Finally, after quite a lot of snapshots, betas and RCs, Opera 10.60 has been released. The Opera development team has released a stable, solid, feature rich and fast browser. 10.50 was a bit lacking in that there were quite a few bugs. This was understandable as they had to rush a release in time for the Windows browser ballot. V10.60 does not suffer, and is, in my opinion, what 10.50 should have been.
Performance has also been enhanced since the previous launch. For Linux, v10.60 marks the first stable release since before 10.50. Another important change is the enhancement of HTML5 support. The WebM video support is very useful. Geolocation features have also been incorporated. Support for Offline Applications is also present. Overall, it is well worth trying out and is definitely cutting edge, far ahead of the Firefox 4 betas. It runs head to head with Google’s Chrome with respect to support of new web technologies, and as Chrome still lacks some essential features, Opera is the browser of choice for me at this point of time.
This is another program that is installed by default in Kubuntu 10.04. I personally think it is the most refined image viewing tool I have used. It gives the feel that a lot of thought has gone into the design of this product. The basic image manipulation options are present. Red eye correction is a nice addition. One weird thing though is that the arrow keys can’t be used to navigate to the next or previous image; the space bar and backspace have to be used.
The full screen mode is where I was really impressed. There is a film strip on top that transitions smoothly when one moves from an image to another. It is also docked automatically at the top of the screen and becomes visible only if the mouse pointer moves to teh top of the screen. The slideshow mode is available and one can set the time for each image to linger. If there are any videos in the folder, they are played automatically and seamlessly. I was very impressed with this application as it puts the default image viewer in Windows 7 to shame.
Since my move to Kubuntu, I have been looking around for nice apps meant for that platform. Amarok is already installed in a vanilla Kubuntu install and it highly deserves its place. It is easily one of the most breathtaking audio players I have ever seen. The interface is the best of all music players, Windows and Linux. Notifications are tightly integrated into the Kubuntu desktop notifier system. Keyboard shortcuts are also integrated into KDE.
The controls are designed intuitively. The lyrics plugin is an interesting addition. There are a few other plugins, but they are pedestrian at best. The resource consumption, though, is unforgivable. Used to foobar in Windows, seeing a constant 2% CPU usage, with spikes to 15%, does not do my impression on this app any favors. This is the scene even after closing the GUI and letting only the system tray remain. As far as the audio playback is concerned, there are no problems whatsoever with this application. In short, in spite of high resource usage, this is easily the best music player in the open source domain.
I have been installing and getting rid of Linux distros since Ubuntu 6.04. I have always had show-stopping flaws with them. Trust me, I do not give up on techie matters that easily and make sure that I have tried everything possible to get rid of the flaws. For the first time ever, I have found a distro that I find worth keeping. Let me put it in a better way- I dual boot with Windows 7 and have not found a reason to boot into the Windows partition for more than a fortnight.
Kubuntu 10.04 just works. There are no problems with the display that I had with earlier *buntu installations. It did not crash even after I modified quite a lot of configuration files. The KDE 4.4 desktop is top-notch. I will even go so far as to say that in many aspects, it is even better than Windows 7′s interface. The default applications are well thought out and most users will not have to install any other applications. It just feels refined, and at last, I feel at home in a *buntu. I have to congratulate Canonical for getting out a superior product.
Each version of Windows has revamped the in-built partition manager. Yet, even in Windows 7, it is impossible to do some basic operations using the built-in manager. One has to turn to third party software to do the job. The problem is that a person partitions perhaps once a year. Most of the software available is expensive and not worth it for a single use. One would hesitate to splurge on a piece of software that sees such sparse use.
This is where Easeus Partition Manager scores over most of the competitors. The home edition is absolutely free to use. It is packed with features that let you do all that you can think of with your hard disk. The amount of flexibility offered by this program, in my honest opinion, is unparalleled by any other similar software. The interface is fairly intuitive, well, as intuitive as software of this kind can get. There is a module which loads at system startup and lets you perform operations on partitions that are locked by the running OS. A warning: Even though it has not given me any trouble, it is always better to back up valuable data before using the program.
Most laptops use Lithium ion batteries. To increase the battery life, we must consider two factors: the cycle life and the shelf life.
The Cycle Life
Batteries have a number of charge-discharge cycles after which they fail to retain charge. Their ability to retain charge decreases steadily. Thus, our aim should be to minimize these charge-discharge cycles. Also, batteries have maximum stress when fully charged and when fully discharged. Thus, they must be maintained at an intermediate state. Batteries also lose their cycle life when charged at less than 0°C. High charging and discharging rates also affect cycle life, but this is not something the consumer will be able to modify.
The Shelf Life
If Li-ion batteries are stored with high charge, they degrade faster. Also, batteries which are kept at high temperatures also lose their charge retention capabilities.
After analyzing the above two factors, we can conclude that we should disconnect batteries when on ac power. Also, batteries should be stored with around 40% charge at low temperatures. We should provide cooling solutions for our laptops to ensure that the battery remains cool as much as possible. We should not allow batteries to either discharge too much or charge too much. In other words, we must avoid deep charge-discharge cycles. In spite of all these efforts, it is inevitable that batteries lose their potency over use and time. We must thus be prepared to replace them after a few years of use.
An alleged prototype of the Apple iPhone 4G was found outside a bar in San Jose. It was working when found and was running the iPhone OS 4.0. It has 80 GB of storage and a camera on the front. It was lost by Gray Powell, an Apple employee on March 18. The person who found it initially had no idea what he had discovered. He thought it was just the version of the iPhone already existing in the market. However, when he switched it on the next morning, he found that Apple had remotely bricked the device.
Gizmodo, the technology website, purchased the device from the finder for $5000. They have since confirmed that it is indeed a prototype of the iPhone 4G. Apple has also asked them to return their property. Will Gizmodo return it without protest? Or will Apple have to file suit in order to get back their device? It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Tweaks Logon Changer is a very useful application for those using Windows 7. Windows 7 has opened an avenue for OEMs that allow them to display custom logon screens. This process involves a few registry modifications and some resource hacking. Luckily for the ordinary user, Tweaks Logon Changer automates this work. It allows one to set any image file as the background image for the logon screen. This is invaluable because, quite frankly, one can only look at the default blue Windows 7 logon screen before trying to defect to Linux.
The application requires administrative access to function, calling up a UAC prompt while starting. This is forgivable because of the amount of changes the app has to make. The interface is simple and no real effort is required for changing the logon screen. A click of a button opens up the explorer window asking for the location of the custom background. One can also test whether the change has been made successfully. I found the app effortless and nifty indeed. I would recommend this to anyone who finds the default logon screen dreary.
NetWorx is a niche piece of software that is really useful to those who have monthly download limits. It is a network monitoring application that shows the current rate of data transfer over the network. It does not consume much system resources. Both the CPU and the RAM usage are negligible. The application is very customizable. For example, I use a strip that shows the numeric data transfer rate. The strip sits on the top of the screen over all the other applications. I have configured it to be translucent and also click-through so that it doesn’t get in the way.
The main advantage of the application is that it immediately helps you realize when large data transfers take place. Sometimes, some images or videos may unnecessarily load and cause a huge download. Furthermore, detailed reports can be generated that give a breakdown of the data transferred over different periods of time. The NIC that is being monitored can be configured and more than one NIC can also be monitored. It is definitely very useful for people who wish to have a firmer control over their internet connection.
I have always been a fan of performance over aesthetics. However, this laptop seems to have both. Below are the specifications:
Display: 15.6″ (diagonal) high-definition LED Brightview widescreen
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T6500 @ 2.10GHz, 45 nm technology.
Memory Type: DDR2
Memory Size: 4096 Mbytes
Display Adapter: Mobile Intel(R) 45 Express Chipset Family (Microsoft Corporation – WDDM 1.1)
Hard Disk: 250 GB, 5400 rpm
The price is surprisingly low for the configuration and I am extremely satisfied with the value for money that I have got. The looks are good, but not stunning. This is understandable for an entry-level laptop. The range of the WiFi card leaves much to be desired. There are some vibrations associated with the left speaker during low frequency playback. On the brighter side, the display is simply stunning. The glossy look brings out the colors in a pleasing manner. The keyboard does not have much flex and the number-pad on the right is a real bonus.
Overall, an excellent purchase. The ratings for this laptop in the HP website are quite high and it is understandable why.
