This year Jules and I both got a holiday bonus for our hard work at our jobs, so using that money and the extra cash I got for selling all those things on eBay, we upgraded our media PC by giving it more RAM and a video card and bought two Asus eeePCs.

(In the above photo, I included my hand to give a sense of scale. Afterwards I realized that my hands are tiny so the scale doesn’t come across properly, so my apologies.)

The eeePC is an ultra-portable, very affordable, very SMALL laptop. For ages now Jules has been in the market for a laptop but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on something that would be more than he needed and be obsolete too quickly. I have been enamored with the idea of an eBook reader for about as long and when the Amazon Kindle was released last year it was all I could do to keep from ordering one right away. The price ($399) was the one thing that stopped me. That’s $400 for a device that does ONE thing. No thanks. The very same day I stumbled upon an article about the eeePC which pretty much sold me on it immediately: it is a fully-fledged computer which also works as an eBook reader, for the same price as a Kindle! We both bought the version with the 4GB solid state hard drive and upgraded to 2GB of RAM (for $40 each!)

The computer comes with the following specs:

• Display: 7″ LCD
• Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics processor (Shared Memory Architecture), additional VGA port (up to 1600×1280 pixels)
• CPU: 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353
• Hard Disk: 4 GB Solid State
• RAM: 2 GB RAM DDR2-667 (upgraded from 512MB)
• Battery: 4-cell, Li-Ion, 5200 mAh, 7.4 volts: 3 h 30 min battery life
• Webcam: 0.3 megapixel; up to 640×480, up to 30 fps
• OS: Xandros Linux running KDE. (Now running eeeXubuntu Linux)
• Communication: 10/100 Mbit Ethernet, 802.11b/g wireless LAN mini PCI-E card (Atheros-based)
• Audio: Realtek ALC6628 Hi-Definition Audio 5.1 CODEC; built-in stereo speakers; built-in microphone
• Connectors: 3 USB 2.0 ports, MMC/SD (HC) card reader, Ethernet port, Microphone input, Headphone jack, AC power jack, VGA out, Kensington lock slot
• Dimensions: 8.9 × 6.5 × 0.9~1.4 in
• Weight: 2 lb ½ oz

I can’t stress enough how TINY this thing is. Basically it is the dimensions of a short hardcover book and about as heavy. The keys are about 75% the size of a normal keyboard, which makes it difficult to type at first but is easy to adapt to (give yourself an hour if you’re adept at computer usage.) Jules put eee xubuntu Linux on it which is more robust than the Xandros distribution it comes with and I’ve mainly been using it as a reference for crochet patterns while I’m working and an eBook reader, which is what I wanted it for in the first place! It is easy to transport since it’s so small and lightweight, so taking it on the bus is no hassle. The battery life is about 3 hours so it is fine for a daily commute both directions. It can easily pick up a wireless signal from inside our apartment and is plenty quick for usual web-based tasks (obviously you wouldn’t want to run a modern PC video game on it or do video editing, but it is perfect for Skype or email or web browsing.) The webcam and microphone on it are of decent quality (better than you might expect.)

The coolest thing about it is its capacity for expansion. Hooked up to an external monitor you can add screen real estate very easily and add a 2GB or larger SD card and suddenly you have plenty of space for temporary storage. I’ve kept my eBook collection on a Kensington 2GB SD card and it works really well! Our cats are enjoying them as well as they are the perfect size and shape for them to curl up on when they want a warm place to sleep and the sun is not out!

Pros:

• Extremely portable and lightweight
• Affordable at $400 (lower-end models are available for $300)
• Full of features usually expected only on high-end notebooks
• Fast enough for almost any daily task
• Expandable
• Extremely CUTE

Cons:

• Battery life isn’t as long as I would like (Asus will be releasing higher capacity batteries sometime soon)
• Keys are so small it is difficult to type at first (with a little practice this is a moot point)
• Small hard drive capacity (expandable through SD cards and online storage)

I totally recommend this for anyone who wants an extremely portable internet device that affords a great deal of flexibility. If you are thinking of getting an eBook reader, I would take a peek at this machine before you decide. I’ve been using fbReader the past few weeks and it does everything the other devices do and more (you can choose your own FONT and line-spacing and read in full-screen mode, ZOMG what a time we live in!)

Links:

• official site
• Wikipedia entry

Here’s a scarf I made Jules last week while I was off work recovering from the wisdom teeth extraction. It is based on the pattern “Dave Scarf” by Vickie Howell.

Extraction complete. I wouldn’t say I lucidly recall all of it, but they gave me enough sedatives for a 200-lb man and I was still able to have a conversation with them. I may have passed out for part of the procedure but I was definitely awake for most of it. No pain though. And the Vicodin they gave me for the pain is working out pretty well, except I’m having conversations with people I don’t remember. Jules has been there the whole time, changing out the icky gauze pads and keeping Roscoe from eating them. :3 I’m not hungry luckily.

Off to the dentist now to have some teeth yanked out of my face. :D See you later!

We gave both the cats a bath this weekend. Neither were too happy. Roscoe is about half his size when wet, which is hilarious. He has little twig legs and a pencil-thin tail. :D

Over the weekend, our friends at the Omni Group hosted a Rockband Ultimate Setlist party at their new headquarters. Over the course of 7 hours, six of us made it through all 58 songs, then went out for a late dinner. Talk about exhausting! It was so fun but so draining. I don’t know if I want to attempt it on our 360 with only 2-4 people.

We had one rather major setback at the beginning where we went in at a higher difficulty than we should have and had to quit the set, which lost us so many fans the setlist had to be re-unlocked! It took about 2 hours to do that, extending our play time considerably. Luckily everyone was devoted to reaching our goal, and we succeeded!

Thanks to Excedrin, I was numbed enough to ignore my mouth pain. :D

After a weekend of excruciating pain and a resultant trip to a new dentist, they determined my wisdom teeth need to come out. Because of an infection I need to be on antibiotics for at least a week until the swelling goes down so my appointment is on Thursday, January 17. For the time being I have some Tylenol with Codeine to hold me over.

Anyone got any interesting stories about their experiences with wisdom tooth extraction?

My music listening time was significantly reduced compared to last year so I don’t feel nearly as well-informed this time around. Rather than this being the best albums of 2007, this will be the albums I listened to most. (Runners up are mostly albums that I know are good but haven’t spent as much time with to appreciate enough to rate them as high as the top 10.)

Top 10

1. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna…Are You the Destroyer?
2. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
3. Editors - An End Has a Start
4. Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven’s Gate
5. St. Vincent - Marry Me
6. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
7. Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
8. Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye
9. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
10. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog

Runners Up:

• Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
• Interpol - Our Love to Admire
• The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
• The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
• New Pornographers - Challengers
• The Postmarks - The Postmarks
• Joan as Policewoman - Real Life
• The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
• Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
• Elliott Smith - New Moon