March, 29, 2001 archives

i've spent the last couple of days getting my laptop into shape so i can take it on the road for apachecon next week. i reinstalled the operating systems, and have been tweaking the linux config to be more in line with my desktop. my goal was actually to start using the laptop as my desktop, since its actually a slightly faster machine (p2/300 vs. p2/266), although it also has less ram (64 vs. 128). i think the real showstopper is going to be the video problems, though -- the vaio can't handle driving the external monitor at better than 60hz when the lcd is also on, and xfree86 is unstable with just the external monitor. the video performance is also pretty mushy compared to the voodoo3 in my desktop.

it would have been nice to be able to get rid of a machine. if i just had an lcd monitor, the refresh rate wouldn't be an issue. maybe i should just ditch the external monitor. hmm. (that would also make it easier to sell the desktop, if i went that route.)

the laptop does have better sound than the desktop. there's too much bass and no bass control on the desktop's sound card.

if i were to sell the desktop, i'd likely put the proceeds towards a wireless access point and wireless card for the laptop and join the home-wireless-network crowd.

on the other hand, selling the laptop and upgrading the desktop may be a better route to go. i don't use the laptop all that often, and it won't be possible to upgrade that in the piecemeal fashion that i've been upgrading the desktop all these many years.

(decisions, decisions. before i sell either computer, i should really do something about the bass that's been sitting unused in my closet since college.)

so i ditched the monitor, and am now just using the laptop screen. it is a lot further away (well, a foot or so), and a little smaller, but i seem to be adjusting. and no more headache from the 60hz refresh rate.

i do need to figure out what it is that keeps blanking the screen. i suspect the bios doesn't notice the keyboard and mouse activity, since it is all usb.

i've also switched to using mozilla 0.8.1 as my browser. so far it seems to be behaving, and the performance is decent. i played with konqueror for a while, but the ugly toolbar got to me. (it's the little things.)

oh, and my replacement hard drive showed up this morning, so the next task is to fix up my server. i'll probably upgrade it to 2.4.2 while i'm at it.

brill's content and inside may merge. that would be interesting. i enjoy both publications immensely. (well, inside.com. haven't seen their magazine.)

the modemblaster is a winmodem. d'oh! back to fry's again. (and i think i threw away the aol cd that came with it. hopefully they won't hassle me. i doubt they'll notice.)

it turns out that zelerate didn't quite fold, but has five employees who are now working on something new, which won't be open-source. whatever. hopefully they'll have people who know how to code this time. i was completely disgusted by the allcommerce code whenever i poked around in it.