If you still have doubts that Google knows best, check this article:
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=675528&rl=1
It's a bit scary, but very useful.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
What to expect from Google? OS?
Interesting overview of possibilities for the upcoming Google OS:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/googleos_what_to_expect.php
I'm hoping for #2 (Linux distro), but all of the options have some great potential. In either case, it will be an interesting alternative to Vista.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/googleos_what_to_expect.php
I'm hoping for #2 (Linux distro), but all of the options have some great potential. In either case, it will be an interesting alternative to Vista.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Micro$oft is soooooo funny!!!
Check this out:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2006/11/microsoft_claim.html
Micro$oft is a funny company... I saw this and laughed so hard I almost p&#@! in my pants.
First, they used SCO and Baystar to spread FUD, now this new strategy. I have to get the very last drop of their code from all my PCs.
I used to like Suse, and had it installed on all my PCs, but now it's all going to Ubuntu. The installation is simple, and fast, the upgrades and updates are painless and all the apps are FREE!!!
Why would you pay $100s for M$ operating system and then some more for the applications, when you can have it all for free?
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2006/11/microsoft_claim.html
Micro$oft is a funny company... I saw this and laughed so hard I almost p&#@! in my pants.
First, they used SCO and Baystar to spread FUD, now this new strategy. I have to get the very last drop of their code from all my PCs.
I used to like Suse, and had it installed on all my PCs, but now it's all going to Ubuntu. The installation is simple, and fast, the upgrades and updates are painless and all the apps are FREE!!!
Why would you pay $100s for M$ operating system and then some more for the applications, when you can have it all for free?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
How to manage you e-mail... gmail style.
Great article on managing your gmail inbox:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/11/15/five-simple-rules-for-keeping-an-empty-inbox/
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2006/11/15/five-simple-rules-for-keeping-an-empty-inbox/
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Hacking Democracy...
Check out HBO Special: Hacking Democracy on Google Video. See how easy it is to mess with what we believe is the most sacred area of our political landscape in the United States.
Sunday, November 5, 2006
Patrick's Halloween 2006
Halloween was fun, as always, but this year Patrick really got a kick out of it!!! We spent 2 hours trick-or-treating, and the video is available here.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Patrick's 2nd Birthday Video
I posted a video from my son's birthday party on Google Video. You can access it here. Enjoy!!!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Firefox 2.0 First Impressions
After using Firefox 2.0 for a few days, I have the following to say:
1. It's not much different from 1.6, however, my general feeling is that it runs a bit faster.
2. I'm somehow upset that some of my extensions (add-ons) did not get updated yet, but I know this is not Firefox fault. For example, I run SiteBar server and use the extension to get to all my bookmarks from any computers I use. SiteBar is great, but it is still not working in 2.0, so I'm stuck with regular bookmarks, which is not fun.
3. I have not had any crashes yet, which is a good sign, given the fact that it is version 2.0 (zero, being always buggy in my mind).
So far so good Firefox. I'm sure I'm not going to travel the IE 7.0 road anytime soon... :-)
1. It's not much different from 1.6, however, my general feeling is that it runs a bit faster.
2. I'm somehow upset that some of my extensions (add-ons) did not get updated yet, but I know this is not Firefox fault. For example, I run SiteBar server and use the extension to get to all my bookmarks from any computers I use. SiteBar is great, but it is still not working in 2.0, so I'm stuck with regular bookmarks, which is not fun.
3. I have not had any crashes yet, which is a good sign, given the fact that it is version 2.0 (zero, being always buggy in my mind).
So far so good Firefox. I'm sure I'm not going to travel the IE 7.0 road anytime soon... :-)
Monday, October 23, 2006
Firefox 2.0 is here...
My son Patrick turned TWO today!!! Time goes by soooo fast...
We had a nice party for him and a few of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday and it was great. I was very surprised how much he participated and understood all that was going on around him. I'll post some pictures on his site http://patrickzone.com soon.
In other news...
I upgraded to Firefox 2.0 on the first computer I use. So far it looks great. Some of the extensions I use do not work right out of the box, but given a few days, it should be resolved. I do not see any obvious bugs yet, but the annoying ones usually show up later. Still looks like the best browser out there, even with IE 7.0 out.
We had a nice party for him and a few of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday and it was great. I was very surprised how much he participated and understood all that was going on around him. I'll post some pictures on his site http://patrickzone.com soon.
In other news...
I upgraded to Firefox 2.0 on the first computer I use. So far it looks great. Some of the extensions I use do not work right out of the box, but given a few days, it should be resolved. I do not see any obvious bugs yet, but the annoying ones usually show up later. Still looks like the best browser out there, even with IE 7.0 out.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Beta Blogger
I moved my blog to the new Beta Blogger, which has some nice fetures. It appears that posting is much easier, and the new templates look good. I'll run with it and see how things are going, and post any issues.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
LinuxBlast.com - Pete's Wicked Web Space
LinuxBlast.com - Pete's Wicked Web Space
Aaaa... the beauty of Web 2.0... or Ajax if you prefer.
I took the GWT (Google Web Toolkit v 1.1) and whipped out the interface for the LinuxBlast Network in a matter of hours (still buggy, but it shows off the main features). While using pure JavaScript can be painful, mostly due to the lack of good debugging tools, using GWT and Eclipse is a pure joy. Mix it up with some good Content management tools, and you can deliver nice Web solutions fast... just add Ruby on Rails and you have it all. Feel the next bubble coming (2.0???).
Aaaa... the beauty of Web 2.0... or Ajax if you prefer.
I took the GWT (Google Web Toolkit v 1.1) and whipped out the interface for the LinuxBlast Network in a matter of hours (still buggy, but it shows off the main features). While using pure JavaScript can be painful, mostly due to the lack of good debugging tools, using GWT and Eclipse is a pure joy. Mix it up with some good Content management tools, and you can deliver nice Web solutions fast... just add Ruby on Rails and you have it all. Feel the next bubble coming (2.0???).
Friday, September 15, 2006
Boing Boing: Amazon Unbox to customers: Eat shit and die
Boing Boing: Amazon Unbox to customers: Eat shit and die
This article tells you why you should never, EVER consider purchasing movies on line... at least not from Amazon, and not yet...
This article tells you why you should never, EVER consider purchasing movies on line... at least not from Amazon, and not yet...
Friday, September 8, 2006
Friday, August 4, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Ajax for Java developers: Exploring the Google Web Toolkit
Ajax for Java developers: Exploring the Google Web Toolkit
IBM's article on the newly released Google Web Tooklit (GWT) discusses what the tool can do and whether it is a right tool for the job.
IBM's article on the newly released Google Web Tooklit (GWT) discusses what the tool can do and whether it is a right tool for the job.
Friday, June 9, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Google Web Toolkit - Build AJAX apps in the Java language
Google Web Toolkit - Build AJAX apps in the Java language
Google releases their web toolkit (GWT), which should help in rapid development of AJAX applications. Seems to be pretty cool, and hopefully, easy to use. It works by using Java classes to build your applications, which are later translated to JavaScript for development.
Google releases their web toolkit (GWT), which should help in rapid development of AJAX applications. Seems to be pretty cool, and hopefully, easy to use. It works by using Java classes to build your applications, which are later translated to JavaScript for development.
Thursday, May 4, 2006
ODF=ISO 26300
ODF=ISO 26300
On May 1st ISO (International Standards Org) approved a standard office document format, which is used by OpenOffice.org.
This is a great thing, because if you use OpenOffice, you can be sure that other ISO-compliant office programs (not MS Office) can read and write your documents.
Go, get OpenOffice.org!!! Drop MS Office...
On May 1st ISO (International Standards Org) approved a standard office document format, which is used by OpenOffice.org.
This is a great thing, because if you use OpenOffice, you can be sure that other ISO-compliant office programs (not MS Office) can read and write your documents.
Go, get OpenOffice.org!!! Drop MS Office...
Friday, April 28, 2006
SketchUp - Home
SketchUp - Home
Whoa... another great tool from Google (well, not so much, but Google has it now!).
Google just released SketchUp tool (Free and Pro versions). My first impression is very favorable. I'm not an engineer, so CAD tools are always overkill for me, but to have something like that was always my dream. It's a nice thing to be able to draw your house quickly, set up some landscaping, and see how it all looks together, before you spend all the money! I used some other software before (Total 3D Home Deluxe), but I found it hard to use and it took way too long to learn it. SketchUp seems to bring a right mix of features, power and easo of use. Check it out for yourself...
Whoa... another great tool from Google (well, not so much, but Google has it now!).
Google just released SketchUp tool (Free and Pro versions). My first impression is very favorable. I'm not an engineer, so CAD tools are always overkill for me, but to have something like that was always my dream. It's a nice thing to be able to draw your house quickly, set up some landscaping, and see how it all looks together, before you spend all the money! I used some other software before (Total 3D Home Deluxe), but I found it hard to use and it took way too long to learn it. SketchUp seems to bring a right mix of features, power and easo of use. Check it out for yourself...
Monday, April 24, 2006
Home > Lighting & Appliance Control > INSTEON
Home > Lighting & Appliance Control > INSTEON
I have been looking for home light automation solution for my new house in Florida for some time now. My builder and their subcontractor were not interested (read: did not know how to approach it) in providing any kind of solution for me before the construction was done. In my previous house in Staten Island, I managed to set up a whole house X10 network with some pretty sophisticated control using Ocelot (pretty much, it's a serial, programmable controller with nice X10/IR gateway). Howvere, X10 is rather unreliable, and I wanted something better for my new place. It seems that Insteon product line could be the answer. It seems to be reliable (both power line and RF), fast, has built-in error correction, and is X10 compatible, so I can use some of my older modules. My approach is to start slow, probably from my Media Room, which is the best place for automation anyway. After that, I will slowly start setting up more, if everything works out ok. I will keep mu blog updated with any tips and battlefront stories.
I have been looking for home light automation solution for my new house in Florida for some time now. My builder and their subcontractor were not interested (read: did not know how to approach it) in providing any kind of solution for me before the construction was done. In my previous house in Staten Island, I managed to set up a whole house X10 network with some pretty sophisticated control using Ocelot (pretty much, it's a serial, programmable controller with nice X10/IR gateway). Howvere, X10 is rather unreliable, and I wanted something better for my new place. It seems that Insteon product line could be the answer. It seems to be reliable (both power line and RF), fast, has built-in error correction, and is X10 compatible, so I can use some of my older modules. My approach is to start slow, probably from my Media Room, which is the best place for automation anyway. After that, I will slowly start setting up more, if everything works out ok. I will keep mu blog updated with any tips and battlefront stories.
Friday, April 14, 2006
EFF: DMCA Archive
EFF: DMCA Archive
How bad the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) in the USA is? Check out the article at the Electronic Frontier Foundation's web site. We all always new it was bad... but it's much worse than that!
How bad the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) in the USA is? Check out the article at the Electronic Frontier Foundation's web site. We all always new it was bad... but it's much worse than that!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Google Calendar
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is out and it looks good. Since it works with the rest of the Google pack (GMail, etc), it seems to be a very useful tool. I'm not sure why Verizon Wireless is not on their list of supported carriers for event remainders. Who knows... Verizon is always behind with hi-tech stuff.
Google Calendar is out and it looks good. Since it works with the rest of the Google pack (GMail, etc), it seems to be a very useful tool. I'm not sure why Verizon Wireless is not on their list of supported carriers for event remainders. Who knows... Verizon is always behind with hi-tech stuff.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
The KOffice Project - KOffice 1.5 Announcement
The KOffice Project - KOffice 1.5 Announcement
KOffice 1.5 is out. It's always nice to know, we have options!
Personally, I prefer OpenOffice, but under Linux, KOffice is a nice option and it seems to run a bit faster. Both are much better tham M$ Office, which is bloated, slow and uses proprietary file formats.
KOffice 1.5 is out. It's always nice to know, we have options!
Personally, I prefer OpenOffice, but under Linux, KOffice is a nice option and it seems to run a bit faster. Both are much better tham M$ Office, which is bloated, slow and uses proprietary file formats.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Mamboserver.com - Home
Mamboserver.com - Home
This is probably the best CMS (Content Management System) around. I'm sure you can argue with this statement, however, Mambo is very powerful, easy to learn and very easy to configure. It can be nicely put together with other Web systems (like phpBB for forums, or Coppermine for picture gallery). It has a nice support community, wide spectrum of addons and modifications (inluding internalization) and can be deployed very fast. What else is there to ask for?
This is probably the best CMS (Content Management System) around. I'm sure you can argue with this statement, however, Mambo is very powerful, easy to learn and very easy to configure. It can be nicely put together with other Web systems (like phpBB for forums, or Coppermine for picture gallery). It has a nice support community, wide spectrum of addons and modifications (inluding internalization) and can be deployed very fast. What else is there to ask for?
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Verizon mobile blogging...
I'm connecting my Verizon cell phone to this blog, so I can post pictures directly from my phone.
Slim Devices : Squeezebox : Free your music!
Slim Devices : Squeezebox : Free your music!
I found this device when looking around for an addition to my MP3 (all legal)/whole house music collection. I checked details, did some research on line and ordered to see how it works.
First, a short background on my setup:
I have an extensive MP3 collection, mostly ripped from my CDs. A few years ago, I started looking for an easy and efficient way to manage my CDs, since I noticed that when you go over a certain treshold in quantity, you stop listening to a lot of them, because you simply don't remember what you have (and I have 600+). So, I looked at CD changers, but those cap at 400, and wile you can chain some of them, it becomes pricey. What I really wanted to do is to rip them all to MP3 format, store on a server and be able to access them from my stereo, computers, etc. I also wanted to be free of Windows and any proprietary software running on a server. Three years ago I found Audio Tron from Turtle Beach. It was a nice stereo component, that fit the rest of my components' looks, connected to my local network, and was able to pull any MP3s stored anywhere on a Windows share. It worked great (still does), but it is not produced anymore. Recently, after our move to Florida, I wanted to add a new device to my recreation room. I also wanted to make sure that it can be connected to my whole house radio system (OnQ). I came up with Squeeze Box!!!
It's a nice, small device that does not really look like a standard stereo system component, but it works great. You need to install a server component, but it's open source software and it installed on my Suse Linux server in no time. It was able to index my existing music very quickly. After pluggin in the Squeeze Box, I was able to listen to my MP3s in a matter of minutes. Additional bonus is an nice number of Internet radio stations available for the Squeez Box. You also have SqueezeNetwork, which is a service of Slim Device, that enables you to listen to your favorites (Internet radio stations) without running any server software locally. You can also use SquuezeNetwork to add radio stations that are not listed in their regular catalog.
Squeeze Box is a great product, which I highly recommend for anyone with extensive on line music collections.
I found this device when looking around for an addition to my MP3 (all legal)/whole house music collection. I checked details, did some research on line and ordered to see how it works.
First, a short background on my setup:
I have an extensive MP3 collection, mostly ripped from my CDs. A few years ago, I started looking for an easy and efficient way to manage my CDs, since I noticed that when you go over a certain treshold in quantity, you stop listening to a lot of them, because you simply don't remember what you have (and I have 600+). So, I looked at CD changers, but those cap at 400, and wile you can chain some of them, it becomes pricey. What I really wanted to do is to rip them all to MP3 format, store on a server and be able to access them from my stereo, computers, etc. I also wanted to be free of Windows and any proprietary software running on a server. Three years ago I found Audio Tron from Turtle Beach. It was a nice stereo component, that fit the rest of my components' looks, connected to my local network, and was able to pull any MP3s stored anywhere on a Windows share. It worked great (still does), but it is not produced anymore. Recently, after our move to Florida, I wanted to add a new device to my recreation room. I also wanted to make sure that it can be connected to my whole house radio system (OnQ). I came up with Squeeze Box!!!
It's a nice, small device that does not really look like a standard stereo system component, but it works great. You need to install a server component, but it's open source software and it installed on my Suse Linux server in no time. It was able to index my existing music very quickly. After pluggin in the Squeeze Box, I was able to listen to my MP3s in a matter of minutes. Additional bonus is an nice number of Internet radio stations available for the Squeez Box. You also have SqueezeNetwork, which is a service of Slim Device, that enables you to listen to your favorites (Internet radio stations) without running any server software locally. You can also use SquuezeNetwork to add radio stations that are not listed in their regular catalog.
Squeeze Box is a great product, which I highly recommend for anyone with extensive on line music collections.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)