Things to Remember When Building a Computer

Dell takes small steps toward Linux

Dell buyers demanding Linux-ready machines... That's almost as funny as the Christian Science Monitor. What's next? Mac users demanding a functional multi-button mouse?

Tired of Dell's bullshit with the load of crapware pre-installed on your computer that are impossible to get rid of as if they dragged their asses on your carpet? Tired of waiting to upgrade a component and in the process voiding your warranty? Tired of people laughing at you online because "dude, you have a Dell?!" Build your own computer and learn something on the way for a change.

Buying

1. Google - Google for reviews by other users
2. Don't be cheap - things are more expensive for a reason
3. There are components that are regularly on sale - Hard drives especially
   
4. Don't hesitate - if you keep thinking things will get cheaper you'll never get a computer
5. Newegg.com

Building

1. RTFM
2. If it doesn't fit, you did it wrong
3. RTFM - the CD that came with the hardware serves a purpose, most of the time
   

BT Goes Hollywood

BitTorrent.com has made a deal with several Hollywood studios including Fox, Paramount, and WB to distribute their content via torrents for a FEE! TV shows can be downloaded and kept but movies will self destruct a la Mission Impossible after some time. The files are protected by Microsoft and will be unwatchable after 30 days or 24 hours after watching.

Hollywood is just trying to use the BT name to sell their stuff. Will the actual technology be a factor in this? Usually torrent sites require users to maintain a share ratio to allow them to download. Now that people no longer feel the "obligation" to seed the torrents because they paid for this, no one would want to upload the content.

Will this actually make people use this service and increase revenue for studios and decrease piracy or will it only put a spotlight on torrents and make countless number of people still using limewire Google for torrent sites.

Just seems like Napster all over again.

JJ Abrams to direct Star Trek XI - o rly?

As you probably know, Abrams has been linked to the new Star Trek movie for quite a while now. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Abrams has officially signed on to the project as the director and producer. He is also working as a writer.

The movie supposedly revolves around young Kirk and Spock in the Starfleet Academy and is scheduled for release for Christmas 2008.

I am highly skeptical about this movie since the writers for it are best known for writing Hercules and Xena: The Warrior Princess. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. As far as I can tell, no one who is currently on board has worked on a Star Trek project before...

The real question is: "When will there be a movie (or even better, a new series) revolving around the DS9 crew?"

Google Apps - Is it gon' fly?

GMail & GCalendar - MS Exchange Server & Outlook

Gets rid of at least 1 server in your organization. Cuts down on maintenance cost and licensing fees. I've tried to use Outlook once and I hated it and never wanted to touch it again. This is the easiest part of the Apps suite for the users to adopt and imo, the best sell point for companies considering Apps.

Of course there is some issues of trust in letting someone else store your proprietary stuff. Sometimes, "do no evil" will just not be enough... Wonder if Google will put GMail into a Google Mini and call it GMailBox?

Docs & Spreadsheets - Word and Excel

D&S doesn't have nearly as much functionality as Office does. But for simple memos and TPS reports (including cover sheets), it will do. People are making a big deal about this one since Office is pretty much the standard software to have on a Windows machine(minus Open Office.)

Page Creator > Front Page

Front Page is just terrible. Notice how every college professor will want to have their own web page on their schools' domain? It is often inconsistent to the design of the main site. Using Page Creator, this can be controlled!

Start Page

Makes everything web based is the biggest leap users will have to take. Not everyone has adopted the web 2.0 mindset. It won't be easy to make the 48 year old woman working in sales effectively working with web-based software. It's gonna be like teaching a white guy to dance.

The Why of netsicles

When I saw Google unveiling Google Apps Premium, I felt the need to express myself on the Internet. The only proper way to do so is via Blogger. I came up with this name when I was in the shower 15 minutes ago trying to think of a name of my blog. I tried to make new word with "net" in it and making it sound like testicles(the part of my body I was cleaning). I came up with "neticles" and then somehow ended up with "netsicles" which is... less obscene.