AMATEURS SHOULD LEAVE PHOTOGRAPHY TO THE PRO'S (OR THE TALENTED)

Many billboards and magazine ad photos these days are done so lousily that when I see them I usually wonder why they didn't fire the photographer, or sued the ad company, for taking such ugly photos. For example, lighting is all wrong, shadows are where they shouldn't be, flash burns are so obvious, subject's eyes reflect what they shouldn't, colors are wrong, contrast are wrong, models pose is funny and unbalanced, composition is so bad I can't help but laugh, even the post-editing layout is not right for the medium of the ad, like a magazine layout used on billboards, or newspaper layout used in magazines. The worst thing is I've also noticed that more and more of these half-baked ugly ads are coming out.

After seriously meditating on this phenomena, I have come to 2 conclusions! First, almost any Tom, Dick and Harry these days can afford a pro or semi-pro level camera, and because of this they become so-called experts. With the financial crunch these days even giant companies need to save, and instead of hiring professionals they decide that they can write the ads and take the photos themselves, so they do, resulting in really lousy photographs and shameful grammar. Unfortunately, not everyone has the talent to see that the photo's are ugly and the grammar terrible, thus resulting in using a mistake in the first place. Second, when it comes to art, the artist is always right and the client is always wrong. This is not food service, this is soul! Imagine da Vinci adjusting his painting because Mona Lisa isn't happy about it. Imagine Solomon Saprids changing his bronze statues because some executive thinks it's too unreal. Did Amorsolo or Juan Luna have bosses who told them what to do? Well, sadly, there are a lot of unknown artists these days who are really good but try too much to please their customers resulting in mediocre or bad work, that's why when they die nobody knows them, and they are most commonly called "photographer's reliever" or "copy-cat painter".

Ladies and gentlemen, when an artist presents his masterpiece take it as it is, you are paying him for his art, and he is not paying you for your opinions. If you don't like his art, change artists!

WHY I DON'T LIKE STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY

I don't like studio photography! Don't get me wrong, some of the best photographs are taken in a studio, and this is because studio's are a very controlled environment where you can produce perfect pictures all year round. Studio's are perfect for products, but for people I sort of both agree and disagree.

I'm sure many of you have something so share about irritating experiences with studios. Take some of my experiences as an example, about 5 years ago my father-in-law told everyone of us to meet at a famous studio inside a mall for a scheduled family portrait. We posed for less than a dozen shots, left, and a few days later picked up about 1 bond paper and 4 small wallet sized pictures. He placed it on a mantle in their home and there it stays even today. Anyway, 2 years later our son was born, and because of him being the first male "apo" on my wife's side, my father-in-law again told us to meet at the same studio, and again we did the deed, and after framing the picture a few days later and putting it on the same mantlepiece next to the older photo, one thing became obvious, the background was exactly the same. It was as if we had 2 pictures, done at the same time, but with all of us wearing different clothes, and of course added a child.

Don't you just wonder why many famous photographers have studios in their names, but the ones really taking the photographs are their employees? Sometimes I have doubts when the clerk who signs us in and collects our money is also the one who takes our photograph. Most of the time the results come out ok, but not all the time, and then it's too late because you've already spent your money on a bad deal and there's no turning back. Only once did I experience the actual owner of the studio taking the pictures, but that was only once, all my other experiences are either the clerk or a hired photographer takes the pictures.

I never understood why you have to pick only a few poses even if you paid for more. For example, there is this studio where when you pay for 5 printed pictures, but you get to choose only 2 poses, and your choice should be among only 5 photos taken of you. What if all 5 photos suck? What's up with the limit when it's digital anyway and won't cost anymore even if they took 1000 photos! Why the limit of only 2 poses for 5 pictures? Why not 5 poses for 5 pictures? Is that too difficult to do? Talking to studio personnel are like talking to machines where flexibility is virtually nil. I mean, I thought artists were more human than anyone else? Why do their studios treat us so in-humanly?

Another thing I don't understand is, why don't studios give us the digital files, or negatives for that matter? Didn't we just pay for them? What's the selfishness for? If they're greedy nobody will come back for a second round, unless absolutely necessary, like when updating passport or visa pictures, but never again for personal shots.

WHAT ARE PODCASTS? WHY I AM ADDICTED TO THEM!

With modern technology comes change. In the past people looked forward to waiting for their favorite radio shows to come on the air. When television was first introduced to the regular home person, many thought that tv would never be able to replace the radio because the programs were actually not that very good. Despite the growth of tv, the radio never ended, and because of that two types of broadcasters were born, the radio jock and the tv caster.

Radio hasn’t really changed that much for the past 30 years, but we don’t hear as much drama as the old timers did. The problem with radio, as with tv, is the schedule of their programs. Listeners have to “tune-in” at the specified day and time, and if you miss your favorite program, tough luck, unless you record it in advance with a tape recorder or similar device.

Today, YouTube has been slowly replacing the tv, in fact YouTube users increased 66% since the writers strike last 2007. I believe that the podcast is changing the face and future of the radio, and thus the podcaster is born.

A few years after Apple introduced the iPod, the Podcast era started. Podcasts are essentially pre-recorded radio shows that you download with the free iTunes software, but there are other programs available that can manage podcasts for you, if you search for them on the internet. You need to sync iTunes with your iPod first, then you can listen to the podcasts at your convenience. Podcast programs available for download are in the thousands, so if you’re new to this you can first check out the yearly podcast awards, at http://podcastawards.com, for tips on which are the top rated or best ones.

You can use iTunes to search for podcasts, go to “iTunes Store”, then click on “Podcasts”, and on the search bar at the upper right of iTunes type in the name of the podcast you want to subscribe to. Most of the podcasts are free, but not all. I personally don’t believe in paying for podcasts, it’s like saying that you need to pay to listen to the radio. Anyway, after you see the title of the podcast you want, press the “Subscribe” button and that’s it, you can continue searching for more if you want. You can later CHECK and MANAGE the podcasts you subscribed to by clicking on the “Podcast” button at the left sidebar of iTunes, under the “LIBRARY” menu. Notice I mentioned that I’m not willing to pay for podcasts, but I’m willing to “donate” to podcasters who do podcasts. It’s up to your discretion actually if you want to donate or not, but if you love the podcasts you’re listening to and think it’s a worthy cause, then I encourage you to donate some money to help support it. Unlike radio, most podcast’s expenses are paid by the podcaster’s personal finances, and if you want them to continue their program it’s just right to support them, usually through a donation or advertise button in their website.

Searching for podcasts are like searching the internet, you might want to be interested in carpentry so just type in “carpentry”, or baking cakes so type “cake baking”, etc. Chances are there may be a podcast out there waiting for you to listen to. You can then download all their episodes if you want to start from the beginning.

Here are the podcasts I subscribe to, and a brief description of them, which you may want to check out yourself:
60-Second Science – Assorted scientific facts and knowledge
CNN News Update – Hourly newscasts from CNN
Comedy Central: Stand-Up (Video) – Samplers of what you can find at http://www.comedycentral.com
Comic Strip Live: Stand Up Comedy – Great comedians
Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor (Audio/Video) – Best podcast for amateur and professional photographers
French Maid TV – Funny sexy internet tips
GuildCast – Most comprehensive Guild Wars podcast for new and experienced players
Hometown Tales Podcast – Urban legends and true stories in and around America
NASACast: Universe Video – Stunning videos and facts about space
National Geographic Minutes – Great 1 minutes stories
The Onion Radio News – Comical fake satirical news
PC Gamer podcast – My third favorite podcast. Podcast of the PC Gamer magazine
PC Gamer Video podcast – Awesome pc gaming video clips and news
RD Out Loud – Assorted short stories, news, facts, and knowledge
Science Channel Video – Short video’s about technology and science facts
Science Channel Features – Short news about scientific facts
Tiki Bar TV – My 5th favorite podcast. Great short comedy video clips, in a series, and with assorted alcohol recipes

LEO LAPORT’S podcasts – complete details available at http://twit.tv:
Daily Giz Wiz – My favorite of all podcasts, daily learn about zany and wacky gadgets
The Tech Guy – Twice a week call for help radio show
Security Now! – My 4th favorite podcast. Best weekly tech Security podcast of the year
Floss Weekly – Almost monthly Open Source information
Windows Weekly – For Windows users who want to get more from their pc’s weekly
This Week In Tech – Listen to guys enjoying themselves and talking tech weekly
My wife listens to: (among others)
Jumping Monkeys – Great entertainment and tips for parents who have children
Munchcast – For the household food lover in you

QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS podcasts – details at http://www.quickanddirtytips.com:
Grammar Girl – For grammar geeks and non-geeks, my second favorite podcast
Money Girl – Need financial tips and advice
Modern Manners Guy – Need tips on how to be a polite gentleman
Get-It-Done Guy – Need to make your life more efficient
Sales Guy – Great tips on how to improve your business abilities
Small Biz Tech Girl – Need tips on how to make money on the internet
Make-It-Green Girl (coming soon to iTunes) – Think green and energy saving tips

I know, it may seem a lot because it is, but I started with less than 3, and after a while my selection slowly increased to more than double of what I placed up there, and I continue to check out new podcasts that I haven’t heard yet. You can never listen to them all so just pick out the ones that really interest you. You can always add new podcasts if you finish with your older ones, or if you decide to remove some.

I can’t get enough from podcasts! I listen to them morning through night, and love them. Now it’s your turn to find the best podcast that suits you. Give podcasting a chance and I am sure it will change your life. Good luck and have fun!

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM E-MAIL SPAM, SOME E-MAIL SPAM AND MORE E-MAIL SPAM!!!!! FOR DUM-DUMS!

All my life Spam meant my favorite canned salted meatloaf. I remember the first time I got an e-mail that warned me about Spam a few years ago, and I thought why? Is there some sort of food poisoning happening with Spam meat? For those of you non-internet or non-email savvy newbies, Spam refers to the old school term, “junk mail”.

You can find all sorts of advice on Spam’s technicalities, and maybe a hundred ways of how to stop it or fight back, but what I will tell you now is the layman’s way of how to prevent Spam. Maybe if you were a techie you would have the time to analyze every bit and way Spam works, and even how to Spam back, but not everyone can do that. Majority of us just want to go about our normal routines without having to face hundreds of e-mails selling you different medicines, or ways of how to be a more godly endowed man, or techniques on getting rich quick, etc.

Just like fighting crime, the best thing to do is to practice prevention. If you don’t want your valuables to be stolen, remove them from curious eyes and keep them in a safe place. Of course the best defense is offense, but let’s save that for a future blog. Now I’ll teach you how to be a lover, not a fighter.


PREVENTION PREVENTION PREVENTION

FIRST: CREATE AT LEAST 2 E-MAIL ADDRESSES, one for friends and one for signing up on the internet. Choose from one of the free providers like Yahoo Mail or Google’s Gmail. There are many other free e-mail providers out there and I encourage you to use them if you wish, but I have no experience with their anti-spamming capabilities. Personally, I have about 8 Yahoo addresses, and about 10 Gmail ones, and I prefer the look and feel of Yahoo, but Gmail I think has better anti-spamming security.

When you separately categorize your e-mails for Friends, Romance, Business, Acquaintances, Family, Internet Sites, etc, you are actually using your main e-mail address and filtering incoming mail into separate folders or menus. The way I do it is I use a separate e-mail address for each category. For example, an e-mail address for Friends, another one for my office, another one for my acquaintances, etc. This way, if ever spam finds out that one of my addresses exist and I decide to junk it and make a new one, I don’t have to notify all my contacts, just the ones in the address that’s infected with Spam.

With this style, you have to have at least one address just for signing into websites. You can get Spam infection by signing for web services, or buying stuff online, or through infected contacts who have your e-mail address in their address book. That Internet only e-mail address should be used with all your web service signups, and it doesn’t matter if you get thousands of Spam a day in that address, because you know it’s just for that anyway.

By the way, clicking on a spam’s link that says “If you want this notification to stop, click here”, will only ask for you to enter your e-mail address. Well, this doesn’t work, actually you’ll get even more spam after doing this, because you have confirmed that you really do exist and that’s what they want. Also, using some mail client services like sending a fake Mail Not Delivered message does not stop spamming, because they know you replied back. Spam bots can’t read, they just know that you replied and that’s all they need to keep going on and continue to include you in their spam list.

SECOND: BEING SENT AN E-CARD OR ELECTRONIC GREETING CARD IS ANOTHER WAY TO LET SPAMMERS KNOW THAT YOUR ADDRESS EXISTS, so if you have friends who have the habit of giving your e-cards, politely tell him or her that you’d rather not receive any e-cards. This is true for other invites that you receive from friends for an assortment of services like free phone calls, or whatever. In this case let your friends know that you have an INTERNET only address, and if they want to invite you to join something they’re already part of, have them send it to that address instead of your Friends only one.

THIRD: IF YOU MUST SIGN UP ON A SITE WHERE YOU KNOW YOU MIGHT NEVER HAVE TO SIGN UP MORE THAN ONCE, like if you’re required to give your e-mail address before you can download a driver, or a manual, or similar file, you can use free services like the Mailinator, at http://mailinator.com. Mailinator gives you a free temporary e-mail address that deletes itself after a while. Enough time for you to receive whatever you need so you can access the site you want. You can get a free Mailinator e-mail address without any need to sign up or leave your real e-mail address, so if the site you want to connect to is infected with a Spam bot, you don’t have to fear because the Mailinator address you give is not connected to your personal e-mail address.

FOURTH: IF YOU NEED A MORE PERMANENT ADDRESS FOR SITES THAT REPEATEDLY CHECK YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR YOU TO CONTINUE RECEIVING THEIR SERVICES, you can try out Spam Gourmet, at http://www.spamgourmet.com. Spam Gourmet provides you with a free e-mail address, but you have to give them your personal e-mail address for it to work. What’s good about Spam Gourmet though is you can configure it to forward to your personal e-mail address a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 20 messages only. So if a Spammer site decided to send you spam, it’s limited to the number of e-mails you assigned Spam Gourmet to receive for you. If you only need 1 e-mail, any mail over the first will never get sent to you. They protect your privacy, so you don’t have to worry because your real e-mail address will never be given out to other parties.

FIFTH AND LAST ADVICE: IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO RECEIVES THOUSANDS OF SPAM A DAY, and don’t want to go through the hassle of any of the advices I mentioned above, you might want to opt for paid filtering services. I recommend Only My E-mail, at http://onlymyemail.com. They give you several offers, from kids protection for $2 a month, to your personal privacy for $4 dollars a month for 2 e-mail addresses. They even have corporate services which they can quote you for if you ask for it. How this works is you give them your e-mail address or addresses, and they filter them from spam, malwares and viruses before sending your real e-mails to you mailbox. Then you get a regular report on how many spam, malwares or viruses they protected you from. You are also in control, like if there are particular e-mails they filter but you actually wanted to receive, you can allow them to be sent.

Spam is here to stay, and just like drugs there’s no way to fight it. I tried fighting spam for a few years, like I hit them with software that spams back, I also tried the Mail Not Delivered option, and I even went to the point of tracking their URL’s and sending them personal messages and legal warnings. I tried not opening my e-mail address for over a year, and I even tried cancelling that same e-mail account forcing all my e-mail to be truly un-received, and then reinstating it after over 6 months. Guess what, nothing worked, in fact I have even more spam now than before I started fighting back. In my opinion, the best thing you can do is prevention. It’s not worth the effort fighting bots, maybe even thousands of bots worldwide.

DECIPHERING AND UNDERSTANDING NVIDIA’S GFORCE NUMBER CODING

nVidia, now the world’s leading high end video card maker, has announced that they are going to simplify their product line. I think this stems from the fact that many people don’t understand what the number codes of their video cards mean and they want to simplify their product line, and of course the numbering will be affected too.

I have used nVidia’s GForce video cards more often than ATI’s line of video cards, and so this guide is solely based on my personal experience and opinion of what I think about their number coding. So far, I’ve recommended and sold so many cards, for different uses and applications, and I am rarely wrong when it comes down to it, so I’m quite confident about what I will say here. Also this means that I am not as familiar with ATI’s lines as with nVidia. Although I have a pretty good idea on how ATI’s number coding works, I cannot personally vouch for its accuracy, that’s why it won’t be discussed it in this blog.

nVidia uses 4 numbers followed by 2 to 3 letters, and sometimes by the word Ultra. Examples are: 4400MX, FX5200, 5700LE, 6800GT, 7600GS, 7950GX2, 8800GTX Ultra, etc.
The first digit is what I call the series number. When applied this way, the 6800GT is a series 6, the 7600GS is a series 7, and so on. I believe that this first digit is more closely, not exactly but very nearly, related to the DirectX version of the card. I can’t quite remember the exact DirectX version of older video cards, but DirectX 10.0 is the version of series 8 video cards, 9.0 for series 7 and some series 6 video cards, 8.0 for series 6 video cards, and so on.

The second digit, in my opinion again, is connected to the overall speed and performance of the video card. When the number is higher, the video card performs faster or better. With that knowledge, it is easy to see that a 6800 video card is faster than a 6200 video card. If the first digit is different it doesn’t matter. Example, 7600 vs 6600 video card, the 7600 and 6600 should have almost the same speed and power but the 7600 will have an advantage because of the newer DirectX version and of course the processor will be a bit faster because it’s newer. How about a 6800 vs a 7600 video card? I’ll go for the 6800 because I know that it is the fastest and at the top of its line, and they’re both DirectX 9.0. If you want a series 7 video card that can outperform the 6800, go for the 7900 or 7950, the 7800 will have about the same speed.
The letters after the four digit code are also very important to consider when you get an nVidia video card. I ranked them here from best to worst:
ULTRA – Meaning it is factory over-clocked
GTX – All features in with maxed out performance and more
GT – All features in and performance is maxed out
GS – Some features are not included and performance is slower
LE – No features and poor performance
DDR3 – Ultra fast RAM, specifically designed for graphics acceleration

As a rule of thumb, I always advice NEVER to get anything below a GT! Don’t forget that advice. Getting a GT means your video cards processor and settings are all functional and turned on. If you get a GS you might notice that you don’t have some features installed, even if your processor speed is faster, but processor speed is not everything. Example, when comparing a 6600GT versus a 7600GS, I would rather go for the GT because I know that it will run anything my pc throws at it. The GS might ignore some DirectX commands and not run your applications as it should.

The series 8 and series 9’s are in a different ballpark, but only if you have Vista installed, since these are already DirectX 10.0 video cards. If you run series 8 or 9 video cards in XP, reconsider using series 7 instead, because it will perform better. The 8500GT is much slower than a 7600GT, I have both cards, but if I use the 8500GT in XP it performs badly. In a Vista computer, the 8500GT can run circles around and blow the 7600GT out of the roof. I attribute the performance boost to DirectX 10.0, that’s why I recommend gamers to go for Vista if they have games that run in DirectX 10.0.

The fastest gaming video card in the world today is the nVidia 8800GTX Ultra! If you have this card you don’t need to upgrade it to any of the series 9’s because they are slower than this video card. ATI’s fastest video card is slower than the 8800GTX, and nVidia might not release a faster video card until ATI beats it first. That said, none of the series 9 video cards can outperform the 8600 series and up video cards.

SLI VS NON-SLI

SLI means that you have at least 2 video cards in your computer. This is a very expensive setup and you have to know a few things before deciding to go SLI.

First thing you should know is that a dual video card SLI setup gives a very small performance boost, only around 30%. If you decide to get two 8600GT video cards, you might not have the performance boost you expect. In fact, getting a single 8800GTX might even be better than a twin 8600GT SLI setup.

The only time you should really go for an SLI setup is if you have the fastest gaming video card in the world, the 8800GTX Ultra, and are still not happy with it. In this case I recommend that instead of a dual card SLI system you should consider a triple SLI system instead. Some boards can handle 3 video cards, and I assume that if you have the money to go for SLI, you might have enough cash for a third video card. In this case you should consider getting 3 8800GTX Ultra video cards, an Aegis physics card, and a motherboard that can handle all of them. With that triple SLI setup and physics card, I guarantee you’ll feel the performance boost you deserve, and expensively paid for.

10 THINGS GREAT ABOUT THE PC AND VISTA

COMPATIBILITY WITH ANY SOFTWARE
You don’t need to worry that you might not be able to find software that works for you. The main problem with software compatibility with Mac OS and Linux are when there is software you might want, chances are you can’t make it work because they only run in Windows. Anything that Mac OS and Linux have, Windows have too, with usually a lot more to choose from, and more often even better.

COMPATIBILITY WITH ANY HARDWARE
If you are a musician, artist, own a business establishment, etc, and you need a special hardware to do your work, Windows users have little problem choosing from many brand and model. Mac OS and Linux users usually have to spend much more for specialty hardware, if it even exists.

SECURITY
The common misconception about Windows is that it is not as secure as Mac OS or Linux. Fact is that Windows Vista is the most security conscious OS today. Internet explorer is also the most secure web browser out there. Mac’s Safari and Mozilla browsers have so many security vulnerabilities that using them is total suicide if you care about your personal files and data and the integrity of your computer. Just because Mac’s haven’t been attacked by viruses, malwares or spyware doesn’t mean they’re not going to be attacked. Windows Vista hasn’t been attacked by viruses, malwares and spywares too, so what’s the difference? Vista is ready for attacks just in case one day it might happen. Mac OS is not ready for attacks, so when it happens I pity Mac OS users. I can’t speak for Linux users with regards to security.

UPGRADABILITY WHEN NEW EQUIPMENT COMES OUT
Whenever newer, faster, and better equipment comes out, like motherboards, processors, video cards, etc., pc users can go to a store, buy the upgrade, and install them on their pc’s, just like that. Linux users can do the same, but Mac OS users can’t, they have to ditch ALL their equipment and buy a new full set. Apple makes its money through the sale of their computers, and so they’re not interested in providing single piece equipment upgrades. Do you remember the movie Robots, where the bad guys force the robots to buy new bodies instead of providing cheap spare parts to fix them? That’s just like Apple.

EXPAND BROWSING WINDOWS
If you are used to browsing in Windows and want to use the full screen of your new 24” or 33” monitor to do it, then stick to the pc, or even Linux, because if you go Mac you can’t expand your browser’s windows which therefore forces you to stick to the default size, which is always much smaller than your screen.

PC’S FIX MACS
If you have problems with your hard drive, and are afraid you might lose all your valuable or personal files, guess what, it can be fixed with a pc. If you own a Mac, you can only properly fix the hard drive by removing it and transferring it to a pc for repair. With Linux it is hit and miss, easier problems might be fixable without having to move your hard drive to a pc.

OFFICE 2007
The greatest word processor in the world! I am sure about it, and if anyone doesn’t agree it’s because of ignorance. Of course you can have Office 2007 run in the Mac OS but with a very significant reduction in functionality. Linux users can’t use Office 2007, unless they have a Windows Virtual Machine installed with their Linux OS.

GAMES
Are you a gamer? Bill Gates is quoted to say, around the time that the Xbox 360 was released, that the PC is the ultimate gaming machine. In fact, that is true. My pc can run circles around the Xbox 360, I can play games with the graphics maxed out, and the physics engine is superb. Xbox 360 doesn’t have a physics engine, which means that the visual effects were made by man’s creative and artistic imagination. With a physics chip, the visual effects are not imagined, but instead real. For example, the looks of an explosion will depend on what type of explosive was used and how much of it, what material the container was made of, the size of the container and where it was placed, the wind factor, surrounding temperature, objects near the blast site, etc. etc., and after the explosion the objects flying around will depend on its surroundings, trajectories will differ if they flew because of the blast or because another object hit them, and the materials they are made of, wind factor again, etc. The super expensive Mac’s are good gaming machines, but not great gaming machines. The video cards for Mac’s are very limited, and you need really fast video cards if you want to play great games. Another problem is you have to install Windows Vista in the Mac to be able to play better games with it, meaning you have to spend even more for another copy of an OS you shouldn’t normally need. Linux as far as I know are better game servers than Windows, but not as a personal gaming platform.

VISTA INCLUDES AERO AND DREAMSCENE
Aero is the glassy effect that windows has, and it is drop dead gorgeous. Multiple programs can simultaneously run in Vista, and you can view them by scrolling with Aero. Dreamscene makes your desktop wallpaper come alive. Like instead of just pictures of flowers that don’t move, your flowers will be swaying in the wind. I like using the waterfall Dreamscene because I like watching the water flow, like watching a continuous video of it, with the leaves of trees and grassy surroundings all moving as if being blown with wind. Aero and Dreamscene really complete your windows experience, it’s so real, it’s surreal.

PRICE
PC’s are so cheap you can build one yourself if you’re on a budget. Mac’s are always more expensive than pc’s, and if ever they’re cheaper it’s because they’re out dated and old. If you buy a pc with exactly the same hardware spec as a Mac, you’ll save a lot, maybe around 30% to 50%. I saved a little over 50% this year when I bought my laptop pc, and my specs were much higher than the Mac with the closest spec.

Mac’s can run Vista, so what, PC’s can run Linux too. Fact is, Mac users NEED Vista for some applications that they can’t run in Mac OS, and they need Vista for games too, but pc user’s don’t need Linux, nor do they need Mac’s OS. PC users use Vista and need nothing else.

I didn’t agree with the recent article from Popular Mechanics, where they compared a Mac and a PC and said that Vista runs better in a Mac. The processor of the Mac was far newer and faster than the one on the pc and they said they compensated it by adding more memory on the pc. Well, that’s a very unfair and dumb compensation. Whoever thought that up was probably… too smart. Adding memory will never speed up your processor, it’s like saying that a bigger gasoline tank will make a car run faster even if it has a slower engine. Duh!! Anyway, Vista has so many security checks running at the background that they can probably slow the pc down a bit, but try playing a game, or edit video’s and pictures, and it’ll be the opposite. If you have a good video card when using graphic heavy applications like video rendering, photo fixing and viewing, or playing games, you will have a whole lot better, smoother and faster graphics experience, with frame rates reaching the sky, as a lot of games running in Mac’s have the tendency to be choppy due to low graphic frame rates. 8-)

Is Windows 7 Really Coming Out Next Year? Are You Happy With Vista? I Am Happy With Vista!

Is Windows 7 Really Coming Out Next Year? Are You Happy With Vista? I Am Happy With Vista!

During the last Microsoft shareholders conference held this year, Bill Gates announced that Windows 7 will be released in the next year or so. I thought I read somewhere that it will be released on 2010. What does this really mean? Is it acknowledging that Windows Vista is a flop? I think not.

Windows 7’s release date coincides with the average 3 year wait per Operating System that Microsoft seems to have a habit of doing. Windows 95 came out 1995, 98 came out 98, 98SE came out 1 or 2 years after, ME after that, then XP which stayed for 5 years before Vista was released.

Many people are unhappy with Vista, for various reasons, most of them I believe is because of Vista’s incompatibility with “some” older hardware, and “some” older software. If you have a new hardware system, and upgrade your software for Vista, you shouldn’t have any problems.

I’ve used all known Microsoft OS’s, from all versions of DOS, to Windows 1.0 all the way to 3.11, and 95 all the way to XP, including ME and 2000, NT, Server 2003, and now I’ve been using Vista since it’s launch last year, and for personal and home use the best of them in my opinion is Vista.

Most people are annoyed with Vista’s security, but the only thing a former XP or 98 user has to get used to is Vista’s UAC or User Account Control. Vista, unlike XP or 98, is defaulted to boot you up as a non-administrator, and everytime you install programs, device, or practically anything, you’ll get a message asking if you’re sure you want it installed, and all you have to do is just say yes. It has happened more than a dozen times with me where I would be asked if I want to install a program I did not initiate, and I’ve always answered NO. Then I think back to when I used XP and shudder to think of how many possible unwanted and unknown programs I have running in my pc without me knowing it.

When using XP, I used to have 2 firewalls, 3 anti-spywares, and 3 anti-virus programs, this is because I frequent very dangerous sites, which takes up more than half of my browsing habits. Since I used Vista, I only have one anti-virus program and of course Vista’s Defender is running in the background, but that’s it. Very dangerous sites never harmed my pc with that setting, and that’s enough for me to say Vista is the best. Why should I live in worry when I don’t have to with Vista.

I can’t rely on Apple’s OS just because they believe that the viruses and malwares they get stay dormant even if it’s already in their laptop. I’d rather not have any malware or virus in my pc, dormant or not.

There is no question that Vista is more secure but security and luxury can’t go together. If you want a more secure system, you have to expect that it is less friendly.

Vista hasn’t been compromised “yet”. Of course there have been many security updates addressing major vulnerabilities in Vista, but ask yourself, would you rather get these updates before or after you get hit buy a malicious script? I’ve heard and read many tech geeks complaining about Microsoft’s updates, and instead of saying it’s a good thing, they actually make it sound terrible, sometimes even attacking updates that were released before schedule, since the monthly schedule for Microsoft updates are every 3rd Thursday of the month. If “emergency” updates come before that, an uproar against Microsoft’s usually ensumes, comments like Microsoft needs to update again proving it’s unstalbe and has flaws, are very common. As for me, I feel great! I tell my friends about the update and encourage them to turn on their pc’s and get it. I feel proud that I chose the right OS to protect me and send me more security before I get attacked.

Windows 7, whether it’s coming soon or not, I believe is worth trying out, and I hope that it lives up to Vista.

How To Fight And Win Against Software Piracy

Fighting software piracy is like trying to teach a person to stop breathing, or telling a child to stop playing. It's impossible to fight it by calling in the cavalry, seizing thousands or millions of cd's and equipments and arresting some technicians who were taught by their bosses to do the burning.

Software piracy must be attacked head-on, corporations being attacked must hit back, CEO's must face the music and make plans to destroy and kill. Serial codes, cd-keys, or any type of software protection are useless! It makes the life of the legit person harder and it doesn't even slow down software pirates. I believe that most corporations who don't understand this are those who have bosses or directors who are either NOT tech savvy or are ignorant of REAL technology. Having the latest cell phone or iPhone, or the coolest PDA, or an 8 megapixel digital camera, or even a very high-end quad-core desktop or notebook system with a 32" LCD screen, doesn't make you a TRUE tech person and it certainly doesn't mean you understand software technology. You are only a TRUE owner and not a TRUE tech-ie.

Most corporations fight competition by creating better quality products, buffing up support, beefing up marketing, throwing in freebies, improving the prices, etc. etc. Attacking software piracy must be handled the same way corporations compete in the business sense. Corporations have to beef up support and spend on marketing, but the freebies and prices must be reviewed because most current day standards are, in my opinion, not enough to battle piracy.

After-support software freebies are usually in the form of updates, upgrades, patches, add-on's, templates, manuals, firmware, etc. Hard copy freebies usually come with the box, these are in the forms of cd's, manuals, statues, trial codes for other software products, rebates, discount coupons, and for games there are pets, equipment upgrades, character upgrades, and sometimes a kick-ass container like the Helmet of the Master Chief that comes with Halo 3.

All the Hard copy freebies I mentioned in the last paragraph DO NOT affect those who advocate piracy! Pirates don't care about the cd's since they can burn their own. They don't care about the manuals, I mean dudes, who really reads manuals these days? Statues can be bought in eBay, along with special boxes, and we all know that upgrade codes can be easily Google'd.

What pirates do care about are updates, upgrades, patches, add-on's, and firmwares, and mostly because their fans, those who download their work, demand it. Being a pirate is not the heartless, inhuman persona that is commonly thought by most legit software users. In fact, pirates care about their fans just like an actor or actress cares about theirs. Fame and power is their driving force, not money. Therefore to make their life more difficult to the point where they might eventually get tired of pirating, I strongly believe that security should be concentrated with down-loadable freebies, namely updates, upgrades, patches, add-on's, and firmwares.

The second step in battling piracy is by attacking the opportunists who downloads the pirate's warez and re-burns them for retail distribution. Last I heard, piracy is a multi-billion dollar industry, and this multi-billion figure is achieved even with selling pirated software with prices as low as US$1 per cd or dvd. Software corporations must come out with cheaper prices to battle pirates. Like I mentioned earlier, pirates don't care about aesthetics, so maybe their products can be re-packaged with NO casing, just a sleeve or thin piece of plastic, maybe with NO other printed material except for the package print. Maybe these cheaper packaged software can be sold to home user pirates, which I believe is the majority of them, and I'm sure if the prices are low enough people would rather buy them than download a pirated copy or buy a bootleg one.

Asia is infamous for software piracy, many Americans or Europeans tend to forget that the majority of the worlds population earn less than US$500 a year. Here in the Philippines, where the minimum wage is around US$2000/annum, Halo 3 is worth 2 weeks wages, Office 2007 is worth 2 months wages, and a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate is equivalent to 4 months wages. In China, last I heard, Halo 3 is worth 2 months wages, Office 2007 is worth 8 months wages, and Windows Vista Ultimate is equivalent to 16 months wages. Imagine, after buying a few original games, one Chinese gamer can file for bankruptcy within the year.

I've heard and read that SOME software companies, like Microsoft, sell their products at lower rates in Asia, versus the prices in the US or parts of Europe. Well if that's true, I guess the Philippines is not included in that special price bracket.

I hope one day those closed minded software corporations CEO's and directors will open their eyes and consider adjusting their business policies for the betterment of all.

Piracy is a product of economic difference between the makers and the users. It won't be solved by jacking up the prices or pumping it with security. Let go of the blings and pizzaz, make your products more affordable and maybe then you can really start battling piracy.

Earth's Global Tilting Because Of North Pole Shifting

I'm not a Physicist, and this idea just entered my mind's eye a few minutes ago, who knows maybe somebody already thought of and even wrote about or is currently studying it. I feel that I should write about global tilting somehow just in case it might help answer one of our planet's mysteries.

Scientists have proven that the Earth has tilted more than once in the past, but how this happens is still unanswered.

I have to admit that eversince hearing about this phenomena about two years ago, it has lingered in my mind and I would always ponder on it when I can.

I would usually think of something from space doing the tilting, maybe an impact from a very large mass, or enough gravity from our sun and the other planets that can affect the Earth or it's magnetic belt.

Sometimes I would look inwards and think that maybe the movement of Earth's tectonic plates, or volcanic activities mainly underwater, could maybe cause the north pole to shift.

Then it hit me, what about Earth's inner cores? So far present calculations dictate that our planet has 2 cores, and they're both moving. I then imagined a gyroscope and the way it balances or forces to balance on it's center or poles. Then I thought of what would make the gyroscope tilt to one side, and the answer hit me! What if when the center cores of the gyroscope changes it's center of rotation it would shift it's balance and cause a tilt?

I believe then that if one or both of the Earth's cores change its center of rotation, then it would cause a global tilt. What could cause the core's rotation to change maybe due to changes of pressure in the crust. Maybe if Global Warming causes melting of the ice caps, then likely increasing the volume of Earth's liquid water. Then if the water flows to areas of the planet that did not usually have that much liquid. Maybe the change in weight of the areas affected, whether reduction or addition, can cause a change in our planet's cores to change its rotational axis.

The next question if the Earth tilts is, how much of an effect will it have with life, human or otherwise. Will it be just a nuisance, or will it be the worst natural catastrophic event that we can ever experience in our life time? Armageddon?

Convert Audible AA To MP3 Using TuneBite

For those out there who have Audible accounts and are using the .aa file formats, and find it a bitch converting them to mp3's, Tunebite is the answer to your dilemma!

http://www.tunebite.com

Believe me I've tried it all, from River Past v5.0; GoldWave, GraphEdit, etc. etc., but none of them worked. The closest I'd come to success was bad or choppy audio, and a lot of system restarts.

You can manually bypass the DRM protection by running the .aa files with iTunes and capturing the audio with any audio capture program, then saving or converting it to mp3. I know it's a lot of work, and because of that most people would rather search for an easier way. The problem with using "old" programs that USED TO seamlessly convert .aa's are the fact that DRM protection will eventually overtake the technology thus rendering the new .aa's unreadable by the older software.

What makes Tunebite work is that it automates the manual way. It takes control of your sound card and iTunes, plays the .aa file, then captures the audio with it's own built-in encoder. Tunebite saves the captures file in the format of your choice, eg. MP3, and then stores it in its own folder, which you can later copy and paste anywhere, or play it with Tunebite or any other audio program.

As of now Tunebite cannot save mp3's below 128 kbps of quality, but maybe in the future lower rated options will be available.

I know this is not the choice for most people, as we usually want faster converting times, but it's the only one that seamlessly works for me. I don't mind the wait because Audible files rarely go above 8 hours, and if I start the conversion before sleeping, I can load the newly converted audio file into my portable device as soon as I get up. I can also leave it running all day and when I get home it's always surely finished with the rest of the files.

For those who screams Pirate! It is not a crime to convert or crack your own copy of an Audible file. In fact, Audible should start supporting other portable hardware or they'll lose customers with other sites out there who does. I believe that Audible excels with their audiobook quality, but they lack hardware support. They're probably the least compatible of the audiobooks along side Sony. If they can't keep up with us, it's like saying that they don't care about us, and then we have no choice but to put the matter into our own hands. 8-)