Victorious!

Posted on April 20th, 2009 by Pa

After many (too many) attempts, I finally managed to get SketchUp working under openSuse linux — using the linux wine app (Windows program loader / translation layer).   Now I can make my woodworking plans without booting Windows.  I think I last had it running when I was using Ubuntu — and, perhaps, on a previous computer.   It’s been a while.

PS — Almost as soon as I posted this, SketchUp stopped working. Argh! An update to wine appeared to defeat my fix. After some head scratching (and much cursing) I was again able to celebrate — quietly — at 2 AM.

Tags: Architecture, Computers, Linux, Spring, Windows, Woodworking

Let it Snow

Posted on January 11th, 2009 by Pa

Ten or so inches of snow has fallen in the last 36 hours. We’ve had worse, and this time we had a lot of company.  Ohio north of Columbus pretty much all got equal treatment. We seem to be in the clear now precipitation-wise. Next comes the deep freeze.  By Thurs, we should be around 0-degrees.

PS — We watched “Sweeney Todd” on DVD the other night.   Way too graphic.   The gore overshadowed the fine sets, music, and acting making the experience an overwhelming downer.

Tags: blah blah, Ohio, Windows, Winter

Ooops.

Posted on January 8th, 2009 by Ma

Long have we lamented the lack of heat in the guest bedroom–Larry tried fiddling with the heating ducts and scratching his head, to no avail.  The door is usually kept closed to keep Cali out, but when it’s opened, the chill just rushes out and grabs you–it’s like a room from The Amityville Horror.  All we could do for guests was keep flannel sheets on the bed and have plenty of blankets available.  Until today.  I’d stripped the bed after our Christmas guests, and while Larry was making the bed this afternoon he noticed the window at the head of the bed was open at least an inch at the top.   And, baby, it’s been plenty cold around here lately.  Anyhoo, future guests won’t feel like they’re sleeping in a 19th century tuberculosis ward–and I’ll check the latch a little more carefully if I ever wash the windows again.

My bad.

Tags: blah blah, Ohio, Windows, Winter

Eee PC goes Mainstream

Posted on October 28th, 2008 by Pa

Just a quick note prompted by spotting an Asus Eee PC on the shelf at Target.   The $299, 2 lb. laptop (“netbook”) is available with WindowsXP or Linux.    I notice at the Target web site that more models are available.   Actually, the units for $359 look like the best choice — larger screen (8.9 vs. 7″ with 1024×600 resolution vs. 800×480 resolution) and more solid state drive capacity (8GB vs. 4GB).   There are other compact “netbook” computers that include conventional hard-drives in lieu of solid state drives, but the battery life must suffer.  The reviews I’ve read have been very positive, and for web surfing, email, home or school document creation (word processing and spreadsheet), and photo viewing these seem very capable.   An external USB drive or online server could provide archival storage if a full blown computer is not available.  An external keyboard, mouse, and monitor could be connected for desktop (docked) use.     Drool.   Drool.

Click on the picture for a cool demo.

Eee PC

I guess what I really like is the design elegance of these little machines.   By stripping out excesses in hardware and software, they satisfy 99% of most people’s computing needs (my unscientific observation) with an inexpensive, attractive, compact, and energy efficient solution.

Tags: Computers, Linux, Technology, Windows