The sweetest of them all

I really don’t want to start the next daddy blog, but since Amalia currently does — and for the foreseeable future will — take a central place in my life, there’ll be one or the other post about her.

And, be honest, could you hold back on your pride if you had such a gorgeous litte daughter?

Don’t even get me started about how fascinating it is how she’s developing her own body and sound language. And how totally amazed I am watching her successfully try and grab the cord of the jumping jack at her changing table. Seriously, don’t ask me. My monologue would be more intense than any Linux pep talk I ever gave. And that means something.

How to apply for a job, the non-boring way

Good gracious, how I envy those design types. With the applications I get, I’m already happy when there are no spelling or grammar errors in them.

And can you imagine that there actually are people that would like to get a Linux system administration job without mentioning Linux in their application?

(via Core77)

New printer: HP Deskjet 6980

I’ve been using Laser printers for many years because of the amount of paper I had to process for training manuals and other many-page documents. My current one, a Lexmark Optra T522dn, started printing with deteriorating quality some weeks ago. Because parts of the page that are already printed reappear a bit down the page, I guess it’s some central unit that needs repair. The problem is that those parts usually cost more than a new printer.

That’s why I went out (on Amazon, that is) and bought a HP Deskjet 6980. It seems to work okay with both Mac and Linux, has duplex functionality and not only a LAN connector, but can even be accessed via WiFi. I just don’t need a big honking laser printer any more since if I have to print high volume (which now happens quite rarely), I do it through services like lulu.com.

The advantages I’ve found so far are:

• I don’t have to put it at my feet under my desk. I nicely fits into my book shelf.
• I just need a power socket nearby, because after the initial WiFi configuration, the printer doesn’t need a LAN cable any more.
• Printing noise has gone way down, and the room doesn’t smell of ozone afterwards any more.
• I now can print in colour. I won’t use it for photo printing, though, because a photo lab will beat its quality any time.

I haven’t used the device enough to find its disadvantages, so I’ll post them when they rear their ugly head.

Linux still isn’t there yet

Or is it?

Apple vs Nokia is like CompuServe vs the Internet

I’m still certain that I won’t buy an iPhone although I’m as much an Apple geek as the next guy. But a mobile device is only really of use to me if I can freely install additional applications on it.

When I first saw the Palm Pilot 1000 in the 90s, I found it cute, but not until I realized that there’s more software available than Palm delivered with the devide I knew it would improve my life. I decided on the Nokia E61 as my current cell phone because the S60 platform has many applications to choose from. Since it also has WiFi and 3G, the only advantage of the iPhone is its groundbreaking user interface. But to me, that’s not enough to justify spending about 2000 Euro over two years on device and T-Mobile fees.

If I really need another gadget, it will probably be a Nokia internet tablet of the N800 series. The newly released N810 has a great display and a slide-out keyboard. GPS as well as WiFi is built in and if there’s no hotspot available, I can use my E61 as a 3G modem over BlueTooth.

And then there’s the software side again: That it runs Linux gives it endless possibilities of usage. But other than on the iPhone, this platform is open; Nokia doesn’t try to control what may be installed and what not.

Alistair Croll does a good job of pointing out this important difference. He compares the platform strategies of Apple versus Nokia with those of CompuServe versus the open Internet. As I was a CompuServe user until I could get PPP dial-up elsewhere, imagine me nodding heavily now.