intodimensions.com

Are you considering moving to Linux from Windows, or have you already made the leap and want to find software? This is a good list which will show you some common Windows software/tasks and the options you have in Linux.

Pretty funny reading.

IEBlog:

There are two important events that will happen to the support policy for Windows 2000 after June 30th of this year.

First, support for both IE 5.01 SP3 and IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP3 will expire. Users running IE 5.01 or IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 should upgrade to Windows 2000 SP4 in order to continue to receive security updates…

It should be no surprise that we do not plan on releasing IE7 for Windows 2000. One reason is where we are in the Windows 2000 lifecycle. Another is that some of the security work in IE7 relies on operating system functionality in XPSP2 that is non-trivial to port back to Windows 2000.

To put it simpy - This sucks! It’s not really surprising but it still sucks. Win2k is still a perfectly good OS for many users and organizations and if MS would just support it, it would continue to be for a long time. Indeed for many Win2k is a better alternative than Win XP, in my opinion.

Indymedia.org:

Mass-produced computers can KILL Microsoft and free the world’s computer users. They’ll be too cheap to accommodate MS Windows — MS’s bread and butter. Computers will go the way of TVs and VCRs — cheap offshore (non-USA) production. They’ll be cheap, simple, general-purpose (FREE SOFTWARE), all-electronic (no disk drive) — in other words, real electronic computers, finally.

I have never been the biggest Microsoft supporter, as you probably know, but I’ve also never understood this urge to “kill” Microsoft off. Why would we want them to go away? Sure some of their marketing practices are less than desirable but I don’t get why them not being around anymore would be a good thing. They do make some good software and for better and worse they in many ways make the world go around.

So to the matter of simple, cheap, solid-state computers - that seems like a good idea! Something that can perform basic computer processes (word processing, internet, etc.) for $200 or less and be durable at the same time seems like a good thing. If such things existed we’d probably have a couple around the house. They would have to support wifi and some basic multimedia functions. Perhaps they could be in the form of some type of tablet so you wouldn’t have to use a keyboard. Then they could be placed in a lot more places around the house, or be carried around.

Do you?

Wifinetnews.com:

It’s too early to say whether it’s a trend, but Victrola Coffee & Art in Seattle shuts down its free Wi-Fi on Saturday and Sunday: I spoke to co-owner and co-founder Jen Strongin today after a colleague tipped me to the fact that this lovely, single-shop coffee establishment had decided to experiment with taking back its culture by turning off the Wi-Fi juice on weekends.

Strongin said that the five-year-old cafe added free Wi-Fi when it seemed their customers wanted it a couple of years ago. It initially brought in more people, she said, but over the past year “we noticed a significant change in the environment of the cafe.” Before Wi-Fi, “People talked to each other, strangers met each other,” she said. Solitary activities might involve reading and writing, but it was part of the milieu. “Those people co-existed with people having conversations,” said Strongin.

But “over the past year it seems that nobody talks to each other any more,” she said. On the weekends, 80 to 90 percent of tables and chairs are taken up by people using computers. Many laptop users occupy two or more seats by themselves, as well. Victrola isn’t on the way to anywhere; it’s in the middle of a vibrant stretch of shops and restaurants on Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave. It’s exactly the kind of place that you want to sit down in, not just breeze through.

Perhaps there should be non-wifi sections as well as non-smoking sections?

James Martin has written a couple of articles (part 1 and part 2) over at PCWorld.com. He covers a number of things that you might want to think about if you are considering using a notebook computer while traveling in coach, and he has quite a number of handy tips.

From the BBC:

Sweden has been voted number one in a poll of 10 nation brands for its image as both comforting and cutting edge.

The UK came second in the international survey about people’s perception of nations’ governance, business, exports, people, culture and tourism.

The US shared fourth place with Germany, in the poll in which 10,000 people were asked to rank 10 nations.

Russia and Turkey lagged at the bottom of the poll with weaker, negative associations in the minds of consumers.

The complete top-ten list:
1. Sweden
2. UK
3. Italy
4. US/Germany
5. Japan
6. China
7. India
8. South Korea
9. Russia
10. Turkey

The cracked-screen has made me think twice about my chocie of case for the iPaq. As much as I love the Krusell cases for their Multidapt connections, style and function, they are not the most protective cases around. Perhaps the iPaq screen is more sensitive than other PDAs and I certainly don’t want to jeopardize my (rather expensive) investment.

So the answer then is to get a hard case, I guess. I say that reluctantly since it seems such a bother to carry around a PDA in a hard case, but it does protect the device much better than a soft case. The best candidate as of right now seems to be InnoPockets aluminum case. It’s about as stylish as a hard case gets and has a little sliding door covering the camera lens which is a feature I like. You can carry the case on your belt or just throw (!) it in a bag.

Well I finally got my iPaq but it came with a cracked screen so I’ve not been able to do anything with it. Actually I got it last Friday but didn’t get to it until Monday afternoon and when I opened the box, put in the battery, attached the AC adapter and turned it on, it was clear that the screen was cracked. There’s a spider-web like pattern on the glass and there’s all kinds of colors all over it. I have no idea how it happened but seems like quality control at some manufacturing or distribution facility has failed this time for HP. Anyways, I’m in the process of getting it replaced so let’s hope that goes quickly and without problems. As soon as I have a working iPaq I will get back to you with my comments about it.