Just received my copy of a book I reviewed as the technical editor: Facebook and Twitter For Seniors For Dummies
This book is not for everybody (is any book?), particularly because Twitter is not for everybody. But it does touch on many aspects of its subjects.
Here’s a hat tip to Lee Mathews at downloadsquad for honoring the anniversary of the release of Windows 95. I remember that people stood in line at Egghead (long gone) at midnight, here in Albuquerque, for the first copies sold. I happened to pass a huge display at WalMart the next day and picked it up. Win95 was wonderful and changed the game in so many ways. In fact, I wrote a piece on what was new and presented a demo to about 200 people at a local event soon after.
In many ways, Vista should have inspired as much excitement. Vista’s failure was confounding. Win7 is a modest improvement over Vista, which was a huge improvement over XP, which was no big improvement over Win95. Hey, but I was the only person on the planet who liked WinME. (Even I didn’t like Microsoft Bob.)
Happy 15th, Windows 95!
by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Aug 24th 2010 at 12:00PM
Today marks an important date in Windows history: the release of Windows 95.
I’d say it’s official when Ed Bott says so.
It’s official: Windows 7 is a hit, and XP is finally in decline | ZDNet – Ed Bott
Meanwhile, Windows 7 keeps selling and XP usage is dropping. That’s certainly true at this site, where Windows 7 visitors now outnumber those using Windows XP and Vista usage has plunged in the past year. Here’s a graphic representation of how Windows 7 usage has increased among visitors to this site since its first beta release back in January 2009.
Vista users were clearly eager to upgrade, judging by these results, even to a beta release of Windows 7. But XP users are also converting at a steady clip, with XP diehards now under the 40% level here. These numbers include only Windows users, but I also found interesting results when I looked at the percentage of visitors using Mac OS X. As of this month, that number has returned to its December 2008 levels (slightly over 5%) after peaking above 8% a year ago this month, just before the launch of Windows 7.
So what’s really going on? You can summarize the entire story in one simple sentence: Windows 7 is the anti-Vista. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
It’s official: Windows 7 is a hit, and XP is finally in decline | ZDNet
Vista – for all it’s poor reception – was a huge leap over XP. Win7 is a modest upgrade (and one nasty backstep) from Vista. Proving once again that fallacy of “the wisdom of the crowd” (they’re wrong as often as not).
Net neutrality lost in Google-Verizon deal [op-ed from The San Francisco Chronicle, details at the link]
Unless Washington is ready to accept an Internet that only works for the wealthiest and most-established websites, Congress needs to step in with net neutrality legislation. And the Google-Verizon pact isn’t even close. They need to go back to the drawing board and get support from consumer groups and Internet users instead of just broadband carriers and web giants. The FCC also needs to step in immediately, by reclassifying broadband under a section of the telecommunications code that’s subject to more scrutiny – and therefore less ability to discriminate.
What you can do: Let FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski know you want the FCC to take action on net neutrality. His e-mail is Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov.
Net neutrality lost in Google-Verizon deal
More than anything, this is just one more datapoint underscoring Vista’s commercial failure. Vista was a HUGE improvement over XP. Win7 is a modest improvement over Vista (plus at least one step back and a couple of sidesteps). I think most people take whatever comes with their hardware. If clinging to XP keeps you from buying a new computer, just let go. If you’re thinking of installing XP on a new computer, don’t do it. You’re denying yourself too much, but that is your right.
From DownloadSquad:
Windows 7 overtakes Vista in StatCounter’s July figures
It was really only a question of when, but Windows 7 has finally overtaken Vista in operating system market share. Windows 7 is now closing in on 20% as Vista’s presence continues to slide. Vista’s lack of popularity aside, Windows 7′s rise is still impressive — especially when you consider the fact that widespread enterprise adoption won’t really take off until service pack one is released early next year. [http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-200907-201008]
Windows 7 overtakes Vista in StatCounter’s July figures
Another interesting StatCounter graph:
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Operating System Market Share
Note XP is still the big kahuna. Hard to imagine.
Mac OS X slips in OS market share for fourth straight month
by Jay Hathaway Aug 2nd 2010 at 4:30PM
Earlier today, Lee Mathews told you how Windows 7 had passed Vista in OS market share, and how Windows XP still seems to have a little gas left in its tank. But what of Mac OS X? Things are looking okay, but not great, for Apple’s desktop operating system, which lost ground for the 4th straight month, according to the July report from Net Applications (as reported by ComputerWorld).
Apple’s 2/10ths of a percentage point drop was its largest drop in over a year and a half. OS X peaked at 5.3% in October, but then Microsoft introduced Windows 7, and was all downhill from there. Apple’s back down to 5%.
Mac OS X slips in OS market share for fourth straight month
I don’t print photos very often. I’m happy keeping them digital. Still, a cheap color inkjet produces some great prints when you want them.
Windows 7 has a built-in Print Pictures function that opens a dialog box full of options. One option in particular gives me pause: [x] Fit picture to frame. Fit – as in make it fit? As in: if the photo is too big for the frame (print area), squeeze it to make it fit? Well, no. See these two examples.
In the first figure, the Fit option is checked, as it is by default. The photo fills the available print space. Only the birds on the left and right hint at a problem.
The second figure shows the full picture because Fit is unchecked. In order to fit the true width of the picture, some print space is left blank above and below.
One might argue the problem is the cropping of this photo, but it is cropped just the way I want it and I think that cropping works particularly well onscreen. And what of panoramas? To me, the problem is the word “fit.”
My advice: When cropping, keep printing in mind if you intend to print the cropped photo. When printing, preview each print with and without this option checked – it makes little difference for photos whose aspect ratio (height to width) is close to the aspect ratio of the print area, but the difference may be significant.
PS: This isn’t just a problem with printing cropped photos. Most film had an aspect ratio of 3:2 (making a 6×4 print). Digital cameras picked up TV’s pre-digital aspect ratio 4:3. Some cameras shoot the HD (from movie) ratio of 16:9. So, getting a photo to look great on a computer screen, on TV, in a digital frame, and in print is, well, a challenge.
Thanks to Download Squad for reminding me Win7 has been out one full year today. Of course, Windows 8 is in the works right now.
Windows 7 celebrates its first birthday by Lee Mathews (RSS feed) Jul 22nd 2010 at 10:00AM
It’s somewhat hard to believe, but Windows 7 turned one year old today. July 22nd of 2009 saw the initial release of the Windows 7 RTM, with torrent sites beating Microsoft to the punch (but hey, that’s become sort of a running gag at this point).
Windows 7 has been a huge win for Microsoft so far, pushing customer satisfaction levels to a new high and helping to accelerate the move to 64-bit computing. Next up: service pack 1, which is set to arrive some time in early 2011 — though it’s primarily a rollup of previous hotfixes.
But that’s a good thing, right? If customers are so satisfied that probably means no big changes are necessary. Not yet, anyhow. Maybe by the time Windows 7 gets as long in the tooth as Windows XP.
Windows 7 celebrates its first birthday
Roku makes a device that connects your TV and your Internet connection. Most people know of Roku as a Netflix player: You can watch any Instant title from Netflix on your TV using the Roku player. Merri and I have been through all of 30Rock several times and are back in season one of King of the Hill now.
Roku plays other media, as well. For example, I connect to Flickr and Facebook using Roku to show pictures from those sources.
In addition to the “official channels” on Roku, the player has a feature for so-called “private channels,” which allow a third-party to provide connections to other media. The Nowhereman has released several of these ‘channels’ that actually simply connect you to YouTube, among others. Now, nowhereman has released a private channel that enables the otherwise idle USB port on the Roku XR player, allowing you to see a slideshow of photos on a flash drive. Very cool. (Get a short USB extender cable to hang over your player, giving you a port in front, instead of in back.)
Get More Out Of Your Roku Digital Video Player
I’m amazed it took a third-party to do this. I can’t imagine why Roku is still delaying official support for this function, except that they want a certain number of units sold before they’ll do so. I’m also amazed – continually – by the generosity and ingenuity of people on the Web. Thanks, nowhereman, et al..
I use two monitors on my desktop. (And my laptop sits to the left of those, so I see three screens at once.) This screenshot shows you the full expanse of the two monitors, although I see a gap of about 3 inches between the monitors, just where the Word window ends, below the date and time. On the far right, that’s a virtual machine (VM) running a copy of Windows 7 that is adjusted to meet Wiley’s requirements for figures that appear in the book (1024×768 pixels plus some tweaks). In that VM, the Print option of Windows Live Photo Gallery beta (“Wave4”) appears.
I really like the navigation bar in Word 2010 (with the yellow highlight). It’s fantastic for navigating between sections, as well as moving, deleting, and copy sections. Plus the Find command is at the top. As for Windows Live Wave4: all the products have Ribbon toolbars, like it or not (and I do, mostly). Windows Live Photo Gallery is very slow, however. I hope that gets fixed.
Three things are different from this current arrangement versus everyday. First, I have the resolution on both monitors higher than usual. Worse, I have the default screen fonts at 100% (too small), instead of the large option I usually use. I had to do this because the VM just wouldn’t fit under my normal settings, although it should have! Finally, my taskbar normally appears on the second monitor thanks to Ultramon. (Come on, Microsoft. More than 10 years after multiple monitor support came about and you still don’t put a taskbar on each?) Something about the current resolution results in that second taskbar being twice as tall as necessary, with wasted space below the small icons. Sometimes I just hate the hoops one jumps through with software.
Flickr has a new ‘preview’ version, a beta of sorts, with many nice new features, including larger photos on the individual photo page. (I don’t notice any changes on the photostream pages.) Kudos for Flickr for making it very easy to turn this preview function on and off – just use the links below. Excellent. (Not that you’ll want to turn it off, truth be told.)
How can I opt-in or opt-out of the new photo page preview?
During the preview you can opt-in or opt-out of the new photo page view at anytime using the links below.
Take me back to the present! (opt-out)
If you opt-out you can continue to use the current photo page until the finalized version of the new page is released. When the new page is fully released, it will be the exclusive viewing option for all images on Flickr. If you have feedback during the preview let us know in the group.
Flickr: Help: General Flickr Questions
If you have a gmail account, you may receive a message like the following. Hopefully, it will be obvious to you that you should not reply to this email. (Use the Report Spam button, instead.) This is dim-witted phishing.
Google Account Verification
Due to the congestion in our Gmail servers,there would be removal of all unused Gmail Accounts.You will have to confirm if your E-mail is still active by filling out your login info below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.
Account Name:
Password:
Country :Note: This email is only for Account owner.
Thank you for using Gmail !
The Gmail Team
www.geekologie.com posted this handy chart. (Click the chart for the larger version or right-click to save to disk.)
I’m looking at the Nikon Coolpix P100. I’m a sucker for a superzoom plus macro – get me close, one way or another. I’ve owned a Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 for just over a year. I like it quite a bit. So, naturally, I’ll compare my next camera closely to my current camera. These two sites make it easy to see specs side-by-side.
Compare the Nikon Coolpix P100 vs Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 – Snapsort
Digital Cameras Side-by-Side, 2 cameras: Digital Photography Review
Take such comparisons with a grain of salt. As just one example, the DPR site says the P100 comes with a charger – not anywhere I’ve seen, other than the in-camera charger, which may be what they mean.
These kinds of charts cannot replace actual reviews, both professional and amateur, such as on Amazon. I also saw one review on YouTube that was pretty informative.
Someone who has lived with a camera can point out things that a quick survey or chart won’t. For example, the Sony HX1 automatically switches into Macro mode; the Nikon P100, like the earlier Sony models, requires a button press – not a deal-breaker. On the other hand, the Nikon’s method of releasing the flash makes it easy to suppress the flash, as on earlier Sonys; the Sony HX1 opens the flash automatically, meaning you have to press buttons to suppress it. These are details most reviews miss but which may make affect you every day.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/
http://www.dcviews.com/cameras.htm
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/
Social networking sites, such as Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook, let you use short messages to update your friends on what you’re doing, your mood, etc. Yes, a status update may say more than anyone cares to know, yet these short “Hello World!” messages do remind everyone you’re still alive.
Visitors to my three blogs may notice – or not – that I’ve incorporated status updates into the header of each blog. (On most blogs, the tagline rarely changes.) The two of you who use RSS to subscribe to my blogs will still, er, get the benefit of these updates, which are like any other posting, only briefer. (Huzzah!)
I expect to update my status no more than once a day and as little as once a week on each blog. If you want to see all status updates for one blog, there’s a link for that. To see all updates and entries for all blogs – you glutton, you – there’s a link for that, too.
I do miss the interaction in Facebook, where a status update often elicits a response from more than one friend. Out here in the wilderness, these updates may only be greeted by the sound of tumbleweeds blowing and coyotes ululating. Do feel free to comment (just click on the status update in the header) or send email.
