Working on a(nother) redesign for Tabard’s in!, inspired by aspects of The Morning After (the theme I was using before) and the need for something more small-screen-friendly. I’ve been actively working on it for about a week, and it’s slow going since I don’t know PHP very well. But the OJT is proving to be an awesome challenge, and I’m having fun picking through code and figuring out how things work. So far, I’m really proud of the product in progress. It’s the first time I’ve really tried building a WP theme [mostly] from the ground up. It looks great on my EeePC, and just as good on a standard computer screen. I haven’t tested out different browsers yet. That’ll likely end up being a small nightmare, but I’ll deal with that once I get the base for everything down.

I’ve also upgraded to the brand-spankin’-new Wordpress 2.5, and I’ve gotta say, I’m lovin’ it! I haven’t hit any bugs yet, and the new admin interface is pretty and very easy to navigate. I’m especially excited about the prospect of messing around with the new Media Library, especially after spending a few minutes looking through Wordpress developer Matt Mullenweg’s use of the feature (take a look — holy cow!). It would certainly be good incentive to post more photos & art if I have access to an easy gallery engine. There’s already an idea or two brewing, and I can’t wait to start messing with it, but, once again, it’ll have to wait til I at least finish the bones of the site first.

I’ve got a test-install of WP 2.5 where I’m trying things out initially, but I’m slowly migrating pieces over to the main site. If anyone pops by and things are a little crazy or not working like they’re supposed to, that would be why :)

I’ve come to the sad conclusion that Atlanta is sorely lacking geek-friendly (in this case, read “wifi enabled”) Italian restaurants. Or if they do, in fact, exist, they must be well-guarded secrets of the geek underground.

2+ hours of searching online found me the Cafe Intermezzo, which, while fantastic otherwise, only makes it’s wifi access available from 10am to 7pm(?!), and a little place called Artuzzi’s that’s either smack dab in the middle of the city or 20 miles outside the perimeter (or maybe both? the maps were a little indecisive). On top of this, my favorite Italian place (Brickhouse Pizza) has relocated, and won’t be open again until sometime later this month.

Granted, I also found a bunch of other restaurants to try out while I was looking around, but you know how the appetite is when you’re really craving something. A lonely plate of baked ziti was (is!) calling my name from somewhere in the distance. So instead my trusty Geek’s Guide sidekick (wave hi to Eddy everyone!) and I have ended up at a local Mellow Mushroom where there’s wifi a-plenty, but the closest you’ll get to Italian is a build-your-own calzone or some pizza. Any other time, I’d be content, but I’m pretty pizza’d out recently, and a soggy hoagie and funny-tasting honey mustard (a crime, says I!) just aren’t doin’ it for me.

Man, what I wouldn’t give for a pasta-and-hotspot combo right now; it’s apparently going to take more than a just couple hours of scouting around online to find. I know it’s out there somewhere. The world just wouldn’t be right if it wasn’t.

I got my Eeepc 8G February 28th, and immediately christened it “9″ (like “Section 9″ from Ghost in the Shell) and cranked it up to see what it could do. I’m typing this entry on it, as a matter of fact, so that’s at least some indication of how well things are going :) Please excuse any typos as I haven’t done an extensive amount of actual typing on this thing yet so I’m still kind of getting used to the keyboard.

I’m loveloveloving it so far! It’s taken some getting used to the Linux OS that it ships with (Xandros/KDE), but I’ve been spending a lot of time messing with it. With the help of the huge user community online, it’s proving to be a fairly easy ride. I’ve been spending my lunch hours since I got it messing with customization and trying out some things.

I’ve actually got LAMP up and running so I can try out a local install of Wordpress (the blog engine running Tabard’s in!). Been having some trouble getting the css/images to display correctly, so if anyone out there has messed with this stuff before and thinks they could help, lemme know :)

Eddy and I have already hit the Highlander (a local free wifi hotspot, fyi!) a couple times with our respective laptops for dinner and some geeking out. We want to try and find other new places around town, and I’m thinking of writing reviews on them and calling it the Geek’s Guide to Atlanta. It sounds like it’d be fun, anyway, and it’d give me a great reason to get out away from home on a semi-/regular basis. I’d love to get suggestions of places to try out, so share if you got ‘em!

All that said, my lunch break is just about up, so I’ll leave you with some photos of my new electronic love. (more…)

Ok, I started out writing a completely crazy “omgomgomg” entry about the EeePC 8g suddenly popping up as “in stock” on Newegg, and finally being able to get my hands one one. (If you’re interested, or looking to get one, better hurry. There’s no telling how long they’ll have them.) And as I type this, it’s nearly turning into one anyway, but I’m holding myself back, don’t worry. But my order is in, plus a 2gb SO-DIMM DDR2 upgrade for the RAM, and a 16gb SDHC memory card to for more space. The best part? Newegg’s baseline shipping is UPS 3-day, (and only slightly more expensive than ground), so even if it doesn’t get sent out til tomorrow, I should have a new toy in my grubby little hands by Friday XD

Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to let you all know how it goes :D

*esplodes from the strain of not esploding*

Thank god, now I can stop looking all over the place for them :p

I’ve got it bad, bad, bad, bad, baaaad. The craze hasn’t been this bad since I wanted an ipod more than three years ago. I suppose it’s a good thing this particular illness only strikes every few years. I wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise.

So, ever wondered what you’d get if a PDA and a laptop had a torrid love affair? Meet the EeePC 8g. (Yay for alliteration!)

It’s small, less than 9″ at it’s widest point, and weighing in at 2 lbs, this thing would fit in my shoulder bag (it’s not a purse, dammit!). It’s wifi-enabled, with a webcam and microphone which, if all the reviews are any indication, are great for Skype and other VOIP/webchat features. While the 8g SSD and small screen size wouldn’t be good for gaming, these little machines would be great for portable computing. They ship with a Linux OS, though they’ll can handle XP, and are apparently lightning fast on boot and shutdown. There’s a huge and thriving user community, so how-to’s and hacks are readily available if you don’t mind voiding the warranty.

With a price tag at $500, the new 8G’s are affordable enough that I plan on getting an eeepc (that’s “ee-pee-cee”) even before I replace my failing ipod. Add to this the fact that it’s upgradable to 2Gb RAM from the 1Gb it comes with, and rumors that the SSD may not be soldered to the board (that thus, be upgradable if you have the know-how), and for my purposes, it’s well worth the money. Three usb ports and an SD card reader will make it easy to up the storage capacity, so the actual hard drive space doesn’t bother me.

My only complaints so far? That they’re hard to find anywhere other than Ebay right now, and the release date keeps getting pushed back.

Oh, and that I’m running out of Ghost In the Shell characters to name my toys after :)