Recent Posts

2226

Living Room / (His) Microsoft Google Yahoo Stories

« Last post by Lashiec on March 05, 2007, 10:16 AM »

One always wonder how it will be working for big software companies. Although everyone knows how nice is working at Google (not to mention its level of geekness), and the flexible working routine at Microsoft (letting you finish your work earlier than in most places so you can enjoy time with your family), this blog entry sheds some new light over the working method at those three companies. A light that would make computer-involved folks go: "hey, I choose the right career after all!" and everyone else would cry: "HOLY CRAP! What was I thinking when I choose to study for this pitiful job?!". An excerpt:

During my freshman year in college, I joined and eventually chaired our school’s ACM Windows programming student group (...) I organized xbox tournaments, install fests (bring your computer and get Windows or Visual Studio installed for free), and programming competitions. We could expense meals and took student leaders out to nice italian restaurants. Lastly, we had retreats to Seattle and Brazil. A week in Brazil was the perfect climax, where we partied and enjoyed caipirinhas. We crashed in nice hotels and ordered room service at four in the morning. The cherry on top was taking a private jet to see the Foz do Iguaçu waterfalls.

Now this is a real WOW experience. When you recall Gates and Ballmer's words about open source communists stealing their hard-earned dollars, you ask yourself if they really are stealing something (not that they're doing it, mind you) giving the incredible amount of expenses for this kind of programs (I assume they only exist in USA...). What it's clear now is that Richard Stallman doesn't care about proprietary software. The thing that is bugging him is that the Free Software Foundation can't afford all those luxuries, so he goes mad

I know that the post is not exactly brand-new (the Internet nature, you know) but it's still pretty amazing, and finally explains why Vista took 5 years, and Google apps are in a perpetual beta phase. Only Yahoo! seem to be a hard-working company

via CyberNet News

2227

Official Announcements / Re: Mar. 2007 Giveaway/Discounts: Website Watcher,Local Website Archive,AM-Notebook

« Last post by Lashiec on March 05, 2007, 10:06 AM »

AM-Notebook?! Crap! I need to donate NOW (if I only had money...)

2228

General Software Discussion / Re: Outpost and my new XP

« Last post by Lashiec on February 27, 2007, 01:10 PM »

Evil Microsoft... They bought Agnitum!

2229

Living Room / Citizendium opens! (Sort of)

« Last post by Lashiec on February 26, 2007, 07:09 AM »

Yep, the next generation of Wikipedia, the one which will try to replace it as the major source of information and improve its quality in the process is finally "open" to the public.That is, it's open as long as you create yourself an account. In the near future, it'll be open for searching, but following Mr. Sanger guidelines, you'll need an account to actually create or edit articles.

Good guys over at Ars Technica gave a test drive to the site, summarizing its thoughts about it in an small review, which, by the way, I still have to read

via Ars Technica

* Lashiec mimicking KenR posts... *

2230

Developer's Corner / Re: Best Programming Music

« Last post by Lashiec on February 26, 2007, 06:56 AM »

Let me attach a copy of my foobar2000 library, because I don't have a special programming music. I'm always listening to something.

2231

Living Room / Re: Apologese - I will be offline for a while ...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 26, 2007, 06:01 AM »

Looks like something difficult to find. Must be some faulty component of the motherboard giving problems out of the wazoo, maybe a capacitor, resistance or whatever. If they don't change it for a new one (something than in the shop I'm going to buy most of the components for the new computer they do), use it as a drawing board or something

2232

General Software Discussion / Re: 12 Windows Explorer Alternatives Compared

« Last post by Lashiec on February 26, 2007, 05:51 AM »

I like working with many panes displayed, each showing a different folder. A nice free file explorer that opens four panes and has many functions (including an OLE preview of many file types) is called File Commander 5. Its author has recently improved it quite a bit, and he's open to suggestions too.

-HankFriedman (February 24, 2007, 10:59 AM)

I tried File Commander some time ago, and although it had some good ideas, the implementation and execution was nearly terrible. Don't take it personal, but I think it's not up the level of quality showed by the major players.

What I want to know is:
Which of these managers can do: source code syntax highlighting (i.e., using scintilla or vim) within the editor (not in a different window) and updating it as soon as I change the file that is highlighted in the folder list?
I can do this with Dopus and source viewer plugin, but it's not portable, so looking for alternatives

-urlwolf (February 24, 2007, 01:51 PM)

Total Commander?

2233

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripoff Britain strikes again ... this time with Vista Pricing

« Last post by Lashiec on February 22, 2007, 11:41 AM »

  You might want to use Firefox and ViewMyCurrency...

-Curt (February 22, 2007, 11:05 AM)

Nice extension! I'll give it a try when I get the new computer (without Vista )

I think the trojan included in Windows is not exactly a trojan, but the only 'way' to have Vista without paying for it (illegally, I say, because there are legal ways to have it for free). I'm not exactly confident about this affirmation, but I swear the guy whose computer I tried Vista on, had to apply a patch to 'overcome' the Microsoft lock-on which was based on a Trojan (something about manipulating the clock and stopping certain service). It didn't work, by the way, and he opted for the 'legal' way, that is, getting a copy at the university

2234

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripoff Britain strikes again ... this time with Vista Pricing

« Last post by Lashiec on February 22, 2007, 06:02 AM »

Zaine, this is totally off-topic, but during the last weeks I noticed no one is posting comments on your blog. I thought it could be that not that much people are reading it, but I tried to post something a couple of weeks ago, and the next day, it was deleted. Could it be that the spam filter you're using is blocking EVERY comment?

Referring to Vista retail edition cost, I still haven't found what's the real cost of Vista Ultimate (or almost any other edition). On the FNAC, Business costs 479,95€, almost 20€ more than when I first posted in this topic

2235

General Software Discussion / Virtual PC 2007 Final

« Last post by Lashiec on February 21, 2007, 07:11 AM »

Browsing around one of the emulation sites I regularly visit, I found the news of Virtual PC 2007 ready for debut time. And it's completely free! That's a good move, especially for those making the jump to Vista, or even worse, Vista 64 bits, which lacks the automatic file and registry redirection built into Vista 32 bits. That's the price to pay for higher RAM compatibility and new security features.

Anyway, to the point. The main changes are:

• Complete support for Vista: both as a host and virtualized system
• Improved performance, as it uses the Virtual Server 2005 R2 codebase
• Support for 64 bits host systems
• Support for something-PXE (who knows )
• Support for the virtualization technologies developed by AMD and Intel (ya know, the new instructions built into the Athlon 64+ X2 and the Core 2 Duo)

Vista support address one of my main complains about these SO: the possible lack of compatibility with old applications. Although it seems that I still need DOSBox to run LucasArts games, newer games like MDK or Silver will probably run wonderfully with Virtual PC 2007. Great!

You can find more information about it here

As a bonus, on the same site, I found some other news about what it seems like a fairly new virtualization solution, VirtualBox. This one seems more complete than Virtual PC, as it can run a handful of SOs, including Windows, Linux, and several other minor SO, like Solaris or FreeBSD. Best of all, it's open source, so everyone can benefit on it. Don't know how well it fares, though.

2236

Living Room / Re: In2TV: Fast, Free, Legal downloads of movies and TV episodes

« Last post by Lashiec on February 21, 2007, 06:30 AM »

This is wonderful! It doesn't seem to work here, but since I'm sucking up college bandwidth, I suppose there is something blocking the videos, either a hardware firewall, or this computer lacking appropriate codecs. Or that the service is only available for the U.S. (if Portugal is a third world country, we have a problem ). Anyway, it's quite neat, as it has some of my favorite series back when I was a kid, like Growing Pains and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and animation masterpieces as Batman: The Animated Series and Looney Tunes. Not to mention current jewels like Prison Break or Lost. This is really really great!

Add to this music videos (Dream Theater and Joe Satriani.. woohoo! No longer hunting for bad quality videos) and movies (this is even better than BitTorrent) and I could bring the site to its knees cluttering up the bandwidth. HA! I think I'm a bit excited, but it's a great discovery. Thanks app!

2237

Living Room / Re: Apologese - I will be offline for a while ...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 21, 2007, 05:39 AM »

Could it be something related to the PSU? Maybe there are some problems with the internal circuitry, causing it to not be able to deliver full power to the computer

But apart from that, I really don't know, at least in what concerns to the 'technical' part. Try to connect everything firmly, I fixed some problems with my computer during these years like this.

Glad to know you have another way to hang around here, though.

2238

General Software Discussion / Re: CD Ripping

« Last post by Lashiec on February 16, 2007, 12:41 PM »

Ah, OK, your CDs are protected, not scratched. Against that, maybe you can do something fancy using Alcohol or Daemon Tools, as your Plextor drive can't do anything (Plextor is the best when it comes to skip protection software). I've never run into any issues with the few copy-protected CDs I have, but my drive is a generic one, so maybe there lies its power

2239

General Software Discussion / Re: CPU Usage shoots up to 100% !?!

« Last post by Lashiec on February 16, 2007, 10:23 AM »

Disney games are evil...

2240

Living Room / Re: Apologese - I will be offline for a while ...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 16, 2007, 10:22 AM »

Hummm, in Spain if the component is still in warranty, they replace it right away, but even then, four weeks for a replacement is a bit too much, and asking you to pay some expenses it's a bad decision on Asus' part. If the motherboard is faulty, their responsibility is to change it free of charge, not demanding you to pay as if it was your fault.

I hope I won't run into issues with the motherboard I have ordered (an Asus as well )

2241

General Software Discussion / Re: CD Ripping

« Last post by Lashiec on February 16, 2007, 10:17 AM »

f0dder, did you try using the "Burst" mode both in EAC and dbPowerAmp? Badly scratched CDs get ripped with amazing quality (considering the scratches) most times.

2242

General Software Discussion / Re: Guitar Hero Clones for Your PC

« Last post by Lashiec on February 14, 2007, 12:15 PM »

Now, if it wasn't so difficult... , I'm not Satriani by any means

2243

Developer's Corner / Re: What Programming Language have you used THE SECOND MOST over the past 12 months?

« Last post by Lashiec on February 13, 2007, 09:15 AM »

Where's Java?

2244

General Software Discussion / Re: CD Ripping

« Last post by Lashiec on February 13, 2007, 09:04 AM »

Well, most jukeboxes are fine for the casual ripping, and if your CDs are in perfect state, clean and pristine . The error correction of iTunes, Windows Media Player, Real Player, and so on, it's terrible when they deal with scratched CDs. For quality, EAC is the best. It may be slower, but you can also activate the 'burst' mode and it'll be fast like no other, at the expense of possible problems in the ripped tracks. CDex was fine some years ago, but its compatibility is not the best, and it can't handle scratched CDs with some drives very well (like mine). AudioGrabber is good, but the interface is terrible, the programmer must had a lot of fun drawing it in the IDE . dbPowerAmp R12 is the best of the best (only the reference version), but its interface is not standard, and weird things happen when you click on some of the elements of the GUI, like when you try to input your own tags.

And well, f0dder solved the riddle

2245

General Software Discussion / Re: CD Ripping

« Last post by Lashiec on February 12, 2007, 07:53 AM »

The question that mouser asks would take a bit to explain. There are very capable people in the Hydrogenaudio and CDFreaks forum who could explain the issue down to the most technical detail, but you would end just like at the beginning, since you'll be overwhelmed with information. I'm sure that's related to the standards, and that the Orange Book has something to do with it. Search around and I think you'll find some answers. I would explain the thing myself, but I'm STILL busy...

2246

Living Room / Re: Poll : What is the most useless key on the keyboard

« Last post by Lashiec on February 12, 2007, 07:41 AM »

I'm split between the "Insert" key, and the "Scroll Lock" one. Does anyone knows the utility of these keys?

2247

General Software Discussion / Re: WIndows Vista Ultimate ... worth upgrading ... CNET say no!

« Last post by Lashiec on February 12, 2007, 06:59 AM »

WOW! BIG post! Maybe you can transform it into a mini-review, complete with screenshots. I'm sure people will appreciate it.

As for the DRM issue, even if you don't have files with DRM now, you'll likely face problems in the future, due to the DRM-infected HD formats, the two ones Carol is talking about. That is, if you don't have a "fully-protected" system (fully-protected for the companies pushing this, not for the consumer) you'll enjoy reduced quality in sound and video, though I don't know if the reduced quality will be even lower than DVD... That's at least what I heard, correct me if I'm wrong (I wish I am wrong...)

Anyways, point in this post, don't complain about something you haven't used because others have said things, thats like a 14 year old moving to Linux or saying he is using Linux because he wants to be cool. Think for yourself people. I did, I ignored the mass majority bad mouthing vista (most without cause) and I am very happy with it. My hat goes off to broken85 for his post, very intelligent and very well thought out. Some very good points made.

-Josh (February 11, 2007, 06:30 AM)

No, no, you're TOTALLY AND PLAIN WRONG! Running Linux instead of Windows is not cool...

... but running Mac OS X instead of Windows it is

Alas, ignoring the "Bad Vista" movement in some circles (including my college and others), you can always dual boot between the two options. The vendor lock-in in Vista is not as bad as the one they had in Office, as my outrageous experiences with it, and Zaine's recent review shows.

2248

Find And Run Robot / Re: Humanized Enzo

« Last post by Lashiec on February 02, 2007, 06:43 AM »

This Enso thing is a bit heavy, unless in download size... I'll test it this afternoon.

By the way, I'm reading some things about FARR v3 here and there, and the new ideas you have for it. Where do you discuss them? In the forum or in the chat room?

2249

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripoff Britain strikes again ... this time with Vista Pricing

« Last post by Lashiec on February 02, 2007, 06:05 AM »

And people freaked out about six different editions...

Heh, I found curious that you've got to pay 19€ more for a SO without a multimedia player which can be downloaded and used free of charge.

Another thing, wasn't the 64-bit editions included in the same DVD as the 32-bit ones? Or are things different for OEM and Upgrade versions?

2250

General Software Discussion / Re: Ripoff Britain strikes again ... this time with Vista Pricing

« Last post by Lashiec on February 02, 2007, 05:39 AM »

According to the newspapers, Vista Ultimate costs 600€ here in Spain. And I thought it was too much money for a SO, but $728 is insane...

By the way, talking about Vista pricing, why is that during months people had been getting mad about Vista saying that with that prices they would make the switch to Mac and Linux, and claiming about evil Microsoft getting rich at people expense and all sort of nasty things, and nobody ever said: hey, we're talking about Vista RETAIL editions, not about Vista OEM, which, by the way, is a bargain, considering that for 7€ more than XP Pro, I can get Vista Business OEM and for 100€, Vista Home Premium, which includes far more features than old XP.

All things considered, Vista is not as expensive as people once considered. Heck, XP Pro retail costs a whooping 460€ here. The only Vista edition significantly expensive is Ultimate, and most of the things included in it are not exactly useful (although people would end getting it for the 'kitchen sink' factor ). As always, panic take control of everyone and after that, they can't see the facts, that Vista vs. XP is more or less the same thing as XP vs. 2000: too many hype, too many fallacies, and after all, is not a radical departure from the old thing.

Oh, and in my university, Vista Business costs around 2€: the cost of a DVD. Good MSDNA