Windows 7/Google Android

Windows 7

Get quicker access to all of your stuff—use Pin and Jump Lists to keep the programs and files you use the most right at your fingertips.

Manage open windows easier—resize and arrange windows simply by dragging their borders to the edge of your screen.

Quickly find what you’re looking for—use Windows Search to find a specific file, program, or e-mail in a few seconds

Share files and printers among multiple PCs—from one Windows 7-based PC to another, you can share files, music, photos, and even printers across your home network.

Stay entertained effortlessly—with Windows Media Center you get one place to enjoy your photos and music, watch and record live TV, and watch free Internet TV.

Easily create and share movies—create great looking movies and slideshows and share them on YouTube in minutes

Connect to networks easily—view and connect to any available wireless network in as few as three clicks.

Do more and wait less—improvements that can accelerate sleep and resume and make your PC more responsive help you get more done.

Touch and tap rather than point and click—Windows 7 makes PCs with touch screens easier and more intuitive to use.

Manage devices more easily—manage printers, cameras, music players, and other devices from a single, consistent, place.

 

Google Android

Google Android is google’s first attempt at an operating system. It is directed mostly towards netbooks and cell phones. The main selling point of android is that it is open source, this means that anybody can edit it to their liking.

ICT photoshop thing

digg.com top 5 technology’s

Very Creative Advertisement from WWF
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32895514@N02/3472074417/sizes/l/

Someone at Microsoft is Taking LSD’s..
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/04/windows7100.jpg

Another Reason Why Time Warner Sucks
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/22/time-warner-and-embarq-cant-compete-with-city-owned-isp-trying/

Windows 7 release Candidate 1’s Best Surprise New Features
http://i.gizmodo.com/5226696/windows-7-release-candidate-1s-best-surprise-new-features

Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope” Officially released
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/ubuntu-904-officially-released-available-for-free-download-20090423/

My two favorite topics out of the top 5 technologies stories this week were “Very Creative Advertisement from WWF,” and “Windows 7 release Candidate 1’s Best Surprise New Features.” I liked the WWF advertisement, because like the title says, it is very creative, and well made. It shows that the environment is dying by showing two forests in the shape of lungs, and one of the lungs is being clear cut. The reason that I liked the new release of Windows 7, is because I have tried the beta, and I am interested to see what has improved. I will for sure be switching over to the new OS when it comes out, as it is a much better OS than Vista. Also, the default backgrounds are crazy haha.

Uses for Google Sketchup

Google Sketchup is a simple free 3D editor. It is useful because you can see 3D renders of buildings on Google Earth. It is also a useful tool for drafting. It could be used for finding the scale of buildings compared to pre-existing ones. It could also maybe be used in simple video games.

Operating Systems

Windows Vista

File System

• NTFS

Search Abilities

• Search for any file or program straight from the start menu

Features

• Supports both 32 Bit and 64 Bit
• Aero makes all windows transparent and very nice looking
• Starting price for home basic is $199.99 CDN
• Release date was January 30, 2007

 

• Many programs included such as Paint, Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker

Mac OSX

File System

• HFS+

Search Abilities

• Every file is previewable through cover flow, see exactly what picture or file you are clicking on before opening it, and you can search for any file or program at any time

Features

• Dock
• FinderBar
• Organize programs or files into stacks, and then place them in the dock for quick access
• Core Animation keeps desktop looking smooth
• iLife 09 built in with every release of Leopard

Ubuntu

File System

• Ext2
• ext3
• ext4
• FAT
• NFS

Features

• Built in apps like Firefox, GIMP, OpenOffice

Internet Prvacy Concerns

Google latitude is a program that was developed by google that links your phone to your computer basically. It works with google maps, so that you or anyone on your friends list can see where your phone is at basically any time. This is cool, because then you can check to see what friends are in your area, so you can chill with them if you want. You can also update your status, very much like facebook, and look at the map and see where people are, and quickly contact them with a SMS or phone call.

Obviously, this technology raises many privacy concerns. What if you have some people on your friends list that you dont neccesarily like, or want on your friends list, do you want them to be phoning you to hang out? What if you dont want to, you cant say your busy right now, because they know where you are, so your kind of stuck haha. Also, like almost anything, I’m sure that there are people that can hack it, and that would be very dangerous for hackers and creepy stalkers.

Some of the same problems apply to facebook. There are always people that are on your friends list on facebook that you dont really like, you just accept to be polite. Also, if your boss adds you, then they will see all your pictures and whatnot, and could find out what you are like outside of work and judge you based on that, which is unfair. And once again, hackers could hack into your account.

If your picture is added to facebook or a site like it, that picture will be up basically forever. If somebody searches your name, those pictures from way back in high school will still show up. I know this from personal experience, because when I was like 8 years old, I posted a whole bunch of pictures of things I made with lego on the internet, and now those show up when you google my name . This could be potentially bad because a future employer might do this and see all this lego stuff anf be like… what the hell!?

I do not think it is fair for employers to research people for hire through the internet. It is unfair, because an employer should hire based on performance during the job, and whatever happens outside of work is none of his business.

What Happens When You Type in a Website?

when you type in a web adress such as www.holycross.bc.ca the name goes to a DNS (Domain Name Server) which translates that into the IP adress of the website.  The information sent back and forth is called HTML which is like the language that websites use. After that its sent to different places and eventually to the server, and the server sends the data you want in little bits back the way it came.

Past and Future

The T-Mobile G1

This is the first phone to run the Google Android, the first operating system made by Google.  It has it’s own marketplace, rivaling the iTunes app store.  It features a slide out keyboard, and a large screen that is bright, but does not use very much power.  THe phone can easily handle demanding graphical applications like Google Earth or Google Maps.  Also, like the iPhone, it features a web browser and music and video playback.

Eye Fi Explore

This is the first ever wirelesss SD card.  It holds 2GB, and automatically uploads your photos to whatever sharing site you wish.  It can even upload them to your computer at home.  THe card automatically connects to wifi hotspots so you dont have to wait until you are at home to upload the photos.  Your photos can even be geotagged, which means that it will tell you where the photo was taken.

One piece of technology that I think will be reall amazing for 2009 is the dawn of USB 3.0. As of today, almost everything is connected by USB 2.0, which is the fastest way to transfer data… until now! USB 3.0 boasts that it can transfer with speeds up to 4.8GB/s.  That means an entire DVD5 can be transferred in ONE SECOND.

The new USB technology will be available sometime in 2009, and was recently announced on November 17, 2008.  Version 1.0 of this new hardware has already been completed.  The major new feature is the SUperSpeed Bus, allowing for transfer rates of up to 5GB/s.  Another plus is that USB 3.0 will be compatible with all USB 2.0 and 1.0 devices.

Binary

Base 10 Binary is also known as Arabic.  Unlike Base 2 binary, which features only 0, and 1, Base 10 has numbers 0-9.  Binary is the use of 2, and an exponent. For example, 2^0= 1, 2^1=2, 2^2=4, etc. Binary is the addition of these 2^’s to make a number. 0 means the 2^ is switched off, 1 means the 2^ is switched on.

For Example:

2^5, 2^4, 2^3, 2^2, 2^1, 2^0

0         0         1        0        1         1

So you see, the 2^3, 2^1, and 2^0 are turned on, while everything else is turned off.

Now you add the 2^’s that are turned on.

2^3=16

2^1=2

2^0=1

= 19

So, as you can see, Binary is actually pretty easy.  In case you were wondering how a gigabyte or megabyte got it’s measure  got it’s value in bytes, here you go:

1 bit

8 bits – 1byte

1024 bytes – 1 kilobyte

1024 kilobytes – 1 megabyte

1024 megabytes – 1 gigabyte

1024 gigapbytes – terrabyte

digg.com – 3 technology’s

Think Firefox 3 is fast? Try Firefox Minefield.

http://news.cnet.com/think-firefox-3-is-fast-try-firefox-minefield/

This new browser impresses me.  I have been using Google Chrome ever since it came out, but with the new Firefox Minefield, I think that I will be leaving that behind.  THis new browser promises to leave Google Chrome in the dust.  It is currently in Alpha phase, however this will not stop me from installing it as soon as I get home.

First look at Windows 7’s User Interface

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081028-first-look-at-windows-7.html

I am interested in the new Windows because I am a windows user.  Even though i would much rather have a Mac, I am pretty eager to see what Microsoft has planned for its new Windows OS.  I just hope that they do not make another Vista, I was kinda dissapointed with Vista.

How google got its colorful logo

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/multimedia/2008/02/gallery_google_logos?mbid=su13

This is interesting to me, because I always wanted to know how such a cool, but simple design was made.  I think that the artist who made this logo did a great job, it is very modern and simplistic, and I really like simplistic designs.  Also, this logo is now one of the most recognized symbols in the world, along with McDonald’s M and NBC’s peacock.