@Geehall1:

Hitting The New Retweet Button

This morning I found I was in the latest round of Twitter beta testing, for the new retweet functionality within the twitter.com page.

It Wouldn't Be Windows Without A Silly Glitch

While Windows 7 is quite an improved little beast, it's the annoying glitches that dent the experience.

At Geehall 1 Episode 16: Tweetupmellers/Twums 7.5

Newspaper first to go live with public Google Wave | Media Owners | Revolution

From iSnack 2.0 to... (Spredgemite/Spreadgemite, we hope)

Snow Leopards, Windows 7...And A Linux Or Two

After a couple of weeks of trying out Windows 7 Release Candidate, I said hello to an old friend...the infamous "Blue Screen of Death." That was while trying to get a HP PSC 1350 working with it. The printer, by the way, still won't work with it...although the scanning part DOES.
 
I've also gotten the update-only pack for Snow Leopard. I've been using that roughly a week. At the same time I've read some hilarious stuff about Snow Leopard supposedly being Apple's "Vista."
 
I tend to think Windows fanboys are really stretching trying to make such a comparison. Snow Leopard on my aluminium 13" Macbook is doing quite nicely. So nicely I'm STILL enjoying working with a Mac. Way more than I ever enjoyed various flavors of Windows over the years.
 
In the difficulty stakes...I had Fedora 10 Linux installed into Virtualbox and used the Additions iso to get a screen size bigger than 800x600. Unfortunately, due to something that's probably more traceable to that Virtualbox Additions part, my Fedora log-in screen has some video corruption where everything is bunched up and where there's three login dialogues through all the haze.
 
Now, before Linux detractors start whingeing...all I have to do is a blind login. I hit the return key, I type in the password. Bingo. Fedora core desktop with NO video corruption. The solution or workaround was found on the net within a couple of minutes.
 
The one thing I most like about Linuxes is that a solution to any problem or difficulty is only a Google away. There's also the fact the next iteration of the particular Linux will usually have the glitch corrected. If not in the next iteration, then in a custom or branched kernel.
 
Apple OS X is enjoyable to use and has ALWAYS been very user-friendly. Linux has a higher learning curve than Windows or Apple OS X, but gives you the ability to master your system's glitches every easily. The learning curve also produces greater satisfaction and a new skill.
 
Then there's Windows.
 
Bill Gates did make his millions in the after-care associated with Windows. At the end of the day, however, the need for such after-care has always been an impediment to true computing productivity.
 
Would NASA or the military use Windows? Not for anything mission-critical. A blue-screen fault in any of NASA's computers in any of their space missions would waste millions of dollars. We've also all seen that South Park episode where a general running a war games simulation on Windows gets more than cheesed at Bill for Windows going down at a crucial time.
 
In Windows 7, the blue-screen fault should have been long gone.
 
Then there's printer drivers. Would someone at Microsoft care to explain to me why I can get my printer working on Mac AND Linux with minimum fuss? Heck, a simple PPD file for the Linux and the printer is up and running, while on some other Linuxes it's automatically working the moment it's plugged in. Seriously, there is a really decent printer driver and software for OSX 10.5 AND Snow Leopard.
 
The thing now is that everything runs on Intel hardware. It's equal terms. Now it's a real competition. So Microsoft now has to actually prove itself a bit more.
 
Vista flopped because they didn't get it right. While they've improved things in Windows 7, I've seriously got to ask why there are still blue-screen faults. All the money Microsoft makes and they still can't get rid of it?
 
So the current verdict is: I'll still leave Windows 7 inside Virtualbox and only use it when I absolutely have to. If it can't work properly on a Mac, if it can't work properly on the virtual hardware specs for Virtualbox, why should I put it on any non-Mac computer?
 
Just to make Microsoft rich? Not enough reason. Just because it has so much market share? Still doesn't make it the best OS. Because they ask me nicely? Well, IF they get rid of that blue-screen fault AND get a printer driver going for my little printer...maybe.
 
If I'm going to do things on a computer, eventually turning a buck for my online efforts, I don't want an OS that impedes my workflow and productivity. Time spent solving a problem that shouldn't be there will always cost money that could have been better spent elsewhere.
 
Macs are great for productivity because they work and work well. Linuxes may have their slight difficulties, but when you want mission-critical, you can't beat them.
 
End of story.
 
Less hype, more actual real work really giving us an OS that works better, Microsoft. And stop trying to tell me Snow Leopard is as bad as Vista. A few small problems in old point-releases of some obscure program doesn't a Vista make.
 
My Snow Leopard has purred for the past week or so. Every program works. Again, end of story.

Virtualizing Windows 7

I'm told the one piece of hardware a Windows installation works perfectly on is an Intel Mac.

Imagine the irony of that.

This week, my budget finally stretched far enough to get a 13" MacBook and one of the first things I did was download VirtualBox to it.  Then, since Windows 7 Release Candidate is on the cover DVD of every local computer magazine, I put that inside a VirtualBox virtual machine.

I also put a couple of Linux distributions in sandboxed virtual machines too.

It's a bonus of even Macs running on X86 Intel powered hardware.  Everything can be virtualized on the same machine and you can experiment to your heart's content with any OS you want.

VirtualBox sets up the necessary requirements for each VM via a wizard.  You specify the amount of memory you want the VM to run, the size of the virtual hard disk, set a few more small parameters and then start up your VM.

So I'm really enjoying seeing a Windows sitting inside a Mac program.  Considering the Release Candidate becomes useless sometime around June 2010, it's better being used this way.  No need to dual-boot it with anything, no need to redo everything for a clean install of the full release.  As it is, after March 1, 2010, the RC will shut down every two hours.

If you use a similar method to me and get the RC from a magazine DVD, you have till October 31 to get a product key from Microsoft.

So what do I think of Windows 7?  Well, I missed out on Vista, so it's a huge jump for me.  Very different, perhaps a little less intuitive than previous models.  That's saying a lot for someone who's learnt computers by self-teaching and intuiting.

I like some of the customization and theming, though I'd love to change the taskbar color.  I like the circular Start button and the gadgets (clock, weather, calendar).  I'm especially fond of the new Wordpad, a way more functional version than that previously seen.  Most of the Control Panel is relatively easy to work out.  However, it's still such an alien creature compared to my netbook's Windows XP.  I figure I'll be spending quite a few weeks exploring it before I'll consider myself comfortable with it.

I've read in one of the magazines that a lot more thought went into Windows 7.  Where Vista shipped still waiting for some features to integrate with what was already done, nothing went into Win7 unless it was already finished.  More say by engineers, less by managers.  More thought, more planning, more cohesive.

So, theoretically, it should be a good Windows version.

Then again, I'm still making sure it stays trapped inside my Mac until I'm absolutely sure of that.

Alternatives Make Things Interesting Again

Last week wasn't my favorite time in social media.

Twitter had momentarily lost its gloss, what with DDoS problems, spammers and the usual problems of scaling.  Friendfeed, one of the best social media services, had been sold to Facebook.

It ended up being my quietest week, not just for Twitter, but also for any of my blogging.

On the other hand, like a few Friendfeed users, I spent the time looking at replacements for FF in the eventuality it was one day shuttered.

What I discovered were a batch of new tools which have made for a productive couple of days, even if they don't quite fulfil Friendfeed's esteemed role.

Google Reader is providing a whole heap of news items I can post to Twitter or Friendfeed.  Storytlr gives me a way to aggregate my whole social media lifestream. Streamy gives me some extra news items and a small amount of aggregation.  Finally, the up-and-coming Tumbler brings up a whole new set of options.  It's all got me doing something different from my tweets on Identica. And blogging is back on track with this being my second post in as many days.

So what seemed a bad week became a new opportunity to explore and find something of benefit.

I've noted that a few friends over on Friendfeed have been making similar discoveries.  Google Reader is attracting a few fans amongst the Friendfeeders.

Most of us are still hoping Friendfeed remains in some form or another, because it's still light-years ahead in a lot of ways.  We're prepared if it's not, but it's not like many are suddenly giving up on FF.  It's that good a service that it still provides some great features we're loathe to give up on.

However, only time will tell.

Alternatives to Friendfeed

This week brought the news that Facebook had acquired the Friendfeed founders and their expertise, though it raised the possibility that FF itself would eventually be shuttered.

It's kind of sad, because Friendfeed as a service is a vast improvement on Twitter, done better, scalable and primed for growth.

On the other hand, it may make for some interesting improvments to Facebook itself.

Friendfeed users have been looking at alternatives, though in real terms Friendfeed has been light-years ahead of the rest.

Is Google Reader an alternative?  Well, you can add a lot of your Twitter feeds into it, those of your followers or those you youself follow, as well as any news feed.  On the other hand, it's not as if it comes with a readymade, strong network of friends.

It is still very good for aggregating what you want, then sending items to all your social media services.  It allows for custom "send to" links and even "save to PDF."  It doesn't really seem that good at building a network of friends and followers like Twitter and Friendfeed can.

Look to Google Reader mainly as a way of piping interesting news items to your other social media, but not for an easy way of networking.

Then there's Streamy.

This service was "blessed" early in the week as an alternative to Friendfeed, resulting in a major increase and load on its infrastructure.  The service was caught a bit by surprise with this.

It enables you to have a tabbed look at your various social media, as well as news items it has categorized.  Again, however, you have to bring a readymade network to it.

I consider it as having potential, but I can see it also having a few minor drawbacks as well.  I'd consider it still a stage or two away from being a true Friendfeed replacement.

In the past few hours I've heard of Storytlr, which is a nice little aggregator and lifestreaming service.  As yet I can't see how friends, followers or networks are made in it, but I do see it as enabling the archiving of your Twitter stream.

Stories in Storytlr are what I'm looking at and experimenting with at the moment.  My only complaint with the Story mode is that it burdens the user with an extra click and page, although it enables you to put together a series of tweets or other updates from elsewhere in a titled theme.  In addition, it still allows for standard posts, links, images, audio and video.

It's themable, too.

I'd have preferred Friendfeed being sold to someone who'd kept the site and its features intact, because it still works fantastically in its current form.  While these alternatives cover some of the features of FF, they don't really do all the things at once.

We'll have to see what happens over the next few months.  By then we'll also have a better idea of how these other alternatives rise to the challenge.

I'd still like to see Facebook keeping Friendfeed running, though I won't hold my breath on that.

DDoS Attack Aftermath

Image courtesy of Ed Wheeler

A lot more is known after Thursday's DDoS attack on Twitter, Facebook and Livejournal.

It is now confirmed that the attack was directed against Georgian blogger Cyxymu.  He himself blames the Kremlin for the attack.  Russian officials were unavailable for comment on this.

Cyxmu himself apologized for what happened, even though he was a victim of all this.

Meantime, Twitter is still experiencing problems.  Attacks still continued into Friday, with the intensity and nature of attacks shifting.

In an LA Times interview, Twitter's service provider explained why Twitter was so vulnerable to the DDoS attacks.

Interestingly, the non-tweeting world thought it hilarious that Twitter users had nothing to do while the DDoS attack occcurred.

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