I’m checking out Memoranda, a java-based diary and scheduling program. I’m not used to is WYSIWIG editor, but it’s pretty cool. It looks like it can also export notes to HTML. It is definitely pretty, but not fully functional. It’s an alpha, so that’s okay.
Day: October 22, 2003
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Memoranda
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Slashdot Reviews Advanced .NET Remoting
TechGuy949 at Slashdot reviews Advanced .NET Remoting. It looks like he has positive words for Ingo. Here’s an excerpt from the review:
The second part of the book is not for the faint-hearted. The complexity level ratchets up several notches, and holds nothing back. It delves into advanced topics such as .NET remoting internals, including message sinks, channel sinks, formatters, and transport protocols, and shows you how to customize each part. Ingo’s goal is for you to really understand how the .NET Framework implements remoting. The discussion here often borders on the theoretical, but it always stays grounded in relevant code examples.
Advanced .NET Remoting: it hurts your head, but in a good way.
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Apple Releases G4 iBook!
Jeez. I wish I had known that G4 powered iBooks were going to be out this soon. The only thing holding me back from picking up a G3 iBook earlier this month was the G3 processor part. The G3 has been out way too long, and now that the G5 is here, it is just a matter of time before G3 support starts fading away. I guess it always happens like that: settle on a major purchase and the thing that you’ve always wanted becomes available soon afterwards.
The specs look good though: $1099 will get you a G4 800MHz, 256 megs of ram, a 30 gig drive, a 1024×768 12 inch screen and an ATI Radeon 9200 video card. The 14 inch model tops out at a 1GHz G4, all for under $1500. I have a feeling that with these new iBooks, Apple is going to bump up its share of the laptop market in the next quarter or two.
I just wish that I could contribute to those numbers…
Go read all the specs and fun stuff at the Apple Store. Thanks to Mac Central for pointing it out. On a side note, if anyone is looking to get rid of an older blue & white or black & white G3/G4 tower for a couple hundred bucks, let me know. I’m dying to run OSX, and my tricked out 8500 just doesn’t cut it.
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Does Windows Violate the DMCA?
Frank just read in a German magazine that Windows itself might be in violation of the DMCA. This is classic. Earlier this month a college student pointed out that you could defeate (er, circumvent) the copy protection built in to some CDs by SunComm by pressing the shift key. That’s right, lots and lots of DRM out the door just by pressing the shift key when you insert the CD.
It follows that Windows is a tool that circumvents copy protection technology. It is then in violation of the DMCA because it is a copy protection circumvention device. How classic is that?
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Sony DSC-T1: Slim 5 Megapixel Camera
DPReview, Imaging Resource and others have info on Sony’s credit card style five megapixel $550ish digital camera. It uses the same style of in-camera optics that make the Minolta Dimage X series of cameras so cool.I like the fact that they put a Zeiss lens on that puppy. Good specs all around, but I’m worried about the possibility of vignetting like the Dimage X/Xi/Xt’s tend to do. We shall see.
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Sony DSC-U40 Analysis
Imaging Resource has the info on the new Sony DSC-U40, Sony’s latest itty bitty sleek camera. I think that Sony is missing the point a little bit here. They started the U series with the U10, which is pretty much a 1.3 megapixel version of my 2 megapixel U20. Then they came out with the U30 which is a little bigger with a mirror so you can take stylish self portraits. The U60 is a weird all weather model.It looks like the U40 is a good bit more compact (my U20 is still a subcompact camera and it is almost a year old now), as it runs on Memory Stick Duo. I didn’t see any size specs in the press release, but you can bet that it’s a good bit smaller. Street price should end up around $200. These are all good things, except that it’s still a 2 megapixel camera.
2 megapixels is fine, and it’s probably a good sweet spot in super duper compact cameras, but I’d really love to see something in the U20/U40 size range that was maybe even just a little more high rez (is 3.34 too much to ask?) and costs a little bit more. Given that the U series started with 1.3 and pretty quickly moved up to 2.0, the next logical step would be 3+ megapixel, and soon.
I hope that Sony continues to innovate in this awesome product line. Sadly my DSC-U20 doesn’t get as much use nowadays, as my cel phone has a low quality but really convenient camera. Continuing pressures from the cameraphone market will definately dictate lots of competition and lower margins in the $200ish price range.
Bottom Line: As long as the DSC-U40 lives up to its heritage, it will definitely be a good buy at $200. If you’re looking for a zoom, look elsewhere. This camera just has a relatively wide angle 33mm lens, and that’s okay. If it’s anything like the DSC-U20’s lens, you’ll deal with it.
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BitTorrent is Changing Everything (But You Already Knew That)
I was looking for some downtime tonight, but there really isn’t much on television. I wasn’t really in the mood for any of the DVDs that are kicking around. I don’t have anything of note in VHS format in front of me.
What did I do?
I pointed my browser to my favorite repository of TV show torrent files and started downloading a CSI episode from the first season. Then the phone rang. About five minutes or so later I wandered back to the computer. The file was 76% done with just a few minutes later. In the amount of time that it took me to write this, the file has finished downloading. Now I’m burning it to a VCD so that I can pop it in the DVD player.
I can guarantee you that a year or two ago the bandwidth and the tech (Thanks, Bram!) would not have been ready for something like this. Now it Just Works. Pardon me while I hop offline for a bit and watch my tv show (01×07 for those keeping score).