WAMP - No More Messing Around

Thanks to Schmeegs for this - a very simple, straight-forward was to get Apache/MySQL/PHP running on your Windows box.

EasyPHP. Worked straight away for me without having to do anything!

Any if you do need to customise it, a little interface makes that pretty simple, too.

The Big Upgrade: XP to Vista

My little box of goodies arrived from Microsoft yesterday so last night I upgraded my notebook to Vista. So far, so good, mostly.

There was bound to be a few issues, and here are the ones I faced:

1. It takes a long time. I started at about 9pm and gave up waiting at about 12:30. A clean install is supposedly faster (but that means reinstalling all your software) so I elected to go for the upgrade. Put aside half a day. (Or overnight!)


2. Avast Antivirus needs to be uninstalled. On their website they say it works with Vista, and it does, but you have to uninstall it and then reinstall it after Vista has loaded. You can use the same install file though if you still have it.


3. Missing printer driver. The drivers for my Fuji Xerox Document Centre C250 just vanished during the install. I reinstalled the XP drivers (as the Vista ones are still a few months away apparently) and I can do basic printing, but nothing fancy (like double-sided for example)


4. iPod/iTunes. Aaaaaargh! You have to a bit of tap dancing to get this to sort-of behave. And even then iTunes keeps freezing. And I can't play my purchased songs, even after downloading their so-called 'patch'. Don't get me started on that!

Other than those things it seems to be doing pretty well. My notebook is nearly 2 years old and it's coping resonably well - I even get the Windows Aero fancy bits!

One of the coolest things though is the gadget sidebar. It comes with a few basic things you can add, but there are already heaps more you can download.

That's about it after day 1 - we'll see how she behaves over time...

The "Client Site" in NetOffice

Getting ready to release our first version of NetOffice Light, and I was initially planning on removing the Client Site functionality altogether. This brought about a few protests - so I'm asking anyone who does use that function:

1. What parts do you use the most?


2. What parts do you use the least?


3. What's missing?

Specifically relating to the Client Site part of NetOffice. Thoughts anyone?

Legal MP3s from EMI?

I recently posted about a few issues I have with online music purchases, and it seems there may be a growing tide of sentiment that things must change. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, EMI is looking at the idea of releasing their entire catalogue in plain old MP3, instead of using the ridiculous copy protection systems in place now.

EMI have a different reason than mine - songs you buy from iTunes are only any good if you have an iPod, and songs you buy from any other online retailer you can't play on an iPod. Obviously, Apple have a bit of a stanglehold on the online music market at the moment.

The other thing is that copy protection does not stop piracy.

If I really wanted to copy something I have bought from iTunes, I can burn it to an audio CD, then re-rip it back to my computer as MP3. All this copy protection nonsense hasn't really stopped anything. It just inconveniences people trying to do the right thing.

Just as an aside, since my initial post on the subject I have bought 3 CDs, and nothing from iTunes Music Store...

One Media Outlet Thinking Outside the Tube

I've had a few experiences with the local newspaper in the past that emphasises how short-sighted some of the established media can be. From being defensive and difficult to get along with, to being outright nasty. (I might go into that another time...)

So it was refreshing to see this story on an Australian TV network using a little forward thinking.

Channel 10 has embraced YouTube, whom some might feel to be a potential rival, as a new opportunity to broadcast content.

From the article:

"Unlike most television organisations, we don't regard YouTube and Google as the enemy. We think that they will be great distribution partners," Mr Smith said. Ten last year offered clips of local comedy Thank God You're Here on YouTube.

"One of the reasons we put stuff on YouTube last year was that it was free, incremental traffic," Mr Smith said.

Ten treated the YouTube videos like a broadcast, including ads for the show's sponsors in the clips. "The fact that we put it out on YouTube means that there were tens of thousands of additional eyeballs watching those things for free."

The lessons here? Just because you don't understand something, that doesn't make it an enemy. And perhaps look for ways to leverage something new to your own advantage instead of dismissing it.

Outlook 2007: One step forward, 20 steps back

Well, just when we had warm and fuzzy feelings towards Microsoft for the improvements in Internet Explorer 7, they go and flush it all down the loo.

If you have to create HTML email, you'll be pleased to know that Outlook 2007 won't use IE as it's rendering engine any more. It uses... wait for it... Word! And we all know how good Word is at rendering and creating HTML! (Not!!!)

So instead of getting improved standards support in the next version of Outlook, we take about 20 steps backward instead.

Sheesh... what are they thinking?

Read more here.

Digital Music Downloads - Not Forever?

There have been a few stories lately talking up digital music downloads (iTunes not coping with demand, music charts being changed to reflect the nature of digital downloads) but I'm not so sure about it any more.

I have downloaded a couple of things from iTunes: Engima's Voyageur was virtually impossible to buy over the counter, and I also grabbed a couple of Neil Diamond's tracks as it was convenient just to get the few I was after and not have to buy a whole album.

Convenient? Yes. Fast? Yes. However:

1. I have paid for these tracks but I've only got them at 128 kbps. The quality will never be any better than that. Okay on cheap equipment, but I recently shouted myself some quality headphones and now I can tell the difference.


2. Recently I reformatted my hard drive. Sure, I backed everything up, but iTunes would not play these purchased songs until I "authorised" my computer.

Now there's a trap - the songs can only be played on "authorised" machines - and I can only authorise 5. Actually only 4 now, as I didn't de-authorise before reformatting last time.

Now, if I lose a hard drive unexpectedly, there goes another machine. And what if I want these tracks on a work computer and a home computer?

I dunno - I think that in a few years' time I won't be able to play these tracks anymore. Might have to burn them to an audio CD and re-rip them back into iTunes.

Second thoughts, just fire up amazon.com and buy the CD...