Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe

While speaking with my girlfriend about a short-stories book I remembered one of the best pieces of English literature I know of, Raven from Edgar Allan Poe. I had read a translation to Catalan before and I really liked it, but after reading the original version I am speechless. The special use of alliterations and rhymes make a very musical yet powerful poem, one you have to read on a dark night with the only light of a candle when a thunderstorm is pounding outside the window. For those who have never read it or what to read it again here is a link to it and the first paragraph so you want to continue reading.

You can find the rest of it here: The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ubuntu 8.04, at last a Linux for Windowers

Even though it was released some weeks ago I hadn't had time to install and test the new Ubuntu release known as Hardy Heron. I don't have a lot of experience working with Linux environments, I used to have Kubuntu 7 installed in my computer, but a re-installation of Windows deleted the entrance paths to it and I had to format it, but never bothered to install it again. Apart of that I have been working during the last year with a command-based Linux version -I don't know which one- at the university. The problem was that I found Windows easier to use and since I've grown accustomed to it I found Linux too much of a change.

But not anymore. In my opinion the new release of Ubuntu will be the good one to allow the transfer of users from Windows to Linux. The graphical interface is amazing, is very intuitive to use, it's available in many languages (like Catalan :)) and it comes with all the applications any standard user may need, like an Instant Messenger, Firefox 3, text processor, spreadsheet, sideshow editor, many games and a lot of other things. I have fallen in love with it. I run it from an external USB HDD and works perfectly and fast (I would like to see Windows doing the same), in fact I am typing this post in my Ubuntu environment and no problems at all.

Even though I really like it and I have good feeling about its success it still has some issues other Linux versions have, like some computers don't seem to like having Linux in them (I am lucky because mine was specifically designed to work perfectly with both OS) or that a lot of software it is still designed to work only with Windows and not with Linux. I any case, a great step forward.

You can download Ubuntu by clicking here. Here you can see a demonstration of how it looks before you choose to install it (this video uses the compiz extension, but is the same one I use and it is very easy to install):

Highlands breakdown

On Sunday we headed towards the Scottish Highlands to spend some days visiting a part of Scotland we hadn't seen yet. The trip was going great, we visited the Devil's Elbow, Balmoral Castle, Aberdeen, Peterhead and when we were heading towards Inverness we stopped for a second in Burghead, a little town close to Elgin. The exact point where we stopped can be seen in the map below. We stopped here because there is a Picti Fort right at the left. The problem is that the fort is not even ruins, it says it was a fort and you have to believe so, because there was nothing which resembled a fort.

Mostra un mapa més gran

When I tried to lock the car the central locking went on and off very fast, and when I tried to close it again the remote key didn't work. I thought it was the battery of the key, so I didn't worry about it. After seeing the grass field supposed to be a fort I headed back to the car and tried to start it. And from there everything went wrong. The car wouldn't start. I tried to push the car down a slope and start by changing gears, but it wouldn't start either. I tried for a while and when I gave up I called my road assistance service.

My road assistance is given by the Catalan company RACC and I just love the service they give, it is just awesome, I highly recommend it. They sent me two tow trucks, one to try to fix the breakdown on the spot (it was a blown fuse and he didn't have one) and another one to tow me to Inverness and to find a hotel.

When I woke up in the morning I walked to Ness Motors Inverness, the official Renault service in Inverness. When they told me they were full for the day so they could not help me, maybe the next day or the other I freaked out, I thought I would stay forever stuck in Inverness. At noon I had to buy another night in the hotel and I just didn't want to spend the whole week up there, so I phoned Ness motors every two ours begging to look at the car and fix it, because I was in a hurry and it was not a major failure. Before they closed I popped by and ask for my car. I was ready to get mad and then they gave me my car back, and fixed, I was so happy I wanted to kiss the car when I sat back in. The next day we came back to Edinburgh.

I want to finish by thanking a good Samaritan who helped me when I first realised the car was broken in Burghead. He was passing by and I asked him where could I find a mechanic. He told me the town's mechanic was closed, but a while after leaving he came back and asked us if we wanted to go spend the night at his house. I refused his offer, but I was extremely thankful to him. I don't know your name, but thank you!