PowerBooks and Fahrenheit 9/11

[giza]

• I've decided that I'm going to get a PowerBook as my next machine. Between seeing justincheetah's and reading more about the PowerBook tech specs, and I'm getting more and more impressed with the thought that Apple has put into their products.
  
  At this point, I've pretty much narrowed it down to a 15" 1.5 Ghz G4 PowerBook with SuperDrive, getting a 512 MB stick of RAM in it, buying an additional 512 MB stick from someplace else, buying AppleCare, and possibly buying the JBL "Creature" speakers that I saw at the Apple Store tonight. Probably a printer, too. That should keep me in the technology game for the next few years, and hopefully make the new machine be an investment in my career.
  
• Earlier this week, I bought a network card for my current machine (P3-450) and got that working. I was surprised that 10/100 cards go for $10 or so these days. And Linux had no problems seeing the card, either. :-)
  
• Earlier today, I also picked up a WRT54G router from Linksys. This router can do a number of things for me which include: 1) Playing the part of a 100 BaseT switch, 2) doing DHCP and NAT for a Broadband connection, and 3) Acting as a wireless access point. #1 was easy enough to make work, and #3 is working (and locked down) thanks to jouva's help. #2 will be working fully as soon as my DSL circuit is installed. I ordered DSL last week and have to wait 10 business days for the shit eaters formerly known as Verizon Verizon to flip a switch in their CO.
  
• Finally, I got the chance to see Fahrenheit 9/11 over this weekend. It wasn't as graphic as I thought it would be, and I found it to be quite educational. It pointed out the sort of things that the American media didn't cover. Like... how the Bush Family has financial ties with the Bin Ladens and that Osama isn't quite that estranged from them after all. It also covered some nasty things such as the civil liberty-sucking PATRIOT act, and that very few members of Congress actually read this horrible thing that was signed into law.
  
  So yeah, I think Fahrenheit 9/11 is definitely worth seeing. You might not agree with all it, but you might find some parts educational, or at least humorous.

Comments

[shenryyr.livejournal.com]

F911 is pretty in line with his previous films.  they're amusing, informative, and opinionated.

Was it one of those really cheap Realtek chip NICs?

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

From the NetBSD source code:

/*
* The RealTek 8139 PCI NIC redefines the meaning of 'low end.'
* This is probably the worst PCI ethernet controller ever made

... Techincal rant snipped...

* It's impossible given this rotten design to really achieve decent
* performance at 100Mbps, unless you happen to have a 400Mhz PII or
* some equally overmuscled CPU to drive it.
*/

I have the gigabit version of this thing on my motherboard. I honestly can't say I've had any problems, but I have a 2.2GHz CPU to take up the slack.

[rustitobuck.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with your Powerbook plans. AppleCare is a great idea for a laptop, just in case something goes wonky down the road.

If you buy 3rd party RAM, I recommend checking out Other World Computing. The faster Apple gear tends to require RAM that really does meet the specs; flaky RAM causes many system crashes. Other World Computing has good RAM and they stand behind it.

The best way to get a 512 stick in the machine is to use the online Apple Store and do a build-to-order, specifying exactly the memory you want. 512Mb retail machines will almost certainly have 2x256Mb in them, which is probably not how you want it.

[darthgeek.livejournal.com]

I've heard good and bad things about VZ DSL. One group says that it sucks boulders through bendy straws. The other group says that they haven't had any problems.

Me? I'm waiting on Verizon FIOS