Do you have a Messy Desktop?

One and all, here is your chance to air your dirty laundry or demonstrate your virtuous self. An opportunity to show off a screen capture of your desktop for all Machine Nation citizens to view. What does your desktop say about you?

(On a Windows based system, minimise everything, press print screen on your keyboard, open MS Paint and press paint... anyone who has Linux will likely know way more about computers than me so you can work it out yourself )

This is a lot neater than I was on windows...

We've got a similar colour scheme going on Hermes, is that what Ubuntu looks like?

I've never been one for using wallpapers. Tis a habit that goes back to the days of Windows 3.1 when having a wallpaper would be a significant drain on memory. It probably still plays havoc.

Yup that's Ubuntu (Intrepid Ibex). A sweet and swift OS that does what I tell it to do when I tell it. And only what I tell it.

I normally use Ubuntu too - Hardy Heron I still have but I've been on the Windows for a few weeks now.

When I go back to ubuntu it'll ask me can it download a whole pile of stuff and I'll say yes. When windows wants to do it it just tells me, does it, switches itself off and back on again.

What is the thing on the bottom right of the toolbar yokie on the right hand side? The one which looks like a speedometer. Would that help me work out my issue with whether I'm getting the best from my RAM?

Physical Memory (MB)
Total 2037
Cached 1181
Free 49

I dont know anything about it but would a higher number on "Cached" mean that I am making more use of my 2037? What is Kernel Memory?

johnfás wrote:

What is the thing on the bottom right of the toolbar yokie on the right hand side? The one which looks like a speedometer. Would that help me work out my issue with whether I'm getting the best from my RAM?

Physical Memory (MB)
Total 2037
Cached 1181
Free 49

I dont know anything about it but would a higher number on "Cached" mean that I am making more use of my 2037? What is Kernel Memory?

Fraid I've never used Vista so I can't help you with whatever that yoke on the taskbar is. Vista needs or rather will use about a gig of your memory. If I'm reading what you've written properly, it's telling you that you have 49 MB free? Out of 2GB - Jesus! You must have a tonne, or Windows must have a tonne, of background tasks. It might be an idea to kill most of them - the non essential ones. It's my bet that your system's running slow, freezing and locking up a lot?

Always a good idea to have a large cache. But it's better you use your hard drive as a cache, setting the value yourself as opposed to letting windows set it.

Your kernel is the area of your OS that synchronises the hardware of your system and allows your software and the rest of your OS to operate. It's the gobetween for machine and software.

That speedometer is a gadget which runs the same routines as the Task Manager panel - in this case the large one is the processor activity and the small one is the RAM occupation and usage. I've only 1MB of RAM but Windows alone sits in ~60% of it. Ubuntu sits in ~30% of it so there's more space for other programs. You can add that gadget by right-clicking on the panel there and adding it. It's a quick view of two of the same task manager routines as I say.

Windows tends to start up with a rake of programs running so you could try switching some off. Why don't you take a print screen of your Task Manager window to let us see the details of your system. 'Cached' there looks like it's windows itself occupying that space - mad eh ? I guess the Free 49 is a percentage that is free.

As hermes says, that's a bucketload of RAM that your OS is eating. If you had ubuntu it would be running like a Rolls Royce.

The 'Kernel' is the main part of Windows or any OS.

I think you should try to kill some processes

You Hermes can also right-click on your taskbar and add a system monitor widget... It's not as neat as the speedometer but itself probably uses less resources and does more

Can I increase my cache or something? Computer isn't running particularly slowly. The cache never significantly increased when I upgraded my RAM from 1GB to 2GB.

I don't know how to permanently kill processes or which ones I should kill. I know you can click end process now but it doesn't do it permanently.

Sweet lovin' honour of Jesus!

You win the prize. That's a lot of stuff running. The figures themselves may be quite small relative to the memory you've got, but juggling them all at once is a major memory and resource hog.

I'm going to defer to Audi here as I'm not familiar enough with Vista to recognise all the essentials. What I will say is that any software that you've installed, short of firewall and virus package, should not be configured to run at startup - like that DVD software for example - it's probably trying to connect to the internet too (killing even more memory etc.).

It didn't look as bad until I realised you could push a button to include system as well as user processes then the list doubled! .

yeah I'd go along with Hermes there - find the stuff that is running like this, open the program and find the button which switches it off at start up.

Really and truly Windows biggest fault in my book is that all the software you install defaults to run on Start Up. I hadn't realised there was some Skypedobe and other process running on my own til now.

firefox you can see is a massive hog too and I have multiple tabs open on it.

Hermes you will get the same thing if you open a terminal window and issue the 'top' command. There might be extensions to that command which gives you views of the processes on your machine but I don't know them off the top of my head.

If you don't already know that command that is.

Auditor #9 wrote:

Hermes you will get the same thing if you open a terminal window and issue the 'top' command. There might be extensions to that command which gives you views of the processes on your machine but I don't know them off the top of my head.

If you don't already know that command that is.

First thing I did when I went Ubuntu fulltime was learn how to use the terminal and how to switch stuff off. My OS is a skeleton OS. I even switched off indexing -

Hermes wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

Hermes you will get the same thing if you open a terminal window and issue the 'top' command. There might be extensions to that command which gives you views of the processes on your machine but I don't know them off the top of my head.

If you don't already know that command that is.

First thing I did when I went Ubuntu fulltime was learn how to use the terminal and how to switch stuff off. My OS is a skeleton OS. I even switched off indexing -

So what's your resources and how much is the system using ? Can you tweak the indexing though ? You won't be able to use the 'locate' command without indexing is that right?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=991320

I'm not very above an ubuntu novice so pardon me for assuming there ..

I'm using approx 350MB of memory at the moment. My CPU history is averaging at less than 20% and the swap file is idle.

I'm no guru on Ubuntu yet I'm afraid. I just seen how much of my resources indexing was hogging so I snuffed it. I think there might be a way to limit it, but I'm not bothered. Most applications have their own search functionality that doesn't refer to indexing at all - same as Windows - and any file I'd need to 'locate' I already know where it is. All in all, it's a process that's always gotten my back up. Particularly in Windows, where there are two bloody hogs, the Windows indexing service and another real bastard, run by Microsoft Word, that backs up every written word on your system and typed via your keyboard, for God knows what or who.

I've 1MB and ubuntu uses about the same as yours - just over 300MB but I haven't noticed any memory or performance issues with it really. I find some websites which run some kind if script or something really hog my system - the Irish Times, the Cedar Lounge, p.ie - could be the ads on these sites although I don't see then on the CLR ...

Have you noticed anything like that ?

Auditor #9 wrote:

I've 1MB and ubuntu uses about the same as yours - just over 300MB but I haven't noticed any memory or performance issues with it really. I find some websites which run some kind if script or something really hog my system - the Irish Times, the Cedar Lounge, p.ie - could be the ads on these sites although I don't see then on the CLR ...

Have you noticed anything like that ?

I have Adblock Plus as a plugin for Firefox. I don't use a premade block list, I made my own by visiting all the media sites I know and blocking stuff personally. There's an excellent feature that allows you to, once you've found an offending ad or script, block anything from ever arriving again from the offending third party site. Most scripts don't get the opportunity to mess with my system and head these days. I've not seen a single ad in the last month and rarely need to update the 'banned' list I've compiled. I've even killed most of Google's shite - took a while, but I'm dedicated.

So yup, Ads and scripts are bastards and do nothing for you but wreck your head and consume your time and resources - kill em I say. And if you don't have Adblock Plus, get it, it's an absolute essential.

I have a gloriously messy desktop, strewn with word documents and with a green bamboo background.

But I'm not sharing

However, in my handbag I have

large front pocket: tiny mirror, hankies, windshield for mic and a small voice recorder, chequebook. Usually also holds charger for phone but I'm using that now.

other front pocket: pair of batteries and 2 elastics - green for fresh batteries and red to put on when they;re dead, emergency coins, two emergency tenners, 3 book token cards, IBTS card, college card like the one johnfás keeps in his wallet, business cards and a cinema pass.

Main body of bag: filofax (containing lots of business cards, pile of vouchers for Avoca, M&S, a shopping centre in Newbridge and more book tokens as well as diary stuff), today 7 spiral topped notebooks, two pages from something I'm working on, record card with lots of phone numbers, a Circuit Court list, a letter, an envelope (separate to letter, with stuff written on it), camera, leather wallet containing too many coppers, 18 stamps, a couple of receipts, two lotto receipts, a fiver, a couple of cards, outside reader's ticket for TCD and a photo of my niece and nephew from about four years ago when my sister gave me the wallet) new phone and old nokia phone for iphone emergencies and because I've kept lots of texts on it...and keys (front door, car and platelet donor keyring (O neg)

Inside pocket, 2 panadol, pocket flashlight, four pens and a retractable pencil, E45 lip balm, USB key, a small safety pin...


Cactus, what have you got?

That certainly sounds like a handbag that fulfils all the tasks required of you, Kate P!! Are you one of these people who manages to fit all that inside a small handbag or do you carry around a considerable hand bag?

Im my wallet I have 37 cent and various cards that do little for me. In my school bag beside me there is a book about the law of equity and some A4 pads, in my laptop bag there is a single network cable. On my real desktop, that is the one I am sitting at, is my laptop, 3 books on Constitutional Law, each of differing depth, 2 A4 pads, one with initial notes and one with notes I am currently working on, a bottle of water, a mobile phone, 3 highlighter pens, a fountain pen and a box of Waterman cartridges.

If we're being really intrusive in my pockets I have a folded letter about a taxation issue, an asthma inhaler and my wallet .

My new laptop is so snazzy I can even take a picture on my mobile phone and upload the details via bluetooth.

I don't have any pockets today but rarely keep anything in them if I do.

It's a wonderful bag; soft black leather with two decent shoulder straps and buckles for looks. The bag itself is about a foot long and maybe ten inches wide and four inches deep (widthways, if you know what I mean). It was a real find and while I'm not a handbag person (unlike my sister who has hundreds), this puts Mary Poppins' carpet bag in the shade for capernosity and function.

I can fit my laptop in it on its side if I'm in a hurry (not ideal, I know) and it fits perfectly under my arm, plus all kinds of bulky things if necessary. I am inclined to lose things in the bottom of it - not inclined to put things in pockets that aren't there all the time, so I have to root for keys. But as a portable office, it's dinky and handsome.

Kate P wrote:

I have a gloriously messy desktop, strewn with word documents and with a green bamboo background.

But I'm not sharing

However, in my handbag I have

large front pocket: tiny mirror, hankies, windshield for mic and a small voice recorder, chequebook. Usually also holds charger for phone but I'm using that now.

other front pocket: pair of batteries and 2 elastics - green for fresh batteries and red to put on when they;re dead, emergency coins, two emergency tenners, 3 book token cards, IBTS card, college card like the one johnfás keeps in his wallet, business cards and a cinema pass.

Main body of bag: filofax (containing lots of business cards, pile of vouchers for Avoca, M&S, a shopping centre in Newbridge and more book tokens as well as diary stuff), today 7 spiral topped notebooks, two pages from something I'm working on, record card with lots of phone numbers, a Circuit Court list, a letter, an envelope (separate to letter, with stuff written on it), camera, leather wallet containing too many coppers, 18 stamps, a couple of receipts, two lotto receipts, a fiver, a couple of cards, outside reader's ticket for TCD and a photo of my niece and nephew from about four years ago when my sister gave me the wallet) new phone and old nokia phone for iphone emergencies and because I've kept lots of texts on it...and keys (front door, car and platelet donor keyring (O neg)

Inside pocket, 2 panadol, pocket flashlight, four pens and a retractable pencil, E45 lip balm, USB key, a small safety pin...


Cactus, what have you got?

Holy mother of god. That bag must be the size of Dundrum.