tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16438533656348188602024-02-19T13:49:33.153+08:00InjurationThe latest in the world of I.T.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-25122478759053347962012-10-23T10:50:00.002+08:002012-10-23T10:50:20.234+08:00Improved Features between Windows 7 and Windows 8With Windows 8 releasing in less than a week, I feel that it would be appropriate to write this.
Ever since the first preview of it ("Developer Preview") people have been kind of vocal about it mainly because of the start screen and the missing start button. People hating Windows 8 at this time is nothing new: people hated Windows 95 when it came out because of the completely revamped UI over previous versions (Windows 3.1), developers hated Windows 2000 for it not having DOS, people hated Windows XP for its "Fisher Price" interface that they either switch to the classic UI or stick to earlier versions (Windows 98, 2000) during its first years. If it weren't for the huge time gap between XP and Vista, Vista wouldn't be hated as much, though Windows 7 might have been hated too if Vista wasn't released first (technically, they are both the same).
Most people don't look past the new interface, but the Windows 8 start screen really is the new desktop, along with a list of improvements over Windows 7
<ul>
<li><u>Build-in Anti Virus and Smart Screen filter</u>
Doesn't slow the system down unlike most anti virus software, and faster than Windows 7 when enabled by default.</li>
<li><u>Better multi monitor support</u>
Taskbar on each monitor + Different wallpapers across all displays</li>
<li><u>Faster boot/shut down/sleep/wake times</u>
I run both Windows XP and 8 on the same hardware, and the latter does boot a lot faster.</li>
<li><u>Uses less RAM</u>
Better overall performance than 7 at most tasks</li>
<li><u>Hyper-V (previously only a Windows Server feature that which lets you run a virtualized OS)</u>Infinite backwards compatibly. If something down work on Windows 8, just install XP or even Windows 95 in Hyper-V and run it on that.</li>
<li><u>New File History feature to recover old files.</u></li>
<li><u>Better file management</u>
Also allows you to pause file copying too.</li>
<li><u>Virtual Hard Drive</u>
Lets you use ISO and VHD files as a hard drive</li>
<li><u>Built-in RAW file format support used in DSLR's cameras</u></li>
<li><u>Support for orientation image data</u>
When you take a photo with a camera, the thumbnail image is displayed in the correct orientation</li>
<li><u>Ribbon added to the File Explorer</u></li>
<li><u>Completely overhauled boot system and new graphical screens</u>
The screen that lets you select multiple operating systems now supports touch, mouse and keyboard, and no more white text on a black background. Disk Check could also be accessed from there.</li>
<li><u>Vastly improved Task Manager</u></li>
<li><u>Better battery life than any previous Windows OS</u></li>
<li><u>New Language features in the Control Panel</u>
Download and switch between any Windows language for free. This is something previously available only Windows Vista/7 Ultimate Edition, or as separate Windows versions that you could only reinstall from scratch</li>
<li><u>You can use the keyboard to navigate around the start screen more quickly</u></li>
</ul>
(reposted from <a href="http://www.takhsiru.net/2012/10/improved-features-between-windows-7-and.html">my main blog</a>)Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-74704607237391305712011-10-07T01:36:00.001+08:002011-10-07T01:36:58.484+08:00In memory of Steve Jobs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuHcgGcPcEN0MhEutvD-Sxx56ixPmJttJUbnEh2WgzOmUNBUbxOOL_9LK6d7-5XhZ62Tu-_Lg7UIfkQIfuiXbZ0VvyuusWjOcyEIOPR2pwkgvSQfTuVHjubp4AWo5AqTLCI1VrH-YBMs/s1600/6a00d8341c4f9853ef015390f88247970b-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuHcgGcPcEN0MhEutvD-Sxx56ixPmJttJUbnEh2WgzOmUNBUbxOOL_9LK6d7-5XhZ62Tu-_Lg7UIfkQIfuiXbZ0VvyuusWjOcyEIOPR2pwkgvSQfTuVHjubp4AWo5AqTLCI1VrH-YBMs/s320/6a00d8341c4f9853ef015390f88247970b-800wi.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Steve Jobs</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1955 - 2011</span></b><br />
<br />
One of the greatest pioneers in shaping the world of information technology, Steve Jobs had helped changed the world that had span many decades.<br />
<br />
He envisioned having computers that were user-friendly to people that have little knowledge on computers, and also have one that is small enough that would fit into people's homes. He also reinvented the music and mobile industry.<br />
<br />
May he rest in peace.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-56531884645668795102011-09-16T07:37:00.001+08:002011-09-16T07:37:10.898+08:00Windows 8 Development Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnWOepkK3QjbpUh6dJw02Wo5RXGiUAsGDprcTJMbrex_VdzlIx6BA8CliX34QfdI1rhA8tfw7v09YXlmmPWDqRiHBooK0CV0YbWQheJMt0JyeLNjuiT_d19ssO_JAVD3U3tkvhjPHf_E/s1600/983rhyw9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnWOepkK3QjbpUh6dJw02Wo5RXGiUAsGDprcTJMbrex_VdzlIx6BA8CliX34QfdI1rhA8tfw7v09YXlmmPWDqRiHBooK0CV0YbWQheJMt0JyeLNjuiT_d19ssO_JAVD3U3tkvhjPHf_E/s640/983rhyw9.png" width="640" /></a></div>
I've got my hands on the preview version (a development stage earlier than beta) of Windows 8. I installed it on the laptop I bought earlier this year on an another drive partition, keeping the pre-installed Windows 7 intact. According to the specifications, you can also install on a PC that meets the requirements of Vista on it too. (Windows XP or other operating systems? It depends on your hardware, but certainly a PC from 1997 won't do.)<br />
<br />
It features a new start screen, and the more familiar desktop screen somewhat secondary. I don't have a touch-screen based interface, so bare in mind that this was used with a keyboard and mouse. Since the aspect ratio is 5:4, with a resolution of 1280*1024, certain features like snap to the side of the screen are unavailable.<br />
<br />
To access all programs here, press the WinKey and C. To have those black boxes at the bottom of the above screenshot to appear, just hover the mouse at the bottom left. Option to shut down, sleep, restart, etc., are in there too. Wifi could be selected either in the settings menu here, or the taskbar of the desktop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQlEdqxZY5dXKmJ5ruiWck4UggZAnh-m03cPCp5HdpbudyplswAI_KcstB4EOuL5z9jccJ3DAyFHbP9ANnoJhCbBbSMGDEQ16yyJJKpK0aoYXHhQJnXmS0UN8_m6U3vZoIbn6BbZymgg/s1600/40tjwgfrd.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQlEdqxZY5dXKmJ5ruiWck4UggZAnh-m03cPCp5HdpbudyplswAI_KcstB4EOuL5z9jccJ3DAyFHbP9ANnoJhCbBbSMGDEQ16yyJJKpK0aoYXHhQJnXmS0UN8_m6U3vZoIbn6BbZymgg/s640/40tjwgfrd.png" width="640" /></a></div>
This is the weather app. Depending on your screen resolution, you can see only part of it, or the whole thing plus other cities you added. The background image is animated, which is based on the current weather and the time of the day. I don't know how to adjust the settings, but the date/time is in Japanese format, the temperature is in degrees Fahrenheit, and wind is in mph.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWUVzWz2snfN9NwjUz_ZZNU_CzUCojvvPt_cI3w3k014-BMaICowqoHDAT8nlN7ngFvBIaEztkttmxUEvynglCc4sTVq0DXW4iacijm9re9pTENVUkRPWblMhwSCdizSvp9PNAG8mI0k/s1600/4980tu43w.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWUVzWz2snfN9NwjUz_ZZNU_CzUCojvvPt_cI3w3k014-BMaICowqoHDAT8nlN7ngFvBIaEztkttmxUEvynglCc4sTVq0DXW4iacijm9re9pTENVUkRPWblMhwSCdizSvp9PNAG8mI0k/s640/4980tu43w.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Next is the Twitter app that it comes with. I don't see where the settings are, and clicking on a username will bring up the user profile on the Twitter website via Internet Explorer instead of the app itself. CJK characters don't seem to be rendered smoothly. For some reason, when I tweet from this app, the tweet went through, but doesn't update here. (I knew the tweet was successful via another device.) Another oddness is that my timeline is blank, though when I sign in with my other twitter account (below image), it appears fine. I don't know what the problem is.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5rPYSCQB-Zi-O29jlKrRWubj9ylibZuRSEI0OvGljukgrF2waOSbfSuL8ZNE1LXmRTf249ZVKUSfquWlMt23eMhrsdREVrQ9A4vacc-ve9dZySJok6qPnEWfhYHRD-_oW78JXoiZas84/s1600/238rywtsdf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5rPYSCQB-Zi-O29jlKrRWubj9ylibZuRSEI0OvGljukgrF2waOSbfSuL8ZNE1LXmRTf249ZVKUSfquWlMt23eMhrsdREVrQ9A4vacc-ve9dZySJok6qPnEWfhYHRD-_oW78JXoiZas84/s400/238rywtsdf.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Parts of this image is censored out to protect privacy)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiQzzH96YSOW0Qaq9Z-pT11m6or2PbfaTHKC8si2zjVguGSLYNUx_K-6ST_SsAN5CmDHsV_4b4rc7ajSoU_AAUAWBwS9wnZeiWxSyTCdfvb_rHCQrMds_ieAJgy8-_4mcONaIXbskG2c/s1600/4t09uwtgr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmiQzzH96YSOW0Qaq9Z-pT11m6or2PbfaTHKC8si2zjVguGSLYNUx_K-6ST_SsAN5CmDHsV_4b4rc7ajSoU_AAUAWBwS9wnZeiWxSyTCdfvb_rHCQrMds_ieAJgy8-_4mcONaIXbskG2c/s640/4t09uwtgr.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Next up is another social app, but for Facebook. It features feeds from friends, your photos, profile, and the Foursquare-like thing called Places. The interface looks like it could be improved further. In the photos section, any images that are not of 1:1 aspect ratio have ugly black bars surrounding it, especially vertical images (not shown). The image thumbnails were simply resized instead of cropping it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwaBovuKYL9vP_6WgWVyzKAy-KQWnUsK-MaZsm_kGf6eWlC_Qd2aIDbpMvBir6htxoCZYbgUvxl8ihTZr7957jNN6e4TNVU7aaDBgZE8QJNVr4R8DU9ohK6wxJqjKky0qc62iEw0qIrI/s1600/9qu94-wtf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwaBovuKYL9vP_6WgWVyzKAy-KQWnUsK-MaZsm_kGf6eWlC_Qd2aIDbpMvBir6htxoCZYbgUvxl8ihTZr7957jNN6e4TNVU7aaDBgZE8QJNVr4R8DU9ohK6wxJqjKky0qc62iEw0qIrI/s640/9qu94-wtf.png" width="640" /></a></div>
I would like to try out other applications, but the app store isn't open yet. The apps that it already comes with seemed to be specifically designed for touch interface. They work with keyboard and mouse, but I don't feel comfortable using those with those apps.<br />
<br />
Overall, Microsoft has done some great effort in radically changing the user interface that has not been seen since Windows 95 with an interface called Metro. Metro is based on the (now discontinued) Zune player interface and has been applied to UIs, such as Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Dashboard. However, I have to say that it's confusing to people who have been used to the older interface. I know a lot of companies that still run Windows XP with the classic interface (Win2k/ME/98-like) today. Then again, I don't want to see a visibly old interface that is still being used a decade later.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-8093813044670955512011-03-05T03:00:00.000+08:002011-03-05T03:00:42.174+08:00Analog vs Digital Terrestrial signalsCountries around the world are switching over from analog to digital signals, with both being provided during the transitional period. Some countries have already shut down the analog signal, while others are in the early/planning stages of it. What I'm discussing here is talking about the over-the-air signals, and therefore, TV content provided over the cable, mobile phone signals, and satellite are not covered in this.<br />
<br />
So, what is so great about it? Well, for one thing with digital, you are either going to receive a crystal-clear image or none at all.<br />
<br />
But wait: doesn't that mean that those who are already receiving a weak analog signal, even with a signal booster, would not receive at all?<br />
<br />
Well, it depends on how far away you are from the transmitting tower. Since digital signals uses less bandwidth (and therefore less power) than analog to get a clear image. you would still receive a very clear image. To put that in perspective, a DVD video movie in 576i (PAL/SECAM) takes up the whole disc, but if stored as data at 720p, compressed, you could store about 12 times more on the same disc and in higher quality. If your signal is poor, but enough to not get a "no signal", you may see odd-looking squares that might be green.<br />
<br />
Another thing you may face is <i>receiving</i> the signals. In general, any new TV sold in your area today should be able to receive these signals without any additional hardware. If you somehow have a TV that could only receive a different type of digital signal, or, more likely, an older type of TV that doesn't even know what to do with the digital signals, you may need an external device to help receive the digital signals and send that signal to the TV via the same input you might have used for your console/DVD player.<br />
<br />
So, what are they going to do with the former analog frequencies after the shutdown happens?<br />
<br />
Well, who knows? Reserved for emergency use, future cellular signals (lower frequencies = larger coverage). One thing's for sure is that if you are used to a grainy analog TV signal and suddenly see the digital HD version, you wouldn't want to turn back. Though, you might not even watch TV for various reasons.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-73681975567590749662010-08-21T23:38:00.000+08:002010-08-21T23:38:28.944+08:00What Makes A Good UI of a mobile device?Having use several different devices from various brands, including Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Apple, and the little known brands from China, I have noticed several points that can make a difference between easy to use and not having a good experience. What I'm describing are ones released since 2007, the year the iPhone came out and touch screen were starting to become common. The iPhone was a revolutionary product at the time it came out, and made all the mobile phones that were out at that time look outdated.<br />
<br />
While using these devices, I have noticed some things:<br />
<ul><li><b>Stylus pen</b>: This is a relic from the PDA era that is somehow carried over. The response times are not ideal and the items to select are too small. You might also need to apply pressure while selecting too. If you have lost the stylus and it only has an on-screen keyboard, you are going to have trouble entering text because the selection is too tiny and not responsive.</li>
<li><b>Accessibility:</b> Most of the phones seem to have this as the lowest priority to the point that most don't even have any. With a keypad, you could just memorize which sequence does what without looking, but, except for the iPhone, you can't tell what you are selecting.</li>
<li><b>Multiple Language support:</b> Until recently, support for the <i>displaying</i> text of multiple languages is quite poor, but being able to change the menus in the settings in another. As the second lowest priority after accessibility for mobile devices, it only includes <i>commonly used</i> languages of the market it's sold in, or languages like English, French and German. Apple is the only one that supports the most number of languages.</li>
<li><b>User Interface:<i> </i></b>With the exception of iOS, Android, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maemo">Maemo</a>, and WebOS, the user interfaces seemed kind of dated with problems including the above. For smart phones that run on Windows Mobile or Android, the manufacturer might do some customizations that would either make it better or worse.</li>
<li><b>Updates:</b> The operator or the phone manufacturer is supposed to provide updates, but for reasons that have nothing to do with the hardware, they would only do it for a while, and then never.</li>
<li><b>Applications:</b> Until the Apple and Android app store came along, applications built-in are quite basic and to find more are hard to come by. It was almost non-existent as apps could be installed, but there was no centralized place for it.</li>
</ul>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-76272254986455332952010-02-20T14:52:00.000+08:002010-02-20T14:52:05.253+08:00Non-Ascii URLAlthough the support for this has been around for quite a while, I've rarely come across the sites non-Latin based languages having non-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII">ASCII</a> based URLs or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name">IDN</a>. Part of the reason for this are spoofing concerns such as the Cyrillic "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_%28Cyrillic%29">а</a>" looking a lot like the Latin "a" and misleading people since they look so identical, resulting on it not supported or enabled by default.<br />
<br />
Anyways, on my main blog in Japanese, you would notice that the URL is<br />
<span style="color: #3333ff;">http://虹を追いかけて.blogspot.com/</span><br />
in Webkit-based browsers (Safari, Chrome), but due to reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph, or in browsers that don't support it, you are most likely to see<br />
<span style="color: #3333ff;">http://xn--n8jos8fqkx000ci6n.blogspot.com/</span><br />
instead.<br />
<br />
"But how did you get the name there as the actual domain?" is what you're probably asking. If you want anything after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CcTLD">ccTLD</a> it uses code that's completely different from the above like<br />
<span style="color: #3333ff;">http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%99%B9%E3%82%92%E8%BF%BD%E3%81%84%E3%81%8B%E3%81%91%E3%81%A6</span><br />
for<br />
<span style="color: #3333ff;">http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/虹を追いかけて</span><br />
you might see when hovering over a link in eg. Firefox (of course, that article in question does not exist) and it's obviously longer, but that's not what I'm talking about here.<br />
<br />
As you might know, entering the non-ASCII URLs is simple:<br />
<br />
<b>Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox 3.6:</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlF0QmVe0XWSpFQCXGbDNw-S-h4K2pbA-yMV2vJeSlAej_HLX0g0EbCsURVFmpyGyVjsbnnjelWeORYmdjMLsFyga_7qCHQgj0751TDfRgb8K2-Fi00arOjraakg5Tvy_xTUFhIM-4ms/s1600-h/etertre.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="35" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqlF0QmVe0XWSpFQCXGbDNw-S-h4K2pbA-yMV2vJeSlAej_HLX0g0EbCsURVFmpyGyVjsbnnjelWeORYmdjMLsFyga_7qCHQgj0751TDfRgb8K2-Fi00arOjraakg5Tvy_xTUFhIM-4ms/s400/etertre.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enter the URL you want and hit enter. If you are using IE8, the converted URL might appear for only a second before redirecting to your default search engine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Enter the URL you want and hit enter. If you are using IE8, the converted URL might appear for only a second before redirecting to your default search engine.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntdwYWs5J3XTm2gV5Q4pBA674egJsSTy02yjiMmrptY8-MSYL0SvZhKA-6gLQhE5l_-QRcSrgkh9yM8ZO-42RShtD6owdlhks2fRp7DqfOD5poOf_F73bGkII9v13zdj7k-BnVqW9YoI/s1600-h/erterer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntdwYWs5J3XTm2gV5Q4pBA674egJsSTy02yjiMmrptY8-MSYL0SvZhKA-6gLQhE5l_-QRcSrgkh9yM8ZO-42RShtD6owdlhks2fRp7DqfOD5poOf_F73bGkII9v13zdj7k-BnVqW9YoI/s400/erterer.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You should see this or an error message below with that same url. "www." might be automatically added.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1uo2rOOuefG9P4tCt7CM4AGiWnfcDax5ye8UEGeN_DBjaETmjKdNDTR7bLXHCHa_QDb8_UjtUE6gR_mAYQSgwmy70wVE_JL-EWU7yECE8XJGSARdPNhFxh_dUpPNqyiT075QCdoEnfY/s1600-h/aDQWDFW.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1uo2rOOuefG9P4tCt7CM4AGiWnfcDax5ye8UEGeN_DBjaETmjKdNDTR7bLXHCHa_QDb8_UjtUE6gR_mAYQSgwmy70wVE_JL-EWU7yECE8XJGSARdPNhFxh_dUpPNqyiT075QCdoEnfY/s320/aDQWDFW.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In IE8, you can check both the native and encoded addresses and even what type of characters were used.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<b>Chrome:</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JnRJimmw9nKhP78Yw-PRAoS4s9qpZQ9-NBTxz7ao_SPwmzHFqKH_35aAwdhAYWZLnEvFym47aiGsy5J8kKMfKu0P9ic5tg1_5pUQbfnzUUTd4tu1SUXJqkt-ARdrS4502JFuzni5E-k/s1600-h/kjlkjl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JnRJimmw9nKhP78Yw-PRAoS4s9qpZQ9-NBTxz7ao_SPwmzHFqKH_35aAwdhAYWZLnEvFym47aiGsy5J8kKMfKu0P9ic5tg1_5pUQbfnzUUTd4tu1SUXJqkt-ARdrS4502JFuzni5E-k/s1600/kjlkjl.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The encoded URL would appear just as you type it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Yes, it's that simple for Chrome. Anyways, copy that encoded URL, edit out unwanted parts (if necessary), register it, and you're done!<br />
<br />
I would like to see this take off, but I don't want people using Cyrillic characters to mislead others into thinking they are the look-alike Latin characters. Also, can we hide "http://"? The person who invented it didn't want that to appear too. "www." is also redundant and a mouthful to say out.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-31779014054119835442010-02-06T19:16:00.001+08:002010-02-06T19:19:19.978+08:00Google begins dropping support for Internet Explorer 6In a move to help get users off Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 browser, and onto one that's much better with current web standards, Google has announced that soon it will begin dropping support for the outdated software.<br /><br />The problem with Internet Explorer 6 is that it fails at running some of the standard features of today's web development<br />technologies, meaning that it gives web developers a rather hard time when they put websites together. If the market share were small, this wouldn't matter so much, but Internet Explorer 6 still holds a decent-sized portion compared to other browsers, due to companies and other organizations refusing to switch from it. Despite the fact that there are many faster, more secure, and generally better browsers, such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8, Safari and Firefox, a lot of companies have yet to make the upgrade.<br /><br />The announcement made on the <a href="http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/01/modern-browsers-for-modern-applications.html">Google Enterprise Blog</a> states that beginning 1st March, Google Docs and Google Sites will no longer work correctly when viewed in Internet Explorer 6. These two services have a lot of users, so hopefully, this will help make a difference when it comes to what browsers are being used. Keep in mind that the company is only starting with those two; support for Internet Explorer 6 will be phased out as time progresses, giving users some time to switch. The announcement closed with, "2010 is going to be a great year for Google Apps and we want to ensure that everyone can make the most of what we are developing. Please take the time to switch your organization to the most up-to-date browsers available."Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-57693026538760014732009-10-23T05:41:00.003+08:002009-10-23T05:46:34.565+08:00Windows 7 launched<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCZBInsqAJ3C5j2uxlsr_p3tEVQcapg4l27fkUZfm0sUJ7hF-qkndNHckqQkQK6dOjemg7Z2MYCYpfcUTMO7vwuONQpL6q01Cuar7q1JBJwnfKdBM5ph8RXRHJEXSprniIymaIYnrpCs/s1600-h/ms_win7horizsmall.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuchbzJMm8ljFCQB0mFBUCRx9xFifkgWOv8RWU1-zpQQZ3lP4WsbWuJnuaborLXuLvTFk3rn7KQnK-jicq1ew7RVXoYM85HNS7Y8NVYjewGvbrBlFqGgc5t5DbD-IV93eYgL4tusxuz0/s1600-h/1256131828993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuchbzJMm8ljFCQB0mFBUCRx9xFifkgWOv8RWU1-zpQQZ3lP4WsbWuJnuaborLXuLvTFk3rn7KQnK-jicq1ew7RVXoYM85HNS7Y8NVYjewGvbrBlFqGgc5t5DbD-IV93eYgL4tusxuz0/s320/1256131828993.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395543057249307170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCZBInsqAJ3C5j2uxlsr_p3tEVQcapg4l27fkUZfm0sUJ7hF-qkndNHckqQkQK6dOjemg7Z2MYCYpfcUTMO7vwuONQpL6q01Cuar7q1JBJwnfKdBM5ph8RXRHJEXSprniIymaIYnrpCs/s320/ms_win7horizsmall.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 30px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 188px;" /><br />
Microsoft today unleashed their latest and arguably greatest operating system, Windows 7, to the world.<br />
<br />
Unless you've been living under a rock recently then you may have heard of Windows 7 and more than likely some of you will be reading this from a Windows 7 computer. Microsoft has put a huge amount of time and effort into Windows 7 and this was clear when Microsoft officials first introduced the OS at the Professional Developers Conference nearly a year ago. At PDC, Microsoft developers introduced new features with excitement and then perfected them over the beta and release candidate stages ready for today.<br />
<br />
Yesterday at a launch event in London, Julie Larson-Green, Corporate Vice President of Windows Experience explained that Microsoft had 8 million beta testers for the original beta launched in January and 7 million beta testers that "got the product by other means". A total of 15 million testers meant Microsoft were able to perfect Windows 7 with millions of machine data. Julie joined the Windows team 3 years ago, fresh from overhauling Office with the new ribbon UI. Previously she had worked at Microsoft for 16 years without touching Windows but had used it since Windows 1.0. Julie's work on Windows 7 combined with Steven Sinofsky, President of Windows and Windows live, is undoubtedly the reason Windows 7 worked out so well.<br />
<br />
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, couldn't be more happy with Windows 7. Today at a packed out audience in New York City, excited Ballmer donned the stage to introduce Windows 7 to the world. Ballmer was passionate, relaxed and jolly whilst introducing Windows 7. Kylie from the Windows adverts introduced Ballmer who seemed excited to see her. The audience aahd and oooed at Kylie and then Ballmer began to talk about 7. After the revelation that 15 million people tried the Windows 7 beta, it was also revealed that with the data Microsoft gathered during the beta test and feedback surveys, 91% of people part of the RC stage said they would recommend Windows 7 to friends and family. Perhaps more interesting was the fact that over 80% of those who identified themselves as Mac users in the surveys said they would recommend Windows 7 too.<br />
<br />
Later in the presentation there were several impressive product demos including the introduction of a new Amazon Kindle reader for Windows 7 with some interesting new touch features. The focus throughout the entire presentation was on making the PC simple once again and Microsoft's new vision of 3 screens and the cloud. Without hinting too much on the Windows Mobile side it's clear that Microsoft is pushing hard for cloud computing in 2010 and linking up Windows itself, Windows Mobile and many of the Windows live offerings is the main goal for Microsoft next year. We are expecting the upcoming Professional Developers Conference next month in Los Angeles to have a major focus on cloud computing and the upcoming Office Web Applications and Office 2010. With the public beta of Office 2010 expected to debut at the same time as PDC. Whether Microsoft can regain market share in the mobile market and position itself to offer compelling cloud based services remains to be seen.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-2036871148492208482009-06-25T12:30:00.001+08:002009-06-25T12:30:55.623+08:00Embedded VideoWas updating the Firefox 3.5 Beta 4 to RC when I came across a link that can play a video without 3rd-party plugins.<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://tinyvid.tv/show/3uwvr4t3wi3rm">http://tinyvid.tv/show/3uwvr4t3wi3rm</a><br /><br />Video:<br /><video src='http://tinyvid.tv/file/3uwvr4t3wi3rm.ogg' controls='controls'></video><br /><br />Tested on: Firefox 3.5 or any browser that supports HTML 5<br /><br />If you see a notification to install a Java-plugin, that means your browser is not supported.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-11575843090008087642009-06-02T10:51:00.003+08:002009-06-30T13:04:06.545+08:00Microsoft introduces controller free gaming, Project NatalMicrosoft today introduced Project Natal, a method for interacting with games, controller free.<br /><br />The software giant unveiled the project at a packed out press event for this years E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles, California. The ground breaking technology was introduced by both Stephen Spielberg and gaming legend Peter Molyneux. Both believe the technology has the power to turn games into a true mass entertainment medium. Spielberg said "This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games".<br /><br />The technology behind Natal is fairly simple, a TV-mounted camera/microphone bar to sense motion, sound and movement. What's new and ground breaking is the tracking of 3D movement as well as 2D movement. The system is also able to scan users faces and sign them into Xbox live, as well as react to vocal tone and pitch, and process this data in real-time.<br /><br />The technology looks promising and will allow users to interact with the Xbox menu systems, avatars and games specifically designed for the upcoming unit. Microsoft confirmed Natal, which has no official name, release date or price, will also work with existing Xbox 360 consoles as well as all future models.<br /><br /><center><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oACt9R9z37U&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oACt9R9z37U&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></center>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-72211717975718831592009-05-29T12:18:00.001+08:002009-05-29T12:19:06.660+08:00Windows 7 RC x64 version(originally posted on the <a href="http://the1iam.blogspot.com/2009/05/windows-7-rc-x64-version.html">main blog</a>)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6783/fyigiyuo.png"><img src="http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6783/fyigiyuo.png" width="100%" /></a><br />
<center><i>(I uploaded a JPEG version of this, but it mysteriously disappeared on the image hosting site...)</i></center><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/9500/dfwefije.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/9500/dfwefije.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I have used the <a href="http://the1iam.blogspot.com/2009/02/using-windows-7-beta.html">Windows 7 32-bit (x82) beta version</a> (build 7000) back when it came out earlier in the year. After discovering that my laptop (Acer Extensa 4620) could run 64-bit (x64) version, and with the release of the Release Candidate (RC) version, I decided to replace it.<br />
<br />
During the installation process, like the beta, I have to select customize instead of upgrade and select the drive to install on. Had to be careful with this part as there is a long list. Fortunately, the name of the drive, capacity and the amount of free space are shown. Although I have already backed up my files on the drive, formatting the installation drive was not necessary. The Windows folder from the beta had ".old" added to the name. Since I don't need it, I deleted it.<br />
<br />
Like the beta, there is the feeling that it's somewhat different from Windows Vista. I have used Vista since 2Q 2007. Have to admit, before Vista SP1, copying files especially, seem as though something is not right about it. Also , it wasn't until a year later, when the warranty expired, that I upgraded from 1GB (512MB + 512MB) to 2.5GB (2GB + 512MB) of RAM.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1135/sbgtrh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1135/sbgtrh.jpg" width="200" /></a>Anyways, I went to customize the themes and had a pleasant surprise. Besides the default theme, I noticed 5 additional themes (Architecture, Cartoon, Scenery, Nature, and Scene), something that I have not seen since Windows 95 Plus! ages ago. Upon clicking on the theme, Windows would nicely/magically change into the new theme. Exploring further, I notice that the wallpaper could be changed at set fixed intervals from any folder you like. Be it the default images, your drawings, or even... well, basically any supported image. The bar that used to contain widgets is replaced by one that you can drag around the screen and have it to appear at the very top. Access it by selecting "Gadgets" after right clicking on the desktop.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5216/wfiuehwfi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5216/wfiuehwfi.jpg" width="200" /></a>Not sure if it's an Ultimate version-only feature, but after heading to the Windows Update and selecting some optional updates, I was able to change the display language. Requires me to log off first though. Not sure if other updates are the cause of this, but a restart is also needed. Options to install those other languages seem to come and go at random. (Is it me or is WMP12 auto filling in missing info for my mp3 files wrongly from the moment it's opened and files added to the library?)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1994/32urh348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1994/32urh348.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4323/d08392d0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4323/d08392d0.jpg" width="200" /></a>Another thing that I did not mention in the beta review is the new taskbar. If you hover it, the mini-thumbnail of the window appears. If it's a media player, controls would appear (currently works only with WMP12), if there are multiple windows (and tabs for IE8) of it, it would be grouped with each individual ones appearing. In earlier versions, even though the option isn't available, you could also move the taskbar to any corner of the screen as long as it's not locked. In Windows 7, this is made more obvious, though bottom is still the default. On top of that, you can also choose the following options for the way the icons in the taskbar appear:<br />
<ul><li><b>Always combine, hide labels</b> - (Displayed on most screenshots) This is the default option. Could tell programs from their icons. Also looks nice when it's at the side of the screen, which also takes up fewer screen space if on a widescreen display than to have it at the default bottom.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Combine when full</b> - Self explanatory.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Never Combine</b> - (Displayed on the 2 screenshots of this paragraph) If you prefer separate icons for each running program, even if multiple instances of it are opened this option is for you. Multiple tabs in IE8 in a window are still display as a single icon if hovered over though, unless you have multiple windows opened. The closest to the classic option.<br />
</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1286/qfewger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1286/qfewger.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Performance ranking - The numbering might be different from Vista, but it still have the same function: scans all your processor, random access memory, graphic memory (for both games and Aero), and the transfer rate of the primary hard disk, and then takes the lowest rating. A blue coloured rating indicates that the ratings are current, grey if new hardware/driver is detected and a rescan is needed for an updated rating. Although it took a while to scan, my system rating fell to 3.2 from 3.4 after the rescan because of Aero support. Everything else remained unchanged.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9526/fwger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9526/fwger.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2821/ytrutr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/2821/ytrutr.jpg" width="200" /></a>I did mention that this is the x64 version, so what happens when I try to run a 32-bit program? Well, when installing to the Program Files folder, it would, by default, install into the "Program Files (x86)" folder. However, there may be some obscure programs that don't install there. An example would be visual novels, which seems to still actively support that ancient Windows XP and earlier operating systems and provide false alarms to anti-virus programs. If you're lucky it (visual novels) might actually run on Vista 32-bit. Setting the compatibility mode by right clicking on the program, click on properties, heading to the compatibility tab, enable that check box, and selecting the drop-down list don't seem to work. Speaking of that, the compatibility even includes service packs of earlier operating systems. The only real benefit of using 64-bit over 32-bit is that it could use more than 4GB of memory or more, which includes both system RAM and Video RAM combined.<br />
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Microsoft also made some improvements to the power button in the start button by making it obvious what pressing the button would do and having the ability to change that. Here's how different from earlier versions (might be different for corporate PCs):<br />
<ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4001/tjhxjyty.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/4001/tjhxjyty.png" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7823/fdvdfb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8983/seerhrt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8983/seerhrt.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7823/fdvdfb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7823/fdvdfb.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7823/fdvdfb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>
<li><b>Windows 3.1 & earlier</b> - Except for the NT versions, exiting Windows meant heading back to MS-DOS. I don't know how to shut down in MS-DOS, but I think you could just power it off when nothing is running. For NT versions, it actually shuts down.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Windows 9x</b> - pressing "Shut Down" would pop up a window with black dots at every other pixel and a window at the middle with ratio box (drop-down list for ME) for options in question format. In Win95/98 there was also an option to enter MS-DOS from there. Having it to head to sleep or log off instead appears as a separate option in the start menu and may or may not appear.</li>
<li><b>Windows XP</b> - Difference from 9x is that it is now represented in a colourful box and the background actually fades into monochrome instead of a pseudo one. You could switch to other users without logging off. However, to hibernate, you would need to press the Shift key and the standby option would change.</li>
<li><b>Windows Vista</b> - Pressing that button would immediately have the computer to be in standby mode instead of shutting down and, if long enough, hibernate. If there is an update needed to be installed (indicated by a yellow shield with an exclamation mark next to the icon), it would shut down after installing updates. Fortunately, there is an arrow to the right of it for more options. Option to switch/log-off user is integrated in there too.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Windows 7</b> - Same as Vista, but default has changed to shutdown instead and made visible what pressing the button would do.</li>
</ul><a href="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7416/foperpver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7416/foperpver.jpg" width="200" /></a>Looking around, people seem to only know the "Shut Down" and "Restart" options seeing how often they complained on how long it takes to start up. Let me explain how it works in the order that appeared in Windows 7:<br />
<ul><a href="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5872/gkjhbort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5872/gkjhbort.jpg" width="200" /></a>
<li><b>Switch User</b> - Switch to another user account on the computer without logging off</li>
<li><b>Log Off</b> - Logs you off from your account. Sometimes, you could use this instead of restarting and logging back in</li>
<li><b>Lock</b> - Locks your computer to prevent unauthorized persons from using the computer while you go away. (Shortcut: Winkey + L)<br />
</li>
<li><b>Restart</b> - Same procedure as Shut Down, but starts again after shutting down as though you had automatically pressed the power on button again right after it had shut down.</li>
<li><b>Sleep</b> - Have the PC in a low-power state mode and would immediately start back when woken up. Power indicator might be red/ember or flashing green.</li>
<li><b>Hibernate</b> - Somewhere between Shut Down and Sleep. It saves your session and shuts down and resumes back when turning back on. Useful for portable devices or, for some reason, want to temporally unplug the power chord. Slower when compared to sleep, but still a lot faster than shutting it down and turning it back up.</li>
<li><b>Shut Down</b> - Starts the procedure so that the PC could be turn off safely. Older hardware, might display a message saying that it's safe to turn off instead of doing it automatically. Recommended only if you want to install updates, programs you just installed requires restart, but don't want it to start up again (eg. need to leave), or physically unplug the power chord (for desktop or laptop without battery) or battery (for laptop not plugged in) to move stuff around, opening it up, or just save electricity from non-usage for a long period of time.</li>
</ul>I'm aware that there is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC">Windows Virtual PC</a> that included Windows XP available for download, but my PC doesn't meet some of the requirements. Besides, I already have Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on the Vista partion with the add-ons on all Guest OSes installed (except Win 3.1 & 95) and I only used that to check compatability of my web pages in Windows ME's IE6 or programs that can't work with Vista, the latter, as I found out, was caused by the anti-virus and can't be bothered with the white-listing or disabling it temporalily.<br />
<br />
I would like to test on other PCs, but they are quite old (2002 or earlier) or had their curcits burst. (Remember me saying about inserting the RAM wrongly on the 2005 motherboard?) I also don't have the finance to buy a new one. At the current rate, the amount I get from those miserable banners per month won't even cover an item at a 100-yen shop...<br />
<br />
What would I do when I'm done with the RC? Well, if they RTM or RC2 comes out or the time it expires in 1Q 2010, I would install some kind of a free Linux distribution on it. Might be Fedora, might be Ubuntu, who knows? No point downloading it now as there could be a new version by then and I already have burned CD images of various distros from some time ago.<br />
<br />
That's all I could type for this review. For more detailed info and screnshots, I would like to refer you to<a href="http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/"> Paul Thurrott</a> or anyone who have better insights and could explain stuff that I don't understand like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-V">Hyper-V</a> better than me.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-72091699581307727222009-04-24T14:50:00.002+08:002009-04-24T14:53:25.168+08:00Yahoo! starts shuting down GeoCities<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1Qk0JBLxEC4sdHaa_QDQGPLAFDYVnOuGlCtjjQ-QNVBRWKUhXuTDg6TIFFZSPJ1K4E0cge6ZVhtBFp6haln2sfaNpzHID1ufOauzI5vUhcPb-p6JvNvoxiM5-nX5j3UU5VC14y7jvcA/s1600-h/yahoo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 117px; height: 28px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1Qk0JBLxEC4sdHaa_QDQGPLAFDYVnOuGlCtjjQ-QNVBRWKUhXuTDg6TIFFZSPJ1K4E0cge6ZVhtBFp6haln2sfaNpzHID1ufOauzI5vUhcPb-p6JvNvoxiM5-nX5j3UU5VC14y7jvcA/s400/yahoo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328147190908318146" border="0" /></a>Yahoo! has quietly stop all new registrations today for new customers on the free web hosting service, GeoCities. The service which opened in 1994, lasting almost 15 years, the company as decided to shut down all new registrations, where current accounts will be deactivated later in the year.<br /><br />Current accounts maybe pushed to purchase a hosting plan later in the future to continue to keep their account. Yahoo! posted this on their web site about why they are not accepting new customers:<br /><blockquote>"We have decided to discontinue the process of allowing new customers to sign up for GeoCities accounts as we focus on helping our customers explore and build new relationships online in other ways. We will be closing GeoCities later this year."</blockquote><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5G-8AxCUGHulYlDe4rXaO4YyVtTak3mOJ_BSAzvzvBLAD8nPoZPkRvxLg_z-2AZ3NZKvJyKsGcuB1sjfvmDu2gtiul5BBw2QUb2nl920OX5b7ApML_NzYKGh1wMwH_Ecx3ax4PQvXYzM/s1600-h/Geocities.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 381px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5G-8AxCUGHulYlDe4rXaO4YyVtTak3mOJ_BSAzvzvBLAD8nPoZPkRvxLg_z-2AZ3NZKvJyKsGcuB1sjfvmDu2gtiul5BBw2QUb2nl920OX5b7ApML_NzYKGh1wMwH_Ecx3ax4PQvXYzM/s400/Geocities.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328147188450810594" border="0" /></a>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-37725372375593209542009-04-14T22:08:00.002+08:002009-06-30T13:09:36.462+08:00Xbox 360 warranty for E74 errors extended<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtstLR7TH_ddh0WwzGhCcklujhFgwqVsE16eiWekrmWqrMpeTsHtzZvANg9zn9onEQhCOGkY4mgMSUPT97jSIxwNSjTDOBhph2SY0M0nXBn0xJgrJMd0Nh381G9w448548aSQ_Xculgi0/s1600-h/xbox_360.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 37px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtstLR7TH_ddh0WwzGhCcklujhFgwqVsE16eiWekrmWqrMpeTsHtzZvANg9zn9onEQhCOGkY4mgMSUPT97jSIxwNSjTDOBhph2SY0M0nXBn0xJgrJMd0Nh381G9w448548aSQ_Xculgi0/s320/xbox_360.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324549506679013346" border="0" /></a>Microsoft today has <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969905">announced an extension</a> of the Xbox 360 for owners who receive the E74 error. The console receives the E74 error for a number of reasons including problems with the scaler chip (ANA or HANA) or a problem with the AV cable. However the most likely reason is the GPU which overheats and causes the motherboard to bend. Cold soldering joints have also been blamed for the error occurring.<br /><br />"While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays ‘E74′ on their screen.<br /><br />After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three flashing red lights error on the console. As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007."<br /><br />As with the red ring of death (RRoD), Microsoft will also refund customers who have previously experienced the E74 error and paid for repairs, in the next 4 to 12 weeks.<br /><br />Microsoft's latest revision of the Xbox 360, nicknamed Jasper, uses a lower powered 65nm GPU, which many believe have finally solved the E74 errors in new consoles. Before now every 360 included a 90nm GPU.<br /><br />Reportedly there is only one revision left for the Xbox 360, nicknamed Valhalla, expected later this year. It is believed the CPU and GPU will both be 45nm to further reduce production costs, but that they will also share the same piece of board. This will further benefit the cooling inside, but also reduces the space needed by around 30%. This information leads many to believe we could see a Xbox 360 "Slim" and will be Microsoft's last revision of the 360 before the next generation.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-59540129133387708992009-03-12T02:48:00.001+08:002009-06-30T13:10:07.877+08:00Apple unveils new iPod Shuffle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPTh_1_UY5T-_S61mjWHjpA-XiZy6QdoYvK3nqeFyMkzmgX-eZ8PCoRq1gbR8whpJw1hFnviJaA-3Cn47GtQga6mzyRESIN2dGVwskTvPJU2s3NnBI8InqlGkSeIr3N82FVEO2GwPorg/s1600-h/ipodshuffle_image3_20090311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPTh_1_UY5T-_S61mjWHjpA-XiZy6QdoYvK3nqeFyMkzmgX-eZ8PCoRq1gbR8whpJw1hFnviJaA-3Cn47GtQga6mzyRESIN2dGVwskTvPJU2s3NnBI8InqlGkSeIr3N82FVEO2GwPorg/s200/ipodshuffle_image3_20090311.jpg" /></a></div>Apple surprised many today by <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/">unveiling a redesigned iPod Shuffle</a>. The new design gets a memory spec bump to 4GB for $80.00. The new design (seen below) has no screen but Apple did include a new VoiceOver feature.<br /><br />VoiceOver allows "[w]ith the press of a button, it tells you what song is playing and who's performing it. It can even tell you the names of your play lists, giving you a new way to navigate your music".<br /><br />The new unit is on sale now in steel gray or charcoal colors and comes with the usual Apple accessories. Apple generally unveils new products on Tuesday but with this unveiling maybe Apple is trying to keep its followers on their toes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUszghHvSOLAt52iqadjPXiYuMRvUB1c4zMIhvrnlZJEIAauOUdqdFIXCLaVsvMwHnAkkODL3FXZJ06GwioMlyS1C2C2-jHpNxtQZIElk3bF_1XxrrSpoB7FGVG8cAjtz06ZOJ-ch-fLw/s1600-h/ipodshuffle_image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUszghHvSOLAt52iqadjPXiYuMRvUB1c4zMIhvrnlZJEIAauOUdqdFIXCLaVsvMwHnAkkODL3FXZJ06GwioMlyS1C2C2-jHpNxtQZIElk3bF_1XxrrSpoB7FGVG8cAjtz06ZOJ-ch-fLw/s400/ipodshuffle_image2.jpg" /></a></div>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-46208940733339977862009-02-02T03:42:00.003+08:002009-06-30T13:10:41.233+08:00Using Windows 7 (beta)(originally posted <a href="http://the1iam.blogspot.com/2009/02/using-windows-7-beta.html">here</a>)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuGRH_5T9QMNcn-zYJ-J5yaioYq4K9PFWJmGE2Nuh0Ztpu5NAR8wjGRElU9cD-KUTzWBOJBz8DvkJYIbmldgt3r-MTxvN9CfdsW6oaIZT3NPRxIISEHmZWcQ2AHtI4dYDl6P_yDnxak8/s1600-h/dsgfdgfdgd.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 200px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297893923550467650" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuGRH_5T9QMNcn-zYJ-J5yaioYq4K9PFWJmGE2Nuh0Ztpu5NAR8wjGRElU9cD-KUTzWBOJBz8DvkJYIbmldgt3r-MTxvN9CfdsW6oaIZT3NPRxIISEHmZWcQ2AHtI4dYDl6P_yDnxak8/s320/dsgfdgfdgd.png" border="0" /></a>Earlier yesterday (Sunday), I had downloaded the beta version of Windows 7. Downloads can only be done up to <em>February 10, 2009</em>, incomplete downloads on that day will have an additional 2 days to complete. Due to the nature of installation, the download file was a DVD iso image (~2GB) and had to be restarted several times. Knowing that this would work until <em>August 1st, 2009</em>, it would be best to install it on a different partion, as a virtual OS, or another PC that you don't mind formatting over. The requirements are a 1Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of free space, and whatever graphic requirements. It was so good that, apart from some bugs, that it does seem ready to be released as the RTM version. There wasn't any major problems with the hardware or software I tested.<br /><br />Partitioning wasn't really an issue as there were already 2 equal partions on the laptop drive between Windows Vista (C: Drive) and another without an OS on it (D: Drive). I just need to backup the files on the C: drive and move existing files on the D: drive onto one of the 3 portable hard disk drives I have. By backing up, I mean copying personal files to a different physical drive and not using the program that came with the operating system (or any 3rd party software), mainly because it is more troublesome to recover and, in some circumstances, may not work.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpwBEvPxCc3v3IcRPty2YXejm1QLa_jt700gM5X2xbV1UaCoSVAyIes38dQe_qNG57Ljgct2B_moDiHm23eDMYEnt9fYxHcHzq-Nf-nwn5oQii-jPkVN3ZcTyb0uv6w_9pQBPMHMcGco/s1600-h/fsfisdsoi.png"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px; float: right; height: 230px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297884429473353682" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpwBEvPxCc3v3IcRPty2YXejm1QLa_jt700gM5X2xbV1UaCoSVAyIes38dQe_qNG57Ljgct2B_moDiHm23eDMYEnt9fYxHcHzq-Nf-nwn5oQii-jPkVN3ZcTyb0uv6w_9pQBPMHMcGco/s320/fsfisdsoi.png" border="0" /></a>Installation, compared to earlier versions, was quite fast. Except for prompts asking me to restart, and selecting between the Windows 7 Setup and Windows Vista afterwards (this appears if the PC has 2 or more OSes on it), the begining (downloading of updates, upgrade or custom install), and the end (serial key), they never ask me for anything.<br /><br />(<a href="http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_beta.asp">check out someone's post for more details</a>)<br /><br />One of the first things I did was to check how different things are from Windows Vista Home Basic (and earlier) first hand. I know I have read a lot of reviews, most of it positive, but it would be better if I would experience it first-hand.<br /><br />I know Aero came with Windows Vista, but the one I had is a Home Basic version, and there isn't any, or the very least, a pseudo version. And the only other operating I have use in recent years are Ubuntu Linux, Windows XP, and a tiny bit of Mac OS 9/X. So, the first time I experience it first-hand and using it as I like, I actually liked it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUgUmARFSGQO08G21CZB7NPG_4wrRnIkErn142V93_vnXN9M2muFkY6kIcugVPCpqxVXS_Si-HGtur2fjZHbQwks5bKzae_Qd8xwTYE6drDRAD-U2LCX0Wbfj82Fz7uwrjutQBk5Rq7U/s1600-h/fdbdfhrtdh.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 200px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297898118976435890" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyUgUmARFSGQO08G21CZB7NPG_4wrRnIkErn142V93_vnXN9M2muFkY6kIcugVPCpqxVXS_Si-HGtur2fjZHbQwks5bKzae_Qd8xwTYE6drDRAD-U2LCX0Wbfj82Fz7uwrjutQBk5Rq7U/s320/fdbdfhrtdh.png" border="0" /></a>The taskbar is different, if you hover over the Windows Media icon in the taskbar, you can control the song from that pops up with the control buttons. For the IE8 (beta) icon, hovering over it would show all the tabs that are open in it. I tried with Crome earlier (at least, the version as as the time of this post), but that don't seem to work unless all the tabs are separated. This is a major overhall since the earlier version was introduced in Windows 95.<br /><br />The background can be set to change from every 10 seconds to 1 day. Of course, the order can be shuffled. Also, when setting the wallpaper, there is also the option to fill and fit, on top of the existing center, tile, and stretch options.<br /><br />Movie Maker is missing, but is included in the version of Windows Live Essentials suite that was released last month (January). However, at the current state, the features are somewhat limited as compared to the one that came with Vista.<br /><br />As a comparisian of how far Windows 7 has come, I have opened smillar things to Windows ME (which came out 10 years ago) and you can see how different it is. Both screenshots were taken on the same day.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2xn-oG-_c5PRKKCko3U1J7sna0fchSrgn26Zk0UJg9XKiFWlGo8sRlapRhu3j0SySfk3orMxvrWMabDpM6mgUIdgu39HqeFAhlfwqKiiJaZ4DNMcJQc8KLGwnXm3Up1eXJ9k0QoSouk/s1600-h/win7ss.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 250px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297877433333916770" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo2xn-oG-_c5PRKKCko3U1J7sna0fchSrgn26Zk0UJg9XKiFWlGo8sRlapRhu3j0SySfk3orMxvrWMabDpM6mgUIdgu39HqeFAhlfwqKiiJaZ4DNMcJQc8KLGwnXm3Up1eXJ9k0QoSouk/s400/win7ss.png" border="0" /></a>Windows 7 (beta) </p><p><br /></p><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfnSJAu33lRsItMrb_ztZ83F7lFATsBMD3sZhDLXlFIQfLf70gixeEcQ59GSB7fZGLbDO9wmGdorUYIMVInyGHChKKpnc6Zr-NwlMr-iD6V1gof_R_vLz7sqsbixdsU1s-PZXGXpApyA/s1600-h/winmess.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297877421834493794" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfnSJAu33lRsItMrb_ztZ83F7lFATsBMD3sZhDLXlFIQfLf70gixeEcQ59GSB7fZGLbDO9wmGdorUYIMVInyGHChKKpnc6Zr-NwlMr-iD6V1gof_R_vLz7sqsbixdsU1s-PZXGXpApyA/s400/winmess.png" border="0" /></a> Windows ME</p>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-27511364054707895002009-01-30T23:34:00.002+08:002009-01-30T23:38:20.371+08:00Recorded: Google maps car hits a deerIt's a sad fact that deer get hit by cars everyday but not everyday does a Google Maps car hit a deer and record the event. It's a sad fate for the deer but the entire event was recorded and uploaded to the live version of Google Maps.<br /><br />You can attempt to view the picture <a href="http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=42.953557,-77.663247&panoid=6vAkor2kYZz3m5_1iSkMrw&cbp=12,181.53727377395012,,0,21.75107339062427&ll=42.953463,-77.663242&spn=0.027766,0.22316&t=h&z=13">here</a> but that particular spot is being hit pretty hard by traffic; a screen capture is posted below.<br /><br />The Google employee had to have known that they <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/7td1m/young_deer_hit_by_google_map_van_caught_on_street">hit the deer</a> but the more interesting thought is why did they proceed to upload the images? Is Google that determined to be the first to map the roads by street view that they don't care what goes live on their site?<br /><br />Regardless this can be added to the long list of odd and funny things that have been caught on Google Maps.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibShXQtFBSdG9hyIx-a7-DijRsvJj_gj8ihoXsTTP86JBv_3qfPRyLmyvk9BKgziiUxmGrKAbspnJ4NNjroioxPg8wAaUrBeAoz1iWiQ7WKZDs5BJiqEuFWONhZSYawv6Regq5z1SKbWk/s1600-h/deer3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibShXQtFBSdG9hyIx-a7-DijRsvJj_gj8ihoXsTTP86JBv_3qfPRyLmyvk9BKgziiUxmGrKAbspnJ4NNjroioxPg8wAaUrBeAoz1iWiQ7WKZDs5BJiqEuFWONhZSYawv6Regq5z1SKbWk/s400/deer3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297111449148074050" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAJEBQBSCq64vZHetO7mVrTIWUzfhBF8i_Z62P0bqtrB9ZOxN3hbjifbBLODkvHZzrTrmeFumigjD3CiSluxCzA9wPI6UzO9LxDkio5Wd0-RJQTEquBhcLJ7I4xlpisIMiTRxc5V1MMo/s1600-h/deer2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAJEBQBSCq64vZHetO7mVrTIWUzfhBF8i_Z62P0bqtrB9ZOxN3hbjifbBLODkvHZzrTrmeFumigjD3CiSluxCzA9wPI6UzO9LxDkio5Wd0-RJQTEquBhcLJ7I4xlpisIMiTRxc5V1MMo/s400/deer2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297111445995205954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvcdfyQtAb_3n1_yiuh2uI6CSiq-TevcMy5s1GWkAcGGV7xLFLQuHRmXQ6_CfuMQiQCOt5NAsBpQ743nnZGwkIEheYUuOK6CymuSxGtljlULAJdVxZigj6nCKb11PtSL-0jkah0S0fcY/s1600-h/deer1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvcdfyQtAb_3n1_yiuh2uI6CSiq-TevcMy5s1GWkAcGGV7xLFLQuHRmXQ6_CfuMQiQCOt5NAsBpQ743nnZGwkIEheYUuOK6CymuSxGtljlULAJdVxZigj6nCKb11PtSL-0jkah0S0fcY/s400/deer1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297111447832114946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-cZlQChTzyuUI_IBLC2SYjjWDe4r3xF0lryzq2ufjMrkwMbVXrujE35gtPo8EpDxJWgmfI6UzTqrhnm_MwAdyjSeUwDnmVs-sEvVKR6I7hT3k9N67Xgz4gPoumq0CAAFJHG8U-Z6kIU/s1600-h/deer.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg-cZlQChTzyuUI_IBLC2SYjjWDe4r3xF0lryzq2ufjMrkwMbVXrujE35gtPo8EpDxJWgmfI6UzTqrhnm_MwAdyjSeUwDnmVs-sEvVKR6I7hT3k9N67Xgz4gPoumq0CAAFJHG8U-Z6kIU/s400/deer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297111433214160002" /></a><br /><br />Google <a href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/01/oh-deer-street-view-and-road-safety.html">has responded</a> and states "the deer was able to move and had left the area by the time the police arrived".Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-68424095292412038452009-01-03T13:44:00.007+08:002009-06-30T13:11:11.952+08:00Wikimedia Foundation raises $6.2 million for Wikipedia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUro_KMyMEP1yZrgeONDWbQ4IPWTtce1sHasF-4spTrV_F24W2cFZbd6aDzig-VY8aGrIwl7iePqEwoTPHr9jpW-rhuLJ8EltEfMa232sg1LKC2BqPlnM-4nsMPwTi77EHOBtf3jPcx68/s1600-h/wikimedia_foundation.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 124px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUro_KMyMEP1yZrgeONDWbQ4IPWTtce1sHasF-4spTrV_F24W2cFZbd6aDzig-VY8aGrIwl7iePqEwoTPHr9jpW-rhuLJ8EltEfMa232sg1LKC2BqPlnM-4nsMPwTi77EHOBtf3jPcx68/s400/wikimedia_foundation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286939410808475234" /></a><br />The Wikimedia Foundation announced Friday that it has reached its goal of raising over $6 million to sustain Wikipedia.<br /><br />With the help of over 125,000 donors from around the world, the Wikimedia Foundation raised a total of $6.2 million, sustaining Wikipedia for the foreseeable future. The money will be used to maintain and grow the foundation's technical infrastructure.<br /><br />"This campaign has proven that Wikipedia matters to its users, and that our users strongly support our mission: to bring free knowledge to the planet, free of charge and free of advertising," Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, wrote in a thank you letter posted on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation's Web site. "We deeply appreciate the generosity of our supporters."<br /><br />The Wikimedia Foundation was behind in its total contributions in late December, but Wales published a personal appeal on the foundation's site to increase funding. In the eight days trailing that message, more than 50,000 contributions flooded in, totaling $2 million and closing the gap toward the goal.<br /><br />The Wikimedia Foundation is still accepting funding on its donations page.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-54324100269805149342008-12-06T09:08:00.003+08:002008-12-06T09:10:50.475+08:00Facebook gets hit with a virus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7841ectUy04LI2kADHxaaHZhc2MznspifPL41AiXnmyscOzdonveTzIR4Yr0UYtTFDWsrOWsIXRBgv9OVyggQ_TnITKbr6QpLShkSown0oNthwWnH3tq3ptAazu74Co6azCiaOY4_VoI/s1600-h/facebook.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 55px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7841ectUy04LI2kADHxaaHZhc2MznspifPL41AiXnmyscOzdonveTzIR4Yr0UYtTFDWsrOWsIXRBgv9OVyggQ_TnITKbr6QpLShkSown0oNthwWnH3tq3ptAazu74Co6azCiaOY4_VoI/s400/facebook.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276477900717467890" border="0" /></a><br />Facebook has been hit with a virus that could spread to its 120 million users. The virus has been dubbed "knobface", which tries to gather personal information from users computers such as credit card numbers.<br /><br />The virus dubbed "knobface" sends a message to all the friends of the infected titled "You look just awesome in this new movie". Users who opened the messaged where asked to download a fake update for Adobe flash player, which was actually the virus itself being downloaded and installed onto victims computers. If users attempted to use any of the major three search engines such as Yahoo, Google, or Live search, users would be taken to contaminated sites.<br /><br />All users are being asked to run their updated anti-virus scanners to check for potential contamination. Facebook has also posted a response to help users clean infected machines on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/security">security</a> web site.<br /><br />The "knobface" hit MySpace in August, where users had a similar situation where the virus took over their computer. Researchers believe that this is not the last of the "knobface" virus we will see, but the hacker or hackers are improving it.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-76480731635935909272008-12-04T20:10:00.003+08:002008-12-06T09:11:22.384+08:00Windows Live Wave 3 rolled out<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc4Y3tGxjIGvlXivgKN1qpafyMQMXKB_heDFewb-YVo8v9vOvjaHeagN4z545m4LabSAkvbsuSRKalfzIjmsBiR9r-hkMilNpvkx5GMWvue-uIIclcN7VbwmGXhBJCq8OPkNZwvFGoQI/s1600-h/ms_live.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 96px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUc4Y3tGxjIGvlXivgKN1qpafyMQMXKB_heDFewb-YVo8v9vOvjaHeagN4z545m4LabSAkvbsuSRKalfzIjmsBiR9r-hkMilNpvkx5GMWvue-uIIclcN7VbwmGXhBJCq8OPkNZwvFGoQI/s400/ms_live.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275906395423637186" border="0" /></a>Earlier this week Microsoft updated their Hotmail service to the new Windows Live Wave 3. Though Home and Spaces remained the same. Yesterday however, those were also updated with new features and gadgets.<br /><br />The New Live Wave 3 which seems to have been rolled out feaures Dynamic themes, updated Weather forecasts, and the ability to add pictures. The page itself also integrates a number of services. All your messenger contact info is sent to Windows Live Home, additionally, Office Workspaces has also been integrated to show all files and folders added.<br /><br />Now let's talk about SkyDrive. SkyDrive got a major boost. Last week you were able to store up to 5GB, now it has been boosted to 25GB. Folders have also been neatly organized, however, the ability to view friends SkyDrive's seems to have been removed.<br /><br />Downloads have also been included. These Downloads are the new Live Wave 3 Programs which include WLM 9.0, WLMD (Windows Live Mail Desktop), WLMM (Windows Live Movie Maker), WLW (Windows Live Writer) etc, however they are ALL BETA and will not be released until Feb, 09. Finally, Spaces. Spaces seems to be out of service at the moment unfortunately, this has been confirmed by a number of people.<br /><br />To check this out and more, go to: <a href="http://home.live.com/">http://home.live.com</a>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-55881655618472428572008-11-20T07:47:00.001+08:002008-11-20T07:49:49.190+08:00Mozilla to end Firefox 2.x support in mid-December<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5B1MICl8HTAgppLmGdG-AYqhJ2acLFvzUJ5qPnG0qOlT3vIfwJ018Jb5VyL8zdyBmNMwUPFhjUIquMTyaQo0QjIWpD-KskhRbQupNBETqQOQy4hvnpq4Ghx47ffi8YzZqdSCitu9uK4/s1600-h/firefox.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 128px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5B1MICl8HTAgppLmGdG-AYqhJ2acLFvzUJ5qPnG0qOlT3vIfwJ018Jb5VyL8zdyBmNMwUPFhjUIquMTyaQo0QjIWpD-KskhRbQupNBETqQOQy4hvnpq4Ghx47ffi8YzZqdSCitu9uK4/s400/firefox.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270520049509382290" /></a>Mozilla <a href="http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-250172.html">announced on 18 November</a> that they are continuing their EOL (end of life) policy with their products by ending support for Firefox version 2 even though version 3 itself has its own problems. The EOL policy is a system Mozilla set up to allow the developers to end their work on a previous version so they can work on the future versions. The EOL for the previous product kicks in after 6 months of release of a new product. If you are using version 2 of Firefox you may not be able to get any security updates or patches for flaws that could occur from now on.<br /><br />It's not just Firefox that will soon be unsupported, the Gecko engine version 1.8 that is a key factor of Thunderbird 2 will also be ended and it in turn could stall the production of Seamonkey, Camino and Galeon. Despite this move Michael Connor from Mozilla announced "Mozilla (in some form) will provide support for Thunderbird based on the official lifecycle policy."<br /><br />Despite there being no support for Seamonkey or any other 3rd party application using Gecko 1.8 Mozilla said the developers making those applications can still release their own updates but the system its self will not updated.<br /><br />Mozilla will now set focus on improving Firefox 3. Many people have had problems with Firefox 3 crashing or stalling at various times something that the previous version didn't do that often. Other problems with Firefox that have been noted is the amount of memory the browser uses during a good few hours usage.<br /><br />Firefox 3 set a world record when it was downloaded more then 8 million times when it was unleashed to the world this past June.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-11084482572509301642008-10-15T01:35:00.002+08:002008-10-15T01:37:54.633+08:00"Windows 7" has been confirmed as the final name<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTW_j0T_QYu6iL6NKO5biHw2J0tmwGkig6qCn1amGPcrogrnsuALDqfxYGKhbzHHJvG63uNBu0YVizqd1GPWDVny7eOCj8PuTQnLN_iZ4QjdtOyKnS9MDyBbNJ0wr9MmDE5zAaFnDmLE/s1600-h/ms_win7.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTW_j0T_QYu6iL6NKO5biHw2J0tmwGkig6qCn1amGPcrogrnsuALDqfxYGKhbzHHJvG63uNBu0YVizqd1GPWDVny7eOCj8PuTQnLN_iZ4QjdtOyKnS9MDyBbNJ0wr9MmDE5zAaFnDmLE/s400/ms_win7.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257064912906743154" border="0" /></a>Microsoft has <a href="http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/13/introducing-windows-7.aspx">confirmed</a> that Windows 7 will be the final name for the next generation operating system.<br /><br />In a <a href="http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2008/10/13/introducing-windows-7.aspx">blog</a>, Mike Nash, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Management confirmed the news.<br /><br />"Since we began development of the next version of the Windows client operating system we have been referring to it by a codename, "Windows 7." But now is a good time to announce that we've decided to officially call the next version of Windows, "Windows 7" Nash said.<br /><br />This is the first time a Windows OS has been named by its codename. The decision was made for simplicity. Nash added "this is the seventh release of Windows, so therefore "Windows 7" just makes sense."<br /><br />Microsoft is set to reveal a lot more about Windows 7 at its professional developers conference which starts on the 27th October. Neowin will be live all week so look out for some great information about the future of Windows right here.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-19587469167918745202008-09-02T23:48:00.003+08:002008-09-02T23:49:41.054+08:00Google launches internet browser<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OLCkAtijO9nh25R2f1-zhZjUNii-AodFnWIAE1okAR7Syaq_sf8eG8VdKyzBJ7oM_vkXoffwZzIQVGijnFqM7tkrhd9e5WRh5qpwajxdjCbw9gchAklMU9oPZ_on6tRLbwEaUgZPK-Q/s1600-h/google.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5OLCkAtijO9nh25R2f1-zhZjUNii-AodFnWIAE1okAR7Syaq_sf8eG8VdKyzBJ7oM_vkXoffwZzIQVGijnFqM7tkrhd9e5WRh5qpwajxdjCbw9gchAklMU9oPZ_on6tRLbwEaUgZPK-Q/s320/google.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241451610982464386" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.</span><br /><br />The browser is designed to be lightweight and fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia. Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.<br /><br />"We realised... we needed to completely rethink the browser," said Google's Sundar Pichai in a blog post.<br /><br />The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.<br /><br />Google has a suite of web apps, such as Documents, Picasa and Maps which offer functionality that is beginning to replace offline software.<br /><br /><br />View: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7593106.stm">BBC news</a>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-12323216563039693242008-08-13T19:26:00.001+08:002008-08-13T19:27:56.470+08:00Apple twice the price of PCs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ_0vaTN49WUZ8N1SSzTFhtySuKkYF-2eJnSosNGvbtAV8IFx1BUM82w6DkqozRCEr9HizT0QeUNTvZAAU_01WGbYeZqGRJzkJxFNdCdbRfzdkcwmG2yD7KEdUwdhvMAO5D7PSZyHOTs/s1600-h/apple.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZ_0vaTN49WUZ8N1SSzTFhtySuKkYF-2eJnSosNGvbtAV8IFx1BUM82w6DkqozRCEr9HizT0QeUNTvZAAU_01WGbYeZqGRJzkJxFNdCdbRfzdkcwmG2yD7KEdUwdhvMAO5D7PSZyHOTs/s200/apple.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233962550609834082" border="0" /></a><br />Research by analyst house NPD has shown that, on average, Apple users pay twice as much in the shops as PC users. Retail data showed that in June the average cost of a Windows laptop was $700, compared to $1,515 for an Apple machine. The difference was even more stark with desktop models, with the average Windows machine going for $550, compared to $1,543 for an Apple.<br /><br />"There are plenty of Windows PCs you can buy at high prices," Stephen Baker, NPD’s vice president of industry analysis told vnunet.com. "But if you want to buy an Apple you don’t have any choice, you’ll have to pay more." He said that in his opinion it was just a choice Apple had made and the company could argue that the value of the software and brand made up for the price differential.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-59501912983944283712008-07-06T14:56:00.002+08:002008-07-06T14:58:30.229+08:00637 million browser users at risk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mIgtZHXQU0t1aEtyvzH4pRE5GuR3VZ6YYYrUlp45wifWHo3dZNDjpVWcQbTGd-MHZ2rBbw41zQyiMVl5tvxYMBucdrlwrPx6ukdQDtpDUCV3VqrywRj1X_RGEEuR516vIitMUNE6eEg/s1600-h/newcomputer_warning.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219791653504868802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0mIgtZHXQU0t1aEtyvzH4pRE5GuR3VZ6YYYrUlp45wifWHo3dZNDjpVWcQbTGd-MHZ2rBbw41zQyiMVl5tvxYMBucdrlwrPx6ukdQDtpDUCV3VqrywRj1X_RGEEuR516vIitMUNE6eEg/s400/newcomputer_warning.gif" border="0" /></a><div>A group of researches on Tuesday said 637 million Web users are surfing with outdated Internet browsers and therefore at greater risk of Web-based attacks.Using data collected from Google Web searches and security firm Secunia, the researchers, Stefan Frei (of ETH, Zurich), Thomas Dübendorfer (Google), Gunter Ollmann (IBM ISS), and Martin May (ETH, Zurich), analyzed the browsers used in a new report. They did so in an effort to understand why so many recent attacks by criminal hackers have been aimed at the browser, and why those attacks have been so successful.Overall the authors found that roughly 40 percent of users were using insecure versions of Web browsers. Among the least compliant were users of Internet Explorer, which currently dominates the Internet browser market.The data was collected in mid-June 2008. The users were scattered among 78 percent Internet Explorer users, 16 percent Firefox, 3 percent Safari, and 0.8 percent for Opera. Of these, 52 percent were running the latest version of Internet Explorer, 92 percent for Firefox, 70 percent for Apple, and 90 percent for Opera. </div>Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1643853365634818860.post-24900386861717188682008-06-14T01:20:00.000+08:002008-06-14T01:21:46.865+08:00MySpace to undergo major redesignMySpace will unveil next week a large-scale redesign that will alter major components of the social-networking site, like its home page, navigation scheme, search engine and video player.<br /><br />On Wednesday, MySpace users will see the first phase of the redesign, which has been in the works for the past six months, according to the company.<br /><br />MySpace, the world's most popular social-networking site, expects the changes to boost user engagement by making the site easier to navigate.<br /><br />MySpace is routinely criticized by users and observers for a layout that many consider visually strident and messy. Its members have many options to alter their profile pages, such as changing their background color, adding hyperactive animations, using fonts of many sizes and colors and plastering them with videos and photo slideshows.<br /><br />On the other hand, rival Facebook is much more conservative in its design, aiming for a cleaner and more organized look, and gives its members fewer liberties to adorn their profile pages. In fact, layout and design is one of the key areas of differentiation between the two sites, and people often choose one or the other based on this issue.<br /><br />As part of the redesign plans, MySpace has conducted surveys, performed usability tests and gathered focus groups.<br /><br />In addition to revamping the home page, MySpace is also changing the profile editor to make it easier for members to design and decorate their profile pages. The profile pages will also undergo renovations.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the search engine interface is getting a more streamlined layout, an enhanced relevancy algorithm and a tabbed results page including categories like people, MySpace site, Web, music and video.<br /><br />In addition, the video player is gaining new controls and support for Flash 9 full-screen mode.<br /><br />Facebook is also busy these days toiling away at a major redesign of its member profile pages, which it has previewed and which it hopes to roll out at some point this month.Haruka Takahashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817153979108337185noreply@blogger.com0