Macbook Air: The Anorexic Laptop

Apple - Mac

'nuff said.

Blogged with Flock

MacBook Air: Something WAS in the air and it made me drool

The Apple Store (U.S.) - Welcome to the Apple Store

Now the upgrade path from my current MacBook is set.  This baby should be ready by the time I've paid off my MacBook.

Blogged with Flock

Preparing for My Eee PC

While driving home this afternoon, my good friend Bogs called me (yeah! I know! Talking on the phone while driving is bad!) to inform me that their Eee PCs are arriving today and if I wanted one, I should have it reserved because there are a lot of people on queue for them *and* he is offering it to me at an price I simply can't refuse/ignore.  I told him to give me some time to decide.  Upon arriving home, I decided to take the plunge and place my order for the elusive Asus Eee PC -- which is still a rarity in the local market.

If everything falls into place, I'll have my grubby little hands on the Eee PC tomorrow!

I know what I'm going into... I know that my Eee PC is running Xandros and I have no intention of tainting it with Windows (yet).  What I *will* do with it once I get it is to install my favorite open-source financial application Gnucash.  Anticipating this, I also included a large capacity SD card on my wishlist on my office's traditional "exchange gift".  I already have an 80 Gb external hard drive that I'm pretty sure will work with the Eee so I'm pretty much set.  The only thing that I *might* need to buy is a suitable bag for it.  I've also been lurking around eeeuser.com and I've learned a lot while browsing their forum.

People may ask: why get an Eee PC when you already have a fully functional MacBook *and* iBook?  Well, the Eee PC will serve as my digital "companion" whenever I need to travel light.  This will especially come in handy during my "car-less" days ("coding" in the Metro Manila, Philippines).  Whenever I'm car-less, I lug my MacBook around for around three hours, waiting for the time when I'm free to take my car out of the parking area to get home. With the Eee PC, I won't have to lug my heavy MacBook around the mall.  It will also come in handy whenever I need to do a presentation for my clients using its built-in presentation application.  Oh, and the my iBook is my "stay-at-home" computer and it is the computer that is being used by my kid (see avatar).

Now, all I need to do is to wait...

Blogged with Flock

notMac: The DIY Alternative to .Mac

I'm too stingy to shell out a couple of dollars for a legitimate .Mac account but I know how important it is to have a backup of my data. So when I learned about the notMac challenge, I eagerly followed its development. Then a few days ago, there was a submission that *may* be viable enough for "kuripotechies" like me, Ben Spink's notMac solution.

I downloaded it and mucked around with it this morning and what do you know... I now have a viable backup of my MacBook and it resides on my spare iBook!

This is by no means ready for primetime but if you have enough experience in networking computers at home (or professionally, in my case), this may be worth something.

What I've done so far with my notMac server:

• Sync'ed my Bookmarks, Calendar, Mail Accounts and Contacts
• Created an iPhoto Slideshow
• Backed up some files via notMac's iDisk

The connection between my MacBook and iBook has a lot to be desired (I find it slow) but you can't argue with the price (free).

Warning: this application is a *bit* too hardcore for the casual user but if you do make it work, it is well worth it, IMHO.

Originally posted at PhilMUG.

Blogged with Flock

MacBook-less: Day 3

This is my third day of using my old iBook G3 to do some personal stuff (at work, I use a Windows machine) because my workhorse, an Apple MacBook (2Ghz) is still "sick" and a Certified Apple Technician is working on reviving it.

Anyway, I attempted to force the installation of Ubuntu Linux on this G3 iBook but the hard drive simply don't want to cooperate so I have to be contented at connecting to the 'net and doing some work on this "uninstalled" version of Linux.

This exercise is also some sort of a test for me to see if I can exist in my tech world without using any commercial software on my computer.

Movino: DIY Home Surveillance System?

There is a topic at PhilMUG that discusses the Nokia E61/E61i and that particular thread has been a treasure trove for download junkies like me. One of the recent applications that was mentioned in PhilMUG's E61 thread is Movino.

Movino is a free and open source software that allows iSight-less Macs to use a cellphone's built-in camera as a "mobile" webcam. It is compatible with Skype and other chat clients. This is accomplished by installing the main Movino program to the Mac. Then install the Movino application to a compatible cellphone. Once both programs are running, the movie clip is transmitted to the Mac via BlueTooth. Movino also supports wi-fi but I haven't tried it yet.

Initially, I tried the set up with my Nokia E61i and it worked like a charm! The movie clip that was recorded using Movino even had sound! Then I tried to download and install the Movino Java program to my Moto RAZR V3X and it also worked. The picture from the RAZR was smaller and a bit jerky but it was still viewable.

The movie clip can be routed to a web server on the Mac, allowing it to be viewed from virtually anywhere in cyberspace.

My MacBook already has a built-in iSight so I plan to repurpose my Movino set up as some sort of a security webcam. I rarely use my Moto RAZR V3X and I think I can rig it so I can record whatever's happening in my backyard.

technorati tags:cellphone, apple, macbook, movino, surveillance

Blogged with Flock

Bibi: Give Your Gear Some Cuteness Overdose

The Apple Expo 2006 held at Paris has a very interesting exhibitor. They are Lauren and Paulina Bibi and they are selling cute iPod cases (and soon to come MacBook cases). Here's some pictures to whet the appetite of iPod owners who can't get enough iPod cases:




The MacBook case looks promising since it will definitely prevent those unsightly blemish that develop on its wrist area which a lot of early adopters complain about.