Sep2005 17

Samford 3man 2005 - 2nd Place Div 1

Posted In |

{mosimage}Today, Samford Skirmish hosted the Samford 3man 2005, with 16 teams (6 Pro and 10 Div 1), on one of the best paintball fields in Australia.

Congrats to 3 Skins, who took out the Pro division and 3 Minute Men for taking out Div 1. Paint Savvy rocked it's way into the finals, holding out the final "best of 3" to 4 games (with a draw). In the end, we took out 2nd place in the Div 1 finals.

We played some great games. We formulated our game plan and we stuck to it. The reffing was excellent and we thank them and the staff for all their hard work. Overall, it was a great day of paintball had by all.

Sep2005 11

Windows Vista - Edition Overload

Posted In Microsoft |

{mosimage}Paul Thurrott writes "Two days before the start of Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2005, I've received exclusive insider information about the product editions, or SKUs, which Microsoft intends to create for Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn). While the exact breakdown of the Windows Vista editions has been the subject of much speculation, this list closely matches the editions list I first published on the SuperSite for Windows last year. Here's how the Windows Vista product editions break down."

+ Windows Vista Starter Edition

+ Windows Vista Home Basic Edition

+ Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

+ Windows Vista Professional Edition

+ Windows Vista Small Business Edition

+ Windows Vista Enterprise Edition

+ Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

Interesting, that Microsoft went away from having so many editions quite a few years ago, and is now doing a backflip and going *overboard*. Can you imagine the confusion with IT Professionals and users ? "So, what version of Windows do you have ?" "I don't know, it's Windows Vista something".

Sep2005 07

iTunes 5, iTunes Phone and New iPod nano

Posted In Music |

{mosimage}Well all the rumours were finally squashed, when the Apple Special Music Event went ahead today. This special event, held at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, debuted several new products, some of which are available now at the Apple Store US back online.

Apple used the special music event to launch iTunes 5, the new iTunes-compatible Motorola ROKR phone, and the iPod nano, a smaller, thinner, flash-based version that replaces the iPod mini.

{mosimage}
Click the above image to watch the video

The nano looks a lot like the offspring of a mini and a shuffle (width-wise) and also seems to have addressed some of the shuffle's issues such as the "lanyard headphones", which integrate the headphone cables into the lanyard, so users can wear it around their neck without dangling headphone cables.

My real concern with all these portable devices is battery life - when is someone going to address this issue ?

Update 9/9: I've now tried to install iTunes 5 on 3 different Windows XP PCs with no success. They either fail to install or won't run citing that QuickTime 7 is required, yet the installer is meant to do both. Meanwhile, on the Mac, iTunes runs fine. This doesn't bode well for a company that is betting it's company on x86.

Aug2005 30

Palm Lifedrive

Posted In |

{mosimage}My new Palm arrived today from Handhelds Online. I must say,
pretty good service from them, they rang me yesterday to confirm the
order and sent numberous emails including one with a tracking link.

I immediately opened the box and put the Palm on the charge. I then
opened the Hard Case, I bought. Ugggh. What a crappy case. Like it
feels sterdy and strong - it's mainly made from the same as my previous
case which was made out of Shark. The difference is this case has a
metal door and here in lies the problem.

I tried to open the with no success. There's a tiny groove you're meant
to get your fingernail into to open it. Mine are too small and kept
slipping. I then tried a metal key and that slipped and put a dirty
great big scratch right across the door. Grrrrr. The only way I've been
able to open the door, is by forcibly using a 10 cent piece. Rating for
this case. 1 out of 5. I would not recommend it to anyone. In fact, I'm
kicking myself that I bought. I've just wasted $65 :(

As for the Lifedrive ...

Aug2005 22

Moog Inventor - dies at 71

Posted In |

{mosimage}Anyone who has ever run their fingers over the keys of a synthesizer, or danced to pounding electronic music in a nightclub, owes a debt to Robert Moog.

Moog, one of the early pioneers in electronic instruments, died Sunday at the age of 71, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in late April.

An inventor and entrepreneur, Moog came up with an early synthesizer that was among the first electronic instruments to be widely used by musicians, and was ultimately deeply influential in the development of many modern music genres, from rock to electronica."