The Tech I used to create this blog.

When I retired I saw an opportunity to spend more time learning about computers and the internet. I have used computers professionally for many years, mostly for email and social media. Alongside this I have had an interest in computing as a hobby. I bought my first computer in the early 1980s a ZX Spectrum. Since that time I have bought, built or upgraded computers, with varying degrees of success. I have also attempted to learn HTML, JavaScript, Java and PHP. As the online world has developed, from bulletin boards, through AOL - to the modern internet, learning has become much easier. I thought it might be interesting to begin my blogging life by explaining the technology I have used to write this blog.

Hardware.

When I retired we downsized to a small house on a small estate in a small town. This house is an ideal size for my family but lacks a dedicated office. No filing cabinet, no desk, no private space. I left behind my old office with its desktop computer, printers, copiers, desk and office chair. I did receive a generous retirement gift from my parishes, which enabled me to buy myself a new laptop.

My needs were simple. I wasn't going to be carrying this laptop around on business so it would mostly be beside a socket, battery life and weight were not really important. I did need to use this machine for my games and hopefully for experimenting with local AI, for my learning and for my little bits of work. I like to run Linux so a machine which was mostly compatible was essential.

I settled on a Lenovo, as I have had very positive experiences with Linux on Lenovo computers. I wanted a decent graphics card for games and AI so I looked for something with a modern RTX 5000 series card. I also wanted a good amount of RAM and memory. I had a limited budget and in the end I bought a Lenovo LOQ with 24GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, an Intel i5-13450HX processor and an Nvidia RTX 5050 graphics card with 8GB of memory. I managed to pick this up in an Amazon Prime sale for under £900 which was a bit of a bargain. I must say after 6 months of use I am loving this little PC. The fan noise is OK when playing games and the 1920x1080 15" screen is lovely.

Once I had my laptop my first move was to get rid of Microsoft Windows 11. This is an OK operating system but I much prefer Linux. I love to use the Terminal, I support Free and open-source software on principle and I see no need for proprietary software with its associated costs. I was unsure which flavour of Linux to install. I have used Ubuntu and found it stable and easy to run. I have also used Fedora but never really got on with it. POPOS is excellent for games and I have had fun with Arch in the past, but found it requires more time than I wanted to give to it. In the end I was swayed by the hype around CachyOS. It was reported as excellent for gaming and as an Arch based system came with almost any open source software in existence via the AUR.

So there you have it. That is my system and OS. All my gaming, coding and browsing is carried out on my living room sofa. I have a laptop tray so don't suffer from overheated legs and there is an endless supply of coffee in the next room. I am now set to begin my life as a blogger, influencer and full stack web developer.

Thank you for reading to the end. Hope to see you back for more later.

Alan