Entries from May 2008 ↓

By Andrew Min

Recently, there’s been a lot written about virtualization. Ever since Steve Jobs announced the move to Intel, there’s been huge flurries of excitement as commercial virtualization products like VMWare and Parallels and open-source products like VirtualBox improved their offerings. Not just on the Apple platform, either (you should see the amount of work that has gone into the Linux KVM and Qemu programs). However, these “traditional” virtualization programs have had problems, mainly because they run a separate operating system in a separate window (recent products have sort of fixed this, but issues still abound). Luckily, there is another option: andLinux, a full-blown Ubuntu Gutsy-based distro that has been around for quite a while. andLinux utilizes the coLinux kernel, which is a port of the Linux kernel to Windows, which greatly improves speed (nice for those of us who only have 512 MB of RAM). Also, coLinux allows the VM and the host to share resources, while you have to virtualize all the resources in a “traditional” virtual machine offering. Continue reading →

By Kyle Baxter

I first watched Apple’s Knowledge Navigator concept video a year ago, and have watched it many times since. Every time I watch it, though, I still get that child-like wonder feeling in my stomach, the feeling that accompanies a rare thought: “This is the future.” Continue reading →

By Kyle Baxter

While watching the first season South Park DVDs Friday night, I found that — to my delight — Trey Parker and Matt Stone offered mock introductions to each episode. Sitting before a fire with their dog “Scratch” (the type of dog changed throughout each introduction. One second it’d be a small dog, and the next there would be a golden retriever in its place), or as cowboys around a farm with their friend Indian Companion. Each episode, apparently, was their favorite, and answered some great questions, like Are you two, you know, a couple? (Parker explained that they’re all a little gay. Even Scratch.) Continue reading →

By Andrew Min

If you’re a Linux user, you probably use a forum, mailing list, or IRC chat room for getting community support. After all, it’s free (as opposed to commercial support), has users that understand your problem (no more tech support stupidity), and often, the original developers for really bad problems. However, not all answers are treated the same. Many are disregarded because they fail to follow the proper etiquette of forum or IRC posting. Here’s a short list of six rules to make sure you aren’t one of those. Continue reading →

By Andrew Min

Most of the time, I’m at my computer. Or near it. And if I had an internet device like a Nokia N810 or an iPod Touch, I’d have it with me 24/7. And since most of the time I’m at a place where there’s a wifi network, it makes sense for me to use VoIP rather than a regular phone line. Now, you’re probably ready to sit back and listen to a pitch for Skype’s cheap $0.021/per minute or Gizmo’s even cheaper $0.019/minute. If you’re really tech-savvy, you might be expecting a pitch for iCall, which has free calling in the US and Canada and a free phone number. However, iCall is Windows-only and doesn’t always work. That’s not what I want. I’m talking about making and receiving calls that are completely free (that is, $0.00/minute) forever (that is, no 30 day demo) for as much as you want (that is, no 30 day trial or five hour/week limit). The key? Google’s closed-beta GrandCentral. Continue reading →