Intertech C# Training Review

I recently took a C# course offered by Intertech out of Eagan, MN taught by Andrew Troelsen. The class was very helpful learning the C# language and Andrew is a great instructor. I would highly recommend this course to any one looking for quality C# training.

Google CR-48 Notebook Thoughts and Review

I received my Google CR 48 on Monday 2/7/11.  I had all but given up hope that I was going to be selected to get one of these rare machines.  I didn't receive notice of any kind from Google and when I got home it was just sitting on my doorstep.  My initial impressions of the machine and Chrome OS have been very good.  The machine itself is very solid and Google picked a good piece of hardware to run their system on.

One of the things that I have noticed is that the power efficiency of Chrome is great.  I get about 7 hours of battery life out of the machine.  If this machine were running anything else I am sure that the battery life wouldn't be as good.  I have only had a few issues with Chrome since using it since Monday.  I have had reports that Flash Player has crashed a couple of times but from what I understand a fix for this is in the future.  The sleep to awake time on this notebook is very good and it doesn't take the CR-48 very long to connect back up to wireless.  It is very easy to just stop what you are doing, close the lid and resume from right where you left off with this machine.

I work as a software developer, mainly with Microsoft products so this could never be my main machine but it has definitely taken the place of my laptop.  The CR-48 will become even more useful to me when Citrix develops a driver to connect to remote desktop.  Then I can do all my work from home on my CR-48 and take it to meetings.  The only option I have right now is LogMeIn or another similar web-based remote desktop.  Overall, I have had a very solid experience with it and am very happy to have been chosen for the pilot program.  The few issues that I do have, I am confident that Google will straighten out in the near future.  I have owned a netbook before and never really got the performance out of it that I needed.  Chrome is so lightweight that this thing runs like a dream.

Android Development

So I began looking into Android development shortly after I purchased the Droid X.  I have been having a lot of fun but I know little Java so the prospect of me developing great apps without this knowledge is very slim.  So I decided to purchase a book on Java development and have begun my look into that.  I took a Java course in college but it was my very first programming class and very little of the information I learned stick with me.  Hopefully it will be like riding a bike and it will all come flooding back to me.  Anybody that has any tips for beginning Android development is welcome to share their experiences.

Netbook, desktop, laptop...can't decide

In my recent posts I have stated that I sold my ThinkPad and favored the Mac.  Well, as always with me my computer of choice is always changing.  I now only have a netbook and a desktop and I am itching to get a new laptop.  The problem is that I can't play videos very well on my netbook.  Even with an internet connection of 12 mbps the Flash video is sketchy at best.  So, I have reached another buying and selling point in my eternal struggle to make up my mind.  My netbook is currently for sale on eBay and I have an order in for a ThinkPad T410 with Nvidia switchable graphics.  The problem I am facing now is that I don't know whether the switchable graphics are worth it or not.  I thought at the time of ordering that I would love the switchable graphics aspect but now that I have been thinking about it I am not so sure. 

I am afraid that the switchable graphics is going to be more hassle than it is worth.  The Nvidia Optimus is the ideal candidate for people who want great graphics without killing their battery life.  I, however, don't know that it will benefit me that much.  I don't do anything graphics intensive other than watching back internet TV.  Which that is the main reason that the netbook is no good to me.  Even this weekend browsing websites that used Flash the computer kept freezing.  Although, I was using Adobe's Flash player beta so maybe that was the issue.  Overall I know I want a full sized laptop and I want another ThinkPad, however I am unsure whether or not the switchable graphics is for me.  Thoughts?

Disable Actiontec M1000's Router

If have a DSL subscription and are using the default settings on the Actiontec M1000 modem as well as another wireless router you aren't getting the most out of your internet connection.  Because the M1000 has the ability to add a wireless adapter and be a wireless router the M1000 acts like a router by default.  If you have another wireless router which you are actually connected to, your internet connected device is going over an additional hop to get to the internet.  Here is what you need to do:

Configure Your Modem to be a Transparent Bridge

First, you need your DSL subscription login name and password.  These will be what you used to set your modem up for the first time.  If you don't have them, you can call your provider and they should be able to give them to you.  Second,  you need to configure your modem to be a transparent bridge.  Go into the modem configuration page by typing 192.168.0.1 into a web browser.  Go to the Advanced Setup section.  Select WAN IP Address in the left-hand column.  Select the button next to the RFC 1483 Transparent Bridging and click Apply.     

Configure Your Router to Connect with PPPoE

This article is going to use a LINKSYS router for the configuration.  Go to 192.168.1.1 in your web browser and enable PPPoE.  You will have to use your DSL login name and password here. Once you have done that save your settings and wait for your internet connection to reconnect.  You have now removed one of the hops in your internet connection.

I didn't see any kind of performance increase in my internet after changing these settings but it doesn't make sense to use two routers either.  My hope is that this will help with using remote desktop when I build my new machine later today (more on that in a later post!).