SSD expansion to 32 or 64 GB - yeah, I know, a 32G SLC SSD costs just as much as the Eee PC and that's completely crazy. Yes, ok, I got it. I'll bookmark the link here anyway for future use. Who knows, maybe I'll still be overcome by the urge.
eeebuntu - available with Netbook Remix and classic Gnome. Should also have quite comprehensive drivers for the hardware.
Ubuntu Eee - one of the many Ubuntu-based EEE PC distributions. This one sounds very complete and uses the new Netbook Remix interface. According to forum comments, it also runs smoothly with all versions and has full drivers installed.
UMTS USB Sticks: with Xandros (Linux) OVERVIEW - and as I can see here, things still look pretty bad for my UMTS stick under Linux (I have the black thing from TMO), so I'll probably have to continue using Windows for now.
Abbyy FotoReader: OCR with the digital camera - not a bad idea at all. And could even be quite useful in combination with little-fatty (my Asus 901) and my upcoming digicam (which has a special document mode).
Report: Erotic entrepreneur stores T-Mobile customer database - the whole thing is getting more absurd and strange. Although admittedly, storing the 17 million Deutsche Telekom data sets with an erotic entrepreneur has a certain charm. Especially since he probably knows more about data protection and securing customer data than Deutsche Telekom apparently does ...
OLG Hamburg: RapidShare is liable as a co-contributor for copyright infringements - new from the Internet's nutty ideas. "RapidShare could, for example, exclude the use of its own service with dynamic IP addresses and require users to use static IP addresses without the intervention of a proxy server." - clear, because there are also rows of static IPs for users with dynamic dial-up. Here the donkey is kicking the camel: Rapidshare is anything but rapid if you are not already registered, and IMO really dispensable. Just like the opinion of the OLG Hamburg on various Internet topics.
Orbited – Networking for the Web - an interesting project that offers communication channels over other protocols for web applications via HTTP and JavaScript.
Unity creates games and 3D applications for the iPhone [Update] - ouch, the price for the iPhone option is quite steep. However, Unity is quite an interesting story, so this could lead to some new games. And particularly interesting: Unity also supports network games and has basic functions in the server for persistent worlds (though you still have to do a lot of programming yourself). Could definitely cause some stir. But for my hobby budget definitely outside the realm of reason.
Well, for a few days now I have a cute Asus EEE-PC 901 at home. The thing rocks! I thought I'd stick with Windows, so I can at least use some of the familiar programs and sync my bookmarks between the Safaris, etc. And what happens? Apple is a total failure.
First of all: I don't use an admin account under Windows, I use a normal account and only the admin for installation. For this I have also set up my own admin, as I wanted to put my user profiles on drive D: due to the stupid partitioning of the SSD. It all works quite well. But Apple has dumb ears.
On the one hand, Apple still messes around on drive C:. Then I can't specify for all installers that they should install to D:, instead they install on the system partition. Or iTunes: it demands the installer on the disk in the admin's home directory (which was not readable for others before), to then locally install something (whatever) for the user. If that would work, ok. But it doesn't - iTunes runs through the entire installation sequence with searching for MP3s and all that crap every time it starts.
And setting my iTunes media library to another drive doesn't work either - my 16G Class 6 SDHC will probably remain locked for iTunes, because the library is always reset to D:. Rarely stupid.
And MobileMe? Well, it worked once and messed up my bookmarks, but since then it doesn't work anymore - the control panel takes my data and logs me in, but as soon as I reload the panel or go to the sync settings, my user data is supposedly incorrect. Rarely stupid.
All in all, Apple's offering for Windows leaves a rather pathetic impression - sure, some of it may be due to the non-admin user, or the profiles on drive D:, but hey, similar things exist on the Mac as well, and Apple handles them there. So what's lost on Windows?
Safari works well, but against Chrome it doesn't stand a chance on the small Asus box - too slow. Although Google also didn't exactly cover itself in glory with the Chrome installation, which is forced into the user profile (not changeable without hacks).
Do they want to force me to put Linux on the box? Then there's not even the temptation to look at Apple's stuff...
Update: with an admin user, iTunes works - even with the media library on the SDHC card. Do they have a total screw loose at Apple?
Update 2: After finding a tip in a web forum, I uninstalled all the iTunes stuff and QT and then started the Apple Software Updater under my normal account with "Run as..." and then with the admin user and installed iTunes and QT with it. Intuitive is something else, but at least iTunes now works with my non-privileged account. MobileMe still makes its fuss, though, despite installation via this method. Approaches to debug it? None. Oh, and of course the software ends up on C: again instead of D: ...
Oh yeah, and why the hell does every stupid installer put icons on the desktop without asking? Ok, some ask, but the ones from Apple - no. Bah.
17 million customer data stolen from T-Mobile - bad enough that so much data is circulating without the public knowing for 2 years. Embarrassing, however, is also the reaction of the press: the few celebrities stand out barely, with 17 million, but apparently they are much more important ...
Betrayed and sold - how was it again, Mr. Schäuble? Are the data safe with the state?
Tiny Nation Premiere - if anyone wants to see what you can do in SecondLife. Absolutely awesome Machinima.
Guppy-PE: A Python Programming Environment - and another tool that (among other things) helps analyze memory leaks. Also for Python.
Hypo Real Estate: Taxpayers step in to fill the gap - sounds all incredibly professional again ...
Landtagswahl in Bayern: CSU loses absolute majority - there are simply news items that you like to read. Again and again. A lot of entertainment value is coming our way!
PySizer - a memory profiler for Python - interesting tool, one should take a closer look at it. Maybe not entirely stupid for finding memory leaks.
Wal-Mart latest store to shut DRM key servers - and the next DRM debacle. After Microsoft (who backed out) and Yahoo now Wal-Mart.
Neat Image /Mac - best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners on Mac - blogged for future reference, as I might need it.
papert: logo in your browser - had I already had that? Doesn't matter. It's nice, can be linked multiple times. Logo in JavaScript in the browser.
Zabel steps down from cycling - but still rides in the Münsterland-Giro on October 3rd - should I go to the city to watch the final laps?
AK Vorrat publishes secret data exchange agreement - with what our politicians are doing and how they trample the constitution and civil rights, we don't even need terrorists anymore. Soon politicians can justify any nonsense by referring to the nonsense of their predecessors. Recursive dumbing down. And who did it? The crazy wheelchair user and the federal incompetence.
GTK+ on OSX - maybe this is finally the first step towards a native version of GIMP. Although there will probably still be some visual shocks for Mac users - the X mindset is still deeply ingrained in many programs.
IBM warns standards bodies to shape up - this could be the storm that ISO and ECMA have sown with the OOXML nonsense.
Leica S2 with 56% larger sensor than full frame: - oomph. Oh - what will this thing cost? Probably two arms and two legs.
Sigma announces DP2 large sensor compact - will the new processor improve the DP1's poor performance? That would be desirable, as the DP1 is quite good in many areas in terms of image quality - only its terrible performance causes the subject to fall asleep before the photo is taken. If the new processor helps, that could be a nice leap forward for Sigma.
Home Page for ATS - interesting functional programming language with eager evaluation and special support for imperative concepts and parallel programming. Particularly interesting: their compiler currently beats C++ in the Language Shootout - generates faster code.
MailWrangler and the Apple App Store - Apple really has a screw loose. How many flashlight programs are there in the Apple Store? But a gmail-Auth-Switcher - which would really be damn useful, I love MailPlane on my desktop - is not allowed in?
Making (some) sense out of sensor sizes - because I always look for this from time to time, finally blogged.
tms - a very useful command line tool for Leopard, with which you can look very detailed into TimeMachine backups and find out what the hell was actually backed up there. Helpful when you're sitting there again and wondering why the stupid system wants to back up 1.3 GB now (probably it was the system upgrade) ...
Confidentiality, integrity and verifiability - with whom? - "Private service providers are to join forces to form a network of certified citizen portals, which is to be financed either by savings in the economy and administration, for example by eliminating the need to send invoices, or by an "E-Porto". - thanks, but no thanks.
Clozure CL 1.2 released - formerly OpenMCL, the Lisp system based on Macintosh Common Lisp for OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD, has finally been released in a new stable version.
Introducing SquirrelFish Extreme - the JavaScript engine arms race is in full swing. Currently leading: SquirrelFish Extreme - in Safari.
Mario's Bike on Flickr - already old, but still funny: the Flickr photo criticism buffoons criticize an HCB photo, without knowing (and noticing) that it is one. And they complain about blurriness, lack of subject and all sorts of things. Then they are told that it is by HCB - and they still nitpick. Extremely amusing.
Play light-Bot, a free online game on Kongregate - a cute little Flash game where you program a small robot to light up marked floor tiles.
Summer of JavaScriptCore: SquirrelFish Extreme has landed! - and here are the comparison numbers to other JS engines.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II: 21MP and HD movies - thanks, Canon. How the hell am I supposed to decide now with the choice between 5D MKII, D700 and Alpha900? Can't one of the three drastically lower its prices, by about 1000 euros, then it would be easier for me ...
Million blunder: KfW transfer to bankrupt bank Lehman - somehow the bank crash is turning into a blunder crash. I mean, how stupid do you have to be to throw another 300 million at a bankrupt bank? "By accident"? "Technical defect"?
US Intelligence Agencies: Terrorists Could Use Online Role-Playing Games to Plan Attacks - Ongoing summer doldrums debate in the USA? Don't they have a few banks and insurance companies to worry about? The impact of a collapse at AIG would certainly be much greater than these movie horror scenarios that some self-important people come up with. Unfortunately, such theorists with their contrived nonsense are increasingly found here as well. Instead of dealing with real dangers (when will there finally be a speed limit on highways?), more and more absurd proposals on the topic of surveillance are coming up, which will classically protect us from non-existent problems. And money is then spent on such nonsense ...
Throw the guy in jail! - "The Berlin Regional Court today sentenced lawyer Günter Freiherr von Gravenreuth, known for his cease-and-desist letters, to 14 months in prison without parole." - You can't comment on this any better than it reads! (Unfortunately, not yet final)
I41CX+ - and since it's so nice, also an HP41CX emulator as an iPhone app. Even a very complete implementation with support for modules and built-in printer (so printer simulation). On the iPhone, this is even really practical.
SourceForge.net: X-41 - an HP-41CV Simulator - for OSX. The HP48 and above were of course more modern, but somehow only the HP41 is the real HP pocket calculator ...
Carl Zeiss lenses for Canon SLRs - nice, if Canon now brings a reissue of the 5D with a full-frame chip in the performance class of the Alpha 900 or D700 according to the rumors, it will get really interesting. However, Sony still has the edge because their Zeiss lenses support full AF and not just focus confirmation like with Nikon and Canon.
heise online - 15.09.08 - ITU discusses better traceability of IP addresses - "In the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a procedure is being discussed that can help track IP addresses better. According to a preliminary document published by CNET News from the ITU Working Group 17 (SG 17), 'IP Traceback' is intended to help prevent Denial-of-Service attacks or track down network criminals, but also to make applications on the network more reliable overall. Data protection experts, however, warn of possible misuse. Particular mistrust was apparently aroused by the fact that the first proposal comes from the researcher Tian Huirong, who works at the Chinese Academy for Telecommunication Research (CATR), which is under the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry." - of course in the ITU, which has been accused for some time of increasingly and strongly interfering in internet regulation and standardization. And which has often shown that its mechanisms are anything but open - and thus pretty much contrary to the approach of the IETF. It fits perfectly, like the proverbial ass on the bucket, when a goat is made into a data protection gardener.
Luminous Jewel: Leica Noctilux with World Record Aperture - 8000 Euro. For a few pieces of glass. High-quality glass, of course. And with impressive light intensity (and if they have fixed the soft drawing of the old Noctilux, all the better). But let's be honest - not even specialists need this. "Want" - sure. "Need"? No. They should have given the M8.2 a faster startup time, that little darling costs almost 5000 Euro as well ...
The deep heap: Ghost in the Java virtual machine - very interesting article about JVM performance in terms of memory usage and garbage collection and compaction. Also interesting outside of Java.
Dropbox - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy. - interesting file sync service - the client is written in Python (though closed source in the delivery). Initially, I was a bit annoyed because it doesn't say which systems it works on - and my work Mac on which I'm currently testing it is still on 10.3.9. And yes, it actually works. Ok, if it even supports 10.3.9, you can ignore system version specifications ... (although, I've heard there are still 10.2 users)
Prototype based programming in python - nice example of how to do prototype-based OO in Python as well.