Mark J. Brown

Yes, from today onwards I have decided to leave iTunes behind me. And the iTunes store, along with its music and Apps. And my iPhone, which is now on eBay. Even my MacBook is long behind me too.

But why, why such madness I hear you cry in that brain of yours? You may be thumping your keyboard like the Angry German Kid right now, screaming my name into your monitor, wondering why on earth one such as me would commit such a felony. Surely MacBooks are immaculate computers, a gift to us from above which upon adding one to your life, every computer-related problem suddently disappears and your life expectancy goes up by at least twenty more years.

Well, if I were to sum the next paragraph and several hundred words of my post up in one word; control.

Yes, control. Apple have too much of it and are taking it too far. Just take a look at the newest Mac Mini:

Ahh, pretty*

Notice anything unusual? THERE IS NO OPTICAL DRIVE!!

I mean nothing. Want to install something on it from one of those, you know, DVDs with software on it you bought just last year? Tough luck. Want to burn a CD from that huge collection you have been carefully building up for the past 30 years of your life? Tough luck. Would you like to watch a DVD? ‘No’, says Mr. Mac.

If you want to do any of these, ordinary everyday activities that every man and his dog, mouse and vole have been doing since people actually discovered computers could be useful for more than weekly accounts and typing letters to your nan, your only Apple-supported choice is to shell out £66 for one of these.

Or of course, re-purchase everything on the conveniently-placed iTunes store and Mac App Store that comes pre-installed on every Mac these days. For bargain prices such as £7.99 for albums which originally cost £4.99 on CD and go for like 99p on the used album market, plus you get one of those real existing physical CDs. And of course only software which Apple likes may go on the Mac App Store, no rooms for ‘duplicates’ or alternate options or free software, no sir.

I mean, I understand the need for pushing forward, and innovation and all that jazz, but cutting people off from things that are perfectly reusable, exist physically and may not even be available digitally does seem a bit backward to me. Also nice to know your big brother Apple is carefully watching everything you put on your computer and reserves the right to remove it at any time from their perfect walled garden of an online store. Hmm, I am beginning to like Microsoft again.

*I lied.

Does anyone use facebook or Bebo? I use both and have decided to do a quick comparison of the pair.

The biggest change recently to Bebo, the new profile layout has done away completely with the old Bebo and tries to be more direct in its appearance. I don’t mind it as much as I have made out, but I prefered the old layout simply because it made Bebo unique. I was used to it since when I got Bebo, circa 2006, and now its all different. Ah well, I guess us traditionalists have no voice whatsoever, even though I group I joined, “Bring old Bebo back” had over 6k members…

Bebo’s most annoying feature is it’s profile-guzzling applications. I hate it when I click on a profile and I get music, flash “things” and slideshows, which take away from the whole point. It also slows my web browser.

That aside, most of my friends use Bebo. I have over 100 friends on there. So for popularity, Bebo wins.

On to facebook, it is clearly the more professional of the pair. I like the integration between everything via the “wall”, where one can comment on anything that I or my friends have done on the site. The profiles are simple and clean, no matter how many apps an individual has or how popular they are most profiles are the same in appearance. The site is quick and has no annoying advertising. The bebo homepage once had an advert for “Win Jonas Brothers Tickets”. I’ll assure you that no such thing happens ever on facebook.

I’m more on Bebo, if ever, as it is more popular with people I know, but I hope someday the majority moves to facebook, which is clearly the better of the two. A few minutes on either site will definitely make you see facebook’s superiority.

Note: I have not posted any screenshots as I wish to keep my social networking pages personal (except twitter). And I know this is kinda short, but I have decided to keep to the main points that separate the two sites.

I wrote a partial review of Windows 7, with some parts done by Callum. It never progressed but it is quite lengthy. Feel free to read what we have done so far, though Microsoft and countless other people have reviewed it, just use Google.

Windows 7 – the next big thing the boys at Microsoft are cooking. And it smells good.

I’ve decided to download the Release Candidate of Windows 7 – its mine to use until June 2010. I am trying it out for many things, including making this post, using the Windows Live Writer application, and the review will be from a normal computer user’s point of view. I’ll explain each section briefly then followed by screenshots. So first things first, installing.

Installation proved a breeze. I don’t have any screenshots, as it is on my main PC, I partitioned it, meaning I can choose Windows 7 or Vista on startup. The installation went smooth, it copied some files, then after a little while I choose where it was to be installed, and that was basically it. Windows 7 copied across, expanded and installed itself. I then entered my serial key and choose my username. After restart, and startup, which was speedy, I logged in and was presented with the Windows 7 desktop. First impressions – similar to Vista but with a nifty new taskbar and start menu.

The Windows 7 Desktop

The first thing I wanted to do was to change the theme, and to my delight a “United Kingdom” theme was present. As I flicked through the themes, Windows played a sample sound from each set, varying in pitch each time, and the theme change was instantaneous. One thing to look at is the desktop background, which changes every now and then. You’ll see as we progress through the screenshots.

Now to the most obvious change, the taskbar. It has been completely redesigned, its a little taller, but “Quick Launch” is gone and is combined with the open programs. This screenshot explains:

The Windows 7 Taskbar

The start orb is the same as Vista’s, but we can see the “Pinned” programs to the right of it, Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, Windows Media Player, and Windows Live Messenger. Also open are Windows Live Writer (Surprisingly…not) and Paint. The opened applications have a frame around them, and programs which have multiple windows opened appear stacked.

Windows Live Messenger, as an example, if right clicked on, brings me up with a set of “Tasks”, replacing the old icon and menu in the notification area. It is handy in my opinion, as I can see all my open programs in one place and perform actions on them with ease. Here’s a screenshot:

Windows Live Messenger Tasks

Switching programs is new and interesting too. If I hover over an open program’s icon, I get previews of the open windows and switching between them could be described like Vista’s infamous Flip 3D, only it shows the open windows from your program, and other programs are simply a border. See for yourself:

Switching tasks in Windows 7

I’m moving on to applications now. Paint has had an overhaul, with some more shapes and a new “Ribbon” interface. No layers yet, though. The start menu, interestingly, lets me see recently opened items from programs as I hover over them, and can open them directly from there. This works for Remote Desktop Connection, Windows Media Center, Notepad, Sticky Notes and more!

Paint and Start Menu

And now to the section where most people criticize and are quick to find error: Internet Explorer 8 and Windows Media Player. I am a usual Firefox person, and indeed the only use of previous Internet Explorers was to call up www.mozilla.org, but this is no longer the case. Surprisingly, I don’t know if it was 64-bit or my 2GB RAM, but IE8 managed to browse the internet speedily and, well I only had one problem on web page which was soon fixed by the programs “Compatibility View”. Internet Explorer 8 is a welcome change, a welcome inclusion with Windows 7 and for once, the red fox was redundant from one of my computers! Microsoft have also taken the extra effort to integrate IE into the desktop environment, instead of previous versions, which had that ‘separate’ feeling whilst running. For example in Windows 7, you can hover your mouse over the IE icon in the taskbar, and be presented with screenshots of all the tabs you currently have open. This is an amazing time saver, and will certainly encourage more efficient use of time.

Perhaps on a slightly-biased side note, are those who find error in IE the ones who visit, shall we say “dodgy” websites, and get infected easily? Even if so, give IE8 a spin, it claims to have improved phishing and malware protection, as well as this new “InPrivate” feature, where I can browse websites, such as e-banking, with supposed improved privacy. I’ve not had time to test these features, as this is a Windows 7 review, not Internet Explorer.

Mindless Rubbish displayed from a decent browser.

Despite claiming malware protection, IE8 sadly doesn’t provide Rickroll protection!

The new Windows Media Player 12 is similar to version 11 however it has had a UI overhaul. Some buttons and toolbar items have been moved around, but the experience should be pretty familiar to users of version 11. What does represent a big change is the removal of the Now Playing button, which in WMP11 switches to a view showing the current playlist, this is because WMP12 completely separates library management from what’s currently playing, with two distinct player modes; Now Playing view, and Library view. Library view contains all the library manipulation features that should be familiar from WMP11. Probably the most amazing thing about WMP12 is that as well as the standard MP3, WMV, WMA, etc, codecs, there is built in support for H.264 video, AAC audio, and both Xvid and DivX video, ‘rendering’ WMP12 of being able to play most videos out of the box. Media Sharing has been improved too, as well as streaming to remote PCs, WMP12 also includes improved support for controlling Digital Living Network Alliance v1.5 devices, known as DLNA. Such devices include the Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3.

To conclude, Windows 7 has potential and boasts many new abilities and features. Perhaps the better technologically minded people will find fault and error with the new operating system, but it looks well for me. It may well be on the cards for me! I hope the best for this development and happy Windows-ing.

Airsofting is one of my smaller, but enjoyable pass-times. It is a sport similar to paintball which your primary objective is to eliminate members of the opposing team with your gun.

My involvement is somewhat limited now, mostly due to a “slight” fault with my Airsoft gun. Ah, my gun, the amazing JG M4 CQB. A decent replica of the M4 Carbine, used by the US armed forces and British SAS alike. When I was airsofting on Monday, this fault became apparent. Here is the result of it:

Some assembly may be required.

No, I don’t have the number of the car that went over it. OK, OK, the picture was taken after I disassembled my gun. But the real problem was that the stock just snapped from the receiver. What? Oh, I mean it snapped in two. You can be fairly confident my future airsoft guns will be metal. My advice to kiddies: BB guns are fun, but never let your friend’s younger brother poke with it. And certainly never let him unscrew a screw which you later find out, the hard way, that holds two key parts of the gun together.

You heard me. Coldplay have released a free album on their website, which has a number of their best songs recorded live, all legal and free to download.
I’m listening now, and one thing is Coldplay are awesome live (unlike some other bands). Definitely a keepsake for the iPod.