Looking for a new laptop...

My desktop computer is almost 4 year old and my laptop 3 yr old. I'm starting to feel the need for a new PC.
I don't use my desktop very much and it feel like a waste of space and power. I am looking for a good laptop, my uses are :

• Development under eclipse.
• Usual Web surfing, time wasting online.

My current Laptop is a Lenovo X300 name xena which is a 13" screen laptop with a low voltage processor but I have few issues with it : 

• It gets warm (it is a known problem on this hardware)
• The performance are at a level that can make it my main machine. 
• Don't need the smallest form factor would prefer a larger screen with full HD (eclipse does need a lot of pixels). 
• It could have a longer battery life considering that I replaced the optical drive with a second battery.

There the technical characteristics I'm looking for :

• Should run perfectly under Linux.
• I would love not having to pay the windows tax as I don't use it. system76 seems to be a solution but they don't do french keyboard.
• 15" screen with a good resolution at least 1680*1050 but full HD would be best. 
• A good keyboard (the lenovo thinkpad ones are perfect). 
• 8 Go RAM
• >= 500 Go drive (don't need a SSD). 
• A docking station would be nice to use the laptop as a desktop with a dual screen. 
• Good battery life, the more the better I would love a >5h of real battery life.

So far, I've looked a the at the Dell XPS 15z which seems nice, but not many options to customize the beast. 

Please, don't tell me to buy a Mac, I'm looking for a computer. ;)

Edit: I want to revamp all my IT setup to simplify and secure it. I started a mindmap about it :

Androids needs a good Podcast client

There is a lot of podcast client for android, I tested a few. But none of the so called best one's have the basic features that I need.
Basic features that any podcast client should have:

• Synchronization with Google Reader or an online service with a Linux client like gpodder, I don't mean an import feature witch only create duplication. As far as I know only Listen is doing that. It is not doing it without flaws but at least it does the job. 
• At least a podcast client that doesn't sync should be able to export  subscription, and some of the best rated apps don't even do that. (DoggCatcher I'm looking at you! You have the only application I have regrets buying). 
• Simple download customization (only on wifi, only on power option will work). Most of the clients have that at least.
• Auto-queue item as they come. This is one of the missing feature of  Listen. 

Advanced feature that I'd like: 

• Use a web synchronization service like Gpodder with a real synchronization that handle subscription, read/unread and provide the possibility to start listening on a device an resume it on another. There is a Gpodder client for Android but it is not usable yet. 

Overrated features that podcast client have (feature that are often implemented even if they are not as useful as they seems): 

• On device search: doing the search is easier on a desktop, maybe more needed on a tablet edition. 
• Download option on per podcast: it is a very high maintenance feature, it seems like a good idea but from a practical point, you probably won't ever need it. Typically a very low return of investment on this feature. 
• RSS reader, I don't think that have the same client for sound and text makes sense. 

Today I'm using Listen but I there is some big issues with it: 

• The application haven't received any update in a year. 
• The application is often killed during playback. 
• When a download fails you are not clearly warned about and it is not clear how the retries are handled. 

If you know a podcast client that makes sense for my use please tell me. For now I think I'm going to take a look on the Gpodder client for Android development, the project needs some love and would be a really nice solution for Linux / Android users. 

Titus a TV show

Last weekend I watched the 3 seasons of Titus a very funny show.
The show is pretty dark and funny, I'm not big on describing what's really
On the cast, Stacy Keach plays his role at perfection and I have to say that I might have a crush on Cynthia Watros, that we've seen on The Drew Carey Show, one of the greatest show ever.

I came across this show, while listening to the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron - Christopher Titus. btw, I love that podcast. And now Christopher Titus has a PodCast too.

My main Android tools

There is the applications I can't live without.

• Tasker : automate my phone. a must have, probably the first app I restore after a wipe. 
• Ipaper : a very simple instapaper.com client, you read or add article to it. Don't get in the way. 
• Podcast clients : I have tried a lot but Listen is the only one that sticks, even if it is pretty limited. DoggCatcher as some very good reviews but is really a piece of shit, it doesn't even have an export feature. That's the only application I have regrets for buying. 
• Evernote which becomes better and better with every version, I'm thinking about going premium. 
• Of course as a root user, I love ROM Manager. I flash my Phone everytime a Cyanogen Nightly is availlable. 

The game I play :

• As anybody on the first world planet I play all the availlable flavour of Angry Bird. 
• Tower Raiders is a nice tower defence, pretty addictive and the is a version 2. 

The applications I miss :

• A good ebooks reader that supports pdf, the only functionalities I do need are: text reflow and remember where I was in the file. I broke my kindle and I don't have a tablet yet and I need to be able to read all the Manning Early Access Program I bought. 
• A good Podcast clients, ideally which can sync with a Google reader directory as listen does. There is a bunch client but most of them don't have the feature I need, but are bloated with useless feature. 

Why I won't buy a non-rootable phone

These days, phone manufacturers spend hard cash to lock down their devices, and make them less usable. Yes, They are spending money and time to offer me LESS functionalities. Even if I'd never intended to root my phone and think that doesn't have any impact on me, I AM PAYING for them to develop crap that disable features on the hardware I own. I am stupid or what?

I plead guilty I'm a son a capitalist society, I love gadgets, I buy a lot of them, most of them that I probably don't need. But I am tired to have hardware that are not working the way I want.
What can I do? I won't buy a locked down hardware, it means that even if there is an exploit to root the incredible S or the sensation (it hurts because I'm half hard just looking at the spec of this phone). I won't buy it.

I've made this post and the brain dead suits will still make dumb ass decision who serve nobody, except maybe the big telecom, especially in the US where free market means that the big guy can do what they want. Here, in my socialist country, all the phones are available unlocked and if you buy a SIM-locked phone, you can ask for a unlock code after 6 month. What are you doing, you, leader of the free world?

This post has been written listening to the Beastie Boys: "Fight For Your Right"

Looking for the ultimate note taking application, a look at tomboy and evernote

First I have to say, my memory don't work and I'm very bad at note taking. I need a tool that permits notes taking across all my devices presents and future.
What do I need?

• Being able to take notes everywhere
  
  
  
  • At Home on Linux,
  
  
  • At work on Windows (sic)
  
  
  • On the road with my android phone.
  
  
  
  


• Might have punctual need for taking notes from pictures or audio.

What I'm doing now:

• Capturing text notes on tomboy (Linux or Windows)


• The notes are synced via Ubuntu one (when the service is not down)


• I start using Evernote because there is a good Android client and to record non-text notes. I love the web clipper, I'm planning a travel right now and I can capture web page and having it in Evernote even if I'm not connected which might be the case if I travel abroad.

What I'm missing:

• With Tomboy :
  
  
  
  • Tomdroid doesn't permit editing notes on the phone. (I should participate and develop the feature myself, but we know that's not gonna happened and that I am ashamed of it).
  
  
  • Ubuntu one is far from being a reliable service (for example I couldn't use is for 2 month because of one corrupted notes)
  
  
  • I don't have to use Ubuntu one to synchronize notes between computer, I can synchronized with a Dropbox directory and let Dropbox do the work. It doesn't work on android because Dropbox doesn't sync yet, it just give you access to the files that you can download manually and individually (not a viable solution). And Dropbox is not very nice to use under windows, the file system is so poorly handled that the all PC lags.
  
  
  
  


• With Evernote
  
  
  
  • No official Linux Client
  
  
  • Don't like the client at all, it is cluttered and barely usable. Always have to use the mouse, which is a non sense for a productivity application.
  
  
  • Seems to be a good capture tool but does it work well for review organizing, prioritizing ? I don't think so.
  
  
  • There is a free client called NeverNote that may be more usable because less cluttered but it doesn't sync on my work computer doesn't seems to figure out the proxy.
  
  
  
  

If you have a suggestions for a note applications, please leave a comment.
This article as been written in tomboy notes, but I haven't figured out why the post to your blog plugin stopped working.

 

After a few month with Miss Parker my Nokia N900

Here is what I'm thinking about my Nokia N900 that I bought in late 2009. After a few month I think I can give some kind educated point of view about this device. Because when I just bought it, I was like a teen age fan boy: "I have a Linux phone!", "I'm one of the cool kids!", and I think I wasn't so

I'll start with a description on how I use my phone so you can

My Mobile phone usage :

• I'm not a phone guy, I spend around 15 min a month on the phone.


• I use Internet on my mobile for :
  
  
  
  • podcast
  
  
  • twitter
  
  
  • reading mail
  
  
  
  


• GPS Navigation


• Listen to music

My favorite Apps

• gpodder: I love the http://my.gpodder.org service. Here are my subscriptions.


• pannucci


• witter a twitter client.


• Conboy (a tomboy port). Too bad my ubuntu one account as a corrupted note in it preventing my to sync with it.


• sygic GPS application.

Like :

• plenty of storage (that's the killer feature in my point of view) having 32 Go internal and having the possibility to add more via µSD. I'm gonna miss that for sure.


• It's a Linux machine, a real computer in my pocket.


• The calendar and contact sync works very well with my google account.


• Nice to use when overclocked from 600 to 800 MHz

Dislike :

• battery life (my previous phone a Nokia e71 had a bigger battery)


• Too few application support portrait mode.


• slow (solved by overcloking)


• Lots of package are not installable (like frozen-bubble2)


• No java support (I do java as a day job so it would be nice to have it on my phone too, but Python is fine).


• heavy (Could be useful, you can knock up an Apple Fan Boy within seconds, which is a killer feature by itself).

Conclusion :

If you have one you should really think about overclocking it.

Nokia screw up on many level. As an example, Sygic create a GPS application for maemo, they ask to be added to the nokia store and it took more than 2 month for the application to be approved.

Today if I had to buy a new phone I would go Android with no regrets (Nexus One or HTC incredible). I will probably in the next few month go buy a HTC EVO with the big screen if and when it become available in my third world country.

Using my tablet every day, I discover the need for an ebook reader, so I probably buy a tablet for reading and surfing at home in addition to my phone. I love technical books but they are so heavy and I'm so lazy... I would rather pay for the electronic version and have the information searchable and available all the time.

I'm eager to see what product is gonna come this year on Android or WebOS (it won't be a Microsoft or an Apple thing, they may put out an amazing device but I think I can safely say that won't happen).

I definitely think that this device can have a second life in a bathroom to listen to radio or podcast in the shower (and in the morning too ;) )