Project 4Fifteen

For a long time now I have been playing and working on FreeBSD and Linux. I finally took the plunge and converted my last machine to Ubuntu. It is a laptop, Dell D620.

Everything went well at first but there were some configuration issues that needed to be overcome. This prompted me to make a separate section on those tips/configs as I would like to keep them together. So far the experience has been really nice and the system has now settled down.

Just back from a super quick trip to Bulgaria. It is amazing to see what a difference a new airport makes. The new airport has now been open a few months and seem rather nice and shiny. The old airport was just absolutely a terrible place. The hotels in the city were all fully booked, so we stayed in the Hotel Vega and it was really nice. It is new and very stylishly decorated.
Everything I did, seemed to have been a bit of a blur as I had a lot of things on my agenda to get ticked off. Several small trips to the city center was well uhm uneventful. They seem to be digging up many roads just like the rest of Europe. Driving seems to be a national combat sport.. Parking and driving through the narrow streets was a nightmare. I fail to see why anyone would want to hire a car to be in Sofia. It will be madness. Taxis are an option, but my experience is that very very few speak any English, so be sure to write down any addresses you are going to. Also let the hotel staff translate it in Cyrillic for you. It will make it a lot easier.
The weather was great, but already people are complaining about the poor winter and high temperatures in April. Flying back to Edinburgh was uneventful and it was great setting foot back home again.

I was rather fortunate enough to be able to visit Serbia, which at first glance was I was a bit apprehensive. With all the goings on in there from about a decade ago, I was not quite sure what to expect. Well what a surprise! I found the Belgrade, well not too different from other Eastern European countries, but what really got me was the pride of the people. This sure made an impression. They obviously had their issues with politics etc, but it is a marvelous place to go see. And very cheap too! By cheap I do not mean nasty cheap, I mean really good value for money. The buildings in Belgrade are marvelous and the new section of the city is pretty impressive. A total contrast to places like Singapore, but you can see it is a proud place. They are very tourist driven now. Serbia is in a dispute about land, with them seeking to break away from Montenegro. Montenegro is one of those undiscovered places. I would love to make my next holiday one of these places to explore it better! Montenegro is a day trip away from Italy and Greece.
There are more pictures of the trip here

Well, I have reorganised and upgraded my gallery software. While going through it all, I noticed that I had some good photos. I selected the ones I had and made this new section in my gallery. You can see them at the gallery link. Feel free to score which ones you like more!

We planned a trip on an old lady. Well she is the only sea going steam boat in Scotland. The entire trip we took, from Glasgow to Bute took quite a few hours. The boat is a remarkable piece of equipment. It was a fantastic day out. Some pictures coming soon!