Archive for November, 2009
November 29, 2009 at 05:01 · Filed under On-the-go
November 24, 2009 at 08:11 · Filed under Personal
With the synergy (ugh manager talk, sorry) of media and television I often find myself wanting to consume laying down or on the couch. Currently I slap a laptop on the HDMI or something similar and stream hulu for a few minutes. It works, but so does driving with your eyes closed. The geek in me wants to run Linux on my media center so I began looking for a low powered Nvidia Ion based platform. Bestbuy had one:
http://bit.ly/4BYJer
When I started adding up the components for bluetooth, wifi, storage, and a remote the cost jumped. I ended up around 470 dollars and what would amount to a bundle of wires everywhere.
Wire Mess
At this point the laptop is just as nice an option with the amount of wires and dongles needed. I started to think about the Mac Mini as an option as the specs for the base model are about the same:
| Spec | Acer Revo | Mac Mini |
| CPU | Intel Atom 230 1.6 GHz | 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo |
| Memory | 1 GiB RAM | 2 GiB RAM |
| Hard Drive | 160 GiB | 160 GiB |
| Wireless | none | 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | none | 2.1 EDR |
| Optical | none | DVD-R/CD-R |
| Remote | none | IR Receiver installed |
Depending on where Black Friday pushes the prices, it looks like a Mac Mini for me. News to follow on the buildout
November 23, 2009 at 10:59 · Filed under Personal
At work I often get asked what UNIX/Linux I use. Truth of the matter is I am an OS harlot :) I run NeXTStep and Rhapsody for fun. When I buy systems I force myself to use them for at least 3 days online to learn them better. Anyways, below is the questionnaire on how I pick a distro/OS
- Do you want to use learn Linux for work?
- Do you want to actually learn the innards of Linux?
- Do you want to use Linux for day-to-day usage?
- Ubuntu, Debian, or OpenSuSE
- Do you want to use UNIX for day-to-day usage?
- Buy a Mac and install macports
- Do you want to use linux for development of bleeding edge packages?
- Do you want to learn UNIX, but hear a lot about Linux?
- FreeBSD is a better SysV learning platform
- Are you a paranoid security type?
- Did you buy a lot of old equipment on eBay or Craigslist and can’t stand the vendor OS?
- Are the type of person that has flashing lights and fans on your computer? Do you want matching bling in software?
- Are you building a server for home?
- Are you building a file server to run NetApp out of town?
- Are you building that same file server but Solaris packages make you want to poke your eyes out?
- Are you doing embedded systems for a special project?
- Building a wireless mesh network with captive portals?
- Or in the end you are as geeky as Nick and change OS like you change clothes
- Build a Vmware/Xen server and run them all
November 22, 2009 at 06:55 · Filed under Personal
I was in a bit of a predicament for the past few months. I live in DC and the girlfriend lives in Richmond. Being a somewhat busy dude (60 hours a week the usual) I need my internet. Work provided me a AT&T ExpressCard GT Ultra which is worthless. I even purchased a cradlepoint in hopes that the card just sucked in Linux and Mac. Nope, it sucks with everything.
My requirements for broadband were simple, no install wait and quick enough to stream a webex session while checking email. iPhone tethering was working, but I needed something more standard and supportable. Comcast and DSL were worthless as they wanted contracts and long lead times for install. Clearwire and Sprint 4g were my options to weigh out:
- Clearwire
- Cheaper monthly fee and no-commitment contract possibility
- “Modem” as they call it requires no drivers
- Signal in short pump was labeled as good
- 10-15 minute sign up fee and install
- BUT – can’t take the modem with me and use it JUST on my laptop. PC-Card was expensive
- SLOW compared to Sprint
- Sprint 4g
- Much faster than Clearwire (mind boggling as they share the same WiMAX infrastructure)
- USB card was both 3g and 4g so I could take it anywhere
- BUT – u300 USB has no Linux or Mac Drivers
- Yearly contract and 70 dollar monthly fee was too much to swallow
In the end ClearWire won and after a month of usage I am very happy with the service. Finding the “sweet” spot for coverage was a 20 minute exercise, but with 4 Bars of signal I get decent pings and bandwidth. My girlfriend’s brother uses xBox live when I am not busy with work and has had no problems. I highly recommend a router capable of QoS so that you can make best use of the 1.5Mib package (or 2 for you fancy folks) while sharing a connection. I’d rate the service 4 out of 5 stars.
With 2 bars worth of signal (bad weather…) I usually get around 1200 down
2 bars of service
November 22, 2009 at 05:01 · Filed under On-the-go
Next entries »
