Merry Christmas Everyone!
Desktop Share: Featuring Frets on Fire
Frets on Fire: Isinusumpa ko ang nagturo sakin ng kaadikang ito...Nga pala, sinong may Guitar Hero DVD na pwde kong mahiram? :D
Six Words
Got this from "Niniane's Blog" (yes that Niniane): she posted that her professor in writing said that Hemingway once claimed that he could write a story in six words.
Here's the story:
For Sale: baby shoes. Never worn.
...
Getting Things Ummm...
Winners of my to-do list's Loyalty award*:
- Organize all my MP3s and AACs
- Consolidate all my file (spanning 3 hard disks now, and possible a few others already lost)
- Start getting healthy
- Start my own GTD system (start = design and execute)
No 3 is actually an afterthought because when the idea of this post first came to my mind, I was thinking of just the computer context.
*they're still here!
Name Game
The name of Yahoo's first CEO is Tim Koogle*
*Got this from John Batelle's "The Search: Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture"
Gmail gets IMAP
And it just keeps getting better...
Also, did you guys notice that Gmail storage is now in the 4Gig range? Again, the IMAP support is not available for everyone yet. I just checked my gmail and google apps and I still don't have it.
Links:
Apple and Google: Strange Bedfellows?
Love him or hate him, but there's no denying that he writes very interesting stuff. "Robert X. Cringely" on the Google - Apple collaboration.
I wrote many years ago that the best start-ups are composed of symbiotic combinations of hippies and nerds. Hippies have the grand vision while nerds mind the details. Each is less without the other. Think of Jobs and Woz in 1976 and now Jobs and Schmidt (or, more properly, Apple and Google) in 2007. Apple is driven by design, which is entirely subjective, even emotional, while Google is driven by the almighty algorithm, which is only following orders
Google in Black - Lights out SF
I just finished installing Gutsy and was configuring Compiz when I saw my google homepage turned into this:
Click for the full screenshot
It almost threw me off because I was actually having a hard time getting compiz right down to the pixel and I knew that an inverted display (affecting just my browser) means another compiz trouble to look into.
I didn't notice at first that it's actually an awareness campaign promoting Lights Out SF, a San Francisco CA - wide, conservation event encouraging people to turn their lights off for an hour (among other things). Honestly, what really caught my eye is the black Google home page, but hey, if like what it did to me, it makes billions people aware of environmental events like Lights Out SF, then it's a good effort. :)
The black google really looks neat, and I'm sure the people behind Blackle will be very happy. ;)
Click for the full screenshot
It almost threw me off because I was actually having a hard time getting compiz right down to the pixel and I knew that an inverted display (affecting just my browser) means another compiz trouble to look into.
I didn't notice at first that it's actually an awareness campaign promoting Lights Out SF, a San Francisco CA - wide, conservation event encouraging people to turn their lights off for an hour (among other things). Honestly, what really caught my eye is the black Google home page, but hey, if like what it did to me, it makes billions people aware of environmental events like Lights Out SF, then it's a good effort. :)
The black google really looks neat, and I'm sure the people behind Blackle will be very happy. ;)
OMG SDK!
The other night Sir Ariel and I went down to Figaro (for the wifi) from the office to install some apps on his iPod Touch. I't's unbelievable to see the progress the iPhone / iPod Touch hackers has made in taking advantage of the Apple super-device as a development platform. But a day before that, we first had "jailbreak" the Touch before we were able to install the apps.
Come next year though, the jailbreak part will be unnecessary. Steve Jobs just announced that Apple will be releasing the iPhone / iPod Touch SDK in February.
Also, check out the updated Leopard page in Apple.com they put in a lot of cool stuff, and the 300+ new Leopard features is a good place to mine information about the upcoming OS X release.
On the other news, I almost wet my pants.
Come next year though, the jailbreak part will be unnecessary. Steve Jobs just announced that Apple will be releasing the iPhone / iPod Touch SDK in February.
Also, check out the updated Leopard page in Apple.com they put in a lot of cool stuff, and the 300+ new Leopard features is a good place to mine information about the upcoming OS X release.
On the other news, I almost wet my pants.
First Hand Encounter with the iPod Touch
(I mistaken referred to Jonathan Ives, Apple's Senior VP of Industrial Design as John. Updated to correct this error)
My Boss finally gave in after years of putting off his iPod purchase, but he pretty well made up for it in kick-ass-ness. Last Tuesday he got his kick-ass iPod Touch and showed it to our team as soon as he came in to the office (Yup, he still came.hehe. Peace Sir! )
Anyway, just some thoughts. When it comes to user interfaces, Apple is know for two things: something simple, and something flashy (and yet still simple). The success of the original, or should I say classic iPod, can be attributed to the first: Apple was able to make an interface so simple that almost anyone can use it without difficulties.
In fact, the classic iPod line's UI simplicity somehow masks the enormous talents of Apple's engineering, UI and industrial designers (hail to the king Jon Ives) in creating it.
As you would have probably guessed already, for this post, the second attribute of being flashy (and yet still simple) attribute will be all about the iPod Touch (and the iPhone).
The iPod Touch (and its iPhone sibling) has the slickest UI available in any device available in the market today, bar none. It's so easy to use because its really simple that things behave as you expect them to behave, and it's so fun to use because Apple has made it flashy enough that you actually see visual feedback on what you're doing with the interface in the classic apple taste. Okay, I will just stop trying to describe it here because as the cliche goes, words doesn't do justice.
Mutating Pictures
A population of 1,000 random pictures each, created in October 2007. You allow the fittest pictures to survive. The higher your rating for a pic the more mutated offspring it produces.
My Feed
Here's the thing. I may hardly find time nowadays to sit down and write for this blog, but I'm mostly active in other things online, specially in del.icio.us. If you have tried "stalking" someone either thru his / her twitter updates, delicious bookmarks, 30boxes calendar, google calendar, or any other service that offers feeds for subscription for that matter (who doesn't, at this point in Internet time?) you'll realize that it actually gives you more idea about what someone is currently up to. :) Believe me when I say that this not just a lame excuse for my blog drought. As I said, I'd really like to give more time for this blog. :) (hopefully sooner than later)
I recently joined friendfeed, the new startup of Paul Bunchheit (creator of gmail, and the google "don't be evil" motto) that basically lets you subscribe to other people's feeds. You add services (e.g. flickr, twitter, google reader, blog) to your own friendfeed feed, and people subscribed to that friendfeed gets updates about your services feeds.
Still with me? Okay, so here's my friendfeed url: http://friendfeed.com/markg, and heres' the atom feed. Technically anyone can do this using readily available tools such as google reader, yahoo pipes, or feedburner, but since i got lucky to snag an invite for friendfeed, i don't have to do the dirty work anymore.
So, at the risk of sounding like an egotistical bastard, if you want to get updates about me or what I do online (hah, no pr0n, since i would never dare share my google web history) or sometimes, even offline, and if you're already subscribe to this blog's feed anyway, Add my friend feed to your favorite reader.
I recently joined friendfeed, the new startup of Paul Bunchheit (creator of gmail, and the google "don't be evil" motto) that basically lets you subscribe to other people's feeds. You add services (e.g. flickr, twitter, google reader, blog) to your own friendfeed feed, and people subscribed to that friendfeed gets updates about your services feeds.
Still with me? Okay, so here's my friendfeed url: http://friendfeed.com/markg, and heres' the atom feed. Technically anyone can do this using readily available tools such as google reader, yahoo pipes, or feedburner, but since i got lucky to snag an invite for friendfeed, i don't have to do the dirty work anymore.
So, at the risk of sounding like an egotistical bastard, if you want to get updates about me or what I do online (hah, no pr0n, since i would never dare share my google web history) or sometimes, even offline, and if you're already subscribe to this blog's feed anyway, Add my friend feed to your favorite reader.
Gnome 2.20 Released
Improvements are nowhere near revolutionary, but I like how Gnome consistently improves the desktop experience and simplicity. Two particular "minor" improvements caught my attention:
- Tomboy notes synchronization - I swear by this cool app to manage all the "stuff" and information that needs to be handy when I'm in the computer, and making it available across all the computers I use through synchronization is a big PLUS. I am definitely looking forward to this in Gutsy...
- This is a personal pet peeve. Gnome's window list (or the task bar in the Windows world) has this annoying "bug" that resizes the width of its buttons (corresponding to open applications) when the length of the window title resizes. It's much easier to see, so I'll try to post a screencast of this later, but the most important thing is that IT'S FIXED NOW! Sa wakas...
A live cd to try the new features out is coming! I heard someone's got a good Internet connection at their office ... nuninuninu
Google Presentation App
It just keeps getting better. Google Docs (formerly docs and spreadsheets) has now a presentation web app. See official blog post here and see initial review here.`
Desktop Brag...errr Share
(Updated Screenshot) Of course, this is not my working settings, (who can work with transparent desktops*?) But this is just a glimpse of the things you can do with a 3D linux desktop (well... besides putting off the other things that you need to do)
*notice the back view of the movie player on the right desktop and firefox on the back desktop.
*notice the back view of the movie player on the right desktop and firefox on the back desktop.
New iPods Released: Shuffle, Nano, Classic and Touch
New iPods. I know some of you just want to go right in to the juicy details: head right to Apple.com.
Here's a quick review of what transpired at 1:00 am today.
- Lots of new colors for the iPod Shuffle, including (red); same form factor, same memory sizes. As always, excellent entry point to the iPod line.
- iPod Nano major upgrade: all-metal, new colors, now plays videos and games, features cover flow. Fatty nano! (that has to be said)
- Original iPod form factor is now called iPod Classic. New all-metal enclosure, two colors: ash gray and black; thinner than ever, and still the iPod with the largest storage: 80Gig and a whopping 160GB
- iPod Touch. Four words: iPhone without the Phone. Thinner than the iPhone, runs OS X, uses multi-touch interface; has wifi, safari browser, youtube, and other applications. Killer feature: iTunes Wireless Music Store
$100$200 price cut on the iPhone 8GB model (they're probably dropping the 4GB one).- iTunes Wireless Music Store: buy music from the iPod touch or iPhone (will be added later through a software upgrade), through your wifi connection. Probably one of the least interesting things for those in countries where Apple Music Store is not operational to start with, but this is one of the biggest (probably bigger than the touch, since it was expected) of all the announcements. This further catapults the iTunes Music Store ahead of its struggling competitors. This is going to be big.
- Very interesting deal with Starbucks: free wifi access for the Wireless iTunes Music store: the app automatically adds a starbucks button to the Music Store that allows you to purchase the song that's currently playing in Starbucks, as well as the 10 most recent tracks.
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