Well, It's true. There are now two new US keyboard 8Gig Eee Pc's in the house. Freshly smuggl...I mean imported boxes. And I have to say it is just as good as the 4Gig model with twice the soft center goodness and still has only 1 calorie :)
Already, the wife has taken to it. At the moment is only the complaint that the default Xandros linux install doesn't include her normal Ubuntu software repositories. I have insisted to let me tweak mine out so if things go wrong, I can flash mine and she won't loose any data.
I'm still a little sad that bluetooth isn't included but that is not a show stopper and gives me hope for the Eee 900 model shown at CeBit. I'm glad that there will also be a price premium for anyone who wants the M$ Windoze installed on it. I completely agree with the decision to make it available, since that will bring corporate sales onboard.
I'm truly overfilled with joy to have not one but two of these in the house that are truly my property (not from work) and I will continue to support Asus as much as I can in this market as long as the native linux remains available. We need more companies making OEM Linux devices and I applaud Dell, but they don't offer those products here in Europe (everywhere) yet.
I'm sure to be blogging and updating more frequently with this always in my hip pocket.
More Power to the Penguin!
--
CafeNinja
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Entertainment of Ex-Pat Geek
Living abroad limits entertainment slightly. I mean to say that for example, I live in Italy and I can speak and read Italian but it is not they way I prefer to consume mass quantities of entertainment. When native speakers are trying to copy the format of popular American TV shows like CSI they have to get a lot of dialouge in a very short time and start talking fast, which I have a hard time keeping up with.
The first solution that my family and I came up with was subscription satellite service that feeds also the UK. So we can see some of the most popular TV shows that trickle down via the BBC, etc. This provides what would equate to having cable with HBO in the states about 8 years ago. Which is enough programming, but not the most current or with massive selection.
Last year I purchased a Apple Mac Mini while in the States. I have started using the Mac for my entertainment and video/photo editing. iTunes has provided me with an amazing world of podcasting in diverse media for consumption. I use audio podcasts for the car, iPod formated video for the wife's new iPod and Apple TV formatted for consumption on the 21" monitor that I attached to the Mini.
Recently, I purchased a new Full HD 37" TV which supports PC connectivity. And now, I've added to my repertoire the HD Video Podcasts from iTunes which are, in fact truly amazing. It was during the writers strike and the lack of new TV programming that the family and I realized that the digital consumption of entertainment satisfied our needs and was very, very convienent. Using it in this way made it feel like the Video-on-demand or TiVo experience that most people have to pay extra for via a TVR or pay-per-view model. Where in my case it was a cost of nothing in addition to the infrastructure of the home which already existed.
So, being the geek that I am (as stated in title) I strapped that poor Mac Mini to the new 37" LCD TV and now the family enjoys the shows they want, when they want and in the language they want it in. The only thing that I haven't done yet is to add the USB TV Tuner to the Mac Mini and piped my satellite feed over it to have a very real TVR. By the way, if you haven't seen the HubbleCast produced by the ESA and NASA in REAL (I mean x1080 real) HD, then you haven't lived.
Point is, over the last view months, my family and I would have been more put out by the loss of internet connectivity for entertainment than satellite service. Even though I do have both, I think I will try to keep up the trend. Since that also means that our entertainment is always available over the internet whether we are in Germany, Belgium, France or Italy.
--
CafeNinja
The first solution that my family and I came up with was subscription satellite service that feeds also the UK. So we can see some of the most popular TV shows that trickle down via the BBC, etc. This provides what would equate to having cable with HBO in the states about 8 years ago. Which is enough programming, but not the most current or with massive selection.
Last year I purchased a Apple Mac Mini while in the States. I have started using the Mac for my entertainment and video/photo editing. iTunes has provided me with an amazing world of podcasting in diverse media for consumption. I use audio podcasts for the car, iPod formated video for the wife's new iPod and Apple TV formatted for consumption on the 21" monitor that I attached to the Mini.
Recently, I purchased a new Full HD 37" TV which supports PC connectivity. And now, I've added to my repertoire the HD Video Podcasts from iTunes which are, in fact truly amazing. It was during the writers strike and the lack of new TV programming that the family and I realized that the digital consumption of entertainment satisfied our needs and was very, very convienent. Using it in this way made it feel like the Video-on-demand or TiVo experience that most people have to pay extra for via a TVR or pay-per-view model. Where in my case it was a cost of nothing in addition to the infrastructure of the home which already existed.
So, being the geek that I am (as stated in title) I strapped that poor Mac Mini to the new 37" LCD TV and now the family enjoys the shows they want, when they want and in the language they want it in. The only thing that I haven't done yet is to add the USB TV Tuner to the Mac Mini and piped my satellite feed over it to have a very real TVR. By the way, if you haven't seen the HubbleCast produced by the ESA and NASA in REAL (I mean x1080 real) HD, then you haven't lived.
Point is, over the last view months, my family and I would have been more put out by the loss of internet connectivity for entertainment than satellite service. Even though I do have both, I think I will try to keep up the trend. Since that also means that our entertainment is always available over the internet whether we are in Germany, Belgium, France or Italy.
--
CafeNinja
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Apple Air - uncovering the plan
I've never claimed on this blog or in any other forum to be a man of deep thought. I think that I have made a revelation. I feel that I already understand where the Jobs machine is motoring the future of Apple computing. I feel my recent experience has given me familiarity with the technology involved and was pondering the question posed by Harlem on the Freshubuntu podcast interview "How would I compare the Eee Pc to the new Macbook Air?".
I feel I need to explain my twisted logic and then summarize my conclusions. First Harlem's musing got me to ask the first and simple question that is "What is similar about them?". I had not until that point thought about them in the same class at all. In my mind they were not even attending the same school or grade. After some reflection, there are some similarities that both of these machines are hitting on. Size, weight and solid state disks which are faster but may not offer the same space one might ask for in their day-to-day PC.
This got me to thinking about my "computing in the cloud" analysis with the Eee PC. "Cloud Computing" is the obvious choice with the limited disk space of the Eee PC. But how much more removed is it from the Air? I know plenty of people who will not be able to put their entire iTunes library on 64 Gig. It was mentioned on a popular podcast that I listen to on the TWiT network that they would probably not recommend the Air as a first or primary computer and that sounds like good advice with some of the hardware that is missing. I probably wouldn't recommend the Eee PC to a user that didn't have a primary machine already either.
Remember that the Air was announced on the same day as their new product Time Capsule. This little device seems like just an over-priced external hard drive with wifi access. So, I ask you...is Apple, through their product development, potentially teaching Apple users how to "compute in the cloud"? Is it such a removed idea that the large iMac in the home office actually becomes the house server? Could Apple not start offering server machines that would potentially compete with Windows Home Server? Do they not already have the media extender idea pretty much working with shared iTunes library over a LAN?
So, my grand conclusion is that the Air and Time Capsule are a primer and a "cloud computing" for dummies course via product release. We all know that Apple has gotten where they are by thinking like chess GrandMasters about 20 moves ahead. They are the masters of creating demand where there is and should be none. I feel that the Mac community may be getting spoon feed how to really embrace "cloud computing" via these new products. Which would allow Apple to make many devices that just access centralized information, rather than needing to store it locally too.
Ok, conspiracy over. Breath deeply. By the way, we Linux geeks have lots more experience at the client-server model. While Windows offers minesweeper and solitaire for new users to learn how to use a mouse, Linux has freeciv both the client and the server ;)
--
CafeNinja
I feel I need to explain my twisted logic and then summarize my conclusions. First Harlem's musing got me to ask the first and simple question that is "What is similar about them?". I had not until that point thought about them in the same class at all. In my mind they were not even attending the same school or grade. After some reflection, there are some similarities that both of these machines are hitting on. Size, weight and solid state disks which are faster but may not offer the same space one might ask for in their day-to-day PC.
This got me to thinking about my "computing in the cloud" analysis with the Eee PC. "Cloud Computing" is the obvious choice with the limited disk space of the Eee PC. But how much more removed is it from the Air? I know plenty of people who will not be able to put their entire iTunes library on 64 Gig. It was mentioned on a popular podcast that I listen to on the TWiT network that they would probably not recommend the Air as a first or primary computer and that sounds like good advice with some of the hardware that is missing. I probably wouldn't recommend the Eee PC to a user that didn't have a primary machine already either.
Remember that the Air was announced on the same day as their new product Time Capsule. This little device seems like just an over-priced external hard drive with wifi access. So, I ask you...is Apple, through their product development, potentially teaching Apple users how to "compute in the cloud"? Is it such a removed idea that the large iMac in the home office actually becomes the house server? Could Apple not start offering server machines that would potentially compete with Windows Home Server? Do they not already have the media extender idea pretty much working with shared iTunes library over a LAN?
So, my grand conclusion is that the Air and Time Capsule are a primer and a "cloud computing" for dummies course via product release. We all know that Apple has gotten where they are by thinking like chess GrandMasters about 20 moves ahead. They are the masters of creating demand where there is and should be none. I feel that the Mac community may be getting spoon feed how to really embrace "cloud computing" via these new products. Which would allow Apple to make many devices that just access centralized information, rather than needing to store it locally too.
Ok, conspiracy over. Breath deeply. By the way, we Linux geeks have lots more experience at the client-server model. While Windows offers minesweeper and solitaire for new users to learn how to use a mouse, Linux has freeciv both the client and the server ;)
--
CafeNinja
Monday, February 18, 2008
Geek woes
So, now that I have a blog about the geek and caffeine, I've started to look at my geekyness (is that a word) in a geeky way. That is to say I'm on a quest to answer the question "Why is CafeNinja so geek?"
I found myself in the office just the other day with a "novice" who didn't know how to do a simple action "I think copy and paste" on the new iMac. So I told him that instead of control + key (c,v,z) he should use the command button on the keyboard. He was amazed at my wealth of knowledge :) I then told him that I didn't like that method either since with Linux I could highlight and paste with wheel button click and that was much faster.
At this point the co-workers eyes just glazed over as I was clearly talking out of the mouth on my second head based on the looks he was giving me. I stopped and pondered just how strangely would this person look at me if I talked about replacing the windows shell with NextStep or not having a task list while using WindowMaker.
That was the moment I started to ask myself....why does a CafeNinja need to know this either. I mean, I should know the difference from fresh brewed and instant, but why do I feel I have to really study to figure out how to use the Eee PC in our normal work environment...that's just strange. And I always take for granted that any normal user might have half the understanding I do. I've given up on trying to explain to anyone how I fix things in any operating system any more since it takes less time for me to go there and put my hands on the machine.
I know there are others out there who have more technical knowledge than I in speciality areas to be sure. I also find myself in the country of the tech illiterate which makes it even more challenging. I hope that one day I can find the land of Geek which has a penguin on it's national flag, a happy mac symbol for a postage stamp and windows is blocked and held for interrogation at the border *snicker*. I can say that it is better in some European countries than others...but this is not one of them. At least in Germany, my co-workers knew what scripting was.
I think we can all thank Micro$oft visa vie Windows for bringing computers to the masses. I just think it's time for the masses to become wise in what they do, for if I find one more virus infected windows user pulling their hair, I'm going to hand them an Ubuntu CD and tell them that is the magic software to fix it. BLAH!
--
CafeNinja
--by the way, I think the next gadget I would like to break would be the cloudbook.
I found myself in the office just the other day with a "novice" who didn't know how to do a simple action "I think copy and paste" on the new iMac. So I told him that instead of control + key (c,v,z) he should use the command button on the keyboard. He was amazed at my wealth of knowledge :) I then told him that I didn't like that method either since with Linux I could highlight and paste with wheel button click and that was much faster.
At this point the co-workers eyes just glazed over as I was clearly talking out of the mouth on my second head based on the looks he was giving me. I stopped and pondered just how strangely would this person look at me if I talked about replacing the windows shell with NextStep or not having a task list while using WindowMaker.
That was the moment I started to ask myself....why does a CafeNinja need to know this either. I mean, I should know the difference from fresh brewed and instant, but why do I feel I have to really study to figure out how to use the Eee PC in our normal work environment...that's just strange. And I always take for granted that any normal user might have half the understanding I do. I've given up on trying to explain to anyone how I fix things in any operating system any more since it takes less time for me to go there and put my hands on the machine.
I know there are others out there who have more technical knowledge than I in speciality areas to be sure. I also find myself in the country of the tech illiterate which makes it even more challenging. I hope that one day I can find the land of Geek which has a penguin on it's national flag, a happy mac symbol for a postage stamp and windows is blocked and held for interrogation at the border *snicker*. I can say that it is better in some European countries than others...but this is not one of them. At least in Germany, my co-workers knew what scripting was.
I think we can all thank Micro$oft visa vie Windows for bringing computers to the masses. I just think it's time for the masses to become wise in what they do, for if I find one more virus infected windows user pulling their hair, I'm going to hand them an Ubuntu CD and tell them that is the magic software to fix it. BLAH!
--
CafeNinja
--by the way, I think the next gadget I would like to break would be the cloudbook.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Ok, I was bored a while back.
I've already blogged about Boomshuffle. You know, build a playlist online and stream it from anywhere. It's relevant to my geek, I promise. I am using the Eee PC as previously blogged and with it's lack of physical disk space but easy access to the internet Boomshuffle is a great way to listen to music that I have preferred without storing anything locally.
This playlist was the first one that I set up just after I heard about the site on Textra with Natalie Del Conte who has just recently moved to CNet with her new show Loaded. She set up a very mellow playlist so I thought to try and beat her with one that would put you in a coma. I thought I would post my 3rd and final playlist from Boomshuffle just to for completeness:
--
CafeNinja
This playlist was the first one that I set up just after I heard about the site on Textra with Natalie Del Conte who has just recently moved to CNet with her new show Loaded. She set up a very mellow playlist so I thought to try and beat her with one that would put you in a coma. I thought I would post my 3rd and final playlist from Boomshuffle just to for completeness:
--
CafeNinja
Friday, February 15, 2008
FreshUbuntu podcast apperance
In case you actually know me, and I haven't told you...I was interviewed on the podcast FreshUbuntu today. I had a very nice chat with Harlem Quijano the host of FreshUbuntu in regards to my experiences with the EeePC. It was a very enjoyable interview and Harlem seemed to be quiet taken with the quality of the built in microphone on the EeePC as well.
I'd like to thank Harlem for the chance to participate in the podcast, it was a real honor and pleasure. I really hope to do it again sometimes. For those of you who haven't heard the podcast before, you can play it directly from the website or subscribe in iTunes. People, if you grandmother hasn't told you yet, you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You don't even need an mp3 player. On Windows or Mac you just need iTunes on your computer, there are other ways but I have to say the interface makes it easy to find and manages the files very well. On linux my favorite is good old Amarok with adding the RSS feed directly. I promise, that is the easy part.
I found Harlem and FreshUbuntu while I was doing what I can only call "PodCast Fishing". In this sport all you have to do is look up and subscribe to as many different podcasts on an interesting topic as you can find, listen to about 3 episodes, decide if you like it or not and then move on. I say 3 episodes since if you happen to catch a special single topic episode or one that just didn't go that well, you would be making a snap decision about the whole series without giving it a proper go. I would recommend that newcomers to this sport start off light, it is easy to find daily podcasts that you enjoy and actually have more material to listen to than hours in a day.
There are plenty of great Linux podcasts out there, some very technical, some political and I found FreshUbuntu to be a nice blend of both. With his usual co-host Peter Nikolaidis, this cross-country pair make a nice balance and cover the gambit. Kudos to Harlem and Peter, keep up the good work.
Man, it's like I was interviewed on radio, but better as it can be aired over and over and over again :)
--
CafeNinja
I'd like to thank Harlem for the chance to participate in the podcast, it was a real honor and pleasure. I really hope to do it again sometimes. For those of you who haven't heard the podcast before, you can play it directly from the website or subscribe in iTunes. People, if you grandmother hasn't told you yet, you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You don't even need an mp3 player. On Windows or Mac you just need iTunes on your computer, there are other ways but I have to say the interface makes it easy to find and manages the files very well. On linux my favorite is good old Amarok with adding the RSS feed directly. I promise, that is the easy part.
I found Harlem and FreshUbuntu while I was doing what I can only call "PodCast Fishing". In this sport all you have to do is look up and subscribe to as many different podcasts on an interesting topic as you can find, listen to about 3 episodes, decide if you like it or not and then move on. I say 3 episodes since if you happen to catch a special single topic episode or one that just didn't go that well, you would be making a snap decision about the whole series without giving it a proper go. I would recommend that newcomers to this sport start off light, it is easy to find daily podcasts that you enjoy and actually have more material to listen to than hours in a day.
There are plenty of great Linux podcasts out there, some very technical, some political and I found FreshUbuntu to be a nice blend of both. With his usual co-host Peter Nikolaidis, this cross-country pair make a nice balance and cover the gambit. Kudos to Harlem and Peter, keep up the good work.
Man, it's like I was interviewed on radio, but better as it can be aired over and over and over again :)
--
CafeNinja
I need more time....and more hands for all these keyboards
Geek is easy, natural, fun.....life you have to work at. In a recent twitter post, I said "It's sad when I wish there were an extra 5 hours in a day...hey wait a sec....sleep, I don't need to sleep!"
Let's go back to the beginning... I have the great fortune of being married to a wonderful lady who a mere 9 years ago suggested that I switch careers in order to make my hobby my professional pursuit. That hobby, computers...and things geek. Today, I make a buck doing what I really love and it paid off. With my passion and motivation for geek, in my new position, I managed to get promoted to a level where the career change was no longer a financial burden within a short 4 months.
This brings me back to my twitter. My problem today is that I LOVE the geek. I'll spend hours doing research on php, perl, ruby, IPv6, gadgets, tech podcasts, linux...etc. To keep the impact down on the role of bread-winner, husband and dad; I try to squeeze my geek sessions in "under the radar", that's my euphemism for after kids bedtime, but before I just fall over exhausted.
I know this sounds like a whine session. But truth be told, if left to my own devices, I would probably find a way to get paid without going to work and just abuse my wireless to update my blog, research and listen to podcasts all day long :) I love this stuff so much that I have and would miss meals in order to watch sound drivers compile with my fingers crossed.
So, for self confessed geeks out there, just know that one day you can be like me, run yourself into the ground and take the occasional Sunday morning coma sleep-in to make up for it. The only other option is to get all the sleep you need once your dead. :( (I prefer option number 1)
--
CafeNinja
P.S. - Ubuntu kernel header updates.....get ready to recompile those drivers ;)
Let's go back to the beginning... I have the great fortune of being married to a wonderful lady who a mere 9 years ago suggested that I switch careers in order to make my hobby my professional pursuit. That hobby, computers...and things geek. Today, I make a buck doing what I really love and it paid off. With my passion and motivation for geek, in my new position, I managed to get promoted to a level where the career change was no longer a financial burden within a short 4 months.
This brings me back to my twitter. My problem today is that I LOVE the geek. I'll spend hours doing research on php, perl, ruby, IPv6, gadgets, tech podcasts, linux...etc. To keep the impact down on the role of bread-winner, husband and dad; I try to squeeze my geek sessions in "under the radar", that's my euphemism for after kids bedtime, but before I just fall over exhausted.
I know this sounds like a whine session. But truth be told, if left to my own devices, I would probably find a way to get paid without going to work and just abuse my wireless to update my blog, research and listen to podcasts all day long :) I love this stuff so much that I have and would miss meals in order to watch sound drivers compile with my fingers crossed.
So, for self confessed geeks out there, just know that one day you can be like me, run yourself into the ground and take the occasional Sunday morning coma sleep-in to make up for it. The only other option is to get all the sleep you need once your dead. :( (I prefer option number 1)
--
CafeNinja
P.S. - Ubuntu kernel header updates.....get ready to recompile those drivers ;)
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