Author: David Goodwin

I finally got fed up with my Google Pixelbook (nice keyboard, but ChromeOS was just too annoying and it seemed to lack the ‘oomph’ when it came to using e.g. phpStorm).

Anyway, I bought a i7 Dell xps 13 (9300 …. it has an i7-1065G7 processor).

Random thoughts :

• It’s fan is quite noisy (not loud, but high pitched/noticeable). Perhaps I’m too used to the silence of the pixelbook?
• It’s keyboard is too firm – I’d be a lot happier if the keys were less stiff.
• It was straight forward enough to upgrade it from the supplied Ubuntu 18.04 to Ubuntu 20.04. (Well done Canonical).
• The BIOS update tool Dell bundle in seems to work well (and “just works”).
• Viewing the text console (ctrl+alt+function-key) is almost impossible (text is too small)
• It hasn’t yet got too hot for my lap, but is warmer than the pixelbook
• The screen sometimes “flickers” and changes brightness. It doesn’t turn off, but does seem to flick between two levels.
• The screen is really nice (barely any Bezel)
• The laptop itself is barely bigger than the Chromebook, but I so wish I’d just bought one of these now rather than trying the Chromebook route a year or whatever ago.
• Suspend/Resume appears to work well (I open and close the lid, it’s ready to go ….)

I’ve recently read “Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race” ( Amazon )

It’s something of an eye opening read, and while I (obviously) struggle to relate to some of the issues (especially when it covers Feminism), I’m hoping it’s helped make me more understanding.

So I guess I need to “talk about Race/Racism” with some white people somewhere ….

I live in a predominantly “white” town, grew up in a predominantly “white” area (Herefordshire/Mid Wales). So I’m sure I have some biases I’m not necessarily aware of. This Hidden Brain podcast was interesting listening – covering implicit bias – and this Harvard Project which highlights the power the media has over us (creating associations, stereotypes etc).

From the few non-white people I’ve spoken to, their experiences seem to mirror what’s in this BBC news article (“Should I remove or reply to my racist Facebook friend?“). (Something I’ve been tempted to do with a family member a few times….)

I’m reminded of Bytemark’s trial with anonymous job application process, in an effort to reduce the chance of unconscious bias creeping into an interview/screening. Something I’m trying to push for at $dayjob.