Posted on 16 July 2008 @ 17:57 in Gadgets
When I bought my first computer back in 1993, it was a top-of-the-line model, complete with a 128MB hard disk. Yes, I wrote that right - MB - GB was still in the future. Well, a week later, something new and better came along (I can’t even remember what it was), the price fell and my top-of-the-line computer became bottom-of-the-heap.
So it is with my latest tech toy, the ASUS eeePC 900. I spent weeks walking around shops at Digital Mall and IKANO Power Centre, asking when would the 900 XP version be available. Eventually, the 900 Linux version was released, and I finally figured it out that that was the version available in Malaysia. Finally, last week, I bought one for myself. Same price as the XP but with 8GB more storage (wow, more than my 1993 computer).
I must not have walked around the right shops. This morning, I went by the IT floor at The Curve to get an external DVD-Writer. And saw there, the new Acer Aspire One. That wasn’t all. There was also the MSI Wind in a display case! I was so single-minded on getting that one item that I’d walked into the shop without looking at anything else.
So there, before me, two competitors to the ASUS eeePC range of UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PC). Did I regret getting the ASUS? Here’s what I posted on the Flickr AlphaSmart forum:
So, let’s see - besides the ASUS range, there’s now also similar machines from HP (MiniNote), Acer (Aspire One) and MSI (Wind). I’ve seen all three.
Both the HP and MSI offer regular HDs. The Acer offers an 8-gig SSD. The MSI is the largest with a 10″ screen. But when closed, you can see the keys in the space between the two halves of the clam shell. That bothers me (or maybe I’m just looking to console myself for not having waited … )
I find different things I don’t like about the 3 machines that are now available after I bought the ASUS eeePC. Do I regret not waiting just that little bit longer?
Please believe me when I say I really like my ASUS eeePC 900. I bought it when I needed to, not a second too early or too late. I have promised myself to use it for a year before looking at another machine. It does what I need it to do, plus it’s light and not very eye-catching, which is what I like. Plus, I conquered the keyboard in less than 3 days, learning to use the left shift key which was what was giving me the most typos (and headache).
For those of you out there looking to get an UMPC, there’s now more choice in the market beside the ASUS eeePC range. Walk around Low Yat in KL or Digital Mall (old Metrojaya across from Jaya Supermarket) in PJ. Be amazed by the choice. Hold one in your hand. Enjoy the lightweight. Open it up. Run your fingers over the keyboard. Decide what feels right beneath your fingertips (and your budget). Then take out your credit card and commit. BTW, Dell is joining in the competition, too, with its Mini Inspiron.
Meanwhile, I’ll be enjoying my eeePC even more, having installed XP on it this afternoon. It’s now running very close to the way I like it. The only snag to be sorted out is the wireless connection - my eeePC won’t connect to my home wireless network … not yet, anyway. I think I’ll go to Hoxe’s this evening and see how it runs.
And here’s my eeePC on the MacBook (which I’ll be selling off soon). The desktop icons are hidden so I get the full picture of “teddy bear” Lang Lang on the eeePC, while that’s Feng Yi on the MacBook. Both of them are currently at the Beijing Zoo for the Olympics.
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Posted on 11 July 2008 @ 10:00 in Gadgets
The eeePC is a tiny laptop with an 8.9″ screen. For comparison, I’ve placed Preeta’s book on the keyboard, to show its size.
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Posted on 9 July 2008 @ 09:08 in Gadgets
For those of you who have never seen an eeePC but have a copy of Preeta Samarasan’s Evening is the Whole Day:
The eeePC is almost hidden beneath the book.
BTW, if you don’t have a copy of the book, go get it!
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Posted on 9 July 2008 @ 01:50 in Being Silly
You Are Cilantro
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The bad news is that there are some people who can’t stand you.
The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world.
You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Posted on 9 July 2008 @ 00:29 in Gadgets
My ASUS eeePC 900 making itself at home on the IKEA stool (which I use as a table) in the living room.
It’s the Linux version with 20GB storage. I plan to install Windows XP on it soon.
Keyboard requires serious concentration and so far, I’m getting about 95% accuracy. But the “shift” key keeps tripping me. It’s not where it would be on a regular keyboard. In its place is the up arrow key which I keep hitting and sending the cursor one line above.
Peeking out from beneath the eeePC is the Traveler CoolPad with a higher rear end to lift the machine and allow air to circulate beneath.
I took it to Hoxe’s this evening for a “test drive”. Connected to streamyx hotspot without any problems. I also did some serious work on the eeePC for about 2 hours, which I would hardly do if at home. I need to find an “office” to work in during the day!
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Posted on 8 July 2008 @ 11:56 in Stress Busters
Without him, we would not have Hua Mei and her kids.
Shi Shi, Hua Mei’s father, passed away at Guangzhou Zoo at 20:20 on Saturday, 5 July 2008.
I was honoured to have seen him twice - the first time at San Diego Zoo in May 2001 and the second time at Guangzhou Zoo in September 2007.
Rest in peace, dear Shi Shi. Your work on earth is done.
Shi Shi, San Diego Zoo, May 2001:
Shi Shi, Guangzhou Zoo, September 2007:
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Posted on 7 July 2008 @ 13:24 in Stress Busters
Bifengxia Panda Base will soon hear the pitter-patter of tiny furry black and white feet. The Base, which is usually home to elderly pandas and younger pandas on “holiday” from the annual breeding season at Wolong, has just announced the birth of its first panda cubs.
The cubs, twins born to 12-year-old Guo Guo, are the first panda cubs to be born after the May 12 (dubbed 512) earthquake, and also the first to be born for the current panda season around the world.
What makes their birth even more special is the fact that their mother had endured an exhausting 100-kilometre evacuation journey from the damaged Wolong Panda Centre to Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an Province last month. Upon arrival, she was put under round-the-clock care in Ya’an by the expert panda team worried that the journey might have affected her pregnancy.
Obviously, it hasn’t. The first cub weighed in at 170 grams while the second cub is yet to be weighed as it is still under its mother’s care.
The arrival of Guo Guo’s cubs gives hope to more cubs on the way soon.
Guo Guo with her second cub |
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Posted on 20 June 2008 @ 13:10 in General, Writing
I don’t suppose writing consists in anything more than doing it.
John Steinbeck
Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters
In other words …
Just Write!
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Posted on 17 June 2008 @ 23:49 in Pictures
Yes, yes, I know Chinese New Year was in February, and there won’t be any CNY ang pows for another 6 months or so. But when I saw this piece of ang pow art displayed on the door to my sister’s office, I just had to take a picture and show it off here.
This piece of ang pow art is made up of 4 ang pow envelopes given by the OCBC Bank. Placed side-by-side, the 4 envelopes make up a mini painting. Very creative. And a clear winner in the best ang pow design award, if ever there is such an award.
Related Post:
Who says ang pow designs have to be boring?
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Posted on 10 June 2008 @ 21:38 in Stress Busters
When the earthquake happened in China’s Sichuan Province on 12 May 2008, six of the giant pandas at the Wolong Panda Centre went missing. In the days that followed, five of them returned. The sixth remained missing. Until now.
Mao Mao, the sixth panda, is home. Not this earthly home, but wherever pandas go after their journey on earth is over.
Mao Mao
1999 - 2008
Her body was found on Monday, 9 June 2008. According to an Associated Press report, she was crushed by a wall of her enclosure, while a report on the Xinhuanet news site said rescuers found her body in the rubble of the pandas’ pens.
Her body was retrieved on Tuesday, 10 June, and buried the same day.
The Xinhuanet site reported that she had 3 offsprings, aged between less than 1 year and 3 years old.
“Chinese panda keeper He Changgui, center front, and his colleagues at China Conservative and Research Center for the Giant Panda mourn for panda Mao Mao which died in the May 12 earthquake at Mao Mao’s funeral in Wolong, China’s southwest Sichuan province, Tuesday, June 10, 2008. The nine-year-old Mao Mao was finally found Monday and dug out Tuesday, almost a month after the devastating earthquake, crushed by a wall of her enclosure as the river nearby swelled with landslide debris. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)”
I’d like to think that death took her quickly and she did not suffer much.
RIP, dear sweet Mao Mao.
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