Zath! Author Archive
The Digital Nomad: A Full Time Job - Part One
December 26, 2008
The reality of the “Microsoft House”
My goal in this whole endeavour was deceptively simple. I wanted to centrally store my media and share it across my home network to my various PCs and mobile devices. If you believe the hype, this should be simple, but of course, it’s not. The purpose of this article is to give a true and reasonable account of what it’s actually like to try and “live the dream” of the ideals set out in the “Microsoft House” and why it’s not what we all have in our homes, unlike Microwaves, DVD players and yes, iPods.
The recently banned iPhone ads (Apple are liars, but we all knew that) are a great example of what should happen, contrasted with what actually happens.
Continue reading »The iPhone and the Windows Guy
December 2, 2008
It’s a bit of a strange one, this. I was going to write a straight review of the iPhone 2.2 Firmware, but I don’t think the circumstances under which I came to use it really qualify me to write a fair review, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll tell you about my experiences with Firmware 2.2, which I hope is perhaps just as interesting.
I’ve never paid a penny for an iPhone, and the one I have now is an 8GB first-gen model which was given to me by my Dad, who’s decided that he doesn’t need all the bells and whistles and just wants a phone (I know exactly how he feels).
Obviously it doesn’t work as a phone anymore, but it still works over Wi-Fi and functions in every way, apart from voice calls, cellular data and SMS. It’s not got GPS or any of the other enhancements in the new generation of iPhone 3Gs and this is the primary reason I chose not to do a straight review, because a lot of my iPhones failings may because of the hardware, so to make summary judgment over the Firmware alone would perhaps be unfair.
Anyway, the iPhone is basically a big fat lie.
Continue reading »New Xbox 360 User Experience
November 23, 2008
Plenty has been made of the Xbox 360 new user experience (well, by Microsoft anyway) this past month. “Only one week to go!” we were told. “It’s like we’re giving everyone a new console” they said, so let me say this from the get-go - it’s a huge pile of crap!
You realize you’re in trouble just about the time when you’re picking the style of your Avatar’s jeans.
Because I’m not twelve, I couldn’t give a flying-f*ck what hair style or T-shirt my “online character” has. Indeed, I don’t even want an online character. Unfortunately, while you don’t have to customize it, you don’t get a choice in this matter. It’s an annoying Wii-wannabe of an idea and it’s pointless and annoying.
Continue reading »Acer Aspire One Netbook Review
November 16, 2008
I’ve always been a big fan of good things in small packages. I remember spending almost a month’s pay on the Toshiba Libretto 70CT. Known as a sub-notebook, it was about the size of a VHS cassette although slightly slimmer, but it weighed a lot more. It ran Windows 98 on a Pentium 120Mhz CPU, had a 1.2GB hard disk, and although it was no PC hot-rod (even back then) it was damn-good at what it was designed for, which brings me to the Acer Aspire One.
The Acer Aspire One (referred to hereafter as simply the “Aspire”) comes in several different versions. The version I bought (and because it’s so cheap, the only version I’d advise anyone to go for) is, like all Aspires, based around the 1.6Ghz Intel Atom CPU. This version has 1GB of RAM, a 120GB SATA HDD, Wireless G and cabled 10/100 Ethernet, 3x USB2.0 ports, 1x analogue VGA port, 1x SDHC slot and 1X SDHC/MSPRO/XD card reader and an integrated wed-cam. Phew, can’t complain about the connectivity then! I bought this from Currys in October 2008 for £260.
Continue reading »Playing iTunes H.264 Movie Files on Xbox 360
November 9, 2008
There’s always been something a little “hit and miss” about Microsoft Workgroup Networking. If the tides are right, if the lunar cycle is correct and you’re wearing compatible trousers, Workgroup networking might just work. This is why I run a Windows Server Domain at home and aside from the f*cking Mac (not mine, my dad’s), it’s reliable and flawless.
The Xbox 360 doesn’t recognize Domains, so it’s back to the wiji-board world of Workgroup networking! This is not a universal guide and is presented “as is”. I do not guarantee that this will work for you, however all steps outlined here are innocuous and entirely reversible, so you’ve nothing to lose by giving it a go. I set this up with Vista Ultimate, but I believe it will also work with Vista Home Premium and XP MCE 2005, or indeed anything that works with the latest revision of Media Centre Extender devices. If doesn’t work, feel free not to email me about it. Also, this is a power-user guide. I assume you know the fundamentals of Windows, Windows Media Player and basic Windows networking. Here we go…
Continue reading »When The Windows Blows: A Post-Apocalyptic Commentary On Vista - Part 3
November 7, 2008
This Island Apple
I remember Betamax. It was superior to VHS in many ways. As it turned out, that really didn’t matter in the format war. VHS was backed by the most companies, was a little cheaper and was “good enough” for most of us. The fact that it was the best didn’t make Betamax the right format to back and the same is so true of the Mac.
Everything interesting always happens on the PC, because everyone interesting is almost always using one. The PC market is so overwhelming that innovators and developers will always focus their attentions there. Of course, the truth is that there is now no compelling reason to choose one format over another. Except for.. well.. it’s Windows isn’t it?
Continue reading »When The Windows Blows: A Post-Apocalyptic Commentary On Vista - Part 2
October 10, 2008
You live in a Petri Dish and you suck.
Microsoft have always treated their customers like lab rats. If the NHS were run by Microsoft, we wouldn’t be looking to NICE to test drugs. Microsoft would release every drug on to the market and then release minor drugs later on to help combat the initial drug’s side effects.
In my opinion, it’s one of Microsoft’s biggest flaws and well… They just don’t seem to learn do they?
The Public BETA of Vista was quite a noble proposition. The idea that anyone could download it, test it and provide feedback is a great idea. It makes for a great promotional tool and promises a vast and diverse test bed, leading to a theoretically more stable product and a ready-made consumer base of BETA testers waiting to get their hands on the finished product. The problem was that the BETA2 version of Vista which most people downloaded was a total dog.
Continue reading »When The Windows Blows: A Post-Apocalyptic Commentary On Vista - Part 1
October 1, 2008
I remember Windows 95 on floppies and it was rubbish
I think it came on about 17 of the little buggers (proprietary 2MB formatted so don’t think you’ll be backing any of them up).
Of course, I couldn’t wait to crowbar the thing on to my 486. As the “Start me up” advert with the Rolling Stones resonated in my memory, I was about to install the RTM version of Chicago!! The true power of my Multi-Media PC was about to spring to life! It was all going to be perfect, because Mick said so!
Well, it made a grown man cry.
iTunes 8 Review
September 28, 2008
As an iPod Classic owner, I’ve got pretty used to downloading new versions of iTunes over the past few months which don’t seem to offer any new features, but iTunes 8 promised something new, so I was looking forward to giving it a go.
There’s one new feature which you’ll notice straight away which is called “Genius”. Genius is actually two very different things in iTunes 8 with completely different purposes. The first is basically the “mini-store” from previous versions, but on steroids.
Continue reading »Google Chrome Browser
September 4, 2008
I downloaded Google Chrome browser on launch day for XP/Vista (the only version available for the moment, although Mac and Linux versions are to follow) and the phrase “bare bones” just doesn’t quite say enough about this minimalist offering. Those used to IE7 won’t be too disturbed by the lack of a menu bar, although pressing the “Alt” key won’t do anything in Google Chrome. Oddly, the home button is not on-screen by default - You have to enable it in settings.
The only tinkering you’ll be doing is by clicking the spanner in the top right corner, which leads to a VERY basic config menu. With tabs such as “Minor Tweaks” and “Under The Hood”, it isn’t going to replace you installation of Firefox and it’s 214 plug-ins. I don’t think that’s what Chrome is about though, it’s designed as a solid cloud-computing platform, which it is.
Continue reading »
