Sunday, November 29, 2009

Windows 7 Pro

Made the swap from the RC to Windows 7 Pro on the Asus 1005HA netbook.

Install was OK, although couldn't get the ISO onto a USB to do the install that way. Worked fine for the RC (used unetbootin) but wouldn't boot for the Windows 7 Pro.

So, used the download and upgrade install. Upgraded the RC just fine.

The ASUS utility stuff (hotkeys and Super Hybrid Engine), a pain. I needed to upgrade the BIOS to install the hotkey stuff, but the BIOS update utility needed ACPI which ASUS stopped providing as of Windows 7 (evidently there's something more advanced?)

Googled around and found some instructions here. The basic idea is to install the ACPI from the XP download area (in XP compatibility mode service pack 2) and then do the BIOS upgrade and then remove the ACPI. Then everything else will slide into place. Instructions worked like a charm.

Next up is to get Jolicloud back on since the nice W7 installer blew away the grub MBR. Naughty.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Magicians




Just read "The Magicians" - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0670020559 by Lev Grossman (http://levgrossman.com/).




This was what Harry Potter should have been. The book feels like a blatant rip-off of Harry Potter and Narnia, yet because it's so obviously what those books really should have been, it feels fresh, it's readable, and it's fun.




Highly recommended.