Somewhere out there!

A review of SNAP video drivers for Linux. SNAP are a set of commerical drivers for X11 from Scitech Software. The reviewer says these are useful in the event you need to get decent performance with one of the new ATI laptop video cards.

List of useful software for OSX: Your Favorite Apps for OS X.

From MacInTouch, here are a few additional notes from our initial examination of the 15″ PowerBook G4/1.67GHz:

* The screen is beautiful, with a big, welcome addition of space versus iBooks and 12″ PowerBooks. (The screen seemed a bit dim at first, until we found the autosensing brightness option.)
* In size, this laptop is not very different from a 14″ iBook but a little more rectangular in shape. It has far more expansion ports, however, from a PC Card/Cardbus slot to audio input and FireWire 800.
* As noted yesterday, AirPort performance was very disappointing in comparison to that of an iBook G4, iBook G4 or eMac. We finally got the PowerBook to connect a bit better by setting the AirPort Extreme Base Station to do 802.11b protocols only, disabling the faster 802.11g option.
* Bluetooth, with file-sharing, is enabled by default.
* In comparison to iBooks (or even better, a PowerBook G3 “Pismo”), this PowerBook’s trackpad button is unpleasantly stiff, although its click is quieter. We haven’t had time yet to explore the new trackpad features, and the trackpad “clicking” option (also available on other Mac laptops) gave us problems with unintended clicks.
* There appears to be no access to the laptop’s internals with the sole exception of memory slots, behind a door on the bottom of the computer.
* Despite its faster processor, the PowerBook is quiet, on par with an iBook or a Mini and a little quieter than an iMac G5.
* Running benchmarks with Energy Saver set to “Highest” performance, the bottom of the computer became too hot to touch, but the stop stayed fairly cool. (The ambient temperature was about 70 degrees F., and the PowerBook was sitting on top of its cardboard shipping box.)
* The operating system is Mac OS X 10.3.7 (7T62) with a Darwin 7.7.2 kernel. Mac OS 9 is an optional installation.
* iLife ’05 is pre-installed on the hard drive (with QuickTime Player 6.5.2), but there’s no AppleWorks nor iWork in the bundle. A QuickBooks “New User Edition” requires registration by phone with Intuit.
* The optical drive (SuperDrive) is a Matsushita UJ-835E, the hard drive a Fujitsu MHT2080AH.
* The Mobile Motion Sensor shuts down and re-enables the hard drive quickly and may cause some data loss in the event of strong vibration.
* The PowerBook can be run closed with external monitor, keyboard/mouse and power supply.
* We encountered one hard freeze, with the SuperDrive spinning and AirPort operating, and we had to hold the power button down until the system shut off, because reset keys didn’t have any effect. The same CD mounted fine after the restart.

Also some insight as to why some people prefer Macs.

AnandTech, a mainstream PC review, have a look at Apple’s Mac mini – Tempting PC Users Everywhere. They have one particular page about performance where they confirm something a friend has told me. OSX needs at least 512Mb to function well.

In order to be useful the Mini Mac should come with a minimal of 512Mb.

I’ve been cleaning out my junk pile of old parts at Trademe. You’ll probably have to read though my feedback in order to see exactly what I’ve sold.

Anyway there really is a pile of junk at the bottom of my stairs. Old software and hardware bits dating back to 1996 and earlier. 5.25 inch floppies, zip drives, 14.4K modems, all crapola.

Most interesting thing I’ve found so far is my old InfoMagic Linux Developers Resource – April 1996 six CD pack. My second install experience with Linux, the first being an aborted attempt to get Redhat 3.0 going, on a SCSI system. I think at the time I finally installed Slackware 3.0 on Linux 1.2.20, but the disk also contained Debian 0.93R6. I don’t think I start using Debian until the end of 1997, after a brief fling with Stampede.

Pieces of history.

Very detailed Mac Mini Review. Includes some facts about DYI upgrading the HDD and memory.

An insightful look at being a consultant: So you want to be a consultant…?

A study on 15″ Powerbook battery life: 15″ PowerBook Battery Life Tests.

Author makes some interesting suggestions about portable vs desktop Mac laptops.

The author of CD Baby makes some comments about Postgres strictness vs MySQL data corruption in this article: CD Baby rewrite in Postgres and Ruby, Baby!

An article about Hacking Open Office style sheets. Worth reading.