Yep, pretty much sums this one up. “Hey Macs can run Microsoft Office too!” Really? Who cares? As an oh es ex kind of a guy I actually hate using any Microsoft product on my MacBook. For the most part they run slow, load incorrectly and don’t do anything that can’t be done on a alternative program. Plus, those brightly colored suits don’t help all that much.
It seems as if the new version of DSL came out without anyone even noticing, but deep down, I cheered a little, and then I cried …
In case you need a brush-up on Linux distros (and who doesn’t nowadays, with all the flavors out now), here is a brief summary of why this distro is so amazing, at least for me.
Not only is Damn Small Linux damn small at about 50 MB of data, it is capable of booting from a business card CD, a USB drive, or even within a computer’s primary operating system (like Windows and I guess Mac and other Linux distros, though I am not positive). On top of that, it can even be installed onto a hard drive as a main OS, which is what I use it for.
Since Damn Small Linux is so … what’s the word … small, it even requires lower system hardware specifications, allowing it to use as little as 16 MB of RAM and about 50-100 MB of install space on the system hard drive (but it’s main use is live booting, which only uses system memory). This of course means that I can use all sorts of applications on my ancient 233 MHz Pentium II, 4.3 GB, 64 MB RAM computer and still be able to have an up-to-date and stable OS (since it can really only run Windows 98 at best). Plus, it comes with core applications like:
XMMS (MP3, CD Music, and MPEG), FTP client, Dillo web browser, Netrik web browser, FireFox, spreadsheet, Sylpheed email, spellcheck (US English), a word-processor (Ted), three editors (Beaver, Vim, and Nano [Pico clone]), graphics editing and viewing (Xpaint, and xzgv), Xpdf (PDF Viewer), emelFM (file manager), Naim (AIM, ICQ, IRC), VNCviwer, Rdesktop, SSH/SCP server and client, DHCP client, PPP, PPPoE (ADSL), a web server, calculator, generic and GhostScript printer support, NFS, Fluxbox and JWM window managers, games, system monitoring apps, a host of command line tools, USB support, and pcmcia support, some wireless support.
that allow me to utilize newer programs and file formats.
Here is a screenshot of Damn Small Linux in action:
No not the popos, but the other display technology challenging OLEDs, SEDs and backlight LCDs for flat screen supremacy. Sony recently demonstrated their FED (field emission display) TV designed for high-end graphics and broadcast use.
The 19.2″ FED panel has a 1,280 x 960 pixel resolution with a contrast ratio of 20,000:1. As constrasty as that sounds don’t expect any FEDs to show up before 2009 and if they do, they could be the wrong kind. You know, the kind that are handcuff happy.
BTW, does anyone else think his metallic jacket is just precious?
I’ve seen alot of Bluetooth apps in my day, but this one is a complete first for me. Someone actually took the time and energy to build a program for a cellphone to be able to drive a full size car. Sadly the source site is in a language other than the one I’m able to (barely) speak, so search-me on how they managed to pull it off.
Amazing? yes. Useful? Probably not unless you’re a secret agent.
With a history of funny looking hats and wooden shoes who would have thought that the Dutch of all people would be the leaders in designer home PC’s. Well Dutch company Nexus Technology is looking to break the stereotype by trying to become the leader in home PC fashion.
Their new line of Psile living room PC cases is creating quite a buzz on the net. According to the website the new cases are small, fashionable and quiet perfect for a living room PC. Below are some details about the product.
The case is built around one layer aluminum heatsink to provide cooling
surface for the hard disk and other components. And the cover of the case
is fully fitted with highly efficient noise absorption material to get rid
of any unwanted sounds.
The Psile case is constructed out of 0.16 inch aluminum and the surface
has been given a sand-spray finish. The top cover is plastic and painted
with the finest DuPont paint for a strong and warm glossy finish. The two
materials blend in perfectly in the cube-shaped case of size 8.87×8.87×7.53
inch.
Customers can visit the company web site here and design their own cases via a nice little flash interface. Looks pretty promising, now if we could just get rid of those wooden shoes.
How many times have you been in a dark alley trying to hire an escort looking for a contact lens and found yourself without a pocket flashlight?
Well Brite-Strike Technologies has released a new line of military spec flashlights to the market that will service all of your covert op’s needs. The great thing about these flashlights is they can also be used as a defense against all those creatures that go bump in the night.
When set to high, these flashlights emit an extraordinarily brilliant light that can momentarily blind and disorient an attacker. When set to low, these flashlights can be used for regular use without the dark spots of standard flashlights because of its faceted machined aluminum reflector that produces its flawless beam.
The casing of the Brite-Strike is milled from a solid bar of aircraft grade aluminum with a super hard anodized finish that exceeds mil spec class III, which makes it hard as nails. Featuring a specially designed front and rear tri-strike-crown, this flashlight can be used for maximum impact on pressure points while using self defense techniques.
There you have it! A veritable cornucopia of kickassery as well as luminescence. You can snag your MacGuyver copy of this bad boy here.
Texas Instruments annouced today (no not a new calculator), the new .98 DLP Cinema chip. The .98 chip is used in digital movie projectors throughout the country and allows for a much larger display size as well as more power. This is good news for all of us who still enjoy going to the movies, because it’s helping to promote the switch to digital projectors.
DLP Cinema adoption increased by over 350% globally through 2006 with
both new commercial screens and major studio offerings. Currently 3,334
screens in commercial theaters worldwide are DLP Cinema equipped and more
than 100 films were released in digital format last year.
If you’re wondering what is out there now in terms of DLP cinemas, here is a list. I’ll see you at the next showing of 300.
Some of the early demonstration videos of Vista’s voice commands have been astounding, making it look like there could soon be a fast and intuitive alternative to the keyboard. Here’s a Vista voice commands video that’s a bit underwhelming to say the least. Anyone who has ever sat in front of a dumb and unresponsive Mac repeating the phrase, “Computer, tell me a joke” can surely sympathize.
But still, this guy clearly needs to get a better grasp of voice commands before uploading a video like this. I typed this entirely in Vista using voice commands and it worked fine for me. enter delete enter caps lock delete caps lock
File this one strictly under the rumors heading, but it seems Microsoft is ready to acknowledge what the rest of the world already knows … the Zune is garbage. The big M is not giving up on the product though, and has plans to release a new version of the Zune this August. Gizmodo overheard this juicy tidbit today at the Game Developers Conference, and while it’s about as far from confirmed as you can get, it makes total sense. The Zune was practically DOA and was plagued by terrible reviews after its release. Recent accusations of cracked screens haven’t helped public perception of the product either.
Evidently, Microsoft is intent on creating space for their product in the portable device market, much like they have in the console world with the XBOX. Oh, and like the XBOX, the new Zune is going to play games. The first one was just practice folks, because Microsoft is in this for the long haul. Captain Obvious should be here for this one.
Despite its attempts to throw everyone off by being named after a type of car the DXG-roadster falls into that category people dare not spend money on, the tech swiss army knife. Most gadgets that try to attempt to consolidate multiple functions end up performing them all in mediocre fashion if not horribly. The roadster fortunately comes with a forgiving price tag of $199 retail so even if it doesn’t turn out to be your dream gadget it doesn’t burn a hole through your wallet. A quick search on amazon turns upaprice of $139, which is more of a real world price.
The DXG-roadster focuses on the media center on the go experience. It features a digital camera and video recorder, music player with fm radio, voice recording, data storage and plays generic pre-installed games like tetris. As far as it matching with your favorite socks it comes in black or white. Hit the jump for more detailed specs.
