TehPrivates.com™ - Computers http://www.tehprivates.com/ en Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:10:50 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tehprivates.com/images/misc/rss.png TehPrivates.com™ - Computers http://www.tehprivates.com/ Google homepage themes. http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1512-Google-homepage-themes.&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:37:46 GMT Looks like the guys at Google are trying out their HTML5 skills. Very distracting homepage today. You can chase coloured dots all around the... Looks like the guys at Google are trying out their HTML5 skills. Very distracting homepage today. You can chase coloured dots all around the browser window with your mouse pointer :D ]]> Computers Queso http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1512-Google-homepage-themes. Seriously somebody explain Digg http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1484-Seriously-somebody-explain-Digg&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:10:22 GMT So I guess they launched a new version today so I decided surf on over there but I just don't get it. Is it just a news aggregate? What is the point of Digg? ]]> Computers MacNut http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1484-Seriously-somebody-explain-Digg Testing ScreenRecycler: Moar Screen For Your Mac http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1455-Testing-ScreenRecycler-Moar-Screen-For-Your-Mac&goto=newpost Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:57:19 GMT Today while moving some computers around, I decided to give ScreenRecycler a spin.

I've set up my 24" iMac in the centre of a desk, a 20" wide TFT to the left, and a 20" white CD iMac to the right. Throw in a few old CD jewel cases to level both screens up to match the top edge of the 24" iMac's LCD and we're ready to go testing.

1. Download ScreenRecycler

This bit is pretty standard. Download the DMG from the obvious website (www.screenrecycler.com).

Attachment 2344


...mount and drag the apps to the Applications folder. Eject the DMG and you're done.

2. Launch ScreenRecycler

Oh what fun. You load the ScreenRecycler app on the primary machine (24" iMac in this case), and it comes up asking to install the driver. Okay, fine, I think. *Installs*

There we go, restart please. K. *Restarts*

3. Launch JollysFastVNC

...on the secondary (20" iMac) machine. Okay, why? Why not just one app you launch on both and click primary on one, or explain this so you don't have to go back to the DMG and the readme file? Yeah fine you put your 'readme' in capitals, but that doesn't mean the average bloke is going to bother with reading some stupid equivalent of a manual, does it?


How it works

Basically, once you've resorted to reading the README to figure out which app goes where, and how they connect, you're left with this funny feeling you're paying (or trialling) US$30 software that is in essence, a VNC client/server solution. Albeit one with an extended desktop ability. That 130kb driver is all that separates this from a button in System Preferences > Sharing and a copy of the free cotVNC.

But is it any good?

The jury is still out on this one. I've disabled AirPort on both iMacs to get better bandwidth over the gigE network. It's still slow.

The trial closes the session every 20min. You can restart it straight away, but if you've not got a keyboard/mouse hooked up to the secondary screen, it's a PITA to get the screen back, fullscreen and looking like just another secondary/tertiary display.

It doesn't do anything clever other than initiate connections automatically. It doesn't disable a screensaver or sleep on the Mac becoming the screen - so ensure you've disabled these yourself.

Would Andy Pay For It?

Right now, I'm thinking no.

GigE dedicated to sharing and it's crapper than me using ARD to connect to a MacPro 80 miles away. VNC isn't great for this. Something based on NX would be better in terms of frame rates.

I've got a third display here, but it's limited to hosting the windows of Mail.app and Adium.

Even Terminal, in full tail -f seems to piss all over the screen rate.

If you're interested, this is my thrown-together setup:

Attachment 2345


Tomorrow, I'm probably going to un-throw it. The pixel real-estate is nice, but the framerate just ruins it.


To Summarise

Neat idea that could be done far better, and probably far free-er.

*wonders if Air Video for iPad is as bad* :o
Attached Images
]]> Computers andy http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1455-Testing-ScreenRecycler-Moar-Screen-For-Your-Mac New iMacs. Something unexpected but very nice indeed http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1433-New-iMacs.-Something-unexpected-but-very-nice-indeed&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:58:30 GMT Having just upgraded from a 20" alu to the new 21" there's one thing that I never even considered but keeps impressing me every time I use the machine.

The sound quality from the built-in speakers is just amazing. It adds a completely new dimension to using synth sounds in Logic (without headphones or external speakers of course ;)), and even just playing music through iTunes sounds great. I've always been a bit disappointed by the slight tinniness of the sound in previous iMacs, but it seems this time they've really put some effort into it.

Sorry, just had to rave on about it :) ]]> Computers Queso http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1433-New-iMacs.-Something-unexpected-but-very-nice-indeed Welcome to your new photo page: The Flickr redesign http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1429-Welcome-to-your-new-photo-page-The-Flickr-redesign&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:06:38 GMT ---Quote--- After a few weeks in public preview, we’re rolling out the new Flickr photo page to 100% of the Flickrverse. Our effort in this release...
Quote:
After a few weeks in public preview, we’re rolling out the new Flickr photo page to 100% of the Flickrverse. Our effort in this release focuses on two areas that will continue to make Flickr the very best place for your photos.

Display: New look and feel to showcase your photos bigger and more Flickr-er
Interaction: New and redesigned features to improve browsing, discovery and communication with members about their photos on Flickr.



Since June 23, over 800,000 members have helped us test the new page. Discussions and suggestions in the preview group have also complemented usability studies, surveys, statistical studies and other feedback to ready the photo page for today’s launch. Thank you for your time and effort.

So what’s new?

Bigger photo: We’ve increased the default view size by 28%. Your cameras will be happy that your photos now take advantage of increasingly larger and higher resolution displays! We’ve also built a new lightbox feature. Click on any photo or use the magnifying glass icon to browse through large photos on a dark background. Just you and photos — no distractions.

Navigation: Getting from one photo to the next is faster and easy. Move forward and back with ever-present navigation buttons above each photo. Want to get from one context to the next? Go from your photostream to sets to groups to any number of ways that photos are organized on Flickr is simple via the upgraded film strip on the photo sidebar. Click on the title of any film strip to switch contexts. Preview five photos at a time within the context of your choice, too.

The story: Your photos already carry the narrative elements of who, what, where, when and how whenever you upload them to Flickr. Browse Flickr and you’ll see stories within stories — photos within photostreams within groups or any kinds of combinations. So we’ve made it easier to find when a photo was taken, it’s location, camera/exif info and your name in one location to the right of the image. Along with the title and description and we think that photosharing will increasingly become story-sharing.

We’ve also centralized things you can do with a photo in the Actions menu above the photo, highlighted the copyright, privacy and sharing settings on each photo and provided more visibility for the discussions that happen around photos. In addition to all this, the page is faster! The code that creates the page is leaner and better optimized for fast page loads.

We hope you’ll take a spin and discover all the other new features we’ve added — they’re quite lovely! For more information, you can check out the FAQ or join the discussion in the help forum.
Flickr Blog

I've only just noticed this (I don't spend much time on Flickr these days).

Whaddya think? I'm not sure about it yet. ]]> Computers andy http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1429-Welcome-to-your-new-photo-page-The-Flickr-redesign OMFG of the year so far: Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1426-OMFG-of-the-year-so-far-Microsoft-Office-2011-for-Mac&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:43:52 GMT Earlier I updated to the latest beta of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. Here are my thoughts. • New icons, lovely. • UI improvements: It seems... Earlier I updated to the latest beta of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac. Here are my thoughts.


• New icons, lovely.

• UI improvements: It seems a lot cleaner and focused than any previous edition. Word even brings in the "every other fecking wordprocessor does it" feature - full screen. It's neat and tidy and does allow you to focus, something I'd have thought Microsoft could have really fucked up.

• More UI: While the silly 'ribbon' idea is present (and won't die any time soon), it's calmed down from the Windows version, and even the Office 2008 for Mac edition. It's not a big change but it really doesn't seem to piss me off as much as it did.

• Outlook instead of Entourage: I'm sure it's better, but I haven't had the chance to test it with Exchange Server yet. Apparently it uses the HTTP connection much like Mail.app does - and unlike Outlook for Windows. Odd, but fuck it, Mail.app does fine with it! Let's hope it's better than the last beta though. That refused to actually collect any mail at all.

• Visual Basic for Applications: brings powerful scripting back to Office for Mac - especially Excel. This means that you're not paying for 10% of the usability if you move over from Windows. Most people don't do fuck all except use Excel as a glorified calculator, but VBA is one useful beast. I explored the power of it at college and while I've never had a huge use for it myself, I can see it being a boon for anyone involved in serious data manipulation.

• Speed.

Let me say that again, because it's that epic.

• Speed.


Holy crap on a stick, this suite is fast. I've noticed it eats iWork. Launch times, opening documents, saving, closing... the lot. All faster. There's no competition with Office 2004/2008 either - it blows them out the water.



Overall I'm really looking forward to seeing the final release and I'm actually, for once, quite satisfied about how a Microsoft software offering is shaping up.

Bring on October! ]]> Computers andy http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1426-OMFG-of-the-year-so-far-Microsoft-Office-2011-for-Mac <![CDATA["Amorphous" metal alloys to slip into Apple products soon]]> http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1398-quot-Amorphous-quot-metal-alloys-to-slip-into-Apple-products-soon&goto=newpost Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:32:58 GMT Hate to sound like a fanboy, but Apple is so far in front of the others. Ars link... Hate to sound like a fanboy, but Apple is so far in front of the others.

Ars link

Quote:
Future iPhones, iPods, and other Apple-flavored gadgets may be made out of "amorphous" metal alloys thanks to a deal that Apple has made with Liquidmetal Technologies. Liquidmetal revealed that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Apple via an 8K filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, giving Apple access to its entire intellectual property portfolio.

Liquidmetal's technology is used in the fields of sports, medicine, space, jewelry, and of course, electronics. Whereas a typical metal has a crystalline atomic structure (a repeating pattern of crystals), an "amorphous" metal alloy basically has no crystals. This allows manufacturers to tweak the precise configuration of the alloy without worrying about the usual structural or strength limitations.

As such, Liquidmetal brags that its products are not only strong and resistant to impact/fatigue, they are also lighter than comparable products made out of normal metals.

The agreement between the two companies was signed last Thursday, but was not revealed until the publication of the 8K this morning. Liquidmetal's technology has previously been used in Nokia and Sandisk products, but no more—Apple now has "perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products."

In addition to potential uses in Apple's handheld gadgets, the company may also put the amorphous metal alloys to good use in its popular notebook line. MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs have already gotten stronger and more durable thanks to Apple's decision to switch to unibody enclosures, but notebook users usually welcome stronger and lighter machines whenever possible.
]]> Computers rdowns http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1398-quot-Amorphous-quot-metal-alloys-to-slip-into-Apple-products-soon Lets say there really is a CDMA iPhone coming http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1395-Lets-say-there-really-is-a-CDMA-iPhone-coming&goto=newpost Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:11:23 GMT So there are rumors that Verizon will get the iPhone in January based on Apple supposedly buying millions of CDMA chips. What if the company isn't Verizon but Sprint? It would be a huge deal and would help their subscriber numbers that have been declining over the years. Is it that far fetched that Sprint is the winner of the CDMA iPhone? All we know is that there might be a CDMA phone in the wild just not what service. ]]> Computers MacNut http://www.tehprivates.com/showthread.php?1395-Lets-say-there-really-is-a-CDMA-iPhone-coming