HOWTO: Enable nVidia Graphics on OSX86

So I've been tooling around with OSX on my Sager laptop again and spent a short bit of time running around in circles trying to get my nVidia graphics enabled again. Getting this done with a modern OSX86 release is fairly easy if you know how (it doesn't even require installing a kext).

Simply open a terminal and run:

sudo nano /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

Type your password and press enter. In the file that is opened simply add these lines. Above the line that reads this.

Press ctrl+x to close the file and press "y" followed by enter to save the changes. Reboot your Hackintosh and you should be good to go. I'll be enjoying the Diablo 3 beta on mine.

As a side note sorry for the lack of posts this month. My school semester is coming to an end and life has been crazy of the late - expect some good postings come May (including hopefully a HOWTO for running Diablo 3 on Linux).

~Jeff Hoogland

Confused about iPads in Education

It's been nearly two years since I got my first Asus convertible tablet/netbook, loaded it up with Linux and started kicking it around with my every day to classes. In general I have found it to be an extremely useful tool.

I need to type notes or prepare a presentation? Not a problem - it is a netbook after all and can perform all the same functions as a laptop. I need to take hand written notes? I don't have to keep track of notebook paper that I always inevitably lose. I simply fire up Xournal and can use any stylus (or even a pen with a cap over the tip) to take notes on the computer just as if I was writing on a notebook. 

My netbook convertible does what any good piece of technology should - it makes my life easier.

You want to know what doesn't seem to make anyone's life easier during class? Those iPad's I've seen piles of people caring around campus with them this last year. In fact, I've never once seen an iPad used productively to take notes in a classroom. You can't type notes effectively on the dang thing - at least I've yet to find anyone that can match my 90+ WPM using a touch screen keyboard. You also can't take hand written notes effectively due to the poor quality of basically every capacitive stylus in existence.

One useful thing the iPad can do is function as a calculator. Another thing I've heard proposed is replacing text books with ebooks on the iPad. You know what else has all the functions of a calculator and can read ebooks and pdfs? You guessed it - my netbook.

The biggest joke at the end of all of it? Even the "16GB" version of the iPad costs more than the highest end Asus T101MT.

Maybe I'm just not "hip" enough to see the need for them, but it seems to me if we want to revolutionize how our students learn using technology they would be better served if that technology came in the form of something other than an "iPad" or capacitive tablet of any sort. Whats your take on it?

~Jeff Hoogland

Why the Tablet Craze?

I made a post last year titled "The Year of the Tablet Computer". It is now over half way through 2011 and it seems the touch screen craze is far from over. Apple has released the second iteration of their iPad, we are up to our ears in Android tablets from various hardware makers and a Meego tablet or two might still exist before the year is up. I've played with the iPad a bit, I've used more than a few different Android tablets (I even own one for purposes of developing Bodhi for ARM) and I must say I'm confused what all the hype is about.

Beyond my Android tablet I own several other computers including a Sony Vaio Laptop, a Sager Laptop, an Asus Netbook and a Nokia N900. I've had the Android tablet for around a month now and I've found myself reaching for any of the other computers when I need to get something productive done. Even something as basic as light webrowsing just feels easier/more natural on a computer that has a keyboard on it. I know this is partially because of what I am accustomed to, but I find it annoying when I am using a device that already has a ten inch screen (or smaller) to have a keyboard popping up that takes up nearly half of it!

Now, I am not saying tablet computers are all bad. In fact if you are looking to take digital hand written notes they are an excellent tool. Other than this I have yet to come across a practical application a tablet does more effectively than any netbook computer. If you know of one - please enlighten me. Of course there is more to computers than just productivity as many of us know. Games can be a wonderful use for tablet computers. In fact I think half the time I spend using my tablet is when solitaire or some other touch-focused game is at hand.

In closing, I think tablets are great novelty items. If you have an extra few hundred dollars laying around and want a new toy - go ahead and pick one up. Just don't expect it to magically change your life or make it easier like many commercials would have you think. For purposes of getting work done a netbook is much better suited for those looking to own a tiny computer.

~Jeff Hoogland

Hacking to make things Usable

I've noticed a disturbing trend occurring with software. Until recent months it was largely limited to closed source software such as iOS, but today we see it even in the FOSS world.

Users hacking at locked down software just to get the functionality out of it they need.

It amazes me that the faithful masses continue to do work for projects that try to undermine them at every turn. Apple users have been doing this for a long time. They buy iPhones, iPads, iPhails and "jail break" them to get around the locks imposed by the creator. They spend their time creating new an innovative programs, only to have them get rejected and then later stolen by Apple.


Something that troubles me greatly is that we have seen similar things start to happen in the world of open source with the releases of the Gnome 3 and Unity desktops. Maybe I am just used to the flexibility the Enlightenment desktop offers, but I am disturbed by the number of "tutorials" and "extensions" I have seen being written for these new desktops just to accomplish basic tasks.

I caught a post the other day that detailed all the things the Gnome 3 developers have decided their users no longer need. It is fully within the Gnome/Unity developers rights to make such choices. However it baffles me that their users continue to stick around and write "hacks" instead of moving onto another desktop where their valuable work would be appreciated and could eventually be accepted upstream. Are people so afraid of change they would rather continue to have their ideas treated poorly rather than move on to something different?

~Jeff Hoogland

The Lion has Lost the Magic

For a long time Apple has been known as a company that creates new and innovative products. Now if you have stopped by my blog before you will know that while I am not a fan of Apple hardware, I don't mind using the OSX operating system. That is why it makes me slightly sad that the up coming Apple OS 10.7 (Lion) is going to follow in the steps of the iPad and be less than innovative in the area of new features .

The first on the list of new features is the "Mac App Store":

While this is a good idea, it is far from being a new idea. Even if you ignore the fact that our mobile computers have had application stores for years, Linux was the first to create a centralized, graphical application for easily installing software on your computer with a single click. Beyond simple applications such as gnome-app-install, the Ubuntu Software Center was released over a year ago:

Ubuntu 10.10 also brings with it an integrated software store. So it appears those behind FOSS have beaten Jobs to this punch.

Most he rest of the "new features" listed for Lion only go down hill from here. Next is Apple's "Launchpad":

Not only are these essentially desktop icons, but Lauchpad may very well be an infringement of Canonical's intellectual property on the name. Also, what is the point of the dock if all the application launchers are splayed out all over your desktop? This next one is unfortunately not a joke. Listed on the page for OS 10.7 is "full screen applications". Forgot a feature like the software store that has been around for over a year - we have had full screen applications for over a decade.

Finally the feature sneak peak closes out with "Mac command central":

What this does is allow you to see all of your opened applications on the screen in front of you. This way you can switch between applications and see what is open. While this is a much more interesting addition than desktop icons and full screen applications, it is still something that FOS desktop environments such as Gnome and KDE have been doing for years.

Unless Lion is going to pack some other awesome features that just have yet to be announced it appears it could very well be a "meh" release that would really only be worth upgrading to if it was free (or if you are die hard Apple fan and like throwing money at Jobs).

~Jeff Hoogland

Wine vs Native - 3D Performance Benchmarks

In the past I've done Wine on Linux versus native Windows 7 benchmarks for 3D applications. Source engine games are some of my favorite benchmarking applications. Since Valve ported Steam to OSX earlier this year and I recently acquired an OSX PC I figured this would be an opportune time to see how Wine performance measures up to a native client, not only on the same hardware - but on the same operating system.

My benchmarking tools this time around will be Counter Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2, as they both run native on OSX. For Wine software I used the recently released Crossover Games 9.1

Scores:
Counter Strike: Source

• 1680x1050, Wine - 44.16fps
• 800x600, Wine - 48.59fps
• 1680x1050, Native - 54.02fps
• 800x600, Native - 56.22fps

Team Fortress 2

• 1680x1050, Wine - 43.88fps
• 800x600, Wine - 49.58fps
• 1680x1050, Native - 50.56fps
• 800x600, Native - 58.47fps

As you can see - the numbers are fairly close (at least closer than they are with the Windows vs Linux Wine benchmarks). With CSS Wine scored 81% the speed of the native version and in TF2 Wine was 86% the FPS native version. It is fantastic the progress the Wine project has made over the past few years, to the point where it can almost keep up with a native version of modern games - even so I would love to see native ports of these games to my favorite operating system.

~Jeff Hoogland
Please note while these benchmark scores presented are accurate to the best of my abilities, they only represent my personal hardware and software configurations. Your results on your own system(s) may vary (and if they do, please share them!).

Hackintosh - Apple at a Reasonable Price

So as I mentioned once before the cost of purchasing Apple hardware is outrageous compared to non-Apple hardware. That being said, OSX has been gaining a lot of ground lately (it seems every fifth laptop around campus has a fruit stamped on the back of it and OSX is gaining more games) and I like to try and keep up with the technology world so I figured it was time to give OSX a try.

Lo and behold - my new Macbook Pro:


Now since I did not have 2,000$ laying around to purchase a Macbook capable of gaming I decided to give the Hackint0sh Project a try. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered my Sager laptop was almost fully functional under OSX. In fact after a bit of hacking and Googling everything other than my Intel Wifi card is functioning under Apple's operating system.

If you are looking to setup your own Hackint0sh computer here are a few useful tips that I learned along the way -

Hardware -

If you want to run OSX the right hardware is essential. OSX supports a very limited amount of hardware, so do your homework before purchasing a computer! In case this isn't obvious - get an Intel processor. In terms of graphics cards it appears that just like with Linux, nVidia chips enjoy better support under OSx86. With wireless chips, you are going to want to get the same type of wifi card they use in a real Macbook: Broadcom and Atheros are good bets (pick the latter of the two if you also want good Linux support). When it comes down to it, also check the OSx86 wiki.

Dealing with Kexts -

A "kext" stands for "kernel extension". They add hardware support to the OSX operating system, odds are you will deal with installing a few of these to get your system up and running. Kexts.com is the best source for all of these and they are easy enough to install with the Kext Helper. A couple useful things to note about Kexts though -

Install them one at a time, if you get a Kext that does not agree with your system it will cause "kernel panic" at startup. If this happens boot into safe boot with the -x kernel argument and remove the kext you installed from the /System/Library/Extensions/ directory.

If one version of a kext does not work, try another version of the same kext. For instance, I tried three versions of the VoodooHDA kext before I found one that worked.

If you do change out a kext, you are going to want to "fix your file permissions" and rebuild your "kext cache". To do the first of these go to Applications->Utilities->Disk Utilities->First Aide->Repair Disk Permissions to take care of the second, at boot add the -f argument (I would also add the -v argument, so you can watch the progress instead of just wondering where it is at).

Support -

There is a good community for getting help with your OSx86 PC. The Hackint0sh forum is a good place to start. If you are hoping for some real time help, there is an IRC channel:

Address - irc.osx86.hu:6667

Channel - hackint0sh

Or drop a comment below and I'll do my best to lend a suggestion or point you in the right direction.

I'm still tinkering around with the operating system but, I must say I am enjoying OSX quite a bit. Do I think it good enough to make up for the outrageous cost of Apple hardware? Not quite, but with a Hackint0sh setup it is easy enough to get OSX working on non-Apple hardware if you do your homework.

~Jeff Hoogland

My Beef with the iPad

Now I've written a couple of pieces about the iPad thus far and if you read through them you will see that the device has failed to impress me thus far. Now despite the fact that I think there are better alternatives out there iPad, all in all I don't think it is a bad device per-say (mostly just over priced). With the idea in mind that a computer is simply a means to an end: if the iPad works to get your job done and you want to purchase it, great!

My real problem with iPad is when people start calling it an "innovative" or "world changing" device. So when I come across Newsweek magazines with covers like this:
You might understand why they grind my gears. Is the iPad a nifty gizzmo? Sure it is. It is by no means "innovative" though. Innovative implies that something is ahead of it's time. We have had tablet computers for years and the operating system that runs on the iPad is a variation of the operating that was released on the iTouch some three years ago.

Is the iPad a neat gadget? Sure. Would the iPad have gotten even half as much press if it didn't have a fruit stamped on the back of it? Nope. Is the iPad going to revolutionize anything the iPhone or another tablet hasn't already? I doubt it.

If there is one thing I have always respected Apple for it is their powerful and persuasive marketing techniques and the iPad is no exception to this. Hopefully though you can see through all the marketing haze surrounding the iPad and see that it is just another computer. Companies release new computers every week, the iPad is no different (other than the fact that it has a fruit stamped on the back of it).

Agree or disagree with something I said? Then drop a comment below and let me know.

~Jeff Hoogland

10 Reasons the T91MT is better than the iPad

VS

This is no doubt the Year of the Tablet computer. As such I began searching some months ago for a tablet I could add to my ever growing list of gadgets, I researched and played with many different devices before deciding on my Asus T91MT. I have had my tablet for a couple of weeks now and it amazes me how many people do not even know they exist when they released almost a year ago! The iPad on the other hand got more press than you can shake a stick at and everyone under the sun knows what it is after just a few weeks.

The following is my list of reasons why Asus's T91MT tablet/netbook hybrid is better than Apple's iPad:

#1 - It is also a Netbook
Touch screens are fantastic, don't get me wrong but honestly some things are much quicker to do with a physical keyboard and a mouse. Having the option to flip my T91MT around and use it as a netbook is a wonderful option to have. Plus I personally feel my device's screen is much safer when I can "close" the screen instead of just sliding it into a case.

#2 - It runs a Full Operating System
The T91MT ships with Windows 7 Home Premium by default and my personal T91MT is currently running Linux Mint 8. While I am not saying the iPad OS is bad, it is a bit limited in the extent of what it can do and what it allows the user to do (doubly so if you don't jailbreak your iPad - until OS 4.0 releases the iPad is still a single-tasking device). The ability to install the operating system of your choice (full desktop operating systems at that) on the T91MT is wonderful and makes it an extremely adaptable device.

#3 - Price
Apple is known for their high hardware prices and the iPad is no exception to this. I purchased my T91MT brand new for 460$ (including taxes and shipping fees). The iPad starts at 500$ and goes all the way up to 800$

#4 - Processor
Like most netbooks the T91MT has an x86 processor in it. This means it can run all of your standard applications you are used to using on a computer. The Z520 chip in the T91MT is clocked at 1.33ghz and has hyper threading, this will easily out perform the 1.0ghz ARM chip the iPad has.

#5 - RAM
The iPad is locked at 256megs of RAM, the T91MT comes stock with 1gig of RAM and it can be upgraded to 2gigs.

#6 - USB Ports
While the T91MT only has two USB ports, that is still two more than the iPad has. Do I really need to emphasize the usefulness of USB ports? Flash drives, cellphones, printers, mice, joysticks...

#7 - VGA Out
I use my netbook for presentations all the time - an external monitor output is a must have for this purpose. The iPad has no form of video out by default.

#8 - Wired LAN
Ever tried to push several gigs of data through a wifi connection? Even with 100% signal strength it is not a fun experience. The T91MT has a wired gigabit network connection, the iPad again lacks any sort of wired network connection by default.

#9 - SD Card Reader
Not a huge deal for some people but having a built in SD card reader is useful for when you want to pull some images off that digital camera's memory card. I'm going to let you guess which device has an SD card reader and which one does not.

#10 - Resistive Touch Screen
This last point will more vary based on personal preference but as a student and future math teacher the main reason I wanted a tablet is so I can take written notes on the default with a stylus. The resistive touch screen on the T91MT allows me to do this while the capacitive screen on the iPad does not allow this with a normal stylus.

These are the top ten deciding factors that lead me to purchasing the T91MT instead of Apple's new device. Did I miss any key points here? If so let me know by leaving a comment below.

~Jeff Hoogland

Is Android to Phones as OSX is to PCs?

If you have ever dropped by my page here before odds are you know I am a Linux user and an N900 owner. The former of the two means I often get questions about my operating system from people when I am using my laptops out in public. Nine times out of ten that first question is "Is that OSX?" or "How are you running OSX on that non-Apple computer?" Depending on my mood I will either explain my operating system to them or simply comment with "No, it is not OSX." and go on with my day.

At any rate, in the last couple of months while I have been using my N900 I have been fielding similar questions. The only difference is that instead of hearing "is that OSX?" (the N900 can run OSX by the way...) I hear "Hey is that one of those new android phones?" As I am working towards becoming a teacher I figure educating the masses is one of my duties in life - as such typically I inform the person asking me that no, it is no Android but a different from of mobile Linux (which typically opens the "what is Linux?" can of worms).

All in all I really cannot fault people for being misinformed but I can do my best to remedy the issue when I come across it. Any other N900 owners out there that experience this or is it just myself?

~Jeff Hoogland

Operating Systems and Market Share Statistics

Did you know that 55% of statistics are made up on the spot? (or maybe it was 68% I don't recall) If you have ever taken a statistics class you know that data is everything, but it's not just about the data itself. Whenever you see numbers you have to ask yourself:

• Where did these numbers come from?
• Is it a credible source?

When it comes to market share and operating systems I've heard lots of numbers thrown around over the years and it is difficult to figure out which numbers you should put your faith in on this subject. For instance if your take a peek at the Wikipedia page on the subject it shows the following figures:

• Windows: 87.67%
• OSX: 5.9%
• Linux: 1.1%
• Other: 2.08%

Those seem like fair figures right? Odds are many will stop there and take them as fact, however take a peak at some numbers from Marketshare.Hitslink.com:

• Windows: 92.12%
• OSX: 5.02%
• Linux: .98%
• Other: 1.88%

They don't quite match... Windows is ahead by any rate (which we should expect) but still, take a look at numbers from a couple other websites. Statowl.com:

• Windows: 88.49%
• OSX: 10.87%
• Linux: .41%
• Other: .12%

Wait, what? OSX has over a ten percent market share? That almost twice what our first two sources cite... How about a forth source? W3counter.com:

• Windows: 84.33%
• OSX: 8.12%
• Linux: 1.55%
• Other: 6%

These numbers from W3Counter seem to be the middle ground of the four sources for OSX, however note the fact that their count for the Windows Operating system is much lower and their count for Linux operating systems in much higher. One thing to note about these numbers is the much larger "other" category. Even further curious I find is that Google's Android operating system, is thrown in with "other" on W3Counter even though it is a derivative of Linux.

What are other things to consider? For starters how do these places collect their statistics? What websites do they pull their data from? The content of a webpage very much determines the type of operating system that a person is likely to view it on. For instance these are the operating system statistics from the last month for my own (primarily Linux-focused) blog :

• Windows: 44.4%
• OSX: 8.03%
• Linux: 44.03%
• Other: 3.54%

Care to guess which operating system that data set is skewed towards because of the page content?

Beyond just looking at the source of web statistics of operating systems, when it comes to the global market as a whole, you have to consider the countless systems that are offline or are rarely connected to the internet. Unlike OSX where you can count the systems by the amount of Apple hardware sold or Mircosoft's Windows where they can count the number of activations, a single Linux ISO download can account for multiple (sometimes even hundreds) of offline (or online) installations.

Truth be told, will we ever truly know the precise market share of each operating system? No, we will not. From my four sources here (and others you can find around the internet) I'm inclined to believe that currently Windows floats somewhere around 88%, OSX around 8%, Linux somewhere close to 2%, and the rest can get lumped into that wonderful "other" category.

What do you think? Know of another credible source for market share statistics regarding operating systems that I didn't mention? Let me know!

~Jeff Hoogland

Steam Client and Source Games Porting to OSX

So the devil called me this afternoon and said they where having a snowstorm in hell.

In other news Valve announced that their revolutionary "content delivery service" known as "Steam" is being ported to OSX and will be available as early as April 2010. No really its true, straight from the horse's mouth. In addition the actual client and "Steam-works" being brought to Apple's operating system Valve also plans to port all of the Source Engine games, these include:

• Half Life 2 Series
  
• Counter Strike: Source
• Team Fortress 2
• Left 4 Dead Series
  
• Day of Defeat: Source

All I have to say is: Microsoft has to quaking in their boots. For some time Microsoft's Windows operating system has been the standard for gaming on the PC. With Valve making the push into OSX this means more than just trouble for Microsoft's operating system. It also means their famed DirectX API that is Windows only may be in jeopardy. I say this because as stated in Valve's official announcement in order to port their engine/games to OSX they will be reimplementing them in OpenGL. After the porting of these past released source games Valve plans to treat OSX as a "first tier" operating system. Meaning that all future releases of source games will occur simultaneously for OSX, Windows, and Xbox 360.

Not a fan of Valve's flag-ship gaming engine? Not a problem, take a peak at these other titles already for sale on Steam that have a native OSX client:

• Aliens versus Predator (original)
  
• Altitude
  
• And Yet It Moves
  
• Ankh: Battle of the Gods
  
• Ankh: Heart of Osiris
  
• Aquaria
  
• BioShock
  
• Braid
  
• Brainpipe
  
• Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
  
• Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror
  
• Call of Duty
  
• Call of Duty: United Offensive
  
• Call of Duty 2
  
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
  
• Championship Manager 2007
  
• Championship Manager 2008
  
• Championship Manager 2010
  
• Civilization IV
  
• Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
  
• Civilization IV: Colonization
  
• Civilization IV: Warlords
  
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
  
• Darwinia
  
• DEFCON
  
• Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
  
• Deus Ex
  
• Doom
  
• Doom 3
  
• Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil
  
• Doom II: Hell on Earth
• Dragon Age: Origins
  
• Elven Legacy
  
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
  
• Eschalon: Book I
  
• Europa Universalis III
  
• Europa Universalis: Rome
  
• FlatOut 2
  
• Final Doom
  
• Football Manager 2009
  
• Football Manager 2010
  
• Football Manager Live
  
• Freedom Force
  
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
  
• Harvest: Massive Encounter
  
• Hearts of Iron II
  
• Hearts of Iron III
  
• Heretic
  
• Heroes of Might and Magic V
  
• Hexen
  
• Hexen II
  
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  
• Jade Empire
  
• LEGO Batman: The Videogame
  
• LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
  
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
  
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
  
• Loom
  
• Luxor
  
• Luxor 2
  
• Luxor 3
  
• Machinarium
  
• Multiwinia
  
• Osmos
  
• Peggle
  
• Peggle Nights
  
• Penguins Arena
  
• Penumbra: Black Plague
  
• Penumbra: Overture
  
• Penumbra: Requiem
  
• Plants vs. Zombies
  
• Prey
  
• Prince of Persia (2008)
  
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
  
• Quake
  
• Quake II
  
• Quake III Arena
  
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
  
• Rome: Total War
  
• Samorost 2
  
• Shaun White Snowboarding
  
• Sid Meier’s Pirates
  
• SiN
  
• Spore
  
• Star Wars: Force Unleashed
  
• Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
  
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
  
• Star Wars: Dark Forces
  
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
  
• Tales of Monkey Island
  
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  
• The Dig
  
• The Graveyard
  
• The Path
  
• TOCA Race Driver 3
  
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield
  
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary
  
• Torchlight
  
• Unreal
  
• Unreal Tournament
  
• Unreal Tournament 2004
  
• Uplink
  
• Virtual Families
  
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
  
• World of Goo
  
• X²: The Threat
  
• X³: Reunion
  
• X³: Terran Conflict

Phew! Who was it that said you couldn't game on a non-Windows operating system? Well truth be told thanks to wonderful software like CXGames some of us have been enjoying source games on the operating system of our choice for some time now. (Food for thought and maybe a future topic: What do you think this announcement is going to do to Codeweaver's bottom line?)

What brought this seemingly sudden announcement from Valve? Well a few months back a rumor had surfaced that a lead Steam developer had posted looking for people with experience porting Windows software to OSX and Linux.

Yep, that is right and Linux.

While there is still nothing official about the latter of these two operating systems from Valve, all I have to say is that the porting of Source Engine to use OpenGL only makes the eventuality of them running without emulation on Linux much more likely (not to mention in the mean time Windows games that run under OpenGL tend to perform better under Wine).

~Jeff Hoogland

The Year of the Tablet Computer

There is no denying the fact that we have become a touch-centric society in regards to our technology. Thanks to the "iPhone standard" every new handheld device better sport at least some form of touch screen if it expects to compete with the competition. Where is our technology headed though? With the idea of "bigger is better" in mind: if a 3.5~ inch touch screen is good a larger screen must better right?

Apple announced their "iPad" earlier this year.

With a revolutionary device such as the iPhone already under their belt, can Apple hope to dominate the tablet computer market in the same way that they have crushed the smart phone market in recent years? Initial signs point to no. Sure, there is going to be that collective of die hard Mac users that flock to the latest shiny product Apple releases and buy the iPad the day it releases, however consider the following about the iPad:

• Like iAnything, the iPad is going to have a locked amount of internal storage
• It lacks USB ports, meaning you can't really connect anything useful to it
• It lacks flash support. Meaning a large portion of the web will not function on it
• I could go on...

With the iPad apparently set to fail to satisfy our touch-technology needs from the start: Where is one to turn when looking for a tablet computer in 2010? There is of course long term contender in the tablet PC market the touch screen laptop. At this point such devices, while functional, are far from being anything "special" or "revolutionary".

Slightly more recent is the hybrid of last year's craze the netbook and what is bound to be a theme for this year the tablet computer found in Asus's EEE T91.

Next: Enter the latest addition to the touchscreen devices set to da-beau in 2010: MeeGo. In a joint effort between the Intel and Nokia companies. MeeGo, a Linux based operating system, is going to be targeted at both ARM and x86 based devices (despite the former of the two not being made by Intel). While MeeGo is still in the very preliminary stages of development, other Linux-based touchscreen-orientated operating systems, such as Android and Maemo, have shown us that the Linux platform is more than capable of functioning on such devices in an elegant manner. With backing from such large companies MeeGo is going to be hard-pressed to not get at least some publicity.

Speaking of Android - the Notion Ink ADAM contains some of the most impressive tablet computer specs we have seen thus far. If the initial announcements are held true over the course of development, then this little tablet computer might just be that "revolutionary" tablet the world is looking for. The first set of tech specs boast:

• HDMI Output
• 3 USB Ports
• 16 hours video playback
• Adobe Flash (thank god)
• Camera
• And More

While it isn't official which operating system will be shipping with the device when it finally goes to market - there is a tech demo video of the device, found here, running what is said to be "a wrapper around Android". Other mentioned operating systems that might be possible to run on the device include Google's Chrome OS and Ubuntu ARM.

Finally I would like to mention the product I think should end up being the clear winner in the "tablet-orientated" marketplace in 2010:

Lenovo's U1 Ideapad

Now with the hype have I just given the ADAM you might be thinking "What makes the U1 so special/interesting/unique?" Simple:

The U1 is two computers in one.

In addition to being a fully functional 11.6 inch touchscreen laptop sporting an Intel Core 2 processor, two gigs of RAM, and a 128gig SDD the U1's touchscreen is detachable. When detached from the computer the tablet-screen contains it's own 1ghz snapdragon ARM processor, RAM, and 16gig SSD. When in "laptop" mode the system by default runs Windows 7 and when the screen is detached the tablet-screen runs Lenovo's Skylight Linux. Both computers contain their own batteries (which are each rated at five hours duration), and each of the computers are fully functional without the other (if you hook the laptop base up to an external monitor of course, because naturally while tablet-screen is detached the laptop is missing it's screen).

Needless to say there is not going to be any lack of tablet computers on the market in 2010. Another point I feel worth noting is that a majority of the devices listed here are running various forms of Linux (Just like many of the smart phones being released recently). So while 2010 might not end up being the year of "desktop" Linux, with the flood of penguin-powered touch screen devices it may still be the year Linux makes it's way into countless homes.

I have just highlighted some of the top competitors for upcoming tablet computers I have come across/researched thus far. Know of any other upcoming tablet computer releases (or perhaps one that is already released)? Drop a comment to let me know about it.

~Jeff Hoogland

The State of Smart Phones Today

I mentioned in one of my earlier postings this month that I had recently obtained a new smart phone. Now picking out a smart phone is no easy task in today's market. There are piles of devices to choose from, each of which has different pros and cons to go along with it. When it comes to technology I try to always be a very informed shopper; a computer is something I am going to be using often and typically for a good deal of time. I was under contract with AT&T, but that was about to expire so I did not limit my phone search to a single company/service provider.

I went store to store first (a strange experience I will admit, normally I do most everything online). AT&T has their iPhone, Verizon the Droid, Sprint the Palm Pre, and T-Mobile the G1. After going in and playing with the devices I was fairly impressed with the two running Android based operating systems. Next I took to the internet to do more research, which is where I discovered two things: First, through the suggestion of a friend I found the device I ended up purchasing and currently enjoy very much - Nokia's N900; Secondly I learned more about "rooting" or "jail-breaking" phones. Odds are you have heard at least one of these terms before, "rooting" refers to gaining access to the "root" account on an Android device and "jail-breaking" was coined as the term for gaining full access to an iPhone (it references the phone escaping from the "Apple jail"). Neither of these processes is very difficult to accomplish with a small bit of know-how and it's your phone so you should be able to do with it as you please.

Right? Yes and no.

On the yes aspect, yes you can do what ever you want with your phone. No one is going to knock on your door and tell you its illegal (although if Apple had their way it would be illegal). Now for the no aspect: in both the case of Android devices and the iPhone, rooting/jail-breaking is discouraged and frowned upon. For both types of devices (Android based and the iPhone) if you bring them in for service while they are "hacked," the companies have been known to refuse to honor warranties. Beyond this if your rooted device suffers from an issue with an application the fact that the phone is jail-broken is a reason to refuse service.

At this point there is no questioning it: Our "smart" phones become more and more like a normal computer and less like a telephone each day. They surf the internet, instant message, play games (in full 3D in some cases), install applications, manage our music and other various media to name just a few likenesses. If the devices behave and function as a normal computer why can we not hold them to the same standards as such? Would you buy a Linux PC you didn't have the root password to? How about a computer running Windows that you weren't given the administrator password for?

What is worse than this, I feel, is the fact that people have come to expect to be locked out of their own hardware by default. Since I've gotten my N900, I've lost track of the number of people who asked if I plan on "jail-breaking" the device. I always respond with "No". A large contributing factor to my purchase of Nokia's latest internet tablet (that's right it is a computer first and phone second) was that they allow the user unrestricted access to the device with out any hacks or cracks.

What are your feelings about the smart phones on the market today? Did I miss any key points or perhaps do you disagree with something I've said?

~Jeff Hoogland

Sending Mixed Messages

Today was my first day back at University and one of my professors is using a piece of web technology called "Wimba Classroom" to relay information to all of the computers in our lab. Its really a neat piece of software and as with any piece of software I find interesting I looked up it's homepage to find more information about the product. During my visit there is when I found the following information that really sends a mixed message regarding what operating systems the web-based software will run on:

Ignore for a moment the fact that they refer to "PC" as an operating system and just check the two parts I've high-lighted. Anyone else confused slightly? At any rate the software loads right up for me on Ubuntu 9.10 using Firefox and the latest Java - but still.

At any rate it made me face-palm and gave me a good chuckle for the evening. Anyone else get annoyed when you see things like this?

~Jeff Hoogland

Biting Into an Apple

I typically stick to the software end of technology, but every once in awhile I dig out my set of electronics tools and tear into a piece of hardware. A few months back a friend of mine had given me an old busted up Macbook in exchange for recovering her data off the hard drive. The data recovery went easy enough (once I realized I needed to read the drive as super user in order to see all its files under Linux) and I was shortly in possession of my first ever Apple product.

The laptop was in pretty bad shape when I received it. The half of the screen that did work had cracks across it, the battery had seen better days, and the case itself had been covered with more stickers than I had ever seen on one system. It was a slightly older model, an A1181 - one of the first Macs to use an Intel chip, but it would still fully usable if I could get it back into a functioning state. In the end it turned out to be fairly easy to track down all the parts I need for the thing, a few Google searches and 280$ later I had obtained a replacement screen, a new battery, doubled the RAM, and upgraded the old 60gb hard drive to a 500gb one. Not a bad price to have an extra computer around to use.

The true thing worth talking about regarding my restoration of the Macbook is the screen replacement. In order to install the new screen I had to disassemble the entire upper portion of the computer. After having to do so I would like to say this: Apple does think differently. The design is poorly done for little reason other than they could. Surrounding the screen alone there are at least four different size screws in various positions. They are all close enough in size they are almost indistinguishable from each other and while magnets to hold the screen shut are a great idea - try removing/replacing a screw right next to a magnet. So in addition to the tediousness you normally experience when working on smaller electronics you also have to take care to note the position of each and every screw you remove so you can be sure they all make it back into the proper spot. Just because I am a glutton for punishment (and curious by nature) I also opted to open up the rest of the computer while I was at it. All in all there are close to ten different screws of varying lengths and head sizes in the laptop (by comparison most other laptops typically get by with only three or four different ones).

Around two hours later I had finished my re-constructive surgery of the Macbook and it was ready to be used. My friend had misplaced her discs needed to reinstall OSX so I went ahead and booted Linux Mint on the system. Within half an hour I had the system fully up and functioning - all my replacement hardware was working like a dream. Once I figured out how to set the "Apple" key to be "right-click" I was good to go.

The final piece to my story is just another reminder of how stupidly expensive Apple products are. I already owned two laptops before the Macbook (a netbook and a 15.4" gaming laptop) - so I really did not need another computer sitting around the house. After a few days of usage I was sure all my replacement hardware was working as intended I promptly listed the Macbook on Craig's List and within a week I had someone trade me 600$ cash for the A1181 (its amazing what people will pay for hardware with a fruit on the side of it). All in all it ended up being a profitable investment and a learning experience all at the same time (I have since replaced screens in two other Macbooks to the tune of 50$ each).

All in all while Apple products are not bad hardware they are very over priced hardware. When it comes to physically taking them apart they are a huge pain to work with (different for the sake of being different and not for the sake of being useful is a poor idea Apple).

And lastly - to all the Apple fan boys out there remember your Mac is a Personal Computer.

~Jeff Hoogland

Why GNU/Linux is ready for the Average User

I spend a fair amount of time on UbuntuForums.org and while poking around there this afternoon I came across this thread. It is no where near the first thread I've seen like it (and sadly I doubt it will be the last). To quickly sum up the thread the original poster is detailing why he believes Ubuntu is not ready for the "average user" because of a recent poor experience he had attempting to get Karmic (latest Ubuntu release) installed on a friend's laptop. Ubuntu's motto is "Linux for human-beings" - no where does this imply it is going to be bug free or that Joe Moron is going to be able to get it all setup just fine on their own. Personally I think it is foolish to think that you could ever create a operating system that the average user is going to be able to setup/maintain one hundred percent on their own. Its just not feasible to think as such.

I find it amusing that people like to jump on the Ubuntu bashing bandwagon just because an installation (or some piece of setup) goes astray. Ever tell the average user they need to reinstall Windows? Nine times out of ten they will look at you side ways (or if your a tech such as myself they will ask you to do it for them). Does this make Windows less popular or a "not ready" operating system just because you need a professional (or someone with at least some know-how) to get it all installed and running properly? No, it does not. Why should the standard be any different for GNU/Linux?

In short I'd like to say this: Linux is more than ready for the average user to be using, but just like any operating system it may be a bit much for the average user to get it setup and thats just fine if you ask me. To most people the computer is simply a means to an end, meaning so long as it turns on when they push the power button, lets them do what they need to do, and then get on with their day - most of them could care less if it is running Windows, Linux, OSX, Free BSD, or anything else for that matter. Personally I find Linux works best for my needs - if something else works for you, wonderus.

Just my feelings on the subject, if you have a different or similar idea to add feel free in the comments below.

Regards,

~Jeff Hoogland

Macbook Comparison

I work at the Beverly Arts Center, in Chicago. I have found that many arts people prefer Apple laptops to any other brand. Why is this? The long standing art-computer myth is that Apple computers are superior for doing art work and 3D design. Now I will concede that at one point in time this was true – but this is no longer the case and has not been for some time. The simple fact is that Apple computers use essentially the same hardware as any other computer you will buy: same processor, ram, hard drive, etc. In addition to the hardware all being essentially the same, all of the applications you are going to be running to do arts work (in most cases this is Adobe software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign) run on both the Windows and Mac platforms.

Following I am going to do a series of comparisons between a couple different Macbook Pros and other laptops, of different brands, that are of comparable price.* Note: I round off all prices to the nearest whole five dollars because I dislike that whole “1.99$” mind game.

Round – 1:
Macbook Pro #1
Cost: 1,200$
Size: 13 inches
Processor: 2.26GHz Dual Core
RAM: 2gigs DDR3
Hard drive: 160gigs – SATA 5400RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9400M – 256meg Shared

Asus G50VT-X6
Cost: 1,250$
Size: 15.4 inches
Processor: 2.53GHz Dual Core
RAM: 4gigs DDR2
Hard drive: 320gigs – SATA7200RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9800M GS – 512meg Dedicated DDR3

HP Pavilion dv7-1270us
Cost: 1200$
Size: 17 inches
Processor: 2.4GHz Dual Core
RAM: 4gigs DDR2
Hard drive: 320gig – SATA 5400RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9600 – 512meg Dedicated DDR2

Round – 2:
Macbook Pro #2
Cost: 2,500$
Size: 17 inches
Processor: 2.8GHz Dual Core
RAM: 4gigs DDR3
Hard drive: 500gig – SATA 5400RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9600

Asus G71G-Q2
Cost: 2,250$
Size: 17 inches
Processor: 2.0GHz Quad Core
RAM: 6gig DDR2
Hard drive: 640gigs – x2 SATA 7200RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9800M GS – 512meg Dedicated DDR3

HP HDX 18-1180US
Cost: 1,800$
Size: 18.4 inches
Processor: 2.0GHz Quad Core
RAM: 4gigs DDR2
Hard drive: 500gigs – SATA 5400RPM
Graphics Card: nVidia 9600M GT – 512megs dedicated DDR3

Alrighty, the information posted above is a wonderful comparison for those who under stand it all. For those who are a bit hazy, or want to read my thoughts on the above specifications, let me break down a few of the more important facts about the above information.

Round 1 – Breakdown

First off lets take a peek at the processors – all three of them are Intel Dual cores; two cores means twice the power. Your processor is like the heart of your computer, the stronger it beats the faster everything is going to run. The processor in each of the non-Apple laptops listed are quicker than the Macbook; in the case of the Asus over 10% faster, for nearly the same price.

RAM stands for “Random Access Memory”; it stores short term information on your computer and data that has not yet been written to the hard drive (among other things). The more RAM a system has the better it is able to multi-task (meaning having many applications running at once). I will concede that the Macbook is using the slightly newer DDR3, but even with this advantage the Macbook only possesses half the total memory of the other systems. Even with the slightly slower DDR2 the fact that they have 4gigs makes each of the other laptops far superior to the 2gigs of DDR3 the Macbook has.

Most people are familiar with the purpose of their computer's hard drive. It is where all your information is stored. This again is an area where the Macbook get crushed by other laptops of comparable price. The Macbook only stocks a 160gig by default while each of the other two have 320gigs – so twice as much. Also in the case of the Asus the hard drive is 7200RPM (reads per minute) as compared to the 5400RPM in the other two – meaning it will access your data faster.

Last point between the three systems is the graphics cards. Again the Macbook gets crushed. Possessing only a 9400M, it is slower technology compared to the HP's 9600M GS and the Asus's 9800M GS. In addition to being slower technology, the graphics card in the Macbook is “shared” memory. Meaning that it has to take from the already reduced amount of RAM the Mac has to dedicated to video processes.

Whew, Round 1 over! I think you can tell for yourself who the winner is here...

Round 2 – Breakdown

The first thing I am going to mention here is the price of the three laptops compared in round two – the Macbook is 2.5k, while the Asus is 2.25k, and lastly the HP is weighing in at 1.8k. The main reason for the price difference is that they where the closest Asus and HP I could find in price to the highest end Macbook (on the site I order from), but do not let their lower price mislead you the Macbook is still in for a tough fight this round.

Point one is processer once again, now at first glance it may appear that the Macbook is far superior to the other two weighing in at 2.8GHz while the other two are only 2.0GHz. Now take a closer look – I'll wait. Ok, notice anything? Thats right the Macbook is packing the same old dual core it had in round one only slightly faster. Each of the other two brands knows that a high end laptop needs a high end processor – they are packing quad cores. Just as dual core means that the system is as good as have two processors a quad core means it is as good as having four. Another way to think of it is cores is to a processor as horsepower is to a car engine, the more the better typically.

Moving onto RAM the HP starts to show it's price tag a small bit, it is still only packing 4gigs of DDR2. The Apple has upped it's game and is now stocking 4gigs of DDR3. Asus is not about to slack behind how ever, it is now stocking 6gigs of DDR2.

Hard drive is again a close comparison between the HP and the Apple, the both come in with identical 5400RPM 500gig drives. Have no fear though, Asus is again going to come in and mop up the competition. This time stocking dual 320gig 7200RPM drives (for a total of 640gigs of space), two hard drives is useful because this way if one is ever to fail you still have a second place too store stuff. And for you more intense computer users out there it means the system is raid ready.

Lastly are the graphics cards again. For the third time in a row the HP, which is 700$ less, ties with the Apple. Again, three for three, the Asus comes in and crushes the both of them with its 9800 compared to their 9600s.

Post game banter – Last Thoughts

A couple other things worth noting is that the Macbook does have a slightly lighter and smaller design. In my personal opinion though if you are looking for light and compact do yourself a favor and go get a netbook – they are easily under 600$ for a quick one. Another thing Apple boasts on it's website is a lengthy battery life time for all of it's Macbook, while I will say that odds are it is going to out last the HP or the Asus by a bit your battery life is directly linked to what you are doing on the system. If you are only typing papers your battery is going to last much longer than if you are playing a 3D game or even just connected to wifi or playing audio. One of my friends had said that the reason they liked Apple is because they are an international company (which I will agree is useful for warranties/services when traveling over seas) while this is true they are not the only international company out there. Asus is one as well along with several others. Lastly if some sort of great hate for Windows/Microsoft is what is keeping you buying Apple again (And trust me if anyone under stands disliking Microsoft I can), there are other alternatives out there other than Windows and Mac (Such as Fedora or Ubuntu).

Also worth noting is that for the average computer user out there looking to buy a laptop – all of the laptops listed above are easily over kill. Most people will not notice terribly much difference between these higher end laptops and one that only costs five or six hundred dollars in their every day tasks.

Anyone who has spent a bit of time with me knows that I am decently anti-Apple, for many reasons including them being over priced for what they are, even so I did my best to try and present a fair comparison here if anyone feels there is anything I missed please feel free to drop a comment here or send me a message and I will consider adjusting the information/adding to it. Also drop a comment if you found any of this useful or interesting.

~Jeff Hoogland

*All Apple prices/specs where accessed from http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro on 06/09/09. All comparisons prices where done via http://newegg.com/ on the same date.