Comments for Alpha's Place http://alphacluster.wordpress.com Another nerds blog. Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:08:29 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on ZuneHD specs confirmed by MarkEightThree http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-372 MarkEightThree Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:08:29 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-372 I'm pretty impressed by the Zune HD so far but I'm still hoping they'll announce external speakers as part of the feature list. I own an iPod touch and it makes a world of difference to have that feature. I’m pretty impressed by the Zune HD so far but I’m still hoping they’ll announce external speakers as part of the feature list. I own an iPod touch and it makes a world of difference to have that feature.

]]> Comment on Using good ol’ SeaMonkey by madman http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/using-good-ol-seamonkey/#comment-360 madman Sat, 30 May 2009 00:34:40 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/?p=105#comment-360 Word up. SeaMonkey is the best browser period. No browser is perfect, but it's far & wide the best. The only problem I ever seem to (rarely) get, is like what was mentioned above: Stoopid sites that say the browser is incompatible because it's not FireFox , or worse IE. What's really (not) funny, is that they'll suggest that you update to at least version X.x of FireFox, even though seamonkey and firefox both use the same rendering engine (gecko) - and the version they recommend is usually based on an older gecko engine than the one in your current seamonkey! I would think that anyone who is a serious web developer would already have SeaMonkey installed, and know that in this day and age you should test the browser's back-end engine and not the client itself. Anyway, I'm happy with the to-the-point interface of seamonkey. Which is funny, because back in the FireFox 1.x days - firefox was the efficient browser - now the "Mosaic Godzilla" (aka. mozilla) is turning the tables. Word up. SeaMonkey is the best browser period. No browser is perfect, but it’s far & wide the best. The only problem I ever seem to (rarely) get, is like what was mentioned above: Stoopid sites that say the browser is incompatible because it’s not FireFox , or worse IE. What’s really (not) funny, is that they’ll suggest that you update to at least version X.x of FireFox, even though seamonkey and firefox both use the same rendering engine (gecko) – and the version they recommend is usually based on an older gecko engine than the one in your current seamonkey!

I would think that anyone who is a serious web developer would already have SeaMonkey installed, and know that in this day and age you should test the browser’s back-end engine and not the client itself.

Anyway, I’m happy with the to-the-point interface of seamonkey. Which is funny, because back in the FireFox 1.x days – firefox was the efficient browser – now the “Mosaic Godzilla” (aka. mozilla) is turning the tables.

]]> Comment on Why it doesn’t matter that most PCs cannot run XP Mode by eksith http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/why-it-doesnt-matter-that-most-pcs-cannot-run-xp-mode/#comment-356 eksith Sun, 17 May 2009 01:26:13 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/why-it-doesnt-matter-that-most-pcs-cannot-run-xp-mode/#comment-356 It's not an odd reason at all... XP mode was created for "consumers" some of whome happen to be business users. Who ends up using it more is or less to be seen when Win7 goes retail. The majority of PC users in the world, including business users, are still using legacy equipment. So it's no surprise that XP mode was anticipated by those still running it. XP, with all its faults, is still the premier Windows platform and could be the case even after 2010 when support goes silent. And especially in this economy, people are more willing to keep the technology they have. Developing new apps or adapting old ones to Win7 and WPF is still pretty expensive. Especially for startups and small businesses. We need to be tolerant of these markets to still stay in business. I would say the real money for programmers in the next 2 - 3 years would be making do with older hardware. Really "Doing more with less" as the latest Microsoft ad campaign would say. Whether they will do so with Microsoft software is really up to Microsoft. I.E. How it wants to handle legacy hardware. It’s not an odd reason at all…

XP mode was created for “consumers” some of whome happen to be business users. Who ends up using it more is or less to be seen when Win7 goes retail.

The majority of PC users in the world, including business users, are still using legacy equipment. So it’s no surprise that XP mode was anticipated by those still running it. XP, with all its faults, is still the premier Windows platform and could be the case even after 2010 when support goes silent.

And especially in this economy, people are more willing to keep the technology they have. Developing new apps or adapting old ones to Win7 and WPF is still pretty expensive. Especially for startups and small businesses.

We need to be tolerant of these markets to still stay in business.

I would say the real money for programmers in the next 2 – 3 years would be making do with older hardware. Really “Doing more with less” as the latest Microsoft ad campaign would say. Whether they will do so with Microsoft software is really up to Microsoft. I.E. How it wants to handle legacy hardware.

]]> Comment on Microsoft Releases Office 2007 SP2 by Amit | Web Design http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/microsoft-releases-office-2007-sp2/#comment-350 Amit | Web Design Tue, 12 May 2009 11:22:51 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/?p=642#comment-350 With the new Office (the 2007) design, look & feel, Microsoft have made a giant leap. True that it takes time to get use to the new ribbon and to get around quickly.. But once you are familiar with it, you rock! We do a lot of researches on the web, and using Excel macros, we have improved our research speed in 30%. That huge!! Using OneNote have improved our research information control (nothing get lost now) and with the sharing files abilities, now everyone can contribute to the project. So to summary it all, we are more then happy with the tools that comes in the Office 2007. We looking forward to the new one... ;) With the SP2 support for open source files, our CRM improved since we don’t have to “fight” with our clients anymore :) The 2007 was a great investment with benefits to us. Amit With the new Office (the 2007) design, look & feel, Microsoft have made a giant leap. True that it takes time to get use to the new ribbon and to get around quickly.. But once you are familiar with it, you rock!

We do a lot of researches on the web, and using Excel macros,
we have improved our research speed in 30%. That huge!!

Using OneNote have improved our research information control (nothing get lost now) and with the sharing files abilities, now everyone can contribute to the project.

So to summary it all, we are more then happy with the tools that comes in the Office 2007.
We looking forward to the new one… ;)

With the SP2 support for open source files,
our CRM improved since we don’t have to “fight”
with our clients anymore :)

The 2007 was a great investment with benefits to us.

Amit

]]> Comment on Songbird aka Mozilla’s attempt to steal market share from Apple and Microsoft by Liza http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/songbird-aka-mozillas-attempt-to-steal-market-share-from-apple-and-microsoft/#comment-315 Liza Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:49:11 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/songbird-aka-mozillas-attempt-to-steal-market-share-from-apple-and-microsoft/#comment-315 Hey, cool tips. Perhaps I'll buy a bottle of beer to that man from that forum who told me to visit your site :) Hey, cool tips. Perhaps I’ll buy a bottle of beer to that man from that forum who told me to visit your site :)

]]> Comment on Microsoft practically claiming victory in netbooks! by Michael http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/microsoft-practically-claiming-victory-in-netbooks/#comment-308 Michael Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:55:08 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/microsoft-practically-claiming-victory-in-netbooks/#comment-308 Thanks for such a thought-provoking post on a subject that I also find really interesting. I'm a teacher and school IT coordinator looking at promoting netbooks in the classroom as a decisive move towards anywhere-anytime 1-1 computing for kids in our school. I really support Linux and see netbooks as an enormous opportunity for open-source to gain a market share. Like yourself, I don't agree that the battle has been won by a longshot. However, one thing that will really be important in winning back many of the would be Linux users (who have absolutely no idea about how to install an OS let alone use a command line) will be stability and ease of use. Don't get me wrong - I think Linux has the potential to be really easy and hassle-free and I fully commend Asus, Acer, et. al for coming up with fantastic distros that have the 'easy' modes as default. Nonetheless, buggy-ness is still an issue. For instance, installing a printer update automatically in the Asus easy mode of Xandros completely screwed my file manager. When I went to look for a solution online, I found dozens of other users reporting the same problem. Asus' solution? Do a factory default restore (relatively easy for nerds - stressful for pretty much everyone else). It's going to be a really interesting year though - and I look forward to seeing everything played out. Cheers, M Thanks for such a thought-provoking post on a subject that I also find really interesting. I’m a teacher and school IT coordinator looking at promoting netbooks in the classroom as a decisive move towards anywhere-anytime 1-1 computing for kids in our school. I really support Linux and see netbooks as an enormous opportunity for open-source to gain a market share.

Like yourself, I don’t agree that the battle has been won by a longshot. However, one thing that will really be important in winning back many of the would be Linux users (who have absolutely no idea about how to install an OS let alone use a command line) will be stability and ease of use. Don’t get me wrong – I think Linux has the potential to be really easy and hassle-free and I fully commend Asus, Acer, et. al for coming up with fantastic distros that have the ‘easy’ modes as default. Nonetheless, buggy-ness is still an issue. For instance, installing a printer update automatically in the Asus easy mode of Xandros completely screwed my file manager. When I went to look for a solution online, I found dozens of other users reporting the same problem. Asus’ solution? Do a factory default restore (relatively easy for nerds – stressful for pretty much everyone else).

It’s going to be a really interesting year though – and I look forward to seeing everything played out.

Cheers,

M

]]> Comment on Why are people already looking at IE8 adoption? by Adam http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/why-are-people-already-looking-at-ie8-adoption/#comment-307 Adam Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:34:05 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/?p=434#comment-307 I think the real hope here is that will mean a shift in IE6 users to (at least) IE7, or that major players will stop supporting IE6 quite as much and "influence" upgrading. IE6's implementation of various DOM and Javascript functionality (or lack of) makes it, frankly, the new Netscape 4. Getting IE6 phased out from the standard support model means less code in the way of less try/catch statements, fewer css conditionals...the list goes on. I think the real hope here is that will mean a shift in IE6 users to (at least) IE7, or that major players will stop supporting IE6 quite as much and “influence” upgrading.

IE6’s implementation of various DOM and Javascript functionality (or lack of) makes it, frankly, the new Netscape 4.

Getting IE6 phased out from the standard support model means less code in the way of less try/catch statements, fewer css conditionals…the list goes on.

]]> Comment on ZuneHD specs confirmed by Alpha_Cluster http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-294 Alpha_Cluster Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:38:38 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-294 Personally the amount of HD's has yet to bother me to much. If its gets much more common though I am sure it will drive me insane. The only thing it really bothers me on is AMD with the Radeon HD cards. You can drop the HD AMD we know that it can do HD resolutions. Personally the amount of HD’s has yet to bother me to much. If its gets much more common though I am sure it will drive me insane. The only thing it really bothers me on is AMD with the Radeon HD cards. You can drop the HD AMD we know that it can do HD resolutions.

]]> Comment on ZuneHD specs confirmed by Laura http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-293 Laura Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:48:28 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/zunehd-specs-confirmed/#comment-293 I want the Zune to succeed in competition with the ipod cause frankly, i hate the ipod. To me the Zune is like the Dreamcast of mp3 players. It's sexy and works well, just no one isn't buying it cause its not trendy enough. Each revision of the Zune has been an improvement, not a big leap, but minor improvements. I really hope the ZuneHD will live up to my expectations. BTW: Are you bothered that the title "HD" is being attached to everything? It kinda reminds me of the old emachine days, when everything began with e. I want the Zune to succeed in competition with the ipod cause frankly, i hate the ipod. To me the Zune is like the Dreamcast of mp3 players. It’s sexy and works well, just no one isn’t buying it cause its not trendy enough. Each revision of the Zune has been an improvement, not a big leap, but minor improvements. I really hope the ZuneHD will live up to my expectations.

BTW: Are you bothered that the title “HD” is being attached to everything? It kinda reminds me of the old emachine days, when everything began with e.

]]> Comment on Worthless feature added to SkyDrive by Geoff Coupe http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/worthless-feature-added-to-skydrive/#comment-287 Geoff Coupe Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:48:31 +0000 http://alphacluster.wordpress.com/?p=556#comment-287 Well, actually, I find the photo sorting feature very useful. I also want the ability to sort Albums. Photometadata is already supported, so if your images have geotags and copyright info (e.g. IPTC Creator fields), then they will be preserved in files stored in SkyDrive. While they may not be exposed within the current generation of the Photo Album application built on SkyDrive, it's something that can be added by Microsoft as part of the next wave of Windows Live (which, I understand, is expected in the second half of 2009). Well, actually, I find the photo sorting feature very useful. I also want the ability to sort Albums.

Photometadata is already supported, so if your images have geotags and copyright info (e.g. IPTC Creator fields), then they will be preserved in files stored in SkyDrive. While they may not be exposed within the current generation of the Photo Album application built on SkyDrive, it’s something that can be added by Microsoft as part of the next wave of Windows Live (which, I understand, is expected in the second half of 2009).

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