Hey guys, I have been so busy these last few days, just loaded with schoolwork at the moment so unfortunately my blog has been put on the backburner. I'll definately be trying to get to my blog more often to talk about anything cool that has been happening.
One thing I am really excited about (and many of you already know) is the impending release of Mario Kart DS. I have been looking forward to this game coming out for so long and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I would have finished all this schoolwork by then (for those who don't know me, I am a computer science student) and getting Mario Kart DS and playing online will be a great kinda 'reward' for me if you will.
The other day I did come across something interesting on the internet. Anybody who is interested in their computer security would probably find this interesting. The site simply displays a map of the world and gives information on the top computers that are being used to attack other machines. This frequently happens if your PC has been infected with spyware or a virus and has become a 'drone' or 'slave' to another master PC. Computer hackers sometimes infect many thousands of computers with a virus allowing them to take control of your computer to most often launch DOS (Denial of Service) attacks on websites for example in an attempt to take them down.
The website has a link allowing you to see if your computer has been infected and is being used to attack other PC's. One last thing to mention, any Nintendo DS owners who are fans of Metroid will be interested in the new Metroid Pinball game just released. Sure, its no Metroid Prime:Hunters, but will most likely tide you over until u get ur hands on that one im sure.
Be sure to check up on upcoming posts as I will be calling out to any Nintendo DS owners who will be getting a copy of Mario Kart DS and play online to participate in a 'Mario Kart DS meetup' where we could all connect to a game for example and play MK online which should be fun. Anybody who is interested in something like that, plz let me know.
That's it for me for another day, until next time, have fun!
Hey guys, anyone using Windows XP on a home network and using shared folders to share information between your computers? Most likely you are.
I wrote a small article on how to better secure your windows shared folders on your network. Simple things like disabling simple file sharing and setting folder permissions makes a big difference to the security of your computer system. I was just sifting through some of networking settings on my windows machine (im an avid Linux user also, just until I get a new Mac) and noticed that I had simple file sharing enabled. I had heard about the different types of file sharing windows XP machines have and though to myself "Damm, after all this time, my windows shares probably aren't very secure, any old fool could access them".
Anybody who uses Windows XP (Home or Pro) and heavily relies upon shared folders to share information between their PC's should really take a look at what I wrote here. Thanks guys, and remember Windows is no where near as bulletproof as you might think. :)
"Imagine a quick and painless way to move all of your applications, settings, and data files from your old PC to your new PC while keeping all the new software intact".
That is just one of the many great features of this new application I just happened to stumble across in my travels. In case you haven't already clicked, the application is called LAPLINK PCmover and it is similar to other partition imaging software such as Norton Ghost (Now Symantec Ghost) and PowerQuest DriveImage in that you have the ability to create a 'snapshot' so to speak of your exising windows installation (plus all ur installed applications, drivers, settings etc) and save that to a 2nd hard drive, save it to another computer on a network and even burn it onto a DVD if you wish.
The great thing that sets this application apart is that if you have multiple PC's connected on the same network, you can take the windows installation of one PC and copy that exact same installation of windows across multiple PC's and adjusts your drivers to suit each machine. It kinda works like Windows files & settings transfer wizard, but much more detailed and functional.
Anybody who format's their PC regularly and can't be bothered with having to go through the lengthy process of finding all your cd's for drivers, application installations, whatever, then LAPLINK PCmover is truely for you. Be sure to check it out and download the demo (retails for $49.95) at their website. I have used Norton Ghost in the past, and trust me this is so easy to use my grandma could use it (excuse the cliche' lol).
Big news this week guys with the newest addition to the iTunes Music Store, no sir not Madonna....Australia, YES! Australia finally has an iTunes music store in which Australian residents can download new music legitimately from the ITMS.
As an Australian myself, I am very excited about getting proper access to the iTunes Music Store. Some of our copyright laws here I think are just crazy and really need to be ammended for a more modern age. Under current law, it is ILLEGAL to 'rip' music from a music album (that you own mind you) to your PC for use with an iPod, how crazy is that. Although that is a law, enforcing it doesn't really seem to be on any authorities mind. There are just over 20 million people in Australia and probably 85-90% of those people do rip music from audio cd's becuase people just think that these laws are so rediculous anyway.
Prior to having access to the iTunes Music Store, the only way for Australians to move music to their iPods was to rip audio from cd's but that was technically illegal anyway, so owning an iPod was legal, but using it was a totally different story.
Its great we have a music store now and prices here are almost exactly the same as in the US. Downloading a song is USD$0.99c in the US, and AUD$1.69 here in AUS which equates to the same price which is good. The iTunes Music Store went online at 3amAEST October 25th for anybody who is interested.
Politicians here are working towards ammending many of these laws which pose such an inflexibility with a more modern age of computing and now with the addition of the iTunes Music Store, we all have something extra to be excited about.
Attention all Nintendo DS users, this is a major step for all of us who are wanting to use their Nintendo DS as a personal note taker, address book, organizer or even emailer.
Nintendo has licensed software from a company by the name of Zi Corporation that will allow the system to recognize and understand handwritten text and interpret that into a document of some kind, or allow you to hand write your contacts list, phone numbers, addresses etc. This has so many implications and will be interesting to see what happens with the software in the coming months.
What's really interesting about this new software is that when Nintendo WI-FI connection comes online next month, one would think that there wouldn't really be anything stopping the software from accessing your email and even send email using the wifi and online capabilities of the DS. This could really be great for any DS owner, not only you will be able to play games using Nintendo WIFI conenciton, but also surf the internet perhaps when a browser becomes avaliable, and also send and recieve emails. The whole idea of handwriting recognition for the DS doesn't really sound too far out of reach, after all, the Nintendo DS could be the easiest platform to implement this technology on for portable devices (other than PDA's obviously lol).
For more information on the story, be sure to check out the article at eurogamer.net. There isn't any indication of release dates of the software, but I'm sure this will make and DS owner get excited about the future of the handheld.
My favourite online show PurePwnage will be releasing a new episode very soon and to coinside with the release, they are looking for two asian females (age 16-25) from the Toronto area for parts in the show.
At first it sounded like a pretty rascist remark on their website, but I heard about some information on their upcoming episode that will include Jeremy meeting two girls who im guessing must be really good at video games or something lol, who knows. There could possibly an introduction of two new characters to the series, or it might just be a casting call for episode 9 only. It will be interesting to see what reality is when the new episode is released.
If anybody is interested and lives in the Toronto area and available Saturday Oct 29th 11:00am-4:00pm should email the guys at noobschoolbus@purepwnage.com with their interest and headshot photo (lol not that headshot u FPS'ers).
Many people don't know about this show, but its an online series based on the central character by the name of Jeremy who is a 'professional' gamer and believes that he 'owns' all other gamers out there. If you have never heard of the series, don't worry your probably not alone, but its definately well worth checking out. Regular visitors to my blog will probably no doubt remember my many posts i've made in the past about PurePwnage and how funny it is.
You should go over to their website and download their latest episode #8. Funny Stuff!
What does everybody think about this new mission to the moon that NASA has planned for 2014? I myself think its a great idea, but there are many people out there who are saying "Why the hell would we want to go back to the moon, we've been there before?".
I know we've been there before but there has been so much we have learned since our last moon missions and will be a good stepping stone to later explorations of Mars and eventual manned missions to the red planet. The international space station is scheduled for completion by 2010 which will be great for the new moon mission and you'd think it would make things a little easier regarding supplies and equipment are concerned.
President Bush's plans for the next 20 years are as follows: - Complete International Space Station by 2010 & retire the space shuttle. - Develop and test new exploration vehicles for the crew to use on the lunar surface. - First manned flight to the moon by 2014 - Send robotics to the moon by 2008 to explore the moon's surface (don't we know what's there already lol) - Return humans to the moon by 2020. Source: NASA.COM - President Bush Vision
I was born in 1985 so I was obviously too young to see the Apollo moon missions and the first landing in 1969, so if these new moon missions do go ahead, it will be great to be able to see a moon mission in my lifetime. Sure i've seen footage of the original moon landings, but seeing it for myself will be something.
For anybody that did see the original moon landings, remember what the footage was like, all black and white and the film a little grainy, but you could still see quite detailed images right. That was back in 1969, imagine the image quality of television broadcasts of new moon missions will be like. Most likely full color images with multiple camera angles possibly lol. Who knows. All I know if for human space flight, the next 20 years will be quite an interesting time.
Hey guys, got a quick post for you today. Anyone out there who absolutely hates Microsoft (Windows in particular) or has experienced the imfamous 'blue screen of death' (BSOD) you need to take a look at this.
This site at Daimyo.org features various images of public Windows faliures from various locations around the world. Stuff like McDonalds drive-thru's, airport departure screens, etc. Very funny stuff.
Half the time when somebody get a blue screen of death it just randomly happens for no apparent reason at all and becomes very annoying. People that like to see Windows Operating Systems get publicly humilliated, check this out.
Now I just know all you guys are saying "Oh my god, not another version of MSN". It is a widely known fact that AOL's instant messenger (AIM) has been the dominant IM client in the US with MSN messenger riding shotgun for quite some time. Well, Microsoft are set to give AOL some real competition I think this time around, with their newest incarnation MSN 8.
Now previous versions of MSN messenger have strictly been IM's and that's more or less it. MSN 8 has a myriad of new features that will make even the most tech savy interested. For starters, anybody who is a user of MSN will be familiar with their 'sign-in' page when msn first loads. Well this screen has had a complete renovation and now features better support for multiple users and user switching (much like you can do in Windows XP), with each user identified with their MSN name and their display picture which is pretty cool.
Once you've signed in, you will be presented with a totally new IM interface allowing you to do some pretty cool stuff like obviously talks with ur friends on your contacts list, but you can now also access your calendar in Outlook or Outlook express, check your email (in the MSN client, yes no browser opening) from your hotmail account, check out a new MSN today page, and one more thing....a dashboard, yes a dashboard.
The dashboard in MSN 8 is probably one of the most impressive features of MSN becuase it will allow you to seamlessly integrate your MSN contacts list straight into your desktop, and not only your contacts, but calendars, to do lists, news stories, weather, stocks information, photos and email all from one easily accessible location.
I have never been more interested in an upcoming release of MSN than I am right now. I am an avid user of MSN (Yes, MSN is popular in Australia) and will be great to put some of these new features through their paces.
MSN 8 is expected to release Oct 24 with both a free version and a subscription based version I believe for approx. USD$10 per month. I don't think there will be much difference between the two versions other than some specialist stuff you might find in the subscription version. Other than that, this is one product I am definately looking forward to seeing.
I was thinking for today's post that i'd write about some of the new displays that are out such as LCD tv's, Plasmas, Front/Rear Projection, etc, but as soon as I read this article, I had to tell you guys about this one.
Everybody knows of the well known video games retailer Electronics Boutique (EB) and some people like them, some people don't. Well, to set things straight a former employee of EB tells all on what actually goes on 'behind the games'. An article on buzzscope entitled The Mad Gamer #4: EB Games EXPOSED! was written by a man by the handle 'The Mad Gamer' and was a former employee at EB, and some of the stuff he talks about in the article will make you take another look at everyone's favourite game store.
Just to give you guys an idea of the article, here's the opening paragraph:
Hello all. I'm cutting right to the chase this week. If you want to buy video games, buy them anywhere but Electronics Boutique. Just so you all know, The Mad Gamer was at one point in time an employee of EB. I've seen it all, done it all, and now I will repent for my past sins by dishing out all the dirt you never knew about EB. In the end you'll be glad that you've read what I have to say. - The Mad Gamer (Buzzscope.com 2005-10-18)
He goes over different 'procedures' the company has in place that their employees MUST follow in certain scenarios such as if a customer asks for your opinion on a game, if you were following procedure, you would not be allowed to give it. Also, things like pestering a customer to purchase an item when they are just browsing and information he talks about in the article about their trade in policy will make you think 'Why, Why, WHY!!
Trust me, this article is a definate read for anybody into games, or even business for that matter lol. Some very interesting points are raised by 'The Mad Gamer' and really gives you a great insight into what actually goes on behind closed doors at each EB store, and even what happens at corporate level of the business. Granted, the article does sound a little biased, but I sure don't work at EB so how would I know.
Hey Guys, there has been alot going on in the world on technology lately and I've been keeping track of only a few here on my blog such as the introduction of the video iPod and what's happening with next gen gaming. For today's post, I thought I'd spend some time going over what I'm finding interesting from recent days.
I was looking around on digg.com the other day and noticed somebody had submitted an article which basically entailed an interview with a Senior VP of Sony Computer Entertainment. He was saying stuff like We want to provide a level of service to our customers that is unmatched.....If people see the PS2 as only a gaming machine, we have FAILED? What the hell does that mean? How can this guy from Sony say that the PS2 had failed at being a gaming machine if people viewed it as ONLY being a gaming machine? Wasn't the console built to be a gaming machine in the first place? lol very weird stuff. Sure the PS2 can also play DVD's, but out of the millions of PS2 owners out there, most must have other DVD players of some kind they use, and out of these people, who uses their PS2 to play DVD's?? Sure this is only my opinion, Ive used my PS2 to play DVD's on occasions, but mainly I bought a PS2 to play games. When I first read this, my reaction to it was a loud and clear "WTF?".
While I'm on the subject of the PS2, the next generation of game consoles is something else that is really interesting me at the moment. 3 Major contenders the XBox 360, PS3 and Nintendo's Revolution all put up a strong fight as far as expected performance, looks, usability and of course that all important WOW! factor. So, do any of these consoles make me wanna stand up and scream "I want it bad"? Well, possibly the PS3 for me becuase I'm such a fan of so many games that are currently on the PS2 and looking forward to a PS3 visit such as MGS4 which will be cool. As I've talked about in previous posts, I was really thinking of getting an XBox 360 (only becuase its released the earliest and couldn't wait), but I think that in the long run, If I wait for the PS3 I'll be the most happy with it.
The Video iPod is another major story going around at the moment, I think its really one of those devices where you either love it or hate it. I myself love the idea, but don't really see a reason to get it. Why fork out a hundred or so more for essentially the same iPod we all know, just with video playback? I bought the iPod nano about 4-5 weeks ago now and I love it so much, so small and very happy with it.
Mmmm, what else has been happening. On the topic of Apple, they have released their new updated G5 iMac. The new machine is essentially the same as it used to be, but with some slight modifications. For one, you will notice that it is much thinner than the previous model, and also has a built in iSight camera which is kinda cool. I love the computer and is a reasonably good price for what u are getting ($1299 last time I checked). Still, if anybody out there is really thinking about buying a new mac in the future, I would really suggest you wait for the new Intel based Mac's that will be shipping sometime next year I think. Theoretically you will be getting better performance than current PowerPC based machines, and you would think that since they are Intel based, the prices of all machines will come down also since the CPU's are traditionally cheaper anyway. I think it will be very unlikely on Apple's part to lower the price, but hey, who knows right.
Well I know there has been much more happening in the world of technology, but I could talk about this stuff for days If you really wanted me to. I know this week so far I've been talking alot about Apple products and next gen gaming, but this stuff is interesting for me anyhow. Be sure to check out my next few posts, I promise I will be covering some new and interesting stuff, probably something about new displays you can get these days such as LCD TV's, Plasmas and Front - Rear Projection, thats seems to be the new buzz at the moment (and interesting nonetheless lol) as well as some other cool stuff.
That's it for me for today. Thank's guys for all the support, it's much appreciated and hope you look forward to my next post, should be good :).
Ahh this is so cool, another step towards finally being able to get my hands on Mario Kart DS when it's released next month, along with Nintendo's new (and amazing) Online Wi-Fi connection.
Nintendo Wi-Fi connection is a free Online gaming service avaliable to ALL Nintendo DS owners which will allow them to play a vast amount of titles over the internet against opponents from each corner of the globe. I have been so looking forward to how Nintendo will implement it into the NDS as far as the menu system is concerned. I stumbled across (as usuall, always stumbling across stuff lol) a flickr user by the name of Apreche who has posted various images of Nintendo DS wifi in action, with various menus such as setting up a connection, IP and Subnet configuration, how to connect (via wireless access point, wireless router or Nintendo's USB Wifi accessory) and much much more.
Just by looking at the menus Nintendo have developed for the service, you can tell that connecting will be such a breeze and that is definately something that Nintendo do well. They can take a potentially complex setup of the new services for customers and turn it into something that probably won't take any longer than a few minutes to set up for the first time, and once everything is all set up, you won't have to worry about it ever again, just throw in your game and start playing.
Nintendo Wi-Fi connection is due to go online 14th Novembember, with WAP's installed and online across the US around the same time. Now all my chums who don't live in the US (don't worry), although Wireless access points won't be installed by Nintendo in every country (Japan also will have Nintendo Access points) we will still be able to connect to this amazing service at home via a wireless router, WAP or with the provided Nintendo USB Wi-Fi connector.
Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector allows users who don't have a wireless home network to access the service.
Although there are currently no titles avaliable which will support this new service, on the 14th Nov when the service does go online, Nintendo will release 2 highly awaited games which will have Online capability, Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing Wild World. I am so looking forward to getting my hands on Mario Kart DS and playing Online against people from all over, it will be so fun. Just think, only a few more weeks....a few more (I can't wait).
Around the same time, 3rd party developer Activision will release a new Tony Hawk game entitied Tony Hawk's American Sk8land which will also be Online enabled. Don't forget Metroid Prime:Hunters guys, this game has been in the works at Nintendo for such a long time, but will finally see the light of day sometime early next year and (Yes guys), you will be able to play Metroid Prime online which will be so sweet, can't wait for that.
Gee's, a long post but such an exciting time for any Nintendo fan and ALL no doubt Nitendo DS owners who are looking for their next challenge online. It is these kinds of things that Nintendo do very well and I would expect the new service being such a hit when it goes online next month, and with a strong line-up of games coming out with this online support, all one can see for Nintendo are very strong holiday sales with some very happy handheld gamers out there!
Wanna become a mathematical genius, cube root style?
Ever wanted to show people how mathematically gifted you were with the ability to cube roots of 9 digit numbers in your head?
"A number cubed is that number times itself times itself. For example, 4 cubed, normally written 43, is 4 × 4 × 4 = 64. The cube root goes in the opposite direction, so the cube root of 64 is 4." I stumbled across this website that will 'teach' you this amazing ability and gives really good step by step instruction on accomplishing this feat.
A few days ago Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced at a keynote speech in San Jose California that the new 5th Gen iPod is now released. This is the new video iPod we have been expecting Apple to release for quite some time now with rumor after rumor circulating the internet.
This will be the iPod that will be replacing the current 4th gen iPod and will be avaliable in both 30GB and 60GB models with the 60GB model slightly thicker to accomodate that extra space.
First impressions for me weren't the best. It just looks like an iPod nano with larger storage capacity and video playback. The video iPod will retail for USD$299 (30GB) and USD$399 (60GB) respectively. The whole idea of a video capable iPod seems like a really great idea, but with a price tag this large, I believe it will be hard for consumers to give in and get one. I know I just bought the iPod nano a few weeks ago (and love it), but I just don't really feel the need to be watching music videos wherever I go, it would just feel so inconvenient having to carry it around just to watch it whilst walking down the street.
I think this is a product that just had to come out to satisfy those people who will actually have a good use for it, but Im sure I can speak for many others out there who are just saying "Why the hell would u want to watch ur music, when music is there to be listened to?" You take music with you whilst on the move so u can listen to it, not have to walk around watching a screen and not the road in front of you.
I'm not really sure about this new iPod, sure you will still be able to listen to your music, audiobooks, podcasts just like u can on any other iPod, but does it really warrant an increase of USD$100-$150 just for video playback?
Let us know what u guys think of the new video iPod, I'd be interested to see what other people think of it!
I know many Windows users who are frequently asking me "How come I keep getting blue screens?" or "Why does it take forever for applications to load in windows?". As with many Operating Systems, when you have been using it for a while, files in the filesystem start breaking up in a way known as fragmentation. This leads to many problems such as sluggish performance, long load times, etc. Other than 'defraging' your hard drive, you can optimize your system's memory, cache sizes, virtual memory, registry editing and so much more. There are so many different ways to speed up a sluggish windows machine, no wonder people get all crazy about it.
I found a really great site which has heaps of VERY useful 'Tweaks' and Tips for Windows 2000/XP users for increasing performance of the PC itself, network tweaks, sound & multimedia improvements and so on. Lately if someone has been asking me how improve their XP machines in particular, I have reffered them to this site if their problem is too difficult to explain simply.
I have checked out many of these tweaks on the site and they work extremely well. A really great place to check out if your a Windows user who just feels like throwing their PC out the window and switching to a Mac (trust me, I feel like that all the time lol).
Lol, if you have really had it with windows and just want to get away from it all and want to keep your existing PC, why not give Linux a try. These days Linux is as easy to use as Windows and many distributions have great applications bundled like Office utilities, Web browsers and more or less anything you'll need to use on your PC.
Its granted that Windows is quite useful for many tasks and Im sure u'll want to try fix your problems with windows becuase its just easier right! I completely understand. Give this site a good read through, they have done a great job with it.
The next generation of video game consoles is going to be a very exciting time for anybody even remotely interested in the gaming industry. I myself am looking forward to the Playstation 3 but seriously contemplating an XBox 360 becuase from what i've seen of it so far, most on the 360 seems pretty impressive.
Peter Rojas of engadget got to play with Microsoft's new toy just a few days ago, and he feels like Microsoft have done a pretty decent job with the 360. I was very weary of the new console from Microsoft as I was never a big fan of the original XBOX (trust me, I own a PS2 and love it, but am not a fanboy) and from what I originally saw of the 360, it didn't really look all that impressive to me.
But, recently in these last few weeks, im starting to come around. Even though from what ive seen seems pretty impressive, im not really sure if i'm going to make a firm decision on which next gen console im going to purchase in the coming months.
When the guys at Sony unveilled the PS3, i was expecting to be totally amazed, and trust me I was. The console looks great and the actual ability of the console is quite impressive, but when I saw the controller which closely resembles a crecent moon or something, I was so turned off of the PS3 even though I was such a fan of the PS2. I know just from looking around on the internet that Sony's new controller has not been that well recieved and I have heard (although not confirmed) that Sony are redesigning their PS3 controller based on end-user comments and feedback.
If Sony are developing a new controller and is substantially better than this weird thing they're calling their PS3 controller at the moment, I'll be happy to keep my eggs in the Playstation 3 basket. With the release date of the PS3 expected to be around the Q3 2006, we all still have a long time to wait.
I am so tempted to get an XBox when it is released in November 2005 in the US, but realistically for us here in Australia, we aren't going to see it here until sometime early 2006. It would be good to get an XBOX 360, but I think in the long run ill be happier with a PS3 becuase there are so many games that I can't wait for such as Metal Gear Solid 4.
The next generation of video games will soon be here, and me personally I can't wait!
Hey guys. You all have probably noticed that I haven't posted for a few days, that's becuase I was in Sydney for a few days. I had a great time up there, but I'm back now, back into everything technology.
I haven't had a chance to catch up with everything that's been going on with technology since being away, but tomorrow's post will be a great one I can guarrantee it!
What this guy has more or less done is just taken an ordinary digital camera, bought a very cheap timer chip (the LM555 Precision Timer chip to be exact) and just re-wired the circuit which takes pictures so that it will take a snapshot at regular intervals of perhaps 5 seconds, 10 seconds, whatever really.
This is really cool. It is a relatively basic idea but you can achieve some really great pictures by doing this, you just need to check out the article for yourself, there are a ton of pics there. You know what, there are a few camera's out there at the moment I think that already have a timer which takes photos on intervals so this 'mod' would be even easier.
The whole premise behind the idea could be applied to practically anything, instead of attaching your camera to a kite, why not attach it to your dog for a week or something, that would produce some very cool pictures one would imagine! lol.
BitTorrent is perhaps one of the most popular pieces of software for the distribution of large files over the internet such as audio and video and has recently aquired $8.75M from an undisclosed venture capital firm based out of the US. BitTorrent are quite well known, but they are wanting to break out into the mainstream market to appeal to new customers and clients with their hopes to be able to legitimately distribute Hollywood blockbuster films and music from various recording artists.
I hear you saying "well isn't that illegal, distributing free hollywood movies and music. Whats makes BitTorrent so different from the other file sharing applications out there today?". Well, BitTorrent hope that by using these newly avaliable funds they will be able to set up deals with major companies to "distribute paid and ad-supported content, using this technology" says Ashwin Navin (co-founder of BitTorrent).
I truely agree, the client who is providing this amazing service (BitTorrent) will NEVER make money with how the technology is currently set up with its many users providing torrents to many illegal materials such as movies, music and even other software applications such as Microsoft Windows and Apple's MacOSX. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to find out what people are distributing on BitTorrent these days, all you gotta do is check out the various torrent hosting sites such as isohunt.com and the highly controversial provider 'The Pirate Bay'.
The BitTorrent technology in my mind has tremendous potential to do legitimate things as it's already doing with the podcasting community in particular making use of it as a cheap alternative to expensive web hosting of the podcasts. Podcasters and Open Source developers really make this technology work and they both are two legal uses for distributing files over the internet.
At the moment, I don't think BitTorrent have any problems proving their legitimacy of the company to people, but hopefully with its plans to encourage new business opportunities their way from the mainstream environment, ads and spyware don't become a plague upon BitTorrent.
Well new enough anyway lol. This is so very cool, I don't know how these guys did it. A new Open Source Operating System called MenuetOSis a fully featured x86 32-bit OS written entirely in assembly language. Writing the OS in assembly language is really the only way to get the ENTIRE OS small enough to fix solely on ONE floppy disk.
Besides being able to run off a floppy disk, what really makes MenuetOS different is that it isn't really based on any particular operating system out there such as UNIX like most Open Source operating systems are (linux anyone?). For the designers, programmers and engineers working on the project, the main goal was to minimize complication in their code which obviously helps in minimizing bugs, but also so to remove many overheads and various application layers most modern operating systems have. This in tern reduces the total size of the operating system, whilst keeping it running as fast as possible becuase remember it is supposed to be running straight off a disk.
MenuetOS has many other features including: - Pre-emptive multitasking, multithreading, ring-3 protection - Responsive GUI with resolutions up to 1280x1024, 16 million colours - IDE: Editor/Macro Assembler for building kernel and applications - TCP/IP stack with Loopback, PPP & Ethernet drivers - Network applications include ftp/http/mp3/smtp servers, - irc, http, nntp and tftp clients - Free-form, skinnable application windows - Hard real-time data fetch - Fits uncompressed on a single floppy
Just by taking a look at these various features, its not hard to see that this OS really packs a punch for its size and could come in really handy for times when Windows really isn't Windows anymore.
Remember to check out the MenuetOS website for more information on this truely amazing operating system and also links to download it. Enjoy!
As you guys know, I am an avid Apple fan and have been for quite some time. Any chance I get to voice my appreciation for the company I take and I guess now is no exception.
For anybody who has seen the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" (Thanks cherryblossmgrl) will no doubt find this interesting. I found a great history of Apple article entitled First Bytes into an Applewhich goes over the very beginnings of the Apple Computer company.
Starting from the very first Apple I (Thanks Steve Wozniak!) right up to the latest and greatest from Apple, the article is quite in depth and a great read through. Its always good to look back on what was for nostalgic purposes and for me, anything Apple will always be interesting to read about.
I remember when I first used an Apple IIe back almost when I started school. I must have been 5 or 6 when I first layed eyes on an Apple II and remember playing some great games such as Carmen Sandiago (I spent ages playing that game from what I can remember). This article (in depth look at the apple machine itself) also goes over some of the languages that applications were written in for the Apple I, II and the macintosh and various tidbits about how the machines actually operated, what they consisted of and how the ideas came about for these products.
The history of Apple and the computer industry in general from 1980 - 1990 would make a great documentary for discovery channel or something lol (there could possibly be some already around I haven't heard of).
There's something you guys can help me out with. If anybody is aware of a documentary/s on the history of Apple, Microsoft or the computer industry from this time period let me know about it, would be greatly appreciated. The movie Pirates of Silicon Valley does a really good job at capturing this interesting and somewhat controversial time period in the industry with the whole GUI debate and all (Noah Wyle plays an excellent Steve Jobs by the way).
One other thing I should make you guys aware of is a great IPTV show called 'NerdTV' and I think if I remember correctly, on the 7th November, none other than Steve Wozniak will be appearing for an interview on the show so that should be something all Apple (Jobs and Wozniak) fans should take note of. For those of you who don't know what NerdTV is, it is "a new weekly online TV show from PBS.org technology columnist Robert X. Cringely". Well worth checking this one out.
Well, thats it for me for another day, I decided to do something new and different with today's post to just blog this great "history lesson" for all Apple fans to appreciate :). Tomorrow I'll be back on the news I promise, there's a bit happening this coming week in the world of technology so I'll do my best to keep you guys posted.
Have fun, remember to check out First Bytes into an Apple for your history fix. Until tomorrow, have a great day guys!
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