I am Officially Nerd-certified...kinda

Ubuntu 9.10 Boot Up Screen

I was pretty damn giddy for the release of Windows 7 a couple weeks ago, and honestly I have to admit it was hella geeky trying to explain to my friends that Windows 7 is good. But now I am officially a board-certified Nerd. On October 29, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) came out as a final release. For those that have no idea what Ubuntu is, it is basically a variant Linux Operating System. So yes, I’ve installed Linux on my Dell netbook. And yes, I have completed the Operating System Trifecta of Windows, Mac OS-X, and Linux.

To be honest, I know nothing about Ubuntu/Linux. What I do know is that it is completely open-source and it is free. The installation process was fairly easy as I used my trusty USB key to install Ubuntu on my Dell netbook. The process was pretty fast and in less than 30 minutes I had it up and running. I was pretty skeptical about trying Linux because I have no clue how to use it, but I gotta say Ubuntu made it fairly easy and straightforward to get cozy with. In fact it was so easy to get used that I got bored with it in about an hour. I did run across some problems as Ubuntu did crash on me a couple times, and I had an extremely difficult time trying to get my wireless card drivers to work. It maybe me just getting used to Linux. Really, I have no idea why I installed Ubuntu on my netbook but I do like that it takes up just 2 GBs to run and it is a pretty fast OS (booting up and shutting down). Also I like that OpenOffice was included along with some other useful apps, and there is a simple interface to search for more free applications. I downloaded my favorite media player – VLC – with ease. Out of the box, it is not a flashy OS like Windows or OS-X but for a netbook it is excellent. I hated how slow and bloated Windows XP was on the netbook (THANKS DELL!). Honestly, I wouldn’t install it on my main computer but for a netbook Ubuntu just gets the job done. All I know is right now is perhaps the best time for consumers to pick and choose their OS of choice – Snow Leopard, Windows 7, and Ubuntu 9.10 are all good.

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried installing Linux. WAAAY back in like 1996 my friend Phil tried to install Linux Red Hat on my other friend’s HP Windows 95 computer because we were curious little kids back then. Lets just say it was a complete and utter disaster and never dabbled with it until now. Boy, have times changed…I guess I did it for the nerds.

The UI is like the bastard child of Windows and Mac. Or maybe Windows and Mac got their UI design from Linux. Hmmm...

Log-In Screen

Notebook Bekas - Laptop Second - Dell Inspiron 9300 Notebook Computer

laptop second

The Dell Inspiron . adalah persembahan terbaru dari produsen yang dimuliakan komputer pribadi. Luas dipuji sebagai sebuah Hiburan pembangkit tenaga listrik . yang menjanjikan keunggulan untuk memberikan performa yang luar biasa bagi penggemar multimedia. Biarkan S melihat apa yang membuat komputer laptop second notebook ini yang menonjol bahwa hal itu.

Anda harus mengagumi Dell. Tidak sebulan pergi dengan di mana Notebook Second suatu model baru yang ditawarkan harga berkurang dan seluruh paket yang Laptop Bekas manis dengan dimasukkannya semacam upgrade gratis. Benar untuk membentuk Dell Inspiron . komputer notebook adalah contoh utama dari semua itu karena merupakan Laptop Second model baru fully loaded dan tersedia bagi Anda pada harga yang menarik.

Beberapa fitur top model khusus ini meliputi

A quot layar Sempurna untuk para gamer dan pengamat Notebook Second film.

Intel Pentium M Processor . GHz/ MB Notebook Bekas Cache/ MHz FSB laptop second .

Sebuah kekalahan GB memori.

GB hard drive.

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition .

x CD / DVD burner DVD /-RW dengan lapisan ganda kemampuan menulis.

McAfee Security Center.

Tahun Service Plan.

. ada yang ringan berat dalam di hanya lebih dari lbs. Tentu saja jika Anda pindah dari unit desktop berat akan tampak tidak penting.

NaNoWriMo--Getting Ready to Roll

Yep, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this November.  At first I was just going to tell y’all that this blog was probably going to get quiet next month (not like it hasn’t happened before) but I’m going to try and lay in some posts in the draft box before Nov. 1 so I can pop a few up here and there as I go.  

This week has been all about getting ready.  Getting my work space ready, clearing a spot on my cluttered home desk (I may be the only person I know with five full pencil cups–anyone else want to fess up?) for the babyDell and the coffee.   

Honestly, the biggest bribe for this whole thing (besides the prospect of actually getting a draft done) may be that I will allow myself all the coffee I want.  Love the stuff; limit myself to two hearty mugs a day.  Usually.  Not this November.  I suspect it may be the sole thing getting me out of bed at 5:00 am. At first anyway. 

Lining up all the books I’ve been using to research my subject.  From what I understand, I’ll be writing so fast, I might not be able to do much more than glance at them, maybe touch them if I’m lucky.  But it’s good to know they’ll be there, waiting for me to delve into after it’s all over, when I’m revising.

What’s in this black box?  Yes, well, wouldn’t you like to know?  It’s related to the novel, but its contents are secret right now.  Another reassuring presence.  Besides, secrets can be very motivating.

According to NaNoWriMo’s founder, Craig Baty, one should not have a bed visible in one’s writing space–nor a cat (see upper corner) demonstrating its benefits.  Unfortunately, my writing space is also a guest bedroom/daybed I normally purpose for reading and napping.  I should be able to resist it, though.  I know going near it would be a disaster.  If resisting turns out to be a problem, I could always cover it with tacks or something.

And the picture wouldn’t be complete without Garfield, our older cat, quite bereft these days now that we have acquired a kitten. Normally Garfield isn’t interested in attention from anyone but my husband but he’s become very needy lately, even asking me for some lovin’.

I feel lucky, I have had plenty of 2008 winner Monda Fason’s advice to shore me up and let me know what’s what.  Nervous but hopeful. That’s me. 

Bye y’all,
SV

4Q = Best Quarter

This is a GREAT quarter to be a tech geek, or to even be moderately interested in technology.  Let’s start with mobile phones:  the Motorola Droid is coming, you’ve likely seen their terrific commercials playing jokes on the iPhone; “a Storm is blowing in”, actually a Storm2 as RIM and Verizon are finally releasing the follow up to all the original Storm bashers and their complaints; and of course, the greatest Blackberry ever made, the Bold 9700 (they should’ve just stuck with the codename for this device as its market name… the Onyx).  Computers: Apple released a new line of MacBooks and updated the iMac, Windows 7 came to official fruition, and of course the sexiest piece of tech I’ve seen in awhile, the new Dell Adamo XPS which will be half as thin as a MacBook Air will be announced in November.

And with the holiday deals coming up its going to be hard to resist easing out of that recession without some new gadgets.  It’s a great time to buy and ATLdigitized would love to show you exactly what you need!

Dell Inspiron One 19 Takes Off For Japan Flight

Dell’s latest all-in-one PC won’t be making any pit stops in the U.S., its a first class trip to Japan for the Inspirion One 19. An upgrade from the Studio One 19, this PC comes in two basic configurations. One option is a 2.6GHz or 2.93GHz Intel processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 2GB; the other is 4GB of RAM, an 18.5-inch display (1,366 x 768), a 320GB or 500GB SATA hard drive and a DVD burner. Looking to import? All it costs is $770 (¥69,980). No U.S. release date has been confirmed.

Dell Streak con Android 2.0

Desde que Michael Dell anuncio que Dell lanzaría un smartphone con Android 2.0 dentro de poco en los Estados Unidos, han empezado a circular varios rumores de como sera el aspecto del equipo, y al parecer el rumor de que sera al mas puro estilo de una Internet Tablet iría ganando.

Se han filtrado algunas imágenes y un video del presunto móvil. Aunque algunos aseguran que en realidad no es un móvil, sino que un Internet Tablet, otros simplemente creen que este es el terminal del cual hablo Michael.

El equipo contara con una pantalla capacitiva multitáctil de 5 pulgadas con una resolución de 800 x 480 píxeles, conectividad 3G, Wi-Fi y Bluetooth, una cámara de 5 megapíxeles con doble flash LED y se encontrara corriendo bajo Android 2.0 como sistema operativo.

Link: Streak

Fuente: Wayerless

Brazilian Paint Manufacturer, Tintas Iquine, Migrates from UNIX to Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Increase Performance and Improve Security

Brazilian Paint Manufacturer, Tintas Iquine, Migrates from UNIX to Red Hat Enterprise Linux to Increase Performance and Improve Security

FAST FACTS

Customer: Tintas Iquine

Industry: Manufacturing: Paint and Tints

Geography: Brazil

Business Challenge: Increase the stability and performance of business critical ERP applications

Software: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Datasul, Progress Database, Trend Micro Security Solution

Hardware: Intel Xeon processor based Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers

Migration Path: UNIX/RISC based servers to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Intel Xeon processor based Dell PowerEdge servers

Benefits: Red Hat virtualization enabled increased stability, performances, and increased security on redundancy and backup, and Red Hat Satellite simplified systems management

Download the case study [PDF]

BACKGROUND
Tintas Iquine, a Brazilian paints, coatings, and special resins company, produces more than 1,500 products including; industrial paints, varnish, sealing, resins, pastes, and is known for its rigorous quality control, and its use of new technologies to improve its processes, products and deliver more value to its customers, paint and building material resellers and retailers.

In operation since 1974, Tintas Iquine’s two factories have the capacity to produce 8 million liters of products per month, guaranteeing to the company 60% to 70% of the entire Brazilian market, operate 24/7 and are fully computerized in order to achieve enhanced production capabilit, security, and in addition, less impactful to the environment. Tintas Iquine achieved the certificate of approval in NBR ISO 9001:2000, which signifies the company’s compliance with the requirements of the standard of Quality Management System in coatings and was the only company to win the certificate of quality of the Brazilian Association of Manufacturers of Paints.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Tintas Iquine grew significantly in a short amount of time, with sales volume increases of 20-30 percent, the company increased in size from 200 to 500 employees, and needed a operating platform to improve its critical Enterprise Resource Planning applications and increase the IT team’s ability to scale for the company’s growth.

The existing UNIX based server environment at Tintas Iquine supported the ERP system, database, BI, CRM and security tools, consisted of a disparate, aging infrastructure that resulted in a lower application performance level and required resources devoted to systems management and monitoring, making it increasingly difficult and costly.

The new operating platform needed to increase the ERP application’s performance, security, and provide a simplified systems management tool.

SOLUTION
The Tintas Iquine’ IT team was well versed with open source operating platforms, and especially favored Red Hat Enterprise Linux due to the enterprise support, stability, and performance the platform provides, in addition to Red Hat Satellite systems management, that would solve the company’s systems management issues.

With the expertise in-house and the enterprise-ready reputation, Tintas Iquine confidently decided not to conduct a lengthy technical evaluation of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform. Due to the breadth of third-party applications certified to run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Tintas Iquine decided to migrate all of its applications from UNIX, as all of the applications would be running under only one operating system, thus increasing the performance and reducing systems management resources.

The migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux involved the virtualization of 12 machines to supports the company’s Progress database, Business Intelligence (BI) applications, CRM and Trend Micro Security Solutions.

BENEFITS
Tintas Iquine’s implementation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux has allowed the company to scale for growth, increase application performance, reduce costs, and simplify systems management. The satisfaction and gain of performance were immediately realized by the IT staff and throughout the company, as application users began to work more efficiently and more productively.

The virtualization and the migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux from UNIX, provided Tintas Iquine increased server utilization, and the management process on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux based servers have shown greater agility and ease of use, when compared to the Windows based servers, due to less interruptions in the maintenance process.

With Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the performance in the application processing has increased 30 percent, and the costs have fallen about 50 percent, thus confirming the company’s decision to migrate to Red Hat.

Although Tintas Iquine’s Oracle database is running in a Windows platform, due to the results of the UNIX to Red Hat migration, the company plans to gradually migrate all systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.