Martin Wells

Flew into the valley yesterday and have been catching up with people. I love this place. So many geeks I always feel right at home.

Picked up my new notebook(s) (bought one for Rhandy and Craig as well). HP nc8430: Core Duo 2, ATI 1600 with 256MB, 100GB 7200 rpm hdd, 2GB 667mhz ram, WSXGA+ display… screamer! Spent half the day installing and patching but it’s all up and running now.

The good: speed, speed speed, keyboard, dual mic’s, top notch display, zero heat issues, screen folds back, rock solid, light, cool little thumbprint reader for login, top graphics, it’s not a mac, nothing plugs in on the mouse side of the device, heat vents are on the left side (away from my hand).

The bad: boring grey, little thumb thing in the middle of the keyboard sometimes gets in the way of typing (though that seems to be lessening the more I use it), too fast - no time to make coffee, no hardware buttons for music, other than one on the left, the only other two usb’s are on the right side which clashes with the mouse (buy a hub i guess).

Booking another flight from the US to Australia tonight (don’t ask why I book it the other way around). Thought I’d take a peek at the business class rates — mmm, comfy chair, the nice loos, leg room — OMG! $12,000. Ouch! Economy ranges from $1000 to $1500 depending on options and timing. I mean business class is nice, but at a $11,000 premium that’s just insane.

So ask yourself this question: would you like to earn $900 per hour just for sitting in a bad chair for 12 hours.

It’s a bold new day. Tangler has its very own blog. For news and updates check out:

blog.tangler.com

Lots of members of the team will be adding their thoughts (or at least have promised to): myself, Mick, Rhandy, Craig, Phong, Minh, maybe even Alex and Erik might pipe in occasionally.

We also launched a new version of the main web site.