Can Chrome Frame erode IE within?
Posted by: Chan on: 24, September, 2009
In some interesting terns from yesterday, Google is stepping in to Google’s most bold foray into Microsoft terrain, more than search, email Exchange, docs, sync and products.
If left unchecked, Google is going to take Microsoft and “frame” it within Google Chrome, Services and beyond.
Some interesting reading on this can be found bellow
1. Chrome Frame erodes IE within
2. Will Microsoft stop Google from framing IE
Snow Leopard, Apple and the Future
Posted by: Chan on: 22, September, 2009
- In: Apple| Software| Tech| Windows
- Leave a Comment
Being a design guy, if nothing is visual it interests me not in the least.
So Apple’s new under-hyped (for the above very reason) Snow Leopard upgrade brought me no surprises as with Windows 7 upgrade. But for the record my upgrade went on smoothly. Except one, other all of my 208 odd applications still work beautifully. My old Macbook gained about 9GB in space, no usability changes but both boot and shutdown is snappier too. No sprung springs!
But under the hood this upgrade is significant to know how well different tech companies handle their turf. I ain’t much of a fan over Apple’s perspectives, one of the reasons I do not own an iPhone being a Mac user. But knowing that how tedious these tech development process is, I pretty much admire them for how well they execute it. You can read more on how Apple differs from the rest reading this programmer’s articles.
In contrast, cooking for years as Longhorn Microsoft released Vista with much hype to be doomed by the early adopters. Most simply went back to XP. So MS had to do quite a bit of profile building with refining the Vista’s issues and renaming it as Windows 7. No sound of WINFS which MS had been touting since Longhorn days. As big as MS is, company and resources MS still incapable of doing much of technological advances with their stuff. As far as I know MS has done no later revision that it is still the same DOS/NT kernel it used to run Windows for years with all those malware, security holes, dlls conflicts and driver issues. I hate it when they release things half-cooked, half hearted.
Apple does it in the other way, Snow Leopard without a noise looks almost the same as Mac OS X Apple released a decade ago. But they made some significantly difficult bold technological moves with it finally setting the standards for the rest of the industry to follow.
FIRST MOVE
With Mac OS X Apple ported their old classic Mac OS re-writing PowerPC architecture to X86 Intel. This is a daunting task in software perspectives because all the Mac specific drivers, extensions and software had to re-develop with new APIs to transit this to the end user. Apple did it with a minimal effect to end user as Universal Binaries.
SECOND MOVE
A part of Mac OS X core ported to ARM stripping the UI and the bulk and bundled with really modern Touch APIs, WebKit and Frameworks to make it possible the game changing OS X device, the iPhone and the App Store. The rest is already making the history dent!
My fantasy Palm Inc. which should have done this with Treo, anyway they are too on track now with new Palm Pre and Web OS.
THIRD MOVE
Apple moved Mac OS X to 64bit with Snow Leopard with few other technological advances all that end users will benefit when the developers make use of these to show up in their end software products. But importantly for us for now, almost none of our existing software code brakes since Apple kept the 32bit binaries which allows you to run the 32bit code as usual. But secretly ditched the PowerPC support altogether which is has to happen anyway.
MS had 64bit version of Windows for years which used by none, the market wasn’t ready for it, even if with many different versions of Windows to support, it is a daunting task for even MS likes and everyone who develops for Windows to support it. Just bare witness the other side of this phenomenon by the whopping 75,000 and growing App Store for iPhone in a year!
To boost this, Macs now can address whooping amount of RAM. There is Grand Central Dispatch, some geek technique to make modern multi-core processors transparent to developers but yield the power nonetheless and so on. Advances Apple made today will yield results of tomorrow without taxing anyone. It will be the same cake walk for Mac OS desktop software developers now if Apple wants to push it in that iTunes App Store direction. They don’t even have to, just a few scant developers from who flock in to iPhone development would suffice for next Mac OS advancements.
So the bottom line is when Intel bundles sixty cores in a chip and software/ game developers need another ten zillion Giga flops to do their math, Apple is already ready with their code.
This makes Apple can focus their resources to plan ahead the next ground breaking technology or the device at their own pace leaving others to do the catch up. Jobs this winning formula seem to work pretty much every time. From iMac, iPod to iPhone and beyond.
My worry is this will make Apple the new MS. Either Google, MS failing to keep pace, Apple will spring ahead to heyday and beyond!
Best of Sri Lanka in Pictures!
Posted by: Chan on: 8, September, 2009
I found this wonderful set of Sri Lankan pictures in Flickr.
Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bestofsrilanka/pool/show/
“Closed Systems” – An Apple’s World?
Posted by: Chan on: 26, August, 2009
- In: Apple| Opinion| Tech
- Leave a Comment
There was a nice article in Wired.
May be too early to tell, nonetherless interesting to read. Here it goes
My this Windows 7 article also somewhat related to this.
I too fear this day would come in one way or the other.
Having a ROM Crafted Treo for four full years, seeing how “closed” the iPhone OS is and never wanting one. Tasting a Linux varient Web OS on Pre. The things are somewhat skepticle but not quite impossible knowing the Steve Jobs & Co.
Quite frankly they defined many things in computing world, from Personal Computer, USB, Mouse (?), Firewire, DispalyPort to Best UI and iPod, iPhone, iTunes ecosystem but this very company may drive us to this feared a bleak the Matrix like future.
Hence though I use it alongside Windows, quite franckly refrain from recomanding Macs in general, iPhones never.
Still they are too flashy not to get too much attention. Obviously if they roll on, MS will follow suit inevitably. Even MS no downgradable Vista (Now Windows 7) netbooks are also a kind like this.
So my Macs run Windows, I buy mostly Chinese PC stuff, Palm phones. May be Google Android Netbook can be considered if I ever want one.
A feat unmatched! Sri Lanka is the best case study.
Posted by: Chan on: 19, May, 2009
No congratulatory messages from world leaders – No applause for Sri Lanka’s military – No mention for the world’s biggest humanitarian rescue operation by the armed forces that rescued almost 250,000 Tamil civilians from LTTE clutches – No plaudits for the Only Nation to have crushed the world’s worst Terrorist movement…. Did we not say that barring a few friendly nations, world leaders remained hostile towards Sri Lanka preferring instead to play fiddle to the LTTE’s “liberation” “discrimination” “genocide” tune. Sri Lanka has proved the world and these world leaders wrong and as the nation continues to celebrate.
The above is nice reading from Shenali Waduge
A good analysis of SL approach and where western have failed form Prof. Rohan Gunaratna.
The west, They don’t acknowledge we were in the same boat, But Sri lanka effectively has succeeded where the US and allies have failed miserably to eradicate terrorism. Nonetheless facts remain facts and soon those western secret services will start studying our case 
Bravo, Hail Sri Lanka!
Posted by: Chan on: 18, May, 2009
LTTE defeated; Sri Lanka is free from terror
Sri Lankan armed force have militarily defeated the LTTE and freed the nation from three decades of terror , Army Chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka announced short while ago.
Meanwhile defence sources on the battlefront said that all top LTTE leaders have been killed . The soldiers are in the process identifying the bodies of LTTE cadres.
Seeing the amount of arms and resources smuggled by these sick terrorists if let this maniacs to continue for another year Sri Lanka would have been terrorists state! So bravo our heroes. Today we write a new history free from Cyanide Killers.
You dreamy asylum seekers, your money is utter waste in vein, at least now can you see and support SL government to build a better Sri Lankan Nation.
The HE President should announce today 18 MAY 2009 is our new National Day!
The victory, war and obsession, we shouldn’t miss the point again…
Posted by: Chan on: 26, January, 2009
This is one of Sri Lanka’s history’s best turn-around.
Decision are made, battles are fought and now the sweet victory sweeping all across the country. There is no doubt we should celibate this.
I refrain from commenting on war, because it’s been mostly showcase as a politicized standpoint, but this time the “War On Terror” is bound with an exceptionally extra-ordinary courage and country’s outshining heroism at peak. So I forget the political mambo-jumbo of liberating Sri Lanka from LTTE terrorists.
It’s a sheer mammoth achievement of our own war heroes, a near impossible victory over just a 3 years ago standpoint of a 30 year long insurgency.
This brings up the new hope for many things lie stagnant across Sri Lanka’s future. One history is written, the other has to be begin with, right now!
As I write this, the last bastion of LTTE stronghold, Mullativu has fallen. The western media often referred as the most ruthless terrorist outfit, who invented the suicide bombing tactics, LTTE terrorists have now been literally defeated by SL Army.
This brings Sri Lanka back in to the times of pre 1983 where Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim we all lived in a one country in harmony.
For some of our unwise political leadership, many people paid price out of their lives, hands, limbs and eyes while some got their “pockets” swelled by NGOs’ and Peace Broker money who flourished where insurgency rules, they asks our government to hold “peace talks” while helping LTTE to stiffen their loose-ends. But we are yet to see a single development carried out by these NGOs in the war-torn region in the sake of innocent people, after a whopping 25 years! Where are all those millions of Tsunami aid funds gone to Killinochchi? Evidence show all their money and aid have gone into building LTTE bankers and feed their blood thirsty mouths. Not a single road, bridge or housing scheme was build by any of these 40 odd, so called NGOs worked there so long.
Money laundering, lack of political will and the guts to take on the terrorists crippled the Sri Lankan economy and livelihood for more than 25 years, making LTTE is one the most hyped cardboard terrorists outfits, now defeated by heroic Sri Lankan Army.
So regardless the politics, the credits should go where it’s due rightfully. And I take this moment to hail the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, his brother Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and the Commander-In-Chief Sarath Fonseka and the heroes who fought in the battle-flied, in and out.
Politically and strategically taking a strong stand which was the turning point of this “War On Terror”, which was never been the case until Mahinda came along.
As my distant memory hold truth to me,
- President JR signed the Indo – Sri Lanka Agreement and avoided this terrorists issue altogether while he could have sweeped across the entire issue.
- President Premadasa had vision for the country but anyway killed by the LTTE ultimately
- President Chandrika was also almost died by a LTTE bomb, She’s never seen as a visionary leader either.
- Mr Ranil officially gave away some parts of Sri Lanka to terrorists and was never seen as a patriotic man to the common man.
- Then western-backed LTTE propaganda made it almost certain untruth been told and stays just as the sole truth. Sri Lanka never counter attack the false propaganda until Keheliya Ramukwella started as the defense spokseman and tells the Sri Lankan Official Stand of the story.
So it was seen, a strong political will was the lacking part to defeat the terrorism. 9/11 helped Sri Lanka to open the western eyes to the sheer issue of the problem. The Bush popularised “War On Terror” was an inevitable answer to LTTE. And luckily just in time we’ve got a strong political leadership so this “War On Terror” can be won in the other side of the world, for the first time in world’s recent history!
Hence I say, the victory, the obsession, all fine. And we all should celibate it!
Anyway we shouldn’t loose the point again that what made possible this insurgency to erupt at the first place that erode Sri Lankan Sovereignty. We have to prevent what happened from happening again. I hope the current leaders have the will and the blessings to make that possible and concentrate on country’s development now the war is won.
So development…development…development…development…
We were more than a sound economy when the British left us in 1948, more than where the rest of the Asia was. Now Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India all gone bypassing us.
Mahinda Rajapakse has just wrote one history already. Now we need another Mahinda to make this transition a full-circle.
Ranil hardly seem to fit the bill, he says he wants to make Sri Lanaka a Singapore, then suddenly change the topic to the King Parakrama Bahu the Great. I guess we need a mix of both worlds. So I fear the war is won, Sri Lanka may loose again in the economic slum for our famous political “neigh” sayers.
So who will fit the bill to be Lee Kuan Yew, the next?
Your comments are welcome… Read more Sri Lankan news here
At last my Treo got a decent upgrade!
Posted by: Chan on: 13, January, 2009
- In: Palm| Tech
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It is just too impossible to ignore, finally my age old Treo gets a decent upgrade.
Previews sound good. New Web OS and the UI looks cool so it has some hope. More deets can be found here: Palm Pre
The Lucky Seven for MS, Windows 7 Is Impressive!
Posted by: Chan on: 13, January, 2009
- In: Apple| Tech| Windows
- 3 Comments
I just start test driving Windows 7 still in beta and it reminds me some old fun times…
Nowadays netbooks, mobiles, phones, tablets, kiosks and the clouds. All these systems are there but no matter what still the desktop is the center of the technology realm. On which it still creates, views, syncs, backs up and upload almost all IT content.
And when it comes to Operating Systems it is a wilderness. There are a ten zillion OS variants, some even now delivered online as clouds. So most of us have lost track or the interest on these to treat it just as the TV in the living room…
Many, including me, hoping soon some Web Driven OS that runs everywhere becoming a standard of the new world order. Google with Chrome, Apple with iPhone WebKit and now Palm with Plam Pre all geared towards this cloud computing trend. But the day is far from dawning yet.
As the technology stands today, obviously it may take a another good 3-4 years for web applications and big pipes to match the desktop class productivity applications on the browser. Games and graphics media applications may even take another decade to come even close to match the desktop performance. So still the desktop is the real king of this new info universe. So I see no reason giving up my lovely Macs for anytime soon.
I mainly use Mac OS X, but Microsoft Windows always had a sweet spot being the industry’s unrivaled standard for Desktop Operating Systems. Lately having released pre beta stated Vista as a commercial release without ironing out the bugs, Microsoft had a series of blunders on their part though. Windows Vista adoption was almost handicapped. No one seems to like or interested enough to upgrade it for some obvious reasons. So Microsoft Windows image was largely over shadowed for last two three years. Some like me even switched back to rival Mac OS X with Apple’s Intel Marriage and never sees a come back. Further now it even runs Windows on these beautiful Apple hardware with VMWare or Bootcamp.
Anyway I have long forgotten the wow factor which naturally happens when I see some remarkable great OS or software piece. In the past there were a few occasions this happened for me as I can recall them as follows:
1. I hadn’t had a clue when I first saw the Graphical User Interface driven OS with a mouse, the legacy Mac OS. Prior to that I had merely used MS DOS in school.
The Legacy Mac OS
2. Then when I saw Lode Runner running on Mac OS Classic in full color (actually 256 
and the Aldus Page Maker Desktop Publishing Revolution had taken place when I got in to the advertising industry after school.
My first full time OS experience Mac OS Classic
I became who I am due to Aldus PageMaker and then Freehand
Lode Runner on Mac OS Classic
The first and the only (OK, Prince of Persia too) game I ever got addicted)
3. Then the impossible happened. Having seen Winamp running on Windows 95 or 98 (I can not recall which I was on Mac OS back then) but by the sheer wow factor of mp3 music revolution and the Netscape browser may have soon pushed me to switch to Windows. My career change from advertising to software too was partly responsible for this.
Winamp MP3 Music Revolution which actually fueled and kick started my computer craze, ripping parts, assembling various cards, what a glorious time it had been… No other generation can re-live that. Soon almost all PCs will come as pre-fabricated notebooks manual assembling is a thing of the past.
4. Finally with Windows 2000 I have stopped being wowed and it brought peace to all the crashing applications which I could not live without.
Microsoft’s first top class product which deserves all it’s credit
Lately never got impressed by any other OS or application until I got my Treo 650. Mac OS X, Windows XP or any single version of Linux variants, most I personally did install to check but remained mostly loyal to Windows XP and Mac OS X which became what I use in everyday life. All seemed superb, stable and did what they supposed to do, host my beloved plethora of applications without the famous “Blue Screen of Death“.
Windows Vista became a real water-hog I never even looked at it since it was my worst ever OS experience when I first installed it to check.
Now, here again suddenly MS has once again stirred my wow factor (al least for not releasing a crap-ware) and seem to have a strong come back. It says 7 is a lucky number. So it does seem to be true this time for Microsoft with Windows 7.
I just ran my old hobby one last time as I was installing it. The future of famous Windows Desktop, daubed as MS Windows 7 now on far or even rival with Mac OS X. It is the much needed UI upgrade Windows 2000 deserved. Looks just like Vista but MS have surely ironed out most of what Vista was, as stable as the commercial release of Windows 2000.
Almost after a decade Apple first released Mac OS X, Microsoft is now catching on. Strangely both rival Operating Systems look almost the same or copy-cat wiseversa. But still they cater two different worlds.
Years old Mac OS X Finder, the only complain I have against Mac OS
Now the Tree View is gone Windows 7 Explorer almost look the same
Have a comprehensive look at what MS have copied from Mac OS here.
Anyway I am glad, the future of the famous desktop now showing live and it sure rocks!
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Devils den has fallen. Kilinochchi Voctory!
Posted by: Chan on: 2, January, 2009
Hail Sri Lanka!
There is no need to explain what the terrorists are after 9/11. Prior to that Sri Lanka had a daunting task telling the western world that LTTE disrupts the Sri Lankan sovereignty and kills civilians.
Now the tables are turned the world is on All put War against there criminals. SL Army is too taking on what it lost over to LTTE due to those so called Norway Peace Brokers who’s sole aim was making SL divided country. Now with Killinochi has fallen from devils arms, it’s a more than a handful for victorious Sri lankan Army and the peace loving people.
Here I salute our brave Sri lankan heros!
You can follow Sri Lankan War On Terror pregress on the following links:
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