Log transition

Hey folks,

Good news. I’m almost officially moving out of WordPress. My love for WP has rekindled and it’s time to get it stand on its own feet.

Check out my new web log at http://neodexter.snoork.net/blog/ or visit http://neodexter.co.cc/.

Back to the future

Just to back my moon-sighting prediction up in the my previous post, here’s another moon sight map predicted for the 31st August ‘08. As you can see that Brunei is just barely off the sighting grid. But then again this is just calculation-based predictions. We will only know the outcome this Sunday.

http://www.moonsighting.com/1429rmd.html

Back from the future

So I fired up my time machine and set the time to the sunset of this Sunday to witness the sighting of the new moon and I came back negative. So my prediction is that we’ll start fasting on Tuesday next week instead.

Note that this is only based on some calculations.

Linux has landed

I’m officially using Linux Ubuntu. Yeah, I already said it in the previous post that I couldn’t wait to try this open source operating system and it only took a day to get my hands on it. Hehe. Well, definitely thanks to my gf for allowing me to use her old small laptop since she already got a new shiny MacBook (although she complains about the weight being much much heavier than the previous laptop =p). So I completely removed Windows XP and installed Ubuntu (I know the name actually sounds quite lame, scrapping the “U” in front, “buntu” in Malay actually means sorta like rotten but especially used for fish gone bad. It can also be applied for stupidity terms. LOL.)

It took a little less than one hour to complete the install and upon booting up, everything ran smoothly and the graphical user interface is pretty sweet. The panel is quite a reminiscence to Windows XP except that there are two; on top displays Applications, Folder and System menus along with app shortcut (like quick links), user, taskbar and date/time. Whereas the bottom shows tabs for opened applications, quick hide windows button, Workspace Switcher (like Spaces in Mac) and recycle bin. These two panels are movable to any edge of the screen, hidable and new panels can be added too. Check out the desktop screenshot below.

Those lightweight machines

For a couple of days now I’ve been goggling on some UMPCs (Ultra-Mobile PC) on the internet. Lately I figured that I need a secondary laptop for use with my lecture notes, university work and that means a small and very portable one. What caught my eye last few months was the ASUS Eee PC 701, fully equipped with:

• 7″ display
• 0.89kg
• 4GB SSD (Solid State Drive)
• About 3 hours battery life
• Pre-installed Linux Xandros OS (Win XP optional)
• Built-in camera, microphone, speakers, 802.11b/g, ethernet, USB ports, SD card reader

Just look at the specifications. And all this comes with a £169 price tag on Amazon UK. It seems so promising and from the reviews I’ve read, this device is extremely portable and really for the people who’s looking for a second laptop.

Other UMPCs on my list include the HP Mini-note and Dell Inspiron 910 (very soon to be released!).