I think I forgot how to blog!

Wow, I think it's been so long since I last blogged something I'm pretty sure I forgot how to blog... ok not quite but something to that effect. But fear not my friends, I'm back. And this time I've got a few tools to help me out.

So yes, I'm using Windows Live Writer to write this blog post, and to be honest I like it. Finally a product from the 'Windows Live' series of applications that I really seem to like. I'm really sure that this is going to help me write more articles and make me uber productive.

Anyway, exams are done and I'm free to do anything I want. Ok, I still have summer school and a couple of workshops to teach, but I'm still a free man.

Stay tuned.. this time I assure you that I'm going to start blogging again.. I hope.. no really I do..

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Common rules every website author must follow

Ok so I posted a screen shot of the fascinating Google layout on a post a couple of days ago. Funny thing, it actually got on Techcrunch. Well, whats interesting is, why? It even got on Digg too. All for a layout... what is this world coming to. But the part that confuses me the most is they pretty much copy my post, get all the attention and then just put a link back to me. What happened to the policy of asking the author first about "using their screen shots for monetary purposes". Just because you found it on my blog it doesn't mean you get to copy it. It's public domain yes, but still, I find it just wrong for tech crunch to do that. I didn't even get a e-mail from tech crunch that they had "stolen my screen shots and topic". It wasn't until Parm from Techfare told me about it, that I realized it was "featured" on TechCrunch. Please techcrunch guys, inform me before you take my content. Oh and next time, if you are wondering if I photoshopped something don't hesitate to ask, I think it's better, before you go on to call me a photoshopped screenshots maker

To be honest, I don't really mind if anybody steals my content/pictures/ideas/whatever. But it bugs me to think about what others might think when something like this happens to them. I'm certain they are going to be infuriated when they learn that a big blog is making all the money from their post, and they don't even get notified about it.

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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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