Archive for March, 2007
Software News - Fighting Against Counterfeits
4 March 2007 <Has ever happened to you to be duped by some swindlers who just wanted to sell you counterfeit software? If this has never happened to you, then pay attention to this article. I will give you some tips on how to recognize fake software.
Counterfeit software is the result of the copying, the reproduction or the unauthorized fabrication of the software products. Counterfeit software is normally realized so that it appears authentic and it is distributed in wraps that imitate the wrap of the initial producer. The wraps of the counterfeit software have different levels of quality and resemblance with the original wraps, but the latter ones have some distinctive features. First of all, Microsoft will never print a key product directly on the software wrap. Secondly, the Microsoft software products will be delivered only accompanied by an authenticity certificate put on the wrap.
The counterfeit mediums of installation differ in quality, from rewritable CDs to high-quality replicas of the original CD. Sometimes the forgers will apply on the CD holographic etiquettes, thus trying to reproduce the aspect of the original Microsoft installing CDs. The holograms from the Microsoft CDs are not etiquettes, because they are even part of the CD.
While some forgers use sophisticated methods of high technical level to reproduce the authenticity certificates and the software documentation, most counterfeit materials are produces just like that by using photocopying machineries and scanners.
Microsoft has declared war to all those online sellers of counterfeit software, and they sued them in justice. There have been initiated more than fifty actions of this type after they tested several unauthorized Windows XP programs, out of which more than 30 percent were impossible to be installed on the computer.
.NET, Connecting People
4 March 2007 <These days, information is everything. And more importantly, communication and connection is of an even greater importance especially since the modern society imposes us a certain level of knowledge and of professional instruction. And what can help you achieve all these in a comfortable, useful, fast and efficient way if not the Internet. This system is based on the Microsoft Web services that are meant to create a connection between the people, the information that is delivered or transmitted from one user to another, between devices that communicate through software. The name that encompasses all these services is .NET.
.NET offers business man the chance to better communicate with their partners, because the connection that is established between them through the Internet creates a facile, comfortable manner of doing business. .NET is the perfect business system especially if we take into consideration the most important aspect of this solution, namely the fact that the information is exchanged no matter the inconvenience of time, or place.
The .NET tool is therefore the perfect solution for the business because the Web services make possible the connection with the partners, with the employees, and, most importantly, with the customers. The Web services offer the businesses the chance to work in a more efficient manner with the partners and the customers, by keeping them in touch with all the novelties inside the company.
The strategy used in the .NET services is created on the process of sharing data across different hardware platforms, having the purpose of enabling an easier connection between companies and clients, and of diminishing the costs by reducing the time and money needed in the development of a business. The .NET services offers the chance to share information that can be easily adapted and transformed in order to satisfy the needs of both the businessmen and those of the customers or the partners.
Hot Stuff: Sun Transforms Java in an Open-source Project
4 March 2007 <Sun Microsystems, the producer of software and servers, have announced that they began to modify the Java technology in an open-source project that will be available for free on the Internet. This is very exciting and surprising news especially if we take into consideration the fact that this company has always protected its source code used in over 3.8 billions of cell-phones, supercomputers, medical devices, and many more. Apparently, Sun Microsystems will make their code available under the conditions of the General Public License, except for some small sequences of code that the GNU does not own.
I’m sure that this news will make a blast among the programmers all around the world because this project will allow them to examine, to modify, to improve the bugs and to add new functionalities in the source code of Java. But there is nonetheless a limitation to this initiative because any modification of the Java program will have to be made public.
Perhaps you wonder why Sun has adopted this strategy. This initiative is justified by the fact that Sun lost billions of dollars in 2000 when the stock market collapsed and when the dot-com crisis began. They needed a plan, and fast. The open source movement is the best solution in their case. The vice-CEO of the company said that Sun hoped to transform more programmers in Java developers who could create additional software in order to offer support for the Sun products. The official declaration of the representatives from Java states the fact that the Java code will be completely ‘launched’ by 2007, probably in March. This Java code refers to all the Java technologies that are used for the cell-phones, PC’s, and servers. The analysts believe that this wise movement will prolong the existence of Java which was launched more than ten years ago. This open-source project is believed to be a real gold mine as far as Sun Microsystems is concerned.
Football Frenzy: the Champions League
4 March 2007 <Football has always been popular, from high school football players to famous tricks performed by Ronaldino and Beckham. But the frenzy of this sport reaches the peak during the well-known football competition organized by UEFA (Union of European Football Association), when the stadiums are over-loaded and the programs showing live matches destroy their competition. The Champions League includes football teams from all over the world which have to play several matches and win over their group competitors in order to reach the finals.
The football Champions League begins with three preliminary rounds, which decide which team will qualify further and which represent basic stages in the competition. These rounds take place from July to August and those who fail to win here are transferred to UEFA Cup. The other ones, who reach Champions League, are a number of sixteen teams and are divided into eight groups, each group having four teams. The team scoring the highest number of goals enters the following round and winner will be the one who wins the final match.
If Champions League lasts about a year, it is without doubt the finals that count and that make football a god among other sports. Just think of the fact that the stadium to host the final match is chosen by UEFA two years before the match. The winner of this year’s Champions League is Barcelona, who defeated Arsenal by 2-1, but the longtime title holders are the players from Real Madrid, who won Champions League nine times. Unfortunately, the winners have to return the trophy two months before the next competition and therefore only hold replicas of this success.
Throughout Champions League football makes the players almost legendary: football fans all over the world will be enchanted by tricks and penalties and club managers are most likely to promise the players the moon on the sky.
Industrial Design - The Ultimate Marketing Strategy
4 March 2007 <Visualize this: you are in a large store and there are thousands of products all around you, just waiting for you to buy them and take them home. And then you ask yourself: which one should I choose? Think about it for a second: do you actually read all their labels and analyze their performances before you opt for one of the items? Of course you don’t. It is physically impossible and, furthermore, the buying process is stimulated by other factors. And among these factors, there is the industrial design.
Even if the actual term “industrial design” seems too technical, think about it like this: industrial design equals the aesthetics of a certain product, the way it looks, the image that you can actually see. From the design to the colors, from the size to the shape and from the proportions to the volumes, everything is part of the industrial design of that specific product. And who can actually claim that aesthetics are not important when choosing a product? Aesthetics are vital in case we choose clothes, in case we buy accessories, furniture or even homes. So then, we can actually sustain the fact that regardless of the product, be it the case of food electronics, toys or cosmetics, we do select the product regarding its shape, color and design.
Given these facts, we can actually say that marketing strategies and industrial design go hand in hand, they are interdependent and, furthermore, they are inseparable. Since the finite form of the product can stimulate the sales or, on the contrary, it can reduce the performances of the product and since the consumers pick what they like (what they visually like), the actual design of the products can be considered, nowadays, the ultimate marketing strategy.
What is “in” in Home Architecture
4 March 2007 <When it comes to home architecture, it must be said that the variety of architectural styles is more than overwhelming. From the historic styles that use columns and many decorative elements and that represent certain eras, such as the Victorian, the Charleston or the Neoclassic one, to the ultra modern and contemporary, even eclectic architectural styles, we can find anything in the impressive range of home architecture styles.
But what will actually be “in” in 2007? The rustic or country homes, with wide porches, the luxurious estates (well, actually, these never seem to go out of fashion), the cozy bungalows or the conservatory and minimalist Scandinavian homes?
It seems that the minimalist style gains more and more popularity. While some consider it too vanguard to be enjoyable, others understand this interesting aesthetics. Furthermore, some consider that this style should limit to the construction of office buildings, banks and so on. Still, some specialists claim that introducing this style in the home architecture might be a daring, yet successful action. When talking about this particular style, there is an obvious fact: the geometry makes all the rules. Innovative combinations between massive volumes and perfect lines, the alternation of different sizes and lack of details, as well as lack of ornaments are the main characteristics of their particular style. While some think that this style is better to be kept for the interior of luxurious city apartments, others see it as a very aesthetic architectural style.
For sure, the coordination between the actual style and the colors is essential. Such a simplistic appearance, such rigid lines and shapes can not possibly be combined with joyful colors. The wide range of grey, pale ivory, dirty white and other such colors make the best choices. Daring, vanguards and revolutionary – this might be the perfect descriptions of the 2007 architecture.
Physics Legacy: Tribute to Marie Curie
4 March 2007 <Throughout the years physics has left considerable heritage that brought explanations for the mysteries of the universe. What we should remember, apart from the miraculous theories and innovations, are the names of those who wrote the history of physics, because they were the people who dared to elaborate theories and sustain them open-heartedly.
One of such people who made the difference in physics domain is Marie Curie, who is at present the only person who was awarded two Nobel prizes, one in physics and the other one in chemistry. Her marriage to the chemistry specialist Pierre Curie was also famous, given the fact that both Pierre and Marie brought a considerable amount of information in the physics domain. What Marie Curie is most known for is her contribution to radioactivity, a domain which, at the time being, was under-appreciated and lacked any basis. Also, together with her husband, Pierre Curie, she elaborated and included in the physics domain the new chemical substances polonium and radium.
But Marie Curie did not stop here and she wanted more than just being a physics theoretician. During the First World War, Marie contributed greatly to the medical-physics side of the war, by helping the wounded soldiers with treatment based on the radium substance. The “little Curies”, as the physics particles used for X-rays were called, turned out very helpful for the great amount of injured soldiers and, again, reinforced Marie Curie’s valuable contribution to physics.
Unfortunately, Marie Curie’s work turned against her own life, if we come to think about the fact that her death occurred precisely because of over-exposure to radium. She lived to see, and dreaded this fact, that her physics discoveries were used in the cosmetics field, without being completely safe. But, all in all, she was a physics lover and she dedicated her entire life to this scientific research in order to share her knowledge with the rest of the world.
The High-tech Roommate: Social Robotics
4 March 2007 <Nowadays society is highly dependent on technology and computing utilities such as PCs, iPods or machines. But what will happen in 50 years’ time? One thing is for sure: robotics will catch up more than ever and people will learn to live and work together with robots that will become social. In fact, this trend has already started in countries such as Japan and China, where technology is basically at home.
Social robotics mainly refers to that part of robotics in which the computer-based products can give a helping hand to people. We already know of such names as Aibo(which means “partner” in Japanese, the robot dog, or the cute PaPeRo, a social robot who can both socialize, talk, tell jokes and do the housework for you. As time goes by, more and more robotics producers aim at coming up with robots that are full-optioned, meaning they can do many activities (cleaning, computing, socializing) and that also have an appealing format and look.
Social robotics is already a branch where innovation is a rule: the more advanced the robot is, the higher the customers’ requirements are. So it only seems reasonable that the competition market is growing harsher and harsher. Just think about it: if you are buying a robot to do the housework, answer your phone and repair your home utilities, you will definitely buy one who looks nice and not a square-shaped metal mass to walk around scaring the children.
The tin men, also known as social robotics products, have come to stay and this is very likely to be seen during the next decade. The specialized machines concern mostly the domestic market, but other domains are already embracing the idea of replacing several work position with one productive social robot, turning the entire social robotics business into one of the most productive affairs ever.
Software for Non-Programmers: Computer-Aided Learning
4 March 2007 <Software, as the 20th century genius innovation product, was elaborated by industrious IT specialists with strong computing basis. But, in order to use software programs you don’t have to be a genius; all it takes is some patience and a computer. The educational software is a very productive and important branch of the IT world because its resources are extremely effective in learning programs or even class management software.
The network of educational software comprises various and many games, activities, sites and references that can be used in the teaching process. But the great part about this software domain is that it is a do-it-yourself type of learning: you don’t need a teacher to explain everything for you because the Internet has specialized software to do the job for you. This way, the software choice expands from educational games, also known as edutainment to reference software, which includes many free downloadable or online dictionaries and thesaurus. And the offer doesn’t stop here: if the learner happens to be a child, he/she can be introduced to the scientific world by characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny.
Software oriented towards computer aided learning is probably the cheapest and most elaborated alternative to self-learning and comprehension. There are no stressful subjects to evaluate your homework, nor harsh methods and boring classes. Instead, every educational software-based programs comprise funny, interesting and challenging methods that encourage learners to join all activities. Whether virtual students wish to learn a new language, to expand their knowledge on math or science or just want to acquire more information about a certain topic, educational software has the right answer for any type of learner at whatever time he/she wishes.
Technology Reloaded - Gadgets Come Back
4 March 2007 <Nowadays society is all about having the latest, utmost high-tech available on the market. Be it a good-at-everything gadget, a high-performance computer or a multi-functional cell phone, technology has definitely invaded our lives more than ever. Surely enough, technology does not stop at conquering a few domains. On the contrary, the beauty of all it stands in the fact that tech ranges from gadgets to army utilities. It’s really your own choice.
Technology specialists nowadays have come up with brilliant ideas that can literally shake your world. And the most successful innovation at the time being is without doubt the technology gadget industry. Take for instance the new digital compass watches available worldwide. They’re trendy, smart and, most importantly, they can tell you almost everything you need to know if you’re an outdoor enthusiast: North indications, barometer, lap recording, you name it. Technology gadgets have come to make a statement and this doesn’t stop here.
If fifty years ago, having a computer meant occupying half your room, nowadays technology gadgets make the products both useful( in fact multi-functional) and appealing. All those ladies who wouldn’t go out without matching their shoes to their pursues can now be relived. Technology gadgets producers invest most of their time and budget in making the product look good and in order to create gadgets that are easily transported. A good example is a signal-making device that allows drivers to control when the traffic lights jump to green on their side. Easy to use, fancy, legal and , most importantly, a technology product.
Technology has come a very long way and brought us various helping hands with the little gadgets. Who knows what the future will bring? But what is certain is that the technology department will not cease its activity and will continue to come up with these wonderful solutions that make our lives more pleasant.