Smaller but Available Everywhere: more DIY Netbook Thoughts

Clearly I have small netbooks on the brain. After writing the DIY blog entry I found the following entry about how to do “netbooks” with something like an iPhone that I wrote on my flight a week ago to LA:

Just spent several cramped hours in economy class writing on my mbp. My laptop and I need to lose some weight. I could type but it was difficult using the track-pad. A privacy screen on the LCD might have been nice, but I couldn’t fully open the laptop because the passenger in front of me was tipped all the way back, so the privacy screen would have backfired on me. Something XO-1 sized would have worked. Or maybe a foldable Bluetooth keyboard with a detachable stand to prop my iphone on. Or maybe something Kindle-sized but less “Soviet” era in the style department. I’m tempted but I don’t want to go back to Windows. And I want to have my Zinio magazine subscriptions and my documents on the thing. I guess I need to put more of my ongoing work up in the cloud. But what do I do about the fact that my workflow in everything except my blog goes through a mac app from Circus Ponies called Notebook. Stuff that I want to be able to edit across platforms and on multiple machines is done on Evernote. Damn. I’m spoiled. jbb

P.s. Next time I pack goodies for the flight I need to transfer the goodies to a pocket I can easily reach. I mean why wear cargo pants if I’m not going to fill all the pockets? Camera bag under the seat might as well be with the checked in luggage. Lesson learned. I’m really hungry right now.

All errrorrs courtesy my iPhone

DIY Mac Netbooks?

While every mac-fan podcaster I know continues to pine away for Apple to introduce a low-cost small-sized notebook, commonly referred to as a netbook, I heard the most amazing podcast from Victor Cajiao, the Typical Mac User Podcast, where he loaded the Mac operating system on to an Asus Eee PC (one of the more popular netbook PCs) (Episode 155). Yeah, DIY Mac Netbook. Victor said that a friend got him up to speed, but that the details on how to do this can be found at the following link: “OSX86 on an Eee 1000H,” an article on the Eclipse Empire blog. Job’s said last Fall, after introducing the new “solid aluminum” Macbooks, that he couldn’t see anyone putting out a $500 laptop that wasn’t a piece of junk. We’ll see at next week’s Macworld Expo whether that comment ends up with the “no one wants to watch video on an iPod” comment Jobs made some time before introducing the 5th gen video-enabled iPod. But if Apple continues to ignore this part of the market then there might be a number of us who will probably choose to boot up copies of Mac OSX on our tiny little Asus netbooks. jbb

The Lie of the 4th Screen

The following video was brought to my attention by a coworker as we both love watching stuff being presented at the TED conference. Alas, this video continues what I believe is a false cultural perception about the increasing general dehumanizing nature of technology. Admittedly it needs to be a bit bias, it’s a Nokia ad. But there is something that the ad misses about why these technologies succeed.

From the big screen to the small, the ad would have us believe that what was once shared (the big screen), was lost in the next two steps (TV & computers) but wonderfully recaptured in this latest iteration, specifically the N-Series Nokia devices. Um… bullshit.

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My Year with the OLPC - NR4PT

Around this time last year I was very excited to receive my OLPC (One Laptop per Child), called the XO-1. Having drunk the Negroponte gatorade I was endlessly frustrated with Dvorak and other tech journalists who kept their criticism of the XO-1 focused on either Negroponte’s eccentricities or the fact that the creators made it specifically to not be a Windows PC. The concept, begun at MIT’s Media Lab, that technology in education is not about training students to be little MS Office drones but to use computers to teach programming in order to teach thinking and communication seemed to waft past the XO-1’s dissenters. Leo Laporte and David Pogue got that the little green XO-1 wasn’t about attacking an untapped technology market, but was an humanitarian cause to bring the gift of technology to Third World classrooms.

In the ISTE Keynote address that I heard Negroponte introduce the XO-1 he quipped that they must be doing something right to have raised the ire of Intel and Bill Gates. Alas, maybe the joke in the end was on Negroponte when Intel promised to play fair but couldn’t resist the temptation to undercut Negroponte’s “humanitarian cause” and sell their competing kid-size ultra-light laptop, the Classmate, to the same countries Negroponte was trying to reach. So the Gospel according to Negroponte fell on deaf ears because the Win/Tel hegemony couldn’t hear the words for the vastness, opportunities and profits presented in possibility of harvesting the Third World educational/government technology nickel.

This holiday season the OLPC foundation is repeating their give one/get one campaign that I participated in last year to get my own XO-1, only this time they’re working with Amazon.com to get the word out and do the distribution. The commercials are very cute. My own XO-1 sits on a top shelf in my bedroom, part of my shrine to sentimental technology I’ve previously invested in (I really wish I had kept one of my old Kaypros to put in the shrine). I hate to think that Dvorak and the others might have been right after all.

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Everyone Wears a Uniform @ Friendly Confines

Not a great photo and not even close to showing the percentage of people who come to Friendly Confines sporting their favorite team uniforms. It’s also evident in the noise level and shouting and cheering how many partisans are in attendance. Go Bears! er… I mean Dolphins! jbb

One Just for Me

I have these two wonderful friends, Dan and Terri, who are always looking out for my happiness. They’re a young happily married couple, any two of which is an oddity these days and whenever we go out they’re always looking for a woman for me. It’s very endearing to me. So, several weeks ago, knowing that there was no talking them out of their self-appointed mission, I decided that the best way to deal with this was just to tell them specifically what I’m looking for. Fortunately we were at one of our favorite spots, Mellow Mushroom, where a young lady works who had caught my eye from the first time I’d gone there last summer. So I told Dan and Terri about the young lady, petite, curvy and bright. I added that it doesn’t have to be her, that I was just giving them an idea of my “preferences.” Good times. A week later, Terri met Dan and I at our other favorite place, Friendly Confines, and Terri made sure that our waitress that evening was up to my specs and when we got there Dan made sure to sell her on the wonderful fun she could have if she went to have sushi with yours truly. To the young lady’s credit she was playful and not overly creeped out. I didn’t have my business cards, so I gave her Dan’s card with my name and cell # and designated Dan as my “agent.” I have no illusions that anything will come of this, but it was fun to have my friends actively make the effort and look for someone based on my preferences. I’m one lucky dude. jbb

music: I Know Why by Sheryl Crow from the Wildflower CD

Not a Holiday Video: Bohemian Rhapsody

i found this video after watching a “holiday” video.. kind’a… Love it. enjoy. jbb

Shuffling Three Monitors

I love screen real estate. Duh. Like many other things there is no such thing as too much screen real estate. But there are always weird limitations. Pretty much all laptops have one port for one external monitor. I’ve added a USB converter from Gefen that gives me a second external monitor. Love all the screens. Alas, web video runs really slow on the USB connected monitor and DVD doesn’t run on it all. Also, iMovie won’t run with the USB monitor adapter connected and with the recent Final Cut Pro installation, I want to jump into more video editing but it’s unlikely that FCP will like running with the second USB monitor adapter attached. Additionally, even though my 32″ Vizio is by far the biggest screen, it has a lower screen resolution than the much smaller LCDs (1024 vs. 1440). So the plan was to use the big ol’ Vizio for DVD/Video playback, but make it detachable so that I can video edit with other monitor… ah, no go. So, I need to switch it all around, putting the mbp back in the middle, connect the DVI to the Vizio and connect the second monitor to the USB adapter for slow web browsing and email monitoring (No Video!!!). See what I go through to have such an amazing rig. jbb

SilentKeynote

Check out http://SilentKeynote.com to protest Apple’s decision 2 treat the apple community so poorly.

To See Eyes Shining - Why We Teach

It’s been a bit of a rough day today. Following confirming the announcement of Apple’s pullout of Macworld expo, I needed something to lift my spirits. Fortunately for me I had a link to the following video waiting for me, courtesy FS coworker Linda. Besides sharing several ideas also shared in his TED video and book, the Art of Possibility, we get an inspiring look at how Zander takes a technically proficient high school cellist and coaches him to dig much deeper to express a deeper beauty in the piece he played. One can never underestimate how important it is to move beyond technical proficiency and plug into the shared realm of potential. I fight the tears when I’m touched by that.

While in spirit to inspire… here’s a video that seems to start out as a simple street musician playing, “Stand by Me” and turns into something that combines the voices and talents of many musicians spread across to the whole world sharing a message of hope and connectedness. enjoy. jbb

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