MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Disassembly: Installing First Look – MacBook Parts
MacBook Pro Core 2 DuoInstalling First Look
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A pretty interesting inside look at the MacBook
Archive for October, 2006
iFixit disassembles a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo
Oct 31st, 06
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Acme Bowl
Oct 29th, 06
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Acme Bowl
- Review of: Acme Bowl, Entertainment & Arts
- By: Rich T. on Judy’s Book
- Rating: stars
- Read review on Judy’s Book.
Wow, we had not heard about this place, until we happened to be a Jalisco’s (a great Mexican restaurant on Capital Hill), the waiter said he’s just been to Acme to bowl and it was terrific.
We took our kids birthday party in tow and headed down there. Wow, it is way nicer than Sunset Bowl (no smoking!) and although it is expensive ($90 for six people, two lanes, shoe rentals and two games), it is worth it.
It is clean and has lots of flat screen TVs everywhere. There is a bar and a restaurant too. It is brand new and across from the Mervyns. See http://acmebowl.com for more details. 100 Andover Park West, Tukwila, WA 98188 Main: 206.340.ACME
Events: 206.340.0202
Fax: 206.340.0404
General inquiries: info@acmebowl.com
Canon Rebates
Oct 28th, 06
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Well, the fall 2006 “Canon rebates”:http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=PromotionsAct are finally here as expected. They are valid 10-15-2006 through 01-13-2007 so just in time for those of us going on Christmas vacation. Significantly, they aren’t discounting the new Digital Rebel XTi, but some of the tasty hardware I’ve been eyeing include. Also the rebates double if you buy two or more eligible products, so if I got the 70-200 and the 16-35, then the total rebate for both is $200.
Canon EOS 5D. This is a gorgeous full frame 12 megapixel professional camera. $300 off
Canon EF 70-200 F2.8L IS USM. $50 off of this really expensive lense
Canon EF 16-35M F2.8L USM. $50 off.
Sony SZ and Apple MacBook Pro
Oct 28th, 06
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Both Sony and Apple have updated their lines with some amazingly cool laptops. I’m really drooling over them because they both have the ultra fast core duo. Here are the recommendations:
! !>http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/2041/1140/store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/step2_beautyshot_mbp17_060424.jpg!:http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-5009/WebObjects/EducationIndividual.woa/6104004/wo/vitxjoEZiTEo3jHhzH0233YKcbD/17.?p=0 the big news though is that Apple just updated their Macbook Pro line to have the Intel Core Duo 2 chip on it. This has an amazing 17″ screen, but it does weigh 5 pounds and is big to carry, so it is best if you mainly are just transporting and not O.J’ing through airports. Cost is $2600 academic or $2700 online. Ships with 2GB, Intel Core Duo 2 2.33 GHz, 160GB hard drive and of course runs both Windows and MacOS. “Sony TX Series”:http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=cpu_VAIONotebookComputers_TXSeries&Dept=computersIf you really want the most ultra portable, then my old favorite has been the Sony T and now update to the TX line. I’ve had the VGN-T140, VGN-TX650 and the VGN-TX750. They’ve been remarkable good especially because they are light (2.7lb) and have a long running battery and integrated DVD. Their main plus is that the screen is small enough to use in the miniscule coach class on U.S. airlines, but that also means the screen is really too small for everyday use. I only recommend it if you really need something, tiny, tiny. The latest models the VGN-TXN15P/W have switched to using EVDO, so it is faster in the US but actually less useful for international travel where the GSM standard is more prevalent and useful. The -15 lists for $2300 and has 1GB Ram, 80GB hard drive,
MovableType Hacking
Oct 23rd, 06
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OK, in cleaning up MovableType I learned quite a bit about how it works. Here are some important notes on:
A nonobvious thing is that is a category in a tree, say portfolio is the category and the subcategory is semiconductors, and there is nothing in portfolio, then the category software won’t build an index page for portfolio. There has to be at least one live entry, so even though there are entries below, the portfolio page won’t build. The solution is to always have at least one blank entry or something that is perhaps the title at at each level you want to build.
The way that category archives work is that, it assumes everything that is emitted in MTEntries and MTCategories has that category tag, so if you are in the category called Press, it looks for every entry that is just equal to “Press” but *not* the subcategories. So to emit the whole thing, you actually need to sets of MTEntries, the code looks roughly like this. I’ve gotten rid of all the angle brackets to prevent because it is late!
MTEntries
…All the code to process the entries which are just equal to “press”
/MTEntriesMTSubCategories
MTEntries
….All the code that processes every sub category that is here
/MTEntries
/MTSubCategories“PluginManager”:http://www.majordojo.com/projects/PluginManager/downloads/index.php. This handy manager helps you keep control of all the addons to your movabletype system.
“MTSubCategories”:http://johnzeratsky.com/archives/000609.php. We use this extensively on the site, so for instance, every person has their own blog entry with is in the category person and their position is in the sub category. So to generate code to show each, it’s pretty easy to do.
“Sorting Categories”:http://www.movabletweak.com/categories/sorting_categories_any_way_you.php. The way that categories come out is pretty wierd and doesn’t appear to be alphabetical. Of course, there is a plug in that helps. The simplest way is to take advantage of the fact it is sorting alphabetically, but you should actually use MT-Regex from Brad Choate to do this.
“Sort_Method”:http://forums.sixapart.com/lofiversion/index.php/t50954.html is the advanced way to do this where you get to write your own script and stick iit there to sort the way you want.
“MT-Collate”:http://www.nonplus.net/software/mt/MTCollate.htm appears to be the final way around this. It is powerful and general.
Small Business Server CAL
Oct 23rd, 06
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I’ve had the rare opportunity to actually buy something based on a pricing scheme I was part of creating. In this case, we use Microsoft Small Business Server at “Qiming”:http://qimingventures.com and now we’ve run out of users. We got the software from the Microsoft Company Store, but it only supports 5 users. I remember all the discussions about pricing this SKU and the limitations (only one SBS in a network, etc.) and it has really stuck over the last seven years.
The CAL pricing by the way is $100 per user which hasn’t changed much either. That was based on the price for a file and print CAL at $20 and the price of an Exchange CAL at $80. Things have gotten more complicated with the product line but that pricing hasn’t changed much.
We finally got this from “Pricegrabber”: which recommended “Viosoftware”:
Bicycle Shops
Oct 23rd, 06
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Shanghai actually has a reasonable number of high end shops. There is the Trek store near Thumb Plaza and there is also “Bicycleshop.cn”:http://bicycleshop.cn. The prices are the same as the U.S. it looks like at least from the site. They have two locations one is in Pudong. The new shop is on Zhang Yang Lu and is supposed to be the biggest in China and just opened October 3.
No.357 Yin Shan Rd (???357?),Pu Dong New District,Shanghai
No. 2068 Zhang Yang Rd (???2068?),at the corner of Nan Yang Jing Rd
Telephone: 021-50751084, Contact Person:Stella
Mail: sales#bicycleshop.cn(when you mail to us please use @ instead #)
10.00am till 8.00pm every day except
Weekend: 10.00am till 9.00pm
However, “Shanghaiist.com”:http://www.shanghaiist.com/archives/2005/06/24/buy_it_build_it.php points out there is a dealer call “Speed Cat Bicycle”:http://speedcat.net and they rent for the day for 100 RMB. “Biketrip.org”:http://www.biketrip.org/shops.php says that Zhu Wei Du is the owner and he speaks English and is ther ein the evenings. They have nice frames and there are many foreigners there. They have a very active forum site that is pretty interesting, but is mainly in Chinese. Its a tiny shop, but does a good business. Apparently, most titanium frames are actually made in China or Taiwan, so you can get a reasonable frame for 5000 RMB if it is made in China.
Speed Cat Bicycle shop is located at 404 Xiangyang Nan Lu (???????404?).
Tel. : 86-21-64671586
Email : speedcat_sh@126.com
Website : “speedcat.net”:http://www.speedcat.net
W.W. Chan Tailor
Oct 23rd, 06
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On the other hand, suits are much cheaper in China than in Hong Kong. “W.W. Chan”:http://www.wwchan.com/ is in the “Jin Mao Shopping Mall”:http://www.jinmao88.com/en/shopping/item/2004_02/793.shtml. They actually have three locations in Shanghai. You can get the finest Italian material and get it made essentially anyway that you want. A really high end suit with two pairs of pants is about $1,000 and is probably comparable to a $2,500 suit in the U.S. They also do custom shirts that are supposed to be amazing.
Also got to love the hours. They are open every day 10AM to 10PM at all these shops:
The Hilton Hotel, Shanghai
250 Hua Shan Lu, Shanghai 200040, China
Phone: (86-21) 6248 2768
Fax : (86-21) 6248 2618
Maoming Lu, Shanghai
129-A02 Maoming Nan Lu, by Huai Hai Zhong Lu, 200020, China
Phone: (86-21) 5404 1469
Fax : (86-21) 5404 0539
Jinmao Shop, Shanghai
2/F, Shop 2C-09, Jinmao Tower Side Building, 88 Century Blvd, 200120, China
Phone: (86-21)5047 2633
Fax : (86-21) 5047 2635
Watch Shopping in China
Oct 23rd, 06
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According to Roland, if you want a fancy watch, you should go to Hong Kong. There is a 30% luxury import tax in China, so it makes more sense to go to Hong Kong.
Trek in China
Oct 22nd, 06
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While driving from the dinner, I saw a “Trek”:http://www.billingsgazette.com/newdex.php?display=rednews/2005/10/13/build/business/54-trek.inc store in China. Apparently late in 2005, they opened a store. Giant (the big Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer is here as well, but only sell low end bicycles), but Trek is going to seel more. Other interesting tidbits are that Trek itself has 35% of the US market and less than 4% of the worldwide market. It has $600M in sales and 1500 employees.
The Chinese Trek site is pretty broken with a combination of English and Chinese, but they appear to have both road bikes (????gong lu che) and mountain bikes (????. I’m not sure a pure road bike really works in China given the quality of the roads, but I saw one fellow with a Trek 4500 hard tail that looked like a good choice. They don’t have their full line, but appear to offer, road, mountain, cruising and kid bike On their site, some bikes to consider
* Trek Top Fuel SL. Dual suspension, carbon fiber OCLV 110 looks like its way too expensive to use twice in China, but is pretty cool
In terms of hard tails, they have their aluminum series:
* Trek “8900″:http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=1057600&f=18. ZR9000 alloy, Fox 32 F100 shock, Shimano XTR so lists for a breathtaking $1900. A 5′ 11″ with a 31″ inseam rides a 19.5″ frame size by the way which is a large.
* Trek “6500″:http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/XC_Hardtail/product_124746.shtml. This is the $780 MSRP or $680 US street price midrange alternative for Trek which is just a little bit lighter than the 4500.
* Trek “4500″:http://www.theped.com/viewbike.asp?BikeID=74&catid=3&subcat_id=8. AT $460 in the US, I don’t know what the Chineser price is but its pretty reasonable and its gotten 4.23/5 from “mtbr.com”:http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/XC_Hardtail/product_123246.shtml which is pretty amazing given the price. The main beef is that it is heavy.
The higher end carbon alternative is the “Elite 9.8″:http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/XC_Hardtail/product_123255.shtml with XTR components at $3000 street, its an amazing bike, but probably at that level a dual suspension makes more sense. Its just 21.5 pounds!