Moved
Hi! I am no longer going to update this blog. However you can still follow me on Tumblr or Twitter. Maintaining WordPress just isn't worth it for the amount of posts that I make here.
Orlando Power Station
The abandoned power station building, next to the Orlando Towers in Soweto. Some people like urban decay, I just love the industrial variety 
Zune 4.0 Software
Hell has frozen over: Microsoft has built a piece of software that is more elegant, functional, and easier to use than Apple's new iTunes 9.
Zune 4.0 Software showing collection view of artist albums by release year
Grab Zune 4.0 Software or have a look at some screenshots first.
Now if anyone out there is listening, please can you make WMP 12 go the way of Outlook Express and make the Zune desktop software the new default? KTHXBYE!
Disable Aero Shake in Windows 7
Of all the new UI features, Aero Shake is arguably the most gimmicky. I find that I trigger it quite often by accident by moving a window very quickly to peek at something else behind it. If you have the same issue, How-to Geek details a registry fix on disabling Aero Shake.
Ars Technica compares Windows 7′s new taskbar to the OS X Dock
I always thought the OS X Dock a great app until I actually had to use it for a while. Then I discovered that it wasn't all that great at managing multiple minimized windows. At least it's slicker than anything Windows has (Expose didn't help me much either, oddly enough.)
I haven't been all that impressed with the Windows 7 taskbar so far either but it's great that Microsoft is trying to improve it. That's not to say that I don't like it - but until more apps start integrating themselves better into it, I don't think we'll see its full potential.
From the Christmas Decorations Gone Wrong Dept.
Sandton, circa 2008. Surely someone must have seen this coming? 
Quickies
I have been writing exams during the last couple of weeks so not much time for posting. I wrote three so far, with very good results, and there is one more to go - Artificial Intelligence. I wonder if I can come up with an automaton that writes the exam for me? These should be the last papers I write for my BSc degree in Computer Science.
I just finished reading The Economist's special feature on the financial crisis from the October 11th 2008 edition. It's a fascinating, if long, read starting with When fortune frowned. On the subject of financial crises, one theory suggests a link between the number of Starbucks franchises and the state of a country's economy.
In case you have missed the mini banner on the blog, I published my first photo book with a collection of Orange River images. Check it out! I ordered one of all the available options, and they look great. I think my favourite is the Hardcover ImageWrap option. I will be ordering some more in time for Christmas! In the mean time Blurb has launched a premium grade paper option which should look even better.
The Pentax K-m has started shipping in the UK. Paired with the upcoming 15mm Limited prime lens, it should make one hell of a lightweight travel kit. (Pentax DSLRs use an APS-C sized sensor so the field of view would be equivalent to a ~23mm ultra-wide lens on a 35mm film camera.)
McLaren F1 chassis number 65 got sold at an auction for a record-setting £2.3m. Despite losing its top spot as the fastest production car some time ago, to many people it remains the supercar thanks its uncompromising and unique lightweight design.
Adobe's Creative Suite 4 might have only just began shipping, but Nvidia is quick to cash on it with the Quadro CX. As far as I can tell it is mostly just a rebranded GTX 260, and the only application that really benefits from it is video transcoding from Premiere. For Photoshop CS4, even the most basic cards should benefit from the new OpenGL-based image canvas based on Adobe's specs. The Nvidia Quadro CX does however offer dual DisplayPort interfaces and 30-bit colour so it's not all badge engineering.
And in gaming news, the Mirror's Edge demo is up on both Xbox Live and PSN as of today. I hope it lives up to the hype - it is busy downloading as I type.
On Stage
Snapped at Roxy's last night. TV IV Dogs rocked some damn fine ninja disco and won band of the evening - well done guys!
Fresh Xbox 360 Blu-ray Rumors
Various news sites have been reporting on new information about a possible Blu-ray console from Microsoft. Quote from Tom's Hardware (my emphasis):
The PS3 had the ability to draw both gamers and audio/video enthusiast, and this was proving to be a major advantage over its XBOX rival. It is estimated that 85% of Blu-ray players in use are PS3s.
Many expected the death of HD-DVD would trigger a growth in Blu-ray hardware sales. However, to the dismay of the industry, acceptance and adoption of Blu-ray has been dismal.
In a previous post I speculated that it is unlikely for the Xbox to get a Blu-ray add-on. But the recent spike in PS3 sales might have convinced Microsoft to update their optical drives.
The trouble with Blu-ray right now is that it is still of marginal benefit to the majority of consumers out there, thus prices of both hardware and software (well, physical media really) will remain high for some time. The only serious buyers right now are the home theater enthusiasts and Microsoft will have to address quite a few issues to please this group of people.
The biggest issue with the current Xbox 360 in the context of home theater is the amount of noise generated. A transition to a newer chip fabrication process could do a lot to reduce the need for active cooling; a potential Blu-ray transport mechanism would also have to be quieter than the current DVD drives. Another issue I see with the HT crowd is the Xbox remote - it is nowhere near as slick as the Sony Blu-ray remote. And that's before we even consider the substantially bigger pull of the Sony brand when it comes to home electronics.
It remains to be seen whether the entire range will be updated or if only a high-end model will get the Blu-ray treatment. Xbox 360 games are released on regular DVD, so I suspect Microsoft will want to keep their price advantage at the low end and stick to DVD drives for the Arcade/Core consoles.
The big question, is are there enough HD afficionados out there who have been holding out for a Blu-ray Xbox that don't already have a PS3? (Or at least would be keen to trade their existing 360 for a Blu-ray model?)
Update: Taiwanese trade press reports on an updated 65nm Xbox GPU being manufactured on behalf of Microsoft. With last year's 65nm CPU revision, this should finally make the Xbox 360 a cooler (and hopefully quieter) beast.
RIP: Arthur C. Clarke
Clarke's Dolphin Island was my first "grown-up" book that I ever read (semi-assisted by my grand dad) at the tender age of 6, and sci-fi has stuck with me ever since.
Good to see that the old chap hadn't lost his sense of humor:
In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarke once said he did not regret having never followed his novels into space, adding that he had arranged to have DNA from strands of his hair sent into orbit."One day, some super civilization may encounter this relic from the vanished species and I may exist in another time," he said. "Move over, Stephen King."
Source: Wired News - AP News