I forgot to mention...

…my printer had been acting up, and I wanted to get a scanner, so last weekend I purchased the Hewlett-Packard PSC 2210 multifunction device. Everything works GREAT under Linux, I just love this machine, and recommend it to anyone interested in such a beast.

I wrote a review on Amazon.com, but it hasn't popped on just yet. Once it does, I'll link to it so you can see a bit more detail.

Zaurus Survives Fall

I don't recommend this at home, but my poor little Zaurus went with my belt clip case on to hard pavement yesterday, and seems no worse for wear. I was chasing after some soda cans that fell off my cart at the Grocery store when the fateful “trip” took place. phew Nothing like dropping your 1-week old $350 PDA. cough

Zaurus

Well, after seeing one, I couldn't resist. I bought a Zaurus SL-5500 Personal Mobile Tool (a.k.a. a Linux PDA) last week. It is at least partially going to replace my trusty Palm Vx Connected Organizer. So far all I can say is - this thing is REALLY IMPRESSIVE!

Yes, it is very impressive. The color screen is bright, the functionality is great, and the keyboard is ingenius. The fact that it is based on Qt is another plus, providing a very polished environment with lots of KDE apps being ported.

The Yopy is rather intriguing too, but the Z seems to be the first Linux PDA with a chance at the mainstream market. Its smaller size and front light surely helps with that. It is more affordable then the iPaq which is another really great thing.

Infact I only paid $359 for mine from Amazon.com, but right now if you go to BestBuy you'll pay even less - just $319 during the current sale (I'm not sure how long that price will last, then it will return to $399). Anyway, at just 7 oz. it is extremely light, just a bit heftier then my Palm, and it's 206 MHz StrongARM processor with Linux offers so much functionality. If you want a PDA, don't stand here, go get a Zaurus right now!

BTW, to those of you still misled into thinking you should use Windows, the Zaurus comes with two Windows sync programs. In fact, in some type of horrible irony, it is easier to get this Linux based PDA running in Windows then in Linux. sigh

Addendum to last post.

I forgot to cover the second subject I mentioned in my subject yesterday. I wrote a paper on the problems of Jehovah's Witness doctrines entitled The Evidence Against “What Does God Require Us?”. If you are currently wondering if the Watchtower organization is right in their publications I urge you to read the evidence that states the opposite. You can also find more information on this subject in the free resource section of CRI's eQuip.org.

MandrakeSoft and JW's

It's been awhile since I posted, but I'm still here, I just haven't had much worth musing about on here. Anyway, MandrakeSoft has taken a small excerpt out of a review of MDK 8.2 I did back in February, and included it in the MDK 8.2 shipping announcement and on their front page. It was a nice surprise when I found out they were interested in doing that. Anyway, I hope this release goes well for them, they seem to be a company more focused on the customer rather than the cash - something truly unusual these days.

It's BibleTime!!!

Well, it seems BibleTime 1.1 is unofficially out right now. The main site still does not mention the final 1.1 release, but RPMS for SuSE and Mandrake (and of course, source code) is now available on the SF project page.

This release, unfortunately, is still only for KDE 2.x, and not the new KDE 3.0. However, from what I understand, BT 1.2 with KDE 3 support should be out soon. Hopefully by the time this next release is out I will have successfully finished the rest of the new icon set for BibleTime too (the finished part is included in BT 1.1).

Odds and Ends

When the music fades, and all is stripped away And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within through the way things appear
    -Matt Redman, The Heart of Worship

I haven't posted anything for a while, so I thought it was definately time to say something. It's worth noting I finally got laptop's Linux install working nicely. I've had the unit for a year and a half, but I just had never taken the time to move all of my useful files and settings over to my Linux installation. Now I can carry my e-mail with me, and if I get my Winmodem working in Linux - I can check it while off of my normal LAN connection.

Ah fun! Mandrake Linux 8.2 is suppose to be out this week too, so I'll probably put that on both of my machines. The release candidate is very polished, and is one of the first Linux releases that I've run that you think “Hmm… this looks business-like.” Mandrake has really concentrated on making a distro that finally seems to be not only technically, but also aesthetically ready for business, I would say. I did a review of a beta version of MDK 8.2 last month, so if I've piqued your interested, check it out here.

PHPNuke != Good Software

Everytime I think I've got PHPNuke working on Open for Business it seems to do something new to remind me this isn't the best CMS in the world. For the obvious reasons, I don't want to reveal the current problem, but I will say this - I'm going to work up to switching to PostNuke. I'm sure there are better CMSes than PostNuke too, however it seems to offer the best upgrade path from PHPNuke.