Did you know Honey is hygroscopic? (Absorbs water) And that it’s also thixotropic? (changes from solid to liquid under pressure).
I never thought a discussion about Honey (specificly: how/why you get the “crunchy” effect when honey is spread on fresh bread) could be so interesting. But really - it is.
Lots of theories posted on the thread.
Sorry, I can’t remember where I found the link - it was in my reader list just recently.
Good news, IM addicts: Microsoft have launched their new IM client (basically just a revamped version of MSN Messenger).
Microsoft are emphasising the video and voice calling features, plus adding an offline (text) message service too (like ICQ has had for nearly 10 years).
To kick it off, they’ve created a site with a series of (somewhat) humorous videos. Check it out.
(Via… err… my inbox, actually)
Brad writes:
Hey Will,
What is your view on MS Vista?? Is it worthwhile getting the upgrade and if so, which version??
I currently have XP (home ed.)
I like Vista, it offers a number of subtle improvements, none of which, however is a must-have. I use Windows XP at work (on pretty decent hardware) - and it works just fine, and I have no issues continuing to use it for the next 18 months or so (the expected life of my work PC).
At present, my simple answer for most people is: Wait until you buy a new PC (that comes with Vista).
For three very simple reasons:
Software
To be honest, a lot of software works just fine. There are, of course, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of applications out there. Some of it will work fine, with no problems. Applications which you wouldn’t think of as causing a problem, will have issues.
Take, for example a popular Podcast-receiver application called Juice. This, simply will not work for me under Vista at the moment.
Any utility software you have, such as Antivirus, CD/DVD Burning, or Disk Maintenance software will probably need to be upgraded - depending on the manufacturer, this may be a simple free update, or it may require that you purchase their latest version.
Hardware
Sure, Vista can be somewhat demanding on a PC. But it will typically work on any mid-range entry-level PC purchased in the last 3 years. (Bargain Basement PCs excepted)
If you have a scanner, printer, webcam, digital camera, or media playing device, you may not be able to use it at first. Again, most of these will work when you download an updated driver.
If you’re running a custom setup (like me), or a PC that was built by a local-generic computer store, then you may find that certain important bits don’t work. For me, that included my CDROM Drive, until I spent a whole lot of time fiddling around. Of course, most reputable manufacturers will release updated drivers in the coming months - it may mean that you have to wait a little while, however.
Cost
Vista isn’t cheap to buy from a store. APC gives this quick run down of prices for Australia.
If you qualify for an Academic licence (i.e you, or someone in your household is a full-time student or teacher), then the price you’ll pay is $179 to upgrade your existing Windows XP machine.
For most of us, however, we’d be paying $299 to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista Home Premium.
Windows Vista Home Basic probably isn’t worth getting unless you really want Vista, and don’t have the hardware and/or cash to upgrade. You get most of the features, but few of the niceties (Media Centre, Aero, Flip 3D, etc)
It’s also worth noting that if you buy an Upgrade version of Vista, you must have a valid Windows XP licence. In addition, once you have upgraded - you cannot go back to Windows XP - Microsoft will disable your Windows XP registration key.
In today’s episode of “Arn’t we a special person”, I’d like to point out this post (Thanks to Paul for sending me the link).
I forget who the original genius was that figured this out (I heard about it well before December), but in any case - Matt_Rajca and others are offering a practically useless “performance” tip.
First of all - ReadyBoost is one of Microsoft’s new features for Vista. It’s meant to speed up read operations from disk. So, if you try to open an application, or something like that - it can be pulled from a faster source. The end result, is that your programs start faster, and other things (like, say loading a file from your browser’s cache, or a search index, etc) can be done faster.
Now, Because ReadyBoost is meant to speed things up - there’s a few limits that Microsoft have placed on the drive that you can use for a ReadyBoost cache. In short: It needs to be fast. Really fast. If it’s slow, then there’s no point having it. After all, if it takes you just as long to read from the ReadyBoost cache, as it does from your hard drive - you’ve achieved exactly nothing (assuming you don’t actually slow things down, but placing additional demands on a slow/busy device).
This technique that Matt Rajca explains could, possibly, be useful. Like, if the USB Flash Memory stick that you purchased, is just slightly too slow. That’s a fairly limited circumstance though - most of the people that read those articles seem to think that you can achieve an improvement by using a USB Hard Drive, MP3 Player, or a generic USB Thumb Drive and achieve some improvements.
So, now we’ll see a bunch of people saying “ReadyBoost isn’t worth it - I didn’t notice any improvement”. Actually, no wait… there’s already two or three posts like that.
Someone going by the handle “Shifted” writes:
“Thanks for this nick very usefull [sic] even though I’m not entirely sure what this does, I notice no difference in performance while using my 2 gig ipod nano.”
Yeah, that’s because your ReadyBoost cache is no faster than your hard drive.
(Hint: Your iPod Nano isn’t using the fastest flash memory around , plus, it’s got an OS in the way that’s fiddling with your read/write requests) .
Brilliance Factor: Just like Paula Bean.
A new article in SciAm talks about how security staff and border protection agents are now using hand-held radiation detection equipment to detect dirty bombs.
The only problem is that people who’re undergoing chemotherapy, or other forms of medical treament (angiograms too, it seems) involving radio isotopes will set off these detectors.
(via Engadget, and BoingBoing)
Beta Applications are now open for the Lord of the Rings Online - Shadows of Angmar MMO. (via Digg)
Ninja.com is a Google Co-Op frontend to the regular Google Search, but with a black background (and white/yelow text). This Digg err.. link(?) claims it’ll save energy, or be more energy efficient.
I think the only actual value comes from this comment:
“I like it, but needs an “I’m feeling sneaky” button.” - blablaman
And, if you were wondering - on current production monitors (LCD and CRT) a black background isn’t any more energy efficient than a white background.
On LCD it’d actually use fractionally more power (the light comes from a backlight source - the Liquid Crystals have an electric charge applied to filter out a certain bandwidth of light at a certain percentage. (Think miniature bits of celophane)
On CRTs the Electron beam which would normally be aimed into the phosphor, is instead blocked (I forget where - but it’s still generated).
Next-Gen screens may save money - but either way, it’s so small it’s unnoticable. Instead, go get a low-powered laptop. The latest generation processors have very good speed stepping which uses significantly less power when there’s low processor utilisation.
This Reuters article in SciAm, amongst others, has a quote by someone* from the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS).
From the article:
It said Microsoft’s XAML markup language was “positioned to replace HTML,” the industry standard for publishing documents on the Internet. XAML would be dependent on Windows, and discriminatory against systems such as Linux, the group said.
Uhh… XAML is positioned to replace HTML? Looks like someone is somewhat lacking in the “checking facts before making ass of self” area.
As Wikipedia puts it:
When used in WPF, XAML is used to describe graphically rich visual user interfaces, such as those created by Adobe Flash. XUL and UIML are other examples of XML-based user interface languages. The language allows for the definition of both 2D and 3D objects, rotations, animations, and a variety of other effects and features.”
Sorry folks, but it’s meant for “rich” interfaces - like for traditional applications such as Word, Media Players, or 3D Games.
Sure, you can embed it in a web page - but it won’t replace the web page. It’s also highly dependant upon having a rendering engine (typically Windows Presentation Framework) available. It’ll spread to desktops running Windows XP, and the .NET 3.0 Framework, and also Windows Vista - you might even get some people creating browser-based applications, but they’ll probably be for either a custom deployment environment (Kiosks, POS Machines, etc), or for corporate Intranet things. In that case, it’s no different to having an ActiveX control, or Java applet embedded in a page - it requires something else to run it, even though it’s started through your browser.
* = I can’t figure out who it should be attributed to - there’s three different people all mixed in there
If you’re looking for stuff to read when I’m not blogging (or, just want something interesting to read).
Check out these aggregated RSS feeds I’ve set up via Google Reader.
(I’m up to somewhere around 70 RSS subscriptions, all up - if you remove the duplicates. The “Everything” feed is here)
Note: I don’t approve (or even like, some of the time) the articles on these before they go up there - it’s just a shortcut to a bunch of different sources at once. Some sources are under review by me too - so they may not be there all the time.
Edit: I also listen to a bunch of audio casts too (aka “podcasts”) - I’ll dig out my OPML file for that and share it soon.
Remember that TV Show, KITT? Well, PvP have finally revealed the truth. Yes, KITT is a Cylon.
Battlestar Galactica rocks, oh, and btw - someone needs to hook me up with, err, this issue. And… Which chick? Grace Park (Sharon/Eight), Tricia Helfer (Six), or Lucy Lawless (D’Anna Biers/Three)
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