Newsflash, the number is up from 32% to 34%! - I just switched...

But seriously. My netbook is counted into the Windows XP, because it wasn't available with Linux when I bought it a year ago. And until a week ago it was correct to count it to the Windows pile. I had been looking for a distro that would support my netbook (Asus S101) out of the box. I don't want to do work at home, that's why I didn't want to play the hunt-for-the-red-driver-game at home. I just wanted a Linux that would work out of the box on my rather rare netbook.

I got fed up with Windows freezing up every now and then. And lately more now than then. It would just freeze the UI to do Something Important, and then continue. A fresh reinstall didn't help it, so I started the hunt for a working Linux distro again. And now it seems I've finally found it, the Easy Peasy.

Sure, it's not a "real Linux", neither is my netbook a "real laptop". It's a netbook. I use it for web browsing, Skype, email and occational word processing when travelling. At home it's the surfboard that you use when lying on couch, or I admit, in bed when I actually should be reading a book instead. And for this I don't want a "real operating system". I want something that just works for these tasks. Something that doesn't freeze and doesn't require configuring.

Well, I think I've found it, and I'm happy now!

On the subject of the article, though. I was wondering how many other netbook users are out there that have ditched the preinstalled Windows in favour of Linux, thus contributing to the numbers of Windows netbooks instead of Linux?

Naturally there will always be energy loss when you tranport energy.

But this system is pretty well suited for cities. And naturally the pipes are well insulated and laid under ground to keep ambient temperature constant.

The water is heated at the plant (or the data center in this case) then pumped to the system. The system consists of main lines usually running under streets. These have smaller lines going to a connected building. Inside the building the pipes go to a "boiler room" or heat center or what-ever you want to call it. There the heat is transferred from the system to buildings own heating system. Usually the heating system consists of hot water running in pipes as well. Although for safety the temperature is much lower on the building's own system. Also the heat from the system may be used to heat your tap water.

In Finland gas furnaces are almost non existent and only used for camper vans or trailers used for vacations during colder seasons. In the cities this kind of centralised heating is popular due to the efficiency. Both economic and energy. In rural areas oil and electricity are most popular, but heat-exchangers are catching up. Wether it be pumping heat out of outside air or the ground, both work well and give free energy to the house owner. Solar or wind are not harnessed in Finland due more to political reasons than anything else.

Actually the statement made by Hitler in this book has nothing to do with popularity, unlike the more recent former family affairs minister's comments that were nothing but.

Hitler was writing about racial purity, only the healthy being allowed to breed / have children. But just as majority of the leaders of the biggest nations today, Hitler too was a populist. He just didn't "ride children" to fame, but poverty, unimployment and hyperinflation instead.

I wanted to have my mobile to come in two sizes. The BIG one for email, websurfing, and all that. The small one that fits in my jeans' front pocket, confortably. - The solution was two phones. Obviously. But I didn't want to swap the SIM-card every time.

MultiSIM to the rescue! - Luckily the operators in Finland finally started to sell this multi SIM-service. Basically I have two lines that share one number. If both phones are on, they both ring. First one to answer gets the call. When I call out, they both are billed as my primary. (I can actually make double billing by calling out with both phones at once, if I really wanted to.)

Only problem is the SMS. They only go to the primary SIM. I can send naturally with both, but only really receive with one.

Test piloting is a risky business, just as flying to the moon in a washing machine (well, it was a bit more advanced than that, but still). To qualify for a test pilot, you naturally need a a lot of training (just as you do to be a moonwalker). But you also need to be able to make very quick and firm decissions with incomplete information, and without hesitation. This can be concidered foolhardy and just neglegting the danger. The truth is, you know the danger, but don't think about it at the moment you need to make the decission. You just concentrate on solving the problem, and solve it in the given time. Be the time 2 seconds ot 2 minutes. You will make the decission that you feel is the right one, and you live (or die) with it. - Later you may get the shakes about it, when you're all safe and sound back on the ground.

I've had a couple of similar situations and have walked away from them. (Shaking a bit, but still walking.) They were all much closer to Earth though, actually come to think of it, the problem with couple of them was being so close to Earth to begin with... =)

Not commenting on netbook sales in general, but which OS to choose.

Personally I was forced to a crippled XP Home, as I could not find the netbook I bought (Asus S101) with Linux in Finland. I needed the netbook for a trip and didn't want english keyboard, thus was forced to buy what was available.

Naturally I would have preferred Linux with SSD twice the size that came on my XP-forced one for the same price.

You can guess what OS it was running by the time I got my hands on it... ...and as a hint, it's not OS X. At least not yet.

Is this guy for real?

I wish cute netbooks would have been available back when I was young and hitting on girls. - I had to rely on a puppy. And the puppies grow up to be big and scary dogs...

But as for making the netbook look better? - There's nothing that ugly that a can (or few) of matt black spray paint wouldn't fix...

I don't do without music. I even buy the music. But ONLY directly from artist at their gig. When they sell their own music on CDs they burned themselves. THAT is supporting the artist! Oh, and I don't go see Metallica or other boy bands either, as I don't want to support them. There are plenty of bands out there that are playing locally that actually make better music with their hearts in it.

Being a car-nut I always jump on the opportunity to drive a new (to me) car. And as a result I've driven quite a few cars in my life. I also race endurance (track) racing in a team, so I hope that I have some perspective in this. Also as a car-nut I tend to buy older cars that I can work on, and cars that have a good "road feel".

A while ago I had the opportunity to test drive the new LandRover Discovery. I really loved the comfort and relaxed atmosphere of the car. You could jump in, drive for 10 hours straight, and still feel refreshed upon arrival. - As long as the weather is beautifull...

Unfortunately (or fortunately for the sake of experience) it was spring here in Finland, and the winding country roads still had patches of ice where the trees cast shadows all day. Usually I enjoy these kind of roads, and with a appropriate car they can be really ejoyable to drive, even in above conditions.

Driving down the road with this brand new LandRover I quickly became aware that the car has absolutely no road feel. The drive down the road became agony, as I had no way of knowing wheter the car was close to loosing grip or not. To get safely home, I drove overtly cautiously and didn't enjoy the drive a bit.

What I'm trying to say is that the trusting on these wonderfull abbrevations that modern cars have and letting the computers control the car does indeed aliante you from driving. They give you a false sense of security and confidence that you are in control of the car. They give you no feedback to be able to tell that you are approching the limits. And when you get there, all you can do is let go (as the car is spinning out of control) and hope the active safety systems will spare your life.

Even a simple safety system like ABS (anti-locking brakes) can fail on you. I've had ABS failure just when I needed it. The ABS-light just came on when I slammed the brakes and the wheels locked. Luckily none of our race cars have ABS, so I instictively eased on the pedal and was able to steer away from the car in front of me that had turned sideways and surprised me. No, crash of scratches this time.

So, for me at least my cars will continue to be "unsafe" cars without stability management, brake assistants and other computer controlled "safe" gadgets. Also I will make sure that when my kids start driving, they will get plenty of high-speed practice with cars with no computer systems on closed areas. That is how I learned and I believe practice is the only way to learn these things to become nearly instinctive.

Excuse for rambling, but this matter is so close to my heart.

It's interesting to see that Yahoo News says it's quoting AFP on this one. What would be more interesting to hear if this is actually a AFP "news" or not. - And if so, it would be very interesting to hear who on AFP was drunk enough to come up with this... =)

Unfortunately stealing a car for joyriding in Finland is not a very big offence. Actually it's not even called stealing, but "unlawful use of motor vehicle". And I dare say the police would even have time to check a car's interior, let alone hunt for a mosquito. I've had my car stolen once, and luckily recovered. I called up the police after it was recovered, and they didn't have time to come by to have a look at it, let alone dust the car for prints. - So, no cool CSI...

And BTW. It's December here in Finland (like I guess it's in most parts of the world), and the mosquitoes died by September...