The other day I was talking about the release of Skype and the subsequent slow boot times that were occurring after installation. I have fixed the slow boot times but not the RAM usage and I am getting into Skypecasts a bit more but there are issues with that as well.
I put my slow boot times down to installing and uninstalling a few applications that we were testing. So I thought that to clean up and defragment the harddrive might be a good idea. I did both these things overnight. The other thing that I did was to set Skype not to load at start-up. The result is that the system is as fast as it ever was, I have less errors in general and the boot time is quick.
I think that the defrag sorted out the general smoothness of the system and cut down on the errors. However, I am sure that the very slow boot time was due to the bloated Skype 3.0. It does after all load about 30 MB of data to RAM. So if you are experiencing the same problem try that. I am a bit slack in the defragging department and this has shown me that I really should make the effort to do it at least once a month. Problem is that I never have the time or I think that I don’t. But the overnight idea worked a treat. One thing I did do was disconnect the Ethernet cable. I just don’t like the idea of the PC sitting there all night connected. Seems unfounded but that’s me.
I have listened to a few more Skypecasts since the post and I have really enjoyed them. There are however massive problems with the servers. Before Skype 3.0 came out Skypecasts did not seem used that much. Then Skype 3.0 hits with Skypecasts built in and all hell breaks loose. But a button in front of a user and what happens? They press it of course.
So the Skypecast servers get inundated with new users and they are failing. They obviously have not scaled the servers for this type of traffic and the system is struggling to cope. That’s not to mention the idiots that are in there. I think this will improve though and they should be a blast just be patient with the reliability of the servers.
I have done more networking and meet some amazing people listening and participating in Skypecasts than I have in the last month. I even meet another Aussie podcaster. Listen to his latest cast on Open Source Applications, his podcast is called style:guide which he describes as:
“… a guided tour through the world of design from web sites and print design to video and music, and all other types of design in the world we live in today.”
He has 6 episodes in the can, good work. I reckon the first one is the hardest. It is great to have a fellow geek on the Skype list in Australia and a podcaster to boot. We have traded tips and helped each other out a bit and it has been fun.
The Internet continues to inspire me and surprise me. Nice header, can you do anything about mine Tim?
Rooster's Rail 