The iPhone is great, don’t get me wrong, but its just that. The iPad was supposed to be much more, and its just a giant iPod touch. It lacks the forward facing camera we all dreamed of. Can you imagine having Skype installed on this device, and chatting with friends.

Second, the lack of multi-tasking is ridiculous. So if I am working on something I have to stop, and go to the next app, only to come and have to relaunch the previous app? Ridiculous. The lack of a built in SD card slot is unacceptable, and a loss. Having to get different kits to load your photos on the go is inconvenient, and should have been included. Also, having to sync with a PC through a cable seems out dated for such a device… How about a one time hook up, and then just wirelessly have the device do a time machine like kind off sync while you do other things.

Lastly, the very small amounts of storage feels almost restrictive. I would fill it up in podcast and iTunes U videos alone. Add to that the many movies, music, and apps and soon its full. Also, iBooks looks great, but no mention of books I already own in pdf. This might be a premature decision, as the iPad has yet to be released, but I will wait like I did with the original iPhone and save myself major disappointment. Who knows maybe I will get one of the slate PCs running the NVIDIA Tegra… What was your opinion, reaction? Thanks for reading.

Photo source is linked to acknowledge the original owner.

1. Specify the Requirement
2. Data Analysis
3. Problem Analysis
4. Algorithm
5. Coding
6. Testing
7. Maintenance

The first four steps are known as the front end, and help eliminate logic errors. The front end requires that you carry out the algorithm by hand, and the data gathered can be used as test data once the code is compiled. The front end represents the logic of the problem, and if completed successfully the only errors remaining should be in the syntax. The last three steps are known as the back end, and are used to write the solution in a manner in which the computer will be able to utilize it. Through out this post any examples will be in written in pseudocode.

Next time I will dive into the front end, and follow that by covering the back end. All your comments are welcomed as I would like others searching for answers to have the best information available.

A First Book in Software Development covers this information in more detail.

On to the topic at hand… The evil case. Beware of what you wish for!!!

Whenever I setup a new rig it has to be exactly what I want, or what’s the point. I always like to have a powerful, yet smaller system running as it saves space. This seemed like a great idea at the time of planning, but assembly went on it backfired. The case is a Antec Mini P180 Black Computer Case and is a great looking case. The problem came when I decided to slap it together…

As you can see, the motherboards power cable was going to be in the way of the harddrive rails just slghtly. This did not deter me though, as I simply modified it a little bit. All I required was a pair of sheet metal cutters, and the job was complete.

The cuts were small, about (1/2)” and then folded back and flattened. The end result is not pretty, but its the insights that really count and once the cover is on… Only you and the case will know what really did happen that evil day.

The before and after show the small mod, but I am currently running three 250GB drives for my operating systems, and have a DVD Burner in one of the bays as well. There are no problems at all, and the system is just like I wanted. Do not be afraid to modify it, or customize it… Its just metal after all.

The initial launch has what I assume to be the show of the week, and as you can see mine was “The Listener”. I hadn’t even heard of this show, but found it very interesting.

The Menu was very simple, and easy to use. The selections cascaded and allowed for faster flow.

You also have an option for selecting the popular shows, and episodes. This was the route I took, and selected a show.

After the choice it allows for watching, queueing, and recommending. I chose to watch the show.

Finally, the quality of the image was good. It was an easy to use application, and for those of us on the move its great. I enjoyed the app, and use it to keep up with my shows. It comes with 15 sec, and 30 sec commercials. The alternative is up to 20 minutes of commercials, so I will continue to use this app.

Second, the processor was an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz. This part almost ended up being wrong, but luckily I checked DFI’s website and was able to select the correct processor for my board. I wanted the quad core in order to be able to run a virtual machine and give it 2 cores and 4GB of memory. The VM runs as if it was a stand alone PC. Awesome!!!

Memory was not hard too choose, and I basically knew I wanted 8GB. I chose to get 2 G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) as they were affordable and had a good reputation. After this, it gets ridiculously expensive. ***Don’t forget that you need a 64bit operating system to run all 8GB.***

The video card was last, and it had to be decent. I am not a gamer by any means, but do play the occasional shooter. I also knew I wanted a dual monitor set up in order to facilitate working and researching. The candidate came down to XFX GeForce 9800 GT
. The card has 512Mb of memory and can handle 2 DVI monitors.

The setup seemed perfect so far, until I ordered the case… Stay tuned.

Have you built an EFI-X system? What was your experience? Leave a comment, and we’ll share notes.

First, I wanted the integration of Cos(x)… Easy enough, but unfortunately Squared could not perform the operation. Winner= Wolfram Alpha

Second, I asked the gravitational constant. Simple enough, just spit out a number, but squared built some knowledge boxes and failed to provide the answer at all. Winner= Wolfram Alpha

Last, but not least. A small comparison, but squared did not comply. Winner= Wolfram Alpha

Conclusion, Google Squared is a good data gathering site. Wolfram Alpha is a computational site capable of performing mathematical operations. The two should be in separate categories as Squared has a long way to go before it can even be considered a contender. I know these test were a little biased, but I wanted to see if it could truly kill Wolfram Alpha. What are you thoughts?

I am currently sitting in Fairfield, Tx writing this. Unfortunately, there is no internet on my location. Last month I decided that my little Sony DSC-P9 had outlived its usefulness and I needed a new digital camera. I began my research under the assumption that it needed at least 10x Optical zoom. This limited my choices, but I knew that the camera I purchased would be a good one to have.
I began looking on NewEgg to see if they had anything I liked; unfortunately the camera I really liked took AA batteries, which I did not like. I remembered being in Best Buy and seeing a Sony I liked, which happend to be the Sony CyberShot DSC-H20

The camera was nice, and had a rechargeable battery (Big must for me) and I liked the fact that they didn’t pack some small card with it, but instead left the choice up to me. I chose a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo . This camera was small, but was full of features. Needless to say I purchased the Camera, and for the first time in my life will actually read the manual and learn to use the camera’s features… As soon as I get back of course, but for now I have learned that the camera has an easy shoot mode, and a shutter mode which will take pictures for as long as you hold down the button at a set interval.

Check back and see the camera in action as I will do my best to update as I learn the features. This was a picture I took at the site, as you can see the small inset on the upper right in the original size.
As always, thanks for reading and check back often.

Nambu is a social networking client for Mac Os x. I am currently using it for twitter, but it has the capability to handle Friendfeed, Ping.fm, tr.im, pic.im, and the team is currently working on adding Facebook functionality. I liked that Nambu was a stand alone application native to Mac OSX, which meant I did not required Adobe Air to run the app.

The application had three views, with the single column being the default. The other two options where single column with options, and multicolumns. Nambu allows for the categorization of the people you follow, and also allows the use of separate columns to view these categories. You could utilize the columns to view your direct messages, mention tweets, as well as view all sent and received links, and also check trends. Nambu has a very clean user interface, and the settings allow you to optimize for easy reading. The general settings menu allows for tracking of read tweets by dimming the item. The user interface also allows for you to reply, retweet and direct message. You can follow, block, translate, hide and add to favorites.

Nambu allows the user to optimize and customize their twitter experience. Also, it allows an easier avenue to keep up with your messages. We all know this can be a daunting task when you are following thousands of people and have thousands of followers. I highly recommend Nambu as it is free and very easy to use.

Pros: Multi-Column view, multiple support, categories
Cons: Freezes at times, difficult to handle after the hide feature is active.

Overall, it is great for being in Beta. I look forward to their future development and improvement.

First, I did research looking to the two options I could find. The first was OSx86 Project, but unfortunately I did not feel I had the technical expertise to tackle this… Yet (Planning on tackling this later). Second, was the perfect solution, the EFI-X module. This USB module allows the user to install different operating systems directly from the DVD. Perfect!!!
The EFI-X module attaches to an USB port in your computer and simulates an EFI environment for operating systems to run unaltered.

Visiting their site and following their recommended components list, I ordered my parts from NewEgg because they offer great service, and fast shipping. The components were as followed:

Case: Antec Mini P180

Mother Board: DFI LP JR P45-T2RS Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Procesor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz

Memory: 2 G.SKILL PI Black 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin (PC2 6400) for 8 GB Total


Video Card: XFX GeForce 9800 GT


Main HDD: 3 Seagate Barracuda 250GB(750GB Total)

DVD Drive: SONY DVD+RW

I am still thinking about the backup drives, as there are a couple of options I am researching.

This is it for now folks, but don’t fret more is to come. Leave a comment and let me know what you think, or if you have an experiences to share.

“ExpanDrive acts just like a USB drive plugged into your Mac or PC. It lets you open, edit, and save files on remote computers from within your favorite programs. ExpanDrive enhances every single application on your computer by transparently connecting it to remote data.” [Source:www.expandrive.com/mac]

The user interface is relatively simple, and very well done. The purpose of the application is to mount a server drive onto your computer as if it where just an USB thumb drive. It has support for SFTP/SSH, FTP?FTPS, and with the new update added support for Amazon S3.

You have, as you can see above, a list of drives you create as you go. This makes it very easy to log on, and add files on the go. The user interface list the drives name, and under it the server location. When the drive is connected, you will see a green dot to the left of the name. If the drive is not connected, you will simply see the name.

Creating a new drive is simple as well. You simply enter you server location, user name, password, and have the option to give it a nick name, specify a folder path, or change the access port. Simple. When finished, you simply cancel, save and close, or connect.

When the application is installed, it simply runs in the background waiting to be used. You have the option of selecting a key stroke to call your user interface up, or right-click the icon at the top. When the menu is right clicked, it shows a straight forward list. The list contains the drives, and once again red means offline, and green connected. The development team is very helpful, and they have a facebook fan page, where they give their fans an opportunity to get a $5 discount (Which I used), and answer questions or concern. They also post on Twitter, and answer concerns. I am very happy with this software, and look forward to future updates. Highly Recommended.