Technology

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Sat 9 Feb 2008

OS X Needed Improvements for New Users

Posted by Damon under Technology
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Ignoring Apple’s current and enormously successful “I’m-a-hipster-Mac-and-I’m-a-loser-pc” advertising strategy, I’ve come up with 6 items that I think should be included with with every Mac to make the system easier for brand new users and particularly for older new users. These issues come from my real-world attempts to teach my dad how to use his new Mac and the frustration he experienced with an operating system that—to his newbie eyes—behaved inconsistently.
Steve! Pay attention here, please! New users are feeling left behind with the MacOS!

 

Sat 17 Nov 2007

Dell X1 Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10 Multiple Monitors (Screen Spanning)

Posted by Damon under Linux/Ubuntu, Technology
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I thought it might be nice for other Dell X1 users to see my screen spanning configuration. These xorg.conf files have been working for me in Feisty (7.04) and Gutsy (7.10). These xorg.conf files are a result of using howtos on a bunch of sites, not limited to: Ubuntu Dual Monitors Forum and more explicitly, the Xinerama Howto
My system is:

  • Dell Latitude X1
  • 768MB RAM
  • 80GB internal Drive: 40GB ntfs / 30GB ext3 / 512MB swap
  • Intel 915 built-in graphics chipset
  • Dell 1280×768 widescreen monitor (Built-in on laptop)
  • External Monitor is Samsung SyncMaster 151v 1024×768
 

Fri 25 May 2007

Slax and Ubuntu on Dell Latitude X1

Posted by Damon under Technology, Travel
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Latitude X1M and I have just finished our four-month journey through South America, where our trusty Dell Latitude X1 performed miserably—crashing due to high elevation only 2 weeks into our trip (Thankfully after some of M’s important work was finished and backed up).

A USB-key version of Slax (I believe v.5.0.8) connected us to our blogs and email and kept our photos moving onto DVD during the 6 weeks in the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia (journeys on Titicaca and the Uyuni Salar).

 

Fri 19 Jan 2007

AlphaSmart Neo

Posted by Damon under Technology, Travel
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From January 9, 2007

Mel bustles about her room, busy packing for our trip, and I’m writing my first sentences on my newly purchased AlphaSmart…the minimalist computer, more of a glorified keyboard than a computer, resembling a speak-and-spell without the annoying voice-over.

AlphaSmartNeo.jpg
Neo alongside a chapstick for size comparison.
Note the missing “\” key which I moved to cover the broken “H”.

In my quest to defraud the Canadian government, I ordered the unit directly from the U.S. manufacturer and had it sent to my home in Montana, a state as yet devoid of a sales tax. Then my dearest mother turned around and shipped the box off to me via post, marking it as a gift with the idea that it would slip past the customs folks…

 

Mon 14 Aug 2006

Internet in Rural Montana: Watch out for the Ditch Monster

Posted by Damon under Technology, Travel
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    I’m sitting on a park bench in the fading sun, a breeze blowing gently from the river across town, a few seeds scattering from the maples.  In my early elementary school years, I attended a public school less than half a block from this little pubic park beside the public library.  At that time, though small for its purpose as a library, the original brick building imposed itself onto my psyche as the the steps both to higher knowledge and also purgatory.  I loved books even then, and I often stood before the library looking up the twelve stone steps to the wooden doors.  I ran my fingers along the stone railing and up into the building, pausing in the overheated vestibule to glance at the posted billboards, and then up with my fingers now trailing on the brass bannister.
    But however much I loved books, coveted them, pored through them, my love was unfortunately balanced and tempered by my fear of the Librarian,