Testing ecto

Qumana did not work with Blogger2.0, so I am trying ecto to see whether this can be my solution.

iBook as a Wireless Router in a Hotel

This may not new and some of you probably already know it, but I tell you anyway. In mac OS X, there is a function call Internet Sharing, which - pretty straightforward - shares your internet connection on your Mac. My buddy visited me in my hotel room to find I brought my iBook and my office laptop (a Thinkpad). He brought his MacBook and wanted to connect to the net, and he turned the sharing in my iBook that was connected to the hotel network. And he found the performance was acceptable. I was excited, so I opened up my Thinkpad and I saw my iBook as one of available network. I managed to connect and yes, the performance is acceptable.
Now I had my iBook always connected in my room and also use it as my personal wireless router. Very cool!

OpenMoko - alternative to iPhone

OpenMoko, originally uploaded by smstextnews.

Launched in February 2007, OpenMoko offers linux-based phone solution - and hopefully backed by open source community to the market. The phone has touch screen that accepts both stylus pen and finger and sports GPS. Some concerns occured when Apple said that iPhone is a closed system - especially from geek community. For these guys, OpenMoko may be a better deal. It will work under SyncML so someone will create the iSync plug-in, undoubtfully.
Current UI may be too linux-like and not as fancy as iPhone, but I am positive there will be solution like iPhony available soon.

iPod Mobile

IMG_1977, originally uploaded by Olivas2005.

Forget iPhone, get iPod Mobile. iPod integration is the new hype in automobile industry and Citroen took it too seriously. But it's marketing. And they put quite significant size of Apple logo - instead of Citroen.

2007 - I Welcome Superdrive....

Yay! My order of DVD Writer Dual Layer arrived this morning. I went straight home and installed it in my first generation Mac Mini. I bought this Mac Mini on day one Apple sold it - and I was the last one who managed to get this baby. The person after me had to wait for three weeks for next delivery. So it is something for me. And now it has Superdrive! Yay (again)!

Apple Welcomes 2007

This is what is showing in the start page of www.apple.com today - still 1 January in the US. Apple must be up to something big early this year. Could it be Leopard comes out sooner? I can't wait for the Keynote on Macworld 2007. One more week, baby, bring it on!

New Year, New Toys

I had a low key new year's eve. Just went to a friend's house, ordered Thai food, beers, and watch NFL, Redskins v. Giants. No I am not a fan of NFL. In fact that was the first game I watched fully. Giants won, I think, and Tiki Barber had an awesome touchdown. I brought my iBook with me, so I also browsed the internet and play Raiden.
My buddies then went of for a cruise, and I went back home straight. I could not spent big money this time, although I was really tempted. I am back to my daily routine at home, turned on TV and back on the net. That is how I spent the last of 2006.
Now is 2007. What am I looking forward to? Macworld - especially the Keynote. I want to see my option of toys this year. I am giving up my iBook this year, I am planning to give it to my special someone, and I want to see what is (will be) available for me this year.
Macbook? Hmmm...looks nice. Macs are so popular nowadays (which is good for Apple) and I can see people carrying Macbooks everywhere. I'm going to miss the uniqueness of my iBook (clamshell Indigo, 576MB memory, airport, Tiger - how cool is that). I bet it is going to be a looker when I gave it to special someone. Anyway, Macbook will be my realistic option for my next laptop.
Unless they come up with 12" lines - MacBook or MacBook Pro. Or maybe 13" now - widescreen. I am not a fan of big screen laptops anymore. I used to have one for work - 17" - and it was impractical. I did not need the real estate all the time. Now I am carrying 12" Thinkpad for my work, with 19" screen monitor on my office workstation. That is my best setup. When I am travelling, I can manage working in 12" display as I mostly do emails and some office documents. If I need multiple windows with multiple applications, I try to do it in the office. So definitely I am going for petite laptops. Bring on MB Lite...
I am also looking forward for Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) to arrive. And it's better be soon, because a lot of people are holding their next purchase to come with the new OS. Mac users need to show it off to Vista users, right? And with no free upgrade option like that of Vista, we prefer to wait.
And iPod. I still have my dependable 4th generation iPod always in my backpack. I had no good justification to get iPod Video. iTunes Store in Australia don't sell movies, and I cannot see myself watching 2-hours movie in such a small screen. And I also don't see why I need to carry my movies everywhere. iPod is a personal entertainment system by nature. Range of accessories extended it to be enjoyable by friends and peers, like speakers and car connection kits. But it still hard to share a small screens for movies. Well it is still possible to have video solution for cars, but I don't have a car. iPod Video never went to my shopping list until I decided to pre-ordered Tubular. With Tubular, I can browse, view, and download YouTubes clips and export them to iPod Video. Now that is cool. iPod Video, you are on my list.
iTV or whatever the new name is. Nah. This should wait. I have my mac mini to do the job. It is now my entertainment centre running equinux' Media Central. Although I may be in the market for Elgato's EyeTV USB tuner combo DTT and Analog and a widescreen monitor. That'll bump up my media ecstacy, for sure. Oh, superdrive is on the way so I can burn some of my movies to DVD. My hard drives are almost full.
And Nintendo Wii. I missed the first batch of release because I was so indecisive. Now the next shipment is around mid-January. I will still be indecisive then, but it is on the list.
ADSL 2+ modem should be on the way to replace my old modem and giving me the maximum speed that I want to see.
This should be an exciting year..... Happy New Year 2007