A decade and a half later, I got the opportunity to install Obuntu, one of many variants of Linux operating system, in my old tablet (TC4400). Prior to this, I had trouble with the tablet’s bootup, even from the external cdrom. Apparently there was some power problem with the motherboard. Fed up with the problem, I decided to boot up using a Obuntu cd that I got over the internet (first yay!), and ended up installing the operating system into my tablet. The power issue never surfaced with a Linux-based system, so I’m happy (second yay!). Within 30 minutes, I got the system setup, and ready for use! (third yay!)

More impressively, I had the system boot up and ready to surf within a minute! (fourth yay). Now I am contemplated to ubuntu-ised my mini-1000 netbook as well…

Came across iRobot Roomba many years back, and were impressed by its ability then. Had recommended to many friends but I had been procrastinating to get one myself. Finally, I got it last week, while on business trip to Houston. Told myself, I need to be incentivised myself despite the 28 hours flight trip, so I bidded one at ebay for $260 USD, hand carried it back home!

Got abit of problem getting it charged initially though. Due to the difference in the power supply in US versus Asia, I had bought a compatible power supply unit with output rating of 24V/1A. Although it had worked on my friends’ Roomba, it didn’t work on mine. Either it’s because my battery was totally flat out (after playing with it when I first unboxed the item) or there’s compatibility issue with the newer 500 series model. From what I read in the forums, it appeared that the charging voltage varies between 18V to 22.5V especially when the battery is flat out. Decided to use the step down voltage converter in the meantime, but will be exploring a proper 220/240V PSU at the same time.

After more than 16  hours of charging for the first time, I had Roomba carry out its maiden cleaning in our house, and witnessed it entangled a few times. A minor house furnishing re-arrangement is needed to make it more friendly for the robot to clean the house, and this is definitely worthwhile. Hey, you do expect to do the same for a human cleaner, don’t you?

Roomba started up for the first time

Roomba docking home

Some photos taken

So I had been procastinating from a game console purchase since Xbox 360 first launched in the market 2 years ago. And really for two good reasons; First, I am not a fanatic gamer, or rather I have no spare time to indulge myself in gaming. For the last 4 years, the fact that I only have a handful game titles (Winning Eleven, Fifa 2006, and a very old version of Project Gotham Racing) for my old Xbox console, probably sumed it all. Secondly, I have been wanting to assess if a game console like Xbox 360, can double up as a media extender for my home media network, which I had implemented 3 years ago. Having a rather space-constraining TV console, it means I can’t just add another console equipment without taking out existing ones.

So I procastinated, until  a week ago.

Ironically, I purchased the new game console on impulse. This is despite all the while, I had been trying to find time reading up on the difference between PS3 and XBox 360 (yes, procastination again)

Attracted mainly by the pricing of the new PS3 (40G version). At $560 (cost me $650 because it is bundled with Winning Eleven 2008), versus $799 when it was first launched, it sounded to me like a no-brainer. Even the Xbox 360 Elite model was still priced at $799 at the point of consideration. I reckoned a 40G harddisk space is good enough for me, plus I can double it as a Blu-ray player without additional cost. Value for money, I told myself.

Of course, the  lack of homework means I uncover all the unknowns like a treasure hunt game after I purchased the set. Luckily, it is not all buyer remorse as there are pleasant surprises as well. “Bad thing” first; The 40G version of PS3, has hardware scaled down so that it no longer provides backward compatibility, i.e. PS2 supportability. It also does not have flash memory card slot, and have only two USB ports instead of 4. Luckily, all these are not big bummer to me. Nice to have, but not exactly something that will make the purchase a raw deal, at least for me.

What it pleasantly surprises me are uncovered features that were forces to my procastination in the first place. Come to think of it, why didn’t I check them out before splurging on the PS3, is beyond me. That’s why it’s called impulsive purchase, right?

First of all, all PS3 comes with Wifi 802.11b/g  built-in support. Nice to know that, but alittle embarrasing for me to find it out so late. That effectively gives me an upfront saving of almost $200, for choosing PS3 over Xbox 360. Secondly, PS3 can double up (or should I say triple?) as a UPnP media player OOTB (out of the box), something I have heard of, but couldn’t verify until I lay my hands on it. (edit: Xbox 360 reportedly has this support as well)

In anycase, the game play is facinating, probably due to better video quality (unfortunately, no HD-ready plasma, so it’s only 576i video output :() as well as the digital audio output to my amp receiver. Had abit of challenging getting the game titled “Call of Duty 4″ (nation-wide out of stock!) but finally got one while I was in US. Will digress later on how realistic the game is, but otherwise what really got me excited (other than the game COD4) is the readily-available UPnP media extender capability!

There you go, I was so excited that I can finally connect to my home media server,  and display all my home medias (musics, movies, photos) on my plasma TV, that I decided to capture them into a video.