Enter the Age of the Netbook

Ever since a company called Asus took a chance on low-powered notebook called the EEE PC, the computing industry has been stricken by a unpredicted turn of events. Prior to the EEE PC, notebook manufacturers seemed to be in a technological race to see whom could fit the most horsepower into their products. The EEE PC, with the limited ability to do much more than surf the net, not only coined the term Netbook, but also proved that consumers are more than willing to pay less to do less. Don’t even get me started on the long tail.

Fast forward a couple of years, and just about every major PC manufacturer (sans one notable absentee) has entered the netbook foray. Despite my initial hesitance and naysay, I finally caved in and purchased a Dell Mini 9. This came after the realization that 90% of my activity on a PC involves a web browser. The other 10% consists of typing up a document or spreadsheet, and touching up the occasional photo. All of which can be accomplished through a web browser.

Thus far, Netbooks have typically shared the same characteristics: a low-powered Intel Atom Processor, running either Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP, with a 10” or smaller display. I chose the Dell Mini 9 over the competition, such as the Lenovo Ideapad or the HP Mini, for a couple of reasons. For one, the Dell Mini 9 is built with a solid state drive in mind, which combined with the fan-less cooling system, makes for one quiet, sturdy device. Also, I have always had a fondness for Dell products, and do believe that they make quality hardware.

When I ordered my Mini 9 from the Dell site, I went for the cheapest configuration possible; 4 GB ssd, 512 MB RAM, running Ubuntu. Also included, is three USB ports, VGA and ethernet ports, audio in and out jacks, and an SD card slot. I also opted for an arguably decent built-in 1.3mp webcam. I then navigated to mydigitaldiscount.com, and scooped up a 2 GB Transcend RAM stick, and a 32 GB Runcore ssd. The logic behind going with a third-party solid state drive, is if the drive that ships with the Mini 9 can be considered first generation ssd technology, then the Runcore drive can be considered third-gen, with 4x-6x faster write speeds. The total cost at the end of the day, was just about $450; still a bargain for what you get.

A 32 GB hard drive may seem small, but it is more than enough if you know how to cut the fat. I used nlite and vlite to slim down my OS installs, giving me a triple boot Win7\WinXP\Ubuntu system. A class 6 SDHC card can provide you with up to 16 GB of local storage for a reasonable price. Some tweaks are strongly encouraged in order to get the most out of your sold state drive, such as disabling write-caching, indexing, and defragmentation. You can also save your Firefox and Internet Explorer temp files to RAM, to not only speed up your browsing performance, but also increase the longevity of your ssd. The mydellmini.com forums are an excellent resource for tips, tweaks, and troubleshooting.

After spending a week with my Dell Mini 9, I must say I am quite pleased with my purchase. The keyboard was a major concern for me, as Dell compensated for the big letter keys by moving around and shrinking the lesser used keys. However, the adjustments make sense for most part, and become second nature after a while. The back-lit screen is very bright, and the device itself never gets too hot. The 4 cell battery provides as decent of battery life as would be expected. I will also point out that I was shocked at how well Windows 7 runs on a netbook, and it has been my OS of choice thus far.

In short, if you are in the market for a notebook and find yourself spending most of your time in a web browser, or if you are looking for a secondary device to do some on-couch browsing while watching television, consider a getting yourself a netbook. While there are many options out there, the Dell Mini 9 comes highly recommended.

Beer Mixology 101

Studies have shown that one glass of wine a day provides significantly positive health benefits, such as reducing blood clots, higher estrogen levels (for women, of course), etc. It is also a known fact that one glass of wine is equivalent to one glass of beer. Therefore, by transitive logic, one beer a day is good for you, right? So, if you drink multiple beers, you are only contributing to a longer and healthier life. Argue not my logic, but only accept it unconditionally. ;)

Here’s a little known fact about me, I am actually a certified Mixologist. Well, I’ve never bartended professionally, and technically, my certification expired a couple of years ago. But, the principles of mixology rarely change, and it doesn’t take much to learn your way behind a bar.

How, you may ask, does mixology relate to beer? Well unbeknownst to the masses, there is a whole art and science behind mixing two or more beers together, and creating a tasty Frankenstein concoction of malt, hops, and yeast. The following, is two examples of such, guaranteed to prove that 1+1 can indeed equal 3.

1. The top two of my personal favorite alcoholic beverages are undeniably, Sam Adams and Guinness. What do you get when you mixed the two together? You get a Black and Tan or Black and Sam (or Patriot Pint). Whatever the hell you call it, you get Guinness on top, and Sam Adams on bottom. The different densities of the two alcoholic beverages causes them to separate in your glass, giving you two drinks in one sitting. The variable flavors of Sam Adams’ products, such as Cherry Wheat or White Ale, provide multitude of varieties to hold you over until Egg Nog season.

2. If Sam Adams and Guinness are my favorite beers, then Leinenkugel, is a close second (or third? I’m confused). Like Sam Adams, Leinenkugel provides a variety of flavorful offerings, such as the citrusy Sunset Wheat or the maple oriented Fireside Nut Brown. My favorite combination would have to be: one part Honey Weiss, one part Berry Weiss. Fruity enough for your feminine equal, yet bold enough to sneakily impair your judgment. Drink with caution, as the Fruity Pebbles taste will catch up to you!

As always, feel free to experiment and come up with your own chemistry class contrivances. In a world of spinning rooms, remember, the ceiling is the limit.

This Guy Still Blogs?

Well, not in the past 9 months, I haven’t. However, I have been trying to push myself back into blogging. As a component of my self-motivation, I have changed the blog name and url, thus un-pigeon holing myself from the world of technology. Far be it, for the geek in me to not post about what I am most passionate about. But, at least it will not be out of place to expand my horizons.

As for what I have been up to: working my ass off, trying to stay physically fit, and building on my education. Working in the Information Technology field is always a hustle, in a world where the IT Guy is becoming less and less important. Despite my gripes, I can be nothing but grateful that I am still employed during our troubled economic times (take a drink). Education-wise, I have been racking up some computing certifications, and am preparing to begin a tenure towards a degree in Management Information Systems. Hectic schedules indeed.

The only time life holds us back is when we refuse to move forward…