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I mentioned in my mini review of the EEE PC’s hardware capabilities that the mini laptop offers a built-in webcam and microphone. Both are extremely useful for making Skype internet telephone and video calls. The version of Skype that came pre-installed on my EEE PC wasn’t quite ready for video yet, but Skype has recently finished Version 2.0 of Skype for Linux. Here’s what it looks like: (more…)

ASUS EEE PC

Now that I’ve had my EEE PC for a couple of days it’s time to share a few thoughts on the tiny little laptop that has captured the imagination of so many users the world over. My mini review is for the ASUS EEE PC 4G (Model 701).

Part 1: The Hardware

The thing is tiny! It doesn’t feel like a normal laptop and it definitely is NOT a normal laptop. It really is very, very small. That is the reason for a couple of compromises on the department of plastics and metal:

The casing: A lot of people have commented on the screen or the keyboard (see my own two cents below), but few reviewers have spent much time on the casing. The box is certainly very pretty – I have the pearl white model and it mimics the stylish design, that has made Apple products so popular. The case is well constructed, sturdy and doesn’t creak. Actually I could only find one semi-serious problem that nobody else objected to so far: (more…)

Just a quick note to test out my latest toy. I am writing this on an ASUS EEE Pc, which has finally made it across the Atlantic.

It’s small, it’s white, it’s cute. What a wonderful little gadget. The keyboard feels small and I keep hitting the wrong keys – but I’ll get used to it or I’ll just shave off my fingertips a little.

So to all those nay-sayers: It really does work and it’s very simple to use – It took me about 1 minute from switching it on for the very first to getting online and opening up my blog. Well that’s just marvelous.

If I get up to something cool I’ll post it here, but I won’t be tearing up my new EEE anytime soon to install touchscreens or the like.

The Problem

A lot of people have noticed this problem when using Adobe Lightroom on Canon RAW files – During an import the thumbnails are initially shown with nice colours, and shortly after opening them the colours are changed.

Researching this phenomenon on internet forums I found that especially portrait photographers complain about wonky skin tones. I don’t do much portraiture, but noticed the issue with landscape and nature photos as well.

So why does Adobe change the colours after a short while during import? It all comes down to different processing of RAW data. A different algorithm and different colours profiles made by different manufacturers give different results. For those of you old enough to remember film just think how different brands of film resulted in variations in colour rendition back in the days of analogue photography.

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Joseph Weizenbaum, the computer pioneer who gave us the Eliza program died last week. The sad event was nearly ignored by the international press.

A whole week later, which is geological ages in today’s fast-living world, the New York Times has published an article to commemorate the great thinker, who was so far ahead of his time.

Joseph Weizenbaum, Famed Programmer, Is Dead at 85 – New York Times

Let’s hope other catch up as well and pay tribute to Weizenbaum for a last time.