Just a Leaf

Life goes on and there’s just not a whole lot to blog about right now.

My sister just turned 20 on the 30th and Aaron has beamed away to Israel. I got to see Max & Jenny’s house, which I think is quite nice, while we interviewed them for the forthcoming “special thing” that someone I know is putting together.

I really did get an iMac, in case you didn’t know, and yes, it is a good thing. Now I have 3 functioning computers running Windows XP (NOT Vista), Linux (Ubuntu), and Mac OS X (10.5). So no one can call my opinions uninformed anymore… unless they are running BSD or something.

Here’s some iSight fun to prove it:

If you made it this far, I applaud you.

-Garrett

gOS would like to convince you that Google is already your Operating System, most people just don’t know it yet.

While all the geeks in the world are preaching Ubuntu (and Dell has listened), which is the OS I’m writing this post from, Walmart (!) seems to have pulled the carpet from beneath our feet, choosing the small gOS in their new $200 computer instead. A new linux OS from LA that hasn’t even gotten an ounce of attention from the linux community… until now.

gOS looks to be the OS that I, as my friends can attest, was wanting to create myself for a while now. And seeing as it’s still in its “Alpha” state right now, I forecast only great things for the OS that managed to get the attention of WalMart.

Here’s part of their “about” page:

Out of the box, just works!

We’re creating an OS ecosystem that is complete. We come with all the software you need to browse the web, email, instant message… play movies, music, and connect to iPods… create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, images… out of the box. Plug and play!

Bring on Google and other wonderful applications

We recommend Google for just about everything… Gmail, Gtalk, Calendar, Maps, Docs and Spreadsheets, and more. Out of the box, just works!

Open source and other values

We thank the Ubuntu 7.10 community and Enlightenment community for their contribution to gOS and the world. Our dedicated team and passionate community of volunteers are committed to bringing our alternative OS to the masses… so people everywhere can enjoy a third, more affordable and attractive choice when shopping for a computer. To get ahead of ourselves, we’re saying goodbye to closed software and the digital divide.

Another interesting thing about this OS is that it uses the beautiful, but small, Enlightenment Desktop Environment, which could see a MAJOR upgrade later this year. Besides being beautiful though, it is also one of the fastest DEs in the world, so you can safely expect to blow Windows Vista, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu (defacto) out of the water when it comes to speed with this OS.

Suffice to say that this little OS has my attention right now.

Windows fans circle today on your calendar, today Apple’s OS X (10.5) succumbs to the infamous “blue screen of death” (BSOD) on many Macs who still had older versions of the OS installed (10.2, 10.3). It won’t likely last long, however, so enjoy it while it lasts .

Everybody scream

So I’m an active tech user… I can’t help it!

When my XP Pro installation gets too bogged down, I like to reformat it to try and reclaim the “new computer” performance.

• Windows, like most other software, allows you to make unlimited installations.
• Like some other software, it requires a Product Key / Serial Number.
• Like precious few other software, it requires online activation.
• Like NO other software, when it feels you’ve installed it enough times, it forces you to call in to activate.

I’m not the only person that feels that this is completely unreasonable. I would gladly call if it weren’t for all the horror stories online. Apparently, MS Authentication Support individuals are trained to treat you like a criminal if you are have authentication issues (because, only pirates have those problems, right?).

I really don’t think MS’s overpriced software is really worth being on the phone with a foreigner trained to try and “bust” me (a long time paying user).

Be glad if you’re not a geek. We are weird people.

For the speed buffs among us, here is a good page that details and graphs the raw speed of many web browsers.

For those who would rather I just tell you … here’s the five fastest (1 being best):

1. Opera
2. Konqueror
3. Firefox 1.5
4. IE 7
5. Safari

These are MY ranking. So don’t take them as technical holy doctrine.

Edit: Yes… Firefox 2 did NOT make the list. It definately lost some speed since 1.5. If you run linux, the SwiftFox build of 2.0 might perform very well, however.

Oh, happy day! ^_^

Thunderbird 2.0 is out

=)

Dear Bill,

What is this thing that thou hast done to me?

I was having a pretty good day. I even finished my workout.

Enjoying the satisfaction of my victory, I put up my music player to listen to some music while browsing the net and casually chatting with friends.

Life was good…

And then this!

Why did you wait until now to unleash the all new “White screen of death” upon me today?

Who am I kidding. I love you Bill. You remind me the world is bigger than I am… and you, larger still. You are my daily dose of reality.

For goodness sake people, get a Mac! (Case and point)

Windows PCs 5x More Expensive to Own than a Mac

I’ve been saying this myself for a long time, but I didn’t utilize any hard evidence to back my theory.

… well here it is.