Categories
Uncategorized

Asus Eee PC

I’m interested in the Asus Eee PC. Very interested. In fact, if I can get one before the end of the year for around $300, I probably will.

Since the iBook died, and the Wallstreet is pretty much useless, I’ve been thinking about what I’d like (and what I need) in a mobile computing device. Since I manage servers, and really need to access the net at various unknown times, and on occasion need something to take with me, I first looked at the Nokia 770. I saw this device when it was released, but didn’t really look too closely because of the price. Once the N800 came out, the 770 dropped in price and I looked a bit more closely. Technology moves fast, so when the N810 came out, the price on the N800 dropped and I considered that over the 770. I still think they are great devices, and I’m a big Nokia fan, but I’m not sure any of these would suit my needs.

Asus Eee PC

At BarCampMilwaukee2 I had heard Matt and Blake talk about the Asus Eee PC. Once I looked at it, it looked sweet! Since Matt and I are both victims of Apple lack of quality in building laptops that last, it seems we are both looking at the Eee PC as a small, cheap alternative to a traditional laptop.

Yes, I did say cheap. While I’d love a MacBook or MacBook Pro, I cannot easily justify the cost. I work on desktop machines most of the time, probably 95% of the time, but for that 5% where I would really like to be mobile, I can justify $200-$500. That amount won’t even get a used/reliable Mac laptop.

I’m still waiting for reviews to roll in, but so far, things are looking good. This may be the first new non-Apple computer I’ve bought in the last 10 years or so.


Categories
Uncategorized

BarCampMilwaukee2: Success!

Well, somehow we pulled off another BarCamp in Milwaukee, and now BarCampMilwaukee2 is over.

A huge thanks goes out to the people and the sponsors who made it happen, without them, there would have been no BarCampMilwaukee2. Will we do it again? Oh yes… In fact, we had a session yesterday for the planning of BarCampMadison2, and if all goes well, that will happen in the Spring of 2008. There was a guy there from Green Bay who is also interested in doing one up there. We are also (tentatively) planning a DrupalCamp for January of 2008. It would be a much smaller and focused one day event. We’re pretty sure we can do this at a relatively low cost, and if it works, we can look at doing other *Camps. I tossed out the idea of KidCamp and at least a few people liked the sound of that. (The idea being, kids are often more creative than adults so so what can we learn from them?)

Clint, Zon, and The Illustrious Bean

All in all, it was a great time, and many new connections were made. We even launched a web site at ihatetreehouses.info (Story coming soon on that one!)

You want photos? Oh yes, Flickr has many with the tag barcampmilwaukee2. (We convinced most people to use Creative Commons licenses with their images.)

I was going to call this post “BarCampMilwaukee2 is over” but really, it’s not. There is follow-up to do and take-away to discuss. As time allows, I’ll be posting more on specific session and ideas and things that happened, so stay tuned.




Categories
Uncategorized

Greasemonkey

I’ve uploaded a Greasemonkey script to Userscripts.org. It’s called WebGrader Link Rewriter and it takes the goofy Javascript used by WebGrader.com and makes real links you can click on and open in a new tab/window. I made it because the developers of the site wrote what I consider poor code.

I should note that I contacted the company that develops WebGrader a few weeks back and said I could suggest improvements in their system, and they replied to me pretty welcoming. I have not gotten back to them yet, as I’ve been busy, but writing this script took me about 10 minutes. (Yes, I pretty much copied an existing script someone wrote to fix Haloscan comment links.)

Userscripts.org looks pretty awesome for those of us who want to put fixing sites into our own hands. I would like to be able to choose a license when uploading a script but hey, I’ll forgive that for now. (Maybe it’s all public domain? I dunno…)

I do worry that Greasespot “The weblog about Greasemonkey” hasn’t been updated since May 2007. I hope it’s not abandoned. Then again, I should look around more, since I’m new to this. There is also a wiki at wiki.greasespot.net I should explore.


Categories
Uncategorized

Computing Like it’s 2002!

Since the iBook died (R.I.P. and if you are keeping track, that’s 2 Macs that have died so far in 2007) it was time to revive the old Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet) and get computing!

The last time I even mentioned it was 2004 when the power adapter needed repair. After that I had a G3 iBook from work to use, until I didn’t, then I just stuck the old Wallstreet in the office to be forgotten, except when I stole RAM from it last year.

Well, it’s back folks! I am now using a Powerbook G3 running Mac OS X 10.1.5, and I’m trying to get apps on it. So far I have Firefox 1.0.7, and jEdit 4.1something on it, and am trying to find a version of Adium or Fire that will run on it. I think I’m stuck with Terminal.app over iTerm too… Sheesh, talk about the dark ages! I don’t even want to think about Thunderbird.

Wifi? Well, sort of… thanks to wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net and an old wifi card I had laying around. One problem, the card does not work with WEP, so while I can use it in my own house (by turning off WEP and restricting to MAC addresses) using it out and about is pretty much impossible without an ethernet cable. I also tried a USB PC card and a USB wifi adapter, but that didn’t work. I’d actually consider getting a wifi card that would work with WEP (and Mac OS X 10.1.5) if I could find one for cheap enough.

Anyway, I am mobile again… if you consider “mobile” sitting on the couch browsing the web very slowly.



Categories
Uncategorized

BarCampMilwaukee2: In 1 Week

There’s just one week until we kick-off BarCampMilwaukee2. It has all the makings of a great event. As of right now there are 180+ people signed up to attend, there are a ton of great session ideas, and thanks to the generous donations of all of our sponsors, we can afford to provide free shirts to everyone who pre-registered (before Oct. 1st, 2007) and we should be able to provide food for all who come as well. (This should let people focus on the event and not worry about where to go for a meal.)

I’m really proud of, and thankful to, the people who stepped up to do all the little things involved in getting ready for this event. Even with the load being distributed, I still feel like I have a million things to do. Presentations? I’m not sure if I’ll have anything prepared ahead of time. That’s OK, I’ve gotten used to winging it. The next week is going to be insane for me, and then I’m out of town for a few days right after BarCamp. Don’t worry though, we’re already planning the next *Camp. (I’m personally aiming for DrupalCamp…)

So one more time, in case I haven’t overdone it: BarCampMilwaukee2 will take place Saturday October 13th, 2007 through Sunday October 14th, 2007 at the Schlitz Park Center, 1555 Rivercenter Dr. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event will run non-stop from Saturday morning at 10AM until Sunday afternoon at 4PM. (You are welcome to attend any time you are available.) Visit barcampmilwaukee.com for more info, and to sign-up.