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Windows Vista Re-installed
2007-12-21 06:25:00
So, as I mentioned before, I’ve finally made the leap over to Windows Vista . I have to say that, unlike my first flirtation with Microsoft’s latest OS, this experience was vastly improved.I want to focus on one small, albeit critical, event that has reshaped my opinion. I had a multi-boot system set up with my XP installation on a RAID-0 setup that went bad. I had Vista on a separate HDD but somehow, when I installed it, the boot file was installed on the RAID, so that when I deleted the RAID, I lost the Vista boot file and could no longer boot.Okay, I told myself, I’ll just repair the installation with the Vista disc. Of course, in XP this could be something of a painful process unless you’re pretty savvy with a computer. This didn’t particularly concern me, since I am fairly savvy in such matters. Nevertheless, I was quite happily surprised when Vista’s repair function turned out to be so amazingly easy that even someone with no tech savvy whatsoever could have done it...
More About: Windows Vista

Games for Linux
2007-12-20 20:54:00
I've got a PC game mini-store in the sidebar in which I've gathered some of my favorite games. There's even a few Mac and Linux titles like Quake. So, if you're interested, check 'em out. Games for Mac and Linux are a bit harder to come by, so it's always nice to find some good ones. On Windows, I especially like Quake 4, Bioshock, and Team Fortress 2. My wife loves Lord of the Rings Online.There are, of course, many games for Linux that are free, such as Cube or the U.S. Government's America's Army, but it's hard to beat Quake when it comes to crazy, fast-paced fragging. Check it out. Then there's Wine, of course, for all your other PC gaming fun....

Campaign Websites: Who Gets it Right? (Part One)
2007-12-20 16:35:00
Well, in the last few Presidential campaigns, the internet has changed the face of political advertizing, organizing, and parody. YouTube has become a major player in political debates, as well as dispersing a much wider selection of satirical videos to the masses. Once upon a time, all we had was MadTV and Saturday Night Live to supply us with parody. Now we have our next door neighbor's kid and the funny smelling guy that hangs out next to the grocery store making videos that thousands upon thousands of people can view for free.Candidate's are setting up profiles on Facebook and Myspace. They're blogging about their campaigns, their frustrations, and their poodles. They're attempting to reach the young, computer savvy crowd as much as possible.So who's getting it right, and who's getting it wrong? In this series we'll be looking at each of the front-runners' and some of the second-tier candidates' web-pages, blogs, and social-networking profiles to see who is getting ...
More About: Websites , Campaign , Part

Mike Huckabee's Christmas Ad
2007-12-20 16:21:00
Well, I have to give Republican front-runner Mike Huckabee kudos for his latest Iowa ad, which cleverly responded to Mitt Romney's attacks with a subtle, frank, holier-than-thou without sounding holier-than-thou Christmas ad.Huckabee is, like a former President and Governor of Arkansas, a master of presentation. He's funny, charming, and makes much use of his musical abilities. I mean, does that sound familiar or what? If he does become President, let's hope he doesn't share Clinton's taste for cigars, eh?Anyways, Huckabee's Christmas ad has raised quite a stir in the mainstream media as well as the blogosphere. Some call it a cynical use of Christianity. Others are afraid of Huckabee's willingness to blend Church and State. Ron Paul said"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a...

Adsense etc.
2007-12-19 21:47:00
Well, there are many ways to earn revenue from your blog. The most common is adsense by Google. You can see some adsense on Blendwire--and probably have seen it many other places as well.Amazon.com has an associates program, whereby publishers can earn a cut from purchases linked to their site. Blendwire also participates in this program.Adbrite is a very user-friendly pay-per-click ad company. Their services are very similar to Google's, though they provide some different options and are somewhat more user-friendly for novices.And now Yahoo! is getting into the pot, with their new Yahoo Publisher, which is still in Beta form. You can find that here.We'll see how Yahoo! competes with Google. It should be nice to have more giants in the business. Next it'll be Microsoft, just wait.
More About: Adsense

XBOX 360 Laptop
2007-12-19 18:31:00
Engadget has a pretty cool article on this XBOX 360 Laptop (second generation). Soon they're coming up with a how-to article so that we can all build one for ourselves. Now Microsoft or somebody just needs to start mass-marketing these. With an extra hdmi port you could play at home or on the go. How can you go wrong with a mobile xbox? This would finally give Microsoft the one-up on its competition.Gotta love the innovation in this one.
More About: Xbox , Xbox 360

Tabula Rasa: One Step Short of Greatness
2007-12-18 16:48:00
Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa is the new MMORPG out from ncSoft. It supposedly blends first-person-shooter gameplay with an mmorpg-type world and leveling concept, which is something I've been in favor of for some time. I've always been disappointed with the mechanics, especially combat, of mmorpgs. I feel that WoW's greatest weakness is its lack of frantic combat. Everything seems so paced, so stoic. Same with just about every other game out there of that genre. Tabula Rasa attempts to remedy this flaw by incorporating elements of the First Person Shooter into its combat and gameplay.However, I think this is a misleading description of what Tabula Rasa actually does. First of all, it's not "first-person" it's "third-person" and because of this, there are really no FPS elements. There are elements of the third-person shooter instead. This is not at all the same. There is an aiming system. Big deal. I want an all out first-person-shooter ala Counter-Strike, Unreal Tourn...
More About: Step , Short

The Office Competition Heats Up
2007-12-18 16:44:00
BuzzwordWell, gone are the days when Microsoft could claim supremacy in the Office productivity world. While their OS is being continually challenged by the threat of Linux, another enemy in the form of open source and online office applications has arisen. With StarOffice, Open Office, and Lotus Symphony all up and running as free competition to Microsoft's Office application, and Google Apps, Zoho, and ThinkFree all challenging not only the Office suite but the very way we use office applications, there is now an amazing array of productivity applications to choose from. Now Adobe is coming out with their own word-like program, as well. The field is full, my friends. There has never been so much choice. Saturation is the name of the game. I've tried many of the different suites and still have to admit that Microsoft's is the best, in my humble opinion, though there is now way I would shell out the cash for it now that I'm aware of all the options.ZohoGoogle Calendar StarOffi...
More About: The Office , Competition

iPhone: Immitation is Flattery
2007-12-18 03:54:00
It's not the iPhone. No, sir. This is the Voyager, Verizon's attempt at a look-a-like apple killer. Fight fire with fire, I guess, though this LG model has a slide-out keyboard as well as the touch screen. Could it be that we'll see a real challenge to the Apple iPhone? Kind of like the Zune was an iPod killer, right? Or any of Creative's MP3 players. Yeah. Voyager vs. iPhone Voyager Well, they say the best form of flattery is imitation, right? Apple has long lived with this sort of praise. It's OS was copied handily by Microsoft (and good for Microsoft! I like competition, especially when it involves stealing and double-dealing). Now, it's groundbreaking iPhone is being copied by scores of phone companies and other technology firms eager to capitalize on the iPhone's popularity, chic, and sex-appeal. Some feel that Apple copied other phones, too, and they are right in thinking so. It did. Technology and innovation are all about thievery and imitation. ...
More About: Iphone

Open Up Microsoft!
2007-12-18 03:52:00
It's high time Microsoft changed its business model. Currently, the software giant is existing in a state of denial, still clinging to the idea that in the next few years people will continue to pay exorbitant amounts of money for its Office suite and for its buggy operating system. Linux has a long way to go, but the fact that its community driven and that it is evolving much faster and with a great deal more innovation than Windows says a great deal about the future of computing. What small improvements, if any, were made between the release of XP and Vista pale in comparison to the evolution of Ubuntu between the release of Warty Warthog and the current Gutsy Gibbon. There are many reasons why Microsoft should open up its source code and allow the open-source movement into its fold. First of all, a thriving community driven Windows movement would spawn many interesting and useful software innovations that the company itself can't hope to supply. A diverse set of Windows dist...
More About: Open

Borderlands: You can't go wrong with 500,000 guns
2007-12-18 03:52:00
2K Games is releasing a new FPS next year called Borderlands . It looks amazing. Taking place in an alien world called Pandora, players will maneuver their way through alien filled deserts, race brigadiers in true Mad Max fashion, and acquire over 500,000 guns. Yes. Half a million guns. This makes most first-person-shooters pale in comparison. Add to this no load screens, a powerful AI, and you start to see why Borderlands might just be the next big thing. The vehicles look amazing, and from what I can tell, their are some truly mammoth monsters to battle. All in all, Borderlands, though still a year out, is promising to be an extremely entertaining new title for the PC, XBOX 360, and PS3. Some are already expressing concern that 2K will use the unpopular SecureRom system for anti-piracy that was used on the amazingly creepy Bioshock. This would be a huge mistake, as SecureRom only allows for a limited number of installs before making the owner go through customer service hell. And,...
More About: Guns , Wrong

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Screensavers?
2007-12-18 03:51:00
Electric Sheep is an open-source screensaver project. It's totally free to download, and it is purely amazing. These are some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen in a screensaver. You can download them here. Below are a couple of screen shots. Electric Sheep comes from the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the 1968 sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick. This was the basis of the fantastic Blade Runner directed by Riddley Scott. These are multi-platform, too. They run on Linux and Windows just fine. One of the coolest features of this application is the more you run your screensaver, the more new "loops" are downloaded via torrent. At first I had only one, then just a handful. But now I've got dozens of "flocks" as they call them. Some are downright psychedelic. They are all quite stunning and beautiful.
More About: Electric , Screensavers

War of the Web Browsers: The Underdogs
2007-12-18 03:50:00
The two giants in the Web Browser business are, without a doubt, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer is the larger of the two giants, but Firefox is the nimbler, smarter, and arguably safer platform. Microsoft has made leaps and bounds with its new IE7 which features, ironically, many of the same qualities that Firefox includes--most notably, tabbed browsing. However, there are many browsers to choose from. Each has its own qualities and features that sets it apart from the other. We will list a few of the underdogs. Firefox is still the best web browser out there, handily beating IE7 in terms of security, usability, and aesthetics. Its plug-ins are better, and it comes equipped with a google search bar, which is far superior to Windows Live Search at the moment. So, with that said, lets take a look at a few of the smaller competitors. Avant Avant is a pretty cool browser. It is very light and fast, has an excellent implementation of tabbed browsing, a...
More About: Browsers , Web Browsers

Open-Source for the Masses
2007-12-17 23:35:00
Ubuntu Linux Excellent, user-friendly Linux distro. Widely touted as the operating system of the future. New versions are released every six months, the latest iteration being 7.10, or Gutsy Gibbon. Compiz Fusion 3D enhancing suite for Linux. Adds a great deal of innovation and usability to the standard UI. Blender 3D modeling and rendering software. Used for games and 3D animation. GIMP Open -source Photoshop. Very similar in function to Adobe's much costlier application. Open Office A free contender to Microsoft Office. Less fancy than the Giant's version, but very functional and very free. A spin-off of StarOffice from Sun. Mozilla Firefox The best web browser out there. Much safer and more secure than Internet Explorer, with many skins and plug-ins. Crystal Space A powerful, free 3D game engine.
More About: Open Source , Source , Open-Source

Team Fortress 2 Review: Online Madness
2007-12-17 23:33:00
Team Fortress 2 is the best online game I've played in 2007. This is not an overstatement. It takes everything good about Counter-Strike: Source and makes it better. In fact, rather than viewing TF2 as a sequel to the original Team Fortress , I like to think of it as a natural follow-up to CS: Source. All the great graphics and game mechanics of Valve's earlier online shooter return, but this time you also get classes. Rather than a plethora of weapons to choose from, this time you choose from nine player classes. Each class has strengths and weaknesses. Some classes work well together, while others are better at solo play. The "Heavy" plays quite well with the "Medic." The Engineer provides excellent defensive support. The Spy flies solo, and is superb at undermining enemy defenses. The scout is fast and adept at capturing control points. With nine classes to choose from, it's hard to get tired of the game. The graphics are fantastically comical. Each class is modeled in a very c...
More About: Review , Team , Online

Individual vs Groupthink: Standards in Technological Innovation
2007-12-17 23:27:00
The funny thing about the world of technology--the high-tech industry--is that while it thrives on innovation, unique ideas, and creativity, it can only survive with intense collaboration. The brilliance of the individual is, of course, the driving force behind much of what we consume in the high-tech market. However, without layer upon layer of collaboration and standardization, these many gadgets and software applications that we use every day would be meaningless and frustrating. Hardware manufactures, operating system developers, and software companies all work together to create a computer that is fast and functional and fun to use. They work in collaboration. Imagine a television that only played a certain network's shows. Imagine a radio that only played stations that were created by the radio manufacturer. Imagine an Mp3 player that only connected to one online music store.... Collaboration and standardization are what makes up the foundation of the entire high-tech movem...
More About: Standards , Innovation , Individual , Groupthink