wow factor

Today I pulled down the $25 Solar Powered Christmas Lights and tinkered.
The solar panel (65mm x 100mm) recharges 3 AA batteries.
Our "always on" mains charger is now redundant as this now recharges batteries for our Cameras, Mice and Wii.
Canberra is one of Australia's sunniest regions which makes solar very dependable.

Now, all I need to work out is how to get it to charge the iPhone and the better half's Nokia.

The iPhone solution may be using a recharged battery powered USB charger, like the Altoids wrapped MintyBoost

This project reminds me of an unresolved issue for technology companies.
What happened to the agreement that Mobile Phone manufacturers would agree on new mobile phone interface standards

They all rabbit on about how green they are but continue shipping products that require new chargers and accessories.... yes Apple, I'm looking at your iPod/iPhone changes.

Ars Technica reviews the MacBook Air

One way to look at the MacBook Air is as the largest and most capable iPod in Apple's line—think of it as an iPod touch Extreme with a built-in keyboard. It is not meant to be your only or main computer—rather, it's a secondary (or even tertiary) computer. It has to be, because it depends on the presence of at least one other computer in order to install anything from an optical drive, unless you buy an external optical drive

This comprehensive review left me with the impression that this is stage one in the development of a light, thin, stylish and capable laptop.

The summary below has me marking this clever MacBook Air with...
some major improvements expected.

Article summary.....

The Good

• Form factor is indisputably thin and light. Photos don't do it justice
  Sturdy despite its looks
• Works great as a full-size portable Internet device

The Bad

• Migration Assistant is incredibly annoying to use without FireWire
• Most of your USB devices won't fit into the tiny port door—stock up on your extension cables
• Performance isn't exactly the Air's strong point compared to other Macs

The Ugly

• 4200rpm drive causes major machine slowdowns when there's lots of disk activity
• Battery life is disappointing—only half of advertised life on lowest screen brightness