Future Publishing

Linux Format, Issue 250

Leave a comment

Linux Format Issue 250In my first piece for Linux Format I look at the Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier system-on-module, an incredibly powerful device the company hopes will transform the field of autonomous machines and other machine learning initiatives – and the precursor to the recently-launched and significantly more affordable hobbyist device the Jetson Nano.

In contrast to the Jetson AGX Xavier review in Custom PC Issue 190, which takes an exclusively hands-on approach, my piece for Linux Format opens with a look at the history of Nvidia’s Jetson family and the company’s various efforts to make the name synonymous with autonomous machines.

The piece then moves on to the device itself, which is impressively powerful for its sub-30W power draw – but many features of which are inaccessible pending software updates which are still not available. This issue, which extends in part at least to the documentation supporting the platform, is something Nvidia really needs to address if it’s serious about having the device – and the hobbyist Jetson Nano – appeal to the educational market as well as experienced developers looking to build high-end machine learning implementations.

Linux Format Issue 250 is available now at all good supermarkets and newsagents, and can be downloaded in electronic form from Zinio and similar services.

Linux User & Developer, Issue 173

Leave a comment

Linux User & Developer Issue 173This month’s Linux User & Developer includes a rare laptop review, my first for the magazine since the Hewlett Packard 455 G3 in Issue 158, courtesy Newcastle-based Nimbusoft: the Aurora.

The Nimbusoft Aurora is the Ultrabook entry in a range of products the startup company is offering for sale, designed to offer portability at a reasonable price. Based on a chassis from original design manufacturer (ODM) Topstar, the Aurora can be tweaked at the time of ordering: the review sample sent across came with an SSD instead of a hard drive and an upgraded wireless card, both of which were reflected in the slightly raised price in the review.

The hardware’s not the star here, though: Nimbusoft is one of the only companies in the UK not only offering Linux as a pre-installed option on its devices but offering Linux exclusively. You’ll find no option to buy Windows on the Nimbusoft website, nor a PC Specialist-style option to buy the devices without an operating system installed; instead, all laptops come equipped with Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS and you choice of officially-supported desktop environments.

As a Linux user myself, it’s a great feeling knowing that the laptop you’re firing up is fully supported and won’t run into any strange errors as a result of not-quite-ready wireless drivers or a badly-supported LCD backlight circuit. Accordingly, I was thrilled when the Aurora booted up in to an absolutely stock Ubuntu install with no bloat or branding, ready for me to give the device a name and create my user account.

While Nimbusoft may not offer Windows machines, the same can’t be said for other Topstar customers; as a result, there’s the usual workaround for the Super key being emblazoned with Microsoft’s Windows logo: a sticker, with a range of replacement logos available at the time of purchase or the key being left stock if you’d prefer. The same can’t be said of the Internet Explorer logo on one of the shortcut keys, though, and I was disappointed that this didn’t trigger Firefox when pressed – but that, the relatively poor keyboard, and a slightly sub-par battery life of five hours, were pretty much the only negative points I encountered during the review.

If you’d like to read my full analysis from a Linux user’s perspective, Issue 173 is on shelves now and also available electronically from Zinio and similar distribution services.

Create, Issue 1

Leave a comment

Create Issue 1It’s always nice to see your name in a new publication, and doubly so when it’s the magazine’s very first issue, so imagine my pleasure when Future Publishing’s Create Magazine hit shelves this week and brought my feature on building your own Linux PC along for the ride.

Presently exclusive to North America, Create – styled Cre@te – is billed as offering “adventures in technology” to a mixed audience ranging from those with considerable technical proficiency to relative newcomers. This broad focus can be seen in the content on offer from the launch issue: my relatively technical guide to building a desktop PC from parts sits alongside tutorials on installing Minecraft on an old Apple MacBook and booting up a Raspberry Pi for the first time, along with building your own drone and seeing how camera lenses are made.

The PC-building feature itself was originally written for Imagine Publishing’s Linux User & Developer Magazine and first appeared in Issue 161, alongside my detailed reviews of a number of Steam Machine PCs and my four-page news spread. Written in partnership with Overclockers UK, which kindly provided the parts required for the build, the guide walks the reader through choosing components with an eye on price, performance, and compatibility with the Linux kernel – the latter being a key point that can be overlooked by system builders more used to building Windows-based machines – before putting everything together in an attractive case and installing the operating system.

Those who missed the feature the first time around and are located in North America will find Create Issue 1 on shop shelves now, while international readers can purchase a copy from Future’s web store.