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Why daily blogging if you only get enough stuf scaped together for a day-blog by collecting a whole month?
:|
Weather - -
It's been grey and overcast all day. With mist hanging about all morning. No dense mist though, rather a dry grey whispy mist as if it was just the remains of the gunpowder smoke from last nights fireworks. (1°C -- 6°C)
Self - -
I spent most of the day shifting paper. Archiving last years paperwork.
- -
I also installed the regular stuff on a new notebook. My first encounter of Vista.
And I am not inpressed. By either.
The notebook is new but not top of the line. But it hasn't got to be, it's main purpose is letting my sister in law surf and chat and play some slow games. It's an Acer Aspire 7520G (402G16Mi), prety good quality for the money. The best part is that it comes with 2GB of RAM and two 160GB disks. And having a 17"wide-screen means it has a reasonable keyboard as well. I don't like any notebook keyboard but this is usable. Quite unusable is the trackpad but that is the case with all trackpads I have used to date. Maybe I am just clumsy but half the time I put my finger on the pad in order to move the cursor it registers as a click. www.acer.be/public/ (search for Aspire 7520)
I know just installing and testing on a notebook is not enough to get an idea about an operating system. And maybe I am biassed against MS to much to make a reliable report. But as far as I can see Vista isn't much more than Win2K with some interface tweaks. And extra brakes on. I know AMD's Turion is not the pinacle of perfromance but it's running at 2GHz and has two cores. And it's backed by 2GB of RAM. Yet the bow feels slower than my desktop (2.1GH Celeron with 256MB ) running Win2K. Most annoying -speedwise- is opening or closing windows or dialogs. When you close the window doesn't disapear but slowly fades out and new windows don't pop up bust slowly fade in.
Another problem, made worse by the f... freaking touchpad, is that when you hover over an item it becomes selected and in some cases it auto activates.
Vista is clearly not for me.- -
As an extra I am folding my daynotes back into some reasonable stylesheets.
But pfeww, this is gone take some work.
- -
Dinner is plain. A simple roast with mushroom sauce with pepper.
Or was that pepper sauce with mushrooms?
:|
Weather - -
After a couple of misty clouded days we get a clear night. And a ton of ice on my car. And it freezes all day. (-3°C -- -0°C)
Self - -
Yet another reson to be suspicious about MS IE.
At work I don't have a good editor for my HTML files. OK Notepad is very usefull and not al all bad as a plain editor. it workls good enough and doesn't get in the way. But it's not ideal so for bigger edits I send stuf home.
At work we user Lotus Notes for our mail (and other stuff) and that is arsy.. It tries to render the attachements it gets. So in stead of the attached HTML page it shows the content and there is nothing to copy or save. So I post it on my site and get it from there.
Right?
Right indeed. Except when saving from MSIE it saves not the HTML it receives but the HTML it regeneratses from the input. And that is seriously different. For example by using my stylesheet a new paragraph ( <p> ) doesn't leave an emptyy line like the default does. When I want an empty line -not always- I insert one (<p> <br />  </p> ). MSIE shows the extra spacing but it strips the empty-line coding from the HTML. I also don't use indentation for large blocks, I think it's usefull for small highly structured stuff but with blocks that span more than one screenfull on the editor it hinders me. In stead of indenting I insert blank lines. MSIE strips my blank lines and adds indentation. It does more screwing up on the original coding but my pages are rather clean static HTML so there isn't much it can do wrong.
Just an other example of MS adapting stuff to fit it's own agende.
Weather - -
It's cold but not freezing. But the wind is playing so with the wind-chill included it is.
And it was dry till just after the noon, then we got some drizzle. Undercooled drizzle so it turns to ice wherever it touches down. Lo Ve Ly (0°C -- 4°C)
News - -
And MS service pack kills your older files. Who is surprised? Anyone heard about open standards?
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/02/xp_service_pack/ )
- -
Big brother patent.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/03/microsoft_hopes_to_patent_big_brother/ )
- -
Small disks are dying out it seems. No one ever expected them to last, they were a good measure while flash memory was expensive and low capacity. Now that Flash comes in Giga Byte sizes at reasonable prices the 1 inch drives don't have a future left. The 1.8inch disks is another story as they still provide a good capacity advantage. They are likely to be superceded by Flash memory as well but not this year yet I suppose.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/02/hitachi_fujitsu_spurn_tiny_drives/ )
- -
When IBM buys other companies it are usualy wel known big companies, usualy international ones. Now it starts buying smaller fish.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/02/ibm_acquires_xiv/ )
- -
So they found the origin of colon-cancer. Now when are they going to sue..
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/02/colon_cancer_mutation/ )
- -
No bateries allowed on planes. with the rate new restriction come up people will be flying naked and without any bagage whatsoever.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/02/us_new_battery_rules/ )
- -
I want one. I want one. I want one. I want one.
A bigger screen is welcome of course but I hope they keep a smaller screen as well. A 7" screen is to small for real work but it fits in an oversized coat-pocket and an average camera-bag thing. With an 8+ inch screen it's more usable but also to big to 'just throw it in'.
A bigger screen means a bigger overal box. Ideal would be that they fill taht up with a bigger battery and put a sizable hadisk in, like an iPod sized disk. Of course that would put a drain on the battery but by keeping the OS and most apps in Flash would mean the disk can be mounted and unmounted at will so it only draws power when saving or loading some files. The alternative is using an external disk, which would be just as good except of courese its another part to lug around and forget and loose.
I just hope it doesn't follow the notebook evolution trail with ever bigger screens. The most common notebooks these days have 17" wide-screens. The wide-screen aspect makes them unsuitable as desktop replacements, the only advantage of the widescreen I see is for playing movies. While working on normal documents of sources extra height is more usefull than extra width. Even "wide" websites tend to use the width to place add banners to the sides of the articles. The extra size is also making them unsuited for on-the-move usage. 17" is about the largest that will fit on a normal plain or train chair-table, forget popping out the DVD if your neighbour on that side is using his table.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/02/asus_preps_2nd_eee_pc/ )
Weather - -
There is more wet stuff but it isn't freezing anymore so tehre aren't ptoblems. (2°C -- 7°C)
News - -
Cyber protests. It's not realy cyber-war that is heading up, more a general cyber rebellion.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/04/changing_face_of_ddos/ )
- -
What are the rules for patents to be granted? Most likely depents on what the clerc had for breakfast.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/03/microsoft_patents_wish_list/ )
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there is a healty growth in LCD business. Now they just have to pump up the resolution of the produced screens.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/01/03/lcd_monitor_shortage_prediction/ )
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Milking a name/brand.
( -- )
Weather - -
It hasn't rained yesterday nor tonight and yet the roads are wet. With large puddles as it it did rain. And it's to warm for a real winter. (3°C -- 7°C)
News - -
Oh dear. Maybe old files will still be usable. But in true MS way the are not going to do it by fixing their bad code but by bypassing security. It's better to open tha back-door than to fix the lock on the front door.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/05/ms_office_sp3_woes/ )
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Cray-1. Wouldn't do for a personal computer tese days.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/05/tob_cray1/ )
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I don't like the design of the Samsung UMPC. But it shows the right direction for the EeePC. 7.5 hour on battery is the way to go. Not perfect yet but getting closer. And it has a real disk. (Of cource it comes at a price. )
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/07/ces_samsung_premium_umpc/ )
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The battle between HD and BlueRay continues. The only real reason why we don't have a quick settlement as we had with the VCR battle I see is that Porn these days isn't sold on disk or tape anymore. It's almost exclusively distributed on-line. (Curious thet tha RIAA hasen't been protesting about that, isn,'t it?)
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/05/warner_bros_blu_ray_exclusive/ )
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Hell officialy is freezing over. Even Sony won't be using DRM anymore.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/04/sony_bmg_drm/ )
- -
The fare-well waving to the Snoopies and RedBarrons has started.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/04/flyboy_equals_drone_boy/ )
- -
And then the earth was flat again.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/04/pope_telescopes/ )
- -
Preloaded Linux typicaly wasn't cheaper than preloaded Windows. Well, Shuttle seems to break the trend.
( http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/06/shuttle-release-sub-200-linux )
- -
More preloaded and other Linux boxes.
( http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/04/linux-gos-released-monday )
( http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3820763454.html )
- -
With VIA pulling out of the Intel chipset market competition is down. The only players -with influence - remaining are nVidia and Intel now. Yes ATI-AMD still plays around but no one expects tem to play a role in the market.
( http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/04/via-merge-cpu-chipset-divisions )
Weather - -
Bha. It started raining yesterdayaround noon and it hasn't stopped. Not continuous heavy showers though we had a few short ones, but a constant and varying drizzle. And the wind has picked up seriously. It's only the temperatures that have forgotten what winter is. (5°C -- 8°C)
News - -
The new copyright proposal floating around sounds reasonable. And with DRM slowly going away it opens the door for a return to fair use.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/copyright_reform )
- -
Watch-phones or wrist-phones. I wonder what all the secrecy is about. They are comming and they are going to be a success.
I have a watch with build-in MP3 player and that is in my opinion much more practical than a loose MP3 player thay to got to stick in a pocket. The only crapy thing about it is the earbuds and wire which are typical cheap stuff.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_lg_watchphone/ )
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XBox with BlueRay. That sounds like funeral bells for the HD format. It's not a fact yet but I suppose that when MS says they might do it that just means they tried it and it worked.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_xbox_could_back_blu_ray/ )
- -
Fast Apples and the reasonable prices. As long as you stay in the underpowered base config. Updrading just costs a bit more. Back to standard Apple price structures.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/apple_eight_core_xserve_macpro/ )
- -
An MP3-taser. Noticing that last year 5 people were killed (belgium alone) just for their MP3 player this may not be a mere marketing gimmic.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/08/taser_c2_mp3/ )
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/leopardskin_c2/
- -
Britain is not droping nuclear power. Giving a good signal. Of course environmentalist are against, they prefer grenhouse-gass belching powergeneration.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/brown_nuclear_power_plans_details/ )
- -
500GB in 2.5inch. A bit pricy and fat for standard notebooks so it will probably be a while before we do get 1Tb notebooks. But it looks like a real winner for small size classy desktops and blade-servers.
( http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/hitachis-5k500-e5k500-hit-the-mythical-500gb-mark-for-laptops/#comments )
- -
AMD isn't phased by it's four-core problems. But is going with an eight-core chip a good idea? I don't think so.
But then again AMD is looking into the ricght direction as well.
I don't think more than four cores on a chip is a good idea if you are using standard multipurpose cores. They are good at running standard PC applications so for desktop use that's OK. but for servers just adding cores doesn't cut it. More usefull is the other tack AMD is taking. Integrating the grapics and CPU cores on the same die. Making an eight core chip with, say five CPU cores two graphics cores and an other type of accelerator sounds more interesting than just lumping eight CPU cores on a die.
Yes, I know SUN lumps even more cores on a die but that are not the same general purpose desktop cores.
( http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204803063 )
- -
How can you make a wheel-chair geeky and special? Tracks?
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/08/ces_tank_chair_baby/ )
Weather - -
The rain stopped early in the evening but it's all just as wet in the morning. the only advantage of all the water is that althyough the night is cloudless it doesn't freeze. (2°C -- 9°C)
News - -
XBox live isn't secure. Of course it isn't. No gaming or community account is guaranteed secure. And most users know that, when using a computer they should be carefull with what they post and do online. But using a console they often drop their guard. Cause hey hackers and viruses and trojans and stuff is a computer thing, not a console thing.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/xbox_live_account_takeovers/ )
- -
Itanium dying? Well according to IBM it is. but then IBM is likely to keep repeating that. Now I agree that Itanium doesn't look like a flourishing business and that it's chances of long term survival are not very big. But this is Intel. They have deep pockets so they can sit out some slow time. They also have enough engineers and resources to redesign the whole chip. And the relative lack of success is that they don't have a huge installed base to cope with. It wouldn't surprise me they come up with a new and super competitive chip in a couple of years. Pulling a CoreDuo stunt on the EPIC instruction set. Of course IBM will still be right, the Itanium will be dead, but it won't be the end of Intel in the top part of the market.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/10/ibm_itanium_five_years/ )
- -
Need extra storage for you Mac (or PC for that matter)? Nexsan has a good offer. And relatively cheap at that.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/10/nexsan_satabeast/ )
- -
USB-3 comming up. Looks just perfect to plug your USB-1 mouse in :)
It actually is very welcome. One of the most common USB attachement these days are external disks. And in articles you often see perfromance comparisons even though they are silly cause with the current generation they are all limited by the USB speed. If you think USB-2 is fast enough then you haven't worked with an external SATA disk. USB isn't perfect, especialy sad is taht it's a master-slave system, not a peer systeùm like FireWire. But the great advantage of USB is that you can find it anywhere. and with the fast version up I guess the back of a computer will look different in comming years. Just two interfaces remaining, USB and RJ45.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_usb_3_revealed/ )
- -
Temptation.
Comes in small packages.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/09/ces_lg_silverthorne_umpc/ )
- -
Vista holes. One plugged.
But the same hole appears in older versions of Windows. Makes you wonder what MS means when it says Vista is radicaly different and super secure. Looks more like an XP copy with some extra paint and spooilers.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/08/microsoft_january_patch_release/ )
Wurk - -
Overload!
It's just 9:25 and I already got more calls solved that on an average day. I don't think I will last the day like this.
Overload!
There was a slow patch in the afternoon. But at 16:30 hell broke loose again.
Weather - -
It is again not raining and completely drenched. And way to warm. (5°C -- 10°C)
News - -
IBM puts the headlights on on Power-7. Maybe. Not that optical connections are nesesary faster than electrical ones. But you have far less probmens with RF interference.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/10/power7_optical_ibm/ )
- -
Shooting at Java. But they do have a point. Java is a good language to work with but not the best for teaching.
( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/10/academics_slam_java/ )
- -
Sony is dropping the 20 and 60GB PS3 moddels but keeping the 40GB one. I suppose they will bring out a bugger disk version later, 120 or 160GB something, causen frankly I expect the 20GB is dropped because nobody makes them anymore. So they have to buy 40GB disks and disable one plater.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/10/sony_dumps_ps3_japan/ )
- -
The OLPC is probably to underpowered for MS. One Laptop Per Child ....
( http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/10/microsoft-denies-dual-booting )
- -
Assus with the EeePc has shown the way so now others follow. While I like the hardware I see a problem here. Just like most portables it's made to fit a set weight, which means limited battery capacity.
Oh, and it doesn't run Linux.
( http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/01/10/mini-notebook-breaks-cover )
- -
Yes, I love small boxes. Yes I want those. Both.
But I don't need them. I actually have to many computers already. So I won't buy them.
But the temptation is there.
( http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=264 )
( http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=498 )
Wurk - -
It's good to have an average day once in a while.
Colleage on the phone with a user : "So you can't repeat the option? ... OK, double-click with your keyboard on the header ...." Heu? We have super-keyboards than can do a double-click? Wow.
Weather - -
Global warming? Bha, blobal washing, it's raining again. But a goos spitting of sun in the afternoon. And more rain in the evening. (5°C -- 10°C)
News - -
Pranks can be dangerous.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/us_iran_navy_speedboat_row_filipino_monkey/ )
- -
Sun is spreading more mist than clearance here. Data-centers and utility computing go together and yet clash? They want to sell more components yet dump their data centers? I get they want to get rich without selling stuff..
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/12/sun_no_data_centers_2015/ )
- -
When Intel stells modular systems it starts to compete with it's clients.. But it also shows the way forward for a whole lot of smaller clients.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/intel_modular_server_platform/ )
- -
Next order in the cyber-caffee : "One coffee for me, a mint thea for my friend and a double Whisky for my computer."
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/11/ces_toshiba_fuel_cell_umpc/ )
- -
IBM is trying to make a profit by selling software. Duh. Not everything IBM does is open-source so this shoeldn't be a surprise.
( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/11/ibm_project_zero_commercial/ )
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DRM is almost out of music. next up is film.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/amazon_sony_music_drm_now_dead/ )
- -
DRM is going away. And the RIAA is following suit?
It's ironic that the members are upset at the fees they have to pay. Understandable, seing that they haven't been getting a return.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/riaa_ifpi_merger_touted/ )
Wurk - -
It's good to have an average day once in a while.
Colleage on the phone with a user : "So you can't repeat the option? ... OK, double-click with your keyboard on the header ...." Heu? We have super-keyboards than can do a double-click? Wow.
- -
Toshiba is using the Cell processor but not making a big show out of it.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/11/ces_toshiba_shows_cell/ )
- -
Some good news from space. No, not a big money guzling new launch. Just a project arriving at an important checkpoint without major mishap.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/11/messenger_mercury/ )
Weather - -
It's dry again in the morning. But it won't stay that way. (5°C -- 10°C)
News - -
Office is dropping VBA. First on the MAC later on Windows. About time. While anounced quite some time ago it only now becomes clear they are serious about it. Quit Bill, quit Basic.
( http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2008/01/14/office_mac_08_vba/ )
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Routers can be taken over ... and it is independent of the OS or browser ... and not a bug in Flash or another product ... curious. One doesn't often see problems like this. And it makes clear that however secure en bolted down your computer and OS are there are still holes to be found.
( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/01/15/home_router_insecurity/ )
- -
ha, yes. "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." But if there are enough buyers the price of flash drives may start to drop faster.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/14/emc_adds_ssds_symmetrix/ )
- -
Low power Power chips. Interesting stuff that remains under the radar. But is thows that IBM made a right choice licencing out it's Poer architecture.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/14/pasemi_takes_nec/ )
- -
Blowing smoke or refueling the galaxy? If it could be tapped it would surely boos the hydrogen economy. In a good 40 million yesras time.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/14/smiths_cloud/ )
- -
Now if you could just put an alternative warhead on those office-missiles ...
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/14/usb_missile_launcher_gets_webcam/ )
- -
Darwin rules.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/14/darwin_awards_2007/ )
Weather - -
The storm did come as prerdicted, just half a day to late. Probably held up in a cloud-trafic jam. (5°C -- 10°C)
News - -
Thin is in. Except, the price isn't thin.
I would love it. Performance isn't stellar but for on-the-move computing it's reasonable and the size and weight are just perfect for that. But the price is what you would expect to pay for a top perfromance notebook.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/15/macbook_air/ )
- -
Small mistake, big results. Well, for 99.9% of the cutomers there won't be a problem, just a giggle afterward. Of course People already in financial problemswon't appreciate it.
( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/15/dreamhost_bills_customers_years_worth_of_trouble/ )
- -
Hmm, film-rental comming a bit late. Maybe to late for the iTV box. And I suppose many people won't like the 'rental' principle about it.
( http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/01/15/macworld_expo_apple_tv_revamp/ )
^_^ - -
Lowie:I hope, miss, that my visit does not displeasures you.
Alice: Not at all. The uncomfort caused by your comming is fully compensated by the pleasure of your leaving
( -- )
Wurk - -
How bad can it be?
It's 07:15, you come into wurk, start your thin-client, start the coffeemachine. By the time you can log in on the AS400 the coffee is ready so you arrive at your keyboard with a cup of hot black coffee.
Then the phone rings.
And at 09:20 you finnaly get time to sip the now cold coffee.