A Day in Paradise

So I’ve always been a windows fanboy. But seeing this demonstration of Quicksilver for mac makes me rethink my previous statement of jumping onto the Vista bandwagon as soon as it’s released. Quicksilver is exactly the way I work in the command line, but so much more powerful.

Vista: probably around $400 for Pro version vs. Macbook Pro: $2300

Next year I’ll probably need a new notebook anyway since my 14-month-old toshiba is hitting the dust.

Consumer-grade laptop with vista: $1500
Vista for my desktop: $400

I need to upgrade my desktop… maybe this will be a good opportunity to switch to Linux. So…

Macbook Pro: $2300
Linux for Desktop: $0

I’ll still have my current Win2k installation which I could dual boot linux. I’ll think about it later… Time to start saving up

Nikon D50/D70 vs Canon Rebel XT Shootout

I’m looking at upgrading my s100 to a digital SLR. I played with Mike’s on Sunday and I am totally sold on getting an upgrade.

Taking these kinds of pictures is worth whatever the cost.

I checked out this review on the difference between the Nikon and Canon low end digital SLRs. The conclusion was somewhat inconclusive:

Both the Nikon D70 and the Canon Digital Rebel XT offer a number of individual advantages when compared side by side. Overall, the Nikon D70 provides the richer feature and function set of the two cameras, while the Digital Rebel XT offers a smaller, lighter 8MP solution, and the benefit of Canon’s latest DIGIC II image processor (faster performance than predecessor Digital Rebel, lower high ISO noise.)

While many potential buyers might be drawn by the 8 megapixel power of the Canon EOS Rebel XT, it is important to remember that resolution is not the end all in terms of image quality. The difference in print quality that the 8MP resolution offers is for all intents and purposes barely noticeable at an 11″ x 14″ print size compared to the same shot taken at 6.1 MP. The advantage of the 8MP resolution sensor lies mainly in the ability to crop an image while preserving more detail.

When comparing the respective standard kit lens packages, the Nikon D70 with the AF-S Nikkor DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G zoom versus the Canon Rebel XT with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II zoom, the Nikon DX 18-70mm offers superior performance with its AF-S motor, brighter f/4.5 aperture at telephoto, ED low dispersion glass to minimize ghosting and flare, metal lens mount, internal focusing and extended focal range coverage up to 70mm. The higher Nikon D70 kit price versus the Canon Rebel XT kit is mainly reflected in the value of the lens.

Which camera to choose is a personal one and depends on a number of factors. All things considered, bottom line is that the Canon EOS Rebel XT and the Nikon D70 digital SLR are both capable of delivering excellent image quality. We recommend looking at what features are the most important to you, and making your decision accordingly. You really can’t go wrong.

Does anyone have any suggestions either way?

eBay: FARSCAPE: CRICHTON SIGNATURE LEATHER PANTS ORIG COSTUME (item 6611945222 end time Mar-15-06 08:18:28 PST)

Totally must-have add-it-to-my-wishlist!!! I’ve never been a fan of leather clothing, but $1,200 is a small price to pay to wear John Crichton’s pants!

I wonder how much I can get winona for?

For a company that’s all about marketing Project Origami was a very lame attempt of the Applesque  “don’t say anything and surprise everyone” guerilla marketing technique. The little hype that was generated when it broke on scoble’s blog an other places, was totally killed when it seems that MS couldn’t stand the pressure and just came out with the fact that it was just another tablet PC.

Anyway, it’s out now, and it does look fairly interesting. There are no technical specs yet, but from what you can see from the flash animation is that it has:

• SD Card Slot (ASUS model)
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• 2 usb slots (keyboard and mouse?)
• Firewire slot (or is that Mini USB, hard to tell)
• Antenna (on the Samsung model)
• Built in “Joystick” mouse

More details are here and here. Oh, and here… damn 2-3 hours of battery life??? I wonder if that’s regular usage or something other high resource usage, like say watching a movie…

The Samsung certainly looks better. It weighs 2 pounds, so it’s not exactly a blackberry killer. But for a full featured computer it does look fairly slim. Again, no hardware details are available.

Oh, and now I see that it’s already been slashdotted… $599 - $999 Not bad. Beats the Mac Mini

Anything from the 2600 store will do. But on the top of the list is a 2600 Hoodie or a 1, 2, 3 year or LIFETIME subscription to 2600 magazine.

The Freedom Downtime DVD would also be cool. I’ve read all the books, seen the movie, bought the stickers, stuck the button on my site… I haven’t read Kevin’s books either, so if you want to send those please do

OK, the next thing on my list is becoming an FSFE Fellow. So much to buy, so little time!

E-Plus Mobilfunk - Handys und Tarife

So it looks like my mobile carrier just struck up a deal with skype for a 40EU/month Flat rate UMTS deal. That is VERY attractive.

I wonder if I could use the same package for both my phone and my laptop, or would I need to purchase 2 seperate packages.

Looking at the small text it seems like they block everything but skype, so you won’t be able to use another VoIP service… Since this bit says you can “Download, surf and make Skype calls as much as you can, no extra charges” I am sure there is a way for smart people to tunnel through the restrictions.

Apple - iPod nano

Actually I want an iRiver for the recording, but the nano is pretty friggin cool. Someone should hack it into a universal remote control. Why do those things have to be so friggin big.

Other than the form factor, there isn’t much in these things. Sure they look cool, but they cost just about as much as a whole computer these days. Anyhoo, if someone has one laying around just send it on over

Sun Microsystems

The best one: Given how hot and slow our competitor’s servers are, it’s no surprise that their name RHYMES WITH HELL.

choo choo | HackTrain 2005 | choo choo

If I had all the time|money in the world I’d be on the hacktrain. Pretty awesome, hitting Mannheim, Mainz, Frankfurt, Kassel, Hannover, Bielefeld, Essen, Dusseldorf, etc. Ends at What the Hack.

Round trip from Frankfurt from EU 100.

IBM X41 Tablet PC Officially Announced

OK, so this has been officially added to my wishlist! If anyone wants to show their appreciation for my work, please choose one of these small items.

unsignedukmusic

Awesome stuff here from “Up 4 the Downstroke”, I don’t have an URL, or any information… all I know is I heard them on Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code podcast and think the are TERRIFIC!

There are a couple mp3’s at the above url. If anyone knows where I can find more of their great stuff let me know!

Wright This Way: iPod Shuffle RAID

ALL I want for Christmas is an iPOD Shuffle RAID

As seen on utterlyboring

PFU Limited | Happy Hacking Keyboard

A blank keyboard. How cool is that!!! Add it to my wishlist!

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In Pictures: Fantasy coffins

Some awesome coffin designs! The uterus is exceptionally wierd…

People are dying to get these!