Upload Size Doubles + HD Tips [from Lifehacker]

Google adds padding to the search results of each page. It improves the aesthetics by a small amount. Users accustomed with the old design (like me) will suddenly feel that something is out of place.

Firefox 3.5 has been released to the public. Mozilla’s newest browser is up to two times faster than the previous version.

Some of the best features include TraceMonkey, the new JavaScript engine, as well as better speeds and a greater overall.

Maybe now is the time for speed crazers to come back to Firefox and see if it’s better than Chrome?

What do you think?

Image credit Resourceslog

The prices for Windows 7, Microsoft’s next operating system, have been released, and once again, I find the prices annoying.

The quality of the OS has been directly affected by the price, it seems, and Brandon LeBlanc from the Windows Team can say Home Premium is twenty dollars cheaper than Vista’s version, but still, it’s awfully expensive.

… estimated retail prices for upgrade … product of Windows 7 … are:

• Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade): $119.99
• Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade): $199.99
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade): $219.99

… estimated retail prices for full … product of Windows 7 … are:

• Windows 7 Home Premium (Full): $199.99
• Windows 7 Professional (Full): $299.99
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Full): $319.99

… Windows 7 Home Premium full retail product is $40.00 less than Windows Vista Home Premium today.

The Windows Team Blog (truncated)

Many users are complaining that the upgrade prices from XP and Vista are the same; while this is maddening for people who went through the burdens of purchasing Vista, it will help migrate XP users to 7 when they think of the price benefits.

Here’s something that makes me want to cry: my aunt purchased a laptop not a month ago. Today she found it unable to get a free upgrade to Windows 7. Why can’t Microsoft release a tiered price for upgrades system so she get’s a cheaper upgrade?

Incredibly, even with technology so advanced and the population of the world so incredibly knowledgeable, people still insist on doing the most spastic and annoying things in a PowerPoint.

Of course, we are talking about students here, we are talking about salesman who really just want to make a point, and for people who don’t exactly spend hours in Photoshop perfecting a design.

Of course, there are 8 things you can do to avoid the craze and make your PowerPoint stand out. We’re going to show you how to do that.

1) Do not use WordArt, under any circumstances.

WordArt is both outdated and extremely ugly. It’s horrific! Just taking a look at the default selection of styles should alert you to the immediate fact that WordArt is extremely ugly, and you should never use it.

2) Don’t use more than two animations per slide.

Better yet, don’t use any custom animations for slides at all. There’s nothing more annoying than whiz banging text and pictures that fly around on tracks for five minutes before coming to a stop.

Only use animations for displaying text one by one so your audience does not get ahead of you, and please only use artful fades for this. Clickety-clackity typewriters should be banished. This is the new age.

3) DO NOT READ OFF OF YOUR POWERPOINT!

There’s nothing more annoying than watching 1) a speaker turn around and read off of the PowerPoint, or 2) a speaker reading off of a piece of paper containing the contents of the PowerPoint.

Instead of using text and then just reading off of it, consider concisely writing on the PowerPoint only the main point of what you are talking about at the moment. Feel free to accompany pictures, or even replace text with images.

4) Don’t use the themes.

Although newer versions of Office come with themes that improve greatly upon the previous versions, you still shouldn’t use them. Opt for a non-distracting grayscale background color, such as white, gray, or dark gray (try to avoid black).

You want to give focus to what the slide is talking about. Sometimes I vignette the background with a darker shade of the color so it really focuses on the bit of text in the middle.

5) Prepare a speech, but don’t read off of it.

You should always prepare a speech. This is what makes a PowerPoint a PowerPoint: so you don’t just read off of your slides. But similarly, it makes a lot of non-sense if you just stick your nose in the speech.

Make sure to look up at the audience. Even better, memorize the speech so you can walk around while delivering. If you have trouble memorizing but can easily vocalize your thoughts, write down the points of your PowerPoint and then you can talk about it as you see it.

6) Time your slides or bring a small clicker.

Incredibly annoying is when the speaker is engaging the audience in incredibly useful information but then stops, walks over from the side of the stage at which he or she was standing to the podium, try to change the slide, give up, and then say to the entire audience, “Hey, will you change the slide?”

Seriously now. Bring a clicker, and make sure it works. You can also time your slides, but that might not work out if you have any questions, slow down, or lose your train of thought for a second.

7) There are two slide animations to use: fade, or none.

You should either fade each slide, or you shouldn’t use a slide animation at all. Other animations that come with PowerPoint, such as windmill, blinds, etc, all distract the audience. You want to capture them, not annoy them.

Runner-up slide animations include Fade to Black and Slide Down/right/left/up, but ONLY if you know how to use them. It is a favorite technique of mine to make each slide look connected to the other so sliding the slide makes it all look connected.

8) Don’t be nervous; be yourself.

Nervousness is the by-product of the fact that you have not rehearsed enough. If you have the script imprinted in your head, you know it will work out, then you won’t be afraid when you see a crowd of people. Why? Because you know it will work out.

Relax. Be your best in front of the audience. If you start to freak out, just think that this is just another one of your countless rehearsals (that you did, right?) and that everything, again, is going to work out.

It seems as if Windows 7 is perfect, or at least as perfect as Microsoft can possibly make it. It is a definite improvement over the previous versions of Windows: better than Vista, and better than XP, in my opinion.

However, it isn’t perfect, and in order to find these imperfections, you must use it for a while. Installing it on my test machine wasn’t enough, so soon I backed up my files and put it on my main computer, something I didn’t think I had enough willpower to do.

Now that I am using it, however, I can really appreciate the OS fully. It’s definitely, in my personal opinion, extremely close to production status.

However, I have found a few small nitpicks:

It’s easy to mis-click on the new taskbar.

One stray click will launch an instance of Adobe Premiere Pro, an application that takes half a minute to load before I can close it. What is the most important in this case is that I meant to click on my already-open instance of Dreamweaver.

This is probably a problem that Mac users experience with their dock, especially when there are a lot of applications. But one single click launches an application on Windows, and even with just five icons, it bugs me crazy.

Aero Peek is only useful with a lot of applications.

This was probably meant to happen, but Aero Peek is only useful with a lot of applications. But by a lot, I mean a lot. Think this way: assume you have six applications.

The time it takes to hover over a button on your taskbar, hover over the picture of the window (even though there’s only one window… Microsoft???) and then wait for about a second before it comes up.

No thanks, I think I’ll Alt-Tab or click on my button.

Microsoft should improve legacy driver support.

So I know my scanner is old, and hasn’t gotten any driver updates since XP. Does that mean that Microsoft should forget about it?

Maybe this is a controversial debate, but Windows 7 targets the people who expect it-just-works simplicity from applications. These are people who don’t know enough about installing drivers, virtualization… in fact, even placing the disk into the drive is probably a push, in my opinion.

Manufacturers will also need to pick up on the new Device Stage, although some manufacturers never seem to have likened to these measures, HP being a prime example: never uploading their drivers to Windows Update and instead placing them on disks that force installs of application suites.

The upgrade needs to be worked on.

Not the upgrade itself, but the after-effects of the upgrade. The Upgrade Advisor should list programs like Logonstudio Vista as being inoperable after upgrade, so users will not launch the application and be presented with a runtime error.

Specifically, printers, applications, and hardware are the main targets of these problems. Printers perfectly functional in Vista suddenly lose usability in 7, making users stumble.

Overall, it’s still a great OS.

No matter the shortcomings, Windows 7 is still an amazing improvement over Windows Vista, in all areas. The OS seems incredibly usable, and I think that the technically-challenged people (in comparison with programmers, etc) such as elderly and children will have no problem with the OS.

Persevere, learn it, understand.

Understanding PHP

What is PHP? What can it do? This section provides useful links on reading crucial information on understanding how powerful the engine is, what it can do, and provides a comfortable bedding for future knowledge.

PHP – Wikipedia – a simple understanding of how the engine works

PHP: General Information – a overview on what it can do from people who made it

What is PHP? – an overview from the Tech Republic

What is PHP? – an overview from the Software Projects

Introduction to PHP – a easy quick bulleted overview from W3 Schools

PHP Builder – The ABCs of PHP – very long article on PHP, just read the beginning

In the Beginning

How do I set up a PHP file? What do I do with it? Do I need to configure anything on my server? This section provides information and useful links on understanding how PHP parsers work, where you can find it, and more information as well.

To cut quickly to the core, a PHP file has the extension of .php. Basically, most web hosts out there have PHP as well as other scripting languages and engines like Perl and MySQL installed, so if you are using a larger web host that’s out there, you don’t need to worry much about this.

Writing a .php file is not hard, in fact, you can even use Notepad or a super-basic text editor to write it. All you need to do is save it with the extension of .php and upload it to your server.

It’s important to keep in mind that like any coding, you should never use a rich-text editor like Microsoft Word as they add in formatting that makes it unreadable by the server.

It’s also important to note that all the scripting happens at the server; nothing is over at the user. You can’t disable it like you can with Javascript because by the time the user gets it, it’s a HTML file. This is all seamless.

Whenever you write PHP code, you include it in between PHP brackets, and the PHP engine will parse them. HTML code can exist inside a .php file, but it has to be outside of the brackets or the computer will read it and get confused. The only exception is if you are echoing it (more on that later).

 <?php // your code here ?>

PHP File Extension – so non-techies know what the mysterious file is

PHP: What Can It Do – it’s here for a reason

For most people, this can drive them nuts. Yet I can comfortably read all of them, stay up to date in the technological world, and maybe delve into a few of the articles I find really interesting.

And I do this all in 10 minutes. Here’s how I do it.

1. Use a professional feed reader.
   You don’t have to go out and buy a feed reader application or even download an application so you can read your feeds. I use Google Reader because it lets me fly through my feeds very quickly.
2. Be prepared to use your scroll wheel.
   If my mouse weren’t a Logitech VX Revolution, I might take longer to process the feeds. Take advantage of a hyper-speed scroll wheel if you have one.
3. Get Instaclick.
   Instaclick is a Firefox extension that allows you to simply right-click a link and have it open in a new tab.  The VX Revolution has a weird scroll-wheel-click that makes it hard to use. Right clicking is faster anyway.
4. Open anything interesting in a new tab.
   Using Instaclick, I always just right-click the link if I find something interesting or want to leave a comment. Be sure to save them for the end. Don’t read them as you click unless something really pops out at you.
5. If possible, read the truncated version.
   I know many services help you do the exact opposite and help you make your feeds longer, but you shouldn’t have to read the entire thing if you aren’t interested in it. Skim through truncated and if you think it looks interesting, click on it!
6. Skim. Your life (or time) depends on it.
   Skimming is just so important to reading fast that I shouldn’t even have to mention, but I still am. Skim everything. If the first paragraph appeals, then it’s good. Now actually read it.
7. Don’t just look at the title.
   The title is not everything. These days, blogs from Engadget to Lifehacker use “funny” titles. In many cases, if I were the one talked about in the offending blog post, I would cry. NASA deals become underwear; it never ends. Be sure to actually read.
8. Just look at the title.
   If I contradict myself, very well. I contradict myself. Some blogs offer precise titles as to what they are talking about, such as Zen Habits or Write to Done. In these cases, just read the title. It should give you an idea for what is to be talked about.
9. See what blog it is from.
   This goes with the above two. Be sure to take a look at what blog it is coming from. In these cases, Google Reader fails to deliver much as the name of the blog isn’t highlighted clearly. On the other hand, once you use it enough, you get used to it.
10. Get distracted.
    In many ways, reading feeds is a way to burn time. Very few people’s jobs actually depend on reading Engadget or XKCD every single day. Therefore, be sure to get distracted. Put on music, open up other work while you are at it. Read feeds when your programs are starting.
11. Remember to stay involved.
    Remember that the Internet is still a community. Reading through feeds prevents you from being able to participate in comments as easily. Therefore, occasionally click through an article and leave a few comments. The entire community will benefit.
12. Have fun!
    This isn’t really a tip…

If you liked this post, be sure to bookmark it on your favorite bookmarking service. I thrive on comments and readers. Thanks for reading chaotic tech!

Windows 7 is currently under beta, and I recently gave it a go on a virtual environment on my computer. Here’s a quick roundup of Windows 7 so far.

First of all, chaotic tech has a screencast on Windows 7, actually, found in the screencast section. I encourage you to take a look. I do a visual demonstration of much new stuff.

In this article, I’m writing about new things from Windows 7. These are in no particular order.

1. Aero Snap: Drag a window to the right or left and it “docks” on that side, taking up half of the screen. Drag it back off and it retains its original shape. Drag it to the top and it maximizes.
2. Aero Shake: Shake a window and all windows behind it minimize, showing only that window and the desktop.
3. New Taskbar: The new taskbar mixes quick launch (now “pinned programs”) with the active ones. Active ones are indicated with a border. There are layered windows, showing information and integrating with application, like tabs open for Internet Explorer.
4. Concise UAC: Windows 7 lets you control the level of nagginess that User Account Control will be to you. There are four levels to choose from.
5. Built-in Theming: Windows 7 comes with five themes with wallpapers, colors, and sounds together, and you can download more from the Microsoft website.
6. Start Menu: The new start menu now has little menus you can get by hovering over a specific application.
7. General Speed: Windows 7 is faster in general. It starts up faster than XP or Vista. It’s much more light.
8. No More Bloatware: Windows 7 doesn’t come with things like Movie Maker anymore; you can download those from Microsoft’s website as Live applications.
9. Instant Show Desktop: Move your mouse to the bottom right corner and it automatically turns all windows transparent, letting you see behind your windows to your desktop. Click, and all is minimized.
10. Aero Peek: Hover over an icon on the taskbar, and the windows in front of that application and behind it turn transparent, allowing you to see that application.
11. Intuitive Explore: Explorer is much more intuitive now. I can’t really describe this; you’ll have to check it out yourself.
12. Ribbon in WordPad, Paint, etc.: You can now find the Ribbon (remember Office 2007?) inside applications like WordPad and Paint.
13. Built-in .docx support: WordPad can open .docx files now, so you don’t need Microsoft Office to open them.
14. Accelerators: Built into IE8, this basically just allows one-click adding of things like maps to emails and stuff. Thanks, Andy.

Have anything else to add? Shout out in the comments.

Basically, for those of you that haven’t been reading it, the whole hype is this: a Belkin employee (Michael Bayard) recently went on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk system and told people that he would pay them 65 cents per positive review.

He also told prospective fake-writers to down-rate any reviews that said that the product was bad. Now, here’s the thing: this product (a router) has a long history of bad performance. So Bayard was basically destroying the honesty of Amazon reviews.

Belkin probably had nothing to do with this, but this Bayard person has everything to do with it. Whereas everyone before thought that this was an elaborate hoax, now Belkin has gone public:

Belkin has always held itself to the highest standards of corporate ethics and its employees to the highest standards of personal integrity

…

So, it was with great surprise and dismay when we discovered that one of our employees may have posted a number of queries on the Amazon Mechanical Turk website inviting users to post positive reviews of Belkin products in exchange for payment.

Belkin does not participate in, nor does it endorse, unethical practices like this … we are extremely sorry that this happened.

Once again, we apologize for this occurrence, and we will work earnestly to regain the trust we have lost.

As you just read, that was parts of a letter from the president of Belkin, Mark Reynoso.

So today it stands to reason that these fake messages really should be stopped. We also learn important things from this incident:

Instead of trying to cover up bad design by paying people, they should actually try to fix the product. Release a new version of it. Sure, it will cost money. But this is something customers deserve.

I’m frankly very disappointed in Belkin. While I have no products from Belkin currently in use at my household, these things heavily damage the reputation of Belkin. I am sure that Belkin is a good company, but workers like these must be stopped.

User reviews are more important than professional reviews from large newspapers because people have nothing to gain or lose by writing a bad or good review. Until Bayard enticed them with 65 cents.

It also sets a very bad statement to people. 65 cents isn’t much. You can’t buy much with it. Personally, if I had accepted 65 cents to write a fake review, I would feel horrible inside.

I put more trust in user reviews, because professional reviewers have a long-standing possibility of being bribed. And now users are also being bribed. This kind of practice just really annoys me.

If you have anything to say, feel free to do so in the comments.