Good Day.

Are you alive?

That’s been asked a lot lately. I’m pretty sure I am, but I can’t be certain.

Anyway, here’s an article:
I’ve been using (a heavily customized version of) WordPress since I started my first website. Out of all the other CMSs I’ve used (Joomla, Simple Machines, PhBB, and Drupal), it is by far my favorite. It’s got an attractive user interface, it’s quick, fast, and very customizable. Most of all, it’s web-based.(there’s a reason I don’t use Dreamweaver)

When 2.7 was released, I immediately upgraded. There were quite a few bugs that I noticed, but I thought that they’d be gone by the official release. Most of them were, but there is still one:

When I update a post, Wordpress marks the author as “Hacksource” and only gives me the option to change it to another author or contributor. It’s mainly cosmetic, but it would make it difficult if I were to move to another server. Doing that with my ISP would take too long, so I probably won’t.

That’s it for now, but I have a special article planned by the end of the week (Or even tonight!).

This may not qualify as an update, but I did post a Mac4lin article on my blog. Check it out.

Blogging. While most bloggers use Windows, many of them prefer to use OS X when writing because Apple’s presentation is much nicer in view.

Blogging is a web-based activity and therefore can be done on almost any computer with an internet connection. In fact, some of my own blog posts were written on my phone using the iPhone’s WordPress application. OS X was chosen because of its focus on presentation and craftsmanship.

Video Editing. Apple’s video editing programs are now, and have always been, better than all of the rest. Among the best titles for the platform are Avid and Final Cut. OS X comes bundled with the rather decent iMovie, which is part of Apple’s bundled iLife suite.

Music. If you have an addiction to iTunes and iPods, OS X is the perfect choice for you. iTunes is naturally much faster on Macintosh than it is on any Windows PC. There is also an audio program called “Garage Band” with iLife.

That’s it for now. I was hoping on writing another article before putting this incomplete backup post on the site, but I haven’t been able to finish it. It’s huge.

While there has been a striking lack of actual evidence that ActiveX is unsafe, there has been no shortage of baseless assertions and cheap shots against it. My favorite was the “Internet Exploder” incident in which Sun actually paid someone to write a malicious ActiveX control. The test system brought up all the warning dialogs about the program that you usually get and the Sun employee actually had the nerve to keep whacking on the enter key quickly so they would close as quickly as possible and didn’t mention that there were any such warnings. Meanwhile, they also didn’t mention that a signed Java applet could also perform dangerous privileged operations and would provide similar warnings. Most ActiveX criticism is simply uninformed, but this example was hypocritical and dishonest.

                                                                                                                                                   - Larry Seltzer, eWeek

Just wanted to put something up while I had the chance. Don’t worry, there will be an actual article by Monday night.

I’ll update later, I’m at school right now.

KDE 4.1 adds greatly improved speed and functionality, as well as stability, into the desktop environment. The major update included some interface enhancements, faster speeds in Dolphin, and (my personal favorite) Folderview. This version adds a few interface components similar to Mac OS X, but keeps its own distinctive GUI.

It’s also great for developers because of its inclusion of KDEvelop and KATE. Kontact adds convenience to organization by combining a calendar, RSS feed viewer, journal, to-do list, and e-mail client into one application.

In short, 4.9/5.

NTC’s design has changed to a more simple design to allow more organization. We’re also welcoming a new poster soon.

Of course, a new article is on its way here on the new KDE 4.1 for Linux.

After the third largest fail in the OS world, Microsoft needed something really good to replace their previous blunder and make up for the last generation lost. They did just that. Windows 7 is by far the second-best OS ever (I love Mac OS 9, but it’s just too old.) and replaces MS Vista (Notice how “Windows” is never associated with “Vista”) as the main Windows Operating System. Microsoft has refreshed the way Windows works and gave it a major speed boost, while making it smaller at the same time.

Windows 7 has refreshed the old taskbar with a “unique” way of managing open applications. Although it is somewhat similar to the old NeXT and Classic Mac OS, the new taskbar is very “neat”.

Microsoft decided to take out some features that have been present for quite a while, such as the mail client, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and Calendar. Don’t worry though, you can still get all of them through the Windows Live Suite. Also gone is the infamous User Account Control, which makes all of those irritating messages that ask if you’re an admin. This has been replace by a new feature which can be easily turned off and on.

Windows 7 is also much faster than both Windows XP and Vista according to tests by Zdnet. It also improves Windows Media and Windows Explorer, and adds Internet Explorer 8.

Windows 7 has been reported to be released next year, but many sites believe that it may come out as early as this summer. No matter when it comes out though, it already has the potential to make up for the previous generation’s mess. This is what Vista should have been.