• Vista, Mac, Linux — Whose Got the Sweetest Eye Candy?

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    July 30, 2007 /  Mac, Operating Systems, Ubuntu, Windows

    To avoid being criticized for bashing M$ Windoze, I decided I’m just gonna let others do the talking for me this time around, and I didn’t have to go farther than YouTube for answers. (Search: Windows Vista)

    Firstoff, some of you may have heard that Aero stole it’s ideas from Mac OS X. Here’s showing that Microsoft didn’t:
    <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=TaIUkwPybtM">http://youtube.com/watch?v=TaIUkwPybtM</a>

    Steve Jobs and Bertrand Serlet also talks about Aero’s features:
    <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=N-2C2gb6ws8">http://youtube.com/watch?v=N-2C2gb6ws8</a>

    Of course, Vista does have it’s good points. Take for example its voice recognition system. See how it performs in action: <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=kX8oYoYy2Gc">http://youtube.com/watch?v=kX8oYoYy2Gc</a>

    And of course, the new window switcher included in Aero:
    <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=4gSzDggUtoI">http://youtube.com/watch?v=4gSzDggUtoI</a>

    Followed by a video highlighting the features of Aero. And afterwards, Beryl
    <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ">http://youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ</a>

    Now, let’s hear what this Vista owner has to say after buying a brand new computer to run Vista: <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno">http://youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno</a>

    Microsoft is proud to offer several innovations in Vista. Here is a timeline of competitor’s innovations. I think it’s self-explanatory.

    • January 2000 – Apple comes out with Aqua
    • April 2005 – Mac OS X Tiger is released, featuring Gadgets, Spotlight, Expose, and a host of other innovations.
    • Janury 2006 – Novell releases Compiz, featuring Annotate, Scale, Minimize/Maximize/Close animations, Desktop Cube, Zoom, and a host of other innovations.
    • October 2006 – Beryl forks from Compiz. Changable window decorators, and other innovations were added.
    • Windows Vista – End of January 2007. Features the Aero window decorator, theme, and icon set that looks like OS X, and provides other innovations such as live windows like in OS X and Compiz/Beryl, live icons like in Ubuntu, and transparent windows like on OS X and Compiz/Beryl.

    Innovations? I don’t think so.

    Edit: Did you know Vista requires twice the computing power of Beryl-powered PCs? People are ditching their perfectly good computers to throw money at computer vendors for top-of-the-line models.

    Ok, I’m being too kind. Actually, Vista needs up to four times more computing power:

    • 4X HDD (15GB vs. 4GB)
    • 4X memory (1GB vs. 256MB)
    • 4X 3D card (128MB vs. 32MB)

    Take my advice, put the money you’ll use to buy a new computer into savings, and put the money you’re gonna pay for Vista to buy a camera or something. What’s that? You need to pirate Vista to get it free?

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  • Little Speaker Cube

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    July 26, 2007 /  Lifestyle, Nintendo DS, Tech Stuff

    Os Speaker @cubeI found this cute little Speaker Cube from Eiden, an electronics store in Japan, for Y2,980. It’s small and fits right in my palm (ok maybe a bit bigger). You turn it on via the top power button. It’s powered by USB, but you can also put in 4AA batteries. It can connect to any device with an audio jack, say your laptop or your Nintendo DS. Nintendo DS connected to my Speaker CubeHowever, I have to loosen the plug on my DS for it sound properly as in the picture. But I think this is more of a problem with the plug than anything else. Works perfectly on my laptop though. Also, the 2W stereo speakers don’t give enough oomph. It’s perfect when you just need decent, portable speakers. If you don’t have a laptop or PC nearby, you can also buy a wallplug to USB converter, perfect for plugging in your DS USB charger, and of course the speaker cube. With Wallplug USB, Nintendo DS, and Os Speaker @cube, you can take your music anywhere for picnics, hanging out, or other such social gathering.

    Wallplug to USB Adapter

    [Edit] I later found out that it plugs fine on my Nintendo DS. The problem, actually, was that I didn’t plug it all the way in at the back of the speaker cube, nevertheless it still sounded fine on my laptop where I first tested it so I didn’t notice. Stupid!

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  • Replacing My Asus L3H’s Memory (or What TO DO When You Buy New Stuff)

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    July 21, 2007 /  Tech Stuff, Ubuntu

    A week ago I bought another 512MB RAM for my laptop, since the other 512MB RAM I brought with me was not working properly. From the lessons that I learned since my last post (What NOT To Do…), I installed and tested the memory as soon as I got home. As before, the 256MB memory that came with my notebook was installed in the back slot, and I couldn’t figure out how to get to the top slot. So I took out the 256MB, stored it, and put in the 512MB memory.

    After searching through the AsusTek forums, I found out how to remove the keyboard from Joel’s corner. One ScrewAll I needed to know was one screw — the one beside the motherboard fan — was needed to be removed before I could remove my keyboard. Unfortunately,My Screwdriver’s Not Long Enough! my pen screwdriver was too short to reach that darn screw. Not to worry though, I brought my handy pocket knife.

    Handy Dandy Pocket Knife

    The Front Panel ReleaseWith that screw out of the way, next step is to remove the front panel. Switching the screwdriver on my pen screwdriver to the smallest ‘driver, I push the front panel release, and afterwards, Front Panel and Keyboard RemovedI slide the keyboard up and away, revealing the memory slot compartment. In the upper-right corner I also noticed the miniPCI WiFi compartment, available in the L3C. Of course,

    Empty MiniPCI Wifi Slot

    my L3H only had an empty compartment, but now I know that I can possibly buy and put in a miniPCI WiFi card.

    The memory slot is covered by a metal plate, held by one screw, which we promptly remove to reveal that slot. Now we go on to actually putting in the memory, which is a simple process of sliding the memory firmly into the slot

    Insert RAM

    (I had to exert quite a bit of effort as the memory wouldn’t go in at first), and then push down until you hear the click of the locks. Read the rest of this entry »

  • What NOT To Do When You Buy New Stuff

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    July 8, 2007 /  Lifestyle

    おひさしぶり！ It’s been almost a month since my last post, my day job kept me from writing and…well, pretty much doing anything aside from work was impossible. Anyway, I’m here now, and I’m gonna start light with just some ramblings.

    What do you usually do when you buy a piece of hardware? You go straight home to see if what you spent on with your hard-earned money was worth it, or if it’s working at all in the first place. What you don’t do, is take that piece of hardware, say a memory module for your laptop, put it in your bag (yes, in your bag. No, I didn’t say install it in your laptop, fool, put it in your bag. Yeah, that one, over there!), fly off to a far off country, and stay there for a couple of weeks, which is exactly what I did. All would be happy and fine if it worked perfectly, but it didn’t. Right now, I’m wondering what to do: do I send it back to my country for warranty replacement? Is it even worth it? Well, at the cost of 4,000 yen, I’d be much better off buying a new one.

    Well, that’s it for now. Keep tuned in, I’m gonna be trying some webcam solutions on Linux, so I might write about that some time, or maybe about some neat photography tools I found.

    For now, check out this cool video of human synced pixels. Thanks to Allen for this one.:)

    <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=X76ZIGQgBWg">http://youtube.com/watch?v=X76ZIGQgBWg</a>

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