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General Interests |
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The whole family is into music in a variety of ways.
Everybody performs in one way or another. Kirra plays Violin
and tried the Flute. Raine plays Piano & Guitar, Damien plays Bass, Zoe
sings, Sandra sings and Lee plays Bass and sings. We have enough musical
gear to keep ourselves and our visitors entertained.
An extensive collection of recordings both on Vinyl LP & CD
as well as a smattering of VHS & DVD music videos satisfies most musical
tastes. This collection contains many Australian artists including
recordings of local performers (commercial and unsigned). We like to
support local talent and go to nearby gigs when we can, buying a CD from the
performers if they are available.
We are fully support the Dandenong Ranges Community Cultural
Centre (DRCCC). This houses the
Burrinja Gallery, Uncle Neil's Cafe and performance space. We attend there
regularly for dinner, shows, children's dramas and the wonderful works on
display.
Lee is also a supporter of BRAG - the Belgrave Region Action
Group and is a sponsor of and provides the Sound engineering for the Christmas time
Carols-In-The-Park
Sandra and Lee also share interests in
Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment.
We are always on the lookout for the wonderful environment in which we live,
and the safety of those within it.
Lee has a variety of interests, including electronics,
computers, photography, motor bikes (and more recently trikes),
music and building up the PA
system, as well as
spending time in the garden. [Kevin Heinze would be
amused if that time was called gardening - Ed.] An aging Mercedes
280E is the new name for the bottomless money pit he has recently acquired.
There are plans afoot to landscape the back yard soon (money
permitting) and preparing for connection to the recently installed sewerage
system. Finally, having produced this site, my interests include, developing
web pages (haven't you noticed that regardless of content, some sites are
easy to use and some are simply too painful. [and it may be an important
one])
Sandra's
interests include bush walking, singing, comparative religion, self
development and listening to lots of music. She also subscribes to the
New Internationalist magazine.
 This is an
excellent publication covering issues facing the "Majority World". products
advertised in this publication (not too many ads) are all for ethical
products from non-exploitative work conditions. In fact, they are pro-active
in reversing the trend. We have purchased a few items in the last couple of
years and they are of a high quality at no more than the equivalent "name"
brand. [which returns more profit to the shareholders
at the expense of the workers making the product - Ed]
Damien
is into computers and also lots of music. He is 19, drives a Ford on gas, and
has just moved into a rented home with his girlfriend, Jemma
Raine
likes horses and dragons. Her musical tastes include T-Rex, David Bowie and
Eminem. She is in year 9.
Kirra
digs drawing, reading and cats. She is in year 8 at Upwey High in 2006
Raine & Kirra share 2 cats named Lilly & Shadow and an
ever-growing army of Beanie Kids.
Fauna. We also have assorted
wildlife in our yard. Many native birds such as Cockatoos, King Parrots,
Rosellas, Galahs, Kurrajongs, Kookaburras and a number of smaller birds,
unfortunately including Mynahs, delight the observer with their presence,
antics and song. As well there are many possums on the property, a couple of
which have become very friendly and provide wonderful close up observation
and interaction for ourselves and our guests. Finally, there is an abundance
of small creatures such as yabbies, frogs and the occasional duck to be
found while exploring the yard.
Flora. There is a huge variety
of trees and plants including tree ferns, gums, wattle, native grasses,
herbs and a number of weeds such as onion weed, blackberry and agapanthus.
We are slowly getting rid of the pests but it takes time.
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Other web sites:
We support other family members and friends with their websites and provide
links here. Let us know and we will put a link here.
If a site owner
publishes to Google (or other search engine) there is no guarantee that they
will pick it up (index it). One thing search engines do do is look at cross
linking and they raise priority for sites with multiple cross links. This is
as opposed to creating multiple keywords to fool the search engines (a
common but disapproved method of forcing search engines to list or raise the
priority of a site. [Ever typed in a search query and got lots of unrelated
hits? this is how they do it].
Peter Foye and Leslie Painter, Sydney, Australia
Web: http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/petley/index.html
Peter's Photo Gallery: http://www.potd.com.au/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2269
Damien
has a myspace website:
http://www.myspace.com/dcs_ and hi own domain at www.dcapocchi.com
Raine
has her own site, as well:
www.rainebetts11.piczo.com
Our own domain at www.bettscapocchi.com
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Special
Interests |
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Our computers.
Over the last few years we have established a home computer network
based on our needs for education, business and daily family activities.
Despite judicious management of the system we are finding the
shortcomings of Microsloth Windows
coupled with the deficiencies and complexity of many applications and, in
particular, the more and more intrusive nature of the
reporting
(spying!) is becoming
too much! So much so, I have
finally bitten the bullet and have set up one of the machines to dual boot
Linux (Fedora Core 4) & Windows XP Home. There will be a steep learning
curve, but mainly as the system administrator. There were some
issues during installation and all but
one have been solved:
A quick browse of the applications
bundled with the Distro has shown a magnificent
selection of Office Applications, Graphics, games, etc. has shown that for
the user, not very much is different from the Windows (or Mac) product.
Mac users note: Apple
has ported OS-X to the Intel
platform and will not continue with Motorola hardware. This means existing
owners of Macs & Portables will probably not be able to upgrade their OS.
Note: while the platform is identical, the Apple's have a proprietary
chip on the motherboard.
A couple of things, though:
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Apple software is able to run
on cheaper hardware - more competition for Bill Gates?
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Users of Intel boxes should be
able to try Apple OS for themselves.
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You can boot to Win,
Linux and OS-X on the same (apple) box
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To stay competitive, Motorola may
be able to sell their hardware pre bundled with Linux which is very similar
under the bonnet to Apple, but would result in a price reduction for
Motorola based computers (Mac & Powerbook)
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The main benefit for the Linux
user is there is an abundance of software available to suit every need at a
price which is essentially free. Bugs are fixed
quickly for free and you are not burdened with the complex, insecure and
download hogging windows update system. (Even ONE MS system update can
exceed the download limit for broadband starter plans.) If you are a
masochist, or have a need for mission critical applications with support and
documentation, there are commercial packaged Linux applications available to
purchase.
For those wishing to remain with
Windows, we recommend using Mozilla Firefox browser, Mozilla Thunderbird
email client, WinAmp or Nero media players, Open Office, Zone Alarm
Firewall, AVG anti-virus & Spybot Search & Destroy for security. All are
free and all are leaders in their field and they dont monitor and report
your activities to "Big Brother".
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TECHNICAL
STUFF and my soap-box!
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Installation issues
with Linux:
1) Not all disk partitioning software works for
every existing setup, but should be ok for 99% of peoples machines. (Work
around is available).
2) Setting up the network is more fiddly than Win
XP, but no more so than other versions Windows. It should be much easier
with a single machine at home.
3) Not all printers have Linux drivers. We have an
expensive, business quality printer with no Linux drivers available.
However, most printers are supported and I am working on a solution for our
printer.
That solution is to use the Post Script file
that comes with the printer and point the Linux print system to it. (The
printer must be post script enabled). Research of the Linux web sites show
Epson to be the most supported brand. I think the drivers are written in a
way to be almost OS independent.
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Windows shortcomings.
The main issues I have with windows is its instability, p-- poor
security, inadequate utilities and management tools and an inability to
simply reload your system after a disc clean up (a frequent
requirement running windows). Additionally, every update and patch (if one
is available) slows down the system further.
Now for the big one. All of the
recent updates to Windows and most of the supported applications now send
bug reports to MS. These reports now inform MS of ALL software and hardware
installed on your system (MS or not). The applications (such as Media Player
, Real Player, etc) and Explorer now log and report any attempt to play
material it deems to be unlicensed . I for one have no way of determining
what many files are on my system and could not work out if an MP3 file is
copyright or not. The forthcoming version of Windows (Vista/Longhorn) will
not display HD content on most existing monitors, as they don't have a copy
write protecting decoder chip inside them.
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While Windows does
share printers and internet connections, those who wish to mange files and
domains in a more organized fashion find out AFTER purchase they need to run
XP Pro on ALL computers they have (double the price for that version) or MS
server software (ridiculously priced and requiring a similarly priced
training course to use it)
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There is more than
one "flavour" of Linux, just as there is in Windows. You pick the flavour
that best matches your requirements. I chose Fedora as it is based on Red
Hat, runs multimedia stuff that people want and had a good Distro. The
Distro (or Distribution
Package) is a CD, DVD or download file containing everything needed to
install and run the software. In this case, a bootable DVD with the OS,
Applications, utilities, games and educational stuff. Included is Open
Office, an equivalent to MS office (can read & write MS files) which can
produce PDF files directly. The writer is loosely based around Wordperfect &
Ami-pro (remember them) and there is a commercial equivalent available from
Corel.
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Free Software. The
Linux operating system, and most of the applications, utilities, games etc.
that run under it, is released under the General Public License (GPL)
process, which says, in short, that the software and accompanying source
code be distributed together at no charge (other than media, packaging and
distribution costs). Modifications to the software are permitted and if
submitted for inclusion in GPL software, are also available, with source,
for free. This license is imposed on all subsequent redistributions. So, go
to a newsagent and buy a Linux Book or magazine with an included disc, or go
to a technical bookshop or some software houses and pay less than $20 for
the lot (or download for free - up to 3GB for a big distro. If you want
greater comfort, but cant afford a Commercial Distro, Some distros are
available for between $20-$100 which mainly means you pay for a slicker
installer, additional drivers and better documentation files. Note: Windows
only comes with minimal documentation as well, so by the time you get a
"free" or cheap distro, and purchase a couple of manuals, you may spend up
to $200. But buy XP Home + 1 book = up to $300, substitute XP Pro and you
are looking @ nearly $500 with a good book. A Commercial Linux distro, with
a real Manual(!) usually costs less than $300 (and also has Application
software with it)
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Of course, it goes without saying that having a legally free version of
software on your computer is infinitely better than running a machine full
of pirated (Windows) software!!
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Of significance here
is that programmers, both unpaid members of the community, including IT
students and professionals, and paid professionals, all contribute to Linux
development and under the GPL,
"free" means you are Legally allowed to use it, back it up, copy it and
redistribute it to others. You are Not acting immorally or illegally
doing so. And if you like it, tell the world.
I am NOT
anti-Microsoft, but feel the need for a wake up call to a company who
charges the earth for a substandard product, which you NEVER own and are
anti-competitive in the extreme. At least one other member of our family
regularly bemoans the quality of commercial software.
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Special thanks to Damien Capocchi for valued
assistance in installing & configuring Linux |
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