slightlyodd

The tiniest computer!

Posted on 16 November 2011 | No responses

Can you believe this is a fully functional PC?

It’s got an Atom Z530 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 2 gigabit ethernet ports, wifi, etc. etc.

This tiny little amazing computer is called the fit-PC2i, and I just ordered one with Mint Linux on it. Whee!

Let the furious justification begin!

Posted on 18 October 2011 | 2 responses

So I went out and got that new phone… it really is quite fast.

The best camera is that good one you have that you remember to bring

Posted on 6 October 2011 | 2 responses

Sure, the best camera is the one you have with you. But phone cameras, wonderfully ever-present as they are, really can’t hold a candle to a decent point and shoot.

Here’s a picture of my window just now with an iPhone 4 (click for bigger):

Here’s that same picture again, with my point and shoot – exactly the same lighting (click for bigger):

Here’s a 100% crop of the iPhone:

And here’s a 100% crop of the point and shoot (click for bigger):

So why do I keep forgetting to take my freaking point and shoot with me? IT FITS IN MY POCKET!!

argh.

The new poor my arse

Posted on 27 June 2011 | 3 responses

Tony Abbott:

The next Coalition government will build on the Howard legacy of reducing personal income taxes for everyone and especially delivering a fair go for middle income families with children.

As I said in my maiden speech and have been repeating ever since, middle income families with children are Australia’s new poor.

Mate, Australia’s middle income families with children live in horrible monstrosities like this one out in the west of Sydney.

They’re not poor, Tony. They’re middle income families in one of the wealthiest nations on earth.

Here is a picture of the neighbourhood of Australia’s new poor. Funnily enough, they’re Australia’s old poor too. They never went away, you know.

NYC Albums Are Up

Posted on 6 June 2011 | No responses

I’ve finally gotten around to uploading most of the pictures from our trip. No photos of people, but I might put a few of those on Facebook later. Click the pictures to get to the album. Enjoy!

First day – wandering around the place

Brooklyn & Coney

The view from the top of 30 Rock

Central Park & the Zoo

The Guggenheim, and Otto’s Shrunken Head

Wandering about downtown

A few pics from Williamsburg

A jaunt around Brooklyn

A trip on the ferry to Staten Island, then a trip on the aerial tram to Roosevelt Island

A visit to just a tiny bit of the ridiculously huge Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scooting around on our last full day

Using an iPhone in the US

Posted on 30 May 2011 | 3 responses

For some reason, despite countless Australian travelers to the US taking their iPhones with them, I found it hard to find decent information on how to get a US prepaid SIM with data and use it successfully. A friend of mine had used T-Mobile when he was here, but the iPhone works only on 2G with their network. Being a bit of a fusspot, I wanted 3G and therefore AT&T was the obvious choice. Unfortunately, AT&T are a big fat pain in the arse.

I won’t bore you with the tedious 2 day ordeal that was trying to get the whole thing going. Instead, here is a recipe so that you needn’t suffer the same annoyance.

You’ll need a carrier unlocked iPhone.

1. Go to an AT&T outlet and buy a GoPhone prepaid SIM. (iPhones are not normally allowed on prepaid, but the shop assistant was able to put some other phone’s IMEI in to the system when activating my SIM. It’s possible the store you go to will refuse to sell you a prepaid SIM for an iPhone- in that case, either try another store or bring some other handset for the IMEI.)

2. Add credit, and a data pack. I chose the $2 per day unlimited talk and text plan. $28 for 2 weeks isn’t too horrible. The SIM itself is $20. 500 MB is $25.

3. Go somewhere with free wifi (Starbucks, McDonalds, Borders, many others).

4. Go to unlockit.co.nz in mobile Safari.

5. Select “Custom APN”, then US – AT&T (should be wap.cingular)

6. Install the certificate.

7. Restart the phone, then hooray- data should be working!

I found data craps out a couple of times a day in NYC- just switch briefly to airplane mode to get it going again.

Voila!

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