Welcome to the personal Web site of Rodney Gedda, a technology journalist and editor in Sydney, Australia. Here you will find a mercurial mix of commentary on IT, journalism, and marketing without the hype. Enjoy!...


A spare battery comes in handy

When I purchased a Lenovo 3000 V100 notebook a couple of years ago I had the foresight to throw in a second battery.

I’m not sure what came over me at the time, perhaps I was thinking “I may as well get two batteries for when I’m at a conference”. Well, that never happened, but the spare battery has sure come in handy.

A few weeks ago my first battery started lasting only 20 mins or so and only a few hours in suspend-to-RAM mode. I didn’t do any quantitative testing of it, but believe you me it was a rapid fall from its peak of a few hours of use and more than a day in hibernation.

My luck with electronic products knows no bounds.

So with my old battery working fine while the notebook was on charge (at least), but performing pathetically on the road, I swapped it out with the never used spare - bingo!

The brand new, old battery is working like a charm and I can now get work done without a power point in sight.

Let’s see how long this one lasts. If I get two years out of it I’ll be happy. Unfortunately Lenovo has discontinued that line of notebook (one of the best around at the time, IMO) so I’ll most likely replace it with a newer model when the battery gives in.

What’s your record for notebook battery life?


I’ve been sucked into Twitter

Due to the requirement to manage TechWorld's Twitter feed I signed up to Twitter today. My feed is @rodneygedda. Tweet away, and away, and...


ANZAC Day 2009

We went to the ANZAC Day service in Gosford over the weekend. It was good to see so many young people turn out for what is the most important day on our calendar. The weather was fine which always helps to bring out the crowds, including many of the local community ...


Kogan’s Linux-powered netbook: Aus owned or made up?

Yesterday I reported on Kogan's Linux netbook which is set to begin selling to local buyers next month. This isn't Earth shattering (no pun intended Victorians) news, but it does make for an interesting case of how a small, independent company can bring to market products typically associated with big box ...


LCA ‘09 wrap up

Congrats to Ben Powell and all the organisers of this year's LCA in Hobart, you did a fantastic job. The build-up to the conference was great and the execution matched - even if the venue's location called for a lot of stair-climbing! And special thanks to Steve Walsh who, for the second ...


Marching south

My first week back at work was quite hectic. E-mails, work and more e-mails. Now I'm pleased to say I'll be marching south for Linux.conf.au 2009. I'll be back in the office after the Australia Day long weekend. This year's conference looks stellar as usual and I'm looking forward to catching up ...


Splashing out at Avoca Beach

We went to Avoca Beach for an early morning swim and snorkel on New Year's Day. Avoca Beach was picture perfect. The water was clear, cool and refreshing. And the rock pool at the southern end of the beach is great for snorkeling and viewing little fish. Unfortunately I didn't bring my ...


Happy holidays

I was so busy leading up to the holiday season I didn't have time to blog. Anyway, here I am again. Have a happy holiday season everyone and all the best for the New Year. Let's hope the economy doesn't sink into recession in 2009 despite all the indications that it will. ...


Hotmail and Linux: an icy relationship

There are a few whispers going around the Internet about Microsoft "breaking" its Hotmail service for Linux users. I can confirm from first-hand experience that this is more of a stupid decision on behalf of both Microsoft and distributors of open source browsers on Linux. Last week my father called me ...


RIP camcorder

My Canon MV550i video camera died a sudden (and presumably painless) death the other week. No warning, no goodbye, just nothing when I turned it on to film a relative's soccer presentation. Doh! So I packed it up and sent it back to Canon with the good faith it could be repaired. ...