Archive for January, 2009
It’s been a while since I’ve visited a few HTML/flash template stores online… Since I’m obviously posting this, that means I just did. Why? Just plain curiosity. The routine is pretty straight and dull - just browsing through the usual items and thinking about people who buy these things. If it’s not “uniquely” bought (means that as soon as it is purchased, for a 10x bigger price than usual, it is removed from the store, leaving the customer as the only remaining owner of the said template, thus actually owning an original design), then it’s not worth it. Being a serious online business while having a design that somebody else already has does not emit a very professional image, but clearly the numbers say otherwise.
Now, here’s the thing… I found a massive bunch of flash/html/switch/whatever templates available with the following theme: *wait for it* – WEB DESIGN and DESIGN STUDIO!
Um… Oh… Why?! I have to mention that the purchase rates for these are even bigger than other categories! Why the heck would a web design studio, who’s business is *duh* – web design, purchase a template like that? It’s the same comparison to a sugar factory buying sugar! (and we all know how often that happens)
There is one reason I could quickly whip up in my head… Fraud. The other one is a bunch of kids playing a pretend game of “web developer”. The third one (after some thinking) is overhauling the overall design and removing it’s “web design” aspect (but I personally think that’s a rare case).
Still, my advice for anybody seeking web design services is to check out the web designer’s portfolio (not the main website itself) thoroughly before making a decision, as the numbers clearly state that more and more “studios” are trying to look professional, even though their services are awful, or non existent. Be very careful, or end up loosing your money and using MSPaint and Word for creating your online presentation.
January 25th, 2009
After almost a full year of using this personal project as a neat TeamSpeak addon, I decided it was about time to tidy it up a bit and release it into the world.
TeamSpeak Extra is an add-on written in Borland/CodeGear Delphi for the purpose of expanding the scope of features that TeamSpeak already has. It does that in a way that improves productivity and eliminates the needless hassle for frequent TeamSpeak users, and Administrators as well (such as myself) when public behavior needs to be moderated.
If anybody is interested, head on to ts.burex.net and grab a copy.
January 18th, 2009
It seems like yesterday when I was staring at some weird Alpha Longhorn XP-lookalike 
screenshots before Vista shipped, and now I'm trying out Windows 7, Microsoft's newest OS that was supposed to be called Blackcomb. Time does fly, especially in the IT world.
Before I write a few lines of my own, I would like to write some about other people's piece of minds. The first comments I heard about Windows 7 were about it being way better than Windows Vista. Fair enough, but the overall look and the low-end system base are practically the same as Vista's, only slightly modified. Why all the love all of a sudden? Once again, this behavior attributes to the typical SP1 or Windows 1.2 craze that mandates that no Microsoft product is perfect before the first service pack or the next minor version is released. I would like to quote Paul Thurrot on this one (interpreted, since I heard this on his podcast):
Windows 7 is basically Vista 1.3, and I don't know what's all this about the sudden change of heart.
Now, even though Windows 7 is just a simple upgrade, it does boast some very neat features that I really dig. Native biometric device support, better Bluetooth support, the new taskbar (although it can be improved), taskbar context menus, ribbon interfaces, 
better connectivity, UAC that actually does it's job without nagging (hell yeah, finally!), faster boot times, Libraries, new and redesigned control panel items, better theme support, automated wallpaper shuffling, Windows Action Center, better gaming integration, Aero Peek, more intuitive device managing through "Devices And Printers", Gadgets that don't need to be placed on a sidebar, recovery disk support (finally...), improved Paint 
, new Windows Media Center, automated window maximizing/resizing, and etc. etc. There's really much more than this list, but these are the first ones that caught my eye. One more thing though... Windows Explorer is WAY more fast and MUCH more responsive! I haven't experienced any lagging or lockups at all, it's just that good! Kudos, Microsoft!
What I do hate about Windows 7 is fortunately small enough to fit on a list... The OOBE
(out of the box) experience is still very yucky (seriously, if someone cashes out >200$ for a version of Windows, you'd better give them a more friendlier welcome than the dull and boring Welcome Center!), there are still some Control Panel applets that open in separate window dialogs (WHY!?), the taskbar can't be set to always allow grouping and display window titles at the same time (again... why!?), and I still think that Aero is not used enough for graphic effects that could enhance the overall user experience (no, I'm not talking about the retarded Compiz Fusion Linux youtube videos where windows randomly stretch and fly around, but the usual stuff - non agressive, yet pleasant, user friendly and non time consuming animations). No crashes or problems so far, so the list ends here. Sure, further improvements could find their spot in this new version, but like I (and many more others) have already said, this is Windows Vista 1.3.
If you want to see some screenshots of Windows 7, take a peek in my gallery.
Also, if you want to try this baby out yourself, here are the download links and links where you can get your very own Windows 7 beta key:
32bit Windows 7 ISO
64bit Windows 7 ISO
Windows 7 beta 1 download page (scroll down, and select your version and language)
DON'T just click on the first two links, since you'll most probably get an error! Google Chrome reported that "the file is too big" when trying to access the first two URLs... in a hidden message! (what the hell?) Anyway, just paste the URL in your favorite download manager, such as FlashGet, and off you go!
January 12th, 2009
Well, now that you only have 2 years left to live, I would like to grasp this rare opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year! Just think of all the things that can kill you in 2009.! If you are still getting ideas that you will survive, there’s always the global financial crisis that will make you sell your internal organs for bandwidth, or that 5 eyed monster hiding in your closet (you know the one I’m talking about)…
Enough emo thougts… Enjoy your alcoholic beverages and leftover Christmas candy before the holidays come to an end, I know I will!
January 1st, 2009
Yeah, you did. In fact, it is pretty nice to have a scapegoat for every crappy mistake you make. I know it would be easy to have an object to blame for everything from diarrhea to global warming and avoid the truth or responsibility, but it appears that something like that already exists, and it’s not George Bush, it’s Windows Vista.
Who started the rumor? Don’t know – don’t care. Who is afraid of the new interface and animated Windows? Pretty much everybody. Who gets on my nerves? People who actually believe everything they hear from a “I couldn’t install Vista on my 10 year old hardware because of lack of manufacturer support, so it must suck” Microsoft conspiracy theoretic…
The following comic (yes, I drew a comic) is actually a true story that happened about a week or two ago. It fails so hard, that I couldn’t describe it in words.
In case anybody is wondering if the second character of this story was really serious, let me break it to you now… he’s DEAD SERIOUS. In fact, he was so pissed that he lost all his personal pics and porn from his overheating & malfunctioning 80GB Maxtor piece of crap, that he actually SMASHED his Vista DVD out of rage, thinking it was to blame!
If you are interested, here is another list you can use to blame stuff on:
Global Warming, The Jews, the failing economy, Sarah Palin, communism, a jammed elevator, a bad yoghurt bottle, your mom, Mondays, those meddling kids, MegaMan…
January 1st, 2009
It’s been a while since I’ve visited a few HTML/flash template stores online… Since I’m obviously posting this, that means I just did. Why? Just plain curiosity. The routine is pretty straight and dull - just browsing through the usual items and thinking about people who buy these things. If it’s not “uniquely” bought (means that as soon as it is purchased, for a 10x bigger price than usual, it is removed from the store, leaving the customer as the only remaining owner of the said template, thus actually owning an original design), then it’s not worth it. Being a serious online business while having a design that somebody else already has does not emit a very professional image, but clearly the numbers say otherwise.
