Acer easyStore H340

Thanks to all the suggestions I got these few days, I have decided on Windows Home Server for my home backup and storage solution. I bought the Acer easyStore H340 from Canada Computers for $489.99 that comes with a free additional 1TB HDD so in total this system has 2TB. Originally I was planning to reuse my old Celeron that is sitting around collecting dusts, but the store won’t let me purchase an OEM copy of WHS unless I buy hardware from them (a system builder). It’s kind of bizarre for MS to sell just OEM version of WHS because I thought MS intention is for enthusiasts to re-spec their old PCs. Price is a sensitive issue here since they are competing with the NAS solutions out there. Anyways, I don’t think I can build a comparable system cheaper than this Acer box that I just bought, and I don’t have an immediate need for another desktop PC so I went with this.

Once I figure out all my backups and iTunes I’ll write more about this.

 

NAS or Windows Home Server?

Since Noah arrived, I’ve started to use my camera a lot more and I’m starting to run out of disk space on my paltry 40GB hard disk on my PC and Mac. It’s time to look for more storage, but I wonder what I should use. I originally struggled with choosing a dumb network attached storage, but it seems like I am sold on Windows Home Server. Looks like the HP MediaSmart is my top choice in terms of features such as iTunes server, but Acer has a great price point. Any suggestions?

 

Augmented Reality

Looks like Augmented Reality is becoming a reality if you are an Android user in Netherlands. You can now browse real estate listings and ATM machines around where exactly you are by just pointing your phone around and the browser will overlay what you see in the real world with the listings. It’s more of a technical demo for now because you can already do the same thing with just google maps, minus the camera overlay. I’m sure there are some better usages out there than just looking for ATMs around you, but it’s a good start to get people understand what they can really do with their Android/iPhones, and how useful with IP access anywhere you are with the phone.

 

Baby arrived, some time to write blog

A week ago our baby boy Noah arrived and it has been a week already. As all other dads tell me life will never be the same again. Yup that’s true and I am living on a few hours of sleep for the past week, and Pat and can’t tell from day and night now

Among the sleepless nights I still managed to watch the Apple keynote at WWDC. Steve is not back yet but it doesn’t seem to matter for now, because I realize that Apple faithfuls will remain faithful just because what Apple does. No offence to the Apple crowd, but I was quite amused that when Phil introduced the MacBook Pro refreshes the crowd would get excited on any little detail. I can’t help but laugh when the crowd was excited about even an SD card slot addition – isn’t this something that people take for granted for years?

I was quite excited about iPhone OS 3 because I agree with Apple that software plus hardware integration is truly where innovation lies. If it’s not the iPhone I think we’re still stuck with phones with limited capabilities and carriers still charge crazy rate for data. It’s a bit sad that carriers are no more than a dumb pipe to the Internet and innovation remains at the devlopers, yet I am pleased to see where people are bringing a great software platform into practical use. Out of all the demos in the keynote, I find Zipcar is the most innovative. Using the iphone to unlock the car and horn is just way too cool. This is truly integrating mobile Internet as a platform for practical use. Great job.

Anyways I find the ngmoco demo lady trying a little too hard to inmitate Steve with this “boom” thing. Haha it sounds a little funny.

 

Tinkering around with my EEE pc

I have been using the Ubuntu Netbook remix for a while on my EEE pc, even though it is a good desktop OS,  I still find that the OS is a bit too “fat” for this tiny laptop. I always think the netbook genre should be more streamlined to provide the internet experience easily with less of the OS bulk. In other words, I would like to boot up quickly and start browsing the web, check email, update my twitter, and maybe checking out my friends on Facebook. I find Ubuntu takes almost as long as my Vista to boot up so I still prefer my PC over the netbook. So far only my iPhone can deliver this experience quickly but I believe a netbook can fill the gap with a richer experience since it has a real keyboard and a bigger screen.

Recently Moblin released their beta live image for the netbook, and I was eager to try it out. Unfortunately, my EEE pc 701 couldn’t get past the bootup and freezes, so I can’t comment on the system yet. From the video and slides Moblin looks quite promising, so I really hope some day I would be able to boot this up on my little netbook and give this little thing more life.

 

Small Computing

Pat always tell me that I am obsessed with small things and I do admit it. I am especially fond of small computers ever since I first owned the first generation Mac Mini. Even after 4 years of owning this Mac, I still haven’t found a comparable system that can pack so much in such a tiny footprint. The reason I find small computers great is that it’s quiet and it takes up little space on the table. Over the past 20 years my brother and I have amassed a pile of computer junk; and due to the size of older computers I find them quite a waste for computer makers to make such a large package.

Recently Intel has just released the D945GSEJT motherboard that is aimed at making motherboards sexy again. Not only it’s a mini-ITX board (17cmx17cm), its height is only 2 cm because it only uses one row of ports. The memory slot is flat,  it has a PCI Express slot for a potential SSD drive, and a place for Wifi module. This thing has potential to build a slim and fanless PC, and I applaud Intel for doing its homework on making this board. It even has direct DC input, so there is no not even need for a PSU in the chassis. Now if someone can produce a super-thin chassis, and this board can finally become a smaller yet complete PC. The cases out there still has a fair bit of “fat”, and I still think the current Mac Mini is the vest value.

I thought having a small PC is going to give me more table space, but I am wrong. My printer is now the biggest item on the desk next the monitor, along with my never-ending pile of bills to pay

 

Bell and Virgin Mobile

Just read that Bell had acquired full ownership of Virgin Mobile, and this means another virtual operator (MVNO) is gone. I guess this is a new reality that virtual operators are only viable when they are owned by actual operators as sub-brands like Fido and Koodo. Since Bell owns Solo as well, I wonder if they are going to kill one of these brands eventually. There are other MVNOs out there such as President’s Choice Telecom and 7-Eleven’s SpeakOut, but they are tied to their own retail outlets only. With the main operators starting to put some price pressure on the pre-paid plans, I really wonder these smaller MVNOs will survive in the long run. Anyways, I still think the cell phone rates in Canada is still high, and data rates is still quite crazy. 

I’m still waiting for Skype for iPhone to be available in Canada. Disappointing.

 

Funny story

Pat and I went for dinner with a few friends at a bubble tea + Japanese food place and here is our conversation with the waitress:

“Can I get this toast?”

“We don’t make toasts, they’re on lunch menu only.”

(Looking through the dinner menu) “Okay, we would like to have this beef noodle.”

“Sorry, all beef is sold out today.”

“How about the pork?”

“I’m sorry we are out of pork and pork cutlet too”

(Grumble) “Err… so what do you have left?”

“We have lots of food available! I can’t count them for you…”

“Well then, how about this bento meal?”

“Oh – we’re totally out of bento as well”

“Dang! Then how about this seafood noodle?”

“Yes, we’ve got it. Drinks?”

“I like green tea bubble tea.”

“Okay”

“I like one as well”

“Oh that was the last one sold”

“What the?”

 

We were truly amazed.

 

Wow, kids can make TATP too

I read a news article yesterday and there is a 14-year old and 13-year old kid in Hong Kong that figured out how to make a TATP (tri-acetone tri-peroxide) bomb in their own home. Unfortunately, the kids had an accident when trying to explode the bomb and one of the kids lost two fingers as a result of the experiment. It’s pretty amazing that this dangerous chemical can be made from a combination of a few chemicals that these kids were able to purchase off a chemical store. That’s also the danger for serious mischief because the individual ingredients were not dangerous nor restricted by themselves so the kids were able to buy them without questions. I believe these are smart kids with passion in science that just had an experiment gone bad, and the instructions must be easy enough to get that even kids can attempt at home. This explosive chemical is also dangerous that even kids can make them; if someone were to have determination and ill-intention, this thing can do a lot of damage. In this information age, we are blessed with the world of information that are available at our fingertips with just a browser. There is absolutely nothing we can do to stop flowing the instructions for bomb-making; but what we can do is to educate our next generation that there is consequence in whatever we do.

 

Minor surgery tomorrow

I really don’t know what to expect tomorrow when I go in and have my Septoplasty procedure. My nose has been bothering me for a long time since I couldn’t really breath properly during sleep. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt very much – oh well.

Just bought Dragon Quest IV for DS today – this is my little treat for having the surgery  I am glad that there is English translation for this great game on DS. I’ve never truly appreciate the dialogs when I tried these RPG games in Japanese – it was pretty much all about grinding and buying the best gears and moving on to the next town. Being able to read the dialogs is actually quite fun – I am looking forward to DQ IX when it comes out.