$100 dollars - a laptop or a pair of jeans? (A discussion of value)

I am continually amazed at the inconsistencies of our modern society. I look around and I am confused. The things that people spend money on, the values that we assign to things.   

The laptop pictured at the left cost $100. It isn't a great laptop by today's standards, but it is comparable to $2500 computers from 10 years ago.

That is to say, it will do everything you need it to do, slowly.

The other device featured in this post is called a Wiki-Reader. Designed for people who want Wikipedia but don't want, or can't afford, the internet. The concept initially struck me as ludicrous: Wikipedia is fluid, dynamic, changing; that's what makes it great. But it is also a fantastic, if often inaccurate, resource and access to it shouldn't be limited to those who pay their monthly fee to access the internet. I realized that the wiki-reader is probably as close to a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as we will ever see in my lifetime.

That same $100 could buy you a laptop, one album (The Beatles White Album),  two PS3 games, a pair of jeans, or a Wiki-Reader.


Let that sink in, for the cost of a pair of jeans and a T-shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch you could have access to the wealth of uses afforded by a computer, or the cornucopia of information that the Wiki-Reader provides.

Knowledge - Communication - Music - Jeans - Same price across the board.

CCTV and Free software

Image by  jordi.martorell
I do a lot of work with local businesses. I design websites, install point of sale systems, and do computer repair. Several weeks ago a local business owner who I've worked with in the past approached me with a computer that was refusing to boot. He needed it back quickly, as this PC controlled his CCTV.

Heavy Rain and the future of Interactive Fiction

Photo by believekevin

Recently I've heard a lot of Buzz about a new console game called Heavy Rain. I've not played it personally, but I've read several reviews, I've watched the game be played, and I've done a fair amount of research on it. It's being called a new paradigm in gaming, and hailed as incredibly original. 

As I listened to all the hype that surrounded the game, I was met with something akin to Deja Vu: an intense sense of 'this-has-already-been-done-to-great-effect.'  Heavy Rain is billed as an "interactive Drama" one player I spoke with went so far as to say "It's like a movie, only you're the main character, you write the story." 

Make Linux Work For You--Today.

It is no secret the I am a huge fan of Linux and Free (open source) software. Of all the computers I own, only one (my new best friend, the HP 200LX) does not run Linux at some capacity.

A lot of my friends and co-workers have expressed curiosity about Linux, or confusion as to why I would use it, I hope to clear up those two questions in this post.

First and foremost, I use Linux because:

• It gives me the control I want over my computer (For example, The CapsLock key on all of my computers has been remapped to control. When I work with other people's computers I end up typing "Z END UP T" a lot).
  
• I didn't have to search through online auctions (or resort to piracy) to find a version that will work on my older computers.
• There are software packages to handle everything I would like to do.
  
• I feel safe. My netbook (Asus eeePC 701), which stays on me nearly all the time, runs Debian. It boots to a command line (there is a GUI, but I tend to prefer the command line for quick work). Most people, when presented with a Linux command line, would be lost.
• Its fun!