Macs and the Net
Vista
11/03/07 14:14
So Windows Vista has been out for a
little bit now, but I haven't even touched it yet, for every public
computer I've used has stuck with XP for the time being. I read
Digg, and although
that site has a heavy Mac/Linux bias, it still seems that Vista is
a nightmare of heavy-handed antipiracy measures and a shiny ripoff
of MacOSX from two years ago.
Back when XP came out ... 5 years ago? ... I upgraded because Millennium was such a piece of garbage, and the press about XP was that it was an improvement. I don't seem to be hearing the same - on the contrary - I keep hearing of school boards, large companies or government sectors that are switching to free versions of Linux in order to avoid the cost / hassle of upgrading to one of Vista's many versions.
Incidentally, the expansion from 2 versions of XP to 5 versions of Vista seems to have affected the lure of getting any of them, which is, we will recall from that TED video I posted, the paradox of choice.
So what's the deal, Windows users? Is it too expensive? Are there two many versions? Are you waiting for the first service pack to come out and fix the inevitable wave of problems? Is upgrading too much of a hassle or too dangerous?
Back when XP came out ... 5 years ago? ... I upgraded because Millennium was such a piece of garbage, and the press about XP was that it was an improvement. I don't seem to be hearing the same - on the contrary - I keep hearing of school boards, large companies or government sectors that are switching to free versions of Linux in order to avoid the cost / hassle of upgrading to one of Vista's many versions.
Incidentally, the expansion from 2 versions of XP to 5 versions of Vista seems to have affected the lure of getting any of them, which is, we will recall from that TED video I posted, the paradox of choice.
So what's the deal, Windows users? Is it too expensive? Are there two many versions? Are you waiting for the first service pack to come out and fix the inevitable wave of problems? Is upgrading too much of a hassle or too dangerous?
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Pzizz!
21/09/06 23:01
I
recently found a cool program though my friend Matt - pzizz. The
weird name comes from its function: it induces sleep. Basically,
you start the program and it plays a randomly generated track of a
man talking quietly (and no, he isn't saying "buy coke" or "kill
the president", though one of those requires much less convincing)
and strange music. My gleanings from the website suggest that the
music is specifically designed with a frequency modulation that
stimulates the areas of the brain that are active during
sleep.
There are two versions, the basic powernap version, and the addon sleep version. Normally the former costs $40 and the latter, $20, but right now the website www.mydreamapp.com is holding a contest for ideas for cool Mac applications and if you sign up and vote BEFORE THE END OF FRIDAY you get a FREE copy of the nap version!
I have tried the nap version a couple times and have thought it was really cool. Recently I have been waking up earlier and doing more with my day, so I end up feeling exhausted. I have only had a couple chances to try the nap, but both times it make me really relaxed, though not quite asleep, as I didn't have a good place to really stretch out. The sleep module, however, can be downloaded as a trial, and it knocks me right out. Last night I was asleep in about 5 minutes, though in fairness, I rarely toss and turn longer than 10. The naps can also be exported as mp3, so you can listen on your ipod and sleep wherever.
Anyway, it looks cool and it available for Mac and lowly windows, so give it a shot. I'm off to bed.
There are two versions, the basic powernap version, and the addon sleep version. Normally the former costs $40 and the latter, $20, but right now the website www.mydreamapp.com is holding a contest for ideas for cool Mac applications and if you sign up and vote BEFORE THE END OF FRIDAY you get a FREE copy of the nap version!
I have tried the nap version a couple times and have thought it was really cool. Recently I have been waking up earlier and doing more with my day, so I end up feeling exhausted. I have only had a couple chances to try the nap, but both times it make me really relaxed, though not quite asleep, as I didn't have a good place to really stretch out. The sleep module, however, can be downloaded as a trial, and it knocks me right out. Last night I was asleep in about 5 minutes, though in fairness, I rarely toss and turn longer than 10. The naps can also be exported as mp3, so you can listen on your ipod and sleep wherever.
Anyway, it looks cool and it available for Mac and lowly windows, so give it a shot. I'm off to bed.