MaunTech Returns In A New Fashion
By mauntech | June 2, 2009
MaunTech is returning in a new way. Check us out on twitter.com/mauntech! Follow MaunTech there and if our follower total rises, MaunTech.com will rise in a new way. Stay tuned for our return!
Topics: Media, News, Technology, Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Open Source Briefs
By mauntech | June 18, 2008
Well, Mozilla has finally released version 3 of Firefox. Get it while its hot! Have you downloaded Firefox 3 yet? Click here to get it! I’ve downloaded it and like the smart location bar feature. Click the following link to take a tour of Firefox 3.
It’s time for Wine! After 15 years of development, Wine 1.0 is finally here. Now, you can run Windows apps in Linux or Mac. For more information, click the Linux Insider article link.
Now that Wine 1.0 is available, CrossOver has released version 7 of their product and now it supports Microsoft Office 2007. It costs $39.95 and is not free like Wine but makes it easier to install Windows programs on Linux and Mac. Click the following link to find out more info on CrossOver 7.
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Maun Tech Is Undergoing A Transition
By mauntech | June 9, 2008
Maun Tech will be undergoing a transition and may totally change to something new!
For those who read Maun Tech please stand by!
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A Netflix Player Arrives
By mauntech | May 20, 2008
A company called Roku has created a Netflix Player that allows you to stream movies and TV shows from Netflix on your TV. The cost of this new device is $100.00. Obviously, this price is a lot lower than the Apple TV. Should Apple be worried? Will Apple lower the price of their player to compete? The catch phrase now, is watch out, Apple, here comes Netflix.
Now, I have a Netflix account and I have taken advantage of the Watch Now feature for instant viewing, but Netflix selection of titles, would not encourage me to spend $100 on a Netflix player to watch the movies or TV shows streamed on my TV. I’d rather watch them on my computer. If Netflix increases their database of available movies and TV shows to be streamed, then who knows. Netflix currently claims to have 10,000 titles available.
Click the following link to read more from CNet on the Netflix Player. Click the following link to read an article on this Roku player from TechCrunch. Click the following link to read a review from Gadget Lab on the Roku Netflix player. What do you think of the new Netflix Player? Would you buy one? Are you a subscriber to Netflix? What do you think of this moving of streaming videos online? Please let me know.
Topics: Media, News, Tech Gadgets, Technology | No Comments »
Google Releases Google Health
By mauntech | May 20, 2008
Recently, Google has announced that they want to keep track of your health information all in one place. Their web site states that Google Health “puts you in charge of your health information. It’s safe, secure, and free.”
Okay, do you really want Google to keep track of your health information? I would say, no way. Why you may ask? To answer that, I need to refer to a recent violation of Google’s privacy. Basically, Google violated a users privacy by helping the Indian government capture him. Click the following link to see the Ars Technica article entitled, “Maybe a little evil: Google outs Indian man to authorities.” With that said, there is no way, I’d trust Google with my health information even though I have a GMail account with them, my health information is too valuable and if a government wants the info, obviously Google will hand it over.
Click the following link to read more about the Google Health Privacy Policy, but also remember the above article. Click the following links to read the Google Health F.A. Q.s. When Microsoft launched their Health service, HealthVault last October, people questioned could Microsoft be trusted with your health info and so, please make sure you question Google in the same manner, before you decide or not.
What do you think about all of this? Can you trust Google? What do you think about what Google did with releasing user info to the Indian government? Please let me know.
Topics: Google, Internet, News, Technology, Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Microsoft Online Saga Continues
By mauntech | May 19, 2008
Well, it looks like Microsoft is at it again. Rumors and more hint at Microsoft going after Yahoo’s search business and then will buy Facebook. I don’t know if this will work or is just insane. First of all, we need to see if there is any truth to the rumors. Here is a posting from ZDNet:
Microsoft: Doing Facebook, Yahoo search two-step to set up Google showdown? by ZDNet’s Larry Dignan — The rumor mill over Microsoft’s search for an online strategy is working overtime. The latest: Microsoft is working to buy Yahoo’s search business and then Facebook. These rumors, swirling about Techmeme from John Furrier with an assist from Kara Swisher, have been stoked by Microsoft’s revelation over the weekend that is talking to Yahoo about a […]
Here is a link from John Furrier’s web site on Microsoft to buy Yahoo search and then Facebook. Of course, there is the news from the end of last week on Carl Icahn wanting to kick out Yahoo’s current board and replace them with his own group. Click the following link for an article from EWeek on Icahn pledges proxy fight for Yahoo-Microsoft Merger.
This is turning out to be crazy as this Microsoft online saga continues. What is your opinion on all of this? Let me know.
Topics: Media, Microsoft, News, Technology, Web, Web 2.0, Yahoo | No Comments »
Own Microsoft Outlook And Want More?
By mauntech | May 16, 2008
Do you want more functionality with Microsoft Outlook like the businesses do with an Exchange server? Very soon, you will be able to. There is a new Google gadget called MailShadow for Google Apps and it is a service that offers real-time synchronization between Outlook emails, calendar, contacts with GMail. MailShadow is a product of Cemaphore. Here is some info from their web site:
MailShadowG, the newest offering from Cemaphore Systems, will revolutionize the way you think about email continuity and content management. Using a SaaS-based (Software as a Service) model, MailShadowG allows you to synchronize your Outlook client with web-based email service providers like Google’s GMail. This effectively turns Outlook into a universal front end client for different email systems, reducing infrastructure costs dramatically and making email backup portable and affordable. MailShadowG severs your dependency on the costliest elements of a traditional Exchange backup system.
MailShadowG synchronizes Outlook with Google’s GMail
Rather than providing your own infrastructure, backup hardware, and co-location facilities, you can leverage the legendary Google infrastructure to handle your Outlook data backup. MailShadowG offers bi-directional synchronization so that anyone who uses Outlook can synchronize your rich messaging data such as email, calendars and contacts with the external service provider and vice versa, eliminating the need for costly replication infrastructure.
With MailShadowG, you can synchronize Microsoft Outlook with a trusted Internet email provider like Google, by mapping the repository that exists in Exchange (for email, calendaring and contacts) to these backend systems.
Click on the following link to find more information on this service and to signup for to be a betatester. I might look into this as I like working with Microsoft Exchange and I’d like this kind of functionality on my home PC. What do you think? Would you use it? Do you use GMail?
Topics: Google, Software, Technology | No Comments »
Mozilla Makes Firefox 3 RC1 Available
By mauntech | May 16, 2008
Today, Mozilla has made Release Candidate 1 of Firefox 3 available for download. BetaNews is reporting that this is a genuine build and that some of the plugins are not working as of yet. If you are interested in testing out the new Firefox browser, hop on over and download a copy. Click the following link to download Firefox 3 RC1. I hope it has become a lot more stable as I tried an earlier beta on both a PC and a Mac and it was a horrible experience. What do you think? Care to try it out?
Topics: Internet, Linux, Mac OS X, Open Source, Windows | No Comments »
CBS Buys CNET
By mauntech | May 15, 2008
We’ve been acquired: CBS buys CNET by ZDNet’s Larry Dignan — Nothing like scanning the headlines and finding out your parent company has been acquired. CBS Corporation To Acquire CNET Networks, Inc. The details: “Under the terms of the agreement, CBS will make a cash tender offer for all issued and outstanding shares of CNET Networks for $11.50 per share, representing an equity value of approximately $1.8 billion. […]
What an interesting thing to see with the beginning of the ZDNet article which is owned by CNet and that is that your company has been bought out by another company and you didn’t know it was coming. Anyway, this will be interesting to see how CNet fares under the new ownership. I have gotten news, reviews and more from the CNet companies since 1994. What do you think? Will this new buyout help or hurt CNet.
Topics: Internet, News, Technology, Web 2.0 | No Comments »
Microsoft Launches Telescope Project
By mauntech | May 13, 2008
Yesterday Microsoft released a project called “Worldwide Telescope.” The launch is offically set for the end of the month. I downloaded the program and spent a few minutes with it and already, I’m very impressed. If you are interested in space then this is a great new free program. It has heavy requirements and it works the Windows PC. It works on an Intel Mac if you run bootcamp and install Windows.
It lets users explore the night sky with views taken from the Hubble telescope as well as other telescopes. There are even pictures of the surface of mars take from the Opportunity rover. There are even guided tours of some places and will allow users to create their own tours. Here is some information about what the Worldwide Telescope is from their web site:
The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe.
Choose from a growing number of guided tours of the sky by astronomers and educators from some of the most famous observatories and planetariums in the country. Feel free at any time to pause the tour, explore on your own (with multiple information sources for objects at your fingertips), and rejoin the tour where you left off. Join Harvard Astronomer Alyssa Goodman on a journey showing how dust in the Milky Way Galaxy condenses into stars and planets. Take a tour with University of Chicago Cosmologist Mike Gladders two billion years into the past to see a gravitational lens bending the light from galaxies allowing you to see billions more years into the past.
WorldWide Telescope is created with the Microsoft® high performance Visual Experience Engine™ and allows seamless panning and zooming around the night sky, planets, and image environments. View the sky from multiple wavelenghts: See the x-ray view of the sky and zoom into bright radiation clouds, and then crossfade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago. Switch to the Hydrogen Alpha view to see the distribution and illumination of massive primordial hydrogen cloud structures lit up by the high energy radiation coming from nearby stars in the Milky Way. These are just two of many different ways to reveal the hidden structures in the universe with the WorldWide Telescope. Seamlessly pan and zoom from aerial views of the Moon and selected planets, as well as see their precise positions in the sky from any location on Earth and any time in the past or future with the Microsoft Visual Experience Engine.
WWT is a single rich application portal that blends terabytes of images, information, and stories from multiple sources over the Internet into a seamless, immersive, rich media experience. Kids of all ages will feel empowered to explore and understand the universe with its simple and powerful user interface.
Here are the system requirements for the computer:
For PC:
PC with Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2 gigahertz (GHz) or faster, recommended
1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM; 2 GB RAM recommended
3D accelerated card with 128 megabytes (MB) RAM; discrete graphics card with dedicated 256-MB VRAM recommended for higher performance
1 GB of available hard disk space; 10 GB recommended for off-line features and higher performance browsing
XGA (1024 x 768) or higher resolution monitor
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing and scrolling device
Microsoft® XP SP2 (minimum), Windows® Vista® (recommended)
Microsoft® DirectX® version 9.0c or later and .NET Framework 2.0 or later
Required for some features; Internet connection at 56 Kbps or higher through either an Internet service provider (ISP) or a network. Internet access might require a separate fee to an ISP; local or long-distance telephone charges might also apply
If you are interested, check it out! I think this is awesome! Let me know what you think if you try it. Click the following link to download the Worldwide Telescope. Click the following link to see the Microsoft Press Release “Worldwide Telescope Brings Space Exploration to Earth.”
Features:
Exploring the Sky. Within WorldWide Telescope, you can explore deeply into the sky discovering stars, planets, constellations and rich panoramas. You navigate the same way for each — select a view, select the imagery and explore the images in the field of view.
Zoom and Pan. WorldWide Telescope supports zooming and panning on objects in the sky. As you move through the sky, thumbnails of celestial objects in that constellation display in the navigation pane below the field of view.
Orientation in the Sky. WorldWide Telescope provides two mechanisms to orient you in the sky. The first is the Sky Ball which represents the field of view with a flat yellow plane. The plane expands and contracts as you zoom into and out of the sky. The other mechanism is the Constellation Overview which represents the size of the field of view in relation to the constellation boundary. You also can orient yourself by selecting your city as the default sky view.
Collections. WorldWide Telescope includes a rich set of collections of the deep sky objects including constellations, the solar system, images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Spitzer Space Telescope, Sky Surveys, the Messier Catalog, named stars and more.
Guided tours. A number of expert-created guided tours of the sky, objects in space and collections of celestial objects are built into WorldWide Telescope. Users can create their own tours and share them with others. Slide-based tours are similar to a PowerPoint slideshow. Creating tours can be as simple as showing images of deep sky objects or places on the Earth that you have visited. Or it can be as immersive as combining images with art and music to illustrate and enhance your tour. You also can add common license art and music to complement your tour.
Research the Sky. Using the Finder Scope, it is easy to identify and research objects in the deep sky. The Finder Scope opens a wealth of data and image resources to use when researching the deep sky objects in Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data (SIMBAD), Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), Wikipedia, NASA and the Internet.
Join a community of users. Communities are great places to meet and share information with people who share your interests. Often communities are associated with product manufacturers, such as Meade Instruments Corp., Astronomy magazine, or Sky & Telescope magazine, or scientific communities, such as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics or NASA. Many communities let you join even if you don’t purchase their products or belong to their institution. Joining requirements vary depending on the community.
Topics: Internet, Microsoft, News, Tech Gadgets, Technology, Web 2.0, Windows | No Comments »
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