I religiously use Picasa on my computer to manage my digital pictures. I have been trying out a few things on Kubuntu but did not find anything as cool as Picasa. I tried using digiKam, showFoto but none of them came close to the beauty and power of Picasa. Well; looks like my search for a Picasa replacement is over in Kubuntu. Google labs has introduced a native Linux version. It runs and looks just like the Windows version; and trust me, in this case that is a good thing. 
Link to Download
The whole thing downloaded and installed in seconds; thanks to the nice packaging job Google did.
May 25th, 2006
Ever since I wrote a few days ago that I wanted a new gadget; I have been looking at various sites to see what is hot now a days. One of the first things that I looked at was the Origami PCs that was all the buzz a few months back. Origami, a clever Microsoft marketing blitz, turned out to be a Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC). The idea is somewhat of a mix between a Tablet PC and a Laptop. The hottest one out on the market seems to be the Samsung Q1. It has just started shipping and there are a few reviews (and unboxing pictures ). I just spent about 20 minutes watching the video of the unboxing. I have to say, it is one of the sleekest gadgets that I have seen lately.
As neat as it looks; it would be pretty useless if I wasn’t able to use it on a daily basis. I thought long and hard about how I would use it. First of all; its not small enough to carry in your pocket; so I am not sure if I would be taking it with me. Here are some of the possible uses I could come up for it.
My first thought was that I could use it in the car. Put my mp3s on it, buy a FM transmitter and have them play through the car radio. This sounds like a good idea; but then an iPod can do this so much better, and so much cheaper. Keep in mind that the UMPC costs about $1100 dollars. Second idea was to use this to take notes. That also would not work for me. At work; I use Microsoft One Note on my laptop to take notes. I am not even sure I can take this thing and plug it into the work network. Plus, my laptop is given to me free by Intel. I could use it as a ‘portable’ web surfing device while I am away from the computer. That, in theory, sounds good; but thats exactly what I use my laptop for while I watch TV. So paying $1100 for this device does not make sense.
As neat as the Samsung Q1 looks; I just could not figure out a good usage model that would fit me. Plus, the $1100 price tag does not help make the decision any easier. If this thing was about $500; then I might have to give it a harder look. I guess I will not be buying one, but that doesn’t mean that I can obsess over it
May 25th, 2006