Rodney Riley Blog Homepage

My experience with Linux

2008-08-03T16:20:00.001+01:00

I guess adding the work Linux to the title of any blog is going to give away early on that I have quite a passion for all things technological. Before I get to the point I really want to cover let me tell you a little bit of background. Back in 2001 my step dad introduced my to Linux – I was using windows 2000 at the time and to be honest I found that Linux could be a pain in the neck. Simple things like playing a DVD or connecting to the internet were really complicated in comparison to the offerings from Redmond. My dissertation was written using OpenOffice and Visio (I know it is a Microsoft product but the was nothing under Linux at the time that compared). After this I started working and really had little time for my old Linux box.

So five years went by and my computing life revolved around XP – but during this time I never actually owned a computer (except the Linux box that was in storage). Strange for someone working in online marketing to not actually own a machine but it was not necessary because I always had access to a computer. I really think this shows how they are in many ways becoming terminals to the Internet, a way of getting online rather than an end in themselves. But in late 2007 I decided enough was enough and bought a Dell laptop, I was amazed by how cheap it was. Only £520 for 2 cores, 2gb of ram, high contrast screen, big disc and a case. When I last bought a machine a similar “level” not spec would have been over a grand.

The machine came loaded with Windows Vista which I have to say is pretty good. Everything works with ease and looks pretty. However, that said it does have a major downside – it loves power. Even with the spec of my new machine it felt slow at times. Linux has always been in the back of my mind so I decided that maybe it was time to give the OS another go. After a little research Ubuntu looked like a good candidate. A quick 700mb download later and I was ready to give the new system a whirl.

You can install it from Windows in a sectioned off part of the NTFS partition – very clever feature that I have not seen before. It seemed much simpler than resizing partitions, creating new partitions etc. It does have a slight performance penalty but for a taster I went with it. One install later and I had a flickering, distorted screen. Good job. Install number two using safe mode drivers went better. Followed by installing the propriety ATI drivers and control panel. So at last I had a machine I could see but not use. It took me a further two hours to get the Wifi working and I am still not quite sure what got it going.

Running the system is fantastic, it is really really fast. Has all of the software I need and works perfectly. However, it must be said that before Linux can go mass market it needs to become simpler to install. I have worked on or around computers for nine years and this was still a tricky task. Put simply it should not be that hard, Windows can be installed by a 10 year old with a Coca Cola the same can't be said of Linux which is a real shame.

I love Linux but until it loses some of its “quirks” it will remain a closed book to most people. Although I am sure it will get there and it has come a long long way since I last experimented with it more work needs to be done.

A great source of SEO information

2008-07-17T22:02:00.003+01:00

I thought I would add a quick note for anyone who is looking to learn more about SEO. I have found that on Youtube is if you search for "Whiteboard Friday" you come across lots of videos by Rand Fishkin of seomoz.org. These are fantastic covering a lot of stuff in little 5-10 minute clips. Of course the site is also well worth a read with lots of useful tools that allow you to check lots of details about how a site ranks and why it ranks.

A spot of decorating

2008-06-12T22:47:00.002+01:00

Well summer is here at last and has got me thinking about decorating supplies well more specifically working on the website rather than DIY. But if you are after a spot of home improvement and need some paint, filler or other stuff the site is well worth checking out.

Scaffolding Sales

2008-05-14T17:05:00.002+01:00

If you ever need to buy or hire scaffolding of any accessories such as towers, fencing etc. Why not have a look at http://www.scaffoldingsales.co.uk they are a good company and having met them in person I can highly recommend them.

Time for SEO

2008-04-30T23:30:00.003+01:00

Well it is about time I wrote a post on this blog about Search Engine Optimisation. I though I would start with some of the changes that are happening in the search engine world.

People often make one search after another and until now search engines have treated these as unique individual searches however this is starting to change. A great example is if you search for Spain you get the following:

Nothing too exciting there it looks just like the results we have been getting for the past five years or so. Now comes the fun part. I follow this up with a search for flights and get the following results:

You can see in the results that have been returned by Google that the a significant number of flights are to Spain or Spanish cities. Not only in the sponsored adwords were this was first appeared but in the main results as well. Interesting times for SEOs.

What does this mean? Well it is effectively an encouragement for us all to start optimising for longer tail searches especially as the second search really became "Spain Flights"

The second area is a little more conjecture. Semantic search has been talked about for many years now but with Yahoo's announcement a couple of months back that it is running trials it is time to start considering what impact this may have on the world of SEO. Semantic search looks at the meaning of the words that the user is searching for and aims to return appropriate results e.g. TV, Television, Used car, second hand car. The similarities are close enough that they should really lead to the same sorts of pages but at the moment they don't. Why? Because seos have optimised different sets of pages for these terms. This area of search is one to watch because it is sure to mean big changes in the world of seo when the algorithms start to factor in the meaning of searches not just keyword matching.

Time for a change

2008-03-28T19:32:00.002Z

Well it is that time again - 60,000 miles ago I got a nice shiny new (to me) Passat. It has been a fantastic car so far, only problems I have had are a temp sensor and a split CV boot not bad for a car that is just shy of 120,000 miles. So what am I changing?

The Passat has been so good I see no reason to get rid of her. So a new cam belt is going on tomorrow but it is rather a big job. Passat's have their engine mounted longitudinally which means to change the belt you have to take the whole front of the car off! No worries I know a man who can.

I will let you know how the Passat gets on - if only it was rear wheel drive and diesel it would be perfect for me :-)

A little update

2008-03-16T12:32:00.002Z

Hi all,

It seems like ages since I last wrote a post on here, lots of things have happened. I moved jobs in February to a web development company based in Liverpool called Mando Group. Moving jobs is always a little uncertain but it has been a fantastic choice. Everyone there has been very welcoming and we have some great clients who I am enjoying working with very much.

Last week I took a trip to Scotland with Judith - I had never really explored this wonderful place before. On Facebook I have updated an album with some pictures. Although the weather was a bit schizophrenic with sun, snow, hail, rain and wind all within a few hours it took nothing away from the experience. I would love to go back to Scotland sometime, maybe to see the northern lights.

I will try and post again soon, bye for now :-)

Websites i have worked with recently

2008-02-09T15:22:00.003Z

Hi Everyone.

I have been really busy recently looking at the SEO of a couple of websites. Firstly that of tachodisc.co.uk, these guys specialise in digital tachographs and secondly trade1st.co.uk who are focused on decorating suppliers to professionals and the general public. Why not have a look at these two sites and suggest possible improvments you see to me?

I have also been busy working on my own site, it is focused on gardening products and will be coming soon. I have been doing this to sharpen up my CSS skills (I have been using tables for far longer than I should have been!)

All the best,

Rodney

My first blog post

2008-02-09T15:05:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

I have decided at long last to change my homepage and put something a bit more interesting in its place. Welcome to my Blog :-) I will post new things here, some will be for general interest and some will be Internet related. If you have anything you would like to see here please let me know.

All the best

Rodney