Green Tech Girl

The most enthusiastic CherryPal Brand Angel happens to live close to the offices and she did, in fact, receive her CherryPal green computer today. Alas, despite months of waiting, she was completely unprepared and did not have her USB mouse and keyboard ready to go. (Really? I’m getting rid of my old serial versions since new laptops don’t have ports for them.) Apparently, these CherryPals are really, really small. This is great because my desk is cluttered.

I’m still waiting to receive my CherryPal to review for this blog. Two days ago, I got an email from someone over at CherryPal telling me they’d ship yesterday but needed to confirm my address. I sent my address to them immediately but yesterday heard nothing. No tracking number, no shipment, nothing. Apparently a few other CherryPal Brand Angels have gotten tracking numbers, so some machines have apparently shipped. I’m sorry I was not one of them - I really wanted to see the darn computer after all this time!

Sadly, there are still quite a few angry people over the whole CherryPal debacle, including some folks who claimed they paid for one and never received it or got a refund. We shall see if CherryPal can recover.

Update, 11:40 am PST: I have just received notification from UPS that CherryPal has sent package information to them. I have a tracking number, but the package has not yet been received by UPS so it’s not out for delivery yet. Assuming that all goes well, my scheduled delivery is Friday, December 5. Fingers crossed!

It’s really bad news for a start-up when the press starts writing articles titled: “World hunts CherryPal cloud PC chimera - Have you seen the 2 watt mini machine?” And indeed, the much vaunted CherryPal has yet to materialize. It was flaunted as a green computer taking up only 2 watts of power. It was designed as cloud computer with applications served from the Internet.

I had signed up as a CherryPal Brand Angel, as I wanted to review the computer for this blog. I was excited at the prospect of a Linux-based mini-computer for the masses. Almost six months later, I still do not have the CherryPal that was promised to me back in June. The staff appears to have disappeared. The founder, Max Seybold, has only recently started to communicate with the Brand Angels, many of whom are in active revolt. We were promised that the CherryPals would be shipped on election day (this, after many delays), only to be told recently that they’d be shipped on December 2.

Max complains that an investor pulled out at the last minute leaving him high and dry; however, given that he’s actually asked for mini-investments of only $3,000, I have to wonder if he’s really going after a big enough prize. The company is obviously underfunded. A measly few grand isn’t needed; try a few million.

I would really like CherryPal to suceed, so I am not trying to spread negative rumor just to be unproductive here. But it appears to me that the company will not get off the ground unless someone bites the bullet and gives CherryPal the infusion of cash and talent needed to get it off the ground. This means real investors who will not only put in money but also help create a company structure with good business people running the show.

If CherryPal does manage to make it, perhaps it will be because some forward-thinking company will buy out the company and its fledging product.

As for me, I am not holding my breath any longer for a CherryPal, but if one does magically arrive on my doorstep, I will be happy to give it a fair and honest review. Waiting…

Just a quick note to express my frustration that computers seem to have a clock that kills them just a little bit after the one-year warranty is up. Maybe that means more money for the computer makers, but it’s just soooo much electronic waste. I have an old Pentium II that was custom built 10 years ago and the darn thing still works. It’s been there as a backup of my backup computer, in case nothing works and I need email. I guess they don’t make them like they used to.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to become a brand angel for the new CherryPal green computer, which will be released within a few weeks. It needs only 2 watts of power, and runs on a flash drive without any moving parts. Linux is the operating system, and many of the apps will be available via free “cloud” computing online.

I will be getting my CherryPal to review soon, at which point I am going to run the computer through the motions to see how well it does. (The nice thing about being a brand angel is that they aren’t censoring honest opinion, though there is a financial incentive to write positive things, since we get a small referral bonus for the use of our promo codes. Rest assured, if I hated it, I would not promote it regardless.)

The CherryPal will be for sale on their website soon - use my promo code CPP235 to receive a discount on your purchase.

Back in the day, I used to go to CompUSA with my live-in boyfriend as the quick alternative to Fry’s. Somewhere along the line, CompUSA degenerated into a shell of itself, a dirty, disheveled store with absent customer service.

I went to CompUSA about two years ago to purchase a new computer, with a $600 budget. Having found a model I wanted, I waited around for a sales rep to get the actual computer for me. (The boxes were in the back.) Twenty minutes later, after asking for help, I still had no response in a quiet, dead store. I walked out, telling the cashier that they had just lost a $600 sale. I was not surprised when the store closed down as part of a massive “gutting” of the corporation. (more…)

I have an old Sony Vaio laptop, a Pentium III. I had installed the Ubuntu distribution of Linux on it back in December. It was working OK but the computer was starting to freeze at odd moments. The breakdown would inevitably occur after a very ominous KACHUNG KACHUNG sound from the hard drive.

I wasn’t sure if it was the Linux distribution causing the problems. I had heard from a friend that PCLinuxOS was a very good Linux distribution that happened to run very fast, particularly on older computers. So I downloaded it (Linux is, after all, free) and installed it. No go. The computer was now worse off. (more…)

CNN is reporting about the pain at the pump; will gas prices ever come back down or are we finally seeing the rampant cost of fuel run up as predicted by the peak oil people?

One commenter really struck me:

I waste gas every day. Because even though i could just as easily do my job from home, I am required by my employer to drive into the office every day. My 17 mile commute takes 40 minutes in stop-and-go traffic. I would LOVE to not have to drive in every day. Can someone (eg Congress) please start penalizing businesses that don’t allow people to telecommute where possible??

And I have to say, I am seeing a decided lack of leadership on this issue. Why aren’t we calling for more telecommuting? Why aren’t we encouraging more use of public transit? Why is our government so silent on this issue? Are we just going to sit around and whine or do something about all this?

Telecommuting is cheap and easy to do, and the only reason it is not done more is that bosses are too prone to want to micromanage and control people. With a webcam, the boss could conceivably be looking at you all day at any rate…shades of Big Brother, for sure, but it would solve some of those management fears that instead of working at home, the employees are out partying.

We need to start making some serious changes, NOW. The worst case scenario: If these prices continue to rise so dramatically, it will be too much too soon and our economy could collapse. So let’s start being more proactive, please!

*end of rant*

Another good quiz from the Sierra Club:

How Green is My PC?

I just bought my first printer in nine years. Yes, that’s right, nine years. When I say I am anti-consumerism, I really mean that. If something works, I don’t just throw it out to get something new. I have a perfectly good 1994 HP LaserJet that still does the bulk of my printing. In 1999, I bought an Epson color inkjet. That was the last printer I purchased. I wasn’t using it that much, but it, along with an old printer/scanner combo a friend gave me, finally bit the dust.

So I went to Costco and got a new Canon all-in-one printer for around $100 with tax. This thing is amazing. It prints, it scans, it copies, and it faxes. And excuse me for sounding like an old fart here, but back in the day I used to own a printer, a copier, a fax machine and a scanner. Trying to find homes for these items in my then one-bedroom apartment was a challenge. My home copier was actually situated on the top of my fridge. (more…)