Archive for the ‘technology’ Category

Size does matter

January 9, 2008


Next Christmas wish list begins now! Size matters lets face it! All your short of is having a popcorn maker and a lazy boy approx 20 feet away (for correct eye relief!) from this bad boy and you’d be jobs oxo as they say down my stretch!

Although with most hi tech launches that aim to change the world, spectators and viewers will always bring you down to earth, from the blog comments:

Posted by: Jan 8, 2008 12:23:04 AM

So, silly question. How does one get such a large plasma TV in the front door?

Assuming it’s a 16:9 ratio widescreen, factoring in scaling down from a hypotenuse of 18.357 to 12.5 leaves a final aspect ratio of at least 10.89 feet wide by 6.12 feet tall (rounded off it’s about 6 ft by 11 ft)!

Assuming there’s a non-viewable area base, it’s probably even taller than that. Seems like a bit of a tight squeeze to even get it in the house!

Posted by: Michael Gmirkin Jan 8, 2008 11:53:24 AM

Fair dinkum mate, fair dinkum

Link

Future of Dublin Airport – Terminal 42 – 2069

January 7, 2008

Was reading twentys post and it just got me thinking, i mean back in primary school or late 80′s or early 90′s no one could imagine what the world would be like in 30 years, 2010 or even 2020, the place would be run by robots, cars would hover and we would have robots with artificial intel and they would wait on us hand and foot – where has it gone!? I don’t think i’ve ever seen one human sized robot, let alone one that would come near artificial intel!?

Infact the closest i think we’ve come to anything is the nintendo wii? We have cars that travel on a rapidly vanishing commodity, the ice is melting so all that evoloution better provide us with is the ability to float (i know but in a longer fish like state) or grow a bouyancy aid.

The picture above is taken from a drawing from 1939 (i shit you not) about how airports tomorrow will look. I mean that was an accurate (ish) guess as it’s pretty close to the truth in some ways!

So what are we imagining for 2060? 2070? At a grasp? Electric powered cars? Realistically i doubt you’ll have wifi coverage in most parts in Ireland but what do this generation of youngsters think the future is going to be like?

Maybe this blogging has turned me into a skeptical old fart, or maybe im just reading twenty’s blog too much…

Link

Microsofts Guide to the Perfect Christmas Gift!

November 26, 2007


“Honey i know you wanted that sexy 2 piece in La Senza this year but instead i bought you 30% of Internet Faxing with Microsoft! What? No really it was no big deal…”

  • MyFax Internet faxing, 30% off
  • 6 must-have tools Excel pros use, $49
  • Create and convert PDF forms in Word, $14.50
  • Make flowcharts a breeze, $19.95

Just some of the things MS ‘suggest’ you buy your co-workers / employees and loved ones this christmas! I shit you not! I stick to the reliable ‘voucher’ or better still cash, a voucher that can be redeemed in all stores!

Link

Google running live anti virus?

November 26, 2007

First time this has happened but Google halted me in my tracks entering a site due to the risk element. Above is a screen shot of what was displayed. Have Google been doing this for long?

In my own stupid way it actually made me want to go into the site as i felt a bit ‘big brotherish’, il cry tomorrow when this PC is riddled with malware! (ain’t my pc tho!!)

Vector Magic – Digital Sharpness!

November 23, 2007

Vectorise me!

This site converts bitmap images to vector art – it’s an online auto-tracer.

Just upload your image and we will vectorize it for you.
bitmap to vector conversion

Vector art is useful because it allows you to scale an image without making it blurry or pixelated.

This site is pretty good, i’ve tried it out and it’s quite impressive! It does exactly what it says on the tin!

Link

Firefox 3 Beta 1 now available for download

November 21, 2007

Firefox 3 is now out and seen as i was in particular festive mood i’ve decided il download it while its still all buggy and in beta goodness! Some of the new features include:

  • Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager, and version checking for insecure plugins.
  • Improved ease of use through: better password management, easier add-on installation, new download manager with resumable downloading, full page zoom, animated tab strip, and better integration with Windows Vista and Mac OS X.
  • Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart search bookmark folders, direct typing in location bar searches your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
  • Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, major changes to the HTML rendering engine to provide better CSS, float-, and table layout support, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
  • Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 300 memory leak fixes, and a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks.

UPDATE: Now i know why i never install just released beta software! Within 3 minutes of installing all of a sudden windows system memory’s legs grew heavy and the computer just took a dump! I guess i’ll use IE untill i have the patience to uninstall / reinstall FF2.0 DIE DIE DIE

Firefox 3
Download Link

Gmail Spam Increase?

November 21, 2007

I’ve just realised over the past couple of weeks that the amount of spam my main Gmail account is receiving is on the rise! I never received spam prior to this, know i know that gmail is being upgraded but i still access mail under http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=1 and as far as i know the new user interface should be ui=2!
I suppose i could do the extra exercise of having to click the ‘Report Spam’ button…

Should i Linux?

November 19, 2007


Since i can remember i have always used Windows, i have ventured into the unknown territories of Linux a couple of times but nothing got me hooked.

  1. A few years ago the first PC i had was on the way out and i asked a techie friend to expalin and maybe walk me through a RedHAT Linux installation. Now at the time RedHat wasn’t the whizzy-mc-dizzy one cd install it is today and to be honest it was a nightmare, non-win modem, nothing worked and to be honest the only thing that appealled to me at the time was the fact you could have multi desktops!

  2. In the past few years I got the Linux itch again but instead of wiping my laptop and losing my sanity again i installed VmWare and installed a Virtual Machine of SUSE 8.0 and although because it was sharing the piss ass slow system i had with Windows it sucked big time but it did show a lot of potential! I loved the GUI and although i didnt take it out for a spin online it had all the appropriate tools!

So here i am again now, after seeing it over on Seans Blog, the gOS has kinda taken my fancy! It’s sleek looking and light weight and has all the Google Gadgetry that i would need! Now granted that they are all web based apps and i don’t have broadband at home so it would generally be a waste for that purpose but I just feel like i have to move on, i’m sick of Windows crashing every time i connect it up online due to some new worm / virus.

I have a few questions for those in the know!

  1. Does running Linux improve my chances of not getting common virii spyware?
  2. Is pretty much everything compatible with Linux nowadays

So i’m airing on the side of gOS, even though there doesn’t seem to be that much support online for it and i don’t have a permanent connection online…

Your thoughts? Which Linux OS would you reccommend?

gOS

You wouldn’t give your wallet to a stranger!

November 15, 2007

The antivirus business is huge! Billions of euro spent on protecting your digital rights, secrets and keeping your from being the next digital victim of phishing, identity theft and fraud. Up to date subscription services come bundled with practically every PC you buy through Dell now so it’s a big cash cow, but it’s a cow that primarily feeds on fear – your fear!

With internet horror stories everywhere about how they can apply for a credit card online using your bebo picture or how they know your mothers maiden name through decoding your Freudian nickname for Messenger, it’s no wonder people don’t want to get caught out but is all this worry really that necessary?

I had to laugh on my way home from work yesterday, tuning into Newstalk I caught a bit of The Right Hook where they had an expert from an electronic security firm on to inform us that simply hitting the delete key or formatting a drive isn’t enough anymore. The same company bought a geansaí load of PC’s at auction cheaply and scanned the information and low and behold they found credit card numbers, PPS numbers dental records and blood types. All the information necessary to actually become someone.

Now I’m not making light of the story, I just find it a bit post-911/esque fear factor for my liking! Last week it’s how they can sell your house with your facebook details and now they want to black mail you with a copy of your emails and an expired credit card on an old hard drive! It takes a baddy turned goody to tell us what the next generation baddies are going to do!

Gone are the days when you would gladly give your credit card over and let them carbon copy it and give it back to you and not suspect a thing! Now its all about shielding your pin and your last three digits of your CSV number and burning your old hard drives etc

You wouldn’t give your wallet to a stranger!

November 15, 2007

The antivirus business is huge! Billions of euro spent on protecting your digital rights, secrets and keeping your from being the next digital victim of phishing, identity theft and fraud. Up to date subscription services come bundled with practically every PC you buy through Dell now so it’s a big cash cow, but it’s a cow that primarily feeds on fear – your fear!

With internet horror stories everywhere about how they can apply for a credit card online using your bebo picture or how they know your mothers maiden name through decoding your Freudian nickname for Messenger, it’s no wonder people don’t want to get caught out but is all this worry really that necessary?

I had to laugh on my way home from work yesterday, tuning into Newstalk I caught a bit of The Right Hook where they had an expert from an electronic security firm on to inform us that simply hitting the delete key or formatting a drive isn’t enough anymore. The same company bought a geansaí load of PC’s at auction cheaply and scanned the information and low and behold they found credit card numbers, PPS numbers dental records and blood types. All the information necessary to actually become someone.

Now I’m not making light of the story, I just find it a bit post-911/esque fear factor for my liking! Last week it’s how they can sell your house with your facebook details and now they want to black mail you with a copy of your emails and an expired credit card on an old hard drive! It takes a baddy turned goody to tell us what the next generation baddies are going to do!

Gone are the days when you would gladly give your credit card over and let them carbon copy it and give it back to you and not suspect a thing! Now its all about shielding your pin and your last three digits of your CSV number and burning your old hard drives etc


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