Apple, Netbook. Two things that have yet to be put together. Of course, if you want sleek and thin you have the Macbook Air. But really, who has $1800 laying around for the luxury of having a compact laptop? And by the way, I want a compact laptop Apple, not a thinner one. What is the point of having a laptop that although only 3/4th’s of an inch thick but is still the same size as a macbook width/length wise?

On to other means of obtaining a compact laptop. In comes – netbooks. Yes, the portable, small, compact laptop that can do everything a regular laptop can except one thing: CD/DVD drives. Sure, its not going to be a powerhouse computer but if you want something to take with you and still be able to do 80-90% of the stuff you were probably going to do on your other main laptop/computer then a netbook is right up your alley.

I did a good couple months of research on the perfect netbook. I needed something small of course, along with a decent amount of space for my programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Office, etc. As well as all the usual stuff I would be needing like multiple USB ports, VGA out, SD card slot, and a good battery life. Most importantly was the ability to be able to hackintosh it so I can run Mac OSX Leopard on it. I had quite a hard time pinpointing a right netbook that would not give me any real issues when hackintoshing it. That’s when my eyes came across a BoingBoing article that had a chart as if it was created just for me.

Great! A list of netbooks that had the ranges of compatibility with a Hackintosh install by order of part. My eyes immediately went after the one that had the fewest “red marks”. I struck gold, the Dell Mini 9 hit one out of the park. It was fully compatible with a hackintosh install. So off to Dell I went to order one. I soon realized that the standard 16GB Solid State Drive it comes with won’t accomidate my needs so I ordered a RunCore 64 GB SSD online for $200 off MyDigitalDiscount.com. I also came across another small snafu, it only came with 1GB of RAM! This was actually not Dell’s fault but Microsoft’s. Yes, thats right. Im blaming Microsoft. See, they have issues with manufacturers selling computers and laptops with Windows XP installed with more than enough hardware specs it needs. I suppose they just want Vista to sell, but I think its a pretty crappy move on their part. Either way, I was able to purchase a 2GB RAM stick from Dell for a miesly $20 extra. After all that was done, it was time to watch the calendar and clock until the UPS truck came by.

3 weeks pass by, and I have all the things I need to get my Hackintosh project started.

1 Dell Mini 9 netbook, check.
1 2GB RAM stick, check.
1 64GB RunCore SSD, check.
1 official Mac OSX Leopard Install DVD, check.
1 USB 8GB Flash Drive Stick, check.
1 USB External CD-R/DVD-R Drive, check.
1 Free Day to dedicate to complete the project, check.

Before I got started I opened up my Dell Mini 9 and did a bit of surgery. I took out Dell’s stock 16GB SSD and 1 GB RAM stick. I then installed the 2GB RAM stick and 64GB SSD from RunCore. Popped that lid closed again, screwed it up and booted up. There are a few YouTube videos floating around on how to properly install RAM and upgrade your SSD.

I begun with following one of many hackintosh guides for the Mini 9 online and have everything handy on my desk. I ultimately chose Gizmodo’s guide because they had always served me well in the past. I followed the instructions to the T and much to my suprise I did not have as many problems as I had anticipated. A few errors that I did encounter were fixable (such as starting the bootloader from a USB stick other than a CD). Sometimes my Mini 9 would freeze during a BIOS or DOS prompt but after a reboot everything was fine and it continued to install OSX.

Later that night, once all was done I finally booted up into Leopard! Joy! I was really impressed with the speed and usability of Leopard on such a small machine. I started to wonder why Apple dislikes them so much. Leopard only took about 8GB of my 64GB so I had plenty of room to put all my programs and even some music and movies on as well. But thats where Flash drives and portable external hard drives come in.

So there you have it, another successful story of a hackintosh netbook project. If Apple had only sold one of these babies to me maybe I wouldnt have had to go through all this trouble but in the end I think its better this way. After all, its the thrill of the hunt (or project) that makes me happy. Oh and I took the following snapshot on my Dell Mini 9 netbook just to spite Apple. Get on the ball people! There’s a HUGE market for this!

(click to enlarge)

Remember when metal detectors were all the rage? The thrill of being able to find something someone buried or lost underground that might be valuble? Usually the beach, or a park would be a good place to start if you wanted a good chance of finding something. Well, not anymore.

Geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunting sport where participants use a GPSr to seek out caches (containers) all around the world. With literally hundreds of thousands (and growing) caches placed in hundreds of countries there are limitless adventures you could be drawn into to find a cache. A geocache can hold something as little as a note or trinkets, or even other valuble items for you to find. Usually the rule of thumb is, if your going to take something from the cache you need to leave something behind of equal or greater value. Most geocaches also have a logbook so that you can record your visit.

Using the Internet to find websites that list geocached coordinates, you can then use your GPS device to help you track it down. Some websites like Geocaching.com have a social aspect to it that will allow others to post hints or comments on that particular cache. This can be very helpful especially if that cache has been muggled with (a term which implies its been taken or moved by a non-geocacher unaware of what it was) so that you know ahead of time before venturing out and never finding it.

Geocached items can range from trinkets, toys, cds, books, coins, buttons, to more personal valubles that are sentimental to the previous geocacher who was there. There are also Travel Bugs or Geocoins that can be found which are items that request to be “carried over” to another cache so that it can keep moving. A log is kept and updated online by the person who found it so that the original owner can see where that tagged bug or coin has been. These Travelbugs or Geocoins can travel sometimes hundreds of thousands of miles, even to other continents and across the world.

Geocaches range in size, difficulty and location but most importantly are always intended to be found. So, if you wanted to take a little geocaching adventure what would you need?

a handheld GPSr (Global Positioning System reciever)
a Flashlight (if it gets dark)
some trinkets or goodies you would like to exchange

Its wise to do your research first before heading out in order to obtain the coordinates and have an idea of some sort to know what your looking for. Grab a free account at Geocaching.com and do a search for your address or zip code to find nearby caches.

I use my iPhone 3G to do most of the work, both obtaining the coordinates and locating it. A few apps that I’ve tested and find useful would be “Geocaching”, “GeopherLite” and “iGCT”. All of which can help you find geocaches, act as a GPSr, and decode any encypted messages you might stumble across along the way.  However if your budget is tight and can only choose one, go with the “Geocaching” app.

By Geocaching you experience going out to places and finding not only the items but actual locations that you may have never knew about. Scenic trails, quiet areas of solitude, and other peaceful places that can only be found if – the Geocache is found.

Happy Hunting!