Eee pc 1000HE Sunday, Jun 21 2009 

Projects , , , Nicolas Dufour 13:06

I recently bought a netbook: Eee PC 1000HE, and so far I’m extremely happy with it.

Eee PC 1000HE under Ubuntu 9.04

Eee PC 1000HE under Ubuntu 9.04

I was searching a small device not too heavy (I have enough of breaking my shoulders with the laptop in the bag…) powerful enough to sustain development tasks (erlang, java, eclipse) and in some extent to support video playing (for encoding I can use something else obviously).

After talking with a few friends at work, they all said that any devices based on the Intel Atom processor must be really slow and completely useless for serious development (some even told me to get an Apple laptop …).

Well, I’m sorry to say but you were dead wrong dear friends. So far, this device is a pure pleasure to all my tasks.

First of all, it’s pre-installed with Windows XP which surprised me to not use every bit of memory I have (1G). Nonetheless I installed immediately an Ubuntu Linux next to it (better to have 2 systems up and running).

Once Ubuntu installed (the 9.04 version) surprise again to see all the goodies such as extra graphics effects or goofy animations working and not one frame every 5s.

Eclipse running in the Eee PC.

Eclipse running in the Eee PC.

I continued by installing java, eclipse, erlang and was delighted to see eclispe running without problems. Of course, the application is slower than you could imagine, but it’s not like the last comment I got: “Oh it will be so slow, it will be unusable”…

The last point I wanted to test was the long battery time claimed by the builder: 9.5 hours! OK I didn’t really reach that, but I never really let me run for that long to begin with. Now What I can say is after let it charge during the night, I picked it up during the morning, switched it on (it was around 7am), put it in my bag in suspend mode, use it during the day (mixed periods of use and suspended mode) and finally came back home with more than 40% left!!!

At this point you are indeed wireless!

So, after a whole week of use, I’m just in love with this small device which finally doesn’t break my shoulder (3.2lbs).

Oh yes, by the way, I’m writting this post from it ;) see you around.

 

Back to the basics Saturday, Jun 20 2009 

Science , , Nicolas Dufour 21:51

In a previous post I was talking of this great course provided by MIT on electromagnetism with Walter Lewin as the teacher.

After searching among books about astrophysics, I finally found one that could bring me to finally grasp the mathematical/physical meaning of the last theories out there: “The Road To Reality – A complete guide to the laws of the universe” by Roger Penrose.

This book takes the bet to explain you the laws of the universe even if you are allergic to math equations. Liking maths and wanting to know more it’s the perfect match. My goal is to read a bit each time I’m in the train and reach the last pages obviously (which contain exotic theories such as the M or the holographic one…).

First chapter: the roots of science. After all this is the first step. What are the law governing our universe. What is the goal of science. What kind of truth is there.

The 3 main worlds

The 3 main worlds

 

Electromagnetism to begin with Saturday, Feb 28 2009 

Science , , , , Nicolas Dufour 00:38

I have been following an excellent course on my iPod in the train about Electromagnetism. The courseware published by MIT is performed by the brilliant Walter Lewin during 36 memorable lectures.

I’m still finishing following course #29 but since course #22 I can be happy to master and understand Maxwell’s Equations:

Maxwell Equations

Maxwell Equations

It was a great pleasure to follow that course. Mr Lewin structures each course the same way:

  1. Present one or two new concepts
  2. Explore the consequences and possible mathematical/physical paths to follow
  3. Demonstrate it with one or several experiences

It’s a lot of fun and you learn quickly to integrate complex notions with some work on the side (other than just watching the video in the train…)

Here is the lecture #22 which concludes the first part:

MIT offers lots of very interesting free courseware, and I encourage you to look at the full list.

Next one: Quantum Mecanic by Leonard Susking from the Stanford University (also on iTunesU !).

 

Happy New Year / Bonne Annee Thursday, Jan 1 2009 

Personal , , Nicolas Dufour 22:04

Happy new year to everybody!

This year was clearly special in many ways.

Goals for the new year to come:
- share more info on Internet
- use a different way than a blog …
- listen more classical music
- learn piano!

And more ;)

 

Pesticides and bee’s CCD Friday, Sep 19 2008 

Science , , , , Nicolas Dufour 21:07

I recently read an article about a study made by a team of researchers from Penn State University showing that beeswax and bees are contaminated by pesticides with a maximum of 31 of them!

It seems you have here a kind of combination of multiple molecules creating a highly toxic compound.

As usual in biology, the cause of a problem is rarely coming from one factor but from multiple.

Of course, this study doesn’t prove that combination is the cause of CCD but it certainly contribute. They want know study the difference of organic vs non-organic bee keeper.

Source (en): http://live.psu.edu/story/33989
Source (fr): http://www.apivet.eu/2008/09/les-pesticides-ont-ils-une-responsabilit%C3%A9-dans-le-ccd-commencent-%C3%A0-se-demander-les-am%C3%A9ricains.html

 

Hillary and Sarah Together… Friday, Sep 19 2008 

Fun , , , Nicolas Dufour 17:40

YES it’s true here is the proof …

;-)

Sorry I couldn’t resist ! Too hilarious !

 

LHC and… rap ! Thursday, Sep 11 2008 

Science , , , , Nicolas Dufour 16:32

Here is as a fun video that a good friend gave me ;)

How to explain the purpose of the LHC in rap style !
Like we say in French: Tout un poême !

The fun part now is to see so many concerns that the LHC will trigger the end of the world. It’s funny but it’s sad to see a so bad knowledge of science and particularly nuclear physics.

Thank you Didier ;)

 

Old posts Friday, Aug 29 2008 

Web , , Nicolas Dufour 16:35

I have found a way to put back online my old posts going back to 2004.

I can’t find my first web page hosted by my university. Archive.org didn’t exist yet !

It’s pretty good to see the tag cloud getting shaped the way it is.

Ainsi va la vie ;)

 

Adirondack – Day 1 Tuesday, Jul 29 2008 

World , , , , Nicolas Dufour 11:00

So yesterday, after a good night of sleep, we did several bike tours around the Mirror Lake (yes it’s a tiny lake so…) and got a map of the region (to see the hiking trails).

We ended up during the evening in a very good (this time) restaurant: Great Adirondack Steackhouse & Seafood. I never ate a so good prime rib steak honnestly. It was serve like I asked (medium rare) with a smal container with gravy inside and a good baked potatoe. Friend meat lover, go there !

The rain pushed us back to the hotel at the end of the day…

Ok today, we are going to climb Wright Mountain in the south of Lake Placid. The last review I saw said 6.2hours round trip and close to 2500ft difference. The backpacks are ready.

See you

 

Arriving at Lake Placid Monday, Jul 28 2008 

World , , , Nicolas Dufour 11:48

Here we are !

We got to the place (The Mountain View Inn) in about 6h through the interstate 87. And this inn is in pretty good shape and good location.

First thing, you can smell and feel the difference in the air here. It’s cooler, less humid and a smell of pine comes from time to time.

After putting suitcases and bikes, we got a small visit of the town and finally got to a restaurant called “Firestone” … Well don’t go there seriously. It’s really not good at all.

Now, this morning after a quick breakfast in the motel (coffee and fruits), let’s go biking around Mirror Lake :)

See ya

 

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