Windows Live is Pretty Cool!!

I am typing this post from Windows Live Writer and I find this to be an amazing suite of programs that do many things and are basically improvements to Windows Vista. I also tested with the program Windows Live Mail and I find it pretty cool. It even automatically detects Gmail settings and tells you that you need to enable POP support and even provides a link telling you how to do it! Wow, I like it when I can use these programs with my existing Google services. So far, its pretty cool!

Excitment About the Zune

Even though I don't have a Zune (I love my 5G iPod!!), I seem to be getting excited about these new Zunes. One of the things I like is the wireless syncing capability. Now, I don't know much about these things, but the fact that they support podcasts may make the Zune a serious competitor to getting a new iPod when I see mine break soon.

I always have loved my iPod, but I see some of these features that the Zune has and what I think when I compare it with the iPod.

The Zune doesn't get scratched on the back. My iPod does that as soon as I took it out of the box. In fact, I think that as soon as I put it in my empty pocket, it will get scratched. Seeing that the all the iPods are getting all covered in pretty metal, I shudder to think about putting such things in my pocket.

The Zune can sync wirelessly. Now I don't know all the details about this wireless sync thing, if it is what I think it is, it would be just wonderful to get all of my latest podcasts on the Zune. The iPod touch, however can purchase music from the iTunes WiFi Music Store, which I really like.

The Zune has subscription services. Now I don't use subscription services, but I can see people I know who would love the integration that is like iPod + iTunes, but also have a service like Napster. That sounds cool.

There are some things I like about the Zune, so I shall keep an eye on the Zune when I need another mp3 player.

The Coolest Portable PC I've Seen!

I saw that Asus realeased the EEE PC, a very small laptop (the screen is 7 inches) that runs Linux and is very lightweight. It doesn't have a powerful CPU, but it is powerful enough for some basic web surfing and typing office documents. However, at about $400US, that is way too expensive for a mini laptop. Maybe I'm too cheap, but I can't wait to see it go under $200. That's where I would buy it.

Such a cool thing, though. It would be cool to post to my blog on such a, dare I say cute(?) laptop.

The Penguin Central Podcast

You may have heard of the Penguin Central Podcast. It is a podcast that has technology related things. The host, Matthew Rossi, talks mostly about Ubuntu and Apple-related things. It is a pretty cool podcast. You should check it out at http://www.penguincentral.co.nr/.

Not only that, but I was one of the guests in episode 10! Check it out!

Getting used to Windows Vista

Even though I installed Vista just about two weeks ago, I still am getting used to the Aero eye candy. Does it beat Compiz Fusion, I don't think so, but to see it in Windows is pretty cool. Here a picture:

To see it in windows is pretty cool...

Google Docs - A Cool Tool

I just gave a presentation about Google Docs on Friday and I'm still excited about it. If you don't know already, Google Docs is basically an online Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and Presentation Program. It allows you to have you and several other people work on something at once. While I personally don't take advantage of that feature, I need to be able to access some documents on multiple computers in different places. I just think it's so cool. If you don't have use that service, try it out!

Just some thinking...

Yesterday afternoon, as I was having someone sell a computer I own, he told me that he would install Windows on the machine. I never had Windows on that particular computer. I was planning on installing Ubuntu on the machine. I got curious and asked him, "How do you get so many copies of Windows?" He told me that he got it from the Internet.
That got me thinking, what if he had used open-source software along with the few Windows licenses he gets from a friend who is computer technician? I think his tweaking abilities would be better used with Linux. It is not that using Windows is bad or anything. In fact, I use Windows pretty much all the time. But it would be better if he used OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office, and Linux instead of illegitimate copies of Windows.
Another reason why he should probably use Linux? He LOVES tweaking his computers (he has a ton of them) and even "skinned" the graphical user interface. Not only that, but he also put a remotely "Mac-like" dock in Windows. If he wants to skin the GUI (graphical user interface), Linux is the perfect choice simply because he can tweak to his heart's content without using a hack for Windows. If he still wants a dock though, he should get a Mac.
Good thing I gave him some of the Ubuntu discs I had. Hopefully he will give Ubuntu, or another Linux distribution a try on a computer. Why not? As I said earlier, he has a ton of them!