The Entroware Triton: my new box

My old ASUS x401A  laptop has served me well for the last 4+ years but all good things must come to an end.

The screen flicker/blanking just got too annoying, so I had to dust off my wallet and part with some cash.

So how does my shiny new Triton compare with the old ASUS?

Supe up your computer with a Solid State Drive

The cost of Solid State Drives (SSD) has dropped to a level where replacement of hard drives is now a reasonable option.

But can you really expect to notice any improvement in using an SSD in place of an old hard drive?

Having replaced a couple of HDD at work, I decided to invest in an SSD for my light-weight home laptop.

The Linux /sys Directory & the ASUS Backlight

The /sys directory is a bit like the /proc virtual file system which I discussed in my last post.

Continuing the "everything is a file" approach, the /sys directory gives you access to many system components and their parameters.

My prime consideration is whether I can control the display backlight on my laptop.

BirdBoxPiCam 2014: Out there in the Wild

It's only been out there, in the garden, for 48 hours and already there are a pair of blue tits showing interest.

Their activity during the last two mornings has started the Raspberry Pi system and registered a few counts on the interface, which has been very useful, if only to show that the system is still alive!

There is still more work to be done, but at least I have confirmed that the wifi performance is acceptable.

Lubuntu Keyboard Shortcuts

The one thing I hate about my lovely ASUS X401A laptop is the touch-pad.

Its just a plastic rectangle that clicks when you press along three of the sides.

I guess there are two problems with my touch-pad:-

1. Clicking the mouse tends to move the cursor, so I often select the wrong menu option or highlight the wrong text
2. When typing, the cursor sometimes moves, so text gets inserted in the wrong part of the document (maybe my hands get too close to the touch-pad)

Since the laptop boasts "...palm proof technology..." I suspect my problems are due to either the Linux touch-pad driver, or its configuration settings.