Marcus Hamaker is The Sleepy Geek

One of the most oft-asked questions I get is “Why should I switch to Linux?” It comes to me either via inbox or sound waves attacking my aural system every day. This has been going on for over ten years now I’ve heard the question from different locations on the globe, in different languages, from all ages, and in some odd locales. What is interesting about this question is that the answers, over the years, haven’t really changed that much. The order of importance has altered somewhat, but the answers have all pretty much remained the same.

via Technology and Computer Guide: Top Five reasons to switch to Linux.

I have been looking for a straight forward article for this setup forEVER. Thanks to this poster, now I have it :) Connect Mac OSX to a CUPS printer

via Connect Mac OSX to a CUPS printer | KindaWannaDoThat.

There is a lot of buzz about this new commercial that Microsoft has made that seems to be drawing a lot of attention in the blogsphere. I have taken a moment to go and watch the video and I am not sure I have a hard opinion either way.

First things first the commercial does what it is designed to do. Microsoft’s sole intention with this commercial is to point out that Macs are more expensive than are Windows based machines. This is true if you look at each other’s low end price point. In US pricing the lowest prices Mac is $1000 and we all know that you can get a Windows based HP or Toshiba for $500-$600 at the entry level.

The issue I have with this the comparison of unlike hardware. The base laptops at these prices are not the same specs as the Mac computers at their entry level. I really am going to watch what people are going to say about this one. I don’t fault Microsoft for the ad, it does what they need to do.

I just wonder if they could have gone about it by talking about features of Windows rather than specifying hardware limits off the bat. The woman in the ad right away says that a 17″ screen is a must. Well they don’t talk about the resolution of the screen, it could be a very poor resolution 17″ screen and that makes a difference. If you look at a 13″ Mac with a high res, then again we are comparing apples to oranges.

What do you think?

I have been using OSX a lot lately but I still do have Windows machines at my house. The most important of those to me is the Windows Media Center computer that controls my entire home entertainment system. I have an XBox 360 that we use to watch TV on in the bedroom so I am pretty locked in with Windows there.

There is often a reason I need to connect to the Media Center machine and of course I connect to other Windows machines as well at home. Well from Windows this is very easy because the remote desktop (RDP) client is built into Windows, but what if you are running OSX like I am? Well in that case you need “Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2” from Microsoft. They have taken the time write a client for OSX which works very well.

Remote Desktop from OSX

Just like with the built in Windows version you enter the computer name and press connect. It’s that simple! Of course you have the option to choose specific options such as screen resolution, saved user credentials, etc. but they aren’t nessesary to make the connection. This is a tool that you need only if you need it. I just wanted to share with you that it exhists and if you do in fact need to make that connection this is the best way.

So you need to update your Gallery2 from your Mac? There are built in utilities that work with any OS from Gallery2 but they are all a bit heavy if you have a large picture library. I by no means have the biggest but it’s around 1500 pictures right now which is too much for an FTP upload or the web interface.

Most Mac users are using iPhoto and with the release of iLife ’09 comes iPhoto ’09. I had a plugin that worked with iPhoto ’08 called Gallery2Export. It worked well, simple yet functional. After installing the new version of iPhoto Gallery2Export wouldn’t allow me to open the Export window in iPhoto.

After some digging around, I found another plugin called iPhotoToGallery. I have uploaded about 200 picutres so far using it and it is working quite well. It seems a little slower than I would like. I have been used to the Windows XP “Publish to” feature which is quite fast. I would actually bet that the iPhoto upload took about twice as long to upload my pictures than did the Windows XP upload util.

Apple’s first Macintosh named computer was launched on the 24 January 1984. 25 years on, how has the Cupertino based company changed the industry? Here are five ways we think it’s had an impact on our tech filled lives.

via Five ways Apple changed the tech industry.

I have been a Windows user for quite some time and have been looking for a simple picture importing software management too for OSX. Well Picasa for Mac showed up on our doorstep a couple of weeks ago. Here is a short video on why I chose Picasa.

Apple has released Mac OS X 10.5.6 to customers this afternoon.

The 10.5.6 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

via Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.6 – Mac Rumors.

I have gotten Kubuntu installed and upgraded to KDE 4.1 and I am not sure what it is but the GUI seems like it is lacking consistency. I haven’t been able to put my finger on something concrete as of yet, however as I noticed when moving from XP to Vista, this upgrade from KDE 3.x to 4.x feels like a bit of a step backwards.

Some parts of it are completely visual. I think that this is partly to do with Kubuntu releasing KDE 4.x before they have had a chance to put a theme or skin on certain things (ie. Firefox). We’ll see how that pans out with future official releases of Kubuntu with KDE 4.x.

The rest of it has to do with things like the “start” menu (I don’t know if I will ever call it something else, I know… bad Marcus!) changes. Like with Vista it feels like there were changes; not to improve the functionality, but to change it. I am frustrated with things being changed just to change them. I have felt that Microsoft has done that often in the past simply to roll out a new version of software (as with Office suites when all you notice is new icons) simply to gain revenue.

To compare this to my first experience with KDE 4.x when it was still in beta and RCs would be a positive thing. When installing those versions I was usually greeted with usability problems of insurmountable proportions causing me to drop the idea within a day. Don’t get me wrong, I am still going to be using my Mac as my main computer as I still have no desire to move away from OSX. This is one of the first times that I will test and OS in this fashion. In the past I have usually switched my main computer over to the test OS, partially because it is a good test method and partially due to my tiredness of Windows. To continue this test I will be running the operating systems side by side and try to perform the same tasks on the Kubuntu machine after having done it in OSX.

I know that my initial reaction is not positive but I will try to remain unbiased and really look at the functionality of the interface.

I love finding new things… well things that are new to me anyway! I have an HTC Touch mobile phone with Rogers in Canada (I know… Rogers.. boo-hoo!) I like the phone but I have never really liked the way that any phone has synchronized with my computer. For some reason it always seems to be a hassle and a complicated process.

What is funny is that up until now I have always been syncing my mobile phones with Windows and using mostly the included sync software. Now with the HTC Touch I am faced with an entirely new problem, how to sync Windows Mobile devices when running OSX.

The people at MarkSpace have all the answers! I found a program there called The Missing Sync that is built to sync between otherwise incompatible platforms. I used the trial of The Missing Sync for Windows Mobile which allows me to easily backup my phone data to my Mac.

There are a ton of features included with software, some of which include:

• Connects with Windows Mobile devices via USB and Bluetooth
• Supports devices running Windows Mobile 2002/2003/5/6
• Syncs with Address Book, iCal, Entourage 2004 and others
• Syncs Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other files
• Downloads iPhoto albums and iTunes playlists
• Imports device-side photos and video
• Encodes QuickTime video for mobile playback
• Provides drag-and-drop install of .cab-formatted applications
• Displays phone call and SMS text message logs on the Mac
• Supports two Macs and any number of Windows Mobile devices
• Universal application provides the best performance

But what they don’t really say in that list is how easy it is to use. Pretty much every tool I have used in the past to sync my phones have been touch and go ant sync time. I was always scared that I was going to delete the data in my Outlook, on the phone or possibly corrupt both. You don’t get this feeling when using The Missing Sync.

Note that you also have other options other than Windows Mobile phones including The Missing Sync for iPhones and Blackberry. I encourage you to go check out their line of software if you are looking for a new synchronization solution.