Video modes

1080i, 420p, 720p -- What's this all about you say? Let’s start with the basics – Progressive vs Interlaced

Interlaced - Interlaced scanning was invented back in the 1920s as a way to broadcast TV signals within a narrow bandwidth. It can cause flicker and various kinds of distortion. Interlace is still used for most standard definition TVs, The technology available during the time it was invented didn’t allow for sending a full image over the air at the necessary rate to create a smooth sense of motion at the viewer’s end. This method consists splits each image into its odd and even horizontal lines in order send each group separately. The image will later be reconstructed at the destination by putting together the two groups at a quick enough rate to fool the eye from noticing the split. For a nice animated example in Wikipedia, click here.

Progressive - In contrast, progressive (or non-interlaced) scanning manages to display the entire image at one time.

If you are to enjoy your new next-gen console in all it’s HD glory, I suggest you get yourself a decent 720p HDTV (arguably better than a 1080i HDTV, see why here)

So what does this all mean?

During the broadcast of an image using progressive scan, it is displayed on your Television screen line by line from top to bottom. On the other hand, interlace scanning displays the same image, but only for every other line; it then fills in the missing rows.

Frame is the term used to describe the entire image when it is not split into odd and even lines. Field is the term used to describe the half-an-image groups made of odd or even lines. These two words therefore allow us to refer to the display rate as either frames per second or fields per second.

The different formats are defined upon three aspects:

• Number of lines: 480, 720 and 1080.
  
• Display Method: progressive or interlaced.
  
• Display Rate: frames or fields per second.
  

Normal TV’s (or at least the ancient one I have) have a 480i display rate. This means it uses interlaced scanning and has a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines. It also has an aspect ratio of 4:3 as opposed 16:9 ratio seen in most HDTV’s.
The aspect ratio of an image is its displayed width divided by its height (usually expressed as "x:y"). For instance, the aspect ratio of a traditional television screen, like the one I have is 4:3.
High Definition Television sets allow broadcasting with a significantly higher resolution than traditional formats, such as the one my TV uses.

HDTV’s contain different formats for broadcasting, they can be identified by :
1 . The number of lines in the vertical display resolution.
2 . Whether progressive frames (p) or interlaced fields (i) are used.
3 . The number of frames or fields per second.
As I said earlier, Frames denote the display rate where Progressive scanning is used as it refers to the ‘entire image, when it is not split into odd and even lines’. Fields, however, denotes the half-image groups made of odd or even lines.

The frame rate in hertz can be either implied by the context or specified after the letter p (such as 1080p30, meaning 30 frames per second).
For example, the format 720p60 is 1280 × 720 pixels, progressive encoding with 60 frames per second (60 Hz). 720p assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, and a horizontal resolution of 1280 pixels for a total of about 0.92 million pixels. The frame rate (in this case equal to the field rate) can be either implied by the context or specified in hertz after the letter p.

The format 1080i50 is 1920 × 1080 pixels, interlaced encoding with 50 fields (25 frames) per second. Usually assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a horizontal (display) resolution of 1920 dots across and a frame resolution of 1920 × 1080 or about 2.07 million pixels.

Information for this post was gathered from Wikipedia and here.

 

New slang

As you can see, my blog's design has been defaulted to one of Bloggers standard templates. This  is because I felt my previous template was getting stale, so, until I figure out a way to semantically tinker this template to accomodate my own CSS styles & links, this template will stay.
Time flies; it's been an interesting couple of months marked by many things that i'd like to include in this entry, but doing so would exceed the limit and purpose of this post.
First  things first -  Sony's Playstation 3 killer launch party was held this month. Besides its hefty price tag and ridiculously low supply of units, the PS3 left people with mixed emotions. To get your hands on Sony's next-gen console, you either had to camp for days outside stores in the States (and risk getting shot at) or smart enough to have pre-ordered your console months ago. Needless to say, they won't be available at their original price in this region for a few months to come, not unless you're willing to dish out 1000$ and purchase one on E-bay. Next came Nintendo with their Wii console, the 'redhead' of the next-generation console family, the Wii was the cheapest and appealed to a more generic fan-base compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Actually, if you think about it - the PS3 doesn't appeal to anyone in particular. Who is Sony targetting with the PS3?).. to be continued throughout the week

stuff i've been doing/watching/testing/
'Seeders, Leechers, Trackers'? Don't understand how does Bittorent works? Take a look at this interactive applet to give you a better idea.
Python
Java
Microsoft Office 2007 - Intuitive new 'Ribbon' interface - does the competition stand a chance?
The Departed - 10/10 Watch. This. Movie.
Casino Royale - The latest in the Bond series. certainly a more 'darker' Bond than ever. I liked it.
The 'scrapped' Jackass 2 finale scene - Why wasn't this included? 'Tis simply awesome!
Wikipedia's evil twin
CSS Shorthand Guide


in future posts - best software of 2006, WoW : Burning Crusade, PS3 specs, a look at Playstation Portable 3.0 Firmware, Python test coding, Microsoft Zune : why it sucks

A look back at E3

Well basically, this year's E3 conference was much anticipated due to alot of reasons - some being 1) Rumours of Sony's PS3 concerning its hefty price and release date would be put to rest finally
2) Nintendo's Revolution would be unveiled, and later on, take a proper name.
And many other reasons that make E3 a great event that's looked forward to many people.

Well to start off, it's pretty obvious that Nintendo stole the show at this years event. Nintendo has a unique way of being 'different', and this year, being the black sheep of the family has certainly paid off for them. The Nintendo Revolution was named - Wii (pronounced Wee). What was unique about a console that one could make more than a million jokes about? It had motion sensing technology. No, not just the motion sensing whereby a controller new whether it was being moved down or up. We're talking the ability to use your Nintendo Wii-mote (the catchy name for the Wii controller) as a tennis racket. Now that is cool. So why did Nintendo dominate this year's event, compared to other years where it did 'ok' or came in second to other consoles?
It was all based on how the controller or rather the concept of the Wii changed the way people gamed. This time around Nintendo wasn't aiming at the average gamer, they decided to do something different as they always end up doing - They targetted the most important under-utilised resource of the gaming industry - Non gamers. With the release of their Wii console, Wii literally meaning 'We' or referring gamers as a collective, Nintendo made it clear that they were targetting everyone.

Enough about Nintendo's achievements, surely there had to be something great about Sony's announcements - but the truth is, people weren't satisfied. The PS3, which come's out on November 17 this year, didn't leave many people talking after E3. This is not only because of it's hefty price tag, but because of Sony's mixed messages. The 'boomerang' controller design (which struck me as dumb and odd) was scrapped to make way for not a new innovative design but the same of DualShock 2 controller. That is quite ironic because, since Sony lost a lawsuit to some company over the Force Feedback technology in their controllers, the PS3 controller does not have vibration in it. So basically, at this years E3 expo Sony lacked any form of innovation whatsoever, instead they thought it would be better to mimick a form of motion sensing found in the Wii. You won't be able to experience the immersive gameplay that can be achieved using a Wii-mote, since the PS3 controller senses only Yaw and Tilt.
Click here to read GameDaily's interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata
Click here to watch Sony's E3 2006 conference compared to what Sony promised in their 2005 E3 conference.

Of note, the loss of HDMI outputs (downgraded from 2 to only 1 on the premium console), ethernet ports (now only 1), and controller inputs (from 7 to 4).
What we are wondering is how much the system would have cost if the PlayStation 3 met 2005 specifications.

$599 - That's how much you will have to pay for a 'proper' PS3
$499 - That's how much you will have to pay for a not-so PS3 PS3

Playstation 3 System Features

Feature	20 GB System	60 GB System
Size of hard drive	20 GB	60 GB
Upgradable hard drive	Yes	Yes
Blu-ray drive	Yes	Yes
Wi-Fi connectivity	No	Yes
HDMI connection	No	Yes
Memory Stick reader	No	Yes

End of Part 1 -- (I'm going to have to split this entry into two posts)

My PersonalDNA, I return

Considerate Creator

What's the deal? Click here to get your personality test taken. It's pretty acurate. Mouse-over the image above to see what the color codes represent.

Stay tuned for more posts :)

Getting Things Done

Lifehacking is a portmanteau term coined by Danny O’Brien. He linked together the words “life” and “hacks” and created a phrase that enable to describe any hacks, tips and tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increase productivity and organizing. Lifehacks are basically anything that is a solution to an everyday problem. The term is used to describe solutions to getting organized, being more creative, planning things our, time management, etc. If you're like me and find it hard to work with deadlines and get things organized, then you'll find this post to be quite helpful. With the aid of some of the links below, you can use them to plan and organize various things. Not only does it help you to be more creative, it makes you more efficient. For a more in-depth article on Lifehacking, click here.

First of all, you would want to look at sites such as
Lifehacker, To-Done, Lifehack.org, D*I*Y Planner , 43Folders for an updated collection of thoughts, writings, tips, tricks and information on personal productivity, work/life balance ultimately in the hopes of getting things done.

Websites
With the advent and spreading of Web 2.0 websites, more and more productivity websites have emerged. Some examples of such websites are
30Boxes.com – Handy online calendar
43things.com - You might find you have some important and some frivolous goals. You’ve got space for 43 Things on your list.
Remember The Milk – A free online to-do list that comes with reminders and tonnes of other features.
Backpack It - Organize to do lists, notes, images, and photos.
HipCal - Online calendar with to-do lists, alerts, address book and group calendars (join a group for your classes at school or create a group for a club, project team, or group of friends)
PocketMod - Carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish. PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It's best that you just dive in and create one.

Other
Rest assured that you can plan and organize whatever you need/want done with these software.
Rainlendar – Fully skinnable desktop calendar that has a to-do list and an Event list.
GettingThingsDone Wiki - A TiddlyWiki is like a blog because it's divided up into neat little chunks, but it encourages you to read it by hyperlinking rather than sequentially: if you like, a non-linear blog analogue that binds the individual microcontent items into a cohesive whole. It is a client side wiki, and is really handy in manging a variety of tasks and to-do notes.

Note that these are just a few of the many resources i have listed here. I will update them as I see more helpful links and websites.

The 99th Post

ZZzzzzzz.. My blog hasn't been updated in a while :( Well this is because i've been busy with a whole lot of things (this is becoming a trademark). But dont' fear, i've found some spare time to jot down some interesting finds and opinions. Althought it says my last entry was on January the 27th, this is not so true; I logged in quite a couple of times, clicked Write New Post and was too tired to strings words together to write in an entry. Well that's that.
We're in the middle of February and some exciting things have happened. I'll list them in no particular order

* Console wars : Nintendo Revolution gossip, Playstation 3 Launch Date
* Silkroad : A fun free MMoRPG
* WoW Weather Effects patch infomation
* Desktop modding & some really handy apps

Alot has been happening concerning the Nintendo Revolution. Earlier this month, we saw the leak of concept logos for the Nintendo Revolution meant for developers, followed by scanned screens of a Nintendo catalog showing the evolution of the Nintendo controller. Based on the news we've seen on the media so far, there certainly is a lot of hype about Nintendo's upcoming console. Recently, a user by the name of 'MicrosoftIsDumbI' posted a lengthy but well argued post on the Gamespot forums, his post contained a well debated opinion, based on facts and quotes from the Nintendo main men, about where the Revolution was going. In my opinion, if what was written in his post is true (we'll have to wait and see what happens at E3, where the Revolution will be exhibited) then Nintendo's new console would be the most 'fun' and revolutionary console ever made. Click here to read the thread on the Gamespot forums.

For those of you that can't be bothered reading all that; he was trying to say that the Revolution will change the way we game – he claimed that the Revolution contained a projector that would allow us to project games onto walls and other surfaces, when not plugged into the TV. Quite a 'Nintendo' move, in my opinion. This is possibly true as the console is not rectangular in shape, but slopes down when positioned vertically. Not only did the person claim that the console had a projector inside it, quotes from former a former Nintendo president showed his vision for the future (3d projected gaming), and further quotes stressed the importance of this vision. The main question is however, will the Revolution appeal to gamers? It certainly is worth it! As it is a good 150$ cheaper than the X360 and around 300$ cheaper that the rumoured cost of a PS3 (500$).

Rumours have been going around that the Playstation 3 will probably be hitting the streets on September 21st in the US, September 16th in Japan, and include a new XBox Live-alike system - HUB. The Playstation HUB is Sony's take on XBox Live, it will include identical facilities that are provided in XBox Live, such as IM, downloadable media and online gameplay.

I'm all for the XBox 360, although i had some doubts about the Xbox360 while it was being released, it proved to be an all-round awesome console. I bet all the PS3 fanboys out there are probably getting more sceptical about the whole PS3 vs X360 topic as i was just reading that it will cost 900$! Click here to read the PDF containing the approximate cost of all the components that are said to be in the PS3. That much of money would get you some decent PC upgrades such as the nVidia 7800GT (*the* best graphics card in the market, it seems) Considering what Sony's trying to get under the hood of this thing $900 sounds reasonable, but since almost all game companies always sell their consoles at a loss at launch, we shouldn't have to worry too much about coughing up about a grand for a PS3. Eh, I'd only pay about six or seven hundred at most.

The other thing I've been playing/doing/addicted to (delete appropriately) is Silkroad. Silkroad is a free MmoRPG made by Korean game developers Joymax. The aim of the game is basically to level up (at max, it would take you around 3 days to hit lvl 20) by doing quests, finding items, spec-ing your character to some of the many forces/weapons in the game and eventually becoming either a Thief, Hunter or a Trader. Thieves, as you would guess, thiev or rob (is it? :P) stuff of traders. Traders walk or run or trade (-.-) between towns and sell items to make a profit. Hunters, on the other hand, protect Traders, and so on and so forth.

The only downfall about the game is it's lack of proper English. Other than that, it is quite addictive, and could possibly be the first WoW cure (Its a cure for MmoRPG's in general, that we need)

While on the topic of MmoRPGs, World of Warcraft, or more commonly a game that has well over 5 million addicts (couldn't find a better adjective) is on its endless march towards perfecting and balancing their hugely successful game. Blizzard is putting the final touches on the upcoming 1.10 patch, due some time in the near future. The three main adjustments in the patch are changes in the design of the Priest talent tree, the option to upgrade blue dungeon armor sets and finally – weather effects. No better way than to make the game lag even more on our machines. Passing through Ironforge is already difficult , but hey, doing so while raining and/or snowing wouldn't be a problem right? Wrong. But wait, there's hope. In an interview with 1up.com, WoW Lead designer Jeff Kaplan stated that “the option will be there to turn them off if that's what you prefer. “

For those of you that happen to be reading this post and do play WoW, catch me on the Medivh server in the near future.

Finally, my desktop has gone through tonnes of changes. Click here to see it in its current state. Some stuff you would want to look at or get if you're in to desktop modding:

Luna Element 5 – Excellent theme that resembles Windows Vista

Rainlendar – Skinnable calendar tool with to-do list and events list

Lclock – Change the dull look of the default Windows clock to make it look like the Longhorn clock

Nintendo DS Lite

Welcome to my 98th post on this blog! Two more and I hit 100 posts (master of the obvious)
One particular console i'd like to add my generous collection of systems is the Nintendo DS, and thankfully, Nintendo have officially confirmed their Nintendo DS Lite. Check out pics here. Also, while you're at it, you might want to read up 10 things you didn't know about a Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection here. Compared to the Sony PSP, you can say that the DS does not quite match the PSP's graphical and homebrew-able capabilities, but one thing's for sure, Nintendo certainly won over gamers by making their latest addition to the console family different. What did they do that Sony didn't? They actually made it 'fun to play with'. Some features such as Pictochat, in my opinion, is awesome.
Also, the DS utilises its Wi-Fi connection extensively and Nintendo clearly made their online connectivity flexible (for example, if you don't have a Wi-Fi hotspot near you, connect your DS through a USB connector to play online through your existing internet connection on your PC). No doubt the PSP is cool, but the sales figures speak for themselves - 800,000-odd PSPs since 12 December 2004 debut versus 2.84m DS units since late November launch. Also, while i'm on the topic of portable consoles, rumour has it (the movie sucked) that Microsoft is developing a portable console/iPod rival product. More info here. Enough of DS-ranting, recently i jumped onto the Lost series bandwagon. It's an amazing series, so far i'm on the 6th episode and i'm dying to find out what happens.
Also, since I got subdomain hosting not far back I've been installing open source CMS's (to no avail) - which eventually means i'll have to stick with either Wordpress, Pivot (IMO, better than Nucleus only if it would INSTALL!!) or Nucleus. If you're unhappy with the CMS you're using, read this article to get a better sense of direction.

Featured link - Big(and i mean BIG) Beer Ad | Fastr - A Flickr tag guessing game |

Internet Explorer 7

It has been just under 2 years since the release of Mozilla Firefox 0.8 in February 2004. The project which became Firefox started as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite. When sufficiently developed, binaries for public testing appeared 2002 under the name Phoenix.
Firefox has developed considerably since its first release as Phoenix on September 23, 2002. The browser is lauded by fans for its download speed and a superior user interface, and users say that its pop-up blocker is one of the best out there. It offers tabbed browsing, which means that users can jump back and forth between different sites with only one window open, and live bookmarks, which show users the most recent headlines on their favorite sites and lets them go directly to those articles. Firefox 2 development is well underway, with an Alpha 1 release set to come out on February 10. For more info on Firefox 2 "Bon echo" features, click here.
If you're one of the few people who are not so sure about the Firefox hype, download it here, to change your browsing experience. Here's some information about IE7 :

1. IE 7 was originally scheduled only for inclusion in Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn)
2. IE 7 will be focused on security
3. IE 7 will include tabbed browsing
4. IE 7 will not include a new Outlook Express version
5. IE 7 will be free
6. IE 7 will ship for XP SP2, XP x64
7. The version of IE in Windows Vista (codenamed Longhorn) will be quite different from standalone IE
8. IE 7 will include major changes for Web devs.
9. IE 7 will not include ad blocking

Click here to view the IE7 screenshots gallery.

Featured link - James Bond : Casino Royale info |Nanotubes in the near future | US Army super gun | My WoW Mage sketch
I'm currently working on a website called Greyform.

Lifehacker software

ABC's Googleplex visit was quite interesting as the Google park or campus as it's better known, reflects the companies goals and ethics (which have come under fire recently) . Bob Woodruff, the ABC anchor takes a tour of the complex and it is quite obvious that Google is very concerned about the wellbeing of its employees. Just imagine working for a company where food, haircuts, trips and many other stuff is 100% free. Not only is food free, but employees are given things such as exercise equipment which are scattered around the hallways. If you ask me, Google is the #1 company to work for, even though employees there may be a little wierd, Google employs the smartest.
If you want to check out the video tour - click here. Oh and if you didn't know, Google has seen a 400,000 % growth in revenues over the past 5 years. Thats my 0.2 $ on Google.

Lifehacker software
software that you should have

• 7Zip - When WinZip started refusing to open certain necessary file formats, I switched to 7-Zip and never looked back. ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM and DEB, oh my
• FoxIt PDF Reader (Firefox Extension) - In the time it takes for Adobe Acrobat Reader to launch and then load up that PDF, you could download, install and open it with FoxIt with time to spare. Ditch Adobe for FoxIt’s leaner, meaner PDF browsing.
• Audacity - Wanna record a song being played on an Internet radio station? How about clip a tune down to 20 seconds to make it your cell phone’s ringtone? Audacity will do ya right.
• Picasa 2 - If you have a family member that has recently purchased a digital camera, this is a must have program. Manages all your pictures. Want a reason to download it? It's a Google owned company :P
  
• VLC Media Player - If you had a file that WMP or any other media player whined about failing to open, this is what you need. In my opinion, the best media player out there.
  
• Free Download Manager - Normally you'd think this containd spyware and adware. This is not the case. Use Free Download Manager in the place of Mozilla's Download tool (since it times out so often) This software downloads files at blazing speeds and it will not fail you.
  
• Skype 2.0 - Get a headset. Get Skype 2.0, now you're connected to anyone else that has a headset and the program. Superb audio quality, VoIP at its best.
  
• OpenOffice.org - Stop using MS Office! Start using OpenOffice.org! Contains all software that do the same functions as the MSOffice package.
  
• Miranda - A reason to get stop using MSN Messenger. Miranda contains all IM clients and what's best is - you can skin it all you like.

Featured link - IE 7 screens | The 1 Gigapixel Photo | How to eat Sushi | The Slanket | The longest page on the internet | X-Men 3 Screens |
btw - this post was written at around about the same time Liverpool lost to Manchester United - damn.

Found In Translation

Its been around 1 week since I last posted here! This was because I was busy with some work and took some time to design my personal website, which, if you would like to see is here - http://nouhad.technat.org/mysite. Feel free to check it out and if you would like, comment on this post so that I can get some feedback on how it looks.
Here are some stuff i've been checking out these past couple of days :

• The most expensive resort in the world
• Underwater Hotel!
• Funny photoshops
• Crazy Mac desktop setup
• Want to instal Mac OSX 10.4.3 alongside XP? Here's how
• MS Paint artwork
• Best of Google video
  

Featured app - Miranda IM 0.4.0.2

Boinc Boinc

Thanks to Beastage on neowin IRC, I discovered Boinc! Boinc stands for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. What Boinc basically does once you download and install the software is donate your PC's computing power to scientific research projects such as: SETI@Home and Einstein@Home. In other words; this means that during your computer's idle time, you and many others who have Boinc, are actualy helping out either in the search for extraterrestial lifeforms or gravitational signals emitted by pulsars. This means that instead of institutes having only one super computer doing all the searching, people can actively choose to help increase the overall computing power in researching various projects. Other projects are :

• Climateprediction.net: study climate change
• Einstein@home: search for gravitational signals emitted by pulsars
• LHC@home: improve the design of the CERN LHC particle accelerator
• Predictor@home: investigate protein-related diseases
• Rosetta@home: help researchers develop cures for human diseases
• SETI@home: Look for radio evidence of extraterrestrial life
• Cell Computing biomedical research (Japanese; requires nonstandard client software)
• World Community Grid: advance our knowledge of human disease.

You probably think that it would take up a whole lot of space and consume alot of resources on your PC while it runs. This is not the case, as you can choose when and how the software runs, if you want to - you can tell the program to run only when your PC is idle. I myself am running SETI@Home and Einstein@Home, after all why not help out humanity while your PC idles.

Featured Link - Satellite detects massive extrasolar Earth | Video of cool 'origami' retractable car hood | Old lady vs. Mercedes Benz | Reality photos and PGR3 in-game scenery |
MacWorld - Inside the Core Duo found in Macbooks

Audio so real, it's scary

Till I find something to blog on or write about, here are some interesting finds.
Here's something I came across on Digg.com. This three dimensional audio clip is so real, you can actually judge where its coming from. Check it out here. For info on Holophonia, click here.
Also, a video clip from Nintendo's E3 2005 booth that shows off its amazing floor screen technology. You have to see it to believe it, its amazing stuff.

A new audiocast has been released that targets hackers, geeks, and the security paranoid. SploitCast will discuss a wide variety of topics; these include, but are not limited to, new vulnerabilities, exploit code, security and tech news.


Featured Link - Search Flickr by sketching an image | Most anticipated games of 2006 (Courtesy IGN)
Featured App - HOT AllPeers. A free extension which combines the strength of Firefox and the efficiency of BitTorrent to transform your favorite browser into a media sharing powerhouse. To view screens, click here. HOT

Note - Stay tuned for a hands-on preview of Windows Vista, im awaiting my legal copy.
BTW - Be sure to comment on posts as I have resorted to a new commenting system.

Optimus Keyboard

All I can say is - WOW! This is the best keyboard i've seen and since its keys are customizable LED's its even better. Check out the screens and the website. Rumoured to cost around 399$ !

CES update

Updates from CES 2006.

• Bill Gates' keynote (Windows Vista, Digital Lifestyle, Xbox 360 and more MS ventures)
• Google keynote (Google Pack New!, 100 $ Laptop, Stanford robot SUV)
• Lego Mindstorms NXT (Video Programmable Lego processor)Dell XPS 600 Renegade
  
• Michael Dell Keynote, XPS 600 Renegade and 30 " UltraSharp 3007FP
  

Windows Live Messenger 8.0

edit : I have 10 invites remaining. Comment on this post if you want an invite.

I got invited to the much overhyped and hard-to-get WLM 8.0 Beta, Microsoft's new version of MSN Messenger that incorporates Live features.
Here are some screens.

Tech stuff

CES is back this year and it brings together more than 100,000 people and 300 companies for four days in the middle of the desert. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off in Las Vegas on January 5, and there's much hype about the products and new tech innovations that would be shown there. Here, at the PCWorld website, you can see some of the gadgets shown off during the first 24 hours of the exhibition.

Some of the most eagerly awaited news from the show will be updates on the launch plans for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc optical disc formats. The Blu-ray Disc has not yet confirmed a launch date. Sony's upcoming next-gen gaming console the PlayStation 3 is said to use the Blu-ray disc format, since Blu-ray hasn't been confirmed, and with the PS3 set to launch in the first half of this year, they seem to be running short of time.

Also, Intel, with its new look, is to formally unveil its next breed of processors, the Intel Viiv (pronounced 'Vive') at CES. The Viiv is to home multimedia PC's as the Centrino processor was to notebooks, some features it is said to have are: Quick-boot technology that allows users to instantly start their PC at the push of a button and dual-core Intel processors.

Featured Link - First discovery of the Sony DRM Rootkit by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals.com | Image-to-text |

Predictions and things to come in 2006

2006 is here! let's hope this year is much more exciting and better than the last. Happy New year to you all! Before I begin with whats to look forward to this year, here's a final look back at some of 2005's greatest web moments and gadgets. Some highlights - The Numa-Numa guy, The boy who hacked MySpace.com and AOL's acquisition of Google.

Some stuff in brief - Time magazine recently announced its Persons of the Year - Bill and Melinda Gates and U2 rocker Bono. Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, and his wife Melinda, along with Irish rocker Bono, were chosen for making a difference in different ways. The Managing Editor of Time said the three had been chosen as the people most effective at finding ways to eradicate such calamities as malaria in Africa, HIV and AIDS and the grinding poverty that kills 8 million people a year. Gates, who topped Forbes magazine's list of richest people again this year, were named for their work in the Gates Foundation.
The charity is one of the world's biggest with $29 billion in funding allocations. The organization funds hundreds of projects around the world primarily focused on public health, from vaccinating children to developing new drugs. Bono and fellow musician Bob Geldof spearheaded a popular campaign to tackle poverty in Africa through canceling the debts, Bono was described as the “rocker who has made debt reduction sexy.”

for more, click here

Predictions and stuff to look forward to in 2006

• Rise of video-enabled devices
• Microsoft Vista more on this..
  
• Robotic toys more on this..
  
• RSS-ing everything
• Playstation 3 at E3 more on this..
  
• HD-DVD or Blu-Ray? more on this..
  
• What's in store for Apple?
• Broadband TV more on this..
  
• New wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, WiMax and Bluetooth)
• DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD more on this..
• Fuel cells more on this..
• Multiple cores, multiple choices in processors more on this here and here
• Movies - Superman, DaVinci code, Spiderman 3, X-Men 3
• Take 2 on 1080p and HD-TV more on this here and here
• Will I go .com ?
  

Feel free to contribute to this list by commenting on this post.