Brian

I've just formatted my EEE and put on a fresh version of vanilla Xubuntu (as opposed to eeeXubuntu or other specific distros). The whole process was really pretty painless: * Download the current Xubuntu 8.04.1 * Download UNetbootin (this version is for Ubuntu EEE, but it has a general ISO install option). * Get a normal USB thumb drive and format it as FAT 32 (mkfs.vfat should do fine). chmod 755 unetbootin-eeeubuntu-linux-238 && ./unetbootin-eeeubuntu-linux-238 * You'll probably get a few dialogs for missing dependencies for this script. The names can simply be apt-get install'ed. * When you see the unetbootin main page, there's an option toward the bottom to specify an ISO file. Select the Xubuntu ISO you downloaded in step 1. Select the thumbdrive from the drive selection and click OK. * After the script has installed the ISO onto the thumbdrive, you should now be able to restart your EEE. Hold ESC during the BIOS boot sequence to bring up the boot selection dialog. Select the USB thumbdrive. * After the Xubuntu live OS boots up, click the "Install" icon on the desktop. This will start the install process as normal. * I followed pretty much everything as default. The one "weird" thing during my setup was how I set up my partitions. The EEE uses a solid state drive, which (apparently) has a limited number of writes to disc per sector. Basically, the less you use the hard drive, the longer your little EEE will live. I decided to opt out of a swap partition to lessen the disc writes. I set my main /dev/sda1 to use ext2 filesystem, as it (apparently) uses fewer disc writes. I set my root partition to use the entire /dev/sda1 disc. I have an 8gb SD card I set for FAT32 for computability reasons. As this SD card is only for extra storage, performance is less of an issue...and it's easily changed. * Let the Xubuntu install do it's thing - you'll restart and eventually be at your new Xubuntu desktop. You're now up and running...kind of. * You'll notice a few "weird" things with this default setup. You have programs installed that you don't want. You don't have programs you will want. Your Wifi card doesn't work, your webcam doesn't work, when you power down, the system "hangs", sound may be messed up or not working at all and hotkeys don't work. * My setup is maybe not super typical: * I don't use any graphic editing, word processing or spreadsheet programs on my EEE (as the screen is too small for any of these tasks to be worthwhile). I don't use any printers, email clients, I don't like bootsplashes, I don't like using GDM (I start X manually), I don't use remote desktop and I don't have a wacom tablet. * I do want a simple, light weight media player that integrates with XFCE (I use xfmedia), I do want a good text editor (I use SCiTE), a good FTP client (FileZilla), I want Flash to work, I want videos to play, I want some command line tools (cplay, vim, subversion, php-cli). I also want my webcam (UCView) …

Still a far off from anything worth showing, but Bevey 0.5 is well under way. This version is built from scratch and quickly coming together. This version will be much easier to install, much easier for third parties to develop for and much easier to administer. There will be all the features of the current Bevey and many new ones.

- Just letting you know I'm still alive and Bevey is still very much in active development.

I spent a little time tonight toying with the newest DOMAssistant, which, I must say is a pretty nice toy. The "everything you need and nothing you don't" approach is very much appreciated.

I built two "functional" examples of unobtrusive, gracefully degradating, standards compliant snippets for the sake of learning it's syntax. Some seem to work well enough that maybe I'll actually use them in something someday.

Populate has a list of names (or tags, or anything) and let's a user click on them to populate an input field. Redundant entries are not allowed.

Graph has a simple list of items to be graphed. The title of the graph item and it's percentage. The percentage is read and printed into a nice little bar chart. I'm a bit curious if it would be preferred to use a DL instead as a percentage may "define" the item in some way. As it is now, I've nested unordered lists, as to show some level of data correspondence.

With the next version of Bevey, I've been spending a lot more time brainstorming and design than I think I have done with pretty much any other project. I certainly have enough to get started on now, but I've been feeling compelled to solve every foreseeable challenge now rather than waiting till I've developed to that point. I've built a fairly complete database diagram (but still haven't sorted out the values and lengths for each column yet). Some of the big changes from the current version to the next include the handling of data and rendering of results. Data is going to be abstracted as much as possible, making things more easily developed and improving performance all around. Caching is going to be done at a lower level than is done currently. Instead of caching the outputted markup (which is really pretty efficient), I'm going to opt to cache the database results (which will be slightly less efficient, but far more flexible). Who knows, maybe I'll add caching for markup as well. We'll see. Rendering will be done completely separately from querying and data manipulation. I'm breaking things into a more layered structure. This will give frontend developers the ability to change the markup as they see fit without the risk of breaking the script. Bevey will be broken into the following "layers": database server (for handling connections) database queries (for handling queries) data handlers (converting database results to usable arrays) cacher (handles the interface of caching) sanitizer (cleans and checks data coming from and going to the database) fetch data (dynamically build queries depending on the type of data requested - more on this later) renderers (converting data from data handlers and usable arrays into markup) templates (piecing together various renderers into a single page) Along with this structure are a few elements that are overlying, which include modules, which may make use of any of the layers from the fetch data layer to the renderer layer. Additionally, there will be a more robust module wrapper layer to handle the special rendering of common module markup and offer any other special module handling (perhaps more strict santizing, as to make it easier for site owners to incorporate user created modules). Other functions such as timedate, translator, etc will be integrated on the renderer layer. I'm hoping to take the concept of modules and expand them quite a bit. Currently, modules carry a fair bit of redundant code, which will be eliminated. Further, they will have the ability to have a region value set. I'm not sure how this will be integrated in the end, but the thought of someone completely replacing the main navigation with one of their own; adding a "super footer", or putting an announcement module above blog posts, etc is awfully interesting. Some regions I think would be most useful would be 1) the side-rail (as is the current location) 2) above the main content 3) just above the foote…

I'm currently going through the brainstorming and design process of the next version of Bevey. It's basically a complete re-write, taking everything I've learned and valued with the current site and expanding on it. This next release is going to be based on the ideals of everything I've come to expect from a community site.

Things included in this are my thoughts on advertisements. They've become a necessary evil for most sites. Obtrusive flyout Flash advertisements, iframe, javascript and street-HTML Google ads that break page validation, performance implications, etc. Can't there be an advertising network that just has a PHP module that you install that would insert a properly semantic advertisement (whether it be text-based or image)?

As I'm thinking of possibilities of the next version of Bevey, these thoughts are also coming to mind. What if a site could download the Bevey sourcecode, install the site and automatically have semantic, clean, semi-relevant ads displayed on it's pages? What if this were to happen, and with no interaction from the site admin, they are contacted some time later to alert that they have accumulated enough impressions / clicks that they have a check waiting for them?

I haven't given any thought to the business end of things, but I'm beginning to seriously consider building an advertising server. By using non-essential simple URL variables that are already populated from Bevey settings, semi-accurate targeting and tracking can be accomplished. Of course this whole thing would be optional - but also extendable to non-Bevey sites, it's an interesting project.

I ended up fiddling with trying to hook up my EEEPC to my 40" LCD via VGA cables. It worked...kinda. I'm going to be tweaking the xorg.conf this week in an attempt to find the optimal setting for a secondary monitor (as a mirror, not extended desktop). If I find something worth sharing, I'll be posting it here.

Another bit of good news today was the official announcement of the new 8.9" EEEPC. The price of the "high end" system, with a full 12gb of solid state storage, 8.9" screen and speculation of an upgraded processor are pretty appealing to me. With my already upgraded EEEPC, I can pop in my 2gb or RAM, hook up my bluetooth and be in pretty good shape.

From the pictures floating around, it looks like the new unit is slightly larger (by maybe 1/4"), have removed the already covered modem hole, a nicer bezel around the monitor, has a larger touch pad and it looks like the mouse buttons on the touchpad have a line to distinguish left click from right click.

The systems are apparently available sometime this summer, which gives me plenty of time to save up. Now, if we could find out the compatibility of those 6-cell batteries we keep hearing about, it'd be nice to get now and use with the new machine.

Probably the best news I've heard in a long while! The IE8 team, which had previously took the stance of requiring a special "really really compliant" tag to trigger the IE8 standards compliance mode has rescinded that statement today and opted for a that additional tag to be required only for sites that are declaring a doc-type but wanting their pages to render in the IE6 / 7 standards compliance mode (but not the "more right but still likely way off" IE8 standards compliance mode).

This is great because I like to adhere to standards as much as my capabilities allow, and having to go through my pages and declare that they are "really" standards compliant (beyond the simple doc type) is a ridiculous errand.

Kudos to the IE8 team for this move. I'm stoked.

The EEEPC's resolution is pretty low, and some applications get cut off. It's not terribly uncommon, but generally applications allow you to move them around and see what you were missing. This isn't the case with RoadNav. I suspect it's caused by libwxgtk2.8. In any case, some elements in the Preferences screen are simply not displayed. The bad news is, that includes the "Save" button - so unless you know something is missing, you cannot save your preferences. Here's what you're missing and how to get around it.

The screenshot attached shows the only option that you cannot normally see: "Zoom based on road type". If you want to toggle this option, select an element above it and tab to it. To save your preferences, simply tab once more and hit Enter.

If you plan on upgrading the RAM in your EEEPC, it's pretty straight forward. I noticed a lot of people seemed to have questions regarding this, so I'll try and answer them here.

You'll need standard 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) laptop memory. The EEEPC can only take one piece of RAM, so the bigger the capacity the better - the EEEPC will max out at 2gb which can be found for about $45 + shipping from Newegg, my preferred geek store. I bought the Kingston 2gb module and it works beautifully.

Once you get the memory, installation should take about five minutes. You'll need your new RAM module and a very tiny phillips head screwdriver.

* Unplug your EEEPC from the wall and any peripherals.
* Remove the battery! People often forget this step. It's never a good idea to open electronics that still have any type power connected.
* Remove or scrape away the "Warranty void if removed" sticker. Removing this sticker will NOT void your warranty, as long as you avoid "damage caused by improper hardware change." A trivial upgrade such as RAM will not void your warranty.
* Take your phillips head screwdriver and remove the two screws on the bottom of the unit that keep the RAM door closed.
* There are tabs on the sides and back that keep the door in place. Lifting up gently will release the door. Swing the door toward the back of the unit to reveal the RAM area.
* There are metal tabs holding in the stock RAM module. Pushing these tabs outward will release the RAM.
* Gently pull the old module up and back.
* Reset your new RAM module. Be sure the "notch" in the memory is lined up with the key in the EEEPC RAM slot.
* Make sure the RAM is well set and the tabs are fully closed.
* Double check the RAM is well set (seriously).
* Put the RAM door back on and put the screws back in place.

That's it. Fire up your EEEPC and enjoy your new memory upgrade. If you open up a terminal, you can run the program "top" to monitor total RAM and it's usage.

If your computer fails to boot (screen remains black but the system LEDs are lit), remove the RAM door and remove your module. Use canned air to remove any possible particles and re-seat your memory.