New Photography Section

 

Click here to view my new photoblog…

 

 

New Experiment

In the weeks to come Mr.C and I will be embarking on an exciting new web venture. One that will be my first foray into Google’s Adsense with an attempt to monetize a website. Now, we’re not going into this with big dreams, but are instead taking the stance of this being a learning experience.

I have particualy been surprised about my endevors into the field of Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Case in point, it was brought to my attention that the Tractor Club’s site of a few weeks with its sub-directory address of pullinink.com was outranking an established business of 50 years with a strong web presense!

So what do I owe my success? I think it’s attributed to a well laid out xml sitemap, strategic use of the bold tag on particular high ranking natural keywords, and an extensive use of deep linking.

But back on topic, this new site, which I’ll be revealing when its complete will be quite interesting. It’s a mashup of an online game, logic puzzles, and many many ad impressions. How it performs though will be the real experiment…

It always rains on the day of my Birthday…

On this Saturday, February 23, 2009 I will be turning 26. Twenty-Six. Two Six. I’m not upset about it. I’m not sad about it. I’m not anything about it. I genuinely stopped associating anything with the number of years I’ve been alive. 

Anyway, in honor of my birthday and in no particular order, here are the top 10 things about turning 26.

1.) I have way more hair on my head than I thought I would.

2.) I have way less hair anywhere else than I thought I would.

3.) Maturity is CLEARLY not age based.

4.) I feel like maybe I should feel ashamed that I enjoy 80’s music.

5.) I don’t feel ashamed.

6.) I found myself wondering when does one begin taking Geritol? And what does it do anyway?

7.)  I have far few friends at 26 than I had at 16.

8.) I have far better friends at 26 than I did at 16, and I value them more than I did then as well.

9.) Despite being told for years that your taste buds change and that “someday you’ll like asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, or any other awful vegetable,” I don’t think I ever will.

10.) And I still have a small get together every year on my Birthday, and this year will be no exception!

Review: Acer Aspire One

Review: Motorola Hint QA30

So for the later part of this year I’ve been carrying the Motorola K1m KRZR up untill now…

When I discovered the new QA30 Hint from Motorola I had always wanted a phone that was a cross between a smartphone and an iPhone that worked without requiring a data plan so I could use it on my Alltel-U PrePaid Plan. This phone was a good balance for that because it had email, a QWERTY keyboard, music player and video/still camera. 

As for the build quality its solid construction, solid sliding keyboard, tactile keys (although weird at first), rubber coated back cover so it stays in your pocket. The basic phone functionality is great too, I get the usual good reception expected from Motorola and the call quality is great. I also enjoy the unique size of the this model. You can talk with the unit closed or open. The voice commands worked really well. When listening to music and a call comes in, the player will fade out to allow the call to be answered and when the call is ended, the player fades back in to resume playback. 

The music player has great sound even through the included earbuds, but this phone is not for people wanting to use it for podcasts since it doesn’t resume from where you left off if you quit the music player and then play the song again. The music player manages mp3s by their ID3 tags which is important if you want to listen to an album as it is arranged on the CD. On the other hand there isn’t a good program to manage music with this device. Winamp does an alright job but the sync capability isn’t that great. Nothing beats an iPod with iTunes for managing music and syncing podcasts imho. 

Email & messaging - Email seems to be compatible with most POP/IMAP servers. I use it with my Gmail account, but the problem with the email client is that it’s too basic. It would be nice to change more advanced IMAP settings such as how many emails to download from the inbox since I have 1000’s and it didn’t retrieve many of them in order, even after letting it check for new mail for 10-15 minutes! In the end, it’s great for sending email but not that great for receiving it. The QWERTY keyboard is great for txting. The messaging client has a conversations layout option much like instant messenger clients so you see the conversations back and forth rather than a list of all your messages by when they were received. 

Summary:

Pros: Solid construction, tactile QWERTY keyboard, beautiful and snappy user interface, great quality audio through phone and included headphones, memory expandable through microSDHC to 8gb, music player reads ID3 tags correctly, 2MP camera produces quality pics.

Cons: Bad for podcasts since music player doesn’t resume from where it left off if the music player is closed and opened again. Lowest volume setting is actually too loud through the included earbuds. Email client is too basic, no advanced server settings.

Review: Asus EEE PC

The Asus Eee PC certainly doesn’t look as sleek as the ultra portable Macbook Air, but most laptops are not as sleek as Apple or Sony products. Still, the Eee PC is a genuinely ultra-portable everyday workhorse with features, performance, and value that make it a terrific machine. I think the Eee PC is probably one of the best values in computing technology you will ever find.

I bought the white 4G Surf, which means it has a 4 Gig SSD (drive) and does not come with an onboard web cam. I like this machine. It boots up fast and quietly; when I turn it on its ready for me in 20 seconds. No Windows machine I am aware of can deliver that kind of performance on the hardware the Eee PC runs on.

It comes pre-installed with all the software you need to be productive, which is good since this machine does not have an optical disc drive. To install additional software, you do not have to buy a disc drive; instead, you can connect the Eee PC to a network or the internet using the built-in wifi 802.11 b/g connection and download additional software; downloading is also a good way to access updates for the pre-installed software. A BIOS update from AsusTek is already waiting for users of the 4G model.

Since this machine is genuinely ultra-portable, I carry it with me nearly everywhere I take my knapsack. At 2 lbs, it is hardly noticeable. Unlike most notebooks, the Eee PC’s power cord is light weight and the 8g SDHC card I use for extra storage weighs less than a penny.

Integrating the Linux-based Asus has been seamless and easy even though the Eee PC is the third operating system I am using. Thanks to the open source software that runs on the Eee PC, I can create documents that are compatible with anything on a Mac or Windows PC. Although I might be considered a “power user,” believe me anyone can pick up the Eee PC and use it out-of-the box without any prior experience with Linux;you simply point and click your way to whatever you want. And, for the power user, you can do virtually anything on this machine with the flexibility of installing whatever you want on this machine including installing a new operating system or entirely changing the original set up. With all of the choices open to computer users and the bargain basement cost, I am not sure why the Eee PC has not received more media attention in the U.S.

This is a terrific machine for everyday tasks like web browsing, emailing, document creation, and even writing this review. I highly recommend the Eee PC as a second computer for adults, a first computer for a child or an ultra portable computer for anyone.

A Few Issues that Matter

Keyboard Size:

Some folks may not like the keyboard. The Eee PC uses a small key board; it is probably one-fifth to one-fourth the size of a typical laptop keyboard. I can type fast on this keyboard, but the keyboard is not as responsive as my old Compaq v2000 keyboard and the right-shift key is too small - - it is too easy to mistakenly hit the larger enter key instead. Having said that, I think the keyboard is very usable, but be prepared to spend some time adapting to the small keyboard before you are able to type quickly and accurately on it.

Screen:
The 7-inch display is crisp and sharp, but not as bright as some laptops and the resolution is only 800×480 pixels. You are going to scroll the screen more than you would on a 15-inch desktop or laptop. To alleviate this problem, be prepared to buy one accessory: a wireless mouse. The touchpad is responsive, but I think touch pads are particularly poor pointing devices when a lot of scrolling is required.

Storage and Memory:
The solid state hard drive is fast and responsive. Applications load quickly and disc access occurs with a breeze. Although nearly half of the 4 GB SSD is used by the pre-installed software, you can use SD cards to extend your storage capacity. I have over 1 GB of space available on the internal SSD with nearly 50 data files installed. Unless you are installing large video or music files, your data files are not likely to occupy a lot of storage space. Remember, the Eee PC is for productive work, data communications, and Internet access, it is not your game PC and I wouldn’t use it like an iPod either.

Battery life:
I have been able to get slightly over 3 hours of battery life out of the Eee PC when I turn wifi off.