Netbook

I jumped into a relatively new wave of technology...the netbook. When the Asus Eee PC came out in late 2007, it seemed like a novelty. Something smaller than a standard laptop, yet larger than a hand-held PDA, and definitely quite a bit cheaper than either! With a 7 inch screen and a tiny (2 or 4 gb) drive, I just didn't feel it was for me...but I continued to watch its development and evolution into what would become a new class of portible computing.

In August, I worked at a county fair for my office. During one of the breaks, I wandered over to some vender booths to see what they had to offer. There was a small-town computer builder/servicer displaying the 7 inch Eee PC, as well as the then new 9 inch models. After chatting with one of the techs, and actually getting to hold one, I really felt that I could probably justify acquiring one of these...or at least something like it. I travel (by truck) for work on a regular basis, and occasionally fly to vacation destinations. My current laptop, Dell's Inspiron 6000, is a great system, actually spec'd out fairly nicely, and I've taken it with me numerous times on the road. But bottom line, it's just too big and heavy! It is well over 6 lbs, and even though it sports a 15.4 inch screen, the body of the notebook is quite a bit larger. I considered taking it with me to Hawaii in August, but I couldn't bring myself to settle for lugging it through airport security at the various airports...so I left it home.

Early September...I am home after a long day at work, surfing the web. Something, somehow, made me go to the Dell website, just to see what was new. Lo and behold, something in the flash banner caught my eye...what's this? Meet the Dell Mini 9? Curiosity got the better of me, and I had to click. Dell had announced the imminent launch of their entry into the netbook market with the Dell Mini 9 (910). This was exciting for me, as the Mini had some decent specs, looked great, and knowing the quality of build, was a solid piece of technology....and the price was right! Over a couple of days, I kept revisiting the Dell site, reading up on the specs and the customizing possibilities. I also found a few reviews online for the Mini, including a video presentation at notebookreview.com. I watched that several times, and was really taken by the "cuteness" of the Mini. A couple days later I got on chat with a Dell sales rep to ask a few questions, mainly regarding upgradeability. I was convinced, and I finally caved, and ordered one! woot!

My white Mini 9 (not completely white, only the lid) has an 8.9 inch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600, I can live with that. The configuration I opted for has 1 gb of DDR2 RAM, a 16 gb SSD drive, 0.3 megapixel cam, no bluetooth, and Windows XP SP3 installed. The rep said the RAM max is 1 gb, but I have since found out it is upgradeable to 2 gb, yay! Like my 6000, the Mini offers easy access to the upgradeable parts, another yay! I have since joined up with a great forum at MyDellMini.com, and have learned quite a bit there. One thing I have learned is how well the Mini can stand up to modding. People have already replaced their Windows XP or Dell-branded Ubuntu operating systems with other Linux distros, XP Pro, Vista (!), OS X, and even Windows 7! Not to mention the hardware modding these folks are putting their Minis through! I've had my sights set on upgrading the RAM to 2 gb, and the SSD drive to something bigger, and eventually to Vista. I have ordered my 2 gb stick (along with an upgrade kit for my 6000) and those arrived today. The SSD drive is an interesting situation, as the availability for a compatible drive was almost nothing. Drives for the Eee PC were carrying hefty pricetags, and that was something I was not willing to cave into. Well, recently, a vendor that caters to netbook SSDs teamed up with a manufacturer to produce higher capacity SSDs specific to the Mini 9. They are offering 16, 32 and 64 gb drives, and at very affordable prices. They also mention 128 gb for the future. Of course, the 32 and 64 drives have been on perpetual back order due to everyone wanting one. They are having a hard time keeping any in stock! I will end up ordering a 32 gb drive from them, but I'll give them some time to cool down. :)

For now, I'll be installing the new RAM, and having fun getting to know my Mini.

oopshaha!

Completely missed out on the month of September! Another year older, not necessarily wiser. Nothing spectacular happened, that warranted a blog entry, and I haven't worked on any fractals recently either. However, Apophysis 2.08 beta 2 was quietly released, so I will be playing with that to see what I can come up with.

I added a link to my favorites (Check It Out) list, for Lunch In A Box, an absolutely wonderful blog/site written by a SF Bay area mom. It's all about bentos, as well as preparations and recipes. I've always loved bentos, but despite the fact that mom was Japanese, I never had them prepared for me as a child. Growing up in Hawaii, I did buy the occasional Zippy's Zip Pac...and even had the opportunity to have authentic bentos while traveling through Japan in the early 80s. Thanks to Biggie at Lunch In A Box, I've decided to get into making bentos. Of course this means being stocked with proper supplies! mwaahaha! I love shopping so... I've already found some great bento boxes and supplies during my trip to Hawaii, and more recently on my trip to Beaverton's Uwajimaya asian market. Because of my odd-ball rotating shift work schedule, I probably won't be taking a bento lunch to every shift, but it will be a (good) challenge to keep on it as often as possible. Plus the portion control will be a tremendous help...health-wise as well as financially. :)

Fractal Zoom

Apophysis flame fractal...zoomed in a bit.

Another vacation

Went to Hawaii again, same time as last year, but for a shorter time. It's getting crazy expensive to travel these days, although I would love to make it an annual occurrence. As expected, I had a great time visiting with my good friends Cynthia, Mariellen & Andrew, and Jessie. We managed to get in touch with Audri, and she joined us for some of the fun. yay!

We did the usual Made In Hawaii Festival and the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet....I was in shopping heaven! We also had fun at Krazy Karaoke in Pearl City! It never fails, we go to karaoke to sing, and end up spending half the time laughing till our stomachs hurt! While we were roaming the MIH show, I bumped into a long-time friend, Gail. It was awesome seeing her again, it had been so long since the last time. She had worked for Aloha Airlines for almost 30 years, and unfortunately, the airline recently went under. All those years, and no retirement. :o(

The weather was totally awesome! The food was excellent! It was a very short 5 days (4 not counting travel) that went by so quickly. I was exhausted by the time I got back home, needed an extra day to recover! I also managed to snag a good deal on upgrading to first class on both flights to and from Honolulu! woot! It helped tremendously to be able to stretch out a little. :o)

Thanks, once again, to my friends, for making my visit a memorable one! Here's to many more visits! Love you guys!!

Mini Vacation

I just finished working six 9-hour days, and yesterday would have made 7 days. I opted to take one day of leave and tack it onto my regularly scheduled 4 days off...so, five days off will do the trick I think! Not doing much during this mini vacation...although I would love to head to Portland for a day, gas prices won't let me do it for now. I may try in a few months. So just sticking close to home, running errands and doing house chores...how fun.

Summer

I have finally updated Firefox to version 3, and all add-ons are current and work with this version. My fave skins, macfox and macfox II, have yet to be updated. I'm not alone in hoping the author is actually working on it, as there are a lot of comments asking for an update since 3 was released. Fingers crossed. Now I can blissfully use both IE7 and FF3, about half and half between the two.

It's been either hot or very warm, and on top of that very smokey and/or just hazy. I don't mind the heat, in fact I don't mind working out in the field in this heat. I just don't like battling with the wasps and yellow jackets, ugh! Been pretty busy at work, ever since Jim left. Sometimes I feel like I'm climbing that giant sand dune...keep sliding back down. I'm hoping they hurry and select someone for the HMT vacancy, especially with Co-op experience, major plus!

Going to Hawaii again next month! woohoo! It won't be for as long as last year's trip, just couldn't get myself to fork out the extra bucks this time. Prices have gone up across the board...airfare, hotel, rental/gas. :o/ I'm looking forward to seeing Cyn, Mariellen, Jess, and the rest of the gang! I'm also looking forward to checking out the Made In Hawaii (MIH) Festival and the Aloha Stadium Swapmeet. :oD Oh, mental note...gotta remember to hit the Costco while I'm there, lots of local goodies and great prices. Oh darn, forgot that the airlines are charging for checked baggage, and overweight baggage. I'll probably mail stuff to myself again.

Haven't had a chance to play with Apophysis lately, but I did manage to render one from my June parameters...

linear variation

Taken from a random batch using linear variation, and tweaked to bring out details and clarity. Not sure what to name this...maybe something like "Thatched". :)

Tiled flame

Added a few more flames to my Picasa album, mainly traditional spirals. This one is a tiled flame...