November 26th 2006
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Gaming, Internet, Life
I’ve posted about Ctrl+Alt+Del (CAD) a few times in the past - it was even my blog of the week - but I have little time at the moment to try out some new software, or review a web application so I’m just going to post again about my favourite web comic. My parents have been away since Friday and are until Tuesday so I have a reduced amount of time to do this. Let’s go.
CAD is a gaming-related web comic (and animated series) written and created by Tim Buckley. It went live on the 23rd October 2002 and is updated every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The comic is mainly centred around video games but the humour in the comic is sometimes about other things such as the long running gag around arrows. The comic features long running story lines but also can be random at many times. The comic isn’t always about the main characters, some are set around one particular video game, others around other little sketches featuring other reoccurring characters. Whatever the comic is about, the graphics are great and the humour will have you laughing at each frame.
Main Characters
There are two main characters that have been in the comic since it went live in 2002. These are Ethan MacManus and Lucas Davidowicz. Since 2002, they’ve undergone major graphical enhancements, Ethan has got engaged and Lucas has had many bad experiences with girls - just some of the changes in the comic.
Ethan is a crazy character and a fanatic of video games at the age of 25 and is either inciting or engaged in trouble in every strip he’s featured in. His antics have resulted in many story lines and many laughs. On Valentines day this year, Ethan finally proposed to the recurring character Lilah - also a game fanatic - by, what could more appropriate than, getting the 7 tops scores on an arcade video game and making them spell “LIL” “AH_” “WIL” “YOU” “MAR” “RY_” “ME_”. In the comic, Ethan works at a gaming store but how he has managed to keep his job is beyond me (though he has gone through quite a few jobs) and his antics there are amusing. He always finds a way to pre-order the latest game or grab the latest games console by any means and even when he doesn’t always have the money to do so. Ethan is a rather odd character but one you can love, pity and laugh at all in the same strip.
Lucas is the more level-headed main character but apart from being totally serious he’s also sarcastic and cynical. He tries to keep one step ahead of Ethan and always tries to bring a sense of reality to the story line. Lucas is a programmer currently and has worked at the customer service desk at two stores since the start of the comic. Because of this, he has developed a distaste for ignorant people and often provides his customers with a dose of harsh truth when they act so. He often calls 911 in advance when he suspects that Ethan is going to do something silly. The comments that Lucas makes are often a reality check for the other characters and usually the sarcastic comments are taken literally by Ethan which always makes for a good comic and a laugh. He’s laid back and will choose a video game over work if he can.
Reoccuring Characters
Besides the two main characters above, there’s also some other characters that have been starring in the comic for some time now. I mentioned Lilah - Ethan’s fiancée - earlier but there’s also some other characters that are just as funny, just as exciting and just as crazy as the two mentioned above.
Scott has been in the comic since 2002 and is an avid web designer and Linux user. He brings a pet penguin into the equation, called Ted, which is always funny to see when it is interacting with Ethan - Ethan is always trying to capture and kill Ted, yet is always outsmarted. Scott is intelligent, relaxed, mysterious and practises meditation here and there. He’s been working on a rather secret project in his room which is guarded by an electrified metal door (which is only activated when Ethan is snooping around). Scott is a funny character and brings passive humour to the comic particularly inciting laughs with his use of silence. Although he turned up rather mysteriously, Scott keeps himself to himself and usually stays in his room with Ted, tinkering on his project.
Zeke is a humanoid robot that Ethan originally made out of an Xbox games console. Recently, Zeke suffered an accident and Ethan had to repair him by using parts from the new Xbox 360. Zeke walks, talks, thinks and used to play Halo: Combat Evolved until Ethan decided to handicap his skills because he was getting too good at it. Unusually, Zeke has a crush on Ethan’s GameCube which he wants turned into a female robot. Zeke has been in the comic since 2003 and has been mischievous. Since that time he’s malfunctioned severely and attempted to kill all the other characters. He was eventually stopped but not before he had burned down Ethan and Lilah’s apartments. Zeke provides a much needed dose of humanity as he strives to become more human but in the process become annoyed at the whole of humanity.
Lilah Monroe is the rare type of girl that you only hear about in dodgy chat rooms or on digg. She smashed Ethan’s preconceptions that cute girls don’t play video games; let alone are good at them. She’s smart, attractive and started dating Ethan only recently. Lilah brought a long running gag to the comic in that every time she entered a video game store, she is drooled over (not literally) by men who cannot believe that girls play video games - a misconception in real life. She is an avid video gamer and recently entered a gaming tounrament and came a respectable place, at first to the dismay of Ethan. Lilah tries to bring a taste of sense to Ethan although usually this isn’t the case. If only Lilah existed in real life…
Comic Impressions
I’ve been reading Ctrl+Alt+Del for a while now and have gone through all the comics that Tim has done and they’re interesting and funny as hell to view. I’ve said it before but it is my favourite web comic (out of the 3 I read). The comic has 5 very different and very distinct characters which means it appeals to a lot of people. It has long term plot lines, inside jokes, one time gags and a distinct style which all group together to create a fantastic read and something I really look forward to reading four times a week.
With the introduction of the animated series in February this year, CAD has made its mark and established itself as one of the most read and most anticipated comics on the world wide web. Tim Buckley has always stated that the comic will remain free while the Premium service is subscription based - it is something people can do to support their favourite comic’s author. I haven’t seen the animated series but the trailer was enough for me to gain interest in it. The comic has also brought about another phenomenon called ‘Winter-een-mas‘. You may have heard of it even if you have never read CAD. Winter-een-mas is the Christmas for video games. It’s celebrated every January of each year but the official dates are from the 25th through 31st of January and we’re encouraged to thank the game companies. Each year Ethan declares himself king of the holiday and hilarity ensues. If only it were a real holiday…
Final Thoughts
Everything I’ve said has already been said. It’s a great comic and something that will brighten up your day. You like some characters, feel sorry for them, sometimes hate them but that’s the point. Buckley has created something for everyone and has crafted humour, wit, sarcasm and graphical expertise into what we see. Check it out and add it to your RSS feeds. What comics do you read and why do you read them?
November 17th 2006
Internet, Life, Misc., Technology
I have to be honest, when I finally uninstalled this program, a lot of stress went away and my experience with my computer returned to a friendly relationship. I’ve been using and testing Windows Live OneCare Beta 1.5 for about three weeks now and it hasn’t been the best experience I’ve had with software of its type. OneCare is Microsoft’s answer to an anti-virus and firewall program in one and if this beta is something to go by, a lot of users are going to be annoyed at the software after a week of installing it. Though, it’s not been a totally negative experience…
OneCare Overview
Windows Live OneCare, or Windows OneCare Live as it used to be known, is an all round computer security service for Microsoft XP and their newest operating system, Vista. It includes anti-virus, firewall, backup and malware/spyware protection utilities for the user in one simple to use program. The interface is minimal and provides the user with only the most important data when the program is opened. When not in use, the program sits quietly in the user’s taskbar and the icon changes colour depending on the status of the computer: green for good, orange for some action needed and red for a major problem.
The firewall provided in OneCare is different to that provided in Windows XP in that it is a two-way protection system - it blocks both incoming and outgoing traffic unlike the XP included firewall which only blocks incoming traffic. This provides protection from trojans and viruses that may wish to send data from your computer. Also included in the anti-virus protection. This is just your general anti-virus protection, provided by regularly updated definition files downloaded to your computer. The spyware/malware protection is provided by Windows Defender, another Microsoft product that specifically protects users against spyware and malware (the program that defines Messenger Plus! as a threat). OneCare also provides hard drive clean-up and defragmentation utilities that the user can utilise if he or she wishes to. Finally, it also provides a backup feature - something lacking in Windows XP Home Edition - that would compliment Home, Pro and Vista very well. It allows you to backup to a number of different storage formats including external hard drives, DVDs and CDs. It allows you to backup all or some parts at your whim and also allows you to backup networked computers which are also running Windows Live OneCare - a handy feature for a large network.
First Impressions of OneCare
I downloaded Windows Live OneCare Beta 1.5 because I was looking around for a solution to the small amount of anti-virus and firewall programs for the installation of Vista that I have. I decided to test it on XP as well as Vista to see what all the fuss was about. The installation was relatively painless - for a Microsoft product - and as usual I restarted and logged back on. The first thing I noticed was the time it took for it to settle after logging on. That time was significantly bigger than my previous setup. I stayed with it though. I opened up the program and the splash screen presented itself and then the main interface appeared. It was pretty simplistic.
I went through all the options available to me and was surprised that there wasn’t much I could do. I had the options to change a few settings like when to schedule scans, tune-ups and backups but I didn’t have as much control of what it did. At this point, I also noticed that I couldn’t turn OneCare off when I wanted to. This was a major problem for me as my previous firewall program allowed itself to be paused at my will - something that came in handy during LANs and other times. It stayed on all the time and I started to stare at the icon in the taskbar as if it were my captor. Another option that I seemed to have no control over was the fact it insisted, nay, demanded that I complete a tune-up at least once every month. The icon has remained orange for about one and a half weeks due to the fact I resisted doing another tune-up. I got annoyed, angry even, with OneCare and that is not a good sign.
OneCare on the bench?
OneCare for me was an experience that I don’t want to repeat - OneCare gave me more hassle than a virus or trojan would ever have and it was not worth it. You see what I go through reviewing software for you! Although it does provide some handy features, the way they are implemented is very clumsy in my opinion. Instead of just hiding the more advanced options, they’ve not included them at all and allow Windows Live OneCare to take control of your computer. I don’t like anyone, or anything, else having control of my computer. I suppose as this is coming from a more advanced user, it could be seen as OneCare is taking over but to a less advanced user OneCare is seen to be taking care of the computer, making the user have less to worry about.
But, since I installed OneCare, I noted my computer was slower (slower than it is usually) and I’m an impatient user - if you’ve seen me use the school’s computers, you’ve seen me become speedily annoyed with the dismal speeds they they reach. Also, things started to happen on my computer. Links started to appear in ‘My Network Places’ every now and again and also since installing OneCare, my internet connection seemed to die every once in a while and the only way I could regain connectivity was to renew the DHCP atleast 3 times - something that before the install and since the uninstall hasn’t happened.
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts are pretty simple: don’t use or download Windows Live OneCare. Besides the fact it costs $50 (£27) a year to use the service after the 90-day trial, it’s slow, not as effective as it should be and also hinders network connectivity as well as linking with other computers on the internet. The services it offers are not new and there’s nothing unique about the product other than they’re all provided in one piece of software. You can, and I have, obtain the same protection and the same utilities for free (or at least for a lower price). Although this means installing separate programs for each service, for me it means a faster system and more money in my pocket. My recommendation would be, as my current setup is, AVG Free 7.5 for your anti-virus solution and Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall for your firewall solution. There’s also a spyware solution in the form of Windows Defender (free), AVG Anti-Spyware Free 7.1 or Ad-Aware SE Personal. OneCare is really for the most inexperienced user that doesn’t want to play around with settings and just want something that works out of the box and who doesn’t want to touch any settings - at the cost of system functionality.
November 10th 2006
Internet, Misc., News, Technology
When it was announced in July 2006, I was particularly interested in Microsoft Live Labs Photosynth because of the multiple possibilities of the concept. Since the first screenshots were shown in the same month, the Photosynth crew has been working like mad and today they released a technology preview of the software. My first impression? Amazing. Photosynth takes a collection of photos and arranges them into a three-dimensional model on screen and in real time. The results are amazing and I cannot believe this is not even in beta phase! Read on for a full review.
Photosynth gives you wings
As I’ve said, Photosynth takes a collection of photos and arranges them into a three-dimensional model of whatever they show. You can then walk and fly around the model, viewing selected photos from each area of the model. The model allows you to see where photos were taken in relation to where other photos were taken. Even you may not remember where you’ve taken each photo from but the algorithm behind Photosynth can work out where 
each photo was taken, and what it is of, just by looking at other photographs in the collection - rather clever.
You’ll notice that as a collection is analysed, a bunch of dots start to appear. In a matter of a few seconds you start to recognise features such as buildings, columns, doors and spires. The software analyses each photo and picks out distinctive features like the edges of windows and the edge of buildings and creates a three-dimensional model out of the dots. By comparing photos, Photosynth can also calculate the distance between objects and 
so create a 3-D view. It’s amazing stuff and it really does work. By flying around the model, you can make out buildings, roofs and even roads just by zooming in and out of the matrix of coloured dots.
Controlling the Seadragon
Photosynth works by incorporating the technology of Seadragon, which Microsoft acquired in February 2006, which means that scrolling, zooming and any other transitions and transformations are extremely smooth and fast. The user interface is rather nice and the ‘leaf buttons’ in the top right of the screen is very easy to use and understand. 
This technology preview provides 3 areas of user interaction: the ‘leaf buttons’, the 4 movements arrows to the sides, top and bottom and the photo viewer at the bottom of the screen. The ‘leaf buttons’ are understandable by the icons on them. The letter icon allows you to e-mail a particular view to a friends - or even a whole collection of photos - via e-mail, the camera icon lets you see where each picture was taken from in the model, the group icon lets you find pictures that are like the one you’re currently viewing, the orbit icon allows you to ’swing’ around the model as if you were flying, there’s the obligatory zoom in and zoom out buttons and the home icon lets you view the photo that most incorporates the whole model.
Those are the 7 very simple, very intuitive controls that would probably be most used. The bottom of the screen offers the user a chance to browse photos that are near the current photo they’re viewing. Every time you view a different photo on the model, the horizontal bar shuffles itself to show the current photo’s thumbnail and also the thumbnails of any photos near it. The movements are very smooth and the bar also gives you the option to zoom in on the current photo if there’s a better quality photo of an area within it.
Uses of Photosynth
Photosynth has a world of possible uses ahead of it. On the official site, they say uses could include the obvious revolution in how we view our photos for example. Another use they hope to reach would be to utilise the part of the software that looks for like images in another way. Say you found a picture on the internet of somewhere but didn’t know what the place was called - all you’d do was take a picture of it with a phone or a screenshot and use the software to look for the image and any information provided with it. 
It’s all very exciting and interesting.
Another use, and one potentially more profitable for Microsoft, would be aiming the software at gaming companies. This software can create an almost complete three-dimensional model from a bunch of pictures - this is much quicker than creating one from scratch and is also much more realistic as it’s literally based on real dimensions and a real environment. With the rise of high definition televisions, games and the demand for more and more realistically graphic games, this software could become invaluable. If adapted correctly, there could be a huge demand from the games industry.
My final thoughts
There are multiple, practical uses of this software even at it’s current stage of development. If the developers behind it see their dream come true, we will change the way we look at our photos. Personally, I don’t think it will make a huge impact but it’s certainly an innovative way of browsing your photos at a particular destination. I like the user interface and smooth controls that the software employs as the transitions are very natural and I encountered no lag what so ever when using it.
I do have some beef though in that Photosynth has been built as an ActiveX control rather than a standalone piece of software. This alienates a lot of people from using the software. Although you really expect Microsoft to use their own proprietary formats, screenshots had suggested that it was going to be an installable piece of software. Overall, I like it a lot and can’t wait until another release is announced where we can provide our own photo collections to be analysed. The preview shows the immense power of the software and would be a great companion to the Windows Vista operating system as well. Go and have a look (Internet Explorer 6 and 7 only at the moment) and try it out. Leave a comment if you would.
Update: I’ve been informed by a developer that they’re going to provide some logos people can use and some cool desktop backgrounds on their site later today. Thanks David Geyde!
November 1st 2006
Blogging, Internet, Life
My blog would have been overwhelmed with spam comments if it were not for Akismet. It has saved me from 1,086 spam comments since I installed it around August this year. So, 1,086 spam comments in 3 months - my blog gets an average of 362 spam comments a month. That’s 12 spam comments a day! Akismet has basically been a lifesaver in preserving my blog and stopping those annoying Russians from using improper English on my blog! But, really, Akismet has been a real good friend to have. Akismet is a service that takes every comment you get and runs tests against it to decide whether or not it’s a spam comment, or a real one. Akismet is brought to us by the now famous folks at Automattic - cheers!
What does it do?
Akismet helps the blogosphere fight the spam that is polluting the world wide web. Every time a comment is processed on your Wordpress blog, the content is sent to the Akismet servers where a series of tests are performed to determine if it’s comment gold or commend corned beef; spam. If the comment is determined as spam, it’s held in the Akismet management page where you can decide to permanently delete it or allow it to be published. It’s a very easy process to do. Once a day, usually at the end of the day, 
I open the Akismet management page in the Wordpress administration area and glance down the list of the comments deemed as spam and assuming they all are, I press “Delete All” and they’re gone! Simple. It applies the same process to comments as well as trackbacks and pingbacks!
How does it work?
Akismet offers its services in the form of a plugin that any Wordpress user can install and use. The only requirement is to have a Wordpress.com API key which can be grabbed by creating an account over at Wordpress.com. Take the API key you’re given and in your account and enter it in the text box on the Akismet configuration page in the Wordpress administration area and you’re done! This API key is just a way of identifying you and your blog but also to help Automattic collect statistics which can be seen on the top right of their homepage - and they’re quite shocking.
Implementing Akismet
You don’t just have to have a Wordpress blog to use Akismet. There’s an API you can utilise if you want to integrate Akismet into your own software and frameworks are already available in PHP 4, PHP 5, .NET 1.1, .NET 2.0, Ruby, Java, Perl, Coldfusion and Python. These are available on the Akismet development page. But, the original implementation of this service was created by the creators of the Wordpress software, for the Wordpress software and the plugin can be found on the download page. If you have a Wordpress.com blog, you can automatically use it as it’s included in your package. How cool is that?
Akismet is available for other blogging systems as well as Wordpress thanks to the community surrounding it. If you use Movable Type, Drupal, Nucleus or even Serendipity then you can integrate Akismet easily and quickly. Stop putting up with spam today. If there’s not a plugin or extension for the software that you use, create it with the API!
Final Thoughts
I’ve used the Wordpress Akismet plugin since August this year and out of the 1,086 spam comments that it has caught, it only let 2 spam comments through - 
but only to the point where it asked me whether or not I wanted it published or not. Since then it has proven to me it is capable of doing what it was meant to do and it does it with extreme precision and accuracy. Since Wordpress 2, Akismet has been included by default and the latest version - included with Wordpress 2.0.5 - is 1.2.1.
Since its release on October 25th, 2005 it has come a long way. The amount of users have increased and it has been implemented in many different blogging and other software. In my experience, Akismet is a vital add-on for any blog and has served me well. It’s free for personal use on blogs such as mine and from only $5 a month for bloggers who make over $500 from their blog and from just $50 a month for companies who which to host blogs. Very reasonable and I hope they’re making enough money to cover their coffee costs! If you’ve used Aksimet before, or implemented it into your own software, leave a comment below and share your experiences.
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