Get a $99 Mini-Netbook 1
$99 mini-netbook with an ARM processor
Buy It Today!
The device runs either WindowsCE or Android, but I imagine an Ubuntu-on-ARM or Maemo5 distro will work too. For $99, I’d buy one of these devices today, on a whim. If they were in Walmart or Target, then I’d buy 2 of them. Seriously, my neighbor could replace her $700 laptop with this for all the email and surfing she does AND be safer on the internet.
Add an 8GB class 6 SDHC and you’re ready for most home internet users.
Keystroke to Restart X/Windows in Ubuntu 10.04 - Lucid
Like many people, I recently updated my main desktop Ubuntu installation to 10.04, Lucid Lynx. As a long time Linux user, we’re used to some special keystrokes to force the system to do things. Keystrokes like:
- Reboot – {cntl}-{alt}-{del}
- Restart X/Windows – {cntl}-{alt}-{backspace}
The Solution
Working MS-Office 2003 on Ubuntu 10.04 with Wine 2
Many of us prefer to use Open Office, OO, for our productivity applications, but most of the people we deal with do not. OO does a good job of supporting MS-Office file formats, but it isn’t perfect. I’ve caused format issues with my team and clients because I chose to use OO instead of booting MS-Windows just to run MS-Office. They were not happy that my touching the files screwed up all the paragraph formating or worse.
If your team uses commenting or any other advanced feedback features in MS-Office, give up on OO and load MS-Office for those times when you must use MS-Office.
Enough was enough for me. I’ve already paid for the MS-Office license, so running it under Linux would be ideal for me. WINE to the rescue. Below I’ll talk through the easy installation process and let you know what to expect in each of the apps after you get MS-Office loaded.
Why Is Intel Hiding VT-x Support in Processors
If you follow me here, you know I’m in the market for a new laptop and that I’m fairly certain which features I need. VT-x support is mandatory for me.
Intel has a VT-x support list and it is nice, but it actually is not a list of processors with VT-x support at all. It is a list of processor families with DHTML hooks to see the sub-list intermixed with processors that have and don’t have VT-x features, not what I want. I’m seeking a single list of processors that have VT-x support, period. I don’t want to see any processors without vt-x in the list. Intel is missing the point.
If there was a table with a VT-x column, then I could filter it easily. Any pointers to the list I seek or should I just go with an AMD processor since it appears any of them made in the last 2 years includes AMD-V, their version of VT-x, support.
Ok, so Intel isn’t hiding their processors, but they certainly aren’t making it easy. At least Wikipedia is helpful
Ubuntu 10.04 and Xen Dom0 - NOT! 3
Xen as a Dom0 is not supported in Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) by Canonical. Both Canonical and Redhat have decided to get behind the KVM virtualization method instead. I think this was a choice driven by the required maintenance effort, since KVM hooks have been in the baseline Linux Kernel for about a year and Xen inclusion into the Linux kernel doesn’t seem likely at any point in the future. Supporting Xen kernels is just too tough.
