DELL DIMENSION 8400 - Desktop of the Month

Taken last week from the Carneddau looking towards the Glyders - the Ogwen Valley is probably my favourite place.

The Glyders from The Carneddau

Sources & References:

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Wallpaper of the Month: Presario CQ60

There never seems to be enough hours in the day and I have a pile of topics that I want to get published here on Karmic Odyssey but haven't (yet) had the time. Nonetheless, posting my wallpaper for all to see is a cheap post and often gets the ball rolling: for my first post this month, here's the new desktop for the Presario CQ60

Llyn yr Arddu © John Dexter

This is Llyn yr Arddu looking west towards Moel Hebog. It's another image taken with my Samsung Galaxy which is rapidly proving that I don't need to carry a large (and heavy) camera on the hills.

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Inspiron 6400 - Wallpaper of the Month

A stunning day in Snowdonia National Park yesterday has prompted an early change in my desktop's wallpaper!

Snowdon from The Nantlle Ridge © John Dexter

This is taken on my phone (a Samsung Galaxy S3 Advance). The view of Snowdon (in the distance) is taken from the Nantlle Ridge looking (roughly) north east over Mynydd Drws-y-coed.

Sources & References:

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Wallpaper of the Month - Inspiron 6400

You probably already know that I change the desktop backgrounds on my computers regularly - time for a change on the Inspiron 6400!

Y Foel From Vivod Mountain © John Dexter

Another of my own compositions taken from (roughly) SJ 177 398 between Y Foel & Vivod, looking east. This is another photo taken on my mobile phone; a Samsung Galaxy Advance S4.

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Wallpaper of the Month - Mint 17

After work and a walk in the hills, I finished up configuring Mint 17 on my Dimension 8400. If runs like a trooper: not the quickest pc in the world (it is ten years old!), but stable and beautiful!

So, to christen my new OS on my old machine, here's a new wallpaper. The bundled backgrounds in Mint 17 are fabulous, but I've been missing Snowdonia of late so I thought I'd use one of my own compositions.

Llyn Dulyn in the Rhinogs © John Dexter

This is Llyn Dulyn in the Rhinogs: one of the most beautiful places in Snowdonia. Taken in September '12, the photo is snapped from Diffwys looking North towards Y Llethr & Rhinog Fach.

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Wallpaper of the Month - Inspiron 6400

To celebrate the Inspiron's upgrade to Mint 17 (Cinnamon), I've changed my wallpaper. You've seen this one before!

Photo Credit: Will Forbes

This is Spitfire Lake, courtesy of Will Forbes via Nat Geographic.

Sources & References:

• National Geographic Picture of the Day: Spitfire Lake

Wallpaper of the Month - DELL DIMENSION 8400

OK, it's a cheap post, but I've been playing with the Dimension (again) and changed the OS to Mint 16. This is a stock wallpaper, but it's beautiful nonetheless! It's also nice to be playing around with Cairo Dock and Synaptic again.

As I'm on holiday this week, this reminds me of where I should be (on a mountain) - but, in my defence, at least I've submitted my tax return!

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14.04 Wallpaper of the Month

New OS, new wallpaper!

I love everything about Canonical's new OS: I've even chosen one of the embedded wallpapers as my desktop background rather than using one of my own pics.

Beach by Renato Giordanelli

Utterly beautiful

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Wallpaper of the Month - Inspiron 6400

I was lucky enough to be marshalling for (but not lucky enough to be participating in) the Oggie 8 at the weekend, so an excellent excuse to get into the hills in the morning. It was also an excellent excuse to change the desktop on the Inspiron 6400!

Cannon Rock, Tryfan (Ogwen Valley) © John Dexter

This is The Cannon on Tryfan, one of the iconic rocks in the Ogwen Valley and I've always found it to be a magical place. As I was alone when I took the photo, you get no sense of scale: this is a dramatic shard of rock that can be see from the valley floor but it is oddly comforting to reach it when you're climbing in claggy conditions.

Anyway, good things seem to happen to me on Tryfan, and this will be a reminder of a fabulous day and a special person while I struggle to get through the next eight days!

Sources & References:

• OVMRO: Oggie 8 Challenge
• Wikipedia: Tryfan

Desktop of the Month - 8400 July 2013

This picture was taken from Y Foel (SJ188391) looking NNE towards Creig iau Eglwyseg.

Creig iau Eglwyseg from Y Foel © John Dexter

This week I was lucky enough to join some friends on Tryfan to watch the sunrise. I received some photographs this morning that show my point-and-click efforts for what they really are! I'm reminded that I am lucky to live in North Wales where even a poor photographer such as I can capture beautiful images.

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Wallpaper of the Month

This is Llyn Y Cwn (SH 637 584) taken yesterday. You can just about see Moel Eilio on the horizon (centre).

I had a fabulous day on the Glyerau, starting with the North Ridge of Tryfan (including North Tower), onto Dexter Gully (I kid you not!) on Bristly Ridge, Castell Y Gwynt (just for a little exercise), and bagged Y Garn just to finish off. The weather was glorious and I am always happiest when I'm in the Ogwen Valley.

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Wallpaper of the Month

Well, I suppose that it was inevitable: having rebuilt my Ubuntu desktop, I felt that it was time to have a new wallpaper!

The Roman Road in the Ogwen Valley © John Dexter All Rights Reserved

This picture, taken by your host, looks east-south-east toward Capel Curig from (approx) SH 683 602. Gallt yr Ogof is in the distance to the right.

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Desktop of the Month

This wallpaper has just made it onto my 8400 - it's another picture from the Ogwen Valley in North Wales taken last year.

Carneddau, Snowdonia © John Dexter. All rights reserved

The view, taken from Bwlch Cyfryw-drum on the Carneddau, is to the south west looking toward Carnedd Dafydd. It was taken in March on a beautiful day with stunning cloud inversions all day. As I look out of my window on the Ceiriog Valley, today is another such day.

How I miss the mountains.

Sources & References:

• Wikipedia

Desktop of the Month

This has just made it onto my 8400

The scene is of Castell Y Gwynt (Castle of Winds) on Glyder Fach looking toward Glyder Fawr. The picture (taken by yours truly) was snapped earlier in the week and shows how staggeringly beautiful the Glyders are in full winter conditions.

Castell Y Gwynt in Winter © John Dexter (all rights reserved)

Sources & References:

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Wallpaper of the Month

Now that I'm playing with Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin), I've been playing with some new desktop wallpapers. Trouble is, I can't decide which I like best...

Precise Pangolin

This is one of the wallpapers that ship with 12.04 and I kind of like it! However, every now and again, the National Geographic Photo of the Day page delivers one of those wow moments.

Godafoss, Iceland - Photo Credit: Orsolya and Erlend Haarberg

A quick change of theme (to Radiance) and I ended up with this stunning desktop for May.

Sources & References:

• National Geographic - Photo of the Day" 30^th April 2012

Desktop of the Month - 8400 The Glyderau

It's been a while since I've posted my current desktop (actually, it's been a while since I posted anything!)

Photo Credit: Mark Sparky Hughes

I'm in the process of organizing two teams in this year's Oggie 8 Challenge and this picture was taken on one of our training runs. In the foreground is yours truly (on the left) and one of the team members and, in the background is Llyn Ogwen, Tryfan (to the top left) and the Glyderau (top centre).

Feel free to sponsor us for this serious mountain challenge, but, if you can't spare the coin, your best wishes for the day would be just as good!

Wallpaper of the Month - 8400

Well, October was a pretty crappy month for me - what better way to get November off to a better start than a new wallpaper?

Image Credit: Michael Melford, National Geographic

Sometimes it's nice to take the helicopter view!

This wallpaper is yet another from National Geographic's Picture of the Day and is Iliamna Volcano, Alaska, taken by Michael Melford.

Wallpaper of the Month - 6400

Since upgrading to Kubuntu 11.04 on my DELL Inspiron 6400, I've been struggling to get the look & feel right: trying to find my way round a new desktop environment, getting stuff to work, and trying to find something pleasing to look at has not been easy!

To cap it all, I haven't found the Plasma themes to be particularly intuitive and I haven't come across a wallpaper that has really called to me for a while. So, I thought that I'd see what one of my photographs looked like as the background for my new set up.

Photo Credit: John (Jogga) Dexter

For those interested, the picture is of Fairy Glen on the Conwy River, near Betws-y-Coed (Conwy). It was taken using a Canon PowerShot S3 IS (Lanscape Easy Mode - literally, point & click!).

Actually, I'm quite pleased and this picture might make it through the month. With Autumn fast approaching, I'm planning a return trip to get a shot of the leaves turning to those beautiful pre-winter hues.

Sources & References:

• Wikipedia: Betws-y-Coed

Wallpaper of the Month (8400)

I change my desktop backgrounds frequently - this one has made it to my 8400 desktop for the month of August!

Image Credit: Will Forbes (via Nat Geo Photo of the Day)

The scene is Spitfire Lake (Adirondack Park, NY) taken by Will Forbes. You can download the wallpaper from National Geographic's Photo of the Day webpage. There's something calming (almost soothing) about this picture - it's simple composition produces a stunning visual impact.

Sources & References:

• National Geographic Photo of the Day: Spitfire Lake

8400 Desktop Refresh

Time to update the desktop background on the DELL Dimension 8400:

Image Credit: Lorenzo Menendez via Your Shot

This is another Nat Geo Photo of the Day and would probably look great on my Mint machine!

Sources & References:

• National Geographic: Photo of the Day