13″ Black MacBook

I am also considering a 13 inch Black MacBook. Here are the specs:

-Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo 2 x (2.4 Ghz / 3 MB L2 Cache) sequence

-2 GB RAM (2 x 1GB)

-Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator(TM) X3100 with 144 Mb of DDR2 VRAM

-8x SuperDrive (DVD dual layer)

-1 FireWire 400

-2 USB 2.0

-Built-in iSight cam

-Mini DVI

-Combined optical digital input audio line in and out

-Stereo speakers

-Gigabit Ethernet

-Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11 a/b/g/n)

-Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

-250 GB HDD partitioned into two (170 GB for the Mac OS X, 80 GB for Win XP Pro)

-Alcohol 120% (XP Pro)

Microsoft’s Office Open XML(OOXML) gets ISO Approval

I read at the Information Technology of a newspaper that OOXML got an ISO Standard. What the F***!!

The ‘open’ format was developed ONLY by Microsoft themselves, huh? According to the article that
Microsoft submitted the source-code to ECMA (European Computer Manufacturer’s Association) under the Open Specification Promise (OSP).Hmmm… Sounds like Microsoft is planning to ’open’ up their formats. 
Open Source advocates are somewhat divided over the ISO Standard accreditation.

Some say that it is just a way Microsoft uses to expand it’s ’control’ over the market. Microsoft said
they are just offering a ’choice’ for people to use. I agree with Microsoft’s argument. :)

Imagine having ODF ONLY as the format that you could save your files. And your application (let’s
just say MS Word with a plugin installed to save in .odt) has a problem reading and/or writing on the format. That would be a GREAT problem for others, right? Other Open Source
advocates welcomed Microsoft’s decision. For me Microsoft must ALSO support ODF. This would help boost the format alongside with OOXML. For other Open Source advocates who disagree with Microsoft, I must say you must first try before you complain. In that way you could know if Microsoft is really sincere or planning something to kill the competition.

Web Standards

Web Standards. If  you are a geek it might appeal to you. Web Standards is important to everyone of us because we all use different platforms and/or browsers. Web Standards is the reference encoding(or I would rather say encoding). Sadly, only a few software and/or website developers understands it’s importance. Worse, they might not know about it! Check out most of the local (in the Philippines) banking websites/services, majority of them don’t comply to the standards! They recommend people to use Internet Explorer in order for them to fully maximize their online services, however some people use a different OS or web browser (I use Opera in my notebook I recommend using Opera). Also, some web browsers don’t comply to the standards either. Sheesh. I thought Firefox
users would have no problems reading my articles here on my blog. :) But, I was wrong. A friend told me that my article seemed to be corrupt when he is visiting my blog, I asked him, “What is your browser”, and he replied, “Mozilla Firefox”. Well, it is true that Firefox has an error rendering it. Check out the screenshot I am providing.

Article Updates… et. al.

Thank you readers for feeding information via the comments section. I would like to note someone from Germany for providing information about the iPhone and  WM-powered phones.  Right now,  I can’t post some topics/articles that regard the latest tech events because of my laptop’s power supply in kaputt mode.   *Sigh*

31 days ’till Christmas, I just wish that my mom & dad has the enough funds to buy a HP Compaq nx6320 notebook as replacement for my kaputt-mode generic laptop OR kuya(big brother) Lowie could fix that damned powersupply. If my laptop gets fixed or replaced, I also wish that ninong(godfather) would give me installers (e.g. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars ; Solaris ; Ubuntu Linux ; Windows Vista Business) OR he  could send some of his Canadian dollars for me to upgrade it to 4 GB.

Well, that will be for now. I’m signing out.

A Software showdown

Windows. Mac OS X. Linux. Solaris. For geeks (like me) these have something in common — they are operating systems and for those who are just laymen, either Windows and/or Mac OS X is familiar to you. First, Windows and Mac OS X are catergorized as Proprietary Software. Whilst Linux and Solaris is categorized as Open Source Software. Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org. StarOffice. IBM Lotus. These are Office Productivity Software. OpenOffice.org and StarOffice are Open Source Softwares. Whilst, MS Office and IBM Lotus are Proprietary Softwares. If you are talking about the latest beta (btw, Beta is a prerelease software Alpha is also a prerelease software), Lotus Symphony, Lotus Symphony maybe considered an Open Source Software because it is now based on the source code of OpenOffice.org. The classification of software depends on the EULA’s (EULA stands for End-User License Agreement) content. According to Wikipedia.org Open source software is computer software which source code is available under a license (or arrangement such as the public domain) that meets the Open source definition. This permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or unmodified form. It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open Source software is the most prominent example of open source development and often compared to user generated content. According also to Wikipedia.org Proprietary software (also called non-free software or closed-source software) is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. Restrictions on use, modification and copying are sought by either legal or technical means and sometimes both. Technical means include releasing machine-readable binaries to users and withholding the human-readable source code. Legal means can involve software licensing, copyright, and patent law.

So what software shall I use, you ask? It depends to YOU and to the software itself. How do you use the software? Do you prefer a simplified interface or a complex interface? Does the company/group offer good support for the software? Do the software you use run on the OS? Do you have enough cash for you to buy the software, if applicable. Before you choose an open source software, I suggest that you do any/all of the following

(1)Try them at a computer

(2)Ask users of the aplication/s

(3) Consult the internet

(4)Google it.

Some Open Source software may have a poor UI and runs best on command line. For me Ubuntu Linux, has a poor interface, I had a hard time using it’s UI, I only had better time using the command-line. Depending on the Linux distribution, Linux may or may not offer a good UI. Some distributions would still be able to run on a Pentium II Processor (If you happen to still have one! ). Solaris is a powerful software for software developers. It’s steep hardware requrements might be a deal braker for some people. My laptop does no even pass it’s requirements. Some of the deal-brakers in using Open Source Software are:

-Some Open Source Software does not support 100% of the games and hardware that supports Windows.

-UI is poor and first time users can’t use it because it is complex

-There is no UI

With regards to games, some Open Source Software could run games that are Windows-only by installing virtualization software. How do you that? Well, you simply need a Windows installer (either a physical copy or .ISO file). First, configure the virtual PC (Setting the RAM, Virual Hard Disk Capacity) then insert the installer disk or mount .ISO file and allow the virtual machine to ‘boot’ into the installer. It is like installing Windows in your Hard Disk. The advantage of this is you do not have to reboot your PC just to play your fave game.

Windows on the other hand have disadvantages also, depending on the version. Windows XP Professional has these disadvantages:

-It’s out-of-the box configuration is not secure enough (You need to tweak it).

-Tweaking and configuring it may require minutes or hours.

Personally, I do not recommend XP Home to users. Why? Because the configuration of XP Home is not secure (i.e. Viruses exploit the configurations to harm the data.). This will be the end for this article. I will discuss more about software in my incoming articles