Windows 7 Kills Dumbledore
That's right, Windows 7 is already smashing pre-order records on Amazon. It's definitely a good sign that I will be supporting Windows 7 in the near future professional instead of Windows XP for the rest of my life.
I, for one, am excited about Windows 7. I have been using it since January, wrote a handy little tutorial about adding Windows 7 into the GRUB, which I've done since every beta release and RC. It's still relevant. Now that it is retail, try it out yourself. You don't have to let Windows take over your PC.
The Windows 7 to GRUB it up is located here.
Windows 7, Antitrust Lawsuits, and Linux
No one can ignore the fact that Microsoft is losing market share. Not to their Apple rival, but to a completely different beast. Microsoft may have a lot to fear now that Linux has become quite a force in a variety of different areas.
While Microsoft will not go under as a company, the prestige and respect that was associated with Windows over the last several years may have been tainted by negative media reports, Steve Ballmer, antitrust issues, and rising alternatives.
Showing Opera Love
I recently have fallen head over heels for Opera. This is not a joke. I used to be infatuated with the amount of customization and addons Firefox presented end users, but I grow tired of the memory leaks and other minor hiccups. I have had Opera installed for a great deal of time now, but I haven't used it nearly the amount of time over the years compared to Firefox. I've used Firefox more than I've used Internet Explorer over the course of my entire life. I can say that as a matter-of-fact. Though, there were several drawbacks, to me personally, when it came to making the switch permanently.
The first hurdle was in-line spell checking. I loved this in Firefox. You see, if I didn't know how to properly spell a word, I wouldn't have to Google it and have them keep a nice collection of how ridiculous I've attempted to get away with spelling words of my own native language properly. Thank you Google for keeping a massive dossier of my search inquiries.
Well, this handy JavaScript available here with the small tutorial is fantastic. It has worked brilliantly for me and this was definitely one of the major stepping stones that had to happen in Opera that allowed me to embrace Opera with no regrets. Not as if I clung that desperately to Firefox, it simply had several tools out of the box I found useful.
In-line Spell Checking with Opera.
Next up was the increase of size of the Speed Dial, or additional pages. I had the Speed Dial add-on for Firefox and it was enormously customizable with tabbed browsing, customization like auto refreshing to the chosen time you would specify for every individual dial or do a complete manual refresh. It was very handy, but always knew if Opera had a simple fix to increase the speed dial to whatever number I wish, I would be sold. While I feel I found this little INI edit a little late, it literally drove me over the edge of switching.
Manually adjust Opera's Speed Dial to what you want.
For more tips and tricks, I recommend Opera's very own tutorials for beginners as they will explain everything in good enough detail to give ideas on what to search for later on for further tweaks.
Did I mention I use Opera on my Omnia i910 a ridiculous amount? The tabbed browsing, the amazing options, and the ability to edit Opera Mobile options to customize it to my likings, such as creating a directory on the external space the cache location and so many more options. Just by navigating to "opera:config" opens up a wide variety of options, not to mention opera:plugins, opera:about, and opera:history. A wealth of knowledge about your tiny, but powerful mobile.
Opera's Settings File Explained
I'm currently running v9.64. A good simple tweak to boost surf speed is to go to Tools>Preferences>Advanced tab>Network and change the "Max connections to a server" from the default to 16 and "Max total connections" from default to 64. Those of you who used the Tweak Network addon in Firefox will be aware of the speed boost. Even though Opera is already fast enough out of the box, it can be tweaked even further for speed out of the box with no additional downloads.
Typing "opera:config" into your Opera browser gives an overwhelming amount of options, but far better detailed and explained than Firefox's config window. In Performance in config, uncheck "Reduce Max Persistent HTTP Connections" and change the "Network Buffer Size" from the default to 32. In 9.64, the default size is 128, but 32KB should be more than enough. Feel free to Google curious settings to find more about them in detail. There are more settings to manipulate to get Opera the way you want than I can put in one blog.
Opera Browser Wiki: Opera Performance Enhancements
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to spend more quality time with Opera. Yeah, it's like that.
Days of the Blue
I always wondered when I would run into a random BSoD. A truly unexpected blue screen of death, especially when you don't think that the place is running on Windows.
In this case, it was an aquarium. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I took a few photos, but there was no flash photography allowed. These had a touch screen interface that allowed you to touch a picture of the fish in the tank for more information.
I hope the automated systems that keep these fish alive aren't using Windows.
The people around me did not understand why I was taking pictures.
Stroking the Samsung Omnia i910
Wow. Really. Wow. This is truly my first smart phone, but I know this isn't because of that little detail. This phone has blown me away. This is running Windows Mobile 6.1. Look at these incredible features.
The phone comes with 8GB internal storage. This can be further increased by microSD cards. I will snatch a 8GB card soon for 16GB total soon. Wi-Fi ready. Oh, and a removable battery! No sending this little guy into the shop.
A 5 MP camera with face detection, 15 different shooting modes, image stabilization, smile detection, image resolutions up to 2560x1920, 4x digital zoom, panoramic photography up to 8 frames, flash, video resolutions up to 640x480, and a lot of other little options.
The phone is DivX certified. As for video, there is a Video Editor. This allows for trimming video, audio dubbing, and subtitles. With multi-codec support, it can also play just about any format available with a slew of media players including FM radio, multiple media programs such as Windows Media Player, Touch Player, MPlayer, Real Player, etc. It also has a TV-Out option to play videos and images recorded on an LCD television set and can double as a digital frame.
The Omnia also sports an integrated optical mouse that is really handy while browsing non-mobile websites. There are multiple options for on-screen QWERTY keyboards and awesome hand writing recognition software to be used with any application. Voice commands, with password protection, are also pretty well done.
The phone has a flash light, full PDF support, Office Mobile with Word and Excel, Skype, Opera Browser Mobile with tabbed browsing and directory favorites, chat program for almost all protocols (AIM, Gtalk, MSN, Yahoo, etc) all in one program/buddy list. You can also password protect this phone; one would need to type it in after the phone goes idle or turns on from a cold/warm boot.
Other browsers include Iris, SkyFire, Internet Explorer (ugh), Bolt, and soon to be Firefox Mobile and Google Chrome. I say Chrome because just about every Google service has a mobile side to it, why not their new browser in due time?
The phone has software for Podcasts, RSS feeds, and tons of games. Soon to be more, lots more.
It has a motion sensor that automatically rotates the screen in several different ways either to landscape or portrait, depending on how you're holding it. Also, there is an optional feature that allows all sounds to mute when place screen face down.
The Youtube Player freeware (not from YouTube themselves) allows you to search YouTube for videos, save the video on your phone, and will also extract the audio stream from the video into MP3 to save on your phone as well.
Did I mention the native encryption for storage cards and built-in GPS receiver? It also has features to do factory restoration on the phone and to format external flash cards from the phone itself.
I also forgot to mention that you can throw your own ringers on here. Just fire up your favorite program, either MP3myMP3 or Audacity, record or cut a little bit of a song, upload it to your phone with the very easy USB connection into the Ringers folder. That's it. No further input is necessary, until you want to assign those ringers as your default or to any of your contacts.
Samsung TouchWiz is also rather pretty to look at while adding or removing widgets from the desktop area. Nothing incredibly unique or special, but everything can be replaced with another like SPB Mobile Shell.
Oh, drat. I almost forgot to mention the Remote Desktop support for Windows based computers. It does a wonderful job remoting into the chosen desktop on the network and shows a full screen (on the phone) version of the Windows desktop PC. This feature really impressed me.
If a program is hanging, that's no problem. We are all familiar with the Windows Task Manager. If you're not, you probably just pull the plug on the computer when Microsoft Word freezes for more than two minutes. If you don't use Windows, but are familiar with the Task Manager, it's probably why you're off using OS X or any of the hundreds of Linux distros.
I don't know what else to add. It's a very solid phone. I can't imagine what I'm missing, but I'm sure there is plenty. Well, there is the bit about the stylus not actually having an embedded place to call home in the phone, but with a responsive touch screen and optical mouse, the stylus isn't that necessary. Undoubtedly a last minute after thought.
If you have Verizon, give it a try while you wait for your name to be called. And then while you wait for someone to help you. And then while you wait for the associate to figure out what's going on with your account. Then while you wait for the associate to fix his mistake that you told him would happen before he went and made the changes to the account.
To the Verizon guy Chuck: I told you that would happen. You should have listened. You made me angry, told me my phone's promo ended a week ago when another associate told me the promo would last well into April, and then did nothing to try to calm me down besides act like a huge d-bag. I was an inch away from canceling my out of contract subscription. How would that have looked on your commission and to the manager hovering over your shoulder?
It's a great phone, though. Aside from this phone, the Pre is the only other one I think I would get this year... so far. While I was stroking my Omnia earlier, Talal had to go and mention the Palm Pre. Oh, what a sexy beast that will be if it ever hits retail...
Digital Depression
The Digital Age technology has been increasing at a very rapid rate. From the debut of the internet in the palm of our hands to the quarter inch thick LCD television set. The internet and other technologies such as carbon nanotubes and metal free transistors will allow a computer to be just about anywhere, even sewn onto clothing. There will be very few spots in this country where we will not be able to check our e-mail. With entire towns giving free wireless internet to the citizens tax free, there will be no reason why we cannot simply log on to check our mail at any given time of the day, regardless of the location. Technology will destroy all of our best excuses.
Even with the current and proposed technological breakthroughs, I still feel a little sad when I go through old photos, letters, and books. Everything has been digitized and in twenty years, no one will have any evidence that certain people existed because an email server in Texas went down taking all their precious memories with them. In snail mail, at least only fire or theft could truly destroy the memories, but with technology, we have many different factors that could wipe our memories including fire. It is sad that we will no longer have the amazing letters at our disposal to reminisce about when we are old and gray, only one worded or abbreviated responses in an old cell phone.
Perhaps it was the creation of e-shorthand that doomed our language for many years to come. When we receive a text message, the contents are usually rather brief and mangled. With letters replacing full words for speed, eventually, this quick-to-type language may replace our language in other mediums as well. Imagine that the 11 o'clock news no longer prattles on longer than twenty seconds per story because the amount of data and information they are being received is coming in faster than they can report. When an event happens, the world can know about it immediately. One man on a laptop in the middle of a war zone can perform podcasts telling the world of his or her thoughts and sights.
Digital transmission has become the absolute bane of our culture, yet, too convenient to not abuse. Eventually, it will be common for our digital picture frames to display incoming post cards and pictures on the fly by friends and family by them simply emailing them to a certain address. Imagine a digital camera that has the power to email without any additional software, it has an integrated wireless network card. With an entire town wireless, we will be able to send high resolution images by the gross within minutes the pictures were snapped. Future generations will be spoiled by not having to wait on the film to develop, but waiting on their current uploads because their ISP capped the bandwidth on their digital camera to a quarter of what it was for going over their monthly limit.
These are dark times and in the second Digital Age, it seems our hands are truly growing out of touch with reality and manual labor, which now includes hand writing messages instead of typing on a keyboard. I have to admit, writing more than a paragraph without it being homework related feels rather odd. Even then, majority of everything in college and late in high school was typed on a computer, unless, of course, detention is involved. Isn't it funny how in the future, detention will be truly a grueling punishment because the punishment will not have changed? Children will groan at the idea they may have to hand write disciplinary statements with a pen and paper repeatedly until the end of the day.
There are many reasons why it is necessary to move quickly to the next Digital Age for the technology being withheld and developed to be released over the next ten years will make our lives even easier. Nanotechnology is our future and the applications are limitless. Imagine an entire country creating enough weapons to arm every citizen twice over in record time. Perhaps the day will come when nanotechnology is in the home, albeit limited, but will allow us to ask the computer to create articles of clothing, food, and other objects of desire in minutes or even seconds. Not only will we be able to receive merchandise from a machine, but we could customize it to our liking. Computer, I would like a pair of maroon tinted turtle sunglasses with a built in digital camera with zooming capabilities.
Speaking of such advanced features for a machine, Artificial Intelligence will be the first action taken by a foreign entity to the human race that is not extraterrestrial. As of now, we only know natural disasters, the occasional animal attack, and another human being with an agenda. It may be cynical to confess that by the year 2030, computers will definitely be able to not only think on their, but plot as well. Our children may have to enter into intense diplomatic discussions with a man made of steel with a brain created meticulously by human hands. With these ideas in mind, the future may not prove to be a scary place, but it will be depressing.
Comparing the Big Three
Note: The following is only a comparison. I see this a guide to many in the main areas of Linux, Windows, and Mac operating systems. This in no way rates them. I have over 13 operating systems installed on systems ranging from OS X, Linux, BSD, and Windows. I may have an addiction, but I hope you enjoy.
Customization:
GNU/Linux: Well over 500 distributions. When it comes to customization, you have an endless amount of options. You can choose that one distro that makes you feel as if it is truly made for you. I've been through over 45 distros myself and have always came back to my first love known as Fedora. The preferences for theme and desktop effects are extended even further with the addition of compiz and other free utilities. There is also multiple free desktop environments for Linux such as Gnome and KDE that are completely different.
Windows O/S: The shell is your playground. If you want visual effects disabled, you can do it without adding third party software. Almost all tweaking options are native and you can make your desktop rather personal. You can make your desktop look like other operating systems, including installing software enabling Windows XP to look like Vista. Users can extend customization further with Windows Power Toys (XP Only). A novice can control their startup queue rather easily along with a preference on services. With the ease of customizing a system in Windows Vista and 7, a beginner can easily control their system environment simply by clicking through the aptly named applet titles.
Mac OS X: Typically when faced with changing to another theme or customizing certain aspects of OS X, you have to use third-party tools such as Quicksilver or ShapeShift. Many people think there isn't a lot of freeware when it comes to OS X, but that's not true. Most of the highly recommend programs I've seen cost under $20, but the fact that they cost any money pushes potential users away. A notable freeware site for great customization is the respectable software from Unsanity. Several programs are listed as freeware that eliminate several annoying quirks and an exploit or two. While a lot of options are not straight out of the box, OS X can be tweaked into that unique snowflake worthy of a screen shot on Digg.
Installation:
GNU/Linux: Here is where it gets a little complicated as most distros has different bootloaders and entirely different setup processes. Many of the more popular ones have a GUI setup process, but there are several that can only be done through a CLI. Though, a lot has changed and with the likes of Ubuntu, SabayonLinux, and Fedora; many new releases will have every step explained thoroughly. The only real difficult choice is which distribution to use and what packages to install. Note that different Linux distros use different package formats and package management.
Windows O/S: Windows has come a long way when it comes to installing the operating system. Windows XP made the process a bit more tolerable, until you had to reinstall XP on several computers without the option of it being unattended. Though, Windows really shines when it comes to unattended or other methods, such as slipstreaming. You can slip in some hot fixes, applications, latest drivers, and Service Packs. When it comes to Vista and Windows 7, installation is a breeze. Though, I have had terrible experiences upgrading a Vista machine. Since Vista, you can upgrade and leave a previously installed operating system in a folder, a feature present in all versions of OS X, but I will always prefer clean slate in Windows.
Mac OS X: Usually everyone buys their Mac from an Apple store. This means that it is already setup for you. There is no further configuration on your part, except the installation of any programs you have on hand and maybe a few tweaks. You can get the same service for Windows from the likes of Geek Squad or Firedog. I'm not sure on the price differences, but considering it is Apple, it might not be any cheaper. I touched on it a bit above, but upgrading OS X is a breeze. It's quick and you have the choice to Archive your last operating system into a Previous System folder. It works well enough and has been present in all OS X versions. There isn't much else to say besides installation for OS X is simple and straight forward.
Directory Services:
GNU/Linux: There are several open source options for directory services, but most of them would work under any combination of technology used. Most are custom OpenLDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) or proprietary subscription based, such as the Red Hat Directory Service, which includes a great deal of support. Samba 4.0 is currently in beta, but it is targeting Active Directory to potentially knock the giant down. We can only wait until then, but do not let current software dissuade you from open source, as there are many benefits in choosing a non-MSAD setup. Under certain circumstances, the overall cost and freedom could be the reason, but the complexity might be too much for some.
Windows O/S: The king of the directory service: The Active Directory. I also do not mean solely the directory service, I mean the whole Exchange, file, printer bundle. This is the reason why I see IT return to a Windows based server. While other services have tried to create similar software, nothing seems to compete with scalability, management, and administrative tools. The light weight MSAD known as ADAM can be installed on XP Professional making the Active Directory possible everywhere. No other alternatives seem to be in the position to dethrone Microsoft yet.
Mac OS X: Apple has their own custom OpenLDAP called Open Directory. I have not actually used OD, but from research, I can see that it is quite good. One day, I want to invest time learning more about OD, but for now, I have to base my experience from comparisons and the setup process. I do see that since OS X 10.5 Leopard Server has a boasting simplified setup and many other features. While only being around seven years (OS X 10.2), OD seems to have blossomed into potential competition for AD.
Corporate Standing:
GNU/Linux: Thanks to Wine, a Windows emulation package, there is little that you cannot install under Linux. Linux is also far more secure than Windows, especially as a server. With KDE, most users can cross over from Windows at a medium pace. Depending on choices made, a common distro can be configured to don the role of a server. Enterprise level Linux does exist, of course, such as SUSE. Regretfully, the amount of choices small businesses may be faced with can be overwhelming. Simply saying, "Windows XP and Server 2003," can prove to be much easier, but definitely harder on the wallet.
Windows O/S: Windows based machines can be cheap, bought on a lease, or purchased in bulk. Windows is typically everywhere. Microsoft has a powerful grip on the corporate scene. Though, when it comes to Windows Server, I have mixed feelings. Not only can it be a nightmare to install and configure properly, there are many security flaws present within each version that go without a patch or quick fix for a while. Windows Server does not come cheap either as 5-per CALs can rack up some monster costs. Companies have two options: Device and user CAL. I do not see Windows share of the corporate market decreasing substantially anytime soon.
Mac OS X: Unless a company hires a capable tech or lives next door to a Genius Bar, Macs do not seem to be capable of most environments. Many say that companies are ignorant or hostile to Macs in a corporate setting, but this is definitely not the case. Most companies have enough employees to know that forcing them to learn a new operating system might be quite a bother, especially if training is involved. This means all new errors, software, and guidelines for everyone to follow. The OS X server can be pretty expensive with the hardware, but can, of course, be purchased separately. You receive 10 CAL out of the box. Costs for more depend on the server, but Apple offers an unlimited CAL option.
Home Use:
GNU/Linux: This was always seen as more of a hobby to the masses, but thanks to recent developments (Vista), more and more people have given Ubuntu and others a chance. 2008 was a great year for Linux and 2009 is looking even better. Windows market share is decreasingly like no one has seen before to OS X and Ubuntu. The casual home user may benefit even more from using Linux as it does not have Internet Explorer as the default browser, which has always been insanely insecure. With package management managing software elegantly and streaming updates, it's amazing that it took this long for Linux to explode. Linux is not for hobbyist and programmers only; you can be a computer novice and still enjoy Linux.
Windows O/S: 2008 was a bad year for Windows. Many long time Windows users have split between a Mac and a Linux based machine when faced with Vista. If Microsoft relied on Vista for another year, anyone could have predicted where the market share would have gone, but Windows 7 is looking better and better. I have actually used Windows 7 beta long enough to gather an honest opinion and I think it's about time Microsoft pushes out a new operating system that has the potential to replace Windows XP. Windows Vista is okay, but I can't imagine why anyone would truly benefit from the system when Windows 7 offers backwards compatibility and other great features, such as the improved SuperTaskbar, which is not similar to the taskbar in OS X. I should know, I've used them both extensively.
Mac OS X: While not predominately used in corporate settings, it is all the rage for home users. Browsing is more secure as Safari was unhinged from OS X sooner than Internet Explorer from Windows. Albeit, that is not to be said that OS X is malware/virus free. With enough time, devastating code can be written for OS X as it gets increasingly popular. For those that flock to OS X expecting a unique and secure experience, they may receive that, but for a computer to truly be secure, users must develop safe browsing habits. Many say OS X is just for graphics and music are being misled by a common misconception as OS X offers more than the credit it receives. A fine operating system, but definitely the least used of the three for me.
The Tech Layoff Tracker
It's a scary time to be a tech right now as experts are comparing the tech industry bubbling bursting this year to the dot com burst earlier this decade. This tally shows the staggering number of 60,000 layoffs in the field of technology. The automotive industry went belly up and now computer technicians. While it's understandable given the times, what career is next to falter?
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/the-wiredcom-te.html?cid=136135845
Sun Micro Slashes Up to 6,000 Jobs
Sun Microsystems Inc., responding to a technology-spending slowdown and pressure from impatient investors, said it will cut 5,000 to 6,000 employees in the latest of a series of restructuring moves.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122666922420228145.html?mod=testMod
Tech Sector Short-Circuits
A sudden slowdown has sent the tech industry into a slump so severe some are comparing it to the dot-com bust, the New York Times reports
Booting Linux in 2.97 Seconds
Japanese embedded Linux house Lineo has announced a quick-start technology that it claims can boot Linux in 2.97 seconds on a low-powered system
