Core 2 Quad 2.83Ghz

 CPU: Q9505
RAM: 4GB DDRII-800
HDD: Seagate 500GB SATA II
Geforce 9800GT 512 Mb

LG DVD Burner
Motherboard & Case: Gigabyte
21.5″ Samsung LCD wide monitor
Keyboard
MS optical mouse
Gigabyte or Logitech speaker

Total Price $1,290

Core 2 Duo 2.93Ghz

CPU: E7500
RAM: 2GB DDRII-800
HDD: Seagate 500GB SATA II
Geforce 8400GS 256Mb

LG DVD Burner
Motherboard & Case: Gigabyte
21.5″ Samsung LCD wide monitor
Keyboard
MS optical mouse
Gigabyte or Logitech speaker

Total Price $950

Celeron 2.2Ghz

CPU: E1500
RAM: 2GB DDRII-800
HDD: Seagate 500GB SATA II
Built in Video

LG DVD Burner
Motherboard & Case: Gigabyte
21.5″ Samsung LCD wide monitor
KeyBoard
MS optical mouse
Gigabyte or Logitech speaker

Total Price $750

WindowBlinds adalah software utilitas yang memungkinkan Anda untuk benar-benar mengubah tampilan dan nuansa dari Microsoft Windows.

Ini bekerja dengan menerapkan gaya visual baru, yang disebut kulit, di seluruh user interface (title bar, menekan tombol, start menu, taskbar, dll) dari sistem operasi. Sebagai hasilnya, Anda mendapatkan kendali penuh atas cara Windows terlihat.

Seperti yang baik sebagai seseorang yang mungkin berpikir Windows terlihat, itu adalah satu ukuran cocok untuk semua solusi. WindowBlinds memberikan ribuan pengguna tampak baru untuk dipilih.

Dengan kulit, WindowBlinds dapat mengubah tampilan:

* Title bar
* Borders
* The Start bar
* Kemajuan Animasi
* Explorer Views
* Dan hampir setiap bagian dari Windows!

One of my skins is the ‘Magu Slideshow’ wich was actually made to be a part of the ‘Magu’ suite, but I never released it due to some issues with images. It was a special concept that only would fit one wallpaper and that also on one resolution only. So I decided it would be better to not release it. Anyway, one part of the suite fited to any kind of wallpaper and this is called ‘Magu Slideshow’. I provided a link in that post leading you to the download. Enjoy it.

Magu Slideshow

An update for the slideshow will follow. Stay ready.

I have various PC’s, some Windows based, some linux based. I use Windows daily for the bulk of my work despite that fact that most of the systems I manage are linux based. My personal view on operating systems has always been they are just a tool to do a job, choose the right one and the job gets done, choose the wrong one and its slow and painful for everyone.

I do love the fundamentalist’s views over which operating system is best; Windows, OSx, linux, etc. Personally I really liked OS/400 on the AS/400 (iSeries), but then maybe that’s because it was designed and built to do the job required, not fulfill the need to fluff about with a thousand pointless other things.

So, on my desktop (thats the actual wooden desktop of my desk) I have 2 decent size screens. The main one is the display for my workhorse PC and its Windows, currently Vista (with which I have to say I have had very little trouble since installing it when it launched).

The second, slightly off to the side is, as it happens Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. I have fiddled with this, it runs a Mac like dock (AWN) and is used generally for web browsing, Tweetdeck (or Seesmic), Skype, iPlayer, SSH, development, etc – a general all things to all men but not Windows PC.

Sometimes I choose the Windows PC, sometimes the  linux PC, sometimes my choice is made for me by what I need to do. We all use Microsoft Word or Excel, that dictates using the Windows PC. Yes, I know, I could use the linux one, but why?

The best choice is not having to choose one but rather use both.

So this brings me to mobility and the generally accepted total lack of in relation to a desktop PC. Enter desktop left, a laptop. In my case a nice 17″ Dell Vostro running Windows 7 (but with a dual boot to Ubuntu 9.10).

A little while ago, as part reward for assisting migrating my brother from Windows to Mac I acquired an Asus EeePC 901. This came with Windows XP and once set up has proven to be quite useful when lugging a full size laptop about seems too much. The trouble is XP is not a light weight operating system, its pretty heavy and slow and not very well built for low power netbooks. Its no surprise that it has taken over netbook sales though, I mean linux is scary, its strange and mostly, it doesn’t do things people want very well. I think it gets a bad rep. but no doubt about it, a normal PC user confronted with some linux distro or Windows XP is going for XP every time.

So what else is on my desktop? Well typically some other assorted junk, usually my cell phones; a little Nokia thing and a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 (which on various days I either love or hate). Normal land line telephone, often my camera (Eos40D) and always a mess of papers, notes and documents related to whatever real work I’m doing at the time.

…

There are two new pages if you haven’t noticed…

Image of the Whenever & Wallpapers

…

I’ve uploaded new content today so check it out… If you have any ideas for content for either one of the two pages feel free to share with me… If you liked any of the wallpapers they are free to download as your desktop wallpaper… and the images of the whenever, well, I really don’t know why I’m doing them… but anyone is free to contribute…

…

Macbook jest za mały! Ok, wiem to tylko lapek. Generalnie jednak idea zakupu lapka sprowadzała się do tego, aby zastąpił mi on stacjonara i dzięki temu przyczynił się do wzrostu powierzchni użytkowej w moim “salonie” (PC stuff zajmuje ładny kawałek biurka).

Przez pierwsze dni byłem zachwycony! Taaaak, tylko Apple! Microstoft, PC? Co to wogóle za gówno! Długo jednak nie czekałem i szybko uświadomiłem sobie jak bardzo przyzwyczaiłem się do stacjonara. Nic tylko przenoszę dupę na fotel i włączam “POWER ON”. Jeeej! Tak wiem, że lapek może leżeć w jednym miejscu cały czas, ale właśnie chodzi o to że nie leży (przynajmniej u mnie)! Wala się po mieszkaniu, albo się ładuje. Wierzcie mi – przenośnego kompa nie da się utrzymać w jednym miejscu. Wiem jedno – potrzybuje nowego stacjonara, gdyż jak się okazuje laptop w żaden sposób zastąpić go nie może. Jasne, jest niezastąpiony w podróży, kiedy to z ośmioma godzinami (niestety Poznań a Jasło to znaczna odległość) nie ma co zrobić, ale w domu? Nie no, kochany stacjonarny pecet na sowim miejscu musi być!

Na koniec wrzucam mój makowy pulpicik (na tapecie rodzinne strony). Taa, to jeden z niewątpliwych plusów tego białego, wypolerowanego amerykańskiego stuffu – można się pochwalić oryginalnym jabłuszkowym pulpitem

During the week of the New Moon premiere, the fandom started a charity with auctions to get donations for the AlexLemonadeStand-project. Today the total was a staggering $50,701.54 with auctions still left to go. During these auctions NinaPolitan: great fanfic writer an initiator to the Fandom Gives Back project ‘bought’ a desktop from me: one from Peter Facinelli. It’s an exclusive, so it won’t be downloadable anywhere. I hope u like it, and thank you for the great Fandom Gives Back!

Isn’t letterpress pretty? I love how this process transforms even the simplest piece of paper into something quite beautiful. Sugar Paper makes some of the prettiest letterpress items I have seen, particularly these calendars, note cards and to do lists. If you need a gift idea for me, here you go! Ha, just kidding. But seriously, who wouldn’t want these? Check out Sugar Paper’s 100% recycled paper products and luxe desk calendars. Super sweet stationery here.

What stationery are you loving right now? I’d love some new ideas. Do tell.

Bem, hoje trago para vocês um pacote que, para mim, é um dos melhores para se usar no windows xp. Ele se chama Vista inspirat 2, e é da Crystal XP. Na verdade, ele não é um pacote 100% fiel ao estilo do windows vista, já que ele traz elementos do Mac, como a Dock por exemplo. A primeira vez que usei ele fiquei encantado, e nem tinha o blog ainda. Além disso esse é um pack que não estraga seus arquivos do sistema nem nada, ao desinstala-lo ele não deixa nenhum vestígio. Testei e aprovo.

Download: Vista Inspirat 2

We’ve added some free desktop downloads to the website – use them on your bisTrack PC, on the trade counter, in the back office, however you like.

Head over to http://www.progressive-solutions.co.uk/support/free-wallpapers.php to grab them.

Saving space seems to be all the rage these days, thanks to the miniaturization of devices and machines around us. Take a look at your cellphone – it probably packs in a much faster processor compared to your desktop a few years back, right? The desktop PC has also quietly undergone its own revolution, with nettops making more and more of a presence (or nuisance, depending on how you look at it) while all-in-one PCs are also catching up in popularity simply because most of them are aesthetically pleasing while packing enough punch to deliver the processing power required for basic computing tasks such as surfing, checking e-mail as well as the occasional spot of casual gaming. The latest all-in-one PC to hit the market would be the Wind Top AE2220 from MSI, where it is now available Stateside as MSI’s flagship model in this department. The AE2220 extends the award-winning Wind Top line with new levels of performance, usability, energy-efficiency, and functionality in an affordable, stylish and eco-friendly design for today’s PC-centric families. To know more about the AE2220, head on after the jump.

You will get a 21.5″ screen with 16:9 widescreen display, full HD (1080p) resolution and high-fidelity 5.1-channel SRS Premium Sound to get you drooling even if it is still in its box. Meant to offer home users with theater-like multimedia entertainment, the inclusion of NVIDIA ION graphics certainly helps its cause in that department, while you can choose from the latest Intel Core 2 Duo/Pentium Dual Core processors for all your processing power needs. This wold mean it is able to run HD movies effortlessly, alongside resource-hungry applications and sophisticated 3D games without batting an eyelid. As for connectivity options, the AE2220 comes with VGA and HDMI input ports, letting it function as the primary home computer, TV or a widescreen display device for video-capable devices including game consoles.

Powered by the latest Windows 7 operating system, we’ve still no word on its pricing just yet.

Press Release

found @ http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20091119/msi-unveils-wind-top-ae2220/#more-33944

The man just keeps making me wanna make more deskRobs <- I’m not even sure if it’s a good English sentence or if I’m able to explain myself… Anyway, another deskRob from the trailer of Remember Me, which is gonna be a fuckhawd movie! Hope it hits the theaters on the 23rd of march – my birthday!

download Remember Me Rob here (1920 x 1200)

Docky es un lanzador de aplicaciones que nació junto a GNOME-Do pero que debido al enorme éxito han separado sus desarrollos. Tiene dos funciones principales:

1. Proporciona un acceso rápido a los programas, carpetas y plugins que coloquemos en él.
2. Muestra los programas abiertos (con una pequeña luz azul o roja debajo).

Además, como todo buen dock permite que arrastremos aplicaciones sobre él para añadir más lanzadores, reordenar los que ya están en Docky o eliminarlos si los arrastramos fuera (desaparecen con un curioso efecto). Para acceder a las opciones de las aplicaciones o plugins de Docky simplemente tenemos que hacer clic con el botón derecho del ratón sobre dicha aplicación o plugin.

En cualquier caso lo mejor es seguir leyendo para ver lo fácil que resulta su instalación y configuración en Ubuntu.

Instalación

1. Para instalar Docky en Ubuntu primero debemos agregar los repositorios de do-core. Con este fin dberemos ejecutar un comando en el Terminal (Aplicaciones > Accesorios > Terminal) que dependerá de la versión de Ubuntu que tengamos instalada:
   • Si tenemos Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, ejecutamos:

     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:docky-core/ppa

   • Si usas Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, deberás ejecutar este otro comando (para versiones anteriores habrá que cambiar jaunty por el nombre de tu versión):

     echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-core/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docky.list && sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 77558DD0

2. Después, independientemente de la versión que tengamos, actualizamos la información de los repositorios con el comando:

   sudo aptitude update

3. Por último, instalamos Docky ejecutando el siguiente comando:

   sudo aptitude -y install docky

Si todo ha ido bien, ya tenemos instalado Docky en nuestro Ubuntu.

Ejecución

Para ejecutar Docky por primera vez hacemos clic en el menú Aplicaciones > Accesorios > Docky.

Ejecutamos Docky

Con esto ya tendremos nuestro Docky funcionando en el escritorio.

Docky y el panel inferior

Sin embargo, debemos eliminar el panel inferior porque tendríamos información redundante y estéticamente no queda nada bien.

Configuración

En este apartado vamos a configurar Gnome para que Docky se vea bien (eliminando el panel inferior) y Docky en sí (eligiendo los Plugins y otras opciones). Nos ponemos manos a la obra:

1. Hacemos clic con el botón derecho en el panel inferior de nuestro escritorio y pulsamos Quitar del panel.
   

   Eliminamos del panel inferior la lista de ventanas

2. Después volvemos ha hacer clic con el botón derecho sobre el panel inferior pero esta vez pulsamos Borrar este panel.
   

   Borramos el panel inferior

3. Ya hemos eliminado el panel inferior y ahora sólo tenemos Docky.
   

   Docky en Ubuntu 9.10

4. Para configurar Docky hacemos clic sobre su logo (el ancla) y nos aparece su ventana de configuración. En ella lo más normal será activar la opción Start When Computer Starts para que se inicie Docky automáticamente cada vez que arranquemos el equipo.
   

   Configuramos Docky

   Además, podremos elegir los plugins que queremos tener activos. En mi caso, seleccioné el de GMail y la papelera (Trash). Y, por supuesto, el tamaño de los iconos, el zoom…

Solucionar problemas

• Recuadro negro en la pantalla:
  Después de instalar y ejecutar Docky podemos encontramos con un recuadro negro que nos impide ver el fondo de pantalla como en la siguiente imagen:
  

  Problemas visualizando Docky

  Para solucionarlo, simplemente tenemos que activar los efectos del Compiz.

Espero que os guste.

Artículos relacionados:

• Personalizar Ubuntu

Breakin News: Google Chrome OS available as free VMWare download!

Seriously, how awesome have the past few hours been? Engadget turns the design stakes up to 11, Google finally dishes the dirt on Chrome OS, and now you can even download the forthcoming software to have a fiddle with yourself. It’s completely free. source

Hey everyone – I know it’s almost Winter, but I though you might enjoy some fall pictures. Feel free to use one (or a couple, if you’re using Windows 7) as your desktop wallpaper. Let me know in the comments if you do! (There are 3 altogether.)

Autumn Leaves on a Brick Sidewalk

Last Green of Fall

Fall Maple Leaves

So far, ‘Thor’ is still my biggest success in Rainmeter. On devART it has the most views and most favourites of all my Rainmeter deviations. So I decided that the time is ripe for a follow-up. It’s developement name is ‘Zeus’ and it is in the plannings by now. I have some ideas and especially the feedback I recieved from ‘Thor’ will make it much better this time. A main issue with ‘Thor’ was the high CPU usage, so I will try to decrease it now to a maximum level of approximatly 2%.
Stay ready for it. You will not be dissapointed.

All over the tech websites last week: Google previewing their Chrome OS and releasing it’s code to the open source community.

Planning, pre-viewing and releasing an OS is a big thing. Especially if everybody is looking at you as the provider of THE cloud OS.

It stroke me that some of the comments are so diverging. Some examples. Who is right and who is wrong ? With – as usual – some additional thoughts and spices by yours truly.

Negative

When the title says “Why Chrome OS will fail” you know what to expect.

However, it also inherits that platform’s (Linux) many warts, including spotty hardware compatibility.

It’s a move born of desperation. Google knows it can’t possibly establish a viable hardware ecosystem and still meet its self-imposed release deadline of "mid-2010”.

…no surprise that the primary interface to the Chrome OS is … Chrome, as in the Google browser. Unlike a traditional OS, there’s no desktop. The "applications" running under the Chrome OS are really just interactive Web pages,…

The bottom line is that while there is virtually nothing that you’ll be able to do with the Chrome OS that you won’t be able to do equally well with Windows, there are literally millions of things that you can do with Windows today that you’ll likely never be able to do with the Chrome OS.

It should come as no surprise that this is the article that is tweeted around Twitterspace with great and almost malicious pleasure by current Microsoft employees. Still loyal to their employer.

But think twice when you use the word loyalty in this context. See how fast the love can turn into competition when the company does not treat its ambassadors rightly (Don Dodges 180° love/hate turn around after being hired by Google)

See also James Gardner on the “Evidence of the (Microsoft) chip (in Microsoft employees)” and the introduction of a new term:

the Borgocrat

Fake Steve Jobs, one of my favourite blogs on the internet, summarised the whole thing very nicely I thought, in a post where he calls Don a Borgocrat (Fake Steve refers to everything Microsoft as the Borg), and compares previous posts Don has made with his new position on products for the company.

If this isn’t evidence that the “chip” still exists, I don’t know what is.

The more a read those opinions of some of head-in-the-sand Microsoft opinion makers , the more they are irritating and even not credible.

What to think of a Microsoftie making fun of Google Gmail being down, when their Hotmail has been down and hacked so many times.

But it’s a more general irritation.

What to think of traditional network vendors making fun of some cloud outages, knowing that their legacy technology is 30 years old, and the cloud players are doing relatively well, if you would add an adoption ratio of number of users and the incredible short time to market for users to take up.

That sort of arguments are so passé,

so old game

Neutral

Starting with a safe “Personally, I think it’s too early to tell.” The more interesting part in this posting is the effect that “geeks” can have on mainstream.

Yes, the "geek" audience is without a doubt a niche market. So it’s easy for Microsoft or Apple to write off Chrome OS. But that’s a mistake. As John Gruber wrote in his excellent piece, "Microsoft’s Long, Slow Decline":

People who love computers overwhelmingly prefer to use a Mac today. Microsoft’s core problem is that they have lost the hearts of computer enthusiasts. Regular people don’t think about their choice of computer platform in detail and with passion like nerds do because, duh, they are not nerds. But nerds are leading indicators.

Microsoft’s losses to Apple aren’t based on "regular people" choosing the Mac. Rather, these "regular people" were encouraged to do so by the geeks in their lives who had made the switch to a Mac years ago. Consumer technology vendors can ignore the alpha geek niche at their peril.

Positive

Louis Gray has a long term view.

Google’s preview of the Chrome OS was more than a product release. It was a milestone in a vision of a Web-centric world, one in which we are increasingly living.

For the vast majority of my own activity, I am online, not using software. I intentionally use some applications, like Microsoft’s Office suite or Adobe Photoshop, quickly, and then close them just as quickly, as to not slow down my computer’s performance. Google’s Chrome OS is the latest development in a vision that says our activity will be online, our data will be stored in the cloud, and applications that have traditionally been desktop software will make their way online.

Under no uncertain terms, I agree with their vision. This is happening and it is happening fast.

Robert Scoble (an ex-Microsoft himself) has as usual a more documented insight on his blog.

Google is playing a different game. Google Chrome OS is NOT about killing Microsoft or Apple.

What is it about? Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers.

This reminds me of the famous video where Steve Ballmer cheers up the developer’s audience in the good old days. It looks however – like pointed out in the neutral article above – that Microsoft has lost its’ “clout” with the developers at large.

It’s even getting worse: last week at PDC, Ray Ozzie was saying that apps won’t be a differentiating factor on smart phones. Sounds a bit arrogant to me when you know that iPhone Appstore has 100,000+ apps in store, and Android Marketplace building up fast.

Scobleizer continues:

I have not seen a single thing demonstrated on stage yet that won’t run on Google Chrome OS.

This is a winner, but on a new field

Do you wish to install the most advanced antivirus in your desktop or the laptop? Need some expert form alleged computer repair service. We are at you service, just a click away at

Alexandria computer repair

Damn, the boy was sexy in New York. This pic literally makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it…

Download NewYorkRob here (1920 x 1200)