Three tech things today

1. Sorry, Linux... We won't be friends after all.
After extensive "playing around" with the new netbook, I've decided that Ubuntu (both 8.04 and 9.04) are not for me. Too many things didn't quite work, and too many things needed command line work (sudo judo) to function. It may be good for some, but not me.

2. Hello Hackintosh.
So once I decided that I didn't want Linux on the netbook, the question remained - what to install?
Rather than putting XP on the netbook, I decided to follow the 20 or so steps clearly documented on the web to install OSX 10.5.7 on the netbook. And yes, I stuck a small Apple sticker on it. I've gotten it working quite well, and faster than I'd ever imagined. I even got bluetooth working properly (took a little extra work), which leads me to...

3. BLUETOOTH INTERNET TETHERING

Now this is pretty damn cool. Basically, on either the "real" mac or the "hackintosh", I have gotten the iPhone 3GS's new "Internet Tethering" to work. This will allow me to "borrow" the phone's 3G connection via bluetooth and use it on either computer. And no, that's not a stock shot - that's my phone's home screen.

UPDATE - Apparently it also works on Windows machines connected via USB.

Just got my netbook

I saw Dell advertising a netbook for $250, and bought it.

It just arrived. My intent is to bring it with me to appointments, so that I can use it to test clients' networks. Tyically I'd been lugging around a ThinkPad T60, but figured carrying the 8.9" Dell Vostro A90 would be a lot easier.

It's got 1GB RAM, and a 16GB SSD. I'll probably be upgrading both soon. It also has a built-in webcam and bluetooth.

It'll take some getting used to for a few reasons:
- It's got Ubuntu Linux 8.04 preinstalled, and I've never used ANY Linux distro before.
- It's VERY tiny. I thought I'd only have issues with the tiny keys, but the little screen is going to need adjusting to also...

I just spent about 20 minutes playing with it, before grabbing the MacBook to post this. Switching from the 8.9" screen to the MacBook's 13.3" screen suddenly made the "little" mac feel GIGANTIC. ;)

That being said, I'm really excited about it, and the size/price just can't be beat.