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This book was on my wanted list for a while, primarily due to it having been mentioned and recommended often. Elizabeth Kostova’s book is a vampire yarn, taking its title to heart and focusing on the real-life Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. The Historian is written in the form of a diary, with the story teller being the daughter of a historian hot on the trail of the historical Dracula. We never get to meet the writer directly, but are carried through various trips throughout Europe and hear bits and pieces of the story one piece at a a time. The historian is intrigued to track down the now presumed living (or not) Dracula after finding a book with an image of a dragon. Several other characters find a similar tome, and so the hunt begins.

And so the boredom sets in. The story is contrived and predictable. I don’t expect to be scared witless, but then again, I do expect something better than is offered. Sure, the historical detail provided is extensive. I assume it’s been researched and hasn’t been changed too much. The characters are not believable and lack substance. Halfway into this tome, I was really bored and couldn’t muster the effort to finish.

I don’t care how it ends either. A lowly 1/5 from me.

This happened sooner than I thought The Blackberry Pearl’s release in ZA is still on its way. I have the unit for a quick look. I’ve never considered any of the Blackberry devices as anything but a corporate productivity tool. Read: no fun. The Pearl 8100 changes that with great styling and some great features. Read the rest of this entry »

Today sees the launch of Microsoft’s new operating system to ordinary beings. Corporates had the opportunity to get hold of their copies of Vista a few weeks ago.

In conjunction with Vista, Microsoft is also releasing the new Office suite, Microsoft Office 2007.

Once again, ZA is not part of the rest of the world. In this case, that’s not necessarily such a bad thing. Microsoft launches its new products here tomorrow.

I’m trying to get a small test system together to install a copy. I’ve played around with Vista to some extent and like the look and feel. I’m disappointed by the lack of real features Microsoft promised but didn’t include, like a new filesystem. The biggest hurdle is the lack of application support and the initial problems getting the requisite drivers for your hardware. If you’re keen to install a copy, refer to RadarSync’s list of drivers. You may find the one you need.

Do not pay Originally uploaded by MHertenberger.

Wouldn’t it be great to see this on more bills!

The SC101 has been humming along on and off for the better part of a year. Now it’s time to be moved to the final resting place: rack-city in the central computing facility here at mad science laboratories. Little wonder then that the stupid thing refuses all connections. Home-sick, maybe? Can’t be: the move was all of 20m. Must be something else. 400GB of fairly recent backups inaccessible is a bit of a scary thought and would worry me far more if that was the only copy I had. Still, I want the damn thing to work…

Firmware upgraded, utility software updated. Then the final straw: remove the registry entry, reboot and try again.

It finds it now, but still won’t connect… Probably time to consider trashing this thing and getting a cheap box with many drives running OpenFiler.

Gear head Originally uploaded by MHertenberger.

Die Blou Hond Originally uploaded by MHertenberger.

Kuier lekker saam by Die Blou Hond. Interesting venue – restaurant and live music. Who let the dogs out?

That’s that.

After a brief stay, the LOOX T830 is going back to FSC and I’m switching back to the JAMin. The transition is easy and suddenly, the screen feels huge! The round stylus is comfortable and responsive. The lack of a keyboard is a non-issue, as is the lack of 3G connectivity.

Before she gets shipped back, all my data needs to be cleared. The procedure is fairly simple: remove the battery cover and grab the stylus. Hold in the power button and at the same time use the stylus to press in the reset button next to the battery.

Do some gymnastics to view the screen and release the power button as soon as boot options appear on the screen.

Use the directional pad to select an option, then wait as the device is reset. The clean registry option is interesting, but could be a bad idea if many applications are installed. I’m not entirely sure what it would do…other than clear the registry, off course.

I’ve re-installed all applications I need on the JAMin and synchronized all important data.

Hopefully, I’ll have a new toy to try out in a couple of weeks

Sony has announced the landing date for the PS3. 23 March 2007 is the date gamers can look forward to. It seems as though Sony will not be offering an entry level system, deciding instead to reap a larger cash crop by offering only the unit with a 60GB hard drive. The estimated price is ZAR 5500 which is still about ZAR 2000 more than the XBox 360.

I thought I’d made up my mind to focus on the PS3 after almost breaking down and buying an XBox 360. Suddenly, I’m not so sure. Problem is, the current XBox 360 is also due for replacement, maybe even as early as December.

What to do? Any comments on this conundrum? Maybe just sit back, relax, and let the feeling pass…

via News 24

The updated Mercedes-Benz C class is making its appearance. Looking very much like a smaller version of the S class, the C class is not all that exciting visually. In fact, the first pictures are not that convincing:

Cars generally look far better in real life, unless they’re Italian The interior has been enhanced and various options and packages are available as before.

Part of the standard options included in the base price of the vehicle is AGILITY control with selective dampening. A Keyless go option is available.