yIKE?

Right about now, I'm wishing I'd screen-capped the CNN main page from this morning. Top story:

yIKE! IT'S COMING!
Forecasters warn of "certain death"

Ah, CNN headline writers. Top marks to all of them.

So, how is the Aspire One?

Last Friday, I purchased an Aspire One, one of those little sub-laptop PCs. I've been toting it with me to work for the last week, and using it to websurf in the evenings when velvetpage is on the main desktop.

I'm liking it a lot. It's quite powerful - perfectly capable of running all my usual utilities, as doing the sort of basic video editing I sometimes do, as well. The little built-in camera isn't great, nor the microphone, but they are functional. I can do video blogging, if I shout...

The keyboard is perfectly functional, though it takes a little getting used to, I admit. I occasionally find my thumb straying onto the wrong key. Still, I've written more then 2000 words over the past week on the Aspire for a freelance contract, and that's about my usual speed when I'm not in a hurry.

The wireless card works reasonably well, though I'm finding fewer useful public wifi pools than I expected. The St. Lawrence Market, for example, has signs up here and there boasting their wifi, but I've never been able to get a connection from Paddington's Pump, which is inside the building.


I've mostly been using it on the train. On every third or fourth car, there is one with just four seats arranged in such a way that I can cram myself in with barely an inch to spare. This is great for sleeping on the train, but I've also discovered it's handy for typing. I turn my case upside down and on its side, jam it on top of my legs, and voila, instant desk.

It's... um... more comfortable than it looks. No, really.