GOETTLE'S BLOG

The future of this blog

2010-04-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

Originally, I started this blog back in early 2008 to public journals entrees for my eighth grade English class at the time. I have continued updating this month at least every other month sense then. I have had conflicts tieing this blog down to specific topics (life experiences, technology..).
I do feel that I should update this blog more frequency. Though, I do not have as much time on my hands as I used to. Since, I am growing up and taking on more responsibilities.
I have considering discontinuing this blog or deleting it. I plan on keeping this blog active; I would like to use it to archive memories throughout my life. I believe that it is time for me to move on and start a new blog. Though, I will still be using this blog periodically to publish personal information.
I do not like looking back at childish posts. One time I referred this blog to an older gentlemen, he did not think it was academically gifted. He looked back at the entire blog surprisingly. I need to start a new blog that I feel comfortable sharing with friends, aquitaines and family.

School Consolidation

2010-03-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

For a few years now, it has been rumored that the middle school and high school will consolidate. The plan has since been taken into action. The final decision will be made on March 3rd by the school board.

Seventh and eight grade students our planed to be moved to the high school campus by school year 2012. Staff will be shared between the middle school and high school. It is possible that the seventh and eight grade students will have their own section of the high school.

The super attendant believes that this will save the school district money in the long run. Many staff members our against the school consolidation. Most of them believe it is not proper to have all those grade levels in one building. Along with the fact that the newer building at the middle school is still in decent condition.

Film Project

2010-02-10T18:19:00.001-08:00

I am involved in a group that has begun work on an independent film. The purpose of the film is to show the differences between generations. In our group, we have three people from different generations. I am part of The Next Generation, Jeff is from the baby bomber generation and Ron is from the greatest generation. It will be interesting to see how we work together.
   Currently, we are gathering our troughs, opinions and ideas for the film. We will have to decide on a plot and title. Our current plan is to show the difference between generations and their opinions on life.
   Throughout the film, I will be talking to people from the greatest generation and baby bomber generation. Their will also be stories from World War II and the Great Depression of the 1930s. With this film, we aim to show differences between generations and archive knowledge.
   I hope we will be able to start filming by March. We are hoping to finalize the film by early summer of this year. I will continue to write about our ongoing progress.

Looking back at the last year

2010-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

I have gone through many changes during the last year. My academic level has improved dramatically. I now have a better attitude about school and life in general. I have improved upon my mistakes.

A year ago I was a nervous and shy guy. I also did not known how to defend myself when someone attacks me verily. Now, I am more social and trying to take life easy. When someone attacks me, I simply ignore it or attack them verily.
I am more open minded to people. You cannot judge a person by their age or first impressions. Each individual has their own troughs and opinions.

I do realize that attacking them back is not the right thing to do. If I had kept on not saying anything, they would have kept attacking me. All of this is part of growing up.
My views on the government have also changed. I have realized that politicians will say anything to get elected. It does not matter which political party they are registered with.

   I have improved my academic level by putting more effort into my school work. Education is very important to succeed in life. Many people are ignorant and put hardly enough effort into there school work. I am surprised that they receive passing grades.
   I have now chosen a career path to fellow. I am working hard to archive my ultimate goal to become a software developer. I need to succeed in high school in order to go down that path. After high school, I am planning on attending I.T.T Tech.
   A year from now, I will be closer to my high school graduation. I will be getting prepared for my senior year of high school. It will be interesting to see how much I have grown a year from now.

Trustworthly Computing

2010-02-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

Trustworthly computing is a term used to describe dependable secure computing. The term was first popularized by Bill Gates in January 2002. In his e-mail sent to all Microsoft employees, when he explanied how people need dependable secure computing.
    Looking back, Bill Gates was dead on about how “trustworthly computing” would become a standard for a positive computing experience. In his e-mail, he focused on desktop software and how it needed to meet this standard. I will focus on how a coming generation of computing will need to meet this standard.
    As time goes on, we are using more online services and mobile devices opposed to tradional desktop PCs. As we make this transition, we have a few primary concerns, the most important of which is security. One of the common questions is “How well will are online data be protected”? Since we are essentially moving to a new platform. We are opening up a new gateway for hackers.
    In order to transition people to the cloud, online services will need to satisfy consumers and businesses by embracing security standards. Security is the primary reason that is holding cloud computing back. Companies such as Microsoft and Google are working hard to reduce this concern. Tho, as cloud computing becomes more popular. So does the threat to online security.
    It will be interesting to see how companies handle these threats going forward. The transition to the cloud will not happen overnight. Many web-based applications are no where near as full-featured as desktop software yet. Online security will also evolve and improve. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming years.

Welcome to the new era

2010-01-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

Today, we entered a new decade, year and the cloud computing era. During this decade, we will make the switch from traditional desktop computers to advanced mobile devices and online services. We will still be using desktop software but alongside online services

We will also be using more web applications for better mobile computing. But the advance computing will still be handled by desktop software. We will not switch over to a basic operating system such as Google Chrome OS. We will instead continue using advanced desktop operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS.

The problem with Google Chrome OS is that it does not offer the user friendly and functionally that people except from an operating system. Even Linux distributions like Ubuntu offer more functionally and are more user friendly than Chrome OS. Microsoft is currently in the process of transitioning it's core business to online services.

2009 was a big year for Microsoft in terms of online services. Microsoft launched it's enterprise cloud operating system Windows Azure, that is basically an online version of Windows Server. You can use it to store content and run applications from within the Azure environment.

On the consumer side, Microsoft launched Windows Live Wave 3 and Bing search. Windows Live Wave 3 was a major update to Microsoft's online social network. It foucused on interoperability with thrid-party online services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Another part of Windows Live Wave 3, was the launch of Windows Live Essentials. Windows Live Essentials is a set of free programs for your Windows PC to interact with online services. It also includes applications that were previously included in Windows but have been removed for anti-trust reasons.

Bing is Microsoft's first real attempt to compete in the online search market. Bing has three main benefits over Google search. You can search by navigating photos, get cashback on purchases from select retailers and search Twitter. Bing is currently the only search engine that is licensed to search Twitter.

Microsoft is not going away anytime soon and is transiting it's markets for the future. The current economic recession is accelerating the transition to cloud computing. By increasing the demand for inexpensive computing by mobile devices such as smart phones and PDAs. This being said, we are not going to abandon desktop software within the next decade at least.

Software development

2010-01-01T02:34:00.001-08:00

Early last year, I was very interested in software development. The first piece of software, I ever wrote was a basic web browser called iSurf. iSurf did not last long until I scraped it and started from scratch with uSurf. I continued to built off of uSurf for awhile, each new version offer new functionally. Then, I lost interest in software development for about 8 months due to family and friend issues I now have overcome those issues and have time to get back into it.
Yesterday, I started building off of the source code of my last stable build of uSurf. I made many changes to it. I fixed bugs, changed some of the functionally, cleaned up the user interface and removed unnecessary items such as the Google Maps anf Calculator applets. I also have removed the uSurf branding entirely. For now, I am just calling it web browser since it is in Aplha stage and I have not decided on a good product name. I am not sharing more source code due to the fact that someone can easily download it, put there name on it and call it their own.
I have also realized that if I want to work in the software industry, I better start learning how to program now. I will have a head start on everyone else. I will also be attending the Sno-Isle tech center next school year and will be earning credits in computer science crosses. In this blog post I have attached a screenshot of the latest build of my web browser. Every jorey begins with a single step.

Project Natal

2010-01-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Project Natal is an accessorie launching for the Xbox 360 late this year. It will bring a controller-less experience to the Xbox 360. You will be able to control games by voice, facial and skectial reaction. It will be able to reconiton your skection by using a camera. This technology is preety amazing. We are going to see more devices use this type of technology during this decade. Their will be three main types of technology input in this decade. Stylus, touch and skectial reaction. It will be very interesting the transition to these types of input. Project Natal will not require a new Xbox but will be a very expensive accessorie. A new major Xbox hardware revision is due in 2013.

Project Natal Accountment-

Project Natal engineering-

Project Natal live demo at E3 2009-

Dreams

2009-12-31T02:01:00.000-08:00

I have been having allot of ockward dreams lately. I have been having dreams about my Grandfather, the girl I love and meeting Bill Gates. I have dreams about what is on my mind and what I want. I would really like to see my Grandfather again and talk to him. In one of the dreams me, him and my Uncle Bill were having a converstation outside in my Grandma's back yard.
In a dream I had more recently, I was in a growly white room all alone. Then, all the sudence, my friend came up to me and said the girl I am in love with has decided that I am the one. Then, I had a dream last night where Bill Gates came to Langley, a town I live nearby. I meet him and his wife. Then, I had lunch with him and he offered me a job at Microsoft. I accepted the job offer and then I wroke up.
I was very dissapointed when I wroke up with all of these dreams. All of these dreams are very realistic and reatily based.

The Road Ahead

2009-12-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

As of the writting of this blog post, the 2000s decade is coming to an end. As we exist this decade, we are also entering a new era of getting things done. We will be using more online services and web applications in the next decade. Companies will be using stragties similar to Microsoft's own "Software+Services" stragty. Where we will continue using the richness of software alongside online services.
We will also be using more mobile devices similar to what we have today. Instead of these smartphones that we have today. We will be using devices that are larger in form factor and less expensive. They will be in a form factor similar to a Tablet PC. It will be the next generation of the tablet. A larger, more powerfull and less expensive tablet. That uses both multi-touch input along with stylus input. It will also a wireless carrier modem, so you can have anytime, anwhere Internet access. In five years, I can see us using basic tablet that are the size and price of paper notebooks. It will much more effienct and easier to maintain.
Almost a decade ago, Microsoft developed the tablet form factor and revealed it to the public. At the time, people mocked it as a joke. No one knew that it would start catching on again, almost a decade later. During the 1990s, we had similar mobile devices to what we have today like the Apple Newton. But they never cotch on to the cosumer market. Eventuraly, those mobile devices died out. It was not untill the late 2000s, that they started catching on again. The technology was too pritive then but now we are at the perfect level to starting embrassing it again.
If you have read Bill Gate's book, The Road Ahead. You will notice, that he was able to predict many of today's communtion and content standards. We are reilying on the Internet more and more each day for our communtion and content. Some people have unsubsribed to their channel providers. Now, that they can access many of their favorite shows online. Also, if you have not noticed many of those movie rental have gone out of bus during the last year or two. Due to the success of the growing online rental service, Netflix. Where you pay a small amount of money each month and you are able to access a certaina amount of movies for as long as you want. You can chose to a rent the movie and have it shipped to you. Or more recently, you can have the money stremed to your computer via a Internet connection.
When something new comes along, many people bash it and refuse to adapt it. It takes awhile untill they finally are forced to move to the new way of getting things done.
People these days want to access to their content anytime and anywhere these days wheather their at work or school. Such online web applications like Google Docs have coth on with consumers. Even tho, it is not even close to offering the full functionaly of Microsoft Office. It still is able to provide the basic functioanlly that users need and they are able to access at anytime via a Internet connection. Thats say they are at their Grandma's house and she does not have Microsoft Office installed on her computer. That is not a problem, you can simply launch a web browser and logon to Google Docs. You can then edit your document and print it out.
It is amazing what difference a few years can make. A short while ago, USB flash drives were all the range and now they are already being phased out by online storage solutions such as Windows Live SkyDrive. Where you do not have to worry about the expense of a flash drive and do not need to worry about forgetting it at home or work.
The battle for the cloud is coming to a conclusion just like the war with hardware manufractors during the 1980s. We have had a simlar battle during the 1990s and 2000s, where their were many online service providers that failed and only a few that surived. The remain companies left are Microsoft and Google. Yahoo! is a shinking ship, that have failed to catch on with today's web standards. I am sure that twenty years from now, we will look back at this time as a major transistion period for many companies.

My throughts on Google Chrome OS

2009-11-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this blog post to knock some sense into the people that are buying in on this hype about Google Chrome OS. Google Chrome OS is a open source operating system developed by Google. Currently, no source code or builds of Chrome OS are available to the public. Google Chrome OS will be much like the Google Chrome Internet browser. It is build off the open source Linux kernel. Google does not have the necessary skills or resources to build their own operating system from the grown up. They will be using the same driver models and kernel as every other Linux distribution on the planet. Google Chrome OS will be just a web browser window with additional operating system functionally. No applications will be installed on Chrome OS at all. You can only use web-based applications which offer allot less functionally than desktop applications. You will not be able to download Google Chrome and install it on any computer. You will not even be able to download a disc image of it and burn it to a disc. Chrome OS will only be available on new PCs that are approved by Google. Microsoft does not fear Google Chrome OS at all. Windows and Mac OS X are way more advanced than any Linux distribution. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chairmen Bill Gates have both come out dismissed the operating system. Bill Gates has commented on the operating system as "Just another Linux distribution.". Which it actually is in the first place. Steve Ballmer has bashed Google for having more than one operating system (Andriod and Chrome OS). While Microsoft only has one type of operating system, which is Windows. Google is a evil company and has a monopoly on the Internet and is trying to trick people into using it's products. Microsoft and Apple are much nicer and much more complex companies than Google. Watch out Google, Microsoft is back.

Veterens Day 2009

2009-11-11T01:30:00.000-08:00

Today is Veterans Day, the holiday delegated for remembering tho that have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. There are a few veterans in my family history. My Grandfather and his brother that were in World War II and my Uncle that was in Vietnam. My Grandfather and his brother are sadly no longer living but their laceily lives on. My Grandfather has been gone for almost five years. He lost his life to cancer little under 60 years after World War II had ended. During this day, I will spend time remembering my Grandfather and what he did along with my his brother and my Uncle.

Microsoft debuts Windows 7

2009-10-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

On October 22nd, 2009, Microsoft had it's launch event for Windows 7 in New York city. Later that day, I received my copy of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade that I pre-ordered back in June when the promotional pricing was going on. At the launch event, Kylie (from the Windows 7 commercials) introduced Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Steve Ballmer gave a keynote, as expected. Microsoft demonstrated new features in Windows 7 such as Windows Touch, media streaming capabilities in media player and Windows Live Essentials. They also show-offed new PCs with Windows 7 pre-installed.

I was a little bit disappointed with the event. There was no Bill Gates keynote, no rock band and no acrobats scaling sky high buildings with the Windows logos like they did at the Windows Vista launch event in 2007. I guess that is reminder that we are in tough encomium times. I have embedded a video and photos of the launch event below.

Microsoft migrates to multi-touch in 2009

2009-10-04T00:24:00.000-07:00

Over two years ago, Microsoft revealed it's large multi-touch coffee table to the world, Microsoft Surface at the All Things Digital Conference 2007. At the All Things Digital Conference 2008, Microsoft revealed multi-touch capabilities in Windows 7. This year, Microsoft has been moving to touch with products such as Windows 7, Zune HD and Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows 7 was designed from the ground up for use with multi-touch displays and has a touch user interface with the ribbon in Paint and Wordpad and the new Windows Taskbar. The Zune HD is the first multi-touch Zune to come out of Redmond. Lastly, Windows Mobile 6.5 will be launching tomorrow and is multi-touch aware. Finally, multi-touch input is going mainstream.

Rumored Apple Tablet

2009-09-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

There has been may of rumors of Apple releasing a tablet computer all the way back to October 2007. Some people have described a Apple tablet as a large iPod touch. The latest rumors are that the Apple tablet will have a 10 inch multi-touch display and will either a modified version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard or the iPhone OS and will be available sometime in early 2010. It will be interesting to see if Apple actually releases this and how it might compete with Microsoft's rumored tablet computer codenamed "Courier". I do believe that Apple will release this. There has not been an Apple rumor this big that has not come true.

Apple Tablet concepts-

All images belong to their respected owners.

Rumored Microsoft tablet codenamed "Courier"

2009-09-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

Rumors have surfaced on the Internet since yesterday about a rumored upcoming Microsoft Tablet codenamed "Courier". Gizmodo was the first to report about the tablet. Courier is rumored to have two 7 inch multi-screen, a 3 megapixel camera, a home button and stylus recognition. The Courier will not run Microsoft Windows, but will have it's own operating system. If your thinking, "Since when does Microsoft make hardware"? Microsoft has manufactured hardware since 1984. Starting with the Microsoft keyboard and mouse. Microsoft now manufactures other hardware products including Xbox, Webcams, Zune and Surface. Microsoft slatternly knows it's way around touch with Surface, Windows Touch in Windows 7, Zune HD and now Windows Mobile. There have been rumors about a Apple tablet dating back to October 2007. I do hope to see the Apple tablet arrive early next year but I'm also very excited Courier. Courier is rumored to be in late prototype development status and to ship sometime in 2010.

Windows 7 Review

2009-09-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Less than a month from now Windows 7 will hit store shelves, in this review I will focus on new features, performance improvements and compatibly in Windows 7. I consider Windows 7 a medium upgrade from Windows Vista and a major upgrade from Windows XP. Windows 7 is allot faster and more responsive than Windows Vista on the same hardware. Some of the applications that have been bundled with Windows for years have been removed such as Windows Mail and Windows Movie Maker in favor of their Windows Live counterparts available in Windows Live Essentials. Windows 7 offers many new end-user features such as HomeGroups, Device Stage, Windows Touch, Libraries, Taskbar, improved window management, Action Center, User Account Control, Jumplists, Windows Media Player, Windows XP Mode, Paint, Wordpad, Calculator and more. I will not focus on all of the new features in Windows 7, but I will instead focus on the major new features. One of the most popular features in Windows 7 is Windows Touch. Windows 7 was designed from the ground up for use with multi-touch displays. Touch support is now bulit into Windows. Therefore, PC Manufacturers no longer have to make their own user interface for their multi-touch PCs. Windows 7 features the biggest update to the Windows Taskbar since Windows 95. You can now pin applications to the taskbar similar to the dock in Mac OS X. The Quick Launch toolbar has been removed. Another new feature in Windows 7 is Jumplists. Right click on a application icon in the taskbar and you will see a list of common tasks and recently/frequently used items with that application. Jumplists are also available in the Start menu. In Windows 7, Microsoft has updated most of the applets included in Windows such as Paint, Wordpad and Calculator. Paint and Wordpad are now touch-aware and use the tabbed ribbon interface that first debuted in Microsoft Office 2007. Microsoft has added new functionally to the Calculator in Windows 7. The Calculator has the same color shame as ribbon interface. Windows 7 includes new window management features such as Aero Snaps, Aero Shake and Aero Peek. With Aero Snaps, simply drag a window to a side of the screen and it will resize itself to that side of the screen. You can also drag a window to the top of the screen and it will maximize itself. If you have more than window open at a time and only want one of them open, shake the tittle bar of the window you want to have open and all the other windows will minimize. Once you have all the other windows minimized, shake the tittle bar of the window you have open and the other windows will be maximized. If you have more than windows at a time and want to peek at a desktop gadget but do not want to minimize them. Simply move your mouse cursor over to the bottom right and all your windows will become transparent. Action Center is a new feature in Windows 7. Action Center is the successor of Windows Security Center, which debuted in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Unlike Windows Security Center, Action Center alerts to security and maintenance on your PC. The User Account Control has been tweaked in Windows 7. You now have different UAC levels let you can chose from via a slider. Libraries is a new feature in Windows 7. Libraries are basically virtual folders that monitor content in your media folders. The same Libraries that you see in Windows Explorer are the same Libraries that you see in Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player. HomeGroups is another one of the most popular features in Windows 7. HomeGroups make it easy to share content in your Libraries and stream media to another Windows 7 PC. Device Stage is another new feature in Windows 7. Device Stage is a window where you see tasks like you can do with your printer or other compatible device. Windows Media Player has seen a major update in Windows 7. Windows Media Player has a brand new user interface, a mini player mode and the ability to stream media to another Windows 7 PC or Xbox 360. Visualizers have been removed from Windows Media Player. In terms of application and driver compatibly, Windows 7 beats Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Windows 7 is compatible with most applications and drivers designed for Windows Vista because Windows 7 is built off the same architecture as Windows Vista and the version number in Windows 7 is NT 6.1 and Vista was NT 6.0. So applications and drivers designed for Windows Vista will think Windows 7 is Vista. For applications that are not yet compatible with Windows Vista and above. Microsoft is offering a free Windows XP virtual machine called Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode is mainly for businesses that do not want to spend money buying new software but customers may also find it useful. Unlike other virtual machines, applications that are installed in Windows XP Mode can appear outside of the virtual machine, as if they were running on Windows 7. Apple did the same with the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X by including the Classic Macintosh emulator in the earlier versions of Mac OS X. My overall opinion is Windows 7 is it is the best operating system to come out of Redmond in a long time. One of my friends who has been a Apple user for the past few years, has said "I''m very excited about Windows 7".

Windows 7 videos-

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard review

2009-09-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

In this review of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, I will focus on the new features, performance improvements and compatibly. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is an evolutionarily update to Mac OS X. Snow Leopard focuses less on end-user features and more on under the hood tweaks and performance. One of my favorite features of Snow Leopard is QuickTime X (10). In QuickTime X, the entire back end of QuickTime has been rewritten. QuickTime X supports more video formats, has basic video editing capabilities and the ability to upload to YouTube and MobileMe. Apple has described QuickTime X as "A mini iMovie". in Snow Leopard, you can now go within a folder in a grid stack and watch videos from within the Finder. You can now use Expose with a single application's windows. Support for Microsoft Exchange is built right in to Snow Leopard in Mail, iCal and Address Book. The Macintosh is the first computer to ship with built in support for Exchange. Snow Leopard focuses on under the hood improvements like Grand Central dispatch, OpenGL and 64-bit. Grand Central dispatch gives you better multiple core performance and OpenGL lets applications tap into the power of your graphics processor unit. Now with Snow Leopard, most of Mac OS X is written in 64-bit but interestingly the operating system still boots into a 32-bit kernel by default. To boot into a 64-bit kernel, you need to press 6 and 4 at start up. Snow Leopard seems faster and more responsive than Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard but the performance jump is not as big as the performance jump from Windows Vista to Windows 7 is. By installing Snow Leopard, you recover hard disk space just like with Windows 7. Snow Leopard is only available for Macs with an Intel processor because Apple removed all the PowerPC code. Before Snow Leopard, Mac OS X was all in universal binaries that contained both PowerPC and Intel code. That is why you recover hard disk space. Also, in Snow Leopard because of the removal of all PowerPC code, software updates are smaller because they only contain Intel code. In terms of application compatibly most major applications designed for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard work fine under Snow Leopard. But some do not, for example Adobe Photoshop and many freeware applications for Mac OS X do not work on Snow Leopard. My overall opinion of Snow Leopard is it is a evolutionary update to a already rock solid operating system and is worth the $30.00 to upgrade. Interestingly, you do not need to have Leopard installed to use the $30.00 upgrade disc. You can even perform an in-place upgrade from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard user interface improvements-

Apple Media Event 9/9/09

2009-09-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Apple had their yearly media event. Steve Jobs appeared publicly on stage for the first time since he took sick leave back in January. At the event, Apple introduced the 3rd generation iPod touch, 5th generation iPod nano and iTunes 9. The iPod shuffle got a minor revision. The 3rd generation iPod touch offers minor improvements over it's processor, such as a faster processor and better graphics chip and Voice Control. The 3rd generation iPod touch costs $199 for the 8GB model, $299 for 32GB model and $399 for the 64GB model. Only the 32GB and 64GB models have the faster processor and graphics chip and Voice Control. The 32GB and 64GB models include the Apple earphones with microphone and remote. The iPod nano got a major update, it now includes a video camera, microphone and speaker, FM Radio and a larger screen. The new iPod nano is just as thin as it's processor. iTunes 9 offers several improvements over it's processor such as a redesigned iTunes Store, iTunes LP, Home Sharing, Genius Mixes and the ability to organize iPhone and iPod touch applications in iTunes. The iPod shuffle is now available in multiple colors. I'm disappointed with the new iPod touch and I am going to stick with my current 2nd generation model. The iPod touch 3rd generation is worth the upgrade from the 1st generation but not the 2nd generation.

Memoires of my Grandfather

2009-09-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

In January of 2005, I lost my Grandfather to cancer. I have very fund memories of him. He took me out on the boat, he took to the park and the beach. I also helped him in his garden. I miss him very much, he was like a father to me.

He cooked the best egg omelets and grilled chess sandwhichs and put patricia on many types of foods. He put peppers in his omelets and grilled chess sandwiches. He used to drink his beer and watch me swim. One time I cut my toe when I was at the beach with him. He told me to put it in salt water.

When I was in the back yard swimming in the pool, he used to watch me swim while drinking his beer. He threw the plastic balls that were in the beer into the pool. When I came in from the water at the beach, we ate chocolates together. We also picked raspberries and put them on our ice cream. He used to call me old chap and after we took a sip of our drinks we said Ah. He also introduced me to root beer floats.

When I cried, he always said "Stop that stilen, John". When I got home from school, he always asked "What did you learn in school today"? I always said "nothing" because I did not want to take the time to explain to him what I did learned. We went to restaurants together. I gave him father's day cards. The last thing he said to me was "John, always try to be the good boy".

My Mom told me that Grandpa used to say "I won't know the differential when I die." When I was little, my Grandpa used to have me sit on his lab and sign "Push uh push the John". I have been having dreams where I talk to him. In one of the dreams, the opposite happened, my Grandfather fought his cancer and won and was at my 15th birthday party and gave me a life jacket. In another, I and my Uncle Bill were talking to him out my Grandmother's deck. I really miss my Grandfather and cannot believe it's been almost five years since he passed away.

My trip to Microsoft

2009-09-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, me and my Uncle went all way to Redmond, Washington to see the Microsoft Visitor Center. At the Visitor Center, I got to try out some cool Microsoft products for the first including Microsoft Surface, Windows Mobile and Zune. Microsoft Surface is a giant multi-touch table where you can play games, listen to music and browse throw photos. I described Microsoft Surface as a giant iPhone at the Visitor Center. Now that I have tried some Windows Mobile phones, I will say that Windows Mobile is okay but the iPhone is still superior. The Zune is also pretty good, unfortunately they did not have a Zune HD to try out. I bought home some Microsoft Merchandise. A Bing mousepad, a Windows 7 mousepad, a I'm a PC mousepad, a Windows 7 pen and a Windows 7 T-Shirt. I have posted some pictures below of the Visitor Center and a video.

Windows 7 has been released to manufractoring

2009-07-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at a Microsoft event, President of the Windows division Steven Sinofsky, announced that Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 have been released to manufacturing. At the event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer signed the gold (RTM) DVDs. The RTM build number of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is 7600.16385. The next step in the Windows 7 road map is general availability on October 22nd, 2009. The Windows 7 Beta Program will end on July 24th, 2009. Microsoft has posted a video of the Windows 7 RTM sign off process to YouTube. I have embedded it below.

iPhone OS 3.0

2009-06-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

On June 8, 2009, Apple released the final version of the iPhone 3.0 software update to developers. Since than developers have leaked the firmware on to the internet. The update will be available to the general public on June 17. I have downloaded and installed the firmware on my iPod touch 2nd generation. The iPhone 3.0 update is worth the $9.95 for iPod touch users. iPhone 3.0 has slower start up and shut down than iPhone 2.2.1 on the iPod touch 2G. I hope Apple releases a update that will fix this.

WWDC 2009

2009-06-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

At Apple's World Wide Developers Conference 2009, Apple revealed new MacBooks, the iPhone 3G S, more information about Snow Leopard and the release date of iPhone 3.0. Apple also bashed Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Windows 7, calling it "Just another version of Vista". The new iPhone 3G S has a 3.0 Megapixel camera, Autofocus, Voice Control, Nike+, Video Recorder, Longer battery life and a built in compass. The iPhone 3G S ships in 16GB for $199 and 32GB for $299 and will be available June 19. Apple is also now offering the iPhone 3G 8GB for $99. Apple revealed the pricing and shipping date of Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard will be $29 for Leopard users and will be available this September. iPhone 3.0 will be available on June 17 and will be free for iPhone users and $9.95 for iPod touch users.

Spring 2009

2009-05-31T15:08:00.001-07:00

Spring has come and gone again. Now were in Summer again. My summer vacation starts on June 19th, 2009 and goes until September 8th, 2009. Below are some pictures that I took this spring.

View Full Album