Returning from ‘08 is one of my favorites, You Look Nice Today: A Journal of Emotional Hygiene.  A hilarious and absurd bit of comedy from the brilliant minds of Merlin Mann, Scott Simpson, and Adam Lisagor, YLNT is an ever evolving hodgepodge of weirdness.  In one episode they’ll be developing a brand new dance move, and reminiscing about the poor fashion choices of their youth.  Well worth listening to. iTunes / RSS

Another one that’s withstood the test of time is This American Life, a creation of WBEZ Chicago, TAL has host Ira Glass and his team of producers, reporters, and creative people telling stories that make America great.  They run the gamut from funny and sincere, to poignant and thought-provoking, to heartbreakingly tragic or just plain outrageous.  Best of all, it’s entirely true. iTunes / RSS

TWIG a.k.a. This Week In Google is part of Leo Laporte’s “network” of webcasts and podcasts that discuss various aspects of tech in society.  Specifically hosts Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Gina Trapani spend time digging up rumors, interviews, and insight into cloud technologies and news about the Big G.  A new add. iTunes / Site

Jordan, Jesse, Go! is a more subdued cousin to You Look Nice Today.  Hosted by Jordan “Boy Detective” Morris and Jesse “America’s Radio Sweetheart” Thorn, JJG! is a spiritual successor to their old college version of the very successful Sound of Young America.  Guests become entangled with Jordan and Jesse’s bizarre improvisations and their strong Internet community leads to call-ins describing ‘momentous occasions’ such as witnessing roller-blading goth kids, as well as special listener activities and projects. iTunes / RSS

I hope you’ve enjoyed, and I highly recommend giving each of these a chance, they’re well worth the time.  You may laugh or learn something new, and who couldn’t use more of both?

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After checking out a few guides and how-tos, I enlisted the help of Phil.  Here’s what I needed to get the job done:

• A computer already running OSX: easier than handling any weirdness or needing an external DVD drive, enterprising techs cobbled together a very helpful program to copy the install DVD to a flash drive
• A Dell Mini 9 (or 10v) you can score the Mini 9 on Dell’s Outlet site refurbished for >$300, look around for one that suits your needs.  The Mini 10v is a slightly larger model with a few more bells and whistles and a crisper screen.

  

• flash drive (~8GB): needs to have a decent capacity to handle all the data being moved over to it

  

• A retail copy of OSX: It’s only $30 and you might as well support Apple, it will at least ease some of the guilt for breaking/bending the EULA

  

• Optional (but recommended): 2GB of RAM for the Mini 9, a 8-cell battery, as well as at least a 16GB HD, though bigger is better.  I’ve got a 64GB SSD installed in mine and it set me back ~$200. They’re even cheaper these days.

The install was fairly painless.  The Netbook BootMaker app made the process as easy as clicking and dragging the disk image to the app, pointing it to the flash drive, and waiting. Twenty minutes later the flash drive had OSX on it, ready to pop into my Mini 9.  After a reformat and partition-creation process the install took about an hour or so; thankfully I remembered to bring my power cord, as the stock battery on the Mini 9 isn’t working so hot these days. Boot time is about the same as Jolicloud or Windows XP, around a minute, which isn’t terrible, and I can run multiple apps simultaneously without any slowdown.
After a few more steps I had OSX installed on my Mini 9.  It’s been an interesting experience so far.  I really, really like the unified aesthetic of both the system apps as well as the third-party programs I’ve installed.  If I had one gripe it would be about the keyboard of the Mini 9.

The keyboard, to put it bluntly, is only for dainty-fingered folk such as myself, with a lilliputian layout and some odd descions as to where to put the quotation key, as well as a tiny Alt key, and miniature Shift keys.  As such using some keyboard shortcuts like CMD+C and CMD+V take some getting used to.

Alt-Tabbing doesn’t work the same as Windows, which takes some getting used to.  If an app is taking up the full screen and you Alt-Tab to another, it won’t necessarily bring it’s windows into focus.  I suppose it makes sense from one perspective, perhaps if you needed to pull information or content from the first app into the second, but it’s still a bit odd.  The Exposé corners helps to alleviate this, though.  Each corner of the screen acts as a hotspot for different Exposé actions, like displaying all open windows, hiding all and displaying the desktop as well as a few other features.
So, for under the same price as an iPad you get a fully functional version of OSX Snow Leopard in a solid, portable device.  Who says netbooks aren’t good at anything?

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Winterboard is the number one jailbreak theming app, allowing you to create custom backgrounds and icons, as well as modifying additional UI elements to your heart’s content. Notice the custom alert badge and five-icon dock.

Above is a combination of two different apps, Backgrounder and Kirikae. Backgrounder, as the name suggests, allows you to run multiple apps at the same time on the iPhone. Instead of having to close out of one, open another, then close out the second to reopen the first, apps are stored in memory. Kirikae puts a solid UI and Windows-like Taskmanager onto Backgrounder, creating a list of favorites for quick-switching and killing backgrounded apps. A must-have for any jailbroken iPhone. The second screenshot includes customized ‘flags’ to indicate what apps are running in the background on the springboard.

One of the biggest quirks of the iPhone is that in order to turn on and off functions like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, you had to dig through several pages of settings to reach their toggles. Jailbreak app SBSettings is an excellent solution. With a single swipe across the top panel of the iPhone, an attractive (and themeable!) UI slides down, with a number of options now just a swipe away.

Finally, there is Orbit, a very slick jailbreak app for quickly moving between pages on your iPhone. Instead of swiping back and forth through up to twelve pages of apps, Orbit creates a Mac-like Exposé view all of your pages, allowing you to jump quickly from your homescreen to your last screen in just two taps.

This is the first of probably a few writeups on the iPhone I’ll be doing since it’s my new Favorite Toy, so expect more sometime soon, likely about some of my favorite apps, both jailbroken and otherwise.

Feel free to throw me some questions or comments!

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that’s been around for several years now, wherein you ‘tweet’ status updates, thoughts, complaints, etc. I’ve been using it mostly to chat with friends, get advice from other users, and keep up with news on various products and projects I’m interested in.  Lately, however, I’ve found a wonderful new use for it:  Customer Service.  After having issues with both UPS shipping and Comcast cable and voicing a few idle complaints, their Customer Service staff, @ThomasAtUPS and @ComcastBill, respectively reached out to help.  Within a few minutes both had supplied me with email addresses to their CSR team and I was able to get my issues resolved within hours, without having to listen to hold music or navigate phone trees.  Many claim Twitter is ‘useless, and only good for the vapid and the vain’ but I’ve found it’s a great way to get information and help.  Hopefully more companies will follow in UPS and Comcast’s footsteps and start helping their customers out, 140 characters at a time.

Netbooks! They’re a new class of personal computers designed to work as an accessory to a main laptop or desktop computer. Ranging from 7″ to 12″ screens, they’re typically underpowered when compared to a standard laptop, but can run common programs and operating systems well enough to surf the net, hammer out a quick email, watch a Youtube vid and chat with your friends. Some use a traditional HD, while some of the newer ones use a solid state drive. One of the advantages of a SSD is improved battery life and less chance of wear-and-tear as there are no moving parts. However, SSD prices and capacity are way higher and lower, respectively, than a physical hard disk in the current market. Speaking of price, most models are dirt cheap, roughly $300, though more often than not you can track down some of the older eeePCs and Dell Minis on the cheap. I’ve seen some of the original eeePCs on sale for as little as $150.

So who makes these things?

A number of different companies have jumped into the netbook market, the biggest being Asus with their eeePC line of netbooks, with more than a dozen different flavors and varieties for sale. Dell has four different netbooks available right now, the Dell Mini line, including 9″, 10″, 11″, and 12″ models for sale. There’s also smaller companies releasing their own unique netbooks, like Always Innovating, with their TouchBook.

So, what kind of operating systems can be run on a netbook, anyway?

Damn near anything you want to throw onto it, though some are easier to install than others, with the biggest hurdle being that most netbooks lack a optical drive. An external drive will make things easier, but most OSes can be installed from a decent-sized thumbdrive (~8GB is preferred.) A majority come with Windows XP already installed on them. Programs like UNetbootin make it easy, automatically downloading the proper CD Images and configuring them for you. In addition a number of guides have been put together by folks from Gizmodo and Lifehacker to get your preferred OS onto your tiny computer.

As stated above, most netbooks have XP on them by default, as it’s suited to their lower-end specs. In addition, Microsoft’s latest OS, Windows 7 has been tailored for use on netbooks, with the Windows 7 Release Candidate available, free to use until mid-next year. Here’s an excellent guide on how to install Windows 7 on damn near any netbook on the market today (provided you have the space on your HD for it.)

“Whaaaah?” Yes OSX can and will run on several different netbooks, with the Dell Mini 9 being the most OSX-friendly one available as of now, according to several reviewers (at least until Apple releases their own device.) Be warned, however, that the installation of OSX on a netbook violates the EULA of the software. If you don’t mind the bending of the law, Gizmodo put together another great guide for installing it on the Mini 9, as well as one for the eeePC.

It’s free! However, Linux is not for the faint of heart. Oftentimes it requires a number of additional bits of configuration and tweaking to run how you want it to. The most popular Linux distribution is Ubuntu, a community-supported desktop OS with a slick layout and prides itself on being a bit snappier than other OSes. Fair warning, however, that some software isn’t supported by it, though there are often free user-created alternatives. Ubuntu itself has spawned several alternatives, each with it’s own pros and cons. Ubuntu 9.04 codename: Jaunty Jackalope: released just last month, Jaunty is the newest edition of the Ubuntu operating system. There haven’t been huge changes from the previous version, Intrepid Ibex, but enough that it’s worth updating. Ubuntu has a 6-month development cycle, with the next update to be released this October, codename Karmic Koala; Karmic has been touted as ‘extremely netbook friendly, with an emphasis on speedy boot times, reliability, and cloud-oriented computing services’

• Ubuntu 9.04: the standard OS, usable on desktops and portable computers alike.
• Ubuntu Netbook Remix: designed with netbooks in mind, UNR provides an icon-based GUI for your netbook.
• Linux Mint: Developed concurrently with Ubuntu on a slightly different release schedule, Mint provides a clean, friendly desktop environment good for the first-time Linux user.
• Jolicloud: not much is known about Jolicloud, to be released this summer. So instead, here’s a pretty picture:

Useful programs and utilities designed for netbooks:

• GMABooster [Windows and Linux]- overclocks the processor of netbooks, allowing them to run some games and apps they wouldn’t normally be capable of running. CAUTION: there is a chance it could lead to burning out your processor or bricking your netbook. Remember to turn it off when you don’t need the extra processing power.
• GNOME-Do [Linux]: inspired by OSX’s Quicksilver launcher, some folks created Do. Do works as an app launcher, but includes a growing number of plugins allowing you to add events to your Google Calendar, generate searches from the desktop, create emails, post to Twitter, upload photos to Flickr, and control your media player.
• Dell Mini 9 BIOS Flash Utility [Dell Systems Only, need at least one machine running Windows]: Some folks have had trouble upgrading the BIOS on their Dell Mini systems; this utility helps with that process. *USE AT YOUR OWN RISK*
• Rocketdock [Windows Only]: A dock program designed to make navigating your system easier, and it looks snazzy to boot.
• Launchy [Linux, Windows]: Launchy is another application launcher that had a number of configurable plugins and skins.

Useful Websites For the Netbook User

• Official Ubuntu Forums: great for support for anyone using Ubuntu on their system, plenty of people who will help you out, albeit with an air of snootyness.
• Ubuntu Mini: great site for folks using Ubuntu on the Dell Mini 9, with tips, guides and suggestions on how to get it running smoothly. While tailored to Mini users, a number of the tips and suggestions will work on any system running Ubuntu.
• mydellmini: another great resource for folks using the Dell system, using any OS.
• eeeuser: forum community for eeePC users with guides and tips.

In other computer-related news, I recently purchased the Fallout Collection from Good Old Games, an online distributor of old or out of publication games.  DRM-Free and packed with bonus extras, GOG.com manages to keep the price low and permits me to do whatever I want with the game; no tracking down patches, no dubious hacks to get it running.  A simple install and it’s up and running.  Fallout is a game I’ve been meaning to play with earnest for years now, but never sat down long enough to get into it.  The groundbreaking post-apocalyptic tale that set the standard for many post-apocalypses to come has an antiquated charm about it.  The controls are clunky and a bit obtuse, the inventory system is atrocious; and yet, I find myself enamored with the dilemma of choosing between carring that extra few clips of ammo or that spare shotgun.  Combat is slow going and enemy and ally AI aren’t the sharpest shivs on the cellblock, as likely to hit friendly targets as they are foes.  Altogether, though, the game is fun in spite of it’s dated controls and graphics.  Nothing is more satisfying that targeting an enemy’s eyes and blowing them to gooey, bloody chunks with a burst of semiautomatic pistol fire.

• small – 9″ screen, ~9″x7″x3/4″
• light  - less than 2lbs, easily carried in one hand

I can throw this little guy into my bag and take it damn near anywhere.  Upgraded to 2GB of RAM, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 8GB SSD (small, I know, but the Mini 9 includes a card reader, so I can expand, and there’s always the option of installing a larger one), even a tiny integrated webcam for Skype. All of this for the modest price of $260. [mine was a refurbished model, though there have been numerous sales on new ones as of late to clear out stock to make way for the Mini 10, Mini 11, and Mini 12 models]

Currently I’m running Ubuntu 8.10, or ‘Intrepid Ibex’ as the cool kids say. One of the most popular flavors of Linux currently out there, it worked right out of the box, aside from a few kinks that were easily straightened out thanks to the active Ubuntu Community and fansite UbuntuMini.  Boot-up averages around 45 seconds to just under a minute, which isn’t too shabby.  Many of the programs I used on my Windows desktop PC exist within the Linux environment, such as Firefox, VLC, GIMP, and Pidgin .  Using Mozilla’s Prism extension, I’ve created a number of SSB (single-site browser) applications (GMail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Reader, music-streaming service Lala.com, financial management site Mint.com, and other web-apps)  all of which are only a few context-sensitive keystrokes away thanks to the absolutely fantastic application launcher, GNOME-Do.

Getting used to the Mini 9 takes a little while.  The keyboard is significantly smaller than a full-sized one, and some of Dell’s choices in key placement are little unusual, to say the least.  I’ve often accidentally included semi-colons where they were not welcome, as well as unintentional taps on the Enter key.  The trackpad can be overly-sensitive at times,  but that’s just a matter of adjusting the settings.  After about a week or so of regular use I get by fairly well typing thing out messages and emails, but don’t expect to write the Great American Novel on it; maybe a few pages here and there, but leave the heavy workload for the desktop and a full-sized keyboard.

The Mini 9 is a great little machine, for a decent price.  If you’ve been considering a second (or third, in some cases) computer, good for couch-surfing, hotel stays, and general internet use, you could do a lot worse than the Mini 9.

Recently upgraded the RAM in my desktop from 1GB to 4GB (what a difference, seriously!)

As such, I also upgraded to Windows Vista, both to give it a try and to start from a ‘clean slate’ as my XP install had become littered with various throwaway one-time-use programs, bogging it down.  In addition to Vista x64  I also wanted to install the latest stable Ubuntu Linux build, 8.10, a.k.a. Intrepid Ibex.  The developers of Ubuntu have taken to giving each of their releases alliterative animal ‘code names’ such as Jaunty Jackalope and Hardy Heron.

It’s been a learning experience, to put it simply.  I’ve installed and reinstalled Vista and Ubuntu a few times now, once after messing up the Vista Boot Loader (which is a much bigger pain to edit, compared to the old XP boot.ini file) another time I didn’t properly set up my harddrive partitions and unintentionally overwrote my already set-up Vista install (which means reinstalling my apps like World of Warcraft, all of my Valve games via Steam, etc.)

This morning I’ve done a bit more research on dual-booting, and found some really handy instructions, which I’ll link at the end of the post.  Hopefully this evening I’ll be able to get it all straightened out.  We’ll see.

Resources:

How to dual-boot Vista and Ubuntu - courtesy of apcmag.com

EasyBCD – highly rated program for simplifying the Vista Boot Loader’s compatibility with Ubuntu.

First off, there’s the very short list a daily email service that brings to your inbox a variety of interesting articles and topics.  The subscriptions are broken down into several categories, such as the general Very Short List, a tech-centric one, VSL:Science, and a third tipping you off to stuff going on on the ‘net, VSL:Web.  There are also several more on the way from VSL, including specific emails on food, books, and even one for children.  It’s through one of VSL’s emails that I was introduced to my next subject. . .

Seventy-three years ago a young German man named Ernst Gombrich, a recent college graduate with little prospects, was challenged by a friend to write a history book for younger audiences.  Within six weeks Gombrich ferverently plotted out “A Little History of The World.”   The book became an immediate success, and as time has passed it’s been translated into twenty-four languages.   “A Little History” has only just been translated into English.  I’ve only a little ways into the book, containing only forty short chapters covering prehistory up to the last days of WWII, his style is both whimsical and informative.  The book reads as an entertaining story, without beating the reader over the head with names and dates, perfect for young people.

Finally, I was introduced to the band Mother Mother by a good friend. I’ve given their first album, “Touch Up,” a few listens and it’s good.  A somewhat obscure band from Canada, Mother Mother has a fun attitude and some strangely harmonious vocals. Their tracks have a solid energy overall, with only a few ‘misses’ in my opinion.  Their second album, “O My Heart” was released earlier this year.  Give’em a listen.

Why’s this handy for me, you ask?   My PC spends most of it’s time idle while I’m away at work.  With Gbridge I could set it up to begin converting or encoding music or video, and it would be ready by the time I came home.

It’s also a nice solution for remote tech support without having to get into the guts of VPN stuff.

Anyway, it’s pretty cool, so check it out.