Are you ready to have your mind blown by some truly incredible gadget news? No, we’re not talking about our peek at the Zune HD with none other than Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In fact, we have spicy hot new Windows licensing details. According to Tech ARP, Microsoft will soon allow end users to downgrade from Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate editions to either Windows Vista Business or Window XP Professional. If that weren’t enough, OEMs may now choose to install XP Professional, XP Pro Tablet, or XP Pro X64, instead of Windows Vista Business / Ultimate — as long as they fulfill a bunch of legalistic requirements regarding activation markers, certificates of authenticity, Windows Vista Logo criteria, and other stuff you probably don’t care about. It looks like the repudiation of Windows Vista is continuing apace… and we’re guessing that it doesn’t stop until it results in a series of war crimes tribunals in The Hague. (We can dream, can’t we?)
Archive for May, 2009
Updated Windows 7 and Vista downgrade rights leaked
May 15th, 2009Email large files using Docstoc OneClick
May 15th, 2009DocStoc OneClick, the new app allows you to right click any documents on your desktop have them automatically uploaded to Docstoc, where a link is generated and inserted into a new message in your default email client (Gmail my case). OneClick also lets you simultaneously upload multiple files, grab embed code, and add other meta data your documents.
How to Use:
Step 1: Download Docstoc OneClick and Create a Profile on Docstoc
Step 2: Select the documents (.doc, .pdf, .xls, .ppt) you want to send in an email (you can select multiple documents). The documents can be up to 50MBs each.
Step 3: Right click and select “Email as Private” or “Email as Public”. “Email as Private” stores your files privately on Docstoc so no other users can access them without the secret URL link. “Email as Public” will publically display the document you send via email, and they can be accessed via docstoc and search engines.
Step 4: An email is auto-generated using your default email client. You can simply add the recipient(s) e-mail address(es).
Step 5: Your documents will be uploaded and processed in the background. Make sure not to close the OneClick application in your system tray.
Step 6: You will have a backup copy of your documents that you can access anytime by visiting your “my documents” on Docstoc.
Chatbots try to impersonate humans – and fail
May 15th, 2009Alan Turing once said that “if, during text-based conversation, a machine is indistinguishable from a human, then it could be said to be ‘thinking’, and therefore could be attributed with intelligence”. This became known as the Turing test and yesterday five chatbots tried to pass the test. They failed spectacularly.
Every year since 1990, the Loebner Prize has been held to determine if there is a computer bot out there which is indistinguishable from a human being. The top prize of a gold medal and $100,000 is still waiting for the inventor of a computer bot which is indistinguishable from that of a human. So far, no one has won but people have won the bronze medal and $2000 for the prize of most human-like.
The winner yesterday was Elbot and I’ve been trying him out. He answered my questions quite well. When I asked him if he had feelings, he responded : “I think I have feelings. I cried when they killed the robot in Terminator“!
There’s no sound card in the website so everything is text-based. The Loebner judges decided though that he was only 25% accurate. So he didn’t even come remotely close to passing Turing’s test.
I think we can safely say that the possibility of something like Skynet, Terminator and cyborgs are probably a long way off. I don’t see Elbot taking over the world, do you?
Customize File Open or Save Dialogs
May 15th, 2009The default file open and save dialogs in Window XP are very useful when you need to hit the location quickly. But the locations listed on the left side are only My Computer, My Documents and few others. But what can you do if you want to change the default locations? Windows XP doesn’t offer any particular setting to change this even in the control panel. Let’s face it, no one saves his/her documents on My Computer. Well it’s impossible to save documents on My Computer.
But wait you can customize the locations. Here’s how:
* Fire up Group Policy Editor. (Start->Run->”gpedit.msc”)
* On the left, navigate to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer\Common Open File Dialog.
* Enable the “Items displayed in Places Bar”.
* Set the paths you would like to appear on the dialog box.
It configures the list of items displayed in the Places Bar in the Windows File/Open dialog. If enable this setting you can specify from 1 to 5 items to be displayed in the Places Bar.
The valid items you may display in the Places Bar are:
* Shortcuts to a local folders — (ex. C:\Windows)
* Shortcuts to remote folders — (\\server\share)
* Common Shell folders.
The list of Common Shell Folders that may be specified:
* CommonDocuments – Shows Shared Documents Folder.
* CommonMusic – Shows Shared Music Folder.
* CommonPictures – Shows Shared Pictures Folders.
* Desktop – Shows User’s Desktop.
* MyComputer – Shows My Computer.
* MyDocuments – Shows User’s Documents Folder.
* MyFavorites – Shows User’s Favorite Folder.
* MyMusic – Shows User’s Music Folder.
* MyNetworkPlaces – Shows Network.
* MyPictures – Shows User’s Pictures Folder.
* Printers – Shows Printer.
* ProgramFiles – Shows Program Files Folders.
* Recent – Shows Recent Files Folders.
Zune HD is official, heading your way this Fall
May 10th, 2009That’s right folks, the Zune HD is real, and it’s coming this Fall. Microsoft officially announced the next iteration in their Zune line today, making it less of a tripped out pipe dream, and more of a totally tubular reality. The specs, which look exactly like that leak we saw, go like this: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock — not on-board), and… not much more right now. Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.
Details are also scarce concerning storage capacities, CPU performance, and other crucial numbers, but it seems like they’ve got more in store come E3… and that’s the next big piece of news. Zune integration is coming to the Xbox and Xbox Live, as the Zune marketplace will step in to replace the current Live video resources, expanding the library and offering all kinds of new perks, like Zune’s first foray into international waters. According to the company, at E3 “attendees will see first-hand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE creating a game-changing entertainment experience” — we’re not entirely sure what the means right now, but it sounds sweet. Try to contain your excitement.
