crowza.com - v3.0

Save the world. Find ET. Contribute to Charity.

So, we all weren't sucked into a proverbial "black hole" from the startup of the LHC (Large Hydroden Collider) super computer. But, it really looked like we were doomed there for a second, didn't it? Now, I've just got to figure a way to explain the excessive spending to the credit card company. I can just hear them now, "Uhm sir, you already used your 'do-over' back on New Years Eve in 1999." Yeah, well - at least we could still get sucked in. I mean, it's not all up and running you know. If only we had a way to help those scientists destroy the earth quicker, so we didn't have to pay off our credit cards...

Oh wait! There is!

Ever heard of BOINC? No. Okay, how about distributed computing? No. Well, then - click the damn links. This isn't PBS.

Step 1. Download and install the BOINC client on your computer:
Click here to download the BOINC Client!

Step 2. Signup for projects, and join the 108 Dragons BOINC team!

Seti@Home
LHC@Home
Rosetta@Home
Einstein@Home
You can sit there and cry that the government isn't wasting everybody else's money to fund stem cell research or fighting AIDS... whatever. You could do that or you could actually do something about it. No, I don't mean wearing some stupid useless ribbon during an awards show to make yourself feel better and prove to people that you "care". I'm not talking about government mandated "donations" (taxes), either. But, honest to God: charity. You know, that wonderful by-product of captialism. I'm talking about donating your computer's time and energy consumption to a greater cause.

One distributed computing project in particular, LHC@Home has been helping the scientists get the LHC, up and running with more accuracy and quicker results. In fact, I'm just waiting for the eventual "42" that the LHC will spit out. Whoops... I guess I should have put a spoiler warning in there, huh? But, that's just one project. I currently participate in SETI@Home, LHC@Home, Einstein@Home, and Rosetta@Home. I'm planning on building a 6-PC Linux grid that will be dedicated to my BOINC projects, 24/7/365. I will be paying the energy costs, the materials, etc. Why? Because distributed computing isn't a charity that lines the pockets of politicians. It's not a charity that blows $0.80 of every dollar, before it even gets to the cause. It's a form of charity that is proven to get results.

Besides all that charity crap, it makes for a great screensaver.
The thing that has really blown me away over the years is Moore's Law. I started crunching SETI@Home numbers back in 1999 on a 486 machine running 24/7/365. As of today, I've accumulated more credit than 91% of the rest of the world's BOINC users. For SETI alone, I've easily processed over 54.56 Quadrillion floating point operations (since the project moved to BOINC). That doesn't include all of the processing I did before under a different username, either. Nowadays, I'm crunching work units on a AMD Phenom Quad-Core processor. It processes more work units in one day, than the 486 did in a year. The computation power curve is amazing and after 9 years of straight work and stats - I'm awestruck to see the difference first hand.
What a long and strange eight years it has been.
So... Download and join the number crunching today! Join the 108 Dragons team and make a real contribution to society without forcing everyone else to pay for it. Years from now, when your kid's children ask you what you did back in the day of ancient computing - you can tell them that you didn't just complain about the problems of the world. You were a contributing part of the solution.
Well that.. and I don't want to have to pay my credit cards off. We really need to get the LHC to create a black hole to consume the earth before my next billing cycle. Thanks!

Are you ready for some football?

Professional NFL football, Fantasy Football, NFL Pick Contest, organized videogame football.. It's all coming again this year in short order. If you aren't a current member of the website, sign up now and get ready for your chance to participate and win prizes, pride, self esteem and much more!

Even if you don't know anything about football, the pick contest can be extremely rewarding. Hurry if you want to get in on the action! You want to be in from the start, otherwise trying to play catch-up can be a bitch.

Sirius Satellite Radio provides radio coverage of every NFL game. So, if you can't see your favorite team in your area, at least you can listen to the radio broadcast. DirecTV provides the NFL package (usually around $350), which gives you access to every NFL game. Right now, they are having a special for signing up with their premier package, which will get your standard programming for free for four months. All you do is have to pay $75 per month for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Great deal if you love football!

Sirius Satellite Radio - www.sirius.com
DirecTV - www.directv.com
NFL Website - www.nfl.com

I've got a good feeling about this season. My popcorn is ready...

Miata to the Tribute

I don't buy new cars very often. I do have some relatives that buy a new car every year. But, I've always come from the type of mindset that you use your car for as long as you can because you're going to lose money anyway you cut it. My first car was a Subaru Justy, which was a tiny hatchback with paper thin like doors. It was a rolling death box, but I put hundreds of thousands of miles on it. The previous owner (my brother) had disconnected the mileage on it at one point, so I never knew how many miles it actually had. But, it was probably easily over 200,000. It got me where I was going, but I still really don't know how I never ended up dead in that thing.

The 2008 Mazda Tribute in Mystic Black

A few years down the road, I bought a brand a Suzuki Sidekick, which I owned for the shortest amount of time of any of my cars. Don't get me wrong, I loved my Sidekick. But, being so young I didn't do enough research over the going rates of insurance companies before I had signed for the loan. Once I realized that my monthly insurance cost was actually more than the cost of a loan (How does paying $275 a month in insurance sound to you, fifteen years ago?). Oh, and insurance companies don't think that 4 wheel drives vehicles make you safer, they charge you more because you are more than likely to do something stupid that you wouldn't do if you didn't have four wheel drive. So, for the Sidekick I was working and paying for the car loan, plus the insurance and nothing else. I was forced to trade it in on something that would be less monthly on the car insurance and a cheaper car payment, so I could have the luxuries in life - like eating. But, don't get me wrong - I loved that Sidekick. Even if I only used the four wheel drive mode twice and never saw much use for it after that. Yep, the salesman was wrong - I didn't need four wheel drive.

Inside it's a lighter offset. Excellent features, except for the foot emergency brake. I prefer handbrakes.

So, I ended up buying a 1995 Saturn SL1. Check this out - less insurance, less payment, etc. right? But the big news was that it got 40+ miles to the gallon. 40+ mpg! Try finding a sedan that does that nowadays. You can't unless it's some expensive shitty Hybrid with two engines, no pickup and no cargo room due to the dual electrical and gas engines. Technology hasn't come far enough yet for these vehicles to be anything but gimmicks yet; you still end up spending far more on them than you get in gas savings. Even with gas being close to $4 per gallon, the premium for most of these vehicles outweighs the benefits. Except maybe the Toyota Prius, but goddamn - it's fuck ugly. The Chevy Volt will change all of that though and probably lead the revolution. But, anyway - I ended up putting close to 170,000 miles on the Sidekick before it was all said and done though.

No, I didn't shave my head; my hair is slicked back in a ponytail. It just looks like I shaved my head.

After I paid off my Saturn, I bought a Mazda Miata. All my life, I have loved roadsters. Even though there was no cargo room, my Mazda Miata has been my favorite car I've ever owned. I ended up putting 170,000 miles on it and I loved every second of it. It was the best when I still had the Saturn. That way, I could take the Miata out only when I wanted to drive it. Eventually though, I was forced to drive the Miata full time as the Saturn was passed on. Recently, it's come to the end of its life as I spend thousands of dollars to keep it running. The last straw was when the ragtop's rear window got broken and I'd have to spend $3,000 to get it replaced. Plus another $3,000 to get some other paint damage and rust repaired. So, at this point, no matter how much I love my Miata, it was time to move on. It was too expensive to continue to keep alive. So, what to get next? Another Miata? That would be awesome, but it's very hard to live with a Miata as your only car.

I wanted a Tesla Roadster, but fuck - who doesn't? An all electric sports car with some serious speed. Of course, without the extra $100,000 laying around to spend on a Tesla Roadster, the only option I had was to sit down and figure out exactly what I needed. At $4 per gallon, I sure as hell wasn't going to get anything with less gas mileage than what I already had with the Miata. That averaged 26-28 miles per gallon overall. Considering almost all of my driving is interstate anyway, that's not bad for something that is ranked to get 26 mpg according to the government. But, I know I needed more room - especially after driving only the Miata for the past few years. Maybe someday in the future, I'll buy another MX-5 Miata. I just needed something like a SUV, but without the gas penalty that comes standard on them.

After six months of research and waiting, I finally found something that seemed to fit the bill. A 2008 Mazda Tribute, SUV. It had to be a 2008, because the previous year models sucked on gas mileage. However, in order to get better gas mileage on the 08, I needed to get the front wheel drive, manual transmission model (which isn't a problem since I never have owned an automatic and probably never will as long as I'm still physically capable of driving a stick). The problem is that it's really hard to actually find that model in stock most anywhere because Americans demand automatics, because they don't really know how to drive. That's why Kurt, over at Lester Raines Mazda-Honda in South Charleston is the man. He searched for days trying to find the perfect model for me, and he gave me a great deal. I've known Kurt most of my life and I can tell you, if you are in the market for a new Honda or Mazda, and live here locally - go and see him. His office is located in the "Honda" part of the dealership.

So, I finally bit the bullet on the Mazda Tribute. Now that I'm older, my insurance isn't as bad as it was when I was 17 years old. I have to fill up less, not only because of better gas mileage, but because of a bigger gas tank. It came with some many options standard, like fog lights, air bags popping out of the side doors and roof, etc. that are usually reserved for the higher trim levels. Hell, it's the first car I've ever owned to actually have automatic windows. Kind of crazy, huh? It reminds me of my Sidekick, only bigger and so much cheaper than paying more for gas and repairs on my Miata. I average about 30+ miles per gallon in the Tribute, and there is a ton of room. It's a mid-size SUV and so far I love it. Of course, it's not a V6. Gas mileage is important to me, remember? It's got plenty of pickup and the handling feels great. The slogan for the model is a "SUV with the soul of a sports car" and coming from a sports car, I can say that it is true. The suspension and handling (within the reasonable limits of a SUV) are much more sporty like than truck like handling of most other SUVs.

So, in this time of a gas crunch, it's great to see Ford and Mazda creating some real gas engine SUVs that get good mpg. Unless, of course, you get the V6, V8 or automatic anything. Fuck that. Gas is $4 a gallon!

Hello Robot.

This is like the dream of all dreams. Robots have finally become affordable! A freakin robot! Okay, so they aren't exactly R2D2. But, it's still the coolest thing to come along in a long, long time.

The iRobot Scooba, floor washing robot. I think I'll call him Bender.

You see, the iRobot Corporation was born out of a dream of making robots affordable and able to perform specific tasks. They have focused on creating a few different models for consumers and a bunch of models for government and military use. If you remember the robots sent in to search for survivors of 9/11, those would have been iRobots. Same thing with the robots that open suspect cases and the such. iRobot has a number of cool inventions for home consumers - such as a gutter cleaning robot, a pool cleaning robot and soon - a robot that will allow you to wirelessly communicate via a camera, sound and a mobile unit over the Internet. Kind of like you were surveying Mars or something. Visit them here: www.irobot.com.

While the price for new units can be steep, Amazon.com sales the remanufactured robots for more than half off the retail price of a new one. What does a Scooba do? Well, it mops your floors for you. Picks up excessive debris, scrubs the floor, washes it and then drys it. No shit. Oh, and it works. It really works.

Sure everything isn't perfect. It takes longer than a human would take in order to clean a floor. Also, the pattern in which it cleans seems rather odd to the human eyes, but don't worry - it's eventually cover every square inch. You probably would want to limit the robots to working on one room at a time though (depending on the size of the room) due to the charge and the capacity of the bins on them. But, quite honestly - how much time do you have to clean? Probably not much. You could probably spend the extra time with loved ones, pets, kids, etc. But, screw that! These robots are about to become your new loved ones, best friends, pets, etc.!

The iRobot Roomba, carpet vacuuming model. I think I'll call him Marvin.

The Roomba is the "vacuum" cleaning robot that operates in the same way as the Scooba, but it doesn't actually mop. It is made for vacuum work only. Oh, and more expensive versions are available, even though they boil down to either a mopping robot or a vacuum robot. If you have cash to burn pick up a "Scheduling" Roomba and Scooba for every room of your house. Set the schedule and forget about it! You'll have a robot that cleans and then returns to his charger dock when he is finished. However, you'll still need to empty the dust bin and clean the robot in between cleanings.

I know what you are thinking. What about lawns? Yeah, those are available too from different manufactures - Click here! Still on the expensive side, though.

Maybe it's just me, but this shit is fucking cool as hell. I also think it would be great if they found a way to release a limited edition Pac-Man model, complete with Pac-Man sounds.

That would be choice.

2007 Year End Awards

As nominated and voted by the members of the crowza.com online community, we are pleased to bring you the Best of 2007 Awards. We will be making some big changes next year. The "Sports Team" of the year award will be changed to the "Sports Moment" of the year. The "Album of the Year", "Book of the Year" and "DVD of the Year" may all be merged into a new category. It's been a learning process the past four years, and we are striving to make it better each year (suggestions are always welcome). Without further ado, here are the results...

As voted by the users of crowza.com

Our Culture. Our Experiences. Our Awards.

Poster of the Year: BHunt
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Christian, Flordian Slip, The Creeper
The highest honor we bestow every year, the Poster of the Year award - is the best of the best. This year, BHunt nudged Christian out of repeating for the second straight year by a mere one vote! Floridian Slip and The Creeper tied for a distant third. Now, after several years of always being the bridesmaid, BHunt has finally become the bride. 2007 is the year that his post quality rose above all others. A longtime member, and constantly nominated - BHunt simply never was able to make that final breakthrough. Well, in 2007 BHunt's life changed again in more ways than one. He welcomed new members of his family into the world, and watched his existing clan as they continued to grow up. Today is a new day, and the year 2007 will be forever remembered as the year of BHunt.

Game of the Year: Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Rock Band, Mass Effect, BioShock
It was a great year to own a Xbox 360. This was probably the closest award category of any other this year. Rock Band, Mass Effect and BioShock trailed Halo 3 by one vote. As such, all three games were tied for second place. Closer? It doesn't get much closer than that! The true amount of undeniably great games has led to a "split" in the votes. Normally, a game like BioShock or Mass Effect would easily run away with the honors, with nothing else coming close. Instead, our voting was gridlocked across the board on four great games. In the end, it was one vote cast by a single person that made a difference. Who says your vote doesn't count? Halo 3 adds to the Halo legacy by adding the ability to capture video of the entire mutliplayer game from any perspective. You can take screenshots from any angle, share and managed playlists, gametypes and so much more. It has radically changed the way we play Halo with games such as GriffBall and recreations of Pac-Man. Halo 3, the last of the trilogy.

Moment of the Year: Flordian Slip Suddenly Passes Away
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Chris Benoit kills family, commits suicide.
Stuck forever in our memories will be the day, when our own longtime forum member, Flordian Slip - known as Seans Burns to the rest of the world - passed away. It was sudden, without warning and the news rocked the forums. Many of us knew Seans on a personal basis. Some of us only knew him through his avatar and his posts and others played games with him on a weekly basis. We all have our own personal memories of Sean, and unfortunately - he is the first tragic death of a friend our community has suffered. This was far and away the most memorable event of the year for all of our users. Chris Benoit's tragic murder/suicide story was second.

Fantasy Football 2007 Champion: Scott Brooks
As won in the official crowza.com Fantasy Football League
Honorable Mention: Crowza

The Fantasy Super Bowl was one game away from fullfilling a two year legacy that would never be equaled. Back to back fantasy Super Bowl wins, coupled with back to back NFL Pick Contest championships for Crowza would have set the bar so high that the odds it ever happening again would be super slim. But, there was one man standing in his way: Scott Brooks. Going into the Super Bowl, Crowza and Scott had met previously during the regular season, with Scott eeking out an extremely close contest by a matter of mere points. The Super Bowl matchup, would be no different. The game came down to the wire, with each participate struggling to pull ahead by one point every couple minutes. It was a nerve racking back and forth struggle and quite possibly - the greatest fantasy Super Bowl matchup we've ever had. In the end, there could only be one and in the year 2007, Scott Brooks would not be denied.

2007-2008 NFL Pick Contest Winner: Crowza
As won in the official NFL Pick Contest 2007-2008
Honorable Mention: Skinsrule

"Back-to-back! Three out of four years, yes we have a dynasty!" In the beginning of the 2006 season, Crowza pulled ahead of the pack and never looked back dominating every week for the entire year. This year, was quite a different story. Coming upon the race for the title halfway through the season, Crowza and Skinsrule both pulled within championship range with great late season performances from both players. Crowza has now - irregardless of the Super Bowl outcome - mathmatically ensured a victory in the pick contest and raked up the second highest total points ever. Can anyone break the Crowza-Skinsrule stranglehold on the Pick Contest? Only time will tell.

Movie of the Year: Transformers
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Grindhouse, Super Bad
The thought of a movie based on the Transformers show, an iconic series forged in the memories of millions - made many people cringe. Why? Because, they could screw it up so easily. The initial reports from the film, showed character models that looked nothing like the Generation One robots that so many grew up on. It wasn't just blasphemy, it looked like the film was destined to be a disaster. Then, something amazing happened before its release - everyone lowered their expectations. With these new lowered expectations, not only did Transformers surprise everyone - it became a runaway hit at the box office. It wasn't nearly as bad as everyone thought it would be and the special effects really blew people away in an age where that is becoming harder and harder to accomplish. Surrounded by a number of excellent films, Transformers won the vote and a new special place in the hearts of Transformers fans across the globe.

Hottest Bitch of the Year: Hayden Panettiere
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Jessica Alba
Cheerleader. Super Powers. Cuteness. Legal. This is an unbeatable combination. While Jessica Alba redefines the word "sexy" with each passing year, it was the story of a cheerleader that would "save the world" that captured our hearts. Of course, the fact that she is in a cheerleader costume for most of the show, also helps a bit. Well, actually it helps quite a lot. Upbeat, unstoppable and sexy - did you know that Hayden Panettiere is not only an actress, she is also a singer! Betcha didn't know that, huh? Who cares you say? Show us the bikini pictures? Okay sweetie, go ahead and sing. We aren't staring at your tits, we are listening to your music. Wrestler's honor!

TV Show of the Year: Heroes
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Battlestar Galactica, LOST , South Park
Now, back-to-back - two years in a row Heroes captured the best TV Show of the Year award. Battlestar Galactica, LOST and South Park all were runners up - but none were even close to the runaway winner, Heroes. Even though, to some - the second season was a little shaky and cut short by the writers strike, Heroes - now heading into it's third season - still manages to pull it off. It a real testament to the fact, that regardless of whether they come in films, television or comics - crowza.com users love their superheroes. Heroes "serious" take on the superhero genre, is probably one of the most refreshing new shows for comic fans. Two years, two awards. The biggest question is, can it pull the three-peat next year?

DVD of the Year: Blade Runner: The Final Cut
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: Hot Fuzz, Heroes Season One, Super Bad
One of the greatest feats of filmmaking history was accomplished when Warner Brothers took the old, dirty footage of the old Blade Runner cuts and pieced together one of the most unbelievable restoration projects in recent times. The old became new, and the film finally sparkles. Take note, George Lucas. This is how you clean and restore an old film and make it better than before, rather than ruining it with plot changes and adding non-useful additional scenes. Blade Runner: The Final Cut is now available on practically every format known to man, this set is something you must own as a film fan. Hot Fuzz and Heroes Season One were in a close tie for second place. Super Bad was a distant third.

Album of the Year: None of the Above
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: None.
Richard Pryor is happy. Because, you voted for "None of the Above". That's the problem with "Album of the Year" category. With tastes so diversified across the board in music, it's hard for anyone to actually pick a winner and come to a consensus. Besides that, who actually purchases Albums anymore? Most people spend the $1 at iTunes and grab a song. Because of all of these factors, this category is now in the danger zone of being dropped from the contest for good. Nothing was even close to the "None of the Above" category. Next year, say goodbye to the "Best Album" award and say hello to the "Best Media Award".

Book of the Year: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: None of the Above

It's finally over. The long, haunting story of the Harry Potter books have finally come to a close. While turning millions across the globe on to the benefits of literacy, JK Rowling has made quite a name for herself. Not just in the way that her name sounds like a man's name either. She was named as a runner up to Time's "Man of the Year" award. The sad state of our society is that we always seem to ask, "So much for the relativity thing, what are you planning to do next, Mr. Einstein?"... Uhhh.. So, the Harry Potter series was nice and all - but what what are you planning to do next, JK Rowling? If it wasn't for Harry Potter, this category would have been voted, "None of the Above" as well. Next year, this category will merge and encompass books, music and home movies.

Sports Team of the Year: New England Patriots
As voted by the users of crowza.com
Honorable Mention: WVU, IWA East Coast

It's amazing that the New England Patriots were able to break through the juggernaut that plagues this category. Since most of our users are based in West Virginia and/or are IWA East Coast fans, this award really boils down to the choice between the two. However, when you go completely undefeated in a regular season in the NFL - that's BIG news. The Patriots in the year 2007 would be able to defy the odds, catch more lucky breaks than any team should ever be able to and defy scandal. However, in the NFL you are what your record says you are... and the Patriot's record says they are flawless. The Super Bowl is a mere formality at this point for the record books. The fact that doing all of that is required to break the "local mindthink" strangehold of this category is the very reason why next year it will be eliminated and a "Best Sports Moment" of the year category will be added in its stead. Wouldn't it have been better to vote on "Patriots going undefeated" as the best sports moment of the year instead of 'Best Team of the Year'? The "Best Team" will be decided in the Super Bowl. The fact is, we honor them for their undefeated record.

The 2006 Year End Awards
http://www.crowza.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=627
The 2005 Year End Awards
http://www.crowza.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=602
The 2004 Year End Awards
http://www.crowza.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=460

Reservoir Dogs on HD DVD

Reservoir Dogs is one of my favorite films, and definitely Taratino's best work to date. As you can imagine, I was very happy to see it finally released on HD DVD. Hell, I remember eagerly awaiting the widescreen version of the film on VHS. It was never released on Laserdisc, but eventually made its home on DVD.

One of the great parts of the HD DVD format is the lack of region coding. So, you can import your discs the world over and every single disc will play on every single player. This was a Dutch release, however - you'd never know it by the box. There isn't hardly even a hint of where in the world it was produced. Like most HD DVD release, it's 100% in English, with optional subtitles.

Since I have yet to see it - I can't comment on the film transfer itself. However, I can comment on the cover of the HD DVD which is simply outstanding. Unlike the original or recent DVD re-release - this artwork on the box is breathtaking. Not only did they take the opening "famous" scene from the film, but it's a hand drawn artistic rendering of it.

That's so much better looking than the shitty covers on every other release that the film has ever seen. I can't wait to watch it and delve into the extras!

Master Chief

Please, let me introduce you to my new best friend. His name is Master Chief. But, you probably already know that. This is an over 6-foot tall statue representation of the Chief, the main protagonist of the Halo series. As a fan of the series, I never thought I'd have a chance to own one of these.

I'm crouched a bit in the photo, but the statue is still very imposing.

These limited edition statues were originally given away as promotional prizes to store employees signed up through the Microsoft Retailer Program. I was lucky enough to find someone that needed to get rid of it due to the storage problems that an six foot statue of Master Chief creates.

While Kiser the cat seems to like his new friend, he prefers the extra-large box that he came packed in.

The statue of the Chief is far bigger and more impressive than I expected him to be. I had seen many photos before, but they really never did it justice. Okay, so you can't exactly have sex with it, you can certainly can take pictures with him!

Well, that and live in his box. Right, Kiser? Man, it's like a kitty cat mansion to him.

Dallas Cowboys versus NY Giants

All MobileBlog photos are taken with a Palm Treo 755p and published wirelessly via SprintPCS.
All photos are copyright (c) 2008 crowza.com and no photo may be used without the express written consent of the original copyright holder. All rights reserved.

I've got my popcorn ready, TO. It's time for the show!!!

Recent HD DVD Purchases

Real notebooks have finally arrived. The Asus EEE PC Review.

Let's get one thing straight up front. I hate notebooks.

That is kind of an odd statement, considering the majority of my users use notebooks on a day-to-day basis. But, it's true - I hate notebooks. Why? Maybe it's because everyone thinks they need one these days, when they don't. Let me explain.

The ASUS EEEPC - You can't really appreciate the size until you see one in person.

Notebooks are for people who must work outside the office on a regular basis. Notice the word "must". That isn't "sometimes" or "have a choice" - notebooks are people that must work outside the office. 99.9% of the time, if you don't fall into that category. But somehow, the mass majority of the public seems to believe they need a notebook. So, why would anyone consider every purchasing a notebook? Somehow the thought of going to the park when you type your latest nobel prize winning novel has some appeal. So, they sacrifice money, time, and productivity in order to exchange for portability. Then, once they actually use the machine - they proceed to put their notebook in their computer room and never use the portability again. Or at the least, use it once every year or so. So, for the mass majority of people buying a notebook is a goddamn waste. Hell, even the word "notebook" is a bit off. They sure as hell aren't comparable to a real notebook in size and weight. I think they should have been called luggables. Of course, a luggable was a different breed of machine (some of the first portables) all together - but still I think the name fits today's "notebooks" better.

The ASUS EEEPC closed and compared with a Xbox 360 copy of Virtua Fighter 5 (DVD size case)

A desktop is far cheaper, more upgradable, easier to use (full sized keyboard, mouse, monitor) and will last you four times the lifespan of a notebook and cost you half as much. Notebooks drop and break. I haven't heard of dropping and breaking a desktop, but I guess you never know. If you wish to upgrade the memory on a notebook, it's far cheaper on a desktop (the chips aren't so small) and the options are far wider for the same specifications ($200 may get you a 120 gig notebook drive, but the same price will net you a 750gb internal desktop drive). Oh and don't forget with a notebook you have to upgrade the battery on a yearly or sub-yearly basis, otherwise the most battery life you are likely to get out of a dying battery is 5-10 minutes. Add it all up and as you can see, the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) for a desktop is far less than for a notebook. Plus, you'll be more productive and in general - you are more likely to get thing actually done with a desktop, compared to fumbling around with a notebook. Want a recommendation for a new notebook? Well, if you have to ask - then you really need to buy a desktop.

The ASUS EEEPC compared to a normal notebook size (Dell D620 notebook).

It's my experience travelling with these machines and pushing them to their limits that has made me write this article. For over fifteen years I've been a LAN Admin, IT Professional, CTO - whatever you want to call it and that is what I believe, after years of experience as proven what I said in the paragraphs above to be true over and over. Oh, yes and one more thing.

Asus just rewrote all of those rules.

Introducing the Asus EEE PC (pronounced E-P-C). For a price somewhere between $299 and $499 (depending on your configuration) you will be able to pickup a new flash based, Linux sub-notebook. It cold boots in 10 seconds. It has three USB 2.0 ports on it. Built in WiFi, built in SD card reader, built in speakers, built in microphone. The battery lasts over three hours (this is where the unit fails in comparison to the now defunct Foleo - which had a battery that lasted six hours). It even has an external VGA port for giving presentations. No moving parts (excepts for the fans), you simply won't believe how small, portable and usable this machine actually happens to be. Instead of sacrificing everything in an attempt at getting the notebook portable, Asus took the opposite route. They made the device portable and then added as much power as they could. You simply won't believe it until you see it and hold it in person.

Did I mention it weighs less than 2 pounds and that it's the fraction of the size of a notebook pc? It also includes Open Office (a fully compatible yet-better Microsoft Office than Microsoft Office running under Windows). It can run all of the applications you need and still be light enough to take it with you to the bathroom. Oh, and if you -must- run Windows, then you can easily install Windows XP on it. Some people have even shoehorned Vista onto it somehow. So, you aren't forced to use the default version of Linux if you don't want.

You see, I've spent the past few years customizing my portable Palm Treo smartphone to operate everything for me. From administrating my networks, to desktop remote control and technical support - my Treo does it all. But, there are times where I could use a bigger screen and a bigger keyboard. Not, that I would ever get a bigger Smartphone though. The Treo is perfect size for what I need. So I need another device and a notebook simply wouldn't cut it. So, this is where the ~~Palm Foleo~~ ASUS EEE PC comes into play. Thinking about it, the now defunct Palm Foleo could have been a breakout hit this Christmas just like the Asus EEE PC has been. That what happens when innovators listen to the non-innovators on what they should be working on, and a good products gets scrapped. But, in the end it doesn't matter - the Asus EEE PC is what the Palm Foleo should have been.

This is really portable. A true portable in every sense of the word.

Don't get me wrong. There is no excuse for not owning a desktop machine. This won't replace a desktop for most people. But, for everyone that wants a notebook pc as their next purchase? Consider buying a desktop+eeepc combo. You see, the EEE PC is in my humble opinion what notebooks should have been for the past ten years. Extremely light, usable and inexpensive. So cheap, it's easy to throw away $350 on it versus throwing away $2,000 on a real notebook. Business users? Forget it. There is a reason you need your big ass pc notebooks and those reasons aren't about to change. But, for home users - if you feel like you have a "need" for a notebook, then buy a desktop PC. Then grab a Asus EEE PC for your portability. Trust me, you'll thank me for it.