An illuminating post on the Windows Capable fiasco, with extracts from email communications between Microsoft and Hewlett Packard.
My first Twitter Is Over Capacity experience
I'm not a heavy twitter user by any stretch of imagination, and after many months of not using my account, this is what I see:
Can anybody out there suggest a better micro-blogging platform?
Posted in Web 2.0 Leave a comment
Maxis 3G Wireless Broadband Review
Speed Tests
All speed tests were conducted at Speedtest.net.
September 5th, 2008. I'm inside the bus that's heading out to the LCCT from the KLIA bus terminal. The bus is still at KLIA and hasn't started on its journey yet. It's 11:50 am, and this is the speed I managed to get:
This is what I got with the bus on the move:
Don't forget, I posted these results using MarsEdit while in the bus.
September 10th, 2008. It's 1:45 pm, and I'm sitting outside the Ismail supermarket in the town of Kuah, Pulau Langkawi. This is the speed I got:
September 11th, 2008. It's 12.30pm, and I'm having lunch at Laman Ria, a restaurant within the Laman Padi complex at the Cenang Beach, Langkawi. This is the speed I got:
It's now 1.20pm, and I'm waiting at the Langkawi International Airport for the AirAsia flight back to Kuala Lumpur. This is the speed I got:
I've touched down at the LCCT, and it's now 3.20pm. I've just boarded the shuttle bus which is on its way to KLIA. The bus has not started its journey yet, and we're still at the LCCT. This is the speed I got:
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Samsung Instinct vs. Apple iPhone 3G Compared
This page is a compilation of professional reviews and user opinions on comparisons of two smart phones, the Samsung Instinct and Apple iPhone 3G.
Comparison video by DigitalJournal.tv
A summary is provided after the video.
Summary
Screen: The bigger screen on the iPhone makes it easier to see and to type on. The screen on the Instinct is smaller and is a drawback.
Device navigation: Scrolling on the Instinct can be quite a horrible experience due to the inferior touch sensitivity. Sometimes, while scrolling a list of items on the Instinct, you end up selecting or activating an item instead.
The iPhone is easy and fun to navigate. The Home button on the iPhone makes it easy to quickly go to a list of applications.
On-screen keyboard: The touch keyboard on the Instinct falls short because it doesn't follow the QWERTY layout, but rather, the keys are arranged from A to Z in a sequential manner. The Backspace button isn't easy to locate either. The Instinct does not perform automatic correction of words as you're typing them, something the iPhone does by default.
3G network: The iPhone runs on a 3G network, which lets you download emails and browse the internet with relative speed. Built-in WiFi capability also means that the iPhone can connect to your home network and lets you browse the internet at the same speed as you would experience on your home computer. This is a key differentiator between the iPhone and the Instinct.
Apple's iTunes Apps Store: With the iPhone, you have instant access to hundreds (if not thousands in time to come) of applications (games, Facebook, news readers). Many of them are free or come with a small cost, and can be downloaded easily to your iPhone. This, and the built-in Wifi, are considered the killer features of the iPhone.
Contrast both the above with the Instinct, where browsing the internet was slow and painful, and trying to access Youtube was just unbearable.
Radio: The built-in satellite radio on the Instinct is a good idea, however isn't that great in actual use due to the sub-par sound quality of the music being played via the speaker.
Multimedia messaging: This is a big plus feature on the Instinct. The iPhone does not have this functionality.
Camera: The Instinct has a dedicated, physical button for snapping photos. The iPhone has a unique and compelling feature when it comes to photos, and that is, it allows you to re-size your photo via the on-screen, multi-touch gesture using two fingers.
Video recording: This is another feature which is missing big-time on the iPhone, but is present on the Instinct.
Memory: Although the iPhone 3G comes with quite a large internal storage (you can choose between 8 or 16 GB models), the memory is hardwired into the phone. With the Instinct, you can easily swap memory cards, thus allowing you to manage the storage of your music or photos more flexibly.
Viewing large web pages: The Instinct has a tilt navigation tool that allows you to move the phone side-to-side and access different areas of a web page. This is especially useful for web sites that have margins that are too wide for the Instinct's screen.
Conclusion
The iPhone wins in these areas:
- It has a big, beautiful and bright screen.
- It's simple to use, intuitive and easy to learn.
- The iTunes Apps Store is phenomenal.
The Samsung Instinct wins in these areas:
- Pricing - the Instinct will set you back $130 USD compared with the iPhone's $200 USD asking price.
The "Grand Prize" goes to the iPhone 3G in this round.
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Save all open tabs in Firefox version 3.0
Firefox 3.0 has tons of new features, but the ability to save all open tabs in Firefox 3.0 upon quitting the application is one of the best that I like.
I would have preferred if Firefox 3.0 allowed one to save at any time one wishes.
As it stands, the feature that's available now is only triggered when you quit the application.
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Happy Hours on Rapidshare.de
During Happy Hours on Rapidshare.de, you can download all the files you want, with no restrictions.
Posted in Internet Leave a comment
Gmail can play music files
I had an email with an .mp3 file attached, and was surprised to see a Play link next to the attachment.
Clicking the link opens up a dialog window where you'll see a Play / Pause button and a link to download the file.
What will they think of next?
SSD vs SATA Hard Disk Performance Test
You can read all about the performance test at Infoworld.com pitting Imation's Pro 7000 solid-state drives (SSD)
The results speak for themselves: the SSD drives are extremely quick on reads, while the SATA drive is faster on writes.
However, the expensive price tag on the SSD drives will definitely mean that the mass consumer market won't be adopting them anytime soon.
What's the practical attraction of these SSD devices anyway? Mario Apicella describes it best on page 2:
However, using Microsoft Office on the Pro 7000 drives made me a believer in the power of SSD. With my stopwatch, I gathered some numbers: Excel started in a blink of an eye, less than one second on the Pro 7000. Notably, it took just a little longer on the VelociRaptor. I measured similar minuscule differences for other Office apps. Nevertheless, sheer numbers can't convey the feeling of smoothness and responsiveness that I had firing up Excel or Word from the Imation drives compared to the Western Digital.
Some links to information on how the music industry works
http://www.janisian.com/article-internet_debacle.html
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-royalties.htm
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/record-label.htm