This and that ...

The new machine is here. I'll write a full review after I get to know it. First impressions:

- The case is haute cheap computer -- the little front door covering two USB ports doesn't like to be opened, and at the rear I'm not entirely comfortable that cards/ports etc. are that secure on the frame.

- When the machine booted up, my obvious first priority was to get on the net ... but it didn't find its own, manufacturer-installed internal modem. Not a real problem -- the external from my previous machine was sitting right there -- but not confidence-inspiring.

If those are the only two problems, I'll consider the machine a good deal for the price (even if I had paid for it instead of taking it in trade on a work contract). It runs fast. Xandros SurfSide Linux came pre-installed, and the user setup was quick and easy. Still messing with fonts, themes, etc. I don't know if my headache is because I ran out of cola early and haven't picked up any yet, or from the color scheme and such.

It's really nice to count bootup times, OpenOffice load times, etc. in seconds instead of 10-minute increments.

Enough of that. Kn@ppster had its 200,000th visitor some time early this morning (wow -- half the traffic The Evil One gets in a day!), and should hit its 300,000th page view some time in the next day or so. Cool.

Kn@ppster's new look is coming Extra Real Soon Now -- I've seen the "test template" and it rocks. Jen of Digitally Essential does too.