From http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/feb/05/comment.media
This may well be the funniest (and most truthful) shtuff I’ve ever read about the mac-vs.-pc conflict. This is everything I’ve ever thought about macs and never taken the time to articulate (with such vehemence, anyway).
Ok, I’ve replaced my Logitech G15 keyboard (which I honestly thought was irreplaceable in terms of simple ergonomics because it honestly was the single best feeling keyboard I’ve ever used) with another Logitech keyboard creatively christened Logitech Illuminated Keyboard.
I was skeptical, to say the least, but the only alternative at this price point (not over 100 bucks, but not cheaply-made enough to piss me off) was the Razer Lycosa (which I am currently using at home because it’s nice for video games but not for work).
Actually, I had no intention of purchasing this keyboard until my little brother picked it up and said, “Wow, heavy!” or words to that effect. Basically, this thing weighs an ass ton more than it should — or at least more than a crappy keyboard (crappy name = crappy keyboard, right?) should weigh.
Long story short: I bought it and I actually don’t regret it.
Now, I’ve long been a fan of Logitech keyboards (Saitek is my other favorite make, but theirs have problems with key combinations in a lot of cases that don’t matter to the average gamer but which do matter to me, you know?), but I really didn’t expect to like the way this one types better than I liked the G15.
And, honestly, I do!
So there you have it: for general productivity-type work, if you’ve absolutely got to have a conventional keyboard layout (complete with a full set of arrow keys and the home/end/up/down combo above them), then this keyboard is a great bet for you if you don’t mind a keyboard that’s almost completely damn flat.
Well, it’s also missing the (apparently deprecated) Insert key above Delete (delete takes up two rows now), but since Microsoft Word kind of no longer recognizes that one by default I’m not sure I care. The only thing I’ve ever considered using Insert for, Ctrl+V does easier. (The keyboard does have an insert key, but it’s where Print Screen used to be; it actually seems like the key they got rid of was Scroll Lock.)
Ok, there’s also one more button missing: the little dropdown menu button that’s usually between Alt and Ctrl on the right hand side? Gondies. It’s been replaced with a big thing marked FN in orange, which you can use in conjunction wth Print Screen to get the same functionality that the old key had.
Not actually sure what else the FN key is supposed to do, but I only use that particular button in very strange circumstances. I’ll probably miss it, but then again, maybe I’ll learn to use the new combination?
…it’s not like being able to make bulleted lists in Word without using the mouse was a huge thing — and it’s also not like I still can’t do it.
Honestly, if this damn thing works as well for gaming as it does for typing, it could replace my Razer. Not that I’ve decided that the Razer is a genuine replacement for my other G15, the undisputed King of WoW.
My keybard is dying. Nt the ne I use at the huse, but the ld ne that I brught t wrk because it was at that stage f its life cycle where it’s ttally brken in and it feels just right and that’s a gd thing t have n hand if yu’re ging t be tying n it all day.
The lead paragraph here is an example of the risk of using a keyboard near the end of its useful life: the damn thing is over its billion stroke limit and apparently all the buttons in the middle (notably o, p, [, ], and the arrow keys) have all but stopped functioning completely. In order to make a stroke register, I have to hold the key down for several seconds (and then use backspace to get rid of the extra two or three that appear).
Yes, I’m using that keyboard for this whole post; I simply typed the first paragraph here as I usually would, without any extra editing or trying to make the keys work.
This actually happens to me on a pretty regular basis. “But Bishop, we’ve never seen a post about a busted keyboard before!” Well, that’s because I retire them from home use as they enter this phase of the life cycle so that I won’t get too comfy with the way one feels. I just didn’t throw this keyboard away cuz it was a gift.
(See? The Bishop does have a heart. He keeps it in a locked box underneat the southwest corner of the front porch.)
A particularly expensive gift, at that; I actually would’ve felt crappy about just throwing it out.
Now, though, it seems it really is time to do the whole “out with the old” trick; this thing is not helping my productivity at work. Question is: what the hell do I wanna replace it with?
Seems like it was only a few months ago that we reported on the end of the Browser Wars! …but really, they’re not over. They’re only just now heating up. Mozilla/Firefox is only just now beginning to take significant market share away from Internet Explorer, the de facto standard in web development since it was originally bundled with Microsoft’s Windows in like 1136CE.
Other Johnny-come-latelies like Safari and Opera exist and I suppose that some parts of the browsing public are aware of that, but the fact is that for the most part they just don’t matter. Of course, the same could be said of Internet Explorer; the very fact that the world’s default browser is the one that comes preloaded on the PC suggests above all else that people just don’t give a good goddamn.
What about those of us who do, though?
For the past couple years, I’ve been using Firefox almost exclusively. I have IE8 Beta Something on this machine, but I actually only use it for things that just plain don’t work in other browsers (like testing IE8 compatibility). I’ve also been known to slip into it for certain Flash and Javascript apps for which Firefox is simply too goddamn slow; for some reason or other, Internet Explorer runs with less chugging. I don’t even want to know why.
But I have recently been made aware of another alternative: Google Chrome.
Chrome may well be the first browser I’ve ever heard of where the damn thing doesn’t crash all at once. Given my tendency to run apps that may or may not work well in browser windows, this is a wonderful concept and I intend to take full advantage of it if I actually start using Chrome. Of course, it doesn’t bring nearly as much to the table as Firefox. I only use one or two plugins on a regular basis (one of which I actually used only to download streaming media to my PC so that I could actually view it, as my internet connection has simply never been up to streaming anything up until now), but I do like the way Firefox behaves when dealing with Internet forms, etc. — the whole spellcheck thing is hawt. I don’t think Chrome has that.
If it does, it’s damn well not working in here. Watch tihs. See? I misspelled this and Chrome has jack and shit to say about it, and Jack just left town. I love that phrase, by the way.
So this is a Google Chrome review of sorts in that I am going to say this: Download the sumbitch and give it a shot. It’s actually kinda nice.
(I just wrote this post in it because I downloaded it to my home PC in hopes of seeing if Gears works in WordPress.)
Source: Neowin
Although long considered dead, today its official: Microsoft has officially buried Windows 3 (took ‘em long enough!). Here’s what the Neowin article said:
Although many would agree that Windows 3.x has been dead for many years, Microsoft hammered the final nail into its coffin early this week.
The Redmond based software company stopped issuing licences for the Windows 3.x operating systems on 1st November 2008. Microsoft maintained support for Windows 3.x until the end of 2001, and it has lived on as an embedded operating system until 1st November 2008.
Windows 3.0 was originally released on May 22nd 1990. 3.0 came with a lot of improvements, but also with a lack of multimedia and network features, which led to 3.0 being replaced quickly by Windows 3.1. However, the improvements that Microsoft achieved with 3.0 were impressive. The platform offered 32-bit performance, advanced graphics, and full support of the more powerful Intel 386 processor.
New features included at the time were program, file, and print managers, a completely rewritten application development environment with modular virtual device drivers (VxDs), native support for applications running in extended memory and fully pre-emptive MS-DOS multitasking. Microsoft also improved the set of Windows icons.
The program manager and file manager gave users Macintosh-like big icons to click and drag-and-drop. Although it was replaced quickly, Windows 3.0 was widely accepted and respected among third-party hardware and software developers because Microsoft released a new Windows software development kit (SDK) which enabled the developers to focus on writing applications instead of device drivers.
According to the BBC, one of its more glamorous uses as an embedded operating system is to power the in-flight entertainment systems on some Virgin and Qantas long-haul jets. Perhaps it did a better job that the more recent Linux variants, I tried checking the Football (soccer for the US folks) results and it crashed the whole thing on a recent Virgin flight from London to Los Angeles for Microsoft’s PDC.
That’s all for now, kids. 
http://www.myplainview.com/articles/2008/10/21/breaking_news/11341dh_xml.txt
Microsoft Inc. filed 20 software pirating cases in nine states — including one against a local company — on Monday.
Of the two cases filed in Texas, one was filed in federal district court in Lubbock against Epic Computer Solutions of Plainview. Microsoft alleges the local company installed pirated software on computers sold to local customers.
The suit was filed as part of Microsoft’s Global Anti-Piracy Day. The awareness program is intended to “highlight collaborative efforts to protect customers and partners around the world from software piracy and counterfeiting,” according to a release.
Overall, Microsoft launched education initiatives and enforcement actions in 49 countries.
Microsoft anti-piracy attorney Sharon Cates indicated Epic had been on Microsoft’s radar since 2000.
“We have sent them numerous cease-and-desist letters and have contacted them several times trying to get them to stop,” said Cates. “This type of company is particularly troublesome because they don’t care.”
The suit stems from Epic’s practice of what Cates called hard disk loading. In that process, Epic allegedly installed pirated versions of Windows XP Pro and Office XP Pro onto computers it sold to the public. Cates said customers thought they were getting fully licensed products, and they weren’t.
“They weren’t getting the update packages or any of the other benefits of a licensed product they thought they had paid for,” said Cates.
Microsoft also claims computers containing pirated software are more susceptible to harmful viruses, “worms” and “trojan horses.”
Cates admitted at this point Microsoft does not have hard numbers on how many computers containing the counterfeit software may be in the general public. Most of the information Microsoft used as the basis for its allegations against Epic was obtained by undercover “test shopping.”
“We don’t know how widespread the problem might be,” Cates said.
Cates indicated piracy costs the software industry more than $8 billion in revenue in the U.S. in 2007.
According to court documents, Microsoft is seeking an injunction against Epic and owner Johnny Rose as well as laying claim to all of the company’s profits earned from the infringement. A specific amount of damages was not detailed in the suit. Microsoft claims an audit would need to be performed to determine the amount of damages.
Rose did not return phone calls this morning.
Customers who believe they have received any suspicious software program from any vendor are encouraged to report their suspicions to Microsoft’s anti-piracy hot line at 1-800 RU-LEGIT (785-3448), or visit the anti-piracy web site www.howtotell.com.
Microsoft is absolutely right about this. I almost went to work for the bozo who owns this place.
Source: Softpedia
This…is awesome!
Last year, Intel announced a project to build a processor that would pack no less than 80 cores. While the idea may seem rather futuristic to some, the chip maker is reported to have already demonstrated the CPU at the Gitex Dubai trade show. Reports say that the Santa Clara based company wasn’t shy at all at showcasing the processor, with the demonstration being made in the general public area outside of the trade show.
As we all know, Intel has other multi-core projects in the pipeline, and Larrabee is one of them. However, the showcased processor was not Larrabee, but another CPU. The company is said to have started working on this CPU long before Larrabee came into play. The showcased CPU features 80 small cores, and is able to deliver 1 Teraflops of computing power. The 80-core chip is said to need only 78.35W of power, and that it features a 3.13GHz clock speed.
According to Fudzilla, Intel also detailed several other features of the CPU. The technology it comes with allows for almost all of the cores to be totally shut down when not needed. Also, it seems that the CPU can downclock all the way to 780MHz in such situations, and that the peak Teraflops performance will drop to 0.01. The CPU would only need 6.45W to compute the 4tile, 4×4 matrix mult withcomm equation.
The research processor was built under the 65nm process and the company expects it to be ready for the market in the next five or seven years. It seems that Intel will come out with this eighty-core CPU as a part of the future line of sixteen, thirty two, sixty four CPUs, right before a ninety six-core version. The chip manufacturer considers the multi-core as being the near future for the CPU industry, although such an approach might sound rather idealistic.
Since the current multi-core processors are already facing problems concerning the lack of adequate software able to scale on a large number of cores, Intel should also consider conducting a research project in this area as well, so as to allow users to benefit from all the eighty featured cores.
The only thing I ask is to be instantly notified when these go on sale.
If you frequently visit here, you’ll notice we rarely (if ever) promote other people’s software on here (other than Windows…), but I stumbled upon this, and it really is one of the handiest things I’ve found in a long time…and its free!
If you’re like me, you probably use several icons on your desktop (I recently cut then umber down by half, but I still have about 55 (largely games, system utilities, and media-related). I have my icons organized in groups (Windows, browsers, & system utilities in the upper left-hand corner, media players, My Music shortcut, and Roxio 2009 in the lower-left corner, Steam and ROM emulators in the lower-right, and games in the upper left in eight rows of three icons). Nice and organized, right? Yup…until you change resolutions, update graphics drivers (in all due respect, the newer ones usually don’t mess this up), or whatever else that causes all your nice, organized icons to be completely messed up. You know you’ve been there…likely a lot. And you know its a pain fixing them all back. No longer. I found a rather great solution.
Desktop Restore is a small, free program that can save your desktop arrangement quickly and painlessly, and allows for fast restoring. Rather than try to explain what the program’s author already did, you can read the specifics here.
I’ve only been using it for about an hour, but I deliberately messed up my desktop as badly as one can, and the program restored it to my pristine previously-saved state. Cool stuff. Very, very useful. And the author claims that it appears to work properly under Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista. I can confirm that, so far at least, it works great on XP with Service Pack 3.
Here’s the download link: http://www.midiox.com/index.htm?http://www.midiox.com/desktoprestore.htm
I give this beauty a 5/5 rating. Great stuff!
System Specs:
This thing is a serious beast (Valve said so earlier tonight when I took their user survey); she appears in about the top 95th percentile of household computers. NASA scientists ask to borrow it on the weekends. SETI and Folding At Home have both begged me to install their bullshit time and again. It’s all been working fine since the day I put it together (with two exceptions: 1) Crysis has never run right; 2) for a few months a while back, sometimes it would freeze while loading Windows, a problem which has not come up in a good long while).
But of course I wouldn’t be a PC enthusiast if I didn’t tweak things now and then. And now something isn’t working.
Note: I am writing this blog post on the computer that I am referring to. It is working fine.
NVIDIA’s drivers, however, claim otherwise. I updated from whatever antique nforce drivers I had been using to the latest geforce betas, which include support for PhysX acceleration through the video cards. Sounds like a good deal, right? I mean, get the latest drivers and get a completely new (virtual) piece of hardware to make certain games (Crysis!) run more smoothly — theoretically, anyway. Things didn’t pan out.
Specifically, I’m now getting a warning I have never seen before regarding my power supply. “NVIDIA System Sentinel” swears that my ONE KILOWATT psu isn’t doing its job. Now, there are some parts on this machine that I’m not so sure about (the motherboard, for example, is from EVGA, which is not one of my favorite companies due mostly to things that I experienced with this motherboard, although I know that they have a spotless record for customer service), but the psu is not one of them. I’ve used Antec psus and cases for years now and (even with the crappy wiring in my place) have never had a power problem of any kind.
Besides, 1000 watts is way more than these cards will ever need, so even if it’s already degraded significantly there should be no trouble at all. Performance would have to be down below 50% (an unheard of rate of degradation) before I’d notice any real problems.
Turns out this is actually a bug in NVIDIA’s drivers. Surprised? Not if you’ve dealt with these people before.
But, allegedly, EVGA has come to the rescue. I’ll be downgrading from the 177.92 NVIDIA drivers to a version 177.79 from EVGA. Should solve the problem, at least according to the rep on the EVGA forums.
EVGA didn’t actually make my cards (they’re MSI) because I wasn’t at all prepared to pay the premium commanded by their brand name, but they may (slowly) be earning my respect at last. Unfortunately for them, their unholy alliance with my least favorite video card manufacturer may doom any burgeoning romance between us from the start. My next video card(s?) will probably be from ATI once again if this keeps up, as I have never yet been disappointed with any of their hardware or the accompanying drivers.
Now, if only they’d get back in the high-end game where they can actually market their parts to me and not my parents…
Download: Microsoft IE8 Beta 2 Download Page
IE8 Release Notes: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949787 (Be sure to read for important compatibility information!)
Earlier this week, Microsoft released the second beta version of its highly anticipated update to Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 8, with the final version due out around November (last we heard). IE8 Beta 2 hosts a number of new features, including Standards-compliant mode & IE7 Compatible mode (which are hot-swappable with the push of a button), a privacy mode called inPrivate Mode, a much improved add-on manager, Web Slices (which look really cool so far!), color-coded tab grouping, tab history & crash recovery, and a lot more. One feature I really like is the ability to highlight text in a webpage and be able to look up definitions, perform searches, translate, and more with a simple right-click.
For you web developers (like Bishop and me), there’s some very handy developer’s tools, which pulls up this wicked cool console for examining, tweaking, and debugging source code, CSS, and the like on any webpage. Also, IE8 passes the Acid2 test with flying colors (it still fails miserably at Acid3, but in all respect, Microsoft never promised Acid3 compliance, and Acid3 is largely unimportant, at least for now). I can confirm GuildCom comes up perfectly (as far as I could tell), in IE8’s Standards Mode, no no switching to compatibility mode should be needed.
However, many parts of the WordPress back-end do not work in IE8’s default mode (including the page to write posts), but switching to compatibility mode fixes this issue. The handful of other websites I’ve tested so far have worked fine, as have the browser’s features I’ve gotten to test (my nice web-slice for telling me the weather in real-time is quickly becoming a favorite). I’ll be posting a more detailed report later. One other thing I can say is that IE8 Beta 2 seems faster than IE7 (and I never found IE7 slow; unlike many others, IE7 ran faster than Firefox 3 on my machine, and ran about the same as Opera 9.5. IE8 Beta 2 seems generally more responsive and ever-so-slightly faster.
Rather than rewrite everything myself, and likely confuse folks in the process, here’s some very good links to IE8 Beta 2 information (courtesy of ZDNet):
IE8 Beta 2 Ready for Download, Mary Jo Foley
Internet Explorer 8 Gets A Massive Makeover, Ed Bott
IE8 Beta 2 At A Glance – Screenshot Gallery, Ed Bott
An IE8 Beta 2 Q&A, Ed Bott
And here is Microsoft’s IE8 Beta 2 Fact Sheet, which lists pretty muh all then ew features: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/windows/factsheets/IE8FS.mspx
These were the same links I read to get my information before installing, and I found them informative. Remember, though, this is beta software, and I don’t recommend an install unless you really know what you’re doing (you can downgrade to your old IE version, usually…its important to read the release notes). I stress again: only install if you know what you’re doing and read the goddammed release notes! I’m not responsible for you getting in over your head. 
Conclusion: despite only playing with the browser for about an hour, I’m getting very, very excited about Internet Explorer 8; I really can’t wait for the final. I’ll have some more impressions up later on when I’ve gotten to play with things more. Hats off to Microsoft; this is good stuff!
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