Acer Aspire One Ram Upgrade

I updated my ram! Here are the pics. Follow instructions from YouTube like I did if you want to do this.

Step 1: Closed computer - unscrew all screws underneath

Step 2 - Open up computer to remove the keyboard.
Step 3 - Don't panic, remove the plate under the keyboard.
Step 4 - Remove the valuable wifi card and sideboard.
Step 5 - Finish unscrewing everything and insert your 1 Gb ram stick UNDER the motherboard
Don't lose your pieces - place everything where it will be safe while you work!

Last step - Jump up and down when you turn it on and it 1) works and 2) recognizes the increased ram - 1.5Gb!!!

Acer Aspire One running Arch Linux and KDE4 is Awesome!!

Hardware:
I really like my AAO. I have now upgraded to 1.5 Gb ram following YouTube video examples. It was straightforward, though tougher than the usual "unscrew small compartment under the laptop." I have a subjective feel that it runs faster and smoother - who knows for sure :)

Distro:
I recently dropped my Ubuntu distribution for my netbook to Arch Linux. Why? - Because I have never installed it before and I always hear good things about it. I liked Gentoo because of the rolling distro part of it, but I did not like compiling all the time. I like the balance of the rolling distro but binary. It also works extremely well and fast (as advertised by Arch Linux fans).

KDE4:
I hesitated installing KDE4 as I previously tried Kubuntu and was disappointed by the speed of the DE. I loved the idea of Plasma, and with 4.2 in Arch Linux and my increased ram, I decided to try it. I still love it. I have been customizing and beginning to really like what I have.

(Caution Ahead - weak rant on KOrganizer next)
Even so, I have been sadly disappointed in KOrganizer! I want what Kontact offers - mail, calendar, journal, todo, notes, and a summary screen - BUT - Kmail does not want to keep copies of my imap messages locally (so if I am not on a network - I cannot respond/go through my email) and Kontact will not 2-way sync with google calendar! I cannot believe that these things have not been addressed or described as a working high priority so far by the KDE team! They have sure come a long ways in very short time with the KDE4 release, but with the popularity of Google's services and the abundance of netbooks/laptops who might want to work on email while offline - I am just amazed and disappointed. I will continue to use a conglomerate of other programs to do what I desire, though none would fit as nicely with what I want as KOrganizer does.

I am sure more things will pop up that I won't like, but with KOrganizer suite as my only large criticism/disappointment, this is not bad for all the work the KDE team has done. Strong work!

To the KDE team: Even so, please enable 2-way sync for Kontact and offline cache for imap in Kmail.

Windows-7 Beta in Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire One with VirtualBox

Wow, what a night! I was able to successfully install Windows-7 Beta in Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire One with VirtualBox.

This is not a tutorial - just a documentation of what I was able to do!

I would like to start out by referencing sites that helped me out.

- Getting wireless networking was key

- How they did it at Sun

Ok, First .. a pic of my success!

Ok, Here is how it goes down:

The black screen seems to last too long - but I think it is because of the tiny bit of ram I allowed it to use (512mb)


Before long, though, things start to look pretty and I begin a simple install process:


Always - The need to agree to the EULA - actually, a very straightforward EULA, not unreasonable to my untrained eye. Logical for a Beta product from a closed source company.


I had to make sure to give myself a 20Gb drive - It apparently wouldn't recognize my previous 10Gb drive. I read somewhere it needs 16Gb to be installed. I picked 20, and it worked ok.


Some pics of the installing:





Then, the moment of truth .. will it work?


This is pretty - the bright light thing is going back and forth light NightRider :)

Looks like it is working...

Whoo Hoo!

Internet Explorer opened up for the first time (with my successful wireless internet connection)

The default desktop - classy, practical, stable so far for this Beta product!


All in all, I learned A LOT about virtualization, and as much as I dislike the products of this company (as those who know me will attest), this is a promising product. I look forward to participating in this Beta testing and hope to be able to assist in finding/confirming bugs (as much as a closed source project will allow me). I will definitely support Microsoft with my feedback (see the icon on the Desktop).

This is my first attempt at something like this - I will also need to start seriously helping out Ubuntu in a similar way - any suggestions?

Macbook 13" LCD Broken

Background: This is my wife's laptop, which she loves, and the LCD was cracked after my 2yo son hit the back of the screen with his foot as he was rolling around on the couch (where my wife was working on it) :(

How we fixed a broken LCD on a macbook: Needless to say, when this happened both of us were very disappointed! Our first thoughts were, "How much will this cost?" and "Is it better to just buy a new laptop?" and my wife even thought, "Maybe I spend too much time with it and should not even get another one or fix it." After spending a few days using my laptop as a bandaid, she quickly decided she wanted her mac back!

Choice #1: Fix or buy new?

Choice #2: Send in to Apple, 3rd vendor, or fix ourselves?

Choice #3: Whose advice to follow?

Coby 1gb clip mp3 player

I just saw this for sale. It costs $25 and seems to be a good deal. My problem...I don't know if it plays ogg files as most of my cd collection is in ogg/vorbis format.

Does anyone know if it will play ogg files? Here is the link to its Coby product website.

I may end up buying one and testing it, then give it either a good (plays free codecs) or bad review.

Gentoo on an Everex Cloudbook

The title says what I want to do when I get mine. Until then, I will attempt to determine the ideal use flags and will begin to compile a system on my desktop.

Why Gentoo when the gOS is so good? Because I think I can and it sounds like fun :)

I plan to compile everything just for my machine (all cloudbooks) and hopefully will be fast. I will use either fluxbox or E17 for the windowmanager (though XFCE/Compiz should work fine with 512mb ram).

I want to set up a fine graphical setup, but capitalize on the "geeky" side of Linux and make use of commandline programs. That will be fun in coffee shops when people look over my shoulder! Programs I have in mind are: MOC (music on console), aria2 download utility, calcurse (console calendar/todo list), Finch (the text based version of pidgin), and mplayer with aalib for videos in ascii (also fun at coffee shops :) ), and of course several custom bash scripts to print out certain data.

Maybe someone has suggestions for what else would be fun/geeky to do with this umpc (another good reason to be using Gentoo). Also, I will be needing help for the use flags, and other compiling issues. All suggestions are welcome.

Macbook Powercord meltdown

Just wanted to put in a good word about Apple. Not too long ago, my wife's macbook powercord melted about 1cm from where it plugs into the laptop.

She was quite distressed by this and I was surprised by the prevalence of this after a quick search on the topic. It seems that various people have had all sorts of experiences regarding how they were treated by Apple.

I did not have high hopes, but then my wife called Apple, talked to a representative, explained what happened and what the cord looked like. A manager reassured her and then sent us a new powercord that arrived in 2 days!

We sent the old one in, and are now even more pleased to be part of the "Mac Culture."