Posts filed under 'Software'
Back in the days where I would beg on my knees all day - every day in front of my dad to buy me a Sega - Mega Drive 2 game console, it would be quite a weird thing to hear that today I would be able to play that very same game console on a computer that has a great screen and huge processing power (along with everything else that comes along with owning a x86 PC 
). Even though I have hundreds of great advanced 3D games to choose from, there's something really special when playing Sonic in all it's glory... To achieve this, I use Gens, but there are many others to choose from. Sadly, Aero and Windows Vista DreamScene get broken when running it, but still, it's pretty much worth the hassle...
May 12th, 2008
Well, seems like the Windows Vista Data backup feature failed on me... It refused to install my existing programs and restore my existing preferences... (but it did what it was obviously meant to do - backup your personal files). Fortunately, I had a full "Complete PC backup" copy made with the same backup tool that worked perfectly, so I'm back at x86 level. It's a pitty, but I'll hold on... Wish there was an easier way to switch from x86 to x64...
April 28th, 2008
To upgrade from a 32bit version of Windows Vista to a 64bit one is a pain, because it is not possible without a clean install. That's why I'm making a complete PC backup using Windows' backup and restore center. If all goes well, I should be running a 64bit Vista in a few hours... The advantages? Possibly speed and the ability to add more RAM. Tis' all.
April 27th, 2008
Well, Microsoft is certainly in a giving mood today
If you own Windows Vista Ultimate, and use Windows Update, you should check whether you have some Windows Ultimate extras available. 3 new dream scenes and 2 new sound schemes should be waiting to be downloaded. They look awesome, and the sound schemes are so-so, but worth a download.
April 23rd, 2008
Although I would always prefer the built in Nokia Symbian browsers (Java will always be a synonym to S-L-O-W for me), the concept of Opera Mini is a top solution right now for mobile phones that do not have regular browsers built in on their phones, and for others who like to save on cash when surfing on an expensive GPRS data rate (like me). Using this tiny JAR file, I can browse the full web without having to count the kilobytes that just fly by when visiting a few pages (although I do turn off picture displaying - much less traffic). The only thing that gets my goose is the lack of support for custom fonts that I can install on my phone... Pity.
Here are some screenshots of the newest beta - 4.1:
April 15th, 2008
I pretty much hate every official IM client because it's usually bloated with ads, and apparently thinks that you like to play flash games while chatting (I'm talking 'bout you - icq), but clients such as Trillian, Miranda and Pidgin (Adium on MacOS) make IMing worth your while. The support for multiple IM accounts makes you available to everybody, and everything is integrated in only one program, fairly less resource hungry and ad free. Perfect.
I am a big fan of Trillian, but the v3 that served my needs for a while quickly got replaced (due to my uncontrollable urge of curiosity towards new software) with Trillian Astra - an alpha version of Trillian IM. For an alpha version, it runs fairly quickly 
and steadily (although I have to bare with the fact that it crashes about two times in a month, for no apparent reason). One of the key benefits - it looks beautiful. No excessive smileys or hippie-like color mixes... Just plain old IM. Also, the built in effects go great Windows Vista! Oh, and there's the iChat behaviour that I like - chat bubbles!
If you can't get a hold of Trillian Astra just yet, I'm sure you can get one from a torrent somewhere out there (wink wink)... But seriosuly, I think the Trillian crew at Cerulean studios won't mind you testing their alpha version outside the official alpha program, after all, it's in their best interest to get that thing done with as few bugs as possible. So if you are willing to take a different approach to IM, be sure to go for Astra.
April 9th, 2008
The upgrade was, as always, a sinch and went through fairly quickly. I haven't found any user-visible changes, but as for the admin part... Whoo whee! Everything is much more simpler and faster! The WYSIWYG editor works way better and has loads of new features. There's only one thing that doesn't look like it should - the admin page width, it's fixed. Only the header has a 100% width property, while everything below it is optimized for a 1024px resolution, a shame for my 22" widescreen monitor...
April 2nd, 2008
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