Author: jamesclay

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Slow

I maybe getting spoiled.

I am feeling that my G4 PowerBook is somewhat on the slow side.

Now it could be that I have been using way too many Intel Macs recently and as a result, the G4 is not slow, just slow compared to them!

Or it could be the wealth of Web 2.0 services out there and Ajax is playing havoc with my browsers and memory. If I surf simple sites such as the BBC News, then no real problems; problems arise if I use Jaiku, Twitter or WordPress (ie this blog).

The thing is it doesn’t really matter which browser I use either, whether it be Flock or Firefox or Safari.

I think I am getting spoiled, now the question is, if I upgrade the PowerBook to Leopard 10.5, will that make any difference, make it worse or make it better.

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Good article on wireless security

When it comes to wireless security there are lots of myths out there.

Ars Technica has published a nice article on wireless security which covers many of the key issues and importantly debunks some of the myths out there as well.

The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is an identification code (typically a simple name) broadcast by a wireless router. If a wireless device detects multiple SSIDs from multiple access points (APs), it will typically ask the end-user which one it should connect to. Telling a router not to broadcast its SSID may prevent basic wireless access software from displaying the network in question as a connection option, but it does nothing to actually secure the network. Any time a user connects to a router, the SSID is broadcast in plaintext, regardless of whether or not encryption is enabled. SSID information can also be picked up by anyone listening to the network in passive mode.

Read more.

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Video killed the internet… or will it!

Ten years ago most of used the net for usenet, e-mail and browsing was in the main text with a few pictures.

Today the internet is a much richer in terms of content, and video is a big part of this, anyone for YouTube?

However will this growth in video be the death of the internet?

The BBC reports on this very issue:

There is no doubt that video is big on the net. But is it getting too big?

Ask AT&T and it will answer – yes.

Speaking in London in late April, Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s vice president of legal affairs, said the burgeoning amount of video would consume all the net’s bandwidth in two years.

So will the interent collapse under the weight of a new richer internet, well I think not!

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Mobile Flash

The BBC reports that

Adobe has announced a plan to try to get its Flash player installed on more mobile devices and set-top boxes.

Dubbed Open Screen the initiative lifts restrictions on how its multimedia handling software can be used.
Adobe will stop charging licencing fees for mobile versions of Flash and plans to publish information about the inner workings of the code.

In taking this step Adobe hopes to repeat on mobiles the success its Flash technology has enjoyed on the web.

Interested to see if Flash lite supports more Flash content then it does now.

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ALT-C 2008

I have received the following e-mail in my inbox.

I am pleased to inform you that your proposal Hood 2.0 – it’s a Web 2.0 World out there, has been accepted for presentation at ALT-C 2008.

Yay.

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LG Viewty growing on me…

My T-Mobile LG Viewty is growing on me.

Okay this is no replacement for Apple’s iPhone, but the more I use it and the more I get use to the touch interface, the more I quite like it.

Where I think it is starting to win me over, especially over Nokia phones such as the N73 and the N95 is on text entry input, especially when in landscape mode.

In landscape mode when browsing I have a full QWERTY keyboard which makes typing entries into Twitter or Jaiku so much easier than trying to use T9 on a numerical keyboard.

There are still a few downsides, it still crashes on me for example. I don’t like how to scroll down in webpages – on menus you use the dial on the camera lens, but on the browser the dial on the lens works as a zoom function! The touch interface is nowhere near as good as the iPhone (or the iPod touch) but is still quite nice once you get use to it.

I even managed to upload a photograph to Flickr today, not using Shozu, but the mobile Flickr interface – thought this won’t work if you use Vodafone.

Overall I am growing to like this phone.

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iMac revision, will we see Blu-Ray?

This week should see Apple release new versions of the iMac if the rumour sites are to be believed.

I wonder as well as new chips, etc… we will see the first Macs to have Blu-Ray drives?

It was back in 2005 that Apple joined the Blu-Ray consortium. MacWorld at that time said:

Apple did more than just affiliate with a trade group looking to develop and promote a new technology when it announced plans last week to join the Blu-Ray Disc Association’s board of directors. The company also inserted itself right into the middle of a battle over high-definition DVD.

Since joining the association we have not seen a single Mac with a integrated Blu-Ray drive. Third party developers (such as Roxio) have been providing Blu-Ray support for external Blu-Ray drives, however no such Apple drive has been seen.

Of course back in 2005 was the start of the HD format war, which saw HD-DVD lose this war back in February. Blu-Ray had won the format war.

So could now be the time we see Blu-Ray for the first time on the Mac platform?

Of course though Blu-Ray won the war, both Microsoft and Apple seem to be ignoring the physical HD formats and concentrating on the HD download market, with xBox Live and Apple TV.

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Slow Flash video on G4 PowerBook

Though it is nice to have fast computers, sometimes now and again you need to use an older model.

However I am finding more and more that my old G4 PowerBook just can’t cope with the new modern internet.

I already know that it isn’ capable of playing HD video like the Apple trailers, but I am also having issues with Flash video as in the BBC iPlayer and video clips on Amazon.

Now I and you both know that video is not the only reason to use the web (though I guess there are a few YouTube addicts out there who may think differently) I do find it frustrating when I am browsing the web and there is a video clip and I can’t watch it as my computer is too old.