Switcher’s Log, Part 5: Man does this machine scream.
For those who are following this narrative, this is a continuing narrative of my experiences after having switched from Windows XP to Mac OS X. One of my big concerns before switching to Mac was that it was going to be sloooooow. Of course this is an unfair comparison, between:
a 2GHz Pentium on a 2 year old Dell with 1 Gig of Memory and
a brand new G5, 1.8 GHz x 2 (dual processor), with 2 Gigabytes of memory.
But you wouldn't believe the rumors and legends out there about Macs being slow, or the fact that you can't compare a Pentium MHz to a G5 MHz… I was worried : perhaps the Mac OS was slower or different; and anyway would it actually be able to take advantage of the dual CPU for day to day use? The bottom line: it screams! Builds are fast, opening apps is fast, moving windows around is fast, Ripping CDs is really fast. It's really fast!
[BlogBridge] Screencast tutorials, so far
There are two very brief audio-visual overviews of 'cool' BlogBridge features.
BlogStarz feature: in this brief screencast I introduce and explain a handy way to rate which feeds you find most useful, and at the same time benefit from the experience of other users.
Automatic highlighting in articles:In this brief screencast, I show how BlogBridge will highlight words and phrases in green (link to a feed I am already following), red (link to a feed that is new to me) or blue (specific words or phrases which are interesting to me.)
Let me know what you think. Useful? Does it work with your browser on your platform?
This is not a religious blog
I thought this was an interesting article even though I don 't agree with it:
"There is no reason for believing that any sort of gods exist and quite good reason for believing that they do not exist and never have. It has all been a gigantic waste of time and a waste of life. It would be a joke of cosmic proportions if it weren't so tragic."
I love Microsoft too, but I can’t hold my tongue
Dave Winer points to Kevin Shofield's defense of an "unfair, infamous post saying that Microsoft can't ship software anymore." Scoble links to the thread, without comment (which is understandable, not wanting to be too partisan.) In my opinion, and agreeing with Kevin, Microsoft actually shows an absolutely amazing ability to develop, test, and deliver software of mind boggling complexity to a huge user base. They run unbelievably large scale beta tests, they support remarkable variety of hardware and software configurations, being run by every possible kind of customer, geography and user. IMHO there is no other organization on the planet that has this capability. Ok? But I have to take issue, in a big way , with this claim in Kevin's post: " Other Microsoft products, like Money and Encarta, ship on an annual basis and hit those deadlines like clockwork." As many users of Microsoft Money will attest, the annual, clockwork releases are a farce to extract more cash out of people (like me) who fall into the trap of buying the upgrade. Why do I keep falling into that trap myself? I really rely on Microsoft Money. I run my life on it. After receiving enough reminders that there's a new version out with bug fixes and new features I finally decide to go for it, and almost always regret it. It's called the triumph of hope over experience … Invariably there are very minor feature improvements, and often new horrible, data corrupting bugs. It's shameful. I bet the Microsoft Money team is tiny, which is why it is the most profitable, percentage wise, product Microsoft has.
I read Dowbrigade for the articles
Do you know Dowbrigade? An almost always interesting blog, intellectually stimulating and thought provoking. Check it out! Wait, read more closely. There's good stuff there:
"This story has almost everything we look for in a good blog posting. It features an innovative use of one of our favorite technologies, libraries and librarians, and a money-saving move by a public institution. Everything, that is, except an opportunity to feature a little artfully exposed flesh. So we decided to exercise a little creative licence, at the end of the story.."
What I want to know is where is Michael's secret stash of iPod photographs?
Google Toolbar: Where’s the fire?
In case you've come across the flaming debate about how the Google Toolbar is evil, you will appreciate this post:
"I'm a bit wary about throwing myself in the middle of the whole Google Toolbar AutoLink business (Dan Gillmor has a good summary and lots of trackbacks to opinions, pro and con), but I'm sort of dumbfounded that so many people are so vehemently against it"
That's from Kottke.org, but it could just as easily be me speaking. My sentiments exactly. Read Kottke's post. One more teapot tempest AFAIC Correction: While I still agree with most of what Kottke said, there's one factual error. When I played with the toolbar it automatically changed a web page to turn addresses into links to Google Maps.
Is this picture classified?
I
am quickly becoming a Flickr fan. What took me so
long, you ask? Well for those of you that don't know Flickr, it's a site where
legions of users host their digital snapshots. So far, nothing new, right?
But here's where it gets interesting. People are asked to TAG their pictures
and they do. So if you are for example, interested in Iraq, you could see all
pictures added that are tagged
"IRAQ." And by the way, there's a
corresponding RSS feed for each
tag.
So just add your Iraq RSS feed to your favorite
aggregator and get a daily download of cool
pictures. Hence the title of this post. This is a nice picture of what looks
to me like a Predator UAV. From the Iraq Tag on
Flickr. Classified? Who knows!
RSS Feed Advertising
From News.com, about Kaboodle BrightAds RSS
On Monday, the company introduced a self-service system that lets online publishers pair advertising with their RSS feeds. Called BrightAds RSS (after the technology format known as Really Simple Syndication), the service takes advantage of Kanoodle's keyword advertising system to match Web content to relevant ads. Once a publisher signs up, an advertising link will piggyback on its syndicated feed sent to third-party news readers.
Echo's of the Google Toolbar debate? It sounds like Kanoodle BrightAds RSS will create and host RSS feeds for their customers, and intersperse Ads in the feeds. I am not sure this is a good idea , but I suppose it was inevitable. The question is, will the inserted ads be distinguishable so that an aggregator could strip them out?
[DEMO 2005] Top Demos
There's already so much written about Demo 2005, it seems like there's not much to add. First off, let me recommend Conferenza Premium Reports. It's a very reasonably priced subscription service that provides first hand reports of all the major and not so major conferences. Shel Israel's report on Demo 2005 is comprehensive and excellent. My list of top demos, extremely briefly A word about methodology. As I watched the 7 minute demos, I would write 2 or 3 bullets of what struck me, and a grade from A+ to F. Of the 60 or so demos, these rated an A- or better.
StreamBase - StreamBase Systems. From Michael Stonebreaker, one of great innovators in releational databases. StreamBase is not a database at all. Instead of stored data, it's a server for processing. mixing and matching, huge and voluminous streams of real time data. Why hasn't anyone done this before?
My iControl - iControl Networks. A plug and play home automation network, based on wireless sensors and a box that sits in your basement. The sensors include door opening, temperature, cameras, and lots of others.
<li>NanoChromics Display - NTera LTd. A replacement for the good old conventional LCD display. Cheaper and brighter. Basic technology not something you would go out and buy.Instant Scene Modeler - MDA Very interesting: handheld contraption with two cameras is used to 'film' a scene. Within seconds the software creates a 3D digital model of the scene that you can look at from all directions.
GiftWorks- Mission Research Inc. Financial and fundraising management software for non profits. MS Money for charities.
Ovation - Serious Magic. Converts PowerPoint presentations to broadcast TV quality animated slides.
Tricaster - NewTek. From the guys who did Video Toaster. A video production truck in a box. Hardware and software. $5,000.
In the Chair - Digital Monkey. Unusual and very cool music education software. Lets a soloist read music and play their instrument while on the screen they follow the score, see a live conductor and the rest of the orchestra follow along while giving audio cues.
QuickSite- Homestead Technologies. Web site design and hosting service from Homestead. The new twist is that they offer a huge collection of professionally designed sites for $200 each.
Demandware Ecommerce Platform - Demandware. Basically ATG Ecommerce software packaged as an ASP service. Excellent.
**Real Basic- Real Software.** A VB knockoff, which runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. Looks complete and powerful.
Xcelcius- Infomersion . Create direct manipulation graphical models with graphs and controls, using an Excel spreadsheet as the underlying model.
LiveVault - LiveVault Corporation. Just Backup and offsite recovery. But beautifully implemented via an on-site appliance which includes lots of storage, plus an offsite service, all of them very nicely integrated.
Those are my picks!
Luck
A neat little quote from a good, yet not well known movie, "The Kid Stays in the Picture", about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans (the film shares the same name as Evans's famous 1994 autobiography.) It's an idea that I've heard expressed in many different ways, but this one is new to me, and good: "Luck doesn't just happen, it's when opportunity meets preparation."