Category: Computers, Science & Technology

The American Geophysical Union announced this week that:

“Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have traveled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study appearing online today.

The heliosphere is a region of space dominated by the Sun and its wind of energetic particles, and which is thought to be enclosed, bubble-like, in the surrounding interstellar medium of gas and dust that pervades the Milky Way galaxy.”

Which is a fancy way of saying that Voyager 1 (known as “V-ger” to it’s friends) has become the fist human designed object to have actually gone BEYOND our Solar System! Pretty cool! We are finally in Interstellar space, go humans!

Not really.

Windows 8 Store cracks 50K app mark, but now what?

“After a sluggish 2013 start, Microsoft’s Window 8 App Store appears to be attracting new titles again.

The online outlet vaulted the 50,000 app mark Saturday, according to MetroStore Scanner, a website that unofficially monitors app activity at the Microsoft outlet.

That’s a global number, so all those apps may not be available to U.S. users.

Since the high-profile launch of the Windows 8 Twitter app on March 13, only 49 new apps have hit the US version of the Windows Store. However, Metrostore Scanner—the tracking service this report is based on—shows that 3000-plus new apps have appeared globally during the same time frame.

Among the offerings arriving in the app store on Saturday that helped the outlet jump the 50K milestone were programs covering:

• Sports teams (Boston Celtics, L.A. Dodgers, Miami Heat, Oklahoma Thunder, Tampa Bay Lightening, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Queens Park Rangers);
• Children’s books (Sharing, Getting Along and Taking, and The Little Girl Who Loves Make Believe);
• Utilities (a random number generator and URL shortener);
• Education (the story of Christmas, a math challenge, and a Periodic Table challenge); and
• Games (AE Lucky Fishing, Photo Puzzle, Shuffle Party, and Tilez).

Most of the apps are free.”

Kinda odd if you ask me. But there are those that compare Open Source to communism (not me.)

China to create home-grown operating system

“China is working with software firm Canonical on an open-source operating system customised for Chinese users.

The collaboration will produce a version of Canonical’s Ubuntu operating system called Kylin which will be released in April.

The deal is part of a five-year plan by China to get more people using open source software.

This software gives people more access to its internal workings so they can modify it themselves.

The first version of Ubuntu Kylin is intended for desktop and laptop computers. As well as using Chinese character sets, Kylin will also do more to support the way Chinese people interact with computers as well as reflect China’s date conventions.

Future versions will include tools that let people use popular Chinese web services such as Baidu maps, the Taobao shopping service as well as versions of office programs and image management tools, directly from Ubuntu’s main screen.

The code will be created at a laboratory in Beijing staffed by engineers from Canonical as well as several Chinese R&D agencies.

Canonical is also working with the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on a version of Kylin that will run on servers so websites, online shops and hosting firms can adopt the software.

The move is widely seen as an attempt by China to wean its IT sector off Western software in favour of more home-grown alternatives.

Ubuntu is based on the Linux operating system and its development and use is governed by an open ethic that emphasises the sharing of core computer code. It stands in contrast to the closed or proprietary systems of Microsoft and Apple who restrict access to the core or source code for their operating systems.”

It’s about time! If you want to be secure, you NEED SP1 for Win 7, so good on you, M$!

Microsoft to push Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to users starting March 19

“As Microsoft marches toward its early April 2013 end of free support deadline for Windows 7, the company is planning to update automatically some of those who still have yet to install the first (and seemingly only) Service Pack for the operating system.

As announced on March 18 on the Microsoft ‘Blogging Windows’ blog, Microsoft plans to begin rolling out Windows 7 SP1 automatically, via Windows Update to Windows 7 users who still are running the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version without SP1 installed. This process will begin on March 19.

From the blog post:

‘Starting tomorrow, the installation will be fully automatic with no user action required for those who already have Automatic Update enabled. SP1 will be released gradually over the coming weeks to all customers on the RTM version of Windows 7. The service pack will take slightly longer to install compared to other updates. To ensure Service Pack 1 is installed without issue, customers should check for sufficient free disk space and that AC power is present on a laptop. If additional space needs to be created, we recommend using the Disk Cleanup tool to delete some files so that the service pack will install. If the service pack installation is interrupted, it will reattempt to install automatically after the next restart.’

This automatic update will be applied only to Windows 7 consumer PCs that are not managed via other Microsoft management tools like System Center Configuration Manager or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), the post noted. Some admins have chosen to block temporarily their users from getting SP1 until they’ve tested it to their satisfaction. Those in that category won’t be getting SP1 pushed to them starting tomorrow.

Windows 7 RTM, with no service pack installed, will no longer be supported as of April 9, 2013, according to a February 14 post on the Microsoft Springboard Series blog. Support for specific Windows releases ends 24 months after the release of a new Service Pack, and Windows 7 SP1 was released in February 2011.

Windows 7 SP1 mainstream (free) support continues until January 13, 2015. Extended (paid) support for Windows 7 SP1 is available until January 14, 2020. (Microsoft continues to provide security updates for free during the Extended support phase of a product.)

Microsoft made available last week a Windows 7 hotfix rollup that includes 90 previously released hotfixes. It’s not SP2 for Windows 7, but it’s pretty darn close.

Speaking of end-of-support dates, Microsoft has noted that Windows Phone 8’s support period is ending in July 2014. I’m not so sure this is the doomsday scenario many are painting this to be. I hope to have more on this later today. In the interim, like Windows SuperSite’s Paul Thurrott, my read on this is Windows Phone Blue will arrive and be rolled out to existing phone customers before next July.”

This is one cool, geeky device. I saw it on Tekzilla this week. Can haz? It turns your TV into a HUGE Android tablet. How cool is that?

Infinitec Pocket TV

“The Pocket TV might be small in size but it has great power within. It rocks a Cortex A9 processor packing 1GHz of power, 1GB of RAM and runs Android 4.0 (which works similarly to Apple’s iOS for you Apple fans!). It uses the HDMI port of any TV for display and can be controlled with either the standard IR remote or the more interactive Air Remote. You can connect it to any TV set as long as it has a HDMI port and it can display up to 1080p resolution. The USB port allows you to attach an external hard drive, a wireless keyboard and mouse or a video camera for video calls. You can even bump up the storage by inserting an SD card into the Micro SD card slot.

Unboxing
The Pocket TV is ready to go out of the box. Just unpack it, connect it to your TV and you can start using it immediately. It comes with two cables, a power adapter, an infrared remote and the Infinitec Air Remote. The miniUSB cable is for powering up your Pocket TV and can be connected directly to the power adapter or alternatively can be plugged into a free USB port on your TV (only for power). The other cable is the signal receiver for the infrared remote and must be connected to the jack port of the Pocket TV. Once you have your cables connected your Pocket TV will power up bringing the full power of Android to your TV screen.

Air Remote
The first time you use the Air Remote you will find that it takes your hands a few minutes to adjust to the sensitivity of your motions. Within a few hours you’ll feel right at home, clicking, pointing and swiping like a pro!

Ports
The Pocket TV has four ports: a microUSB port for power, a microSD card slot, an output jack and a regular USB port for connecting peripherals. In order to start using your Pocket TV you need to power it up by connecting a power source to the microUSB port. For this you can use the attach cable and connect it either to the power adapter or to a USB port on your TV. We recommend you use the power adapter since the power source from the TV can be a bit jittery and may not always power up your Pocket TV correctly. You can attach the infrared cable into the jack port you plan to use the infrared remote which is won’t be necessary if you plan use the Air Remote. To use the Air Remote simply connect the USB receiver for the Air Remote to the USB port of the Pocket TV. The USB receiver can be found under the back cover of the Air Remote. We also recommend you add a USB hub to the Pocket TV in case you want to connect multiple peripherals at the same time such as a camera or a hard disk. Additionally the microSD card slot can be used to add up to 32GB of storage to your Pocket TV.

Plug and Play
Once you’ve connected your Pocket TV you’re all set up! It takes a few seconds to start up your device and the first time you do that you’ll get a setup process that will guide you through the steps of setting up your Pocket TV. Once that’s done you can begin playing with your Pocket TV just like you would if you had just bought a new tablet.”

Clean your PC, clean your registry, optimize your PC! Awesome!

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An all-in-one utility
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Able to find out more hidden problems than CCleaner.
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Simpler and easier to use
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Now with the fastest scanning speed
The scanning speed of Wise Care 365 is twice as fast as CCleaner’s, as well as Advanced System Care Pro 5.

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All the features in Wise Care 365 are highly reviewed by PCWorld, PCAdvisor, ComputerBild, CHIP, CNET, ZDNet, and so on.

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This would be bigger news to me if Mailbox supported Android OS… hear that, Dropbox?

Seen on the DropBox Blog on March 15th:

“Today we’re really excited to welcome the Mailbox team to Dropbox.

Like many of you, when we discovered Mailbox we fell in love—it was simple, delightful, and beautifully engineered. Many have promised to help us with our overflowing inboxes, but the Mailbox team actually delivered.

After spending time with Gentry, Scott, and the team, it became clear that their calling was the same as ours at Dropbox—to solve life’s hidden problems and reimagine the things we do every day. We all quickly realized that together we could save millions of people a lot of pain.

Dropbox doesn’t replace your folders or your hard drive: it makes them better. The same is true with Mailbox. It doesn’t replace your email: it makes it better. Whether it’s your Dropbox or your Mailbox, we want to find ways to simplify your life.

We’re all looking forward to making Mailbox even better and getting it into as many people’s hands as possible. There’s so much to do and we’re excited to get started!”

Gnome folks rejoice, Gnome is now officially an Ubuntu “flavor!” So, if you don’t like the Unity interface, drop it like a hot rock!

Ubuntu Linux gets a new official flavor

“Ubuntu fans may recall Ubuntu Gnome Remix, the unofficial flavor of the Linux distribution that was launched last fall for users not fond of the software’s default Unity desktop environment.

Following hard on the heels of the release of Ubuntu 12.10 ‘Quantal Quetzal,’ the new Gnome Remix version was created ‘to bring the best of Gnome to Ubuntu users,’ in the words of its developers.

Well, this week the new flavor was made an official part of the Ubuntu Linux family, giving it full access to infrastructure support, publicity, and other benefits from Canonical and the Ubuntu community.

‘There was strong demand’
‘We are pleased to announce that Ubuntu Gnome is now an official Ubuntu flavor,’ read the announcement on the Ubuntu mailing lists on Monday. ‘Our first release for 12.10 showed that there was a strong demand for a great Gnome experience on Ubuntu, and we are now working towards our second release based on Ubuntu 13.04,’ the developers added.

Not to be confused with the also-new ‘classic mode’ that aims to bring back the look and feel of the old, beloved Gnome 2, Ubuntu Gnome Remix aims instead to make the most of Gnome 3.6, which is part of the new, mobile-inspired branch of the desktop family.

Both Unity and Gnome 3 have been controversial additions to the Linux desktop world, inspiring the launch not just of the new Gnome classic mode but also brand-new contenders including the Mate and Cinnamon desktops and distributions including SolusOS and Fuduntu.

Daily builds are coming
In any case, the newly official and freshly renamed Ubuntu Gnome project will not participate in the expected release this week of the first beta version of Ubuntu 13.04, but it does plan to release images for the final beta at the end of the month, according to the announcement.

Meanwhile, daily image builds should be available within a few weeks, the developers said. Ubuntu Gnome 13.04 will also include Gnome 3.6, but Gnome 3.8 will be available from the Gnome3-team Personal Package Archive (PPA) repository.

The project is now included among the official flavors on the Ubuntu wiki, and a dedicated mailing list has been established for it.

To get a taste of this latest Ubuntu flavor for yourself, download Ubuntu Gnome Remix 12.10 from the project site. A page on the Ubuntu Wiki details the other ‘Recognized Flavors’ of the free and open source operating system.”

I was experimenting with Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 and discovered a few interesting things. I also checked, and I get the same behavior on IE 10 in Windows 8.

Using IE10, HTML5 and WebM video does not work for me if it is “Cloud sourced,” meaning, if the files are stored in Amazon S3 using Cloudfront, as the video on my site is stored. The files are referenced by a DNS CNAME such as: “io.drbill.io/dbtv-webm”, so a file such as “DrBillTV-281.webm”, would be:

The “actual” location is:

Now, when I say it “doesn’t work” I mean it isn’t “streamed” in the same way it is on any decent “normal” web browser, like Google Chrome, Opera, or Mozilla Firefox. Here is example code of what works in these two browsers – that is, the HTML5 code:
—-
[sourcecode language=”wraplines”]
<video poster="https://io.drbill.io/dbtv-images/DrBillTV-281.png" controls width="350" height="196">
<source src="http://media.techpodcasts.com/drbilltv/http://io.drbill.io/dbtv-webm/DrBillTV-281.webm"/>
Your browser does not support the HTML5 video tag.
[/sourcecode]
—-
The “TechPodcasts” string is due to using the TPN stats for my video, I have tried it with that removed as well. No difference. Instead, I get a message, in IE10, that the video is from “An Invalid Source.” Keep in mind, this same code works in Google Chrome, Opera, and Mozilla Firefox.

I have also noticed that Blubrry PowerPress “Cloud sourced” video does not work in Internet Explorer 10 either… same error.

The bottom line is that, as I said in the last Dr. Bill.TV Netcast, IE10 is not supporting Cloud sourced video! This is just not acceptable! PLEASE use a real browser! Just venting!

You know I LOVE my Roku! This one may cause me me to “trade up”… but the new interface will be rolled out to older Roku units soon.

Review: Roku 3 offers more power, new interface

From TechHive:
“I didn’t think Roku had much to improve on from its last high-end model, the Roku 2 XS, which I’ve been using for the past year or so to access Amazon, Netflix, and scores of additional streaming media. But the Roku 3, which replaces the 2 XS as Roku’s top-of-the-line media streamer, proves me wrong.

Hardware changes
Some of the enhancements amount to gilding the lily. The 2 XS was already petite (in fact, the Roku 3 weighs a bit more) and reasonably responsive, so the subtle industrial-design tweaks (gently rounded contours) and processor upgrade didn’t really excite me—although the new unit does seem snappier.

The new support for 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, however, should improve multimedia quality for a lot of city dwellers who don’t have a wired home network. Previous models supported only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, which tends to be overcrowded in densely populated areas, resulting in freezing and stuttering as neighboring networks fight for the few available nonoverlapping channels. Wi-Fi on the 5GHz band has a lot more channels, so neighboring networks can usually find the unencumbered bandwidth required for smooth streaming media.

The remote now has a headphone jack with volume-control buttons for audio played through headphones. The jack is a great addition for insomniacs, who can now watch Roku content without waking up spouses and other family members.

Roku even throws in a set of earbuds in the same purple the company has used to accent all of its hardware. The quality of audio through the earbuds is surprisingly decent, and the volume control works as advertised. But you can use any headphones with a standard 1/8-inch plug, and the headphone support worked equally well on a third-party headphone set I tried.

One thing I’d rather have found in the box is an HDMI cable. Roku doesn’t give you one, and the Roku 3 has dispensed with support for analog video—the unit no longer has component or composite video outputs.

The remote, by the way, still has motion-sensing technology that you can use to play the games you purchase and download from the Roku Channel Store (which is where you also select content sources for your channel lineup). Roku helps you get started by including a freebie: Rovio’s Angry Birds Space (replacing the original Angry Birds on earlier models).

I was unable to test one additional hardware upgrade: support for 7.1-channel surround sound passthrough over HDMI (previous models topped out at 5.1 channels).

Like the 2 XS before it, the Roku 3 has 10/100Base-T ethernet for wired networking, a USB port for sideloading content, Bluetooth to communicate with the remote control, and a MicroSD slot for extra game/channel storage. The faster processor lets it play MKV H.264 files sideloaded via the USB port for the first time.

New interface
On the software side, Roku has introduced a major user interface overhaul that does away with the scrolling-strip arrangement in previous versions. In its place is a more Web-standard pane-oriented layout, with a left navigation bar for various menus and filters, and relevant functions or content icons in a larger right-hand pane. It’s easier to find what you’re looking for, without a lot of scrolling action.

You can also choose from a handful of themes for the UI’s design elements—wallpaper and icons, for example—as well as a screensaver. All of this succeeds in making the Roku 3 look more like a consumer electronics gadget than a network device. (Roku plans to bring the new UI to older models—namely the Roku LT, Roku HD [model 2500R], Roku 2 HD, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2 XS, and Roku Streaming Stick—sometime in April.)

Bottom line
With 750-plus content channels and one of the easiest setups for any product, the Roku 3 maintains Roku’s position at the top of the media-streaming heap. It’s not innovative enough to warrant replacing the Roku 2 XS (unless you really want 5GHz support or the headphone jack), but it is a compelling offering for newcomers or people who own older models.”