Sony notebook recall
Do you have a Sony notebook in the series VAIO VGN-TZ? Because of an overheating problem, Sony has put out a recall. You can check if your model is involved at this Sony site. Also, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes gives some details.
Small computers make big splash
All of a sudden it seems that everybody wants to sell the small ultra-portable computers often called netbooks. The latest entry is from Dell. Gizmodo reports that Dell is offering a $349 model with Ubuntu Linux as the operating system.
Gigaom has a guide to what’s available in general
What a difference a year makes. It was only 10 months ago when the first true netbook, the original Asus Eee PC 701, hit the market. The Eee was a ground-breaking little computer but had a few flaws, the biggest being the limited 800×480 display. Today there’s an overwhelming array of low-cost but highly portable and efficient little laptops.
Each is a full-featured notebook with displays in the 7- to 10-inch range and all are easy to tote around. Nearly all offer several USB ports, a webcam, LED backlit screens, integrated speakers, Wi-Fi and more, so there are very few differentiators. But the many choices in this nascent netbook market can overwhelm, so below is a quick hit list of popular models along with some basic information to help you decide which one might work best for you.
Google Earth add-ons
People keep coming up with new stuff for Google Earth. PC World shows some new additions at 10 Amazing Google Earth Add-Ons:
Maps from centuries past, paths of satellites whizzing by, global warming brought to life: User-created Google Earth mashups present a dizzying array of information in a new and imaginative graphical form.
Both sides of the story
The Web is full of statements and opinions from all sorts of people. Unfortunately, much of what you see is just ranting. Actual debate where different sides of a question are presented is not always easy to find. The New York Times Bits blog reports a site called Opposing Views that presents two sides to some of today’s hot-button issues:
Google a controversial topic and you will be swamped with blogs and message boards filled with readers’ thoughts, some insightful, others biased or not factual. Russell Fine hopes to provide an alternative with Opposing Views, a Web site that went live in July. It presents debates between two experts on either side of controversial issues, along with reader responses.
Computer intelligence
Every time I read the news, I get doubts about the general level of human intelligence so maybe Intel and the futurists who predict that computers will soon be smarter than humans are right. At a recent conference, Intel discussed its prediction:
At the Intel Developer Forum here, Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner showed off a number of technologies in computing, robotics, and communication that he cited as evidence that Ray Kurzweil’s concept of “singularity,” when machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence, is impending. Demonstrations spotlighted the wireless transmission of electrical power, dextrous robots with new sensory abilities, a direct interface to the brain, programmable materials that can be used for shape-shifting devices such as resizable cell phones, and silicon photonics that enables chips to communicate with photons rather than electrons.
However, I still think that whoever can pull out the plug has the last say. Remember Hal in Arthur Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Picasa recognizes faces
I am not a photographer so I have no personal experience of Google’s free photo-management application Picasa and the online Picasa Web Albums. However, I know many people who use them and the latest versions have the very intriguing feature of face recognition. APC Mag gives some details.
Have any of you tried this new feature?
Review of Google Chrome
The new Chrome browser from Google is still unfinished but a beta version is now available. Walter Mossberg has reviewed this early version of Chrome and he says:
My verdict: Chrome is a smart, innovative browser that, in many common scenarios, will make using the Web faster, easier and less frustrating. But this first version—which is just a beta, or test, release—is rough around the edges and lacks some common browser features Google plans to add later. These omissions include a way to manage bookmarks, a command for emailing links and pages directly from the browser, and even a progress bar to show how much of a Web page has loaded.
Mossberg makes some interesting comments on why Google is making the effort of developing yet another browser:
Why is Google igniting a new browser war? There are two main reasons, and both involve competing with Microsoft. First, the search giant fears that because its search engine and other major products depend on the browser, Microsoft—with its rival online products—might be able to gain an advantage by altering the design of IE, which has roughly a 75% market share.
Second, and more important, Google sees the Web as a platform for the software programs, or applications, that currently run directly on computer operating systems, notably Microsoft’s Windows. It says current browsers lack the underlying architecture to enable future, more powerful Web applications that will rely more heavily on a common Web programming language called JavaScript. Chrome was designed to be the world’s speediest browser at handling JavaScript.
That move might one day make Chrome a sort of online operating system that competes with Windows. “Think of Chrome as more than a simple Web browser,” Google declares. “It’s a platform for running Web applications.”
Are operating systems on the way out?
The news is full of stories about the new Google browser called Chrome. It’s even on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Many see Google’s new browser as more than a challenge to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer; they see a challenge to the whole Windows operating system. The notion of the browser as the platform has been circulating since Web 2.0 applications began appearing. Furthermore, Windows is under attack from another direction; the leaden performance of Vista has finally convinced hardware manufacturers to start bypassing the OS for some functions like starting up.
Several weeks ago, Larry Dignan put up a post, The end run around the OS is underway, where he commented on some of the ways that the operating system was diminishing in importance:
The operating system may be losing its luster. In fact, you could argue that the operating system–Linux, OS X and Windows–will become an application that just happens to boot first. And hardware vendors are on to the OS’s diminishing importance.
Mike Elgan has written:
Dell, Intel and their partners announced this week new technologies that represent major leaps forward for mobility. The companies seem to have discovered the secret to making such bold leaps: Cut Microsoft out of the deal.
One technology involves enabling users to gain instant access to a laptop’s e-mail, browser and other basic functionality — without booting Windows at all.
Many years ago when I was younger the operating system was limited to basic functions like input/output, managing RAM, and so forth. You wanted an application, you added software (or wrote it). Microsoft’s approach has been to keep cramming as much as possible into the operating system. As a result, Windows has grown into the complex and huge Vista system that is unsuited to the basic needs of many PC users.
Can the Mac gain more market share?
At Ars Technica, Don Reisinger writes an analysis of How Apple can gain significant OS market share. He begins:
Apple’s unprecedented success over the past few years has propelled the company from its place as just another tech company to the most respected brand in the entire industry. But for all its success, it’s still a distant second in its battle for operating system dominance. With just 8 percent market share, Apple has significant work to do if it wants to catch up to Microsoft and solidify Mac OS X as a major force in the software business.
His suggests some steps for Apple as summarized here:
The thought of reducing Mac pricing and licensing Mac OS X, while playing nice with developers may be anathema to Steve Jobs and Company, but with the opportunity to gain market share while Microsoft’s focus is split between Windows and Google, now is the perfect time for Apple to expand its presence.
The author outlines a strategy of selling more hardware by lowering prices and selling the operating system by allowing Mac clones and licensing Mac software.
What’s your opinion? Does the Mac operating system have a chance to take a significant piece of the PC market from Windows?
Meta-search engines
A meta-search engine allows you to direct a query to several search engines at once. It then puts the top results from the various search engines together and displays them to you. The idea sounds good but personally, I have never found the results to be as useful as just searching with Google and sometimes Yahoo. A recent review takes a look at ten meta-search engines and compares their results.
Do you use meta-search engines?