Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

50 Ways to Help the Planet is an excellent initiative.  These are 50 simple, straight-forward tips for how to make a little bit less of an impact on our planet.  You probably already do some of these things.  You’ll probably never do some of them.  But chances are you’ll find some things in that list that you won’t mind doing.

Here is the list of things as applied to me and my family.  You should probably read the original list first though.

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Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday.  That was a blast!  I received congratulations and best wishes from more people (and bots) than I ever did.  In fact, there were so many that I can publish some statistics (numbers are approximated):

• Automated greeting messages from forums and social services: 35
• Phone calls: 15
• SMS messages: 10
• Paper postcards: 1
• E-cards: 1
• Emails: 4
• IM chats: 15
• Social networks contacts (Odnoklassniki.ru, Facebook, etc): 70
• In person: 20

Some of these overlap, but not that much.  Messages started coming in from Monday afternoon and they are still pouring  in. Needless to say, I am overwhelmed.   A huge thank you to all of you!  You made my day.

I’ve had PrimeHome for quite some time now. So I don’t know of this feature was there before or if it is one of the recent additions, but it’s pretty cool. Apparently, you can subscribe to additional TV channel packages with just a remote control. No need to call or drive to any of those PrimeTel shops, no need to fill any forms, and, most importantly, no need for any waiting.

Here is how it works. Go to the menu and select the channel that you don’t have but would like to. You’ll see a static PrimeHome screen, with a line at the top saying something like “Press red button to subscribe”. Press the red button on your remote control now. You’ll be asked to enter your PIN and once you do, your STB will reboot and you’ll have the channel enabled. You’re done.

A few things to keep in mind:

• You can easily subscribe with remote control, but not unsubscribe. To unsubscribe you’ll need to visit their shop and fill the form. Maybe you can do it over the phone too - I’m not sure, but it’s for sure not as easy as subscribing.
• When you subscribe with remote control, you don’t subscribe to a single channel, but a package of channels to which it belongs. Check the list of channels and prices for each package at PrimeHome web site before subscribing.
• When you subscribe with remote control, you will be shown a warning that the minimum period for your subscription is two month. I don’t know if the same policy applies when you subscribe through phone or from inside of their office, but it’s worth knowing. If you get yourself an expensive package, you’ll have to pay for at least two month of using it.

That’s about it.

First of all, a confession.  I was aware of the fact that there is such a show (or video podcast) - Diggnation.  I was aware of the fact that it is somehow related to the Digg web site.  And I think I even remember watching a couple of episodes a long time ago.  But, all of that was in my passive memory.  I wouldn’t remember what the show was about, if it was funny at all, or even who or how many of the hosts there were. So, when I was checking the agenda for The Next Web Conference 2008, I couldn’t have imagined what the “DIGGnation, live recorded from Amsterdam!” entry at the end of day 1 was all about.

The situation started to change when I noticed that at the end of the day there was a stream of new people in the conference hall, and that many of them were wearing Diggnation t-shirts.  That kind of looked suspicious - are they all coming specifically for the show while avoiding the conference as a whole?  It turned out it was indeed so (I later spoke to a few people who came from all over Europe just for Diggnation).

The Diggnation live in Amsterdam episode is up and you can see yourself how it was.  There was also a live stream during the recording, and the whole thing was somewhat longer with preparations and closing of the show, but it will give you an idea of how it went.  There were indeed a few rounds of free beers for the audience, and there was indeed this awesome dude with two joints for the hosts.

I enjoyed the show so much that I actually watched a few episodes back and will probably watch the new ones now and then.  If have a very sensitive sense of humor, you should probably skip.  All the rest - you’ll have a blast.

A few things have happened recently that caused me to go through available laptop offers, looking for a new one.  First of all, our last desktop PC at home died.   Secondly, my laptop is getting pretty old.  Thirdly, I am switching to a new job, new office, new boss, and I have an opportunity to get a new laptop to sustain all of that stress.

What do I need in a laptop?  Well, my current HP nx6110 has been working pretty good for the last two years.  I am satisfied with its power and features.  The only two things I would like to see improved are battery life (it can survive for about 2 hours without power) and screen resolution (1024×768 is sort of small for me).  Other than that, it’s perfect.

Most of the newer laptops boast better battery life, despite being packed with more powerful processors, more memory, and better graphics cards.  So that looks like to be taken care of all by itself.

Screen resolution, however, is a tricky issue.  Usually, for higher screen resolution, I’d need to get a laptop with larger screen too.  My current laptop has a 15″ screen, which seems just about right. I’d love to have higher resolution on the screen of that size, not a bigger screen with higher resolution.

Bigger screens are nice, especially considering the fact that I work a lot with pictures and use my laptop to watch DVDs.  But moving around with a large laptop is inconvenient.  For example, on a recent trip to a conference in Amsterdam, even my current laptop was a tiny bit too large. It was OK to bring it to Amsterdam, but it was too heavy to carry around to the conference (laptop + power supply + socket adapter + digital camera + spare batteries + the huge bag to fit all that = a lot of weight).

After considering all pros and cons for a few moments, I decided that I don’t need a bigger laptop.  I should get something as close to the current size as possible, but with support of higher resolution (maybe a wide screen too).  For the mobile needs (such as conferences) I should get a new smart phone with QWERTY keyboard.  A combination of a good smart phone and a laptop should cover me from all sides.  I’d bring the laptop to the hotel and use it to watch DVDs and browse the web on high resolution, while I can use a smart phone as a quick Web access tool and note taking device.

With that in mind, Lenovo ThinkPad T61 laptop looks just fine.  There is a 15.4″ widescreen option, which boasts 11+ hours of battery life as well as all bells and whistles that I want.

What do you guys think?  What’s your choice for a laptop these days?  How do you solve your multimedia and traveling digital needs?