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

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.

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.

So I’m taking a break from this inordinantly long lab report on every aspect you could imagine regarding DNS to bring you this message:

I’m bored with my iTunes library.

Now, normally, one might go out and grab a .torrent or pop open a peer to peer file sharing application (tsk tsk, shame on you), but seeing as I don’t want to become one of the RIAA’s latest targets, I’ve turned to a new solution.

Now, I have to tell you first that I stumbled upon this a few days ago and started listening to it at work.

The service I’m referring to is Last.fm- a free Internet radio station. Picture Launch, Yahoo’s similar offering, strip out the ads, increase the quality, and you have endless streaming music. It literally took me 30 seconds to start listening from the time I typed in the URL.

One of the things I love about Last.fm is the ability to listen to music similar to a certain artist. If I’m feeling like listening to Mae but am sick of all their songs, just type in ‘Mae’ and music similar to Mae starts to play. Say you want to wake up in the morning and have a kicking 5.1 system, punch in ‘Hammerfall’ and crank the volume.

Love the idea of Internet radio but afraid of closing out of the window or dislike having another window open? Grab the application Vista Virtual Desktop (works with XP and Vista) and shot that window over to the second desktop, along with anything else you want. Mac users will be familiar with this program since its basically a ripoff of Spaces, which is a ripoff of a feature Linux/Gnome/KDE has had forever.

Or, even better, take the code you can generate by clicking on the “Embed” link in the player window, create an html file and save it on your computer, and then stick it onto your desktop via Windows Active Desktop (XP only, Vista users take a look here). Now you don’t even have to open anything. Just click the play button sitting on your desktop!

Remember the good old days? When you got AOL 4.0 cds? When you were psyched about finally getting a 56k connection? When this exciting new technology called V.92 seemed to be cutting edge?

One of my first exposures to the Internet as we know it today was actually from a commercial- NASCAR to be exact. NASCAR and thousands of other entities, it seemed, touted entering in their respective name as an “AOL Keyword”.

AOL never had a nice browser feature. It was just a reskinned IE, but there was a bar at the top of the window where you could type in keywords and in I’m-Feeling-Lucky fashion, be transported to a whole new world, which in my case was a sad looking (yet simplistically attractive) recap of (then) last week’s race.

Don’t worry though, this isn’t a trip down memory lane using the Wayback Machine as our vehicle (there’s plenty of blog posts about that). This is merely just a look back out how epic “AOL Keyword” was hyped to be.

You see… back then, people didn’t understand what the “.com” at the end of the nascar meant. They also didn’t know that sometimes you could only get to that site by typing “www.” in front of it. Nowadays, the browsers are smarter. Want to go to GMail? Simply type “g” into Firefox’s address bar and hit enter.

Sadly (perhaps not) “AOL Keyword” is used by only the older generation… the dot commers back before the dot com era. Nobody in their right mind uses this anymore, right?

So what brought on this journey into the recent past? Well, I ended up watching both Hackers and Antitrust over the past two days. In between thoughts of “hacking the Gibson”, insecure passwords, and Synapse, old, archiac memories slowly filtered into my mind. Multiplayer paintball via dialup, spending 12 minutes at a time downloading 1mb Need for Speed 3 cars, and a myriad of other things (EZNet anyone?)

Over the past few weeks (and years), I’ve stumbled upon some software that is amazing. I’m going to try to point out a few of the ones that come to the top of my head

Web based

1. Firefox – Hands down the best browser. More secure than its counter parts, extensible, customizable, light weight. There’s really only one reason why you would need another browser- IE7 for services such as Sharepoint. Don’t miss: the extensions listed elsewhere in this article.
2. Gmail – The best email service EVER. It incorporates Google Chat and AIM, supports document conversion, integrates with Google Maps and other services, supports POP3 and SMTP relaying, the list goes on forever. The only thing missing is encryption support. Don’t miss: Better GMail 2 Firefox extension, GNotifier (if you aren’t running Google Talk), and Google Drive Shell
3. Firebug – If you dabble with CSS, are a top-notch designer/coder, or merely want to see the various AJAX calls that a certain page makes, look no further. I can’t tell you how many times this has saved me from headaches- or how many hours I otherwise would have lost. The nicest feature is the Inspect Element option that appears when you right click an object. You immediately see what styles apply to it, where in the page that code is, and the exact line number of all the styles that apply to it. Don’t miss: Right-click and click Inspect Element
4. BetterYouTube – Who wants to see the “Other videos from this user” widget when watching a YouTube video? Who cares about the comments? Want to download the video (at your own risk)? Look no further than this simple Firefox extension. It fixes the shortcomings of YouTube, but allows you to revert back to the original if you’d like. Don’t miss: That simple download link
5. WordPress – This is the best blogging platform around. It is, in fact, what you’re using right now. Its simple to use and is extensible beyond all imagination. Don’t have your own server? Don’t have your own domain name? For $40 a year, I can provide you with your own WordPress blog, a .com of your choice, server space to host the blog, and the support to get it up, running, and problem-free. Just ask ZePuKa. If you’d rather not spend money, but still want to make the jump to WordPress, they offer their own hosting for free (you can also pay for extended features and removal of ads). Don’t miss: Updating regularly

Chat

1. AimAdHack – Love the look and features of having the real AOL Instant Messenger client, but don’t care for the gobs of ads and “toolbars”. AimAdHack provides you with the latest version of the real AIM program, removes all the junk you don’t want, and offers some features and plugins that you would normally not get. Don’t miss: The different color themes (black/green is good)
2. Xfire – Xfire is a great way to track how much time you play games, track your stats in those games, chat with other gamers and see what games they are playing, keep track of the people in the various clans/guilds you are a part of, and chat with people in game at the same time. For games such as Counter Strike: Source, you can even jump right to the server where your friends are playing. Don’t miss: Adding acatzr800 to your friends list

Graphics and such

1. Fireworks – This is the simplest and most fully featured graphics program I’ve ever come across. Think of it as Photoshop’s baby brother and you get the idea of what it is. It’s a little less on the artsy side, but handles all ranges of image manipulation, effects, and animations. CS3 is running about $300 right now, so its still a pretty penny, but it’s a lot less then Photoshop’s $650 price tag. Don’t miss: Transparency
2. Piclens – Imagine being able to scroll through the images on google image search, facebook, flickr, or any other site with image feeds. Stop imagining. Don’t miss: The motion sickness pills the first time you hold down the arrow keys to scroll through.
3. Ript – Digital scrapbooking can serve many purposes, from just keeping track of notes, links, and pictures in a design-as-you-go way, or professional looking, print/email ready pages for a scrapbook. Ript is free, easy, and very nice. Don’t miss: Leaving the app running and dragging things over to it when you can
4. Picasa – By far the best photo gallery management software I’ve come across. It even allows you to email (via gmail if you wish) pictures, turn pictures into slideshows, or even produce movies. Don’t miss: Everything.

Games

1. Counter Strike – One of the best games to date. Although its been around for a few years now, the graphics are still pretty good and the gameplay is some of the best around. Chances are, if you know a gamer, he has a Steam account with Counter Strike installed. Don’t miss: cs_assault
2. Guild Wars – Quite probably the best MMO ever. Its simple, realistic design makes getting started fun and easy and offers content for all sorts of skill levels and age ranges. Don’t miss: Guards of the Citadel [GotC]
3. Google Earth – Google Earth? A game? It sure could be. Not only can you fly around in “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego” fashion, but press various combinations of Ctrl, Alt, Shift, and A while in Earth mode and see what happens. Then you’ll see why this is a game. Don’t miss: That key combination I just mentioned

Video

1. VLC Player – Great all around and customizable video player. Can’t play DVDs through Windows Media Player? This will, have no fear. Don’t miss: The ability to add subtitles
2. virtualdub – Simple video editing and compression software. It won’t win you any awards, but its so easy, even a … yeah, you get the point. Don’t miss: The home and end keys (see what they do)
3. Xvid – Ever have problems playing back video that has been compressed in odd formats, like DivX? Xvid will encode and decode those videos on the fly. Just download, install, and never worry about not being able to see video streams again. Don’t miss: out on DivX movies again

Computer Management

1. Hamachi – I haven’t tested this out since it was purchased by LogMeIn, but its a quick way to set up VPNs and create a faux-LAN environment. Have games that will only let you play multiplayer on a LAN? Want to print to someone else’s printer? Here ye be. Don’t miss: The chat and browse features
2. Truecrypt – Truecrypt is the absolute pinnacle of hard drive/file encryption technology. I won’t tell you any set ups I run, but it has the ability to encrypt entire partitions, 1 large file (which it then treats as another partition), and many others, including my favorite way, encrypting an entire USB drive and then prompting for a password as soon as you plug it in. Don’t miss: Preventing people from hax0ring your dataz.