Archive for October, 2007
GMail 2.0, Patient Promises
Oct 31st
Now I know many of you readers use GMail, as do I. Originally, I enjoyed it’s storage and it’s overall GUI, as it was probably the first free e-mail service to offer 1gb of storage (this was when Hotmail still only offered a measly 25mb). Thus, when I discovered GMail 2.0, the new revamped GMail service from Google, was to be released later this year or early the next, you can imagine I got quite excited.
So far, I’ve learned that GMail 2.0 has two goals: faster service and better contact management (courtesy of Dailytech). Both will be greatly appreciated – as the storage grows and more mail is being collected, there will certainly be more to sort through, so faster service would be much appreciated. As for contact management – GMail had a contact management aspect? I never knew about, nor used, such a service, but perhaps I will in the future. I do prefer to keep such information on my phone which is less accessible or my hard drive, but maybe I’ll give the internet a shot.
Again, patience is the key here. If you’ve already got the newer version running, great! Why not write a comment as to how it’s functioning? If not, then we’re in the same boat, and all we can do is wait. Sadly.
To learn more about GMail 2.0, visit:
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/09/gmail-20.html
Update: It is now November 2, 2007. I logged in to my GMail accounts and discovered two of the three made the transition to GMail beta. I am guessing they are doing this through alphabetical order, so it’ll only be a matter of time until my third one gets transformed. This is strictly a guess.
Hulu – my (and possibly your) Favourite TV Shows Online!
Oct 30th
Hulu launched two days ago – so why am I already posting about it? Well, this isn’t so much a review (or me-view) of Hulu as it is just a news update. Haven’t you been upset that your favourite shows, like Journeyman or Family Guy, have been stuck on the tube (officially speaking)? Be upset no more.
Hulu is a video-on-demand site that airs many of Fox’s and NBC’s shows as it is supplied by NBC Universal. Thus, many shows from NBC, like Journeyman as mentioned earlier as well as the possibility of Heroes, will be aired online. Popular shows from Fox network will also be aired – shows such as The Simpsons or the more recent hit Family Guy.
So why not sign up for the private beta? I have, and I’m hoping to receive a response soon, however unlikely it seems. To learn more about Hulu, why not visit it’s home page? Hopefully we both get in and can start watching those shows!
Another Reason to buy a PS3 – Dualshock!
Oct 29th
Dualshock has long been a feature regarded as a favourite of Playstation users. Alas, when Sony initially announced that the PS3 would not have Dualshock support, most fans (including myself) were somewhat disappointed (hence those abysmally-looking sales figures, eh?). Looks like Sony’s on a hot streak of correction though – from a price cut to a long loved feature re-implemented, they’re making the Playstation 3 the console to get (as opposed to the Xbox 360, not including the Wii).
The latest update of PS3 firmware, version 1.94, finally features Dualshock 3, arguably the franchise feature of the PS3 controller (there’s also the Sixaxis, but there’s not much to be said there). However, it doesn’t seem as though you’ll be able to download version 1.94 off the Playstation Network just yet. Actually, PS3′s firmware 1.94 comes with a new Ratchet and Clank game titled Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction.
And it seems as though Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction won’t be the only game featuring the new Dualshock.
This does mean that us Western users won’t be able to get our hands on Dualshock 3 for the PS3 till around Spring of 2008. Ah well, at least we’ve got something to look forward to, right?
Wal-Mart to offer Parity Pricing on Games?
Oct 28th
Looks like a strong Canadian dollar is finally making it’s mark. Talks of outrageous prices have finally been heard by the retailers, and although it took a few weeks to stabilize, there is certainly a price drop. This doesn’t happen to affect all goods and services yet, but it’s affected a very important good that’s near and dear to our hearts. I’m talking about video games. I received a phone call from a friend of mine yesterday alerting me of this piece of news. Great news for the Wii and the pocket.
Seems obvious to start off with a chart-topper, so as this report from National Post mentions, Wal-Mart started it’s new system with the highly anticipated Halo 3. Apparently, Wal-Mart’s also been able to use the strong dollar to “Rollback” a lot of its prices – alas, I’m not running a business blog (yet), so we’ll have to move on. Actually, there’s not much to be said.
With price parity, games will only become more demanded. However, I hope the dollar really stabilizes enough to make this pricing more of a permanent feature as opposed to a seemingly temporary one. And why aren’t those prices on iPods dropping yet? 
iGoogle
Oct 27th
Recently, I took a look at Tafiti, a search engine powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight. I was pretty impressed (you were too, I’m sure) with it’s graphical power and its ability to possibly make tedious searching less monotonous, if not more enjoyable. I guess I was a bit hard on Google though, seeing as how I bagged on it pretty often. Looks like they got pretty upset and started working harder on iGoogle – and came up with a few themes? Could it be true?
Yep. I’m sorry if this is old news to you, as I discovered this very early this morning, but I was actually pretty surprised by Google’s new theme implementation. However, the excitement was short-lived as the themes were just static images and not exactly a constant part of Google (they only appeared on the homepage of iGoogle, and not in the results as well). Nonetheless, I’m still glad for the improvement.
Just when I thought Microsoft had Google by the neck in a chokehold with Tafiti, Google came and did something like this. Pretty amazing reaction time, unless it was just plain ol’ coincidence acting up.
Hundredth Post!
Oct 26th
In case you haven’t noticed, this is the hundredth post on the blog known as CutEdge, formerly known as Herb’s Blurbs. I’ve actually been looking forward to this one for a while now, as I consider it a really major milestone! To be quite frank, I never thought that I would be interested in blogging enough to actually make it to the big three digits, but it’s turned out to be a much more appealing medium than I thought it would be.
Breaking the million-barrier on Alexa yesterday, together we have pushed CutEdge to a rank of 975,579 in an average of three months. I’d like to thank you for reading CutEdge and hope to continue to provide you readers with more information and opinions on the latest technological news.
As for the future of CutEdge, there will be no hiatuses that I can see in the near future, nor will there be any doubt that CutEdge will continue on business as usual. Hopefully I’ll be more punctual and consistent – I really resolve to publish an article everyday. Unfortunately, I’ve still got a lot of things (including a professional review opportunity right now), so I’ll have to try my best to do both. Thanks for your patience!
Er, about that announcement on no post today, looks like I had a little extra time at school.
Anticipation and Alexa
Oct 25th
Sorry about this, my dear readers, but due to tonight being filled with an appointment from school, I’m afraid I won’t have time to write much. Nor will I be able to tomorrow, as I’ll similarly be busy at an appointment (I’m a busy man, ya know).
Just wanted you dear readers to realize that I’m trying to be as consistent as I can and resolve to get to you everyday – whether it’s simply a disappointing message like this or with another fancy dancy one of my reviews (er, more like me-views)
However, why don’t I introduce you to http://alexa.com?
Alexa is a web information company that measures traffic and then ranks the traffic for each site. The lower the rank, the more popular your site. Currently Google is ranked 68, APH Networks is sitting at 52,757, and PC World retains the spot of 1,347. As for CutEdge, together we recently broke through the million mark and are now resting on the border with a rank of 975,579 (a funky number, I know). Please be advised that this is the three month average and not the weekly average.
If you want to contribute to collecting information for Alexa in order to make their ranking more accurate, why not download the Alexa toolbar? Visit http://www.alexa.com/site/download for more info.
And stick around for Saturday’s edition – I assure you, it’ll be huge. Need I mention the word “Milestone”?
Whee, it’s the Asus EEE PC!
Oct 24th
Sometimes, even the most portable of laptops just don’t cut it – like when you’re looking to carry a less expensive laptop to a crazier environment (could be somewhere like school). Emphasis on the less expensive part of that sentence – sometimes, you don’t want to risk that laptop worth more than a grand. Well, Asus’ EEE PC certainly won’t break that budget barrier, and it’s a lot smaller than most laptops today.
Deemed ultraportable, the EEE PC (Easy to work, easy to play and easy to work), the idea of such a device really appeals to me. Having enjoyed using PDA’s as a child, I realize that such a transportable computer would be exponentially fun to work with. Also, if you run into a thief or your EEE PC gets mysteriously smashed to bits (as it could happen in the public), the EEE PC will be significantly less expensive to replace.
Retailing for no less than $299 CDN for the basic model featuring 256mb of ram, an Intel Celeron processor, and 2gb of storage, the EEE PC 2G Surf is aptly named – after the installing of an operating system on the EEE PC, you’re hardly going to have space or resources to do anything other than surf the internet. Alas, if you’re planning to do more than that, there are other models that might tickle your fancy, which you can examine over at Wikipedia.
The EEE PC certainly would be a worthy investment – as a matter of fact, I’m planning to invest in one for my education (would be a Godsend for taking a load of notes in a long class – or browsing the web when the class turns sour). Alas, you might have trouble finding one for now (check retailers in a few weeks – they also might make great Christmas presents, especially for your favourite blogger).
Rainlendar
Oct 23rd
So you need a calendar, eh? Not a fancy Outlook one, mind you, just one that simply sits on your desktop and stores those little notes and reminders. Tried and tired of searching? Great, because this is the definite solution that I have used for years and only recently rediscovered – and it goes by the name of Rainlendar.
Due to previous alleged lack of compatibility with Vista, I decided to hold off downloading it for a while, but I really missed the little calendar at the corner of my desktop. Rainlendar is simple and easy to use – which is perfect, for my more “everyday” needs. And it’s also great for reminding me what date of the month it is (er, make that day of the week).
There are two versions of Rainlendar – and to be bluntly honest, you’re just going to need the Lite (aka free) version. I haven’t exactly used the Pro version before, but I’m pretty sure that the added features add little to the whole experience. Basically, the only features that Pro adds are networked calendars for those huge families of computers, and Outlook or Google Calendar support.
By the way, if you ever wanted to take a look at the true desktop of Herbert “Herbalicious” Lui, better take a close look.
Actually, I remember that my cousin once told me that the default skin was the only one I’d ever need for Rainlendar. Of course, I didn’t believe him and actually changed the skins a few times, but I always returned to the default “Shadow” skin. It’s simple, but it’s simplicity is it’s brilliance, which is why it’s pretty well-used. Rainlendar is a weird name, granted, but you’ll be enjoying it for years to come.
Tafiti and Silverlight make Searching Fun
Oct 22nd
For the millionth time, you’re loading up the Google search engine and you’re growing more and more tired of its dull, simple design. Isn’t this supposed to be the golden age of the web? If it is, then what is with all this text-based garbage that you’re looking at? Where is the powerful animation, the ability to save your searches, the visual representation? And for Pete’s sakes, where is the colour? No need to fret, because the solution is here, courtesy of Microsoft’s Silverlight.
Just to set things straight, Silverlight is basically a runtime that brings more animation and graphics to the world of the internet – very similar to Adobe’s Flash and Sun Microsystems’ Java engine. After installing the plug-in (which was very smooth), you can load up Tafiti and try for yourself the power of Silverlight (watch out, Flash)!
Tafiti brings in many aspects to searching made possible through the graphical power of Silverlight. For one thing, there are a lot more animations when the page itself loads. Although it seems very simple-looking initially, there are actually a huge number of those “index cards” that you can use. With every new search, you get a new card (er, gotta figure out how to back up to the previous result without getting rid of the present one though).
Also, with Tafiti, you can choose to view the results though a Tree View, which provides a very unique experience. Although I’m not sure how useful it will be, it does put some fun back in searching for things, and it actually is quite interesting to watch. The size of the tree itself is adjustable (the little scale at the bottom makes sure of that).
Last, but certainly not least, is the Stacks feature that Tafiti sports. On the right hand side of the Tafiti window, you will be able to see several slots. You can use your cursor to drag your search results into those slots (similar ones in the same slot) and save those search results if you are logged in with your .net passport. Otherwise, they will save, but only for the session until the window is closed.
Tafiti shows just an inkling of the promise that Silverlight holds for the future. I, for one, am really excited about the possibilities – even the slightly overlooked ‘Filter’ feature came in handy for my first Eagles search. However, I think it has a bit of work to do in order to catch up to Google – for example, why not add the number of pages at the bottom of the search results display instead of just a “more” button? Or perhaps a more graphical arrow or page flip would be more effective?
Don’t let my nit-picking throw you off though, because Tafiti is still just in it’s beta stages. Perhaps when 1.0 is debuted, Tafiti will have a whole slew of skins (it has a temporary Halo 3 skin as well as a regular Tafiti skin) – and hey, I wouldn’t mind having more skins to my search engine. In case you’re interested, here it is: http://www.tafiti.com/.