Zomgee has sat unused for the most part for the past few years.. The casual internet usage faction has mostly died out. Personal blogs have long sat dormant and AOL Instant Message accounts haven’t been logged into for years.

What happened?

Facebook happened- further trivializing ‘friendship’ and any levels of communication we already had.

Unless you’ve had one yourself, you’ll never know the delight of getting an email notifying you that someone has commented on your blog post- especially if its someone you haven’t heard from in a while and you doubt that they even subscribed. Getting a comment on a facebook post? Not so awesome, and that’s assuming you got the notification email to begin with. Whoopdeedoo, someone you don’t even know “liked” the picture of your dog.

So what exactly happened?

With the explosion of social websites and the ability for your average Joe to have a messaging service, personal blog, myspace account, twitter account, xanga account, etc, the time was right for an integrated solution.. something that combined EVERYTHING- messaging, instant messaging, photo galleries, video posting, ‘blogging’, status updates.. It’s more efficient, for one thing, and being fully integrated means you don’t have to cross post to your blog, flickr, or twitter. You have 500M+ active users and probably up to (and above) 400 people seeing everything you do. One of the greatest things on the Internet is delivered content- RSS feeds, notification emails, and the like- mechanisms where you don’t have to go out and look for content from friends, but it comes delivered to you. Facebook does just that, and in great supply. I won’t delve into privacy issues with Facebook (more than likely, I’ll be posting a glowing review of Diaspora in the months to come).

I had a mental picture today of what blogging was like in comparison to Facebook…

Facebook is like being at a convention with everyone you know and everyone you don’t. There’s a lot of shouting and concurrent conversations going on. There might be a lot of interesting stuff, but almost too much. Blogging, on the other hand, is like inviting some friends over to your house for dinner and after-dinner games and only 1/4 showing up. It can be disappointing, but the time spent together feels more significant..

I guess one could step back even further and just invite people over to their house IRL… I mean.. most of us have our own houses now anyways. On the flip side, most of us are separated by 100+ miles and the glue that was Lamoka that held us together has lost most of its drawing-together power. :\

So don’t just casually read this. If you’ve stopped by to read this, take a second to say hi. You don’t have to register- just put in your name, email, and comment. Sit down.. take a load of.. and enjoy a board game (and maybe a LOTR marathon)

Today is Oct. 22nd, marking the official release to the public of Windows 7. I’ve posted before the cheapest ways to obtain it (also, there is a 3-license Family Pack available on Newegg for $149.99)

Today marks a very historic day.. the first highly-lauded Windows release since 2001!

There has, however, been a bit of a snafu. Those of you who purchased and downloaded the copy of 7 from windows741.com may run into a problem about folder permissions upon running the installer. Gathered from here, follow these steps:

1. From within XP/Vista 32-bit, I downloaded the 64-bit version of Win7 Professional upgrade.
2. Used the installer to extract the files, but received above mentioned error.
3. Checked the file size of the folder “extendedSetup” and noticed that it was 3.01 GB.
4. Moved extendedSetup folder to root (C:\)
5. Downloaded this file and placed it into C:\WINDOWS\System32: http://www.sevenforums.com/attachmen…-l-oscdimg.zip
6. Bought up command prompt and typed the following: oscdimg -bC:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com -h -u2 -m -lWIN_EN_DVD C:\expandedSetup\ C:\7.iso
7. Burned ISO with ImgBurn (freeware)
8. Booted, installed, and activated

I’m trying that as we speak, so I’ll keep you posted as to if it works. Happy Windows 7 day!

EDIT: Command line syntax error.. -1 should have been -l. Its fixed above now

Ok, so Windows 7 is on the way and if you use a computer at all and are running XP or Vista, you’ll want to upgrade. Not only are the problems from Vista fixed, Windows 7 will run faster on the same hardware than Windows XP! If none of this is making sense, just take my word for it.

Too expensive?- you might wonder…

No.

If you’re a student, head over to http://win741.com/ where you can purchase Windows 7 Home Premium (what I recommend for most people) for $29.99!

If you aren’t a student, you can find copies for sale at Newegg

Home Premium: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $99.99

Professional: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116758 $114.99 after code WIN7PRO20

Ultimate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116762 $144.99 after code WIN7ULT30

Act fast though, the codes expire on 10/3

Over the past couple months, my refurbed iPod Touch 2G has been blacking out for hours or days at a time. In the middle of playback, it will randomly stop and not budge until I power cycle it. The battery can last 2 hours of mowing, or it could be dead in 20 minutes of sitting idly in my pocket. I finally decided to contact Apple about it and get it replaced.

My call to Apple Care occurred a few weeks ago. I spoke to a nice lady from a call center in the Philippines and, when I explained the problems to her, marked my iPod record as needing replacement. It went fairly easily enough- my device was still under warranty and was persuasive enough to earn the right to a new one.

I finally had the time and energy to visit the closest Apple Store, located in Victor… waaaay across town. I arrived on the spot and as I walked in, noticed the fairly subtle eight-foot-tall Apple logo on the archway. Upon entering, I also thought to myself how it wasn’t at all how I expected. I thought it would be a white-washed-with-aluminum-accents, sterile workplace. Instead, it was full of colors straight out of Will Smith’s 1993 wardrobe and light maple trim.

Next, I noticed the not-at-all preppy workers there: not the fit, smiling, obnoxiously overbearing people you see in commercials. My dreams of it being the opposite of Bust Buy were shattered, as I was accosted by three females and one very effeminate male, all wanting to know if I was plopping down $2k for a system [ xD ] or if I had an appointment.

Ah yes.. the appointment. Something the girl from across the world said to make sure I made.

I said “no” very casually and continued when I saw their confused glances… “I have a broken iPod, there’s an order for it to be replaced, and so I’m here to have it replaced.” They asked again if I had an appointment. I assured them that no, I didn’t.

I was quickly herded over to a corner where a freckled girl peered over her glasses and said in a low voice, “Listen bub.. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here or if you’re here to cause trouble..” Apparently I transmit the aura (odor maybe?) of a PC user.

I kid about the last part, but after spending another five minutes explaining my case to a cranially-vacant audience, I was taken to a massive iMac where my information was entered and told I would be put on standby.

Finally, a “Genius” approached and asked my name. I was ushered to a stool, told to sit down, and had my iPod quickly and painlessly replaced. He knew of a condition that the 2G iPods had where the battery life was sucked quickly and random periods of non-operability were experienced- more than likely a short internally.

It may not sound like it, but I had a fairly open mind when going into the store. My optimism was dashed by overzealous salespeople, but then quickly resurrected by the ostentatiously-named Genius who assisted me. I realized from overhearing other Geniuses’ conversations that they were, in fact, pretty bright people and knew a lot of technical and practical things regarding Apple products. I don’t know if they had the required 140+ IQ, so the term might be misleading.

I did notice a distinct difference between the Geniuses and Geek Squad or other PC-equivalents.. The Geniuses are not only servicing a product (and one that your average 14-year-old next door can’t open up and fix), but they are promoting a brand. Apparently their actions and attitude are monitored closely and directed at doubling as advertisement for Apple. Perhaps when Microsoft starts opening MS stores nationwide soon, the same level of legitimacy and credibility will return to the PC repair market.

Until then, buy from Newegg and find a friend to fix your PC problems for you if you can’t do it yourself. If you have a Mac or other Apple device, take it to the store.

But don’t forget: Make an appointment.

Behold, another Zimbra-related post!

I recently ran across an article on how to configure Pidgin with Zimbra IM (5.x+) here, but since I run Digsby for IM, the settings and input boxes didn’t quite match up.

After talking to various people and troubleshooting problems of my own, I finally got it to work. Contacts and groups are also synchronized between Zimbra and Digsby, so if you move a screenname on one, it will show up on the other.

Settings:

• Go to the preferences window where you add a new account
• Click Add IM account and add a new Jabber account
• Jabber ID: your Zimbra email (including the @domain.com)
• Password: duh
• Check auto login
• Expand the Advanced section
• Host: your mail server (mail1.domain.com)
• Port: Change to 5223
• Resource: Leave “Digsby”
• Priority: Leave at 5
• Data Proxy: Leave blank unless you need to change it
• Check “Force SSL”
• Keep “Ignore SSL Warnings” unchecked
• Check “Allow Plaintext Login”

Once you save the account settings, connect to the server, and, barring any firewall issues, you should be all set!

I’ve been looking throughout the Internet today looking for ways to get mailto: links to work with Firefox and Zimbra. Since I didn’t want to touch the registry and most of the people here use Macs anyway, I had to make a Greasemonkey script to do the job. Sure, there are already scripts to do this, but they point to the standard interface. I wanted the advanced interface.

First, take this code, put it in a text editor, and change “mail.server.com” to your zimbra server (2 instances).


// ==UserScript==
// @name Mailto Compose In Zimbra
// @namespace http://www.dawnbreaker.com
// @description Rewrites "mailto:" links to Zimbra compose links
// @include *
// @exclude https://mail.server.com
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
var processMailtoLinks = function() {
var xpath = "//a[starts-with(@href,'mailto:')]";
var res = document.evaluate(xpath, document, null,
XPathResult.UNORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);
var linkIndex, mailtoLink;
for (linkIndex = 0; linkIndex < res.snapshotLength; linkIndex++) {
mailtoLink = res.snapshotItem(linkIndex);
//alert(mailtoLink.href);
var m = mailtoLink.href;
var matches = m.match(/^mailto:([^\?]+)(\?([^?]*))?/);
var emailTo, params, emailCC, emailSubject, emailBody;
emailTo = matches[1];
//alert("Found to=" + emailTo);
params = matches[3];
if (params) {
var splitQS = params.split('&');
var paramIndex, param;
for (paramIndex = 0; paramIndex < splitQS.length; paramIndex++) {
param = splitQS[paramIndex];
nameValue = param.match(/([^=]+)=(.*)/);
if (nameValue && nameValue.length == 3) {
// depending on name, store value in a pre-defined location
switch(nameValue[1]) {
case "to":
emailTo = emailTo + "%2C%20" + nameValue[2];
break;
case "cc":
emailCC = nameValue[2];
//alert("Found CC=" + emailCC);
break;
case "subject":
emailSubject = nameValue[2];
//alert("Found subject=" + emailSubject);
break;
case "body":
emailBody = nameValue[2];
//alert("Found body=" + emailBody);
break;
}
}
}
}
mailtoLink.href = "https://mail.server.com/zimbra?app=mail&view=compose" +
(emailTo ? ("&to=" + emailTo) : "") +
(emailCC ? ("&cc=" + emailCC) : "") +
(emailSubject ? ("&subject=" + emailSubject) : "") +
(emailBody ? ("&body=" + emailBody) : "");
// mailtoLink.onclick = function() { location.href = newUrl; return false; };
}
}
window.addEventListener("load", processMailtoLinks, false);
})();

Then paste the code into the generator here: http://arantius.com/misc/greasemonkey/script-compiler

Leave the GUID as it is, change the max version to 3.5.* and then add anything else you might want.

Compile the script and then install the .xpi file into firefox.

Welcome to the internet, Wolfram

So…. What can you do with this thing? Sure, add ‘n subtract, but why stop there? Physics, Engineering, Dates & Times, Financial stuff, and more. You name it and it’s got it, or… it -will- have it eventually, it’s still in prefab mode apparently. So let’s test her out:

1 bucket of Lard
Fellowship of the Ring vs Black Knight film vs movie
GM bankruptcy
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico “Random” location
ubiquitous mathematics
Second cousin twice removed Still no family member ‘scousin’ yet, but this’ll have to do.
elevation around kathmandu
hyperboloid wormhole
3-color code 3 tri-force
Over 9000 cakes!~ all time favorite, no lie.

Try it out, share some fun, cool or unscrupulous wolframs with us.

Before I say anything else, I would just like to thank the Dan and the other Zomgees for the opportunity to post on their prestigious blog. Now for the important stuff: I have a problem. Since I will be a college student as of August, I need to get a computer. This is where things get difficult because I have to balance portability, usability, cost, and the fun factor (gaming, etc.). I had originally wanted to get a Macbook, but now I am not so sure. I also though about doing a netbook and desktop, but with some of the things I have recently heard about netbooks, that might not be the best idea either. The main thing I want is something that has the functionality of a desktop paired with the portability of a laptop. That is my problem/question. What does the Zomgee community think (keeping in mind that I am not a millionaire)?

Edit: It seems the first time this was published, no emails were sent out, so I took ownership of the post and republished it ~Dan

The four warriors arrive in the town of Coneria. A fighter, a stalwart bastion of might, goes before the adventuring group to thwart evil with steel and shield. A thief: nimble in his dexterity, though not as brawny with the blade; he can avoid harm and escape from battle to live another day. A black mage, privy to the attacking magical arts, destroying his foes at whim, but he himself is physically vulnerable due to his fragile stature. A white mage, a benevolent magician whose healing words can help her group stand against the trials ahead of them. (wait, hold on, was this just the 100th post? yay us)

Shod with equipment to avail them in their journey, they seek the king who enlists them to seek and destroy the evil Garland, a kidnapper of the princess. After whetting their fighting spirit, the party of adventurers journey north to the evil dwelling of their nemesis. Past delves and valleys, past the rocky way and the deepest forests, trudging through swamp and field: the enemy’s castle appears: Temple of Chaos. A hard battle fought, and outnumbering him, Garland is slain, freeing the princess for the kingdom’s sake. In his arrogance and pride, he falls, underestimating the four friends. Princess saved, day is won, everybody’s happy and after this daunting feat, the titles screen appears for The Final Fantasy.

I think this is our first video game review or post so bask, this is only the beginning. For 1987, this was a crazy change of pace for Nintendo Entertainment System owners. No more running, jumping and chucking fireballs. (sorry, Mario), but now with Final Fantasy, health is a numerical value and blighting villains comes by way of ‘set and forget’ or in other words, tell your group your plan of attack and then watch them try their best at it on their own; less reflexes, more intellect; turn-based style. Gameplay here is a different animal: requires a little more planning than normal, but anyone can leave their Nintendo Entertainment System with a more adventurous attitude.

Graphics for 1987 were picturesque, though only 8-bit. Take a look yourself with some sweet-action screenshots…

They eventually re-released this game a few more times with better graphics, but we’re not reviewing those versions today. Pretty nifty pixels, uh?

Okay, how about some sound effects and music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7A3xpCStfs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTx5V8hVsbk

If I recall correctly, there are 4 channels of music; and then set to stereo making it 8-bits total. I can so jam out to this stuff, thanks, Nobuo Uematsu.

Story? Probably no more riveting than this post, however, it leads the player well to the next objective. It also leaves plenty of room for one’s imagination. This also leads to re-playability. After going through a few other games, you’ll want to come back from sheer nostalgia alone, but hey, why not turn new magical moments into magical memories. Top that all off with a buddy. Doing anything with other people that you know can make anything more enjoyable. And just when you thought this fantasy was final… they made a sequel. /facepalm

I have a particular class which requires me to use an operating system with perl (a programming language) capabilities. You can install these capabilities into Windows, but why not use what it is meant for: Linux.

Now you might ask, why would you install Linux on your laptop, when you have a legit copy of the awesome Vista Home Premium SP1. Well… I didn’t. The beauty of it all is that a program called VMWare Player allows you to run an operating system within an operating system.

So by now, I’m thinking that most of you think that Linux looks like this:

BOOORRRRINNNNGG

And by all means, you can make it look like that, but compare these two screenshots below. One is the Linux distribution that I use, and the other is my Vista Home Premium desktop.. Arguably, both are gorgeous, except the dock on one needs to be re-icon-ed.

What is this? (Click for larger)

What is this? (Click for larger)

Last Monday (I didn’t even stop to think of writing about it then) Digsby, my IM client, refused to connect. This was later determined to be some server issues they were having… So faced between the choice of Meebo and nothing at all, I chose to hop into my Ubuntu 8.10 (Linux) virtual machine and check out Pidgin, another chat client. Before I knew it, I was browsing, printing, chatting, checking my email, editing images, and all-around being productive on a operating system I’ve never actually used outside of lab/server/work environments. I was actually using Linux for normal things…

Oh yeah, did I mention that its free? Did I mention that it will run very well even on old, decrepit systems? Did I mention that it recognized all my hardware and didn’t have to install any drivers?

So while Linux might not be for everyone, it does offer a very attractive alternative to paying $100+ for Vista and gives you another option besides OS X (-.-). If you have even a mediocre amount of computer skills, you can make all sorts of changes that Windows would typically freak out at. For instance, one of the changes that I made was installing the desktop theme that HP is now using for their new netbook, the HP Mini Mi.

So where does this leave me now?

Well, I’ve installed the same Linux virtual machine on my work computer, so working on all our Linux servers is a breeze; I seem to use it as well on Mondays and Wednesdays, when I’m in class; and its great to do things like install Linux-only programs or … write Zomgee posts.. such as this one.

So why not give it a try. If you want to keep your Windows install around, just use the virtual machine version. If you want to go all-out and install it from scratch, you can download CD images and install it on your computer. If you’re concerned with not being able to use certain pieces of software (MS Office for example) there are many free alternatives available for download (OpenOffice).

If you plan on doing this or have already done so, let me know in the comments.. I’m interested to see what you think.

Just wanted to say thanks to OhYo for ruining Zomgee forever. As such, we’ll be shutting down shortly. Or maybe not, but he needs to learn that causing epileptic seizures is not good.

That being said, I haven’t really had much time to think of a topic today, so because I’m cool like that, I leave you with one of the best videos I’ve ever seen on youtube. By now everyone has seen the Mac vs PC commercials, and while I tend to reside squarely between Vista and Ubuntu as my weapon of choice, these commercials can elicit any sort of response from me… rage, laughter, etc.

Without further pause or delay, I bring you the most epic (and I do mean epic) Mac vs PC commercial ever.

Guess what?

As promised, Zomgee has a new design. While imperfect due to our heavy modifications of the old one, we all like it and will be making some small adjustments in the next couple weeks. If you have any suggestions or find any bugs.. please let us know!

Post in the comments what you think of the new design!

Also, we’re going to try a new format to bring you new stuff more regularly. From this point on, I will be posting on Mondays, HT on Wednesdays, and OhYo on Fridays. Suggest some penalties for missing a post in the comments

This past summer, I shook my head in disbelief as I was forced to pay $4.39 for a single gallon of gasoline. I now can look down the road and see, much to my amazement, $1.81. In an age where prices seem to be dropping on more than just gas (I know, gas is a limited resource, etc etc) I started thinking about other things that are way overpriced given the amount of time they’ve been around and the relative advantage that they offer.

Textbooks

I don’t even bother buying school texts any more. Professors practically demand that  you buy two $120+ textbooks that will be referenced once or twice… maybe.

Now that we’re in a digital age, a lot more resources are being made available online, in pdf and mhtm formats. These are convenient and simple, but some lack the proper page notation and just don’t give the hightlightable, dogearable delight that comes with having a book.

So what exactly goes into the amazing cost of textbooks? $5 for paper? $5 for ink/toner? $2 for publishing costs? $10 for licensing rights? and $100 for ego?

Tuition

Going along with the academic theme here, tuition is crazy right now. Since I’ve been going to the college I currently attend, yearly tuition increases of $2,000+ are the norm- well above the rate of inflation. The first major price increase was blamed on Campus Security needing to purchase Segways. So 17,000 students x $2,000 each = a few Segways for the guys who could use a little walking exercise anyway? In addition, they’ve built a bazillion new buildings, added an all-out shopping center, yet still have Pentium 4′s in the Systems lab.

I don’t like paying $30,000 a year on a school that, frankly, doesn’t deserve it. The professors are crazily egotistical, snobbish, and out of touch with reality, and most of the students are lazy, unshowering, richy-rich snobs who use their parents money for everything.

Hah.. wow, sorry. Didn’t mean to rant.

The point is, expensive tuition is not the way to help students out in life and $100k debt is part of the problem with the terrible economy.

Magazines

This one is a bit different, as there are ways around with it, so I’ll include “online subscriptions”. I walked into Wegmans the other day and picked up a copy of a gaming magazine. $10.99?!?! Granted, that was the one with a *demo* DVD included, but the optical-media-less version was $6.99. Why would I pay seven bucks for 80 pages of useless reviews and things I can find out online?

The other end of this, as I mentioned, is online subscriptions- those you would purchase to say… read your local newspaper, play games on pogo.com, and all that other jazz. World of Warcraft (if you’re lame enough to p(l)ay it) and LOTRO (if you don’t purchase the lifetime pack) can be added to that mix as well. I’m a big fan of buying things once and that’s it.. no extra $$ to get extra content or for connection fees.

Software

Specifically Adobe. $400 for Dreamweaver? Really? Eclipse runs circles around Dreamweaver in most regards and, guess what! It’s free! Add on Photoshop, Fireworks, and the rest of the CS4 suite and you’re sunk. Open source software is a legitimate force for big manufacturers to contend with. Between piracy and OSS replacements, I don’t see how big companies like Adobe can afford to stay in business.

Partly due to the miserable launch that Vista had, Microsoft decided to cut prices drastically on the OEM versions of the software. Vista Home Premium goes for ~$90, Business for $130, and Ultimate for $170. I give Microsoft a pat on the back for doing this, as this allows me to build systems where slapping on a bootleg version or having them switch to Linux isn’t even a consideration.

Cell Phone Service

This is where this article really delves into the ridiculous. Why on earth does it cost $100 to be able to call someone with a cell phone now? I can justify (and am willing to pay) $200 for a phone with GPS, MP3, texting, camera, video, and calling capabilities. I can’t seem to justify paying that same $200 every other month to be able to use those services- and not even to an unlimited degree!

So where does all this cost go? For a while now, all the cell networks we could really ever want in the US have been built. All the traffic is sent along virtual circuits, is interconnected with other cell phones and land lines… Did you know that most towers are shared between cell companies?

Take, for instance, the Internet. You pay $X per month, which is the same as your neighbor on the same ISP. Let’s say you have a PC with a web cam, Skype, and play video games online, but your neighbor only does email. How much extra do you pay your ISP because of that? Nada.

Speaking of…

The Internet…

Broadband prices are ridiculous. I’m going to dissect this from two angles, so don’t get lost.

The first is the ISPs themselves. Once again, we’ve got all the network architecture in place- lines run to every home with a cable connection run to it, fiber backbones in place, Tier 1 providers already handling the major routing… Yet a decent broadband connection runs >$50 a month. Why?

More and more countries in Europe are adopting this idea of socialized Internet. (Quick disclaimer- I’m generally against the government providing services like this on several levels- increased taxes, the sudden ability to regulate, etc, and I still maintain that in this case. I’m merely using this as an example.) All across Europe, countries provide their citizens with free FIBER Internet connections. Fiber to the desktop has been described by American cablecos/telcos as unrealistic. Why? They have the money, manpower, and materials to do it, yet don’t… The answer is something that we all know and love, but don’t seem to recognize. It’s the same reason that cars in America get somewhere around 25mpg, yet their English counterparts are getting 50mpg:

Lowered expectations.

Sure, on both continents we started at the same baseline at the same time, but American companies seem to artifically hold back development and advances. Here, we think innovation is installing a ladder into the tailgate of a truck and running a broadband signal over a television or telephone cable. In Europe, innovation is making a forced induction diesel engine that gets 70 mpg/200 horsepower and giving away fiber optic Internet connections to everyone who has a legitimate residence.

Conclusion

While a lot of technologies and products are coming down in price (RAM, monitors, TVs, coffee makers, etc), there are a lot of things that people need more that are being kept at artificially high prices for no other reason than because people are willing to pay for them. While I respect how supply and demand works and give these companies all the credit in the world for having the foresight and will to own the market, care must be taken for controlling prices on services we have begun to consider necessary.

A lot has been said about the economy lately and taking advantage of people during a time when things are tight is only going to make things worse.