Nothing But Chromebook For A Week
As promised in my Samsung Chromebook review, I'm using nothing but my Chromebook for a week. I'm a programmer, fledgling system administrator, and blog writer. This isn't going to be easy. Not only am I using this at home, but I'm leaving my workstations at work shut off.
Samsung 3G Chromebook Review
After over a month of waiting, my Chromebook finally arrived. I've played with the OS a few times before, and had my netbook dual booting for a little while. However, I had some issues with WiFi on campus, so I didn't keep it very long. The issues were the fault of the campus IT, rather than Google's. We only recently gained the ability to get access through the Wifi portal via Chrome. Needless to say, I was very excited when my Chromebook came in the mail. It is a gorgeous piece of hardware, and a very interesting take on software, which definitely fills a need. And that need isn't as niche as many people would lead you to believe. Note: Everything in this article was accomplished via ChromeOS, except taking the pictures. That was accomplished with my HTC Evo, and uploaded to Picasa. First, the obligatory unboxing photos:
The Only Guide to Git You’ll Ever Need
If you've ever used Git, or Subversion, or any version control system really, you know there is usually a decent learning curve. I stumbled acrossthis guide on reddit, and it sums up everything I've been trying to teach myself for the past few months quite concisely. I would recommend reading through everything in that article. Maybe even print out some of them to post on your office wall when you start with Git. A couple thing I would add though.
Feature Showdown: iOS 5, iCloud and Lion vs Android and Google
After watching the live blog of Apple's WWDC, I was at the same time happy for Apple developers, and dismayed for Android and Google users. It seemed Apple was playing catch up to Google, giving Google little left to do to provide the same or better services in its next OS version and their cloud tools. While iOS5 is a great competitor to Gingerbread on phones and Honeycomb on tablets, Ice Cream Sandwich is expected out only a few months after iOS5 becomes publicly available, and is expected to dramatically improve both the phone and tablet OS's. I enjoy the battles between iOS and Android, because they make both platforms better. I don't think Google will spend too much time catching up in the few areas iOS 5 is better than Gingerbread/Honeycomb. Here's a rundown of the new features in OSX, iOS, and iCloud, compared to Google's offerings.
Why Google’s +1 Button Is Better Than Twitter/Facebook’s Buttons
Simply put, Google is king of user experience. Click the Facebook or Twitter buttons to the right. Then click the +1. Yes, I am asking you to promote my site, but that's not the point. Did you notice anything different? Maybe, maybe not.
I, like a ton of people, am constantly logged in to Twitter, Facebook, and my Google Account (usually through Gmail). If you haven't authorized ShareThis (the lovely developers that make all my social buttons except Google +1 work), you'll get two separate pop ups for Twitter and Facebook, one to authorize ShareThis to your accounts and one to add your notes. You'll get 0 pop ups for +1. That is KEY! You just get a little animation and see the number go up once. Since it launched, I +1 anything that has the button easily viewable. It doesn't take any extra work. But there is a barrier to entry for Twitter and Facebook, because I have to authorize the sharing, and then annotate the link. That's a lot of work compared to +1. That's the difference between grabbing drive-thru food on your way home and making a homemade pizza. Google got this one right.
Android Apps That Might Save Your SysAdmin Ass
I posted a while ago that since I got my Evo, it has changed my daily workflow. I quickly realized a lot of the stuff I do with my servers can easily be done through my phone just as quickly. These are my favorite apps to make dealing with my servers easier. If you have your own favorite apps, or suggestions, leave them in the comments!
Kids Need Computers Too!
This isn’t a tutorial…yet. Hopefully, when we get a little farther, I’ll post the tutorial so anyone can do this at their school and help countless people. We will be using the PXE Boot Server, FAI Server, Tech Tools, and a couple of other things that already have tutorials!
Introduction to Home Servers
Hardware Requirements
Intel’s Guide to Eucalyptus
Platform(s): Ubuntu
It appears Intel is just as excited about using Eucalyptus for private cloud computing as I am. They have released a very in depth guide on how to set up and maintain such a cluster. The tutorial is focused on resellers and solution providers, but the Best Practices section is definitely of use to anyone involved in private cloud computing. The tip comes from @Swardley, a great resource of information and articles on cloud computing.
Google Storage for Developers
I got invited to Google Storage for Developers a couple of days ago. From what I can tell, it is basically the same as Amazon S3, just a few years later. However, it has a Google spin to it. It has fantastic documentation (even though it's not publicly available), good libraries for Python, and right now, free storage/bandwidth.
@ServerCobra Twitter
- Kraft removed their case of Mac & Cheese from Amazon Subscribe and Save. RIP. #fb
- So @YouTube just dropped an ad in the middle of my video. WTF? If you want more ad time, put it at the beginning. Come on Google. #fb
- RT @kalienang: I miss #democrabeeps @vangachnang @ServerCobra
- RT @news3jessica: Federal Judge in redistricting case gives parties until 5:30pm tonight to see if legislature can fix redistricting issues via @wispolitics
- @jaydrogers Wonder if we'll be buying AppleBooks shortly? or iBooks again.
