Brian Junyor

The switch to the netbook as my “desktop” computer means it now competes with space on my desk with the MacBook Pro setup.  When I am at home the MacBook Pro sits on a riser and I use the Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse while working.  The old Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that I put on the netbook was too big and bulky to make efficient use of my limited space. 

I made a trip to Best Buy today at lunch to scope out a new keyboard and mouse and ended up going with Microsoft products.  It does seem a little strange to use a Microsoft keyboard and mouse with a Linux machine in an Apple household, but I am blown away by the form factor of both of these. 

Here are the specs from Microsoft:

Arc Mouse

• 2.4 GHz – 30 ft. Wireless Range
• Folds For Portability
• Scroll Wheel
• Battery Status Indicator
• Snap-in USB Micro-Transceiver
• Windows Flip*
• 4 Customizable Buttons
• Comfort for Either Hand
• Designed for Notebook PCs
• Laser Technology
• 6+ Months Battery Life

Arc Keyboard

• 2.4 GHz – 30 ft. Wireless Range
• Battery Life Indicator
• Clean lines and eye catching shape
• Lightweight and Compact
• Stowable Nano Transceiver

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and I am loving it.  One of the things that never really bothered me when I was using the 10 inch screen on the netbook was the “feature” to auto-maximize every window.  Now that i am using it on a large display – it was driving me bonkers.

If you find yourself needing to turn off the auto-maximize feature, here is how:

1. Press Alt + F2 to bring up the Run Application dialog box

2. Type “gconf-editor” without the quotes and press run

That will bring up your Configuration Editor

3. Hit the + beside Apps

4. Scroll down and click on Maximus 

5. Check the box next to “no_maximize”

Then close the Configuration Editor.

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

I’ve been bashing netbooks lately, but after several rounds of feedback from pro netbook friends, I’ve decided to give mine another shot.  

THE BACKSTORY

My desktop PC crashed a couple of months ago and I have been slow in coming up with a solution for accessing the data on my two hard drives.  In the meantime, the MacBook Pro has become my primary computer and I use Parallel’s to run Windows & Windows Applications when needed.  It all works smoothly and I don’t have any plans to change anything up.  However, I’d like to use my 30 inch display and be able to get the data on the 2 hard drives that reside in my PC.  Note: I don’t use the display with my MacBook Pro because the colors are so different between the two displays that it bothers me.  

THE IDEA

I have this ASUS Eee PC sitting on my desk collecting dust, so I use that as my desktop.  Right now I am running Ubuntu Linux and it works fine for a netbook.   I am using a VGA cable to connect it to the display, wireless keyboard and mouse through one of the USB ports and the pièce de résistance — a USB SATA dual hard drive dock from Thermaltake (STU0014U).

THE OUTCOME

• Honkin’ Display
• Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
• Access to all the data on one* of the two PC hard drives.  The Thermaltake BlacX Duet was truly plug and play with Linux.  It mounted the drive with no problem, the *only issue I have now is that one of the hard drives is an old IDE, so I’ll invest in an external enclosure and move the data over to the other SATA hard drive sometime in the future.

THE FUTURE

My plan is to use the netbook as a storage gateway and for light internet browsing, I’ll still use the MacBook Pro for the heavy lifting.  

I may not have found a conventional use for the netbook, but I think I’ve found something to do with it.  That makes me happy as it’s no longer a paperweight and it’ll make my friends happy because I am getting some use out of a product that they believe in.

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream