Category Archives: Software

Blog Updated

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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The NeoSmart Blogs (aka Ramblings of a Computer Guru) section of our website has just been updated to WordPress 2.0 Beta.

We have been actively testing this software and aiding in its development off of local servers, now we are just getting to the point where we take it to the production-level line.

While WordPress claims that this will not raise the quality-level of posts, we believe otherwise. Stick around and check out the difference for yourself :)

Most differences at the moment are in the Admin “Dashboard,” therefore not visible to the public. However, if you choose to comment you will notice some very nice differences. Hopefully the final or other betas will contain more hands-on updates for our faithful viewers.

In other news, our inbox at NeoSmart (NeoSmart@Gmail.com) has been recently (why all of a sudden??) flooded with questions about our use of the default themes on the forum and the blog. Just like to let you all know that these are temporary, until we get our new site design (check out the forums for more details!) up for the main website, then we will go from there to make matching skins for the other sections..

-CG

My Night Out with a Robot

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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The following took place on November 25th, 6:50 PM GMT.
It is a transcript of a conversation between Me (Computer Guru) and the Encarta AI Instant Answers Bot, on MSN.

If nothing else, it was a very interesting conversation.

Me: Who is the Computer Guru (:P)
It: I don’t think I know The Computer Guru. Let’s try an Encarta search.
[Prompts me to open Encarta]
[I decline]
It: You should accept my invitation! I won’t be able to show you maps, pictures or articles otherwise.
Type “Invite me!” at any time and I’ll send you another invitation.

Me: Who is Bill Gates
It: I know Bill Gates. Let me try to find an article for you. =>
I can’t show you the results since you don’t have the Encarta application open. Type “Invite me” to open it.

Me: What does MSN stand for?
It: MSN Messenger is the application you’re using to communicate with me. :) [dumb ass!]

Me: Who is Linus?
It: Unfortunately I don’t think I can answer this, even with the help of a good encyclopedia.

[At this point, I lost all motor coordination for 10 minutes, it was just too much…]

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Update Of The Month

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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  • Startup2Service Beta 2, the much anticipated ‘sequel’ to Beta 1 has finished the ‘idea stage’ and the ‘bug-fix stage.’ Now all that is left is the implementation of those new features
  • Our Research Division is working hard to get the details straight and the facts verified before we can unveil NeoSmart’s new (anti-) DRM division sometime before the New Year. Its about time a true community was established on that front .
  • NeoSmart’s Development half of R&D is also working hard… This time on another program, which we imagine will raise quite a commotion. Development for the alpha (aka proof-of-concept) code is going fast and strong.. Expect a release before Christmas.
  • Our homepage is undergoing a makeover.. Research is trying to decide which language to use… The fight is now between Ruby via RoR or ASP .NET 2.0… What do you think we should use? Post a comment, let us know!

Well, that’s the debrief of the month…. On the unofficial side, it looks as if NeoSmart is gathering the momentum it needs to get rolling… Website visitors increased from ~500 unique vistors in September to ~3000 in October, and now ~5000 strong this November, and the month isn’t even over!

It seems that the biggest source of vistors is our recently released Ramblings of a Computer Guru blog… Though it was released silently, without even any links, its content is the kind of volatile stuff we need!

Keep checking the blog and the site, because we’ll be updating the design and content as we go along… And to whoever is first to pickup hints of a change, gifts await! :O

Solved the IE7 Bug!

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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NeoSmart Beta Testers have just solved the infamous IE7 bug where middle-clicking on a link sometimes opens it in both a new tab and the current tab!

Attempting to contact Microsoft as I post here, but, go figure, MS Connect Feedback is down :(

Will update this post soon!

UPDATE!!!

We got the bug up!

See the bug report at MS Connect Bug Report
You need to have access to the Official IE7/Vista beta program to view it..

Note: If you get a server error, refresh the page a couple of times.. MS Connect is having issues :(

Continue reading →

The DRM Alliances

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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Before you get any ideas, this is not your traditional Anti/Pro-DRM Post. This is a neutral analysis of the top-dogs and where they stand. NeoSmart Technologies is proud to unveil our latest research project: an in-depth look at where the big names in technology and entertainment stand when it comes down to the nitty-gritty.

When a choice has to be made, no excuses or delays accepted, what will they choose? The only clear element is the options themselves: will they choose the industry or the consumer? Will they uphold the basic and unalienable rights of music listeners, video watchers, TiVo Rippers, and software-geeks everywhere; or will they staunchly support the industry that has worked so hard to bring these products to the market, and attempt to help them in their never-dying endeavor for greater riches and more prosperous returns?

Our research team is hard at work. A web-interface is in the make, sources are being carefully checked & verified, one after the other; soon a tentative list of companies on both sides will be out; will you be satisfied with your favorite corporations’ choice, or will one of you have to re-evaluate their priorities before something gives?

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 7 Beta

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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If you were unlucky enough to break your IE7 install (via a repair of Windows or a failed install), you can get it fixed in two easy steps!

  1. Download this file and save it as C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe (obviously changing C:\ with the drive letter of your XP Partition…)
  2. After overwriting the existing IE7 iexplore.exe with iexplore6.exe from the link above, re-run the Internet Explorer 7 installer.. It should not bother you about having already installed IE7!

Should that fail, you have to use this much longer method; but it is guaranteed to work.

  1. Get either WinRAR or PowerArchiver. I recommend the latter.
  2. Right-click on the IE7 installer, and extract it to a folder (using WinRAR or PA)
  3. Browse to Update\Update.inf
  4. Open it in WordPad
  5. In update.inf remove the section that says [Prerequisite]
  6. Save changes, BUT DO NOT EXIT.
  7. Press ctrl+z to undo, BUT DO NOT SAVE
  8. Run Update\Update.exe
  9. The very nanosecond that Update.exe shows up, save the WordPad document.
  10. If everything went fine (as far as you saving at the right times), IE7 will reinstall and fix itself. If not, redo the steps above. Make sure that when you launch IE7 Installer, [Prerequisite] & Co. are erased, and right after launching the installer, they are available.
  11. Feel free to uninstall IE7 via the Add/Remove CP or keep it. It will work either way.

Firefox Download Conspiracy

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
3

I’m sure that many will take offense at this post, so before I say anything more, let me just clarify my stance on the browser-battle (again).

  1. I used IE 6 for about two months, then switched promptly to what was then known as Phoenix (which I had been using before off and on). IE 6 just did not have the cutting edge technology that I was looking for.
  2. I stuck with Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox throughout the years, trying out Avast, Opera, Maxthon, SlimView, and the rest.
  3. IE 7 Beta seemed to be what I was looking for, but it was too buggy, so I’m still on Firefox. I love Firefox, I just think there is major room for improvement.

Continue reading →

Something Weird is Going On..

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
4

Something is wrong with the world…

Sony becomes an enemy of entertainment fans,
Apple is disappointing its fanboys left and right;
Microsoft is willing to trade $$$ for happiness (not even theirs!!!);
Firefox is cheating on its download counts,
US patent office thinks anti-gravity is real and now,
and we’re left here wondering WTF happened…

OK, i figured it out: trade your iPod for an iRiver, your Firefox for IE7, your iMac for a Dell, your PPC for a Whitebox, and you will have achieved eternal happiness !!!!!!

I’m gonna go patent this now… =P

————————–

If you are wondering… the above is in response to MS trying to implement P2P, and attempting to PAY Apple to be able to stream from an iPod to the XBox 360, Apple’s response is basically ‘shove it,’ and then they talk about releasing an update that stops the iPod from synchronizing with anything. Firefox fakes download counts (well, not actually fakes, but goes to extreme measure sot stretch.. more on that later), and the US Patent Office patents an ‘anti-gravity’ device, breaking their own law that states very clearly ‘to not allow patents that disagree with the laws of physics….’

What the hell is going on????

Office 12 vs. OpenOffice.org

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
1

Well, today it became official, the Office12 Beta is about to begin. NeoSmart has just been accepted, and will try his very best to break it… (Let’s hope its a challenge, don’t want a program too easily broken..) Anyway, at NeoSmart we got a sneak preview of Office12 with Pre-Release Build 12.0.3111.1011, and though it is covered by the NDA, I think we’ll be safe giving you a few reasons why OpenOffice.org v2 will not be stealing the show (not this year, sorry).

We have been testing OO.org since its pre-beta stages, downloading the latest builds and CVS when available, and overall, we have been impressed.

  1. Office 12 has a brand new look to it. From the PDC Screenshots (same build we’re running here) you can see all the new-fangled buttons and ribbons and tabs. Its hard to get used to, especially if you are a hard-core Office user, but from what we can gather, its biggest theme seems to be making things available. You highlight some text, and it intelligently realizes the tools that you will need, making it by far the simplest Office-Environment program we have ever seen.
  2. Though the pre-release of Office 12 that we are testing is sluggish, all previous versions of Office have been very spontaneous (on modern hardware, without spyware, etc. obviously) especially when compared to OO.org v1, which was plagued by sick and slow Java code. Though OO.org v2 has done away with most Java, it seems that the code beneath all the spotless glamor is still dirty, it has some of the same tell-tale symptoms that v1 had.
  3. Office 12 is pure power. The new and *completely* redesigned Excel and Access are centered purely around productivity and giving you the tools that you need. Outlook 12 includes a new extra sidebar whose sole purpose is keeping all your information available at once.
  4. Office 12 may cost money, but then again, most businesses aren’t expecting to get their company’s software platform up to scratch free-of-charge. Most expect to have to pay, and in exchange they get the results of years of planning and engineering from one of the biggest R&D around.
  5. Office 12 will most likely forever ship in some limited form or the other with new PCs. 98%+ of all OEM PCs ship with Works + Word. In contrast, almost none ship with OO.org.
  6. OpenOffice.org is made by Sun. Office 12 is made by Microsoft. OpenOffice.org is made largely (though most likely reluctantly) for the Linux crowd. Office 12 is Microsoft for Windows. Microsoft has all the Windows Code at its disposal, and everything can be integrated smoothly and cleanly, without worries.
  7. Office 12 looks cool. You may think it does not matter, but its actually one of the most important marketing ploys known to man. No one will buy software that looks like it was made for Windows 3.1.1, but Office 12 looks modern.

Despite what it looks like, we are quite impartial, and wish OO.org the best. We will continue to test it and submit bugs to Sun in an ongoing effort to improve the quality of software everywhere, just as we will the Office 12 Beta; but in this case, we have a clear winner.

Sony DRM: A WMD in the Wrong Hands

Posted on by NeoSmart Technologies
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It’s only been mere seconds since my last post, but this was too good to give up: A new trojan is out and it takes advantage of Sony’s malicious rootkit to hide its files via the prefix ‘$sys$’.

I think this is the ultimate proof that Sony has gone too far. ‘They were trying to protect their interests.’ Sure they were (I’m being sarcastic, in case you couldn’t tell) but there are limits. Various conventions throughout history have outlawed the use of WMDs. Weapons of Mass Destruction. Why? I mean, there has to be a reason that the US doesn’t nuke the terrorists, or vice versa; and there is. SALT I & II resulted in strategic WMD reductions for the US and USSR. Sony’s rootkits are practically in violation of the Geneva Convention as well…

I think the UN should step in… Now Japan has WMDs too.. Interesting.. WMDs make things too easy, drive the casualties too high, and overall are a just one big disaster. It takes little to no effort to achieve widespread chaos and destruction, and there is almost no preventive measure. Well, its official. Sony’s rootkit is a WMD. Since its release, it has been used by BMG-Sony for their shady protection schemes, WoW hackers, rumors abound that CS hackers use it as well, and now Virii and Trojan writers.

It is undetectable by any traditional spyware and Antivirus software, making it near impossible to clear your PC out. Rootkits are like cheats in AOE. They make an epic battle between good and evil all the more bloody and cheap. Spawning Cobras that can wreak havoc on Town Centers in minutes is not fun, its cheap, its evil, and its most certainly below the belt.