be sure to save to the hard drive once in a while in case of service outages).

Source: http://xkcd.com/934/

All the same, I love my Lubuntu because it's sweet, simple, and fast.  So far, I haven't had many problems with it (mainly iPod related), but I can see myself using this for a good, long time.  I don't "need" the biggest or baddest computer or OS.  Just give me something simple and I'll be content.

iLove/Hate U, iPod.

I've had my iPod Touch a little over a year now. It's a generation two that I got on Craigslist, so it was already "ancient" by technology standards. Since then, we haven't exactly had the perfect working relationship.

I got it right before the Spring Break 2012 trip to Utah because most of my peers would have the ubiquitous Apple players. I wanted to bring music on the trip, but a 3DS might go over some heads, so I thought I'd give Apple a shot (peer pressure? Nah...). Other than the grievances, it's a good device. I LOVE the web browser (it's WAY faster and more compatible with the web than the DSi or 3DS browser), the apps are cool (BlackBoard and Notes were handy for school), and it can do enough things that I rarely turn in my laptop anymore (I did a good chunk of my homework down in Ecuador via Google Docs on it and I'm also writing this blog). The email and calendar features are handy to have to stay up to date. Overall, while apps for it are slowly disappearing (ie: no longer supported by iOS 4.2.1, like Facebook), for being a three year old "out-mode" (no camera, et cetera), it's still got a lot of pep its step.

However, it's an iPod, a music player, first and foremost. Because I run Linux, putting music on is a crapshoot, depending on how temperamental either the iPod or laptop is being (the inspiration for this blog). I was having issues, so I did a restore this morning with my friend's laptop (he has Windows 7 with iTunes). I took it back to my laptop (running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with RhythmBox). After three hours of picking new music and syncing the iPod, I unplug it and find that the player is only recognizing one song, as opposed to the 1,700+ songs I had queued. The iPod's information says there's a huge chunk of data being used, so the songs ARE on the device's memory. This has happened before a few times. I'd either need to do another restore or the iPod wakes up and realizes there is more music and updates it's queue.

Sometimes I think about Lisa Simpson in that episode of The Simpsons where she eschews her new Malibu Stacy Dollhouse in favor of a simple shoebox home she made for her doll, that maybe I should reset my priorities and lifestyle and go back to something simpler, like my 3DS, DSi, or "Little Blue". Do I necessarily "need" a thousand songs when a smaller number of favorites would suffice? Can I, in good ecological conscience, endorse a company that designs its products to be obsolete after a short time on the market? Do I need my email checked all the time?

...but I digress. Again, it hasn't been a perfect working relationship, with tech headaches from time to time (like this morning). However, when it DOES work, I have no complaints, but praise for what it can do and has done.  I also acknowledge that this is a "first world" problem, that there are more important things going on.  Again, I digress, I love and hate my iPod Touch.

I wish I knew how to quit you...you lovable scoundrel.

Musical Journal (circa 2009)

A few days ago, I got my old MP3 player back.  I had let a friend borrow it years ago (using my DS and eventually my iPod to play music in the meantime), but all the same, I got it back recently.  It's a little blue 512mb Sandisk Sansa m230 that a friend gave me back in Virginia, eventually becoming my go-to music player for my odyssey to the west coast.  Because of it's small space, it could hold around 150 songs, enough for a day's drive.  While it's convenient to have all of one's music on a larger device, having a selected mix of favorites can make for a more pleasant trip (and less skipping).  So I bought a AAA battery for the Sansa and the player came to life with the familiar SanDisk logo flashing in the tiny screen.  To my surprise, the music library I'd left on there when I let my friend borrow it was still intact (she mainly used it for the built-in FM Radio during her gym time).

 

 

"Little Blue"

I've been thinking about actually using the MP3 player again, just something to carry around for when I go running or on car trips.  However, I don't have it in me to clear the current playlist.  I look at it like my time capsule or a school yearbook.  Also, I already have three other perfectly capable portable music players (my DSi and 3DS for "selected" tracks (1GB each, twice that of the Sansa) and my 8GB iPod Touch for a larger library), so the environmentalist in me (while screaming that I have too much stuff to begin with) is saying I don't "need" another device and would probably do well to donate the little blue.  It also doesn't help that the Sansa is having connectivity issues with Ubuntu.  I know I could just make a copy of the playlist and use that.  The whole thing makes me wonder about attachment to things and memories.

As I browsed the songs, memories and feelings came flooding back to me.  Seeing Eddie Vedder on the player brought me back to Mt. Rainier, driving amongst the tall trees of Gifford Pinchot National Forest as carefree and young as I could with "Big Hard Sun" playing on my car speakers.  "I Don't Feel At Home In This World" by the Gospel Keys reminded me of the excitement of the wannabe gypsy life, traveling and having little but making the most of things (admittedly contrasting the song's actual meaning of spiritual pilgrimage on earth).  Modest Mouse WAS the music of the Pacific Northwest, with "Dashboard" bringing a Walla Walla, WA fish and chips flavor to my mind's tastebuds (sad to learn that the little fish restaurant closed down).  This little Sansa was essentially my journal, my thoughts and feelings from my 2009 self reflected musically, each song a memory, feeling, or issue I pondered ("Strawberry Fields Forever" queried life direction and "Wicked Game" was about relationships).  Whether or not I keep the Sansa, it was great to go through and reminisce what was essentially one of the greatest summers ever.