I feel like it is time to move on to my other ideas.  Please realize that from time to time I will be back for technology, a new poem, or something else that belongs in this section of my website.  I will be taking down some pages and moving other things around.   The bulk of the content will remain in place … one never knows when a link will be needed.

If you want to see what I am up to every so often you can find me on Twitter at ir0nw1l and on QuoteMyT.

iron wil

Are Technica has several articles on the subject with the latest one, Pirate Party hosting Pirate Bay in pro-P2P political gesture being the latest one.  The copyright battle is ongoing and this is going to be a much bigger fight than the RIAA or the MPAA could have imagined.  This is not a US vs. the World battle, this is a copyright and usage argument.  It comes down to letting others use material for creative purposes or not.  The big companies will try to prevent the usage of media and materials for creative endeavors.

File sharers will still trade things online.  The difference will be whether there will be fair use for creative purposes or not.  I am siding with fair use.

iron wil

One thing noticeable is the removal of some pages and the addition of 3 more, which are Friends, Poetry, and Reading. Friends is a great definition of friends and friendship, that I found years ago and feel it to be true and accurate. One of my best friends is a Puerto Rican and the other is a Texan, yes a real Texan – Cowboys fan and all. JS and I have been friends for over 20 years dating back to High School in a beautiful pastoral town in Germany. While BSR is the short timer with 13 years of our friendship underway. I have to admit that either way this definition applies to them. Poetry is my favorite definition from Archibald MacLeish and Reading is a list of books that I have read and I am reading.

There is a bit more content and I hope to put in more time and provide better commentary and content.  I look forward to the challenges of another year!

iron wil

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jason Calacanis, Pete Cashmore

Google goes down, the future of blogging, Forbes Web Celebs, Obama Google bomb fixed, and more.

Shownotes wiki

Links to all our stories are at http://delicious.com/twit/180.

Audible pick of the week: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.

get yours here.

iron wil

Hosts: Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte

Windows 7, Office 14, Zune rumors, MSDN, Software Wars, Roku, and more.

• Windows 7 Beta Fallout
  There is almost universal praise for the Windows 7 public beta which was released on January 9, 2009. After impressive demand for the new beta Microsoft has suspended its previous policy which would place a limit on the downloads to 2.5 million and will allow people to download the beta until January 24, 2009. Paul recommends re-arming rather then activiting to save your license keys. Windows 7 also runs great on netbooks, lower end notebooks designed for portability and low power usage. Paul describes a good experience on a 1.6GHz Atom system with 1 GB of RAM and 16GB of harddrive space. The only big question is: will the positive reviews of Windows 7 be enough to get XP users to upgrade?
• What about Office 14?
  With Windows 7 coming out in mid-2009 many are wondering if Office will quickly follow. Microsoft just started a limited beta test of their server offerings, but there is no news about the client. Sources say that we will have to wait until late 2009 or early 2010 for the new Office.
• Zune rumors
  Rumors abound that Microsoft may be exiting the portable media player business by discontinuing the Zune. However, Microsoft recently stated that rather then discontinue the Zune they are going to be expanding the product line. With Apple offering DRM free downloads from it’s iTunes music store, Microsoft may have their work cut out for them.Paul is going to try to get Rob Greenlee of the Zune Insider podcast on a future episode of Windows Weekly to discuss the Zune in more depth.
• Keith Curtis
  Keith Curtis is a long-time Microsoft employee and the author of “The Software Wars,” a book which states that open source software, not Apple, is the real future competition to the Windows operating system. GNU/Linux has been all but dismissed as a possibility on the desktop, but Keith disagrees and he may have a point. He will appear on a future episode of Windows Weekly where he will discuss his book and his ideas in detail.
• Roku Digital Video Player
  • This just in: Roku Digital Video Player adds hundreds of HD movies and TV shows via Netflix, plus 40,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon On Demand. The latter is coming in a few weeks
  • Netflix HD content
  • Office, 30 Rock, Heroes, Star Trek, plus movies like Elf, Ace Ventura, etc.
  • An amazing list of Windows 7 tips published by a Microsoft engineer.
  • Free Battlestar Galactica webisodes on Zune Marketplace In Season 0: A 10-part episode, Face of the Enemy, that bridges the gap between the last season and the next, plus two specials, “Recap” and “Catch the Frak Up”

A Message From Paul Thurrott”This week I’m going to be in Reston, Virginia on Friday for the ‘D.C.’ edition of the MSDN Developer Conference held at the Hyatt Regency Reston. It’s sort of a mini-PDC that’s going around the country. In DC to visit with Rafael. But drop me a line if you’ll be at the show.”

Tips of the week

• Software of the weekWindirstat: Excellent disk usage viewer for Windows – surprised I haven’t had this one in here before. Thanks to Greg Martin for the tip. See the discussion page for other similar free programs.

• Audible pick of the week: Cross Country, Unabridged, by James Patterson, narrated by Peter J. Fernandez and Dion Graham.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

A long time friend of mine is launching a new website called Uncharted.net.  In a nutshell, outdoor sports, photography, and travel.  He has been through South & Central America for fun & photography.

On a whim, he has been known to grab his gear & camera and disappear for a week at a time.  He is also known for making random films about his friends, where the main character is a super hero or spy.

His blog.

Launch Date:  2008.12.17, 1900MST.

iron wil

Hosts: Dick DeBartolo with Leo Laporte

Apple Tax, Windows 7, PDC 2008, Hyper-V, Aero, Norton UAC, and more.

• Microsoft talks “Apple Tax”
• Windows 7: What’s In a Name?
• All-Star Bloggers at PDC 2008
• Hyper-V Follow-Up

Tip of the week: Leave Aero on

Software of the week:

I selected some applications from their pages to check out, like WiFi Radar.

iron wil

Last year, I wrote an article entitled OS X on your WinBox and I outlined some thoughts of how they could move in on Microsoft. In a recent article from Ars Technica, they talked about how Apple can move into the traditional pc market. I, admittedly, agree that if they don’t make a move they would be fools; yet they still sail under their own flag and have been doing just fine with Steve at the helm.

Vista Ultimate with all the bells and whistles sells for 278$ [retail] on NewEgg and OS X sells for 129$.  Then if you want to get a family pack, oh wait . . . Microsoft only sells single DVDs for the consumer; okay then you get OS X for 199$, which gives you 5 licenses.  I have to admit that I would love to get less expensive hardware and run OS X on it. I just don’t want the hassle that comes with trying to keep things updating and working properly when it isn’t on Apple hardware.

It becomes a game of wait and see. Oh, yeah that is what we do anyway when it comes to Apple products. Microsoft is showing its soft underside with the Vista fiasco. Despite the security and sexy GUI that it brings to the table, Vista has a huge negative aura around it that is felt by current users.

I am curious to see how Apple takes advantage of the Vista stigma, or if they will just ignore the competition like always. Either way, I am sure they will suprise us and hopefully even blow my mind.

iron wil

Google Chrome, set-top box wars, Xbox 360 price cuts, PicasaWeb, and more.

• Chrome: Google’s full frontal assault on Microsoft
• Xbox 360 price cuts
• Office Live Workspace users reach one million mark; software and services vs. cloud computing
• Battle of the set-top boxes: Apple TV, Media Center Extenders, Roku (Netflix), Popcorn Hour, and New Xbox 360 (60 GB)
• Amazon Video On Demand

Tips of the week:

• Using Chrome for Web applications
• Standalone gMail and Google Calendar (also, PicasaWeb, etc.)

Software of the week:

• Google Picasa 3 Beta (and Picasa Web Albums update)
• Roboform
• Microsoft AutoCollage 2008

Audible pick of the week: All the President’s Men, Unabridged, By Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, Narrated by Richard Poe. For a free audiobook, visit Audible.com/windows.

Check out Paul’s blog at http://www.internet-nexus.com and the SuperSite for Windows http://winsupersite.com for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil