Kindle, Amazon’s new ebook reader has been getting a lot of press lately.  It uses E-Ink technology and has wireless access via EVDO technology, with free access to Wikipedia. Costly at $399 though.

PC World has a review.
Wired has a nice comparison of ebook readers.

Gumstix are miniature computers running Linux. Will be quite useful for projects. The lowest end computer starts at $129

Cybook Gen3 e-book reader is another ebook reader using E ink® technology, similar to the Sony ebook reader. costs more at $350 now, but hopefully with more devices of this type coming out, the prices would lower.

The iLiad is another e-book reader using  E ink®. This has more features like wifi, a touch screen and is able to run different applications. The iLiad runs on Linux based OS and is much more expensive (currently selling around $700 US)

See my other post: Portable E-Book readers

If you are looking for something to replace wget, check out the following:

lftp : Command line, Supports HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SFTP

ProZilla : Command line and gui

Aria2 : Supports HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/BitTorrent.

Axel : Command line, available

rTorrent : nCurses bittorrent client

I’ve noticed that my laptop seems to be taking a long time to boot into windows XP. It doesn’t bother me much, since I rarely boot into XP. But the same thing was happening to a friends laptop and I decided to see what can be done.

Some suggestions/pointers I found in the internet that I’m going to try out are:

1. The system maybe waiting for a DHCP server to assign an IP.
2. Reduce timeout value in msconfig’s boot.ini tab ??
3. Run Bootvis to analyze the boot process and speed it up. A guide is available here.
4. Analyze and remove unwanted startup programs. Tools: Startup Inspector
5. Enable boot logging and look at the boot log. (Saved as ntbtlog. txt in the windows folder in NT/XP)
6. Eliminate unwanted fonts to increase boot speed
7. Some more tips are available in this article and this

Some articles

1. Making windows boot faster
2. Improve windows XP boot speed
3. Forum thread on speeding up XP boot and startup times.
4. How do I speed up my Windows XP startup.
5. TweakHound’s Super XP Tweaking guide

Git is the revision control system used by the Linux kernel. It looks interesting to try out. Git can also be used locally to work with a subversion repository, like svk

See

• An introduction to git-svn for Subversion/SVK users and deserters
• Git Crash Courses

TextMarks makes it possible for you to create your own short codes that people can use by sending the code via text to 41411.

Shows lots of promise, but US only (at least for the moment)

ATA Adapters

• Sipura SPA 3000, (rebadged by Linksys as: SPA3102)

• Linksys PAP 2 (Only 2 accounts, but you probably need two phones)
• Fritz!box 7050 ADSL router (Supposed to work with multiple incoming/outgoing SIP accounts)

• Another option is, without a hardware device, can try running Asterix on a PC and have it handle the multiple SIP accounts.
• Or Get an account at Voxalot (from this thread )

There are some useful forums at: http://forum.voxilla.com

Thread on Sipura SPA3000 tips: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,13657675?r=337

TeaShark is a new java based mobile browser. It is similar to Opera Mini in that they run a server with trims and translates web pages before sending it to the mobile browser. I was hoping I will be able to run it in my phone which only has MIDP 1.0, but they only support MIDP 2.0. The FAQ claims that a MIDP 1.0 version is planned.

Two possibilities I have in mind:

The sony ebook reader: This uses a new technology for it’s screen that Sony calls eInk. It doesn’t need power to maintain the image. Supports PDF’s as well. It’s also an MP3 player.
Weights around 9 oz (255g) and is 1/2″ thick
Currently $279.99

Nokia N series, N700 or N800. (These run Linux) and are more than just a ebook reader
Currently N770: $150, N800