Archive for Computing & techiness
Researchers experiment with “evanescent coupling” as a way to wirelessly recharge mobile devices. I think that sounds like a brilliant idea. As soon as it is ready it should be written into international standards before people go around proprietizing it and we end up needing to have one wireless recharger for each device, like AC-adapters…
I can imagine a load of uses. Not only for devices like phones and media players – the ones you take out of your home – but for all cordless devices as well as those that could be. Imagine never having to replace the batteries in your remote controls. Or not needing to have base stations for toothbrushes, shavers and landline cordless phones all over the place. My cordless mouse would be even better if it didn’t have to be recharged.
Then there’s probably more than a few stationary that could use it, for example a smoke detector that feeds off wireless power would be able to keep its battery safely charged all the time. Would work for clocks as well, in many cases even for corded ones like clock radios that only need power to make some noise a few minutes a day.
I guess it would have to be limited to low power/short use devices or all the power in the air would make us face the same experience as a psychopathic kid’s hamster in a microwave oven, but there are enough possibilities to make wireless power as useful as a regular, old-fashioned outlet power.
And imagine the resource savings, I just got inspired to put my phone and the charger on the scales, and the charger weighed in at twice the weight of the phone, and that’s a clunky three year old low-range phone. What a freaking waste – not only the materials themselves, but also the costs and effects of shipping them across the globe.
Oh, and I bet it takes about three weeks from the breakthrough until someone puts the first “always ready to please” sex toys on the market. ;)
Tags: gadgets, tech, thoughts
November 19, 2006 at 1:56 am · Filed under Computing & techiness, General
Panda Software is running a public beta/promotion program for the upcoming version of their antivirus products, and once again offering a prize draw for everyone who submits any incidents.
I tested the 2006 version, but decided to try a few other solutions before buying, but I am pretty sure I will switch to Panda after this test. I just ran the first full system scan, and it chewed through four volumes containing about 220GB/450 000 files in 30 minutes, without any notable impact on system performance. Using earlier version I have been able to work in Photoshop and play games during scans, and that is not the case with many other AV solutions. Easy to use as well, without being bloated like Norton and similar. Worth checking out.
Tags: antivirus, beta, Panda, security, software
August 2, 2006 at 2:08 pm · Filed under Computing & techiness
I got this error message twice today (click for un-cropped version, it didn’t resize well). Must have been about 13 years since the last time I saw that as an actual error message (in a non-crash context I’ve seen it when playing around with Linux and there was an error-message screensaver that came with KDE).
Any, seeing the good, ol’ Amiga guru meditating on my WinXP machine was one of those fascinating “wtf…?” experiences. My first thought was “virus!”, but the nostalgia made me less worried than I normally would be about a weird error message. Like that little familiar flavour would make it alright if my PC suddenly started smoking…
Anyway, after a bit of googling it seems to be some Winamp coder who decided to go old-fashioned on the error reporting. Software errors aren’t actually fun, but I guess that when they bring a smile like that… :)
Tags: crash, guru, nostalgia, software
July 24, 2006 at 10:16 pm · Filed under Computing & techiness
Just wanted to mention that I’ve just installed Bon Echo Alpha 2 (which is the code name given to what will become Firefox 2), and I can report that it feels damned fast. In fact, I must say that it’s the first time I’ve noticed a significant increase in such things as rendering speed and tab switching when changing from one browser to another. A very enjoyable feeling, maybe not completely unlike that of getting off a long bus ride and getting into a car. I can even live with the fact that most of my extensions aren’t updated yet.
If it helps me increase the frequency with which this blog is updated is another matter, though…
Update: I just had my first crash, and got acquainted with the “session restore” feature. Nice one. Remembered all the pages I had loaded in my tabs. And when I opened the Windows task manager to kill it a few more times I noticed that memory use looked much lower that the last version. And another feature worth mentioning is the context menu option that sends highlighted text to the search engine currently selected in the search box. Probably something that’s been availible as an extension for ages, but I’ve never thought of how useful it could be.
Update 2 (May 27th): Bon Echo Alpha 3 released. A few months, betas and RCs left to the final release of Firefox 2 in August, but it’s really shaping up now, feature wise. I must also add that I really like the name Bon Echo for a browser. Too bad it can’t be more than a project code-name.
Tags: software, tech
May 21, 2006 at 1:06 am · Filed under Computing & techiness
I had some spare cash and decided to replace my old mouse, a Logitech MX700 cordless optical mouse, since it was suffering from recharging issues. And despite those problems I decided for another Logitech mouse, mostly because the ones I’ve had before have been very comfortable. And from what I can from a few days of use, this is the most comfortable mouse I’ve ever had.
The general setup is the same as the MX700, a cordless mouse with a base station that fills the functions of wireless reciever and recharger. A small difference is that the cable from the AC adapter plugs into the base station intead of connecting to the PS/2 plug. I can’t say if that’s good or bad, there’s one more cable on the desk, but one less in the spaghetti behind the PC.
The scroll wheel, with “tilt” funtion for scrolling sideways, has a nice, smooth action, and sits between the “cruise control” buttons that also scroll the page. On the thumb side are the back/forth buttons – a feature I can’t live without after a few years, they are so useful I feel impaired when going online with a mouse that doesn’t have any – and a button for application switching. All the buttons have a feel that I think is best described with the word “quality” – not flimsy, and not to stiff. I havn’t bothered installing the software yet, and it seems the tilt funtion and application switching are driver dependent.
Logitech claims that the MX1000′s laser engine has 20 times the resolution of regular, LED based optical mice. I don’t put too much value in numbers like that, but after trying it with Photoshop and other graphics apps as well as a few games I can say that it feels much more accurate than my old optical mouse. And the ball mouse I used when waiting for the old, erratic mouse to recharge is on a stone age level in comparison.
I’ve mentioned the buttons, but the other aspects of the design of the mouse body are excellent as well. I thought the MX700 was a very comfortable mouse, but trying it after having used the MX1000 for a few days it felt almost as unwieldy as your average brick. The shape is just right – the thumb rests comfortably in the deep groove, the opposite side is easy to grip both with the little finger alone as well as with ring finger and pinky toghether (I alternate between those two modes of gripping depending on what I’m doing) – and the general hand position is very relaxed. The mouse’s “feet” are also good, it slides better over the pad than any mouse I’ve had.
I also think its appearance is quite striking, especially they way Logitech made the MX series’s left and right mouse buttons “invisible” by making the top part in one single piece. Makes the design stick out of the general mass of mice in a subtle way, you see it is different but it takes a moment to see why. I don’t now if it’s true for the regular blue version, but the top of the black/charcoal “Midnight” version I got has a glossy, laquer-like finish that’s a nice change from the regular matte plastic that computer hardware usually is made of. The plastic of the sides has a smooth, rubbery texture – and I can say from experience that that is better than the real thing, I had a rubber clad mouse that became a little icky after a couple of years’ exposure to skin.� The only thing that could have made it look better is if the battery LEDs were blue, but that’s probably just me being a sucker for blue LEDs in general.
So far, everything I’ve said has been positive and I havn’t found any traces of major flaws, but nothing is perfect. One slight annoyance is the battery LEDs I mentioned. It’s not that they are too bright, but the fact that they go out when the mouse has been inactive for 5-10 seconds, and I find that little glint when I switch from keyboard to mouse a bit distracting. Maybe it’s just me, and I guess I’ll get used to it pretty soon. Then there’s the non-replacable battery – I know from experience that though lithium-ion batteries live longer than older types they do lose capacity over time, and that could affect the possible lifespan of the mouse. The mouse is also relatively heavy (175 grams according to my scales), but personally I like the extra weight.
But overall, I think the MX1000 is simply excellent, and I don’t regret buying it a moment. Without doubt the best mouse I have ever used. The price might seem a bit high, but for anyone who spends a lot of time at the desk I’d say a comfort/performance mouse like this is well worth checking out.
Some links: Logitech product information, DesigntTechnica review, HEXUS.net review. I havn’t compared prices, but it’s availible at amazon.com
and amazon.co.uk
for those who like to shop there (and help amateur bloggers afford a nice cold beer or two by clicking their links ;)).
Tags: gadgets, tech
February 5, 2006 at 1:06 am · Filed under Computing & techiness
Browsing the web got even better today:
Firefox 1.5 is released.
Tags: firefox, software, tech
November 30, 2005 at 5:20 pm · Filed under Computing & techiness, Internet
I almost thought I was getting kicked out from my PC earlier. When I booted it I got a message along the lines that “the hardware configuration has been considerably altered since Windows was verified on this computer”. That’s kind of interesting. Yes, I have changed hardware in the computer, but that was only adding a hard disk and a DVD-burner. And I reinstalled Windows two months ago, and then the verification went just fine, and I havn’t changed anything since then.
So, I start the activation thing, only to find out that there’s no activations left for my product key.
Next step, phonecall to Microsoft, where a machine asked me to enter the installation ID. Of course I got one digit wrong. What are the chances of that? I mean, it’s only a tiny 42 digit affair… I really must be retarded to get that wrong.
Well, at that point I’m glad that I’m being transferred to real living person. But of course I forgot one thing… being put on hold. So I had to spend 15 minutes listening to crappy pop music, Ricky Martin or something and other similar somethings. I wonder what was up with all the static and noises, by the way – it sounded like they got the music from an untuned radio in an auto-workshop. Has some bright record industry type come up with the suspicion that people would call support centers only to make bootleg music recordings?
When I finally get connected I get to talk to a Norwegian person. Well, I’m Swedish and our languages are similar – actually, I even think it’s quite attractive when spoken by women – but after being faced with the threat of being thrown out of my own computer, there’s enough differences to make it something you don’t need to end up with at the end of the telephone maze. Thankfully, that was the end of the problems.
But I think the main problem is that there was a problem. It feels so wrong having to to through all that to use a software license I own. If I had used a pirate version it would probably never have happened. But here I am, being punished by annoying verification systems for having bought the product.
Tags: software, tech
November 16, 2005 at 12:37 am · Filed under Computing & techiness, Random ramblings & reflections
Just a little free software-plug and a heads-up for those interested in testing pre-release versions: The Firefox team has just released Firefox 1.5 RC1. Release notes for this first release candidate version include:
- Automated update
- Faster browser navigation
- Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs.
- Improvements to popup blocking.
- Clear Private Data
- Answers.com is added to the search engine list
- Improvements to product usability
- Better accessibility
- Report a broken Web site wizard
- Better support for Mac OS X (10.2 and greater)
- New support for Web Standards including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6.
- Many security enhancements.
I have been using the last few pre-release versions as my main browser, and I have no doubt that Firefox 1.5 will be another great step in browser development.
November 2, 2005 at 2:18 pm · Filed under Computing & techiness
This is one of my favorite pieces of software, it was only a short while since I discovered it, but it’s one of those interface additions that I got used to immediately:
FoxyTunes for Firefox is just one of those indespensable things you can’t do without once you’ve started using them. When looking for skins for a mediaplayer I’ve always wanted them to be compact and functional, but now I don’t think there’s any better way to save desktop space than having the controls right there on the browser.
Something you maybe can do without is Belgian artist Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca machines (I suggest to unblock the pop-up on the first page).
What Cloaca does is to artificially digest food and produce the closest possible analogue to human feces. I didn’t learn about this work of art until recently, and I’m not going to present any sort of thorough analysis of it here (analysises by people much better at such things than I am can be found in the essays section of the Cloaca site). I just wanted to mention it because I find the whole concept intriguing. I mean, what else can you think about a big, expensive machine whose only purpose is to produce shit? Maybe the only useful aspect of it is to be a an example of near-complete uselessness.
Tags: Art, Cloaca, firefox, software
September 26, 2005 at 11:45 pm · Filed under Art, Computing & techiness, Entertainment & Culture
« Previous entries
