Friday, August 29, 2008

Useful computer info

Corsair have put up a page of really useful info. Hat tip to Fudzilla for this.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

You're stranded on a Desert Island

1. What one person would you wish was stranded there with you?

Someone who's really good at telling tales. Like Misty or Kim.

2. What one tool would you want to have?

A machete.

3. Of which one food do you wish you would have an unlimited supply?

This depends upon what's actually available on the island, but top contenders would be eggs and milk. Or a good red Burgundy.

4. What one luxury item would you wish for?

I suppose a solar powered PC with an unlimited internet connection is asking too much? Oh well, in that case, I'll have a solar powered icemaker.

5. What one book would you want to have with you to read and re-read?

The complete works of Shakespeare.

6. You have one piece of paper, a pencil and one bottle - to whom is the message going to be written?

My brother - to tell him and his family how much I love them.

7. What skill would serve you best while on the island? A close one here: being idle versus cooking.

8. How long do you think you could last before needing rescue?

No idea.

9. What one island animal would become your pet?

Hopefully there's a goat or two that I can milk.

10. Your island is unknown to you, and you need to give it a name - what would it be?

I'll let it remain unnamed.

11. What would you do to pass the weeks, days, and hours?

Gaze at the stars. Not a lot else to do at night, anyway.

12. You've been rescued! What is the first thing you're going to do when you get back home?

Put the kettle on!

Looking backwards to predict Windows 7.

A lot of people are hoping that Windows 7 will be a revolutionary product, much like the Mac OS/X was. However, I don't think so. Microsoft has a history of spit-and-polish when it comes to OSs. There was Windows 3.0 then Windows 3.1. Then there was Windows 95 followed by Windows 98, and Window NT 3 followed by NT 4. Then there was Windows 2000 followed by Windows XP. And now we have Vista, which I expect to be followed by Windows 7, with the revolutionary product to follow 3 or so years later.

A comparison might be drawn with Intel, who have a similar policy with their CPUs: an inital release followed by a die-shrink.

So, Windows 7 will be a polish of Vista. What can we expect to see? A significant reform of Aero and UAC - making them much faster, for a start. With the introduction of Windows Home Server, I see an opportunity for MS to rationalise the SKUs. Instead of the plethora of products we have to day, I hope we'll return to just the one, Windows Workstation. Connect it to a Home Server and it becomes a home client; connect it to an Active Directory and it becomes a Business Client. There will be extra polish with DX 11 and physics, of course.

With Windows 7, matters are complicated further because Vista is a transition product for moving from 32 bit to 64 bit, and ISVs aren't following suit. As yet, there's no 64 bit Flash, no 64 bit Acrobat Reader. Indeed, 64 bit utilities are only just beginning to appear. I'd like to see Windows 7 being purely 64 bit - it would save Microsoft a lot of work to ditch the 32 bit versions - but with the amount of 32 bit software around, I just don't see that happenning, and the 32 bit / 64 bit dichotomy will confuse many users.

More later.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Jobhunting!

I'm now seeking gainful employment in IT. A team leader or junior management role by preference. I've 20 years experience of Microsoft - client and server - support, from DOS to Vista. So gissajob!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Duke Nukem 3D

Steven den Beste reminisces about Duke Nukem 3D. I have many happy memories of that game, particularly of the multiplayer modes. Lying in wait with a pipebomb, zooming around with the jetpack and the rocket launcher or the devastator. It was fun! And there was fun within the game itself. These days, they all take themselves so seriously: not so Duke.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Nature can be so cruel

A child that's lost its mother is always distressing. And whales are usually such gentle giants - to humans, that is.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Quantum Porn

This made me laugh.