Archive for September, 2009
A very important information has just been revealed: Windows 7 OEM pricing. And why is it important? Simply because this money will make the difference when you try to buy a laptop with Windows 7 included.
We’ve talked before about the Windows 7 pricing, so here’s a quick reference to compare it with OEM:
|
Full |
Upgrade |
OEM |
| Home Premium |
$ 200 |
$ 120 |
$ 110 |
| Professional |
$ 300 |
$ 200 |
$ 140 |
| Ultimate |
$ 320 |
$ 220 |
$ 190 |
OEM pricing it is extremely important to computer builders, and of course users. But there are some considerations:
- OEM versions are only licensed to one machine. Period. You don’t get the chance to use the same license on a separate machine, even if you don’t have it installed in the original machine.
- Also is required for OEM, clean installations of the operating system. You cannot upgrade any existing installation, you must clean your hard drive first.
Even though the pricing has only been revealed for three versions, we assume that these versions (Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate) will be the selected ones for any computer manufacturer to use. Specially the Home Premium version (yes, I know, I do not like it either).
We’ve mentioned DropBox as one of the coolest free file sharing options available in the market. And now, as most of the cool web apps, the iPhone version has been released to the public. Download it from here (iTunes link):
DropBox has a very intuitive and easy-to-use interface, using your Mac, Linux or Windows client; or even using the web interface. You can simply synchronize your files everywhere; it doesn’t matter from which computer you are connecting. And now, it won’t matter if you are using your laptop, desktop or iPhone.
Some of the other features included are:
- Possibility to use public links for your files: Instead of using rapidshare, megaupload or any other file hosting; you can upload your files to DropBox in a public folder and share it with the community.
- Usability similar with Subversion: With the local client, you can store your files in your hard drive. And every time you put files in there, they are automatically synchronized.
- 2gb of storage.
And some of the features that you can see with the iPhone app:
- Download files for offline viewing: Add files to your ‘Favorites’, and they’ll be accessible at any time.
- Take photos and videos and sync them to your Dropbox: Take a photo from your iPhone and email its public link to a friend in less than a minute.
Take a quick look:
Ever been watching TV, listening to the radio or in the supermarket and you hear a song being played – and it’s a cool song. So cool, in fact; that you would like to download it to your Mp3 player. One problem I’m constantly running into is loving a song but not knowing the name or indeed much of the lyrics. Perhaps it’s just the tune or the chorus that sticks out in your mind – how do you find it?
Well, Musipedia may hold the answer. Basically, its a site that allows you to search for a song by the way it sounds. There are a few ways of doing this. For those with musical talent or can just read music, the piano option is for you. Using either the Java or Flash Piano you can play the part of the song that you remember. This will then be compared to the most similar songs on their database and you’ll be given an answer.
For those who couldn’t hit a note if it was standing right in front of them (like me), you can whistle. Yup, I said whistle.
Using this function, you can use the microphone in you laptop or one connected to your PC to whistle the tune. Then, it will analyse your whistling and find the song for you.
Musipedia if free to use and it’s available right here.
The hobby of DJ-ing, and even making it into a career has been around for ages – well, since the 70s anyway. Recently, it has gone digital with loads of gadgets released onto the market to replace traditional turn tables. Normally, these comprise of touch sensitive pads and buttons to replicate the scratching and mixing of tracks. Well now it’s gone portable.
The Hercules Mobile DJ Mp3 system incorporates two touch sensitive pads and loads of knobs, dials and buttons for the mobile DJ to work his magic. It works like an mp3 player – you load song onto it from your PC. Then, you can select multiple songs to mix and create your own tunes. There are various features such as the ability to add effects and to cue up tracks ready to be inserted when every you want. What’s more, there is no need for discs as it’s all saved on the Hercules’ hard disk.
Not bad for only $99 at samedaymusic.com .
Well, it’s time. A lot of people have been waiting for this for several months now: Google Wave is releasing 100,000 invitations in the next few days (expected for September 30th) for enlisted participants.
As we’ve discussed before, Google Wave will give users the chance to manipulate the same content at the same time, and displaying the information in real time for the rest of the users. This collaborative environment can be crucial in developers’ teams. Will be something like this:
I know what you are about to say: how do I get an invitation to Google Wave? Well, there’s no guarantee at this point that you may receive one of the 100k that Google’s releasing, but you might get a chance for a second Google Wave (mid-October maybe?):
Dev guys can click here and enlist to receive one of the invitations.
The rest of the mortals can click here.
And yes, if we receive one of those invitations you’ll hear from our experience.
Microsoft has been working for a long time now in giving a good and reliable antivirus platform for all users. And when I say “for all users” I mean a free one. Seems that the dream is about to become true today: Microsoft Security Essentials will be release to the public as the free antivirus solution from Microsoft.
Microsoft Security Essentials will be replacing Windows Live OneCare as the security suite for viruses and malware. The suite can be installed in Windows XP, Vista and 7; and seems that already has a good review about the protection you can achieve, by giving you a shield for 97,8% of the existing malware in the web.
On the other side, some of the other reviews this antivirus platform has received so far say that the engine inside it is a little bit slow and intrusive with other applications.
And of course, leaders from other security solutions already are trying to tear this solution down, like McAfee: “will compete against other free solutions by offering limited security functionality”; or Symantec saying it is a “thin defense” and not giving you any type of antispam or identity safeguards.
Let people decide then.
Mozilla team is working really hard on brainstorming the idea and design of Firefox 3.7 (currently in 3.5, 3.6 it’s just around the corner). What’s the main idea? Hide the Menu bar and use a very similar look-n-feel of Office 2007/Office 2010 Ribbon.
They are using their Wiki to give us some of the advances made so far, the ideas floating in the air and of course receive feedback from most of the Mozilla lovers (and non-lovers as well, why not?). And here are the ideas that they have so far:
- Embracing Glass: Toolbar and Tabs using Glass. Raised translucent buttons that are slightly glossy to meld with the toolbar. Raised 3D look to achieve tactile “feel”.
- Neutral Tones: Overall neutral color scheme that can transition among platforms. Can remain attractive and slick without fighting for focus from web content.
- Hiding the Menu Bar: Hiding the menubar by default (on Vista/7) allows us to use Glass, free up vertical space and retain platform consistency.
- Page and Tools Buttons: Condense and trim existing menu structure into two buttons “Page” and “Tools”. Similar to Safari and Chrome.
- Combine Stop/Reload: Combine Stop and Reload into one button. Reduces visual “clutter” and combines two buttons that have mutually exclusive functionality.
- Home Button/Tab: Remove “Home” Button from default toolbar. Move functionality to a “Home Tab” containing your homepage.
More info: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Sprints/Windows_Theme_Revamp/Direction_and_Feedback
Personally I think those are very nice and significant changes. Office, Vista and 7 seems that they are setting the standards of any UI (no surprise there, Windows will still be the world’s main OS for a few years more). But the good news is that Mozilla it is also trying to establish browsers standards, like the “Page and Tools Buttons” that is a common feature in Safari and Chrome.
And also the “Combine Stop/Reload” feature it is something that I’ve been waiting to see in Firefox for a long time. I know, it’s a very tiny thing, but don’t you love having the same functionality in different browsers?
And what are the other changes that you would include?
Shopping around for the best price will now normally mean going online. A flaw in this plan is that people will almost immediately go to either eBay or Amazon – assuming that they offer the lowest prices. While that may be true for some items – it’s cod’s wallop for others. Often, sellers on eBay know that buyers rush to the site for a bargain so the price will go up: supply and demand my friends.
SortPrice is a price comparison site that is completely free to use and it compares the leading retailers and online firms from across America. I found that the sections for clothes and books were compared really well – as were the technology categories although these can be a bit sparse when you’re looking for a particular model.
The layout and design are done in a very simplistic way which is what you want from a purposeful website that is there for one reason and one reason only – to save you money.
I think it’s better than other price comparison sites because it has both online and offline stores listed while others simply assume that online is always the way to go.
Well, it’s official. Arthur Guinness has just turned 250. Around the world people are enjoying free pints of Guinness, one gigantic party and the ‘craic’. As an Irishman, I feel compelled to inform you of some of the cool web tools and features that Guinness has unveiled on their website to mark the occasion.
First, we have the blast from the past as we go for a walk down memory lane looking at all of the old advertisements from Guinness’s.
Then, there is a video showing you how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. In fact, all of the videos released to celebrate the occasion whether there of the How-To variant or recent advertisements are all of a very high quality and stream pretty quickly from the servers.
Then there is the ‘The Beer’ function which get you acquainted with how Guinness is made and its various different forms such as ‘The Beer’, the Export version and of course the traditional Irish Stout version. The history section also brings you up to date on the 1000 year lease on St. James Gate in Dublin and how it was first created and how it impacted on Irish history.
I hope you all enjoy it and indeed the worldwide toast to ‘a man named Arthur’.
iCyte is a tool that allows you to capture web pages and highlight text on them and then save them to your account. It comes in the form of an ad-on for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox and it is available here.
It works by saving the webpage and its formatting into a file (or Cyte) which you can then add tags and notes too. When you need to retrieve the file you can open up iCyte in the sidebar of your browser and see all of the Cytes you’ve stored so far.
I found this tool to be especially useful for research and taking notes without printing off dozens of pages. The ability to separate your Cytes into different ‘projects’ makes it easy to use, as does the search function.
For anyone who engages in high amounts of research or just likes a little bit of order among their saved web pages – Cyte is for you.
