Blackberry 8800 acquired

I love technology since I was a kid, but lately I am getting irritated with the technological excess.
At moments I feel over-connected. Email accounts, IM, cell phone, SMS, everything demanding my attention. When the idea of having a blackberry came out for work reasons, I really did not want to do it. It felt too much.
Work comes first, so I finally acquired a Blackberry 8800.

How wrong I was.

Now that I have it, I wonder how did I manage to live before without it. Beyond that "it's a cool gadget", its utility is incredible.
The graphical interface is not that pretty, functionality is maximized, leaving aside the design. I don't complain, but I think they could have done it 'just a little bit' more cute.

I think that the best thing I have to say about it is that before I worried about having to check my mail. Many times working in the street, visiting clients, without time to go somewhere with WiFi (the are rare in my city) and open my notebook. That anxiety disappeared. Emails I care about arrive to my BB, with the push-mail technology. It's fabulous, I feel archaic for having waited so long to have one!

Well, I have to end now, because I have some emails to reply in the BB :-D

Cheers!

Version en español
http://www.tuxero.com/2007/10/blackberry-8800-adquirido.html

Technorati tags: blackberry

Using Ubuntu Gutsy Beta

I'm still using Ubuntu Gutsy Beta, and with much pleasure I discovered that it detects and uses the built in Memory Stick card reader that comes with my Sony Vaio VGN-N350FE. It must say that previous versions did not detect the card reader.
The system is very stable. The only problem is that eventually I have trouble when shutting down the notebook.
I installed the 'Advanced Desktop Effects Settings' for configuring Compiz Fusion, and it is a very nice way to waste time. It has many effects, some of them very amusing. The previous version didn't have a so detailed configuration utility. It's very cool to completely personalize the desktop effects.
I still have pending to test the virtualization, but I probably wait for the final version to be released (it's around the corner!).
In short, it seems that it will be a very good version of Ubuntu, and the truth is that they have widely extended compatibility with notebooks.

Versión en español:
http://www.tuxero.com/2007/10/usando-ubuntu-gutsy-beta.html

Technorati tags: ubuntu gutsy

Testing Ubuntu Gutsy Beta - Screenshots

I installed Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Beta in my Sony Vaio VGN-N350FE for testing.
The installation went almost without problems. The only thing is that at a moment it threw an error saying that the partition for importing settings was already mounted, even though I indicated not to perform such importation. I clicked the 'Continue' button, and the installation completed correctly.
I find the system very stable. The brightness control works correctly, which means they fixed it (it didn't work in previous versions). Suspension and hibernation also work, though, after trying a few times, I had trouble to turn the machine off, I don't know if it is because of this, or for some other reason.
So far, I tested the following things:

Screen configuration
Multiple monitors support is now much more intuitive, editing the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file (which could be cryptic for beginners) is no longer needed.
As you can see in the screenshot, the configuration utility is very intuitive.

Printers configuration
This version includes automatic printer configuration, when they are plugged in. I couldn't test this function, but I have a HP 2600n network printer, and to add it was really simple.
I opened the printers configuration utility.
In this application, I clicked the 'New printer' button. I entered the appropriate values for my printer, and the clicked the 'Forward' button.This opened the drivers selection window. I chose 'HP', and then 'Color Laserjet 2600n'.

Then it asked me to enter the printer name. After doing so, I clicked the button 'Apply'.
Done! The printer was correctly installed. The test page was printed correctly.

Video codecs
I tried to play a video file, and it said that video codecs were not available.
I clicked the 'Search' button, and it found the appropriate codecs.
After selecting them, it prompted for confirmation for installing restricted software.
After this, it was correctly installed.

In short
So far, it is a really stable system, it is more compatible with my notebook, and easier to use. As I continue to test it, I'm going to keep posting testing results.

Cheers!

Technorati tags: ubuntu gutsy sony vaio hp 2600

Version en español:
http://www.tuxero.com/2007/10/probando-ubuntu-gutsy-beta.html