Well it is Spring Break and I got bored with an old laptop, so I looked into some DIY projects and found some on instructables.com.  I then changed them a little bit so I didn’t have to buy anything.  What I used:

• Old 10″ x 12″ wooden frame
• Old Dell laptop (I forgot what model it was, latitude d610 I think)
• Leftover foam board
• Lots and lots of Hot Glue

I took everything apart, figured out how to fit the laptop screen in the frame with the foam board, then I took all of the unnecessary parts out, including the battery (will be powered by the power adapter) and the CD Drive.  I attached the foam board inside the frame as a make-shift matte, then the screen, which I glued in with hot glue, careful to avoid sensitive parts.  I then glued in the laptop parts (upside down at first, so I couldn’t hit the power button , but I fixed the mistake).  Then I plugged it in and it worked!!!

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Windows Vista.  The latest operating system release from Microsoft.  Microsoft is supposedly planning to stop releasing Service Packs and stop supporting Windows XP sometime in the near future.  I don’t know when the full transition is expected to take place, but anyone using Windows XP better prepare to be forced to use Windows Vista very soon.  It’s very rare to find any new computer (with the exception of business computers) that come with Windows XP.  Some people absolutely love it, but there have been numerous, countless, problems with this “revolutionary” operating system.  I have one home computer that we bought new about a year ago, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD.  It is already outdated by Windows Vista.  I have my Intel Centrino Compaq HP that runs Fluxbuntu at just a slightly slower speed.  Why is this?  Because if you haven’t already figured it out, Windows Vista is a big, fat, eye-candy loaded resource hog.  I can run a game in Vista, it takes up almost all of the RAM because there is so much background stuff going on.

When I run a few programs, such as the now bloated Microsoft Office 12, and maybe Photoshop, along with the Aero window theme, the glass look, and the Windows Sidebar, my computer shows signs of aging and slows to an unbelievable pace!  Yet, all of my computers that run various Flavors of Ubuntu (Ubuntu, Fluxbuntu, Xubuntu) still go at an awesome pace for how old these machines are.  All of these machines are at least three years old, but they run just as fast as Windows Vista.  The only thing I can see in Windows Vista is Windows XP with a super bloated graphical theme.  Is this Revolutionary?  No.  Ubuntu and various other Linux Distros have been able to skin the window manager and have thousands of other ways to customize your box.  There are tons of Mac-like themes, Aero themes, and tons of other amazing themes.  All of this, and my Linux still runs faster, with the same look and similar programs.  Another bonus to Linux: It’s free.  That’s about two-hundred dollars cheaper then Vista.

If you think this is too late, I needed time to test Vista, and Ubuntu and find many of the disturbing realities of Vista.  It’s bloated and not worth your money.  I wouldn’t take it for free either.  There you go.  That’s my Windows Vista rant.

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I have been back in school, and I have had less time to come on here and put up new posts.  I have not yet installed Xubuntu on my Cardboard computer, but I am designing a website right now using various image manipulation and web design programs such as GIMP, Photoshop, KompoZer, and Dreamweaver.  I will post some pics and maybe host it throught one of the free services that I have found, such as Freeservers, or Bravenet.  I will let you know when I have it up and running.

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What will come of this combination?  I have downloaded and made a bootable CD of Xubuntu 8.04 and I plan to install it on my Cardboard Computer when I get home from work today.  I hope it doesn’t take all night, but we’ll see I guess.  And yes, if you haven’t already figured it out, I am a fan of low resource Ubuntu flavors .  I hope that it will run it, and I’m pretty sure it has enough RAM to run Xubuntu.  More updates after I get it installed.

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