Netbook or Small laptop

Recently my HP DV2415 NR died. (HP suxx in general.. had to get that out). So now I am on the market for a new laptop (thanks to my starwood Amex's automatic extended buyer's assurance, otherwise I cannot afford a new machine now).

Anyhow I was infatuated with the new and cool looking (and XP loaded) 10 inch netbooks. Samsung NC10-14GB 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook - 6 Cell Battery
, ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 10.5 Hour Battery Life
and Lenovo IdeaPad S10 10.2-Inch Red Netbook - 3 Cell Battery
first caught my eye. Then I went to the PSU comp store and checked out the HP mini to get a feel for the size. I felt that the 10 in machine was too small.

I have also begun looking at the Ideapad S12 (12") and Inspiron 13 and 14" machines. Will soon decide what to get and then also write up the cost reduction strategy which I will use. Including EPP, miles gaining, credit card etc etc..

My budget is a tad under 500 so lenovo S12 comes into that range, but I am waiting for the Nvidia ION equipped version.

Decided the wait was too much and bought the ASUS 10" netbook from Bestbuy. It is ok in terms of specs, is quite light and has a decent battery life as now.

Check out netbookchoice.com for reviews etc..
I will hyperlink things soon..

Lenovo discounts:
Go to www.lenovo.com/cpp

password is familyandfriends
Then you can shop as a contractor for lenovo and get a additional discount of around 5% on top of things.

For comparison see this screen shot (click to load full size):

Comcast Screen Shots

Electric Cars at Penn State July 17 09

Electric cars coming to town

Penn State alumnus is roadster engineer

Today two sports cars will roar into the Nittany Valley — but the only sound of their passing will be the noise of tires on pavement and the steady hum of their electric motors.

Tesla Roadster. On Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon, the twin roadsters will be on display at Penn State’s Morningstar solar home off of Park Avenue — free and open to the public.

Tesla Roadsters will appear in a display in State College today as part of a nationwide tour to promote electric vehicles.

* Tesla Motors to open seven sales, service centers this summer

With a zero-to-60 mph acceleration of 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph, the Tesla Roadster is hardly the stereotypical all-electric car — normally considered slow vehicles with a short driving range.

By contrast, the roadsters are fast and can travel more than 200 miles between charges — no small feat compared to the electric vehicles of yore that normally topped out at a 60-mile range.

Of course, all that performance comes at a cost — the 2009 Tesla Roadster starts at a base price of about $100,000. The company is working to develop a family-sized model with a price tag of around $50,000.

When the Teslas roll into State College today as part of a nationwide tour to raise interest in renewable energy and electric vehicles, they will not only be displaying some of the latest evolutions in alternative vehicles, but also technology developed in part at Penn State. One of Tesla’s research and development engineers is Jamie Clark, who received his master’s degree from Penn State in 2008.

Also on display as part of the Renew America Roadtrip’s stop will be a Nissan Hybrid Altima, touring with the Teslas; Penn State’s Chevy Equinox hybrid and the Hi-Lion fuel cell vehicle — a stock 1997 GM EV1 that was converted to hydrogen fuel cell operations by the Penn State students.

In addition to the public display, one of the purposes of the visit to Penn State is for a pit stop — a recharge overnight Thursday before roaring off to Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon — minus the roaring engine noise, of course.

(Copied from Penn State L-Sustainability Mailing List)

Jazz July

JAZZ PA Jazz Music Festival in Bellefonte

Music starts on Friday July 24th

and continues ALL DAY on

Saturday July 25, 2009 11AM-Midnight - most sets FREE

($10 to $15 tickets for some sets). Tickets available at Websters and other places listed on link below and also on venue if extra tix are leftover.

in Historic Bellefonte, PA

featuring saxophonist JERRY DODGION

More info: http://jazzpa.com/home.html

State College Summer 2009 June/July

This post contains (mostly free) things to do in State college penn state area in july and rest of summer 2009.
[older cached version of page in June with info about 4th fest]

• If you are looking for hikes/nature hotspots etc, browse the archives here or check pahikes.com.
• If you are a graduate student at Penn State, for more events check here and here .
• If you are interested in (free) stress busting workshops email to me directly at nari at psu.edu

DES MARAIS ARCHITECTURE EXHIBIT
SATURDAY JULY 25 2009 RECEPTION

CCHS presents a new exhibit, the 4th installment in a series of contemporary homes conceived and designed by Robert Malcom: "Des Marais: A Preservation Enthusiast,” a photo retrospective of the architectural legacy of M. Robert Des Marais.

The exhibit will be shown in the exhibit space at the Schlow Centre Region Library during the library's regular hours throughout the month of July.

A closing reception for the exhibit will be held on Saturday, July 25 from 3:00-5:00 p.m., in the library's community room. The architect’s widow, Sally, and exhibit curator Robert Malcom will be available for questions. More information will be available on the CCHS website shortly.

Centre County Historical Society
Centre Furnace Mansion
1001 East College Avenue
State College, PA 16801
814.234.4779

JULY 9-12, 2009 Arts Fest [CENTRE PENNSYLVANIA ARTS FESTIVAL]
[Children's Day is July 8, 2009] [parking info]

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will bring over 125,000 people to downtown State College and the University Park campus of Penn State to celebrate the arts with its nationally recognized Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, gallery exhibition, sand sculpture and music, dance and theatrical performances in a variety of traditional and non-traditional venues.
[Artsfest official website]
The image to your left is the 2009 Arts fest poster (link). Clicking on the image will take you to the press release.

** new ** Artsfest Webcam - Live Coverage ** new **

FOOD OPTIONS
Apart from the arts, you can also find lot of street level food stalls set up by Indian/Thai/American/Italian/Meditteranean/Italian vendors and some amazing apple strudel sellers on Allen Street. Also at night, the bars are great for those who come to town only for the bacchanalian fest. Please be responsible though. Tip: If you are hungry late at night, Canyon Pizza on Beaver/McAllister and Bell's Greek Pizza (see map below) are options open till 3-4am usually. The McDonalds at E College and Dunkin Donuts at Fraser & West College are open 24/7.

CORN ON THE COB (very good)
The (now) famous and amazingly tasty cuban "corn-on-the-cob"* would be available from a street vendor on Calder Way (behind the Got Used book store and across from Bell's Greek Pizza. If you go to the cuban corn stall, please do tell them you heard about it here, on the Nari Blog (I get no incentive for promoting it here, I do know the guys who run it from my yoga class though).



View Larger Map

[* cuban denotes the preparation style, the corn is US grown corn]

--------------------------------------
JULY 9-12, 2009 People's Choice Arts Festival
(one where you can afford to buy stuff)
Location: BOALSBURG (from State College take South Atherton / Business 322)

When
July 9–12, 2009

Hours
Thursday–Saturday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon–5 p.m.

Where
Pennsylvania Military Museum Grounds
Business Route 322
Boalsburg, PA

A special attraction: The Little Smilin’ Choo Choo will take riders throughout the festival. The charge to ride is $1.00 per rider. The train station is located at the center of the festival in the kids area. (image courtesy PCAF)

Movies

Fifty greatest trailers from all time (Links to IFC)

PSU Discounts

Cellular
3. Penn State cellular discounts update

Penn State has renegotiated new discounts for cellular service for its
employees and students. These new beneficial rates apply to business use for
the University, as well as personal cell phone use. Faculty, staff and
students are encouraged to take advantage of these new discounts. Existing
cellular users also are eligible to add the discount to qualifying plans.

Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/40047/nw4

The ITS Web site at http://css.its.psu.edu/es/phone/staffcellunvsvceqp.html#psurates provides information on cellular contract benefits.


Car Rental
To be added soon. If you go to the PSU Discounts page, sign up with corporate shopping network, then you can get up to 10% discount with enterprise, national etc., even on leisure travel.