Windows 7 Whopper In Action
Proving that the poster wasn’t just for fun… maybe this could become an official IFOCE event…
Read MoreCategory: Computing
Windows 7 Second Demos and Burgers
To coincide with the worldwide launch of their new operating system, Microsoft has unveiled a slew of new ads. You know what? They’re actually pretty good. The above video is one in the “7 Second Demos” series, which demonstrates some of the new ‘speedy’ features of the OS. Other marketing ideas, maybe aren’t so good, like this Burger King Japan/Windows 7 ad… Now that the Whopper is out of the way, want to see the rest of the 7 Second Demos… just…
Read MoreWindows 7 Launches Today
Well, it’s not exactly a secret. Microsoft’s well-received OS is now official. Those of you still playing with the free release candidate can keep using the free version until March, but going forward, new PCs will be shipping with Redmonds latest and greatest. When I say greatest, I think it very well may be. After using just about every version of Microsoft’s OS, I have to say that Windows 7 is probably the best they’ve ever done. A few months ago, I might have said that honour would have went…
Read MoreCRTC ruling merely “a framework”
The CRTC has finally ruled in the long standing Bell throttling case. The ruling is a bit of a mish-mash of both good and bad, and a fair bit of haziness. Although there is a requirement of transparency from the major ISPs to both their retail and wholesale customers, it looks like Internet Traffic Management Practices (ITMPs) such as throttling will likely continue at least until the first complaint rolls into the CRTC (which should happen pretty fast). The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today introduced a new framework…
Read MoreCanadian Copyright Reform… uhm… stuff
The above clip from This Hour Has 22 Minutes (from Oct 20, 2009) is a great bit about the fears of new technologies and their impact on the recording and television industry. Of course, the fears of new technology destroying the living of artists stretches all the way back to the player piano. Somehow we’ve managed to survive this far… In other news, the Globe and Mail today has an interesting article about how Canadians are being left out in the cold (no ‘snow’ wisecracks please) when it comes to…
Read MoreApple refreshes its consumer line, still not quite everything you’re hoping for.
Apple today released a refresh to the iMac, Mac Mini and Macbook lineup. The iMac now sports a 16:9 LED-backlit display at 1920×1080 (21.5″) and an extremely impressive 2560 x 1440 (27″), making it one of, if not THE, largest AIOs available (commercially, at least). Under the hood you’ll find a 3.06ghz Intel C2 Duo (upgradeable to a 2.8ghz Quad Core), at least 4gb RAM (but room for up to 16…that’s right, 16), at least 500gb of HDD space, and a variety of video options depending on which model you…
Read MoreGoogle Voice mail searchable online, amusing
If you haven’t already heard about Google Voice, the service promises one number for all your needs, and includes a voice message service, which can transcribe audio message into text. An interesting, and probably unwanted side effect of this is that a small number of these can be found in a google search… site:https://www.google.com/voice/fm/* Into a standard google search. Some of the messages contain the phone number of the sender, and since Google also transcribes the voice mails to a readable form, when the caller leaves a new reply number,…
Read MorePixel Qi display technology “coming soon”
Often, we see demos of great technology, only to see it never come out in a usable form. I was kind of worried that this may be the case with Pixel Qi and its 3Qi display technology. Instead of being a whole new type of display, replacing LCD, Plasma, OLED etc ad nauseum, 3Qi is a layer that’s included in the manufacturing process of garden variety LCD screen. With this inserted layer, it allows a traditional LCD screen to be read in direct sunlight. The display desaturated to almost the…
Read MoreAccess Copyright wants anything but in Canada
As we’ve covered before, the Canadian government earlier this year put a call out to both individual Canadians and businesses and other organizations to state their cases for how the copyright should be treated moving forward. One of the most, well, ridiculous submissions comes from Access Copyright, which collects royalties for writers and publishers. The name ‘Access Copyright’ is exactly opposite of what they want for Canadians. The group is opposed to just about everything you can now legally do with your media, and wants to put an end to…
Read MoreThe Finland model: A chicken in every pot and Broadband in every den
For a democratic nation, Finland sure plays it like a socialist. First they have arguably one of the best health care systems in the world. Then they throw in free day care. Sure they’re taxed heavily and the job market is described as “inflexible”, but all in all, the standard of living is pretty damn fine. And to sweeten the pot, they’ve just made broadband internet a legal right.
Read MoreMouse 2.0 via Microsoft
Though the images above may not be much to look at, what they represent is actually interesting on a couple of levels. With multitouch input being all the rage, and the occasional musing on the mouse being dead as an input method, it appears that Microsoft Research has turned conventional thinking on it’s head with 5 new prototype mice, each with it’s own twist on the venerable input device. The antennae on the Arty for example are individually articulated touch surfaces. By the way, if you’re wondering what FTIR stands…
Read MoreAlternate Universes: Windows 7 Edition
Many things in this crazy world are unpredictable, but there are SOME things we CAN count on, at least for the brief time we’re each allotted on this big blue marble in space. The sun will come up in the morning, it will set at night, and the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg will always be an Apple fanboy. That is, until now… In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows. That’s no longer true. [from…
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