planetkris

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the crash…

Sadly, It looks like I will be stuck as a ‘white belt’ when it comes to my Google Gmail Ninja status. Today a New! Email Tips link appeared in gmail and that is when I learned the harsh truth.

You see, Google hasn’t really bothered to make a video chat client for Linux and I REALLY want them to. This is on their list of ‘green belt’ items, early on the path to becoming a Gmail master. They said back in November of 2008 that they would be working on it… If you want to get on the beta test list, clicky this: Gmail voice and video - Linux. I think that this would not be too hard to pull off considering they have a Mac client already (read: X distro on x86 32-bit hardware) I don’t want a rush their genius, but I know it’s probably down low on a ‘shit Google has to do today‘ list. Maybe this post will rustle up some priorities. Skype works great on Ubuntu BTW.

For those who missed the Dell Mini 9 but wanted one - The Vostro A90 is a re-branded Dell Mini 9 (Inspiron 910). I almost like it better in black. It looks like the Ubuntu option is there as well as a standard 16GB SSD and 1GB of RAM (Things I had to option UP to with my Dell Mini 9.) Not bad for $294.

The only official ‘Dell Mini’ option is the Dell Mini 10v now - and is being hated upon for its un-possible to open and upgrade design. You need THREE videos to show you how to open it.

I’m typing this post on the last of a great little netbook from Dell. Yep, the Dell Mini 9 is confirmed by Engadget to be end of life. And what a short production run it had. Replaced by a 160GB spinning mechanical disk crammed inside the ‘I just can’t go any smaller then ten inches of screen’ Dell Mini 10. I’m uber glad I optioned it up with the extras - extras that will be that much harder to find in the coming months.

Oh well - their loss. A silent - super portable - network engineers pal for the last two months, my Inspiron 910 has been great for setting up routers, ssl vpn’s, remote controlling servers worth 20 times its cost, and keeping my iGoogle feeds at the ready for when customer downtime occurs.

Tonight’s project is to get DVD video ‘converted’ to a portable media format I can watch on the upcoming summer air trips. 3.5 hours of battery is enough time to watch a movie or two…