Tech Junkie Weekcast 5

It's finally out the newest week cast from Tech Junkie, enjoy.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0

There’s no doubt the biggest industry today is the web 2.0 start up comapanies. I’ve had a few ideas myself but lacked time or skill to make them happen. There’s something unique to each, but they all have a common denominator. They present a new or easier way of doing things and it involves connecting to your friends, or strangers. I had a silly idea for a myspace run off, what about Myroom which presents a 3d enviornent to myspace and interaction. It would be like if habbo hotel and skype and myspace met. Just a few ideas. I’d love to hear from people about what they think would be a good Web 2.0 start up.

New Tech Junkie WeekCast

Tech Junkie Week Cast number 4 is out sorry about the delay.

Beryl

I recently installed Beryl and I made a quick little video to show you a few features of it



and another

Microsoft Silverlight

Microsoft's new Silverlight project looks very promising. If you haven't checked it out recently you really should head on over to the Microsoft website and check out this project. It's been awhile since I've been able to say anything by Microsoft that is close to commendable, but if they stick with this project it may turn into something big. So if you'r too lazy to goto Microsoft.com and take a look, Silverlight is a browser plugin that allows rich content and nice looking UI's (with AJAX support) over the web. It looks like there hoping for this to be the next flash. If Silverlight is free to make (or at least cheap and it looks like it is)the content this may trump Flash.

New Daycast and Viacom suing Google

Tech Junkie Day Cast 3 is now available for download on the show feed.

Earlier this week Viacom sued Google for $1B due to mass copyright infringement. Of course we all know this is because of all the TV shows available on Youtube. Stupid? very, Youtube does not allow its users to download the content so they do not own it. So how does this hurt the giant, Viacom (they own Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central). Now it is possible to download the videos through services like downthisvideo but all these are rather underground and are not used a lot. I can see Viacoms stance because you are not forced to watch the AD's on Youtube so their Ad clients may get upset, but, Viacom grow up and get in the game it's the 21st century we want entertainment on our compuers, so do something about it!

Cable TV and Personal stuff....

Well I did get my laptop Monday but it wont charge so I sent it back today, so that has been keeping me busy, plus I have a few major tests coming up so I'm not sure if any Daycasts will get out this week. In any case I've wrote a short blog entry on cable TV for ya..
Giving up cable for good. With so many online video providers what’s the need for cable? I’m going to examine a few alternatives and how they stack up to the big cable company. So you have no doubt heard of the stories of people giving up there cable television in favor of Youtube. I can see why Youtube has so many videos to offer. With a wide selection of interesting videos ranging from stupid comedy to cosmic theory podcasts. There’s also a bunch of copyright stuff on there that’s still available to watch. Now when you talk about the legality of copyright material you can get into dangerous waters so I’m going to talk about my personal experience with it. Copy Right material on video streaming sites is being taken down rather quickly on some video sharing sites, at the request of the network. I don’t see an issue with streaming video, that can be a great way to market a show and let viewers watch re-runs whenever they want. But you do run into a few issues when you download the video, then it is technically your property that I can see networks having an issue with. So if you listen to the cast you have probably heard me talking about Joost. Joost just doesn’t kill cable at the moment. It just doesn’t have the same amount of content, or the same quality. So if you ask me stay with your current cable provider unless you do not watch TV much.

New Week Cast

New Podcast Tech Junkie Week Cast 3 enjoy.

Tech Junkie Day Cast 2

Tech Junkie Day cast 2 is up goto the Podcast feed and download it. Enjoy

Sorry....

Sorry I've been really busy today and didn't get to write as much as I wanted to I had a story planned about giving up cable in favor for youtube and Joost and other internet based video, but today got hectic quick, but I do have a new laptop coming next week!

Day Update

Just a quick day update to keep everyone in the know. Gaim Linux instant messenger has been renamed to pidgin, after threats by AOL they had to change their trademark. Also Blu-Ray is outselling HD DVD. I actually thought that HD-DVD would beat Blu-Ray. I have a feeling though that most of those sales are from 007 Casino Royale.

I think it’s dumb that Gaim was forced to change their name. They used the name Gaim before AOL dubbed AIM, so if anyone should be backing down it should be AOL. I personally think targeting an open-source organization like Gaim is of bad taste anyway.

Sony has never had great success with formats. Look at Betamax. Look at UMD, so my guess is Blu-Ray isn’t going to be all that successful but I’ll reserve my judgment. Like I mentioned I think that HD-DVD needs a few more big titles to start to catch on. HD-DVD already has a big advantage; it’s cheaper in every aspect.

I’d also like to mention about Internet radio. If you haven’t heard about the Internet radio case please visit saveinternet.com and send an e-mail to your senator.

Day Cast

A new Tech Junkie Day Cast has been uploaded.

The go generation

I’m always interested in technologies and where they are going. I remember when laptops where getting just as powerful as desktops. People where dropping their desktops in favor for laptops. I remember when people started dropping their landlines for cell phones. Because cell phones went down in price and the quality and reception dramatically improved. So my question is what are we going to move to next? Obviously people thought that we would replace our laptops for handheld devices but we realized that, that these devices where just simply too small to work on effectively for some tasks. Maybe the answer is a new portable device by Intel. Maybe the future is in these new smart phone devices. Maybe the answer is the iPhone. There’s no doubt that if UMPC’s ever become affordable, they will claim a large part of the laptop market. So what’s next?

Some changes

I'm making a couple small changes and one really big one! I'm now going to put podcasts on the blog and you can get them via RSS http://techjunkie.podbean.com/ . Unfortunatly Im limited on space on this account so you will only be able to get the 6 latest podcasts at this source. The rest will be pushed back into the archive which has no RSS and requires you to download it manually.

The next big announcement is
The podcast is going to be split now. We are still going to have a 20min podcast on the weekend with Jeff and its going to be called the Tech Junkie Week Cast. But now a couple times a week Im going to produce a short podcast with just me covering a few quick stories to keep you updated, this will be called the Tech Junkie Day Cast.

I hope to reach to a larger of audience with the new blog and podcast integration and multiple podcasts, my goal is to reach the average on the go consumer and keep them informed of the ever changing technologies.

Intel Device

So Intel is coming together with Asustek, BenQ, Compal Electronics, High Tech Computer, Quanta Computer, and Elektrobit, to form the worlds first small mobile device that is dedicated to surfing the internet. It will be able to surf the internet form any location. It will run either Vista or Linux, and it will be priced at $500. It will run on Adobes new Appolo platform, which is a free opensource platform that allows developers to create offline flash applications easily. Appolo also allows users to run these smooth and clean and nice looking apps like they would any other program. Its going to be an always on internet device so theres no boot time. It is primarily a low consumption device and is trying to offer a great mobile internet experience.

This is neat device, there really is no device that it is a pleasure to surf the net on rather than a task. A laptop comes close but their rather pricy, heavy, battery eating, and they have to boot up. This device will finally answer peoples prayers for a device that they can just carry around with them and surf the internet at will on. It says they want to incorporate WiFi into it, but they also mention that it will have internet anywhere. This is weird because right now Wifi is not everywhere. They are partnering with some weird and random companies to make a mobile device atleast. I have a feeling this will be a little bigger than what they crack it up to be. My prayer is that it will be a low price UMPC.

All in all this is just another gadget at the moment. I’m really hoping it will fruit into a really neat practical device. I have really wanted a device that I can easily surf the internet on-the-go with. Hopefully this will answer.

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Tech Junkie is now available

Tech Junkie Episode 2

Podcast

Ok I recorded again and the levels where way off and it was interrupted and we picked up too much of eachother so Im recording it again for the third time tonight by myself.

Tech Junkie Delay

Tech Junkie Episode II has been delayed due to a recording error I'm re-recording it today.

Handheld Stuff

The handheld war
Soon many competitors will be filling the arena for the number one mobile device. There's Apple's iPhone, Windows new devices with Windows Mobile 6, and of course Palm.

The Apple iPhone was announced at Mac world conference in San Francisco this year. It is sleek black device with a nice intuitive GUI and full internet browsing capabilities. It is completely touch screen. It can also act as an iPod on a separate battery just for music. It is $500 and $600 for four and eight gigabyte capacities. It seems to be a very popular device for professionals and even non-professionals.

Windows Mobile 6 looks to be a very promising update. Although it mainly looks like a long over-due graphical update, it also includes a new view mode in calender and I'm sure there are some new features under the hood as well. Windows devices are becoming much sleeker. Although I feel a lot of us missed outon the incredible palm-top generation of devices, these are incredibly powerful little devices. Unfortunately no longer in production though. The new Motorola Q and Samsung Black Jack. Which are some of the thinnest Windows Smart phone devices. The prospects of stand alone Windows Mobile products are rather dismal, now that Dell has pulled out of the market.

Now Palm has really worked them selves into a rut. They where scheduled to release OS6 in 2004. Unfortunately that never came it's 2007 now and there is
new talk of a possible OS but really who knows? Palm hasn't released any new stand-alone PDA's in the past year, they have released new Treo's, so maybe Palm is just shooting for the PDA-phone market. In any case Palm needs to make some sort of comeback (and their Life Drive was not even an attempt of a comeback) or else Palm computing inc. will die.

It seems to me old reliable companies are trying to transition to the needs of consumers that want a PDA-phone but they forgot about there most loyal users the standalone PDA users. Some companies still have a long way to go with the PDA-phone product. I have yet to see a PDA-phone that does PDA well and Phone well (the Treo is close). Windows Mobile is doing okay in their mobile phone market but with Dell gone there just isn't much hope left for standalone powerful PDA's that used to drive the market. If Apple will allow people to release things like keyboards and such for their iPhone, and if Apple will allow third party development, I can assuredly say that Apples iPhone will take the market by storm.

Battle of the Browsers

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Battle Of the Browsers

The battle of the browsers

My History with web browsers

I was into web browsing since the original Netscape Navigator. I then got Windows 98 which I found myself using Internet Explorer more often. Fast Forward a few years when the original Mozilla browser came out, I was sick of IE it ran terribly on my computer, so I was an early adopter of Mozilla and Gecko technology. I remember the day when someone was using my computer and asked where the Firefox button was, I was clueless no one had informed me of Mozilla's new browser. I downloaded it and haven't looked back, I've used Firefox on Windows on my Mac and on my Linux box. I guess it was about a month after Firefox II was released that I began to wonder what else was out there. Thats where this saga begins....

A new Internet Explorer!?

I wasn't much into researching new browsers I was always content with my Firefox so Internet Explorer flew under my radar I merely scuffed at it then moved on.

I've downloaded Internet Explorer 7 and have been using it for a little over a week, I really admire how nice and clean it looks (even if it's a pain to find anything). One gripe is they didn't get rid of that stupid clicking noise every time I connect to a website! I was starting to miss my Delicious bookmarks and the web pages I made looked very odd in Internet Explorer 7, they where enlarged and the quality of things where compressed (this being compared to Firefox II). I do like the some what added security. It feels a little faster. Plus they are catching up with tabbed browsing, RSS feeds, and security. Also the layout view of all the tabs is really cool.

So in conclusion while Microsoft stepped up there game big time with IE 7, just not enough. I don't feel its superior to Firefox II but man is it close!

Opera 9 is here, where'd it ever go?

Okay I'm sure that title just flew over just about everyone's head, except maybe some of my friends. But when Opera came out someone sent me a link, and me not caring about browsers I sent a reply (just to be a smart a**) where'd it ever go. Okay sorry for the lengthy intro. I've tried Opera for a little while now. I do like the new browser. I like how fast it is, I like how I have my headline articles and news all on sidebars. I also like the layout and the thumbnail previews on the tabs. I do feel that they hid some of the really cool features of Opera though, like the built in support for making presentations, the mouse gestures, the trash can feature, and the built in email client.

Opera 9 is a good browser, it is fast and does a few things really well, like widget integration. Browsers, when I say widgets get it through your head. Its a small independent app not a tool bar! Plus I dont have to restart Opera to start the widgets.

In conclusion Opera 9 is a decent browser with some neat capabilities but it feels rather cluttered. Plus it behaves very differently than other browsers (whats the need for two back buttons?).

MaxThon if only IE was smarter.

Maxthon is a browser that is based on the Internet Explorer 6 engine. Therefore it shares a few annoying qualities of Internet Explorer 6, like the interface and the bloat. I don't like being bothered to donate money to Maxthon every time I start the browser! Apparently Maxthon is a very popular browser in China, I can see why, it is a very good solid browser. It feels like it was built for productivity. I have a utilities button that drops a list down of a few programs like paint and notepad. Whats neat about this utility manager is, I can add whatever program I want to the menu. The gestures are the best I've seen yet, it's so simple. Plus I like the way it deals with multiple windows. I can turn tabs into windows that I can minimize and have multiple windows running at the bottom of Maxthon (think AOL style). I can then cascade those windows or lay them out vertically and so on...

I love the side bar it includes links to digg and log into Delicious, look at ebay items ect...

All in all even though Maxthon is based on somewhat legacy technology it is a very solid browser. I have to say I will keep this browser even if I don't pick it as my favorite. It just offers so many slick features. Be warned though I find it a tad bland and ugly.

Netscape 8, Netscape is back..from the dead

Netscape takes on a whole new look, it is based off of Firefox, but it has a completely new theme. I sort of like it, I'm not in love with it though. I do appreciate how secure it is, for instance it does a scan on every page I open and has a quick security panel at the bottom that will check each and every website I visit based on my specified criteria. Once again it's a decent browser but it just doesn't bring anything new to the table.

FLOCK FLOCK!!

I saved this browser for last because I have had the most fun with this browser. It comes with tools built in to link up to my Delicious account, it links to my Flickr account, and it links to my Blogger account. Not only am I keeping tabs on my latest content, I can integrate it. I can say go on my Blogger account, click a button on the tool bar to bring up my Flickr photo stream and I can drag and drop my desired picture into a box. Also works if I want to send a picture to a friend in a Myspace photo comment. It also comes with a multiple picture uploader. Flock feels a little faster than Firefox II. The interface is clean and not cluttered.

This browser is very revolutionary. I think it brings a few new features that really revolutionize web browsing. It isn't the browser for you if all you want is just a web browser though.

Elimination

Internet Explorer 7 is out, it is still somewhat slow and doesn't bring much new to the table, although Microsoft is heading in the right direction.

Netscape 8 is out, it is a nice try to revive the aged browser and was smart to base it on the Gecko engine but it once again is somewhat bland. I do recommend it for the computer-illiterate though. It is very secure, and very easy to use.

Elimination 2

Opera 9 is out, It is a nice browser but the really cool features are hard to find and it's interface feels cluttered. A solid browser though, just not the browser for me.

Maxthon is out, I love this browser it was only eliminated because I needed to eliminate down to one browser and it's based on Internet Explorer 6. I'm still keeping it on my computer Shhh.. don't tell.

Flock Wins

It is truly a revolutionary browser, its fast, it's clean and it incorporates cool new features that no other browser offers. I am giving up Firefox for now and am using Flock.