I’m back.. :D
I could not resist posting with this title.. So, just to justify, I am going to say "See, I’m back. 5259 is not lethal, and I can live with Office 12!"
Now, to the topic at hand… This post is supposed to be titled "R2s, the Future of Microsoft?" But I just realized how important of a post this is.. So I’m starting a new topic. Sorry!
While not strictly a ‘technology topic,’ for me it is just as important. Anyway, its OK, since Ramblings of a Computer Guru is “Everything Technical,” no? I’m talking about curiosity. Curiosity applies to everything everywhere, all features of life, all aspects, the harsh truth, in all its misery… And it applies to technology far more than we realize. Take this morning for example. I had a Physics Lab class; and our Professor returned three previous lab reports. Imagine my shock at receiving a 7 and an 8 on two them! I usually get 9.5 -10, not to brag to prove a point.
Well, I opened up the reports, and discovered that all equations in those two (written with Office 12 Pre-Beta) had printed wrong! Rather, they did not print at all! In the second paper, each character done with the equation editor came out a “?” in a box, and in the first it looked like some kind of weird pattern of dotted lines! The third, written in the Official (and legit) Office 12 Beta 1 was much better. Thought it had a couple of mis-printed characters, they were all Bullets from unordered lists, and the equations were thankfully OK. I talked to the Professor and he is letting me rewrite the first two :).
But I will have to do it all over since Pre-Beta files are not properly compatible with Beta 1. But this blog is not about me, its about Technology. And this particular entry is not about my boring & miserable life on the 3rd day of December; but about the dangers of mixing Curiosity and Technology together… Continue reading
OK, besides feeling embarrassed as hell at the last post that turned out to be nothing more than a rant, I also feel guilty that this did not go up as soon as I had promised earlier; but that’s that, and here is the post ;)
Basically this can be summed up in one sentence, or even, a fragment of a sentece: Where do those builds come from?
I’d really like to know. Its not just 5259 here; I mean every single build out there that gets reported as “Stolen” then “Released;” how do they steal a program that has not been released? At the risk of stating the obvious: Doesn’t it seem as if the builds are leaked from within the company??? Its not just Microsoft either. When you have leaked versions of internal builds for Symantec, McAfee, WindowsBlinds, and all the rest, it makes you wonder: from where?
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
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…]
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
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 :(
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?
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!
Should that fail, you have to use this much longer method; but it is guaranteed to work.
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).