Published on
April 29, 2004 10:39 PM -
Well it would seem that WMA support in iTunes is only for Windows. The new playlist features are ok, the new iTMS linking features are also pissing me off since if I accidently click on the wrong spot of a entry in a list it takes me to the corresponding page on iTMS. The library improvements are definately noticeably library operation do seem more responsive.
I tried out the lossless encoder as well, and yes the files are big wont be putting any of those on my iPod. Though I can why Apple have added this capavbility, I can see the hardcore audiophiles rejoicing since that they just seem to dislike lossless compression. I can tell the difference too, however I like the practicality of the MP3 format.
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April 29, 2004 2:32 PM -
Well it has finally happened Google have announced that they are going to IPO. Check the official announcemen here.
Well it has been the one thing everybody trading in the Tech Sector has been waiting for. Apparently Google have chosen to IPO Dutch style rather than the traditional market model used in the States. I think they are concerned about being burnt in the trading madness which became the norm during the .com days. Brin and Page are also going to retain control as this peice on CNN states.
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April 28, 2004 8:06 PM -
I keep hearing things about OneNote, Microsoft’s new note taking software which is a bolt-on to office. Since Microsoft is adopting blogging in a big way, some of the more Senior development people are giving some very interesting insight into how Microsoft does things. I came across Chris Pratley’s blog after reading a slashdot thread. Chris Pratley is currently the program manager for Office, and also one of the key people behingd the OneNote concept.
He has an entry about how OneNote came about. Another entry that caught my eye was his account of getting Word accepted in Japan and Asia, and how the Word development team carried out this task.
Just from reading some of the comments on each piece I can see that OneNote is being well recieved, there is talk of adding blogging and publishing features.
Any way I have the OneNote disk sitting behind me on a shelf at work. So I must give it a try, I have been working on a mini note taking application myself hence why I’m interested in seeing what M$ have come up with,
Published on
April 28, 2004 4:57 PM -
For the last couple of days I have been doing some code for our current software product which is written in Delphi. Now I had done a little bit of Pascal and Delphi in the past however they where just toys in comparison to what our software does. Delphi’s syntax is not to hard to get used to, and it is quick to get up to speed with, The OO features are present, it plays a bit like Java. Fortunately I only have to do this for a couple of days right now things are going well however some things are starting to annoy me I will detail these problem in a later post.
Published on
April 28, 2004 4:12 PM -
Just caught the announcement from Palm about new handhelds, an entry level Zire with a colour screen dubbed the Zire 31 and a high end consumer model the Zire 72. Unfortunately neither has built-in Wi-Fi like I was hoping for. I guess they will release something for the professional market in the summer.
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April 27, 2004 8:13 PM -
Apple celebrated the 1st Anniversary of iTMS by releasing a new version of iTunes with a wealth of new features. New features include better Smart Playlists, a new Party Mix mode, support for Apple’s new Lossless Compression Format, as well as WMA support. WMA support is something I would find useful and the new playlist generation options are always good. The rest I will get around to at some point.
Published on
April 25, 2004 4:00 AM -
Just watched Volume 2 and it was good, very good. Tarantino has out done himself, and in contrast to Volume 1 it is different in many ways, it is mainly a more traditional Tarantino.
The story of The Bride and her mission to revenge herself is continued, however the relationship between Bill and The Bride is explained. The Kung Fu training chapter is without a doubt one of the highlights. Classic elements from many Kung Fu films have been encapsulated in this 30 minutes section, which in places is quite funny.
Suprisingly there where some significant scenes missing that where hinted at in the teaser for Volume 1, plus since the actors where credited on imdb some months ago, however are not present in the final cut. For instance Michael Jai White appeared in the 2nd teaser for Volume 1 however is nowhere to be seen.
Likewise Lucy Liu was only in the flash back of the massacre. I was hoping the history of Bill and Orin Ishi would come out, after all he was the man who killed her father in the amazing Anime scene in the first film. (having said that the Anime scene is purely and after thought in the first film any way and only came into being after the descision to split the film into 2 parts was made.). Samuel L. Jackson is present as the organ player in the massacre flash back however it’s only 2 seconds and he is sort of in disguise, even I took a second to recognise him.
Though I think Volume 2 is very good I did think something was missing, the story was there focus on the remaining members of the Viper Assasination Squad was right, there was no crazy chapter swapping – just flash backs which where in places done in a very black and white Kung Fu’esq way. On another note the Volume 1 DVD has terrible extras on it, I was hoping for so much more. I guess they will put out a Volume 1 & 2 Box Set with extras in about 5 months time when Volume 2 hits DVD.
Published on
April 17, 2004 5:12 PM -
My Kill Bill DVD showed up today, a few days early. At least I can watch it before going to see Volume 2 which is out next week, I can’t wait actually I should probably book tickets today.
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April 15, 2004 3:10 PM -
Have been trying out the beta release OmniWeb 5, had heard some funky things about the history features however they are not quite in the beta yet. Had seen the Trailblazer site and was hoping something similar would be incorporated into OmniWeb. However I was wrong. Trailblazer whilst nice is still lacking some polish. Perhaps if a company like OmniGroup got hold of it and productised it some more then that would be great.
Published on
April 15, 2004 11:33 AM -
I have been doing a little bet of web development work at work just tidying up some internal interfaces we have. Any how I took a style sheet and jazzed it up to look nice on Safari and I tried it in Firefox and both looked great. Then I was showing the interface to someone who was using IE and I was just so embarrassed, I should have at least checked it. Fortunately it only took five minutes to fix just had to put some fixed font size in the header sizes.
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April 14, 2004 11:13 PM -
Orange is running a promotion with Vue cinemas at the moment which give Orange subscriber 2 tickets for the price of one on Wednesdays, hence the name Orange Wednesdays.
Any how we went and watched Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s new film 50 First Dates. Now I had seen the hype for this film while I was in the States because it was released around February, so I was sort of looking forward to this film. I like Adam Sandler’s film they are always funny, and 50 First Dates is no exception. However the star is actually Rob Schnieder who got all of the best bits. A very funny film, go see this.
Published on
April 14, 2004 2:53 PM -
Finally had the dental appointment I was meant to have a couple of weeks back, thankfully no problems the infection has totally gone, so it looks like I have dodged the root canal I was going to have to have. So I simple had a filling put in.
Published on
April 13, 2004 7:50 PM -
Just had the shipping notice for Kill Bill, which has reminded me to book my tickets for Volume 2 which is out in a couple of weeks time. I hope the extras on the DVD are okay though I suspect that there will be a special boxed set which has more extras. Have been trying not to read spoilers.
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April 10, 2004 2:35 AM -
Just watched Shaun of the Dead, since I’m a big Simon Pegg and Nick Frost fan I was expecting great things. I was not disappointed, Shaun of the Dead is just ingeniously funny. The gags are very clever and all of the horror elements are there in some form. The ‘Spaced’ styled gimmicks are also there and all of the actors from the ‘Spaced’ series are somewhere in the cast so keep an eye out.
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April 8, 2004 4:43 PM -
Yipee the long Easter weekend is upon us. No work till next Tuesday – 2 four day weeks in a row, cool. So I’m meeting up with a cross section of the APR crew for a pre-Easter session tonight. We have decided to stay away from the usual round of pubs we end up at around Kings Cross, instead we are going to a pub on Godge Street.
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April 5, 2004 2:18 PM -
I have decided to wait for the next generation of Athlon 64’s before getting a new Shuttle. My main concern is that I want to be able to play HL2 and other PC games. Even if the Athlons come in too pricey I can still get the current generation at a lower price. I do however want to get a new high spec graphics cards. Probably a 9800 at a reasonable price hopefully, or even one of the new ATI cards due out in May.
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April 4, 2004 2:43 PM -
Well I have initiated moving my website and mail to Dreamhost. There shouldn’t be any down time since the site is cloaked any way. Hopefully will have full accessibility in 48 Hours.
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April 3, 2004 3:07 AM -
Just watched Dawn of the Dead. Which I think is a great modernisation of a classic horror film. The basic premise is the same, Zombies take over America. A small group of people come together to make a stand at a shopping mall.
However there are plenty of new angles. Things like the gun shop being across the way from the mall, with the owner holding out on the roof of the shop. Communication across the roof tops is via a signboard and binoculars. The zombie shooting games has been updated to feature lookalikes. Basically a spotter looks out for a lookalike zombie, and make a call e.g. Roseanne Barr. Then the gunman has to find Roseanne Barr in the crowd, and mess her up even more. Very cool.
The acting on a whole is alot better than the original thanks to the budget. Though apart of Ving Rhames you can’t say it is an a-list cast. Sarah Polley does a good job of the female lead, whilst Jake Weber does a good job of the male lead. The romance element could have been bigger piece however I think it plays out well. Plus if it’s a romantic horror comedy then you’ll have to wait for Shaun of the Dead which is out next week. In the mean time just go and see Dawn of the Dead.
