Ed "The Computer Wizard"

I have just updated the WordPress version from 2.6.2 to 2.7.  I made backups, but it looks like all I have to do is disable and reactivate Featurific.  I also have to change some permissions to make that work again.  All in all, pretty painless.

The Admin page is well laid out, and I really like the feel of this version.

I received a NetBook for Christmas, it was at the top of my list this year.  I was leaning toward the MSI Wind for it’s easy hackintosh dual boot ability.  In the end my wife selected the HP Mini 1000 for me.

I like the Solid State Hard Drive, it boots incredibly fast.  It only came with 1gig of memory, but that is a restriction Microsoft puts on OEMs that are selling Windows XP on NetBooks.  I checked the hardware with SIW (System Information for Windows) and it looks like the motherboard will recognize up to 4gb of RAM.  A quick look around the Internet and I can a 2GB module for about $25, or a 4GB module for about $35.  I think I’m going to spring for the 4GB stick.

I spent a lot of time filling up the hard drive, but I did manage to install DreamWeaver, BlogDesk, RocketDock, Opera 10 Alpha, HappyFish, Trillian, Think Free Mobile, PowerArchiver, SlickRun, VLC Player, Paint .net,, and a several other apps.  So, I should be twittering and posting to this blog from this handy little device.

I’m having a lot of fun with the HP Mini so far, and I hope to make this my mobile replacement.  It’s right at 2 pounds, so I don’t even notice it in my backpack.  I think I will want to get a good wireless mouse, though.  I don’t really like track-pads, but this isn’t bad.  I thought the side button placement would bug me, but it is realwebcamy to get used to.

There is a built in webcam, so I can make vids for my 12 seconds account.

Any NetBook tips or tricks that you want to share?  How about some slimmed down apps, that are easy on screen real estate and system resources?  Let me know in the comments.

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  Well it looks like the support team at Total Choice Hosting were able to get things running for me.  I didn’t think this blog was ever going to work.  Now that the back end stuff is finally fixed, I’m going to take some time to customize the appearance.  I’m just using the classic wordpress theme, but I’ll have my own soon.

So, stay tuned.  There’s much, much more to come!

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Since Apple was able to get Psystar's countersuit kicked out (http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10923) unless they can come up with a more convincing argument, there is a lot of chatter around this subject.....again.

So, here is my take on this.  First of all, I was using the Mac OS back when the Mac was a one piece black and white little bugger with a funny looking mouse.  I've been using Microsoft's various operating systems just as long.  I have experience with many distros of Linux, as well as BeOS and OS2/Warp.  I think that I can be somewhat unbiased in this post because I can see the good and bad points of all of these products.

The arguments I have read around the web are generally not thought out and can even be quite humorous.  For instance, I have seen a lot of people stating that Psystar should lose because they are "putting a Ferrari engine in a Pinto / Volkswagen / Yugo, etc).  Well here is an example of an argument that is not thought out.  The posters are stating that a clone uses inferior hardware and that this will detract from the user’s experience. 

Let's think about this.  If I take an average off the shelf computer and a Mac Mini and compare the guts what would I see?  Well, if I am to believe what I have read, almost every component in the PC should be well below par on a computer of equal price.  To prove my point, I will BEAT the Apple price with equivalent or better parts.  I am using the Mac Mini because that is Psystar’s target consumer. 

There you have it, newer processor, larger hard drive, every port that a MAC has, and then some, including 3 Firewire!  Mac is sporting only one.  Oh, and just to be a smart ass, I threw in a refurbished Dell LCD Monitor!  The Mac is BYOM!  No mouse and keyboard, because I would just hook this to my KVM and use my Saitek keyboard anyway.  The specs above include Windows XP Home or Vista Home Basic., but I could have bumped it to Vista Home Premium for $29.95 more. 
Two quick points here. 

The video card, 64mb or shared memory?  Really?

The hard drive, 5400RPM?  What is this, left over laptop drives?


Another argument is that is thrown out quite often is that Microsoft and Sony are not required to let you install the X-Box 360 OS or the PS2 OS on other systems, so why should Apple have to allow it?


The X-Box analogy doesn't work and here's why.  Go to Amazon.com and search for "OS X" and you will see that you can buy the OS for a little over $100.  Now, Search for "X Box 360 OS" and you will see that it is not a stand alone, shrink wrapped, available on every computer reseller’s shelf product.


The OS that the X-box, Zune and PlayStation use are tied to the hardware because they are ONLY sold with the hardware.  If you shrink warp it and sell it all over the place then the consumer should have the right to use it as they see fit, even if that is not in line with Steve Jobs' vision.


Many people LOVE the look and feel of a MacBook.  This leads to the third Mac user argument; the “overall user experience.”  I can see the point that is trying to be made here.  Everything looks nice and works like it should.  There is nothing wrong with that, but what if the integrated hardware is not something you want?  How easy is it to change or upgrade these devices?  Let’s just say that Apple has their planned obsolescence model based around this inability, ‘nuff said?


Personally I can't stand the keyboard on the Mac laptops (especially the Air) and would rather use OS X on hardware that suits me.  Sorry Senior Jobs, I think the MacBook Air stinks and would rather use an MSI Wind with OS X.  The EULA?  Oh, that’s simple.  It states that you can not install the software on a non Apple labeled machine.  I have Apple stickers, so problem solved.


Seriously, why does he even care?  Apple gets money from the OS sale, granted it's not the overly marked up price that they get for hardware, but a small sale is better than no sale!  This will also increase visibility.  Increased visibility means that others will start looking at Apple hardware as an option as well.


I may be missing something, but what do you think?

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Still fighting with FCKEditor, I can get the toolbar to show up now, but the buttons are all grey boxes.  Arrghhhh

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So, I have a great post I wanted to upload, that’s when I discovered that WordPress does not like tables, spreadsheets, etc…

After digging around a little, I found this Plugin that looked like it would fix the problem for me. It’s called FCKeditor and is available here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/fckeditor-for-wordpress-plugin/

Well, I think something is failing when I ftp the files to my server, because the buttons don’t have any pictures on them and when I preview my post, all I see is the title. It looks great in the editor though, so I think I will keep fighting with this for now.

Anyone ever run across this issue?

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