Milo discovered a product especially useful for enterprises of all sizes called Nightwatchman, a good news that Microsoft didn’t lay off anybody in the Vista team. I knew that they didn’t touch the Silverlight team, but frankly I’m surprised about this because Vista hasn’t been very profitable to Microsoft. Or has it? One bad news is the Windows 7 minimum requirements. It may not be a good experience to try it on my netbook which just meets the minimum requirements and my laptop which is old enough to even miss the minimum. But if anyone is interested, you can get the Windows 7 look into Windows XP. He also found a couple of amusing videos, one called “how to say i love you.” and another a confirmation of love, a marriage at Taco Bell. Recession, aye?

Jason found a few websites that can assist you in unique ways: one for helping educate your kids, one a calendar to help others, and another to scan your computer online. He covered a lot of Windows Powertoys, a mobile media browser and found another reason to continue loving Zune. He also has a couple of how-tos for selecting non-linear text in a word document and sharing Outlook calendar availability. One bad news, I mean another one, is that Microsoft is shutting down MSN Groups.

Claire thought out loud about the gap between Linux and mainstream users, learnt something new about less (which all you Cygwin users may find useful), discovered a wonderful browser called Kidzui which attempts to make the Internet a more kid-friendly place.

Juan wonders whether the Mac is not invincible anymore and whether Apple really needs to make a netbook. He is glad to find a symbol cheat widget and an app that can save his day with a bunch of drawings. The latter isn’t my cup of tea. He along with Jayvee found out about Apple’s stand on piracy.

Post from: EveryJoe

A Massive Tech Channel Roundup

Jayvee inspects the culture of FAIL on the Internet and finds that video advertising is going to decline. Actually, the rate of growth of online advertising has reached a saturation point even though online advertising itself is continuing to rise.

In these tough times, when the economy has been slowing down, Clair suggests that choosing Linux and open source software has become more necessary. For those who are already in that path, there is a free Ubuntu training course. Ubuntu is Linux for human beings, isn’t it?

A survey found that only 1% of people are using Google Docs, and many of those use Microsoft Office already. However, Colleen feels that the Microsoft’s stranglehold on office suites may be slipping away with Microsoft promising and postponing their next release and the availability of too many options for the users.

Juan says that 2008 is the year of iPhone, which is not very debatable in the user sense though this is also the year for RIAs, Twitter (@bsravanin) and cloud computing. But then, he is an Apple guy. :-) He also shares the offer that MacUpdate is having as a holiday promo. A good offer, far better than dreaming about the Apple 24″ LED display which is about $900!

Speaking of promos, Jason has a post about the Sears Wish Promotion, similar to the HP Magic Giveaway which has recently ended. There is already several Top 10 lists too, like the top 10 viral videos of 2008. I personally don’t like the fact that these lists do not consider the rest of the year that is still to be lived through. The more important news is, in case you haven’t already heard, that a serious security flaw has been exposed in the Internet Explorer and it is advised to not use it for financial and other sensitive transations of any kind.

While you wait for the security update, be sure to take note of the 8 security bulletins that Microsoft is ending the year with. Various OS users may want to check out the 2008 Service Pack 2 beta releases.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup of Year End Retrospections and Forecasts

The best thing about Dell is the customizations available during purchase, and the upgradability and extensibility options later. The following are the initial features I went for: Ubuntu OS, 1GB DDR2, 16GB solid state drive, 1.1M pixel webcam, Obsidian black. Of course, the most important default feature is the Intel Atom Processor which is 100% lead free and is the lowest power-consuming CPU of Intel’s. The processor is also only slightly faster than the old Intel Pentium III processor.

If any of you are going for it, here is a tip. Don’t start building yours through the left-most column. You’ll miss the $40 instant saving that may otherwise be possible. e.g. If I built an Inspiron Mini 9 from “Build Yours” at the left-most column to suit my requirements it would’ve costed me $474, instead of the $434 that it did when I went through the “Build Yours With Ubuntu for $409″.

The product is rated 4.3/5 as of now on the Dell website. I shall post my review once I get to lay my hands on the baby. In the mean time, I should think of a good name. Any suggestions?

Image Source: Dell

Post from: EveryJoe

I Bought a Dell Inspiron Mini 9

The office has been a bit desolate for a while. So Colleen is taking over Office Tweaks. Join me in welcoming him.

Jason introduces us to the Super Bowl Single Girl. Pardon the dumb question, but why would anyone want to raise $3M and pay it to some television network? Aren’t Mr. Right’s for sale anymore? The big cynical question is: what if she realizes that she isn’t interested in Mr. Right? This comedienne is funny. So I wish her the best.

Claire wants you to take the Linux Graphics Survey 2008. What’s in it to you? Take these tips for Ubuntu users as a gift.

Jason has a tutorial to easily import table data into Excel from, say, a web page. Could use it some day, but I’m more interested in the reverse process.

How would you feel about a URL that is mysterious about what it can contain? I think it can be one of the types of spam. Jayvee thinks that stripping away those preconceptions can also be a refreshing browsing experience. A debate is slowly brewing up at his post. Come join us.

Juan is excited that Barack uses Mac. I’m more excited about this MacBook X-ray. What a geek!

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup From Wishes to X-rays

Windows is primarily popular for its apparent user-friendliness. Unix-based OSs are chosen for their open and active communities. Windows is sufficient for ‘general purposes’ like listening to songs, playing games, making documents, sending mail, browsing the Internet. Unix-based OSs may seem more convenient for ‘geeky purposes’ like tweaking with the computer, writing programs, and pushing boundaries.

One feature that strongly separates Windows and Unix-based OSs is the shell. Windows has a command prompt from where various programs can be run using commands. It is more powerful than what most realize but is rarely used. On the contrary, users of Unix-based OSs greatly depend on their very powerful shell (which is run through a computer terminal or console) and run most programs through it.

Users forced to switch to Windows are commonly peeved by the limitations of the command prompt. Nevertheless there is an alternative to make them feel more at home: Cygwin. In fact, there are a few other alternatives, but Cygwin is what I’m very comfortable with and is also, IMHO, more exhaustive than others. Learning Cygwin is very useful even for Windows users to feel more comfortable when they ever encounter Unix-based OSs, or work in a multi-platform environment where you might have to mix Unix with Windows.

From here on, we shall regularly try to learn Cygwin, a nibble at a time. Share this news to your friends who are interested in learning UNIX or Cygwin. We’ll decide on the bite-size based on the community response.

Post from: EveryJoe

Windows, Other Operating Systems, Cygwin

Speaking about hope, for those part of a small startup and already feeling the pinch of the enconomic crisis, don’t lose hope. Check out Jason’s good news about Microsoft’s BizSpark helping startups. Who knows, this could be just perfect for your needs. And we all thought M$ is a selfish giant taking away our $s. Well, many still do.

Milo thinks that Windows 7 may be faster, but wonders whether it is because of the applications that are not installed on the laptop. For the beginners, Windows 7 is the Microsoft Windows successor of Vista.

Juan is impressed with the new sleek Aluminum MacBook, raving about its touch and feel, and how the old MacBook looks like a boy in front of the new all-grown man. :-) Pun orignally unintended and here unexpected.

Claire shares a few features to look forward to in Ubuntu 8.10 and a tool for GNU/Linux that reads your email and e-books aloud for you.

Did you ever use Windows 3.x? Do you still think about it? I do get nostalgic once in a while about some Windows 3.x OS on which I had learned Excel and Foxpro. Jayvee gives us the sad news that Windows 3.1 is no more. Gone. Dead. Puff!

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup After Election Fever Dies