Frost Bite: Computers and Internet

I want Firefox to.....

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:05:21 GMT

HUGE number of absolutely top notch extensions for Firefox [here]

If anything, DO get the del.icio.us extension, I love it.

Vista - A Broken Window?

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 14:57:28 GMT

A popular theory concerning itself with broken windows has been appropriated "because it sounded good, not because it actually has anything at all to do with our subject matter" to explain in very succint terms the reason for why Windows Vista slipped its August schedule and might slip even its January ship dates.[link] A very good read - the comments apart from some trolling are quite good too.
(hat tip: Scobleizer)

Update: reading the relevant parts regarding micromanagement and action control (where actions are stated as a means of achieving an ill defined result) - situations I have faced or friends have faced come to mind. Just an after thought: though I agree with the author's points that too many cooks spoil the broth especially when everyone squabbles about how to cook rather than concentrating on the broth itself, I feel some of this action control pholosophy has resulted in standards which when followed results in the identified objective. Industrial process certification (ISI, ISO etc) are good examples of such action controlled outcomes. Of course, before any standards of action control can be arrived it is imperitive that the result be clearly defined in terms of encompassing fields of relevance. In short, a "what?" has to be answered perfectly before a "how?" can even be thought of. Once the "what?" is clamped down, the "how?" can be refined and standardized using action controlled iterations. Of course, I am equating process control to action control. Is that valid? what are the overlaps that validate this sort of equivalence?

Any thoughts?

Understanding CPU caching

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 19:16:26 GMT

I was trying to profile some of my code in which I had employed some sort of a caching mechanism and this [article] helped me remember most of the details that I had forgotten from my drowsy computer architecture classes. As usual, Ars saves the day!

Internet services disruption

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:20:08 GMT

Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie, CTO, Microsoft Corporation recently sent out memos outlining a more streamlined webservices and convergence strategy signaling a shift from monolothic productivity software (for which MSFT is famous for). Far reaching implications or so say the market and business pundits. Read Bill Gates' email [here] and Ray's memo [here] and decide for yourself. Its very interesting for me to sift through the process of making sweeping business model changes and its affect on a company's perspective and direction of collective effort.

Touching up digital photos

Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:30:26 GMT

Anybody who is somebody has a digital camera (probably several) and truck loads of (amateur) pictures. Everybody's favorite tech site - ArsTechnica - has put up a couple of tutorials on retouching those goofy pics without the ouch! Very impressive, as always with ArsTechnica, and cover a wide range of retouching topics starting off with the rock bottom basics and goes fairly high up keeping in mind that the ouch! was to be avoided.

Editing your digital images without the mystery - Retouching techniques 101

[Part 1]

[Part 2]

More as they come up.

comp.soft-sys.MATLAB

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:57:00 GMT

[link] to the official FAQ page of comp.soft-sys.MATLAB - maintained by Peter Boettcher from Lincoln Labs, MIT.

Virtual Earth-Google Maps: Gunfight at the OK corral

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:57:47 GMT

check out this side-by-side comparison tool of the recently launched Virtual Earth and Google Maps. [link]
Try keying in different places, try to zoom in as far as possible and see what happens.

Some of my trials resulted in Google maps displaying a message that they didn't have GIS data at the chosen zoom level and they switch to a pseudo map identifying just streets etc.
Virtual Earth on the other hand was great and zoomed in quite a bit and still maintained realism in the map by continuing to display actual satellite images.

Virtual Earth site [link] and the API site [link].

Google Maps hack - Cellphone tower reception

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:45:01 GMT

[link]
nifty google maps hack - check out the cellphone towers near you (or anywhere else you want tocheck), click on a tower of choice to get details on who owns it, the network ot services etc. The comments page is enlightening with respect to various user experiences with different networks at the place of choice.

very cool indeed!

I just found out (a little too late) that the place I am moving to (I just signed a one year lease) has very bad T-mobile reception.

Blog Search Engines

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:22:08 GMT

There are quite a few blog search engines out there and initially, when I wasn't in the know (or meant to know) I relied on good old Google to do the honors. But with the ever increasing complexity of the blogosphere, comes specialized search services that cater to the (apparent) needs of bloggers. Here is part one of a six part series on blog search engines, how they do it, how to get them to work for you and in the process, a comparison of performance -
Part 1
Part 2

The future of the keyboard?

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:24:42 GMT

Whoa!
you have to check this out.
A totally customizable LCD keyboard. You can configure the keys to any kind of shortcut depending on the application you are running. I am not sure if this is automatic, but if it is then its one of the uber cool inventions I have seen. Just imagine the use cases - you start up photoshop and the keys change - you switch to browsing the net and the keys change accordingly - everytime you make a switch to any program, the keyboard automagically updates itself with the controlling shortcut keys.

Wizard of Oz eh?

Technology Trends

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 17:40:39 GMT

Mozilla isuses updates to patch up a slew of security flaws.
here, here and here

Microsoft issues three critical updates - one each for the OS color management modules, IE (a regular feature) and Word (2000 and later). [here]

just a thought that this cycle of release product-release patch to fix bugs in the product has become so common place that it almost seems like a new mode of software development rather than a fix for something development-testing overlooked. Understanding that software development cycle does not result in a perfect piece of software has been accepted in all levels of software users (from end users to developers) that certain companies/products berrating others for releasing buggy software seems superfluous.

Yes, Microsoft comes to mind in this context. They have often been slammed for releasing software with many holes that require frequent patches and fixes. But Netscape underwent so many updates in a single day that a new version number came out the same day! Mozilla with its continuing attention from web users/developers and in general, the open source community has run into many security problems, has become a tad slow and heavy on recources. Ironically, the very reasons it started to gain acceptance amongst the community were its lack of holes, speed and its weight (or lack thereof). Though many might still consider it the better browser (I use Firefox too) the path it is taking in its evolution as it deals with increased user attention and increased power/responsibility as a browser seems a little familiar with the development of IE. IE grew very powerful because of numerous SDKs that microsoft puts out in all areas of browsing/scripting/.NET web enabled services. But with it comes holes because of increased exposure of the communication pathways between different modules of browser/OS components.

In this light of all this, Microsoft has always been saying of its competitors that increased user base, awareness and acceptance will reveal many chinks in their seemingly strong armor. This has been often said of two important open source initiatives - Linux and Firefox. Firefox seems to be toeing the line but will Linux follow suit?

You decide and time will tell.