Google got updated?

Update: Ok.. not really an update by as such, but apparently it is a new feature added by the web search history feature, although I believe that you might have gotten this screen yesterday if you were logged in when you performed your searches. Hmm.. I seem to like it this way, though.

Is it just me or does Google have a new and better search page now? Hmm.. not sure.. perhaps my eyes are deceiving me? Anyways I like this new style.. and the gradient seems like one step forward for Google, in terms of design. Interesting.
Oh and those who believe that I've probably photoshopped used Adobe Photoshop® software to digitally enhance the screen shot, you can take a look at the gradient image stored on the Google servers (or you can see a screen shot of the gradient image when viewed through Firefox incase Google decides to get rid of it). This should be enough proof that I did not create it.

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Trying my hand at podcasting

I always wanted to be a DJ. No, really I did... but then again I always wanted to become a garbage collector because I thought they used to work for only one day in a week. So I think I'm going to try my hand at podcasting and see how it goes. I'm not a professional nor do I have all the equipment, but hey one had to start somewhere. Perhaps if the beyond teck podcacst is really awesome I might invest more time into getting better gear so that I can talk about more tutorials.

As for the topic I'm thinking talking about tips and tutorials more than taking about news and my take on things. I think everyone has their own opinion and listening to someone else's opinion is just a waste of time. So I'm not going to waste your time I'm just going to try and make you more smarter. I wont vent about things like David Pogue does.. I promise.

Does this sound good or what?

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Technology Should be Simple!

Simple OS- My idea for creating an OS for users who don't really know what GUI means. Obviously, this is just an idea but what do you think of it? Thanks imacadam to for creating MYiPhone (icons used in this "mock-up OS").

As technology progresses in leaps and bounds, I honestly think that its making our life kinda harder. Now, I know that you are probably saying to yourself, what is this kid thinking of, but honestly I think its becoming more complex. Any application that exists today has so many tabs and menus and what not that it can be intimidating to use it at times.

Take Firefox for example, the browser that I'm blogging in right now. Now, pretend for a minute that you don't know a thing about computers. You don't know what CPU is, you don't know what a LCD display is for that matter. Then go open up a browser, I'm going to use firefox for example. Would you happen to know what a bookmark is? Would you know how to change the options and settings? Are you going to bother to click here and there not knowing what's going to happen to you? What if you get a virus if you click somewhere? How are you going to check your e-mail without getting "hacked"?

All these questions come to mind for a person who doesn't know all this. What's the answer to all these questions... learn it. Is it the best way? Not in my opinion. I think that technology has to be changed to accommodate these changes. Is any company at all doing that right now? Nope. According to me, I think they should.

Let's take Windows Vista as an example. It took Microsoft 6 years to make, but does it really make it easier for you to use your computer? Yes and no. They still have the same concept of the start button where you need to know the name of the application you want to use (even if you want to search for it) and they still have the same applications running. When you stare at a blank desktop or application it is hard to visualize what you actually are going to do.

So here's what I propose in order to enhance the computer experience for people who havent used computers a lot yet. Make it simple! Yes, that's right, get rid of all the advanced stuff and just give the users the basic options. Instead of saying shut down, say turn off. Apple is already doing this, but it's in the form of a phone. What if we could apply the same concept to computers? Wouldn't it be much more easier to work with it, without having to worry about advanced things and what not?

How does this idea sounds like... would you be willing to sacrifice advanced options for simplicity and ease of use.

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CiteHelper is here to help you cite your sources

How many times have you heard your teachers yell, "Cite your sources or D-!!"? Yeah, I know, it's pretty boring when you use like a bazillion sources and don't know how to source your stuff. I kinda have the same problem sometimes, and that's why I created CiteHelper. It's a simple application (just a regular .exe file.. nothing to install or anything like that) that helps you cite your sources.

I kinda got the idea from CitationMachine.net where you put in the url of the webpage that you got your ideas/facts from and it spits out the proper MLA/APA/Whatever format code. But the benefits or using an application is - it's faster to load. Plus I find it boring to go on the internet to source something everytime I need to do so (which is quite often, believe it or not).

Unfortunately, CiteHelper is still under development, and it's going to be a while before its ready for crunch time. Right now I'm at the "getting the application to process the given information stage". So right after that stage is done, I guess I'll release the beta.

Nuff said.. time to get back to work... now where did I put that songs-nonstop-for-20-hours CD..

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Wow! Its been a super hectic week

Its been so busy for me lately that I almost forgot I even had a blog. Alas, all the non exam necessary stuff is coming back to me now, slowly and steadily. I've also gotta start working on my other projects, such as vista-news.com. Wow, I've neglected soo much stuff over the past few months. At least this semester I had only 2 exams, next semester its going to be 4... yikes!

Luckily I have a bit more interesting subjects like computer engineering. Well, I'm not sure how interesting it really is, but we'll see how things turn out. Oh and I'll be doing some Java coding, so watch out for some fun-filled downloads over the course of the next few weeks.

Oh and if there are any of you interested in writing about Vista then make sure to apply. Who knows, you could be the next new writing sensation :D . Speaking of Vista.. I'm pretty sure that not all of you have vista yet. So make sure you go check out my article on how to Make XP look like vista, which is going to be updated pretty soon. Or you could go use Linux (with beryl and all those uber extremely cooler then vista effects :O).

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Have to start blogging again!

Wow, I can't believe that people still read this blog. I guess Google is still playing an important role in it. It looks the "Firefox- Blinking Cursor Problem" is one of the most active posts around this blog. And when people say they love me (even if they don't know who I am) and are going to read my blog everyday, then.. well.. I have to start blogging again I guess.

I really don't get time to blog, mainly due to school and what not. But hey, I can seriously give it a try this time. I guess I also have to start being a regular at tech-recieps and syschat again. I'm pretty sure they miss me a lot. I really have to redesign this blog as well. I think that blogger should provide better blogger beta templates with better labeling ang all that. But I guess I'll have to work around that for now.

Oh and if any of you have any problems or anything like that (in terms of technology problems...) then feel free to drop me a mail and I'll see what I can do. These can be any sort tech of problems.. like vista problems or word problems and so on.

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Go Google Go!

Wow, Its been like 5 months or something since I last blogged anything. I'm trying to set aside sometime to blog everyday and visit web-sites like tech-recipes.com and syschat.com and all that, but its getting harder every day.

But, recently I've been getting so many comments about articles that I wrote a long time ago. For example the blank e-mail in Outlook problem. And the Firefox blinking cursor problem and the Ipod shuffle problem. Its totally crazy to know that Beyond Tecknology is still very much alive sort of anyways.

Along with that I recently updated to blogger 2.0 and due to that I have some problems now. Basically before my blog had links to all kinds of feeds and what not, as well as about 500 comments on haloscan (I preferred haloscan since it gave me more control) but I figured that people comment more when you use blogger commenting. So yeah, I guess I need to provide links for 'Old Comments' as well as 'New Comments' at the same time. Phew. And along with that I need to make a better template for my website so that it can support the new 2.0 blogger things such as archives and labels and what not. Not to mention that now I have to re-tag all my hundreds of old posts so that people can use the labels feature.

I guess I'll do that later on.. much important things are left to be done right now (like work on my homework.. which is going to take me about 20 hours atleast :D ).

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