tech, news, productivity, views and stuff
Well can I download Firefox 3 on this the launch day?
No!
Everytime I go to the download page, I am only offered Firefox 2.
I will keep trying, but the last time I looked they had passed 1,000,000 downloads and over 1,700,000 people had downloaded Firefox 3.
Well they may have downloaded it, I have had no luck!
Changes are afoot at MySpace, as they try to attract new and keep old users.
BBC’s Newsbeat says:
MySpace is preparing a major redesign next week as it tries to attract more casual users and increase the amount of time its members spend online.
With the popularity of other social networking sites such as Facebook, sites such as MySpace need to change and alter in order to retain and keep users.
From an e-learning perspective, such changes can cause confusion for learners, and if features are removed or deleted, then it can impact on learning activities and scenarios which use such social networking sites.
I was looking at what new films there were in the UK iTunes Store and noticed that some classic TV shows had been added.
Looking at the four shows, there were Charlie’s Angels, Starsky and Hutch, I Dream of Jeannie and Shatner classic T J Hooker.
Checking to see how much they were I was surprised and pleased to see that the pilots for both Charlie’s Angels and Starsky and Hutch were free!
Well I downloaded them didn’t I – actually downloading as I publish this blog entry.
Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith star as beautiful ex-policewomen Sabrina, Jill and Kelly, who are hired as private investigators by a mysterious man known as Charlie. All arrangements are made by phone, or through Woodville (David Stiers), the only person who knows Charlie’s identity. The other male on the private-eye team is Bosley (David Doyle).
“Starsky and Hutch” is a dynamic new police drama series about a pair of young plainclothes cops. David Soul stars as the soft-spoken Ken ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson and Paul Michael Glaser is the irrepressible Dave Starsky. Bernie Hamilton also stars as quick-tempered Captain Harold Dobey and Antonio Fargas is Huggy Bear, friend and confidante of the two cops.
I like the fact that the info says “dynamic new police drama series”, how new is 1975?
This evening using my MacBook Pro I had a fans flashback to the days when I had a G5 PowerMac.
I really liked the G5 PowerMac, it was a huge beasty, but a very powerful beasty.
Though now and again it would do a jumbo jet impression and try and to set the fans going so fast that it sounded like it was trying to take off!
I believe that this was a bug caused by the PowerMac failing to realise how hot it was and setting the fans to maximum to try and ensure that it didn’t overheat.
Quite a few updates were sent out by Apple to try and fix it, but as I recall not all those fixes worked.
I have been finding that if I push my MacBook Pro I can make it get very hot quite quickly. Even quicker if I have the battery in and even faster than that if I am charging the battery at the same time.
This evening I was using the MacBook Pro and was watching a video whilst doing some simple web browsing, when the fans kicked in. Now the battery was fully charged so I was quite surprised. Charging the battery and using the MacBook Pro is a simple way of getting the fans going. However this time the battery was fully charged!
The fans just got louder and louder…
Eventually I decided enough was enough. I shut the lid, turned the MacBook Pro over and waited until the fans stopped (nearly 30 seconds or thereabouts). I then removed the battery and turned back over. Opened the lid and continued where I left off.
No fans, but still quite warm.
Great news for all iTunes Store users in the UK, we can now buy and rent movies.
From the Apple press release:
Apple® today announced that movies from major film studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM), Sony Pictures Television International and Lionsgate UK are now available on the iTunes® Store in the UK (www.apple.com/uk/itunes). Movie purchases and rentals feature iTunes’ legendary ease of use, which makes discovering and enjoying movies as simple and easy as buying music on iTunes has always been. The iTunes Store in the UK features over 700 films available for rent or purchase, with titles available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including favorites such as “Hitman,” “I Am Legend,” “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” and “Into the Wild.” iTunes Movie Rentals also features over 100 titles available in stunning high definition, perfect for viewing on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®.
I am very pleased with this, and I suspect I may use it a fair bit.
I am even now seriously considering getting an Apple TV just so I can watch the movies on my TV, well I guess I can use the iPod nano in the meantime.
Today Adobe launched Acrobat.com, a suite of online services.
Buzzword is an online document application which can be shared and collaboratively worked on.
Adobe ConnectNow is a conferencing screensharing application.
You can also create (a limited number) of online PDF documents.
Also you are able to upload and share files.
A nice full review of the service.
Now and again I will watch video on my iPod, but the iPod nano screen is rather on the small side for me, so prefer using other things for video (such as my Mac or my Archos device).
However I have been experimenting with an AV cable for the iPod nano and it works well on my non-HD CRT TV. Battery life is ample for a whole movie.
Only downside is pausing or rewinding the movie is a little more complicated than using the remote.
From BBC News
Dell is joining the burgeoning ranks of companies offering cut-down laptops, called netbooks, aimed at the developing world and general consumers.
The laptop was shown by Michael Dell to the editor of website Gizmodo at the All Things Digital Conference.
Read more.
Dell is the biggest PC maker in the world and the fact that they have entered the market shows how big and how serious this market is to PC makers.
For a lot of consumers this is their second computer, their main computer is a desktop machine which sits at home. The micro-laptop (umpc) format allows them to have a second computer which is very portable. Though similar or slightly more expensive “proper” sized laptops are available, it is the extreme portability of these laptops that are one of the main attractions. The fact it has a proper keyboard is another feature which other UMPCs and portable devices lack and it would seem people like a proper keyboard – even if it is on the small side.
Interesting device has been released by Apple Core, LLC, the aTV which is a USB device which you can use to “hack” your Apple TV.
aTV Flash is a USB flash drive that inserts into the AppleTV and will upgrade it to do all kinds of new things. The software installs automatically, and no modification or coding is required. Also, it will NOT void your warranty.
Key Features:
– Play most video formats (DivX, Xvid, AVI, WMV, RMVB + more)
– Play DVD files WITHOUT converting them
– Sync, organize and watch non-iTunes video files
– Browse the web with a Safari based web browser
– Rent & watch Hi-Def movies from Jaman.com
– Stream media from UPnP(v1) media servers
– View local weather forecasts
– View RSS Feeds
– Enable SSH access
– All original Apple TV features remain intact
Certainly looks interesting and the web browse facility is certainly something I would use.
Seriously now thinking about getting an Apple TV and one of these. Certainly could be an EyeHome replacement.
