It Wouldn’t Be Windows Without A Silly Glitch

While Windows 7 is quite an improved little beast, it's the annoying glitches that dent the experience.

I put Windows 7 Home Premium on my Macbook the day Win7 was released, via Parallels 4/5.  

For the most part it's been a reasonable OS, though it hasn't exactly made me think it's better than OS X or Linux.  The one thing that has made me grumpy is that the boot screen no longer shows the new Windows animation coming towards me.  Instead, I'm seeing Vista's green progress bar.  That's, what, merely a few weeks of use?

Some quick searching via Google shows I am not alone.  This seems to be a common experience for users of Windows 7.  The causes seem be something to do with the locales and there is a fix  for it.  If you use an elevated command prompt with Administrator rights, you simply use bcdedit or bcdboot.

I tried that and got my favored boot screen back for just one time.

Admittedly, this is a really small thing that hasn't greatly impacted on my use of Windows 7.  It's just plain irritating as I never used Vista and can't see the sense in this happening.  It just makes me wonder if, a few months down the line, something else will revert unexpectedly.

While it was good having a WIndows here on the Macbook, it really needs to stand out.  The competition is now nipping at Microsoft's heels and in some cases surpassing it, so stupid things such as this bootup glitch are going to have a greater impact.  Less users will tolerate things that detract from their productivity and computing enjoyment.  After all, who wants to spend an hour or two searching the net for an answer that only works for one restart.  If we want to do that, Linux gives us greater control and satisfaction for the same amount of work.

At Geehall 1 Episode 16: Tweetupmellers/Twums 7.5

via youtube.com

The name Tweetupmellers indicates a Melbourne-based tweetup…but we’re open even to our tweeps from South Australia and New South Wales. Some of our interstaters make it to the main monthly Twums…but others’ schedules don’t allow for that. So we have a MINI-Twums.

Last night (November 12, 2009), we held a mini-Twums to welcome @AndrewBlanda. We also introduced him to a uniquely-Tweeupmellers custom…the Twums Interviews.

Newspaper first to go live with public Google Wave | Media Owners | Revolution

Newspaper first to go live with public Google Wave

Staff, revolutionmagazine.com, 03 November 2009, 2:30pm

 

LONDON – Following the hype around the launch of Google Wave, German newspaper Welt Kompakt has become one of the first to launch a public Wave, helping readers interact with the title.

 

The first public Waves have gone live

The newspaper, which styles itself as the ‘little sister’ of national daily Die Welt, is thought to be the first on Google Wave, using the real time service to interact with its readers.

It already has a presence on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, where it is making use of the new Twitter Lists feature to make more of its content available. This link will take you through to the public Welt Kompakt Google Wave but be warned, it has a lot of messages in it and most of them are in German.

All these efforts are to help the title appeal to young readers with lots of money to spend, or “young educated and high-income readers in the cities,” as Jan Bayer, publishing director of Die Welt group, put it. The changes are being advertised in a campaign running across online and offline media.

Tags:  Press,  Germany,  Europe,  Social Media,  National Press,  Media / Entertainment,  Digital,  Die Welt,  Media Owners,  Welt Kompact,  Google Wave

Having just gotten my own Google Wave invite, it’s time to see what’s happening in the Wave world. Here’s the first such look.

From iSnack 2.0 to… (Spredgemite/Spreadgemite, we hope)

In recent months Kraft has had a naming contest for the new, cheese-spread version of Vegemite.

However, when the name was finally announced at the AFL Grand Final, iSnack 2.0 didn't go down well with the Australian public.

Today, Kraft issued a statement admitting it had made a mistake with the iSnack name.

Back on July 20th, I started an unofficial campaign on Twitter to see if social media could have a hand in the naming of this product, going with my own personal choice Spredgemite.  There was an alterative spelling of 'Spreadgemite,' but it seemed a bit long.

A few tweets were sent around to my own Twitter circle and even one to Sunrise On Seven's Melissa Doyle.

Tonight, I decided to tweet Melissa to see if she remembered those July tweets.  I got a surprise.  Not only did she remember the tweets, but she thought the name was a cracker (see graphic).

I also had a look on Google to see if there'd been any prior uses of Spreadgemite and Spredgemite before my first hashtag with these names.  Yes, there is a prior mention in June, but it doesn't look like the person in question went much further with it.  I also see some people had entries with these names in the competition.  It would appear, then, that great minds thought alike.

So really, all I can claim is coming up with the first hashtags and the first concerted effort to get it into people's minds.

Kraft will be announcing their plans to replace the iSnack name on October 2, so I'll be sitting back and seeing what they have in mind.  However, I'll still plug away on the Spredgemite/Spreadgemite names because I want to see if social media can have an historic opportunity here.

And if it eventually turns out that Spredgemite/Spreadgemite is accepted?  Well, in one household, there's going to be a family cheering their heads off.

Not Long Till The Next Fire Season…

It’s now weeks before the expected start of the next bushfire season.

We’d like to hope we’re more ready for it than we were last season. If sensible people have learnt any lesson from February, it’s that any potential bushfire fuel should be cleared well before the expected time. Thankfully, some immediate recommendations from the Bushfires Royal Commission regarding that are already being implemented, with some people already starting to clear such fuel from the immediate surrounds of homes in potentially-affected areas. The CFA is also working on fuel-reduction as well.

Recommendations concerning better warning systems, though, might be problematic to implement in time for technical reasons. However, things like Twitter and some of the other social media will be ready and the volunteers from February and March will be amongst the earliest responders monitoring and ready to provide important safety information. People will know a bit better in coming months that Twitter can be highly effective.

We’ve already heard that it is expected to be a potentially-worse season than the last. That doesn’t mean we want it to turn out like Black Saturday. Far from it. People will be more vigilant, quicker to respond and move.

In the meantime there are two regional hearings of the Royal Commission, at Myrtleford and Horsham. At a later date, there will be a hearing in the Gippland area.

After the 21st of September, the Commission will investigate deaths from the last bushfires, with the intent to evaluate the “stay or go” policy.

Let’s hope this next season, some commonsense enables more to be done to protect lives and make the upcoming season far safer than the last. But let’s not just hope, let’s do.

Snow Leopards, Windows 7…And A Linux Or Two

After a couple of weeks of trying out Windows 7 Release Candidate, I said hello to an old friend…the infamous “Blue Screen of Death.” That was while trying to get a HP PSC 1350 working with it. The printer, by the way, still won’t work with it…although the scanning part DOES.

 I’ve also gotten the update-only pack for Snow Leopard. I’ve been using that roughly a week. At the same time I’ve read some hilarious stuff about Snow Leopard supposedly being Apples “Vista.”

 I tend to think Windows fanboys are really stretching trying to make such a comparison. Snow Leopard on my aluminium 13″ Macbook is doing quite nicely. So nicely I’m STILL enjoying working with a Mac. Way more than I ever enjoyed various flavors of Windows over the years.

 In the difficulty stakes…I had Fedora 10 Linux installed into Virtualbox and used the Additions iso to get a screen size bigger than 800×600. Unfortunately, due to something that’s probably more traceable to that Virtualbox Additions part, my Fedora log-in screen has some video corruption where everything is bunched up and where there’s three login dialogues through all the haze.

 Now, before Linux detractors start whingeing…all I have to do is a blind login. I hit the return key, I type in the password. Bingo. Fedora core desktop with NO video corruption. The solution or workaround was found on the net within a couple of minutes.

 The one thing I most like about Linuxes is that a solution to any problem or difficulty is only a Google away. There’s also the fact the next iteration of the particular Linux will usually have the glitch corrected. If not in the next iteration, then in a custom or branched kernel.

 Apple OS X is enjoyable to use and has ALWAYS been very user-friendly. Linux has a higher learning curve than Windows or Apple OS X, but gives you the ability to master your system’s glitches every easily. The learning curve also produces greater satisfaction and a new skill.

 Then there’s Windows.

 Bill Gates did make his millions in the after-care associated with Windows. At the end of the day, however, the need for such after-care has always been an impediment to true computing productivity.

 Would NASA or the military use Windows? Not for anything mission-critical. A blue-screen fault in any of NASA’s computers in any of their space missions would waste millions of dollars. We’ve also all seen that South Park episode where a general running a war games simulation on Windows gets more than cheesed at Bill for Windows going down at a crucial time.

 In Windows 7, the blue-screen fault should have been long gone.

 Then there’s printer drivers. Would someone at Microsoft care to explain to me why I can get my printer working on Mac AND Linux with minimum fuss? Heck, a simple PPD file for the Linux and the printer is up and running, while on some other Linuxes it’s automatically working the moment it’s plugged in. Seriously, there is a really decent printer driver and software for OSX 10.5 AND Snow Leopard.

 The thing now is that everything runs on Intel hardware. It’s equal terms. Now it’s a real competition. So Microsoft now has to actually prove itself a bit more.

 Vista flopped because they didn’t get it right. While they’ve improved things in Windows 7, I’ve seriously got to ask why there are still blue-screen faults. All the money Microsoft makes and they still can’t get rid of it?

 So the current verdict is: I’ll still leave Windows 7 inside Virtualbox and only use it when I absolutely have to. If it can’t work properly on a Mac, if it can’t work properly on the virtual hardware specs for Virtualbox, why should I put it on any non-Mac computer?

 Just to make Microsoft rich? Not enough reason. Just because it has so much market share? Still doesn’t make it the best OS. Because they ask me nicely? Well, IF they get rid of that blue-screen fault AND get a printer driver going for my little printer…maybe.

 If I’m going to do things on a computer, eventually turning a buck for my online efforts, I don’t want an OS that impedes my workflow and productivity. Time spent solving a problem that shouldn’t be there will always cost money that could have been better spent elsewhere.

 Macs are great for productivity because they work and work well. Linuxes may have their slight difficulties, but when you want mission-critical, you can’t beat them.

 End of story.

 Less hype, more actual real work really giving us an OS that works better, Microsoft. And stop trying to tell me Snow Leopard is as bad as Vista. A few small problems in old point-releases of some obscure program doesn’t a Vista make.

 My Snow Leopard has purred for the past week or so. Every program works. Again, end of story.

At Geehall 1 Video Weblog Episode 12

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Highlights and interviews from Tweetupmellers/Twums 5.

Some great interviews of some of the most interesting Melbourne Australia Twitter people.

Virtualizing Windows 7

I'm told the one piece of hardware a Windows installation works perfectly on is an Intel Mac.

Imagine the irony of that.

This week, my budget finally stretched far enough to get a 13" MacBook and one of the first things I did was download VirtualBox to it.  Then, since Windows 7 Release Candidate is on the cover DVD of every local computer magazine, I put that inside a VirtualBox virtual machine.

I also put a couple of Linux distributions in sandboxed virtual machines too.

It's a bonus of even Macs running on X86 Intel powered hardware.  Everything can be virtualized on the same machine and you can experiment to your heart's content with any OS you want.

VirtualBox sets up the necessary requirements for each VM via a wizard.  You specify the amount of memory you want the VM to run, the size of the virtual hard disk, set a few more small parameters and then start up your VM.

So I'm really enjoying seeing a Windows sitting inside a Mac program.  Considering the Release Candidate becomes useless sometime around June 2010, it's better being used this way.  No need to dual-boot it with anything, no need to redo everything for a clean install of the full release.  As it is, after March 1, 2010, the RC will shut down every two hours.

If you use a similar method to me and get the RC from a magazine DVD, you have till October 31 to get a product key from Microsoft.

So what do I think of Windows 7?  Well, I missed out on Vista, so it's a huge jump for me.  Very different, perhaps a little less intuitive than previous models.  That's saying a lot for someone who's learnt computers by self-teaching and intuiting.

I like some of the customization and theming, though I'd love to change the taskbar color.  I like the circular Start button and the gadgets (clock, weather, calendar).  I'm especially fond of the new Wordpad, a way more functional version than that previously seen.  Most of the Control Panel is relatively easy to work out.  However, it's still such an alien creature compared to my netbook's Windows XP.  I figure I'll be spending quite a few weeks exploring it before I'll consider myself comfortable with it.

I've read in one of the magazines that a lot more thought went into Windows 7.  Where Vista shipped still waiting for some features to integrate with what was already done, nothing went into Win7 unless it was already finished.  More say by engineers, less by managers.  More thought, more planning, more cohesive.

So, theoretically, it should be a good Windows version.

Then again, I'm still making sure it stays trapped inside my Mac until I'm absolutely sure of that.

At Geehall 1 Video Weblog Episode 11

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This episode is a fun exercise in utilizing iMovie ’09 effects with a Flip UltraHD camera.

Alternatives Make Things Interesting Again

Last week wasn't my favorite time in social media.

Twitter had momentarily lost its gloss, what with DDoS problems, spammers and the usual problems of scaling.  Friendfeed, one of the best social media services, had been sold to Facebook.

It ended up being my quietest week, not just for Twitter, but also for any of my blogging.

On the other hand, like a few Friendfeed users, I spent the time looking at replacements for FF in the eventuality it was one day shuttered.

What I discovered were a batch of new tools which have made for a productive couple of days, even if they don't quite fulfil Friendfeed's esteemed role.

Google Reader is providing a whole heap of news items I can post to Twitter or Friendfeed.  Storytlr gives me a way to aggregate my whole social media lifestream. Streamy gives me some extra news items and a small amount of aggregation.  Finally, the up-and-coming Tumbler brings up a whole new set of options.  It's all got me doing something different from my tweets on Identica. And blogging is back on track with this being my second post in as many days.

So what seemed a bad week became a new opportunity to explore and find something of benefit.

I've noted that a few friends over on Friendfeed have been making similar discoveries.  Google Reader is attracting a few fans amongst the Friendfeeders.

Most of us are still hoping Friendfeed remains in some form or another, because it's still light-years ahead in a lot of ways.  We're prepared if it's not, but it's not like many are suddenly giving up on FF.  It's that good a service that it still provides some great features we're loathe to give up on.

However, only time will tell.