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whats the OS that computer is running?

deepfresh — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 13:47:00 GMT

The Use of Computers in Movies
• Word processors never display a cursor.
• You never have to use the space-bar when typing long sentences.
• All monitors display inch-high letters.
• The most relevant information is displayed in a separate windows right in the middle of the screen, but there's never an Ok button to other way to close it.
• High-tech computers, such as those used by NASA, the CIA, or some such governmental institution, will have easy to understand graphical interfaces. Those that don't, have incredibly powerful text-based command shells that can correctly understand and execute commands typed in plain English.
• Corollary: you can gain access to any information you want by simply typing "ACCESS ALL OF THE SECRET FILES" on any keyboard.
• Likewise, you can infect a computer with a destructive virus by simply typing "UPLOAD VIRUS" (see Fortress).
• All computers are connected. You can access the information on the villain's desktop computer, even if it's turned off.
• Powerful computers beep whenever you press a key or whenever the screen changes. Some computers also slow down the output on the screen so that it doesn't go faster than you can read.
• The really advanced ones also emulate the sound of a dot-matrix printer. (See The Hunt For Red October or Alien)
• All computer panels have thousands of volts and flash pots just underneath the surface. Malfunctions are indicated by a bright flash, a puff of smoke, a shower of sparks, and an explosion that forces you backwards.
• Corollary: sending data to a modem/tape drive/printer faster than expected causes it to explode.
• People typing away on a computer will turn it off without saving the data. (See the opening credits for The Hunt For Red October)
• A hacker can get into the most sensitive computer in the world before intermission and guess the secret password in two tries.
• Any PERMISSION DENIED error has an OVERRIDE function (see Demolition Man and countless others).
• Complex calculations and loading of huge amounts of data will be accomplished in under three seconds. Movie modems (especially the wireless ones they must be using when they're in the car) usually appear to transmit data at the speed of two gigabytes per second.
• When the power plant/missile-site/whatever overheats, all the control panels will explode, as will the entire building.
• If a disk has got encrypted files, you are automatically asked for a password when you try to access them.
• No matter what kind of computer disk it is, it'll be readable by any system you put it into. All application software is usable by all computer platforms.
• The more high-tech the equipment, the more buttons it has (Aliens). However, everyone must have been highly trained, because none of the buttons are labelled.
• Most computers, no matter how small, are able to produce reality-defying three-dimensional, active animation, photo-realistic graphics, with little or no detailed input from the user.
• Laptops, for some strange reason, always seem to have amazing real-time video phone capabilities and the performance of a CRAY Supercomputer.
• Whenever a character looks at a VDU, the image is so bright that it projects itself onto his/her face (see Alien, 2001, Jurassic Park).
• Either a Jacob's Ladder or a Van Der Graaf Generator is absolutely necessary for the operation of new, experimental computers (especially when built by brilliant scientists), although in real life, these devices do absolutely nothing.
• One can issue any complex set of commands in a few keystokes (see Star Trek).
• The internet connects to everything in the movies. You can edit credit records, search hotel registries, lookup police criminal files, search (and edit) drivers license databases, edit social security files and more just using the internet! (see The Net)
• Smashing the VDU prevents the whole system from working (see Speed).
• You can launch nuclear missles from any bedroom using an analog modem, but only if you know a single secret password (see War Games).

lucky, lucky, lucky

deepfresh — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:56:00 GMT

I feel lucky to have 2 treats in one day. Firstly getting hold of Windows Vista Build 5231 and installing it on my 2nd laptop. First impressions - very refreshing and different. Although it didnt have the aero graphical enhancements running it was still a good first experience. I did a bit of surfing with IE7, I might add this is a very slick looking browser. The tab functionality is really good. I went to My Pictures folders and there are some good options around how you want to view your pictures in the folder, you can resize thumbnails to any size you want. That was my first real play around, but there is alot I need to get into. Im sure there is still a long way to go till RTM (ready to market). The possibilities are endless for future developers for Vista!

The second treat was being put on the new Hotmail "Mail" beta program. And again very impressed. My initial thoughts were "this looks really similar to my corporate Outlook Web Access" but it feels more consumerised (is that even a word?). Nice interface really rich. The mail search functionality is pretty awesome as well. I also hear there is a MSN Messenger 8 Beta out there...

blu ray, HD DVD...geez no need to fight you wont be around for long

deepfresh — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 04:40:00 GMT

I totally agree with bill g on this one, the future is all about digital delivery. There will be no need for proprietary media. We will see games and videos delivered to consoles via high speed internet. Think about portable music, what happened? the cassette tape, then CD, then minidisc(R.I.P), then the solution was your ipod's and flash based players. Bring on the day I can download my favourite game and HD movie whenever I want. Legally of course :p

Managing the Manager

deepfresh — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 00:48:00 GMT

Found some great different types of nightmare managers, I on the other hand am pretty lucky to have some cool managers. I would never want to be The Teller of Bad Jokes!

The Control Freak micromanages every move you make.
How to Deal: Bombard this person with emails, reports and meetings. This might overwhelm him and throw off his controlling behavior.

The Buddy tries to solicit personal information and seeks inclusion as though you are best of friends.
How to Deal: Include this person but keep your distance. Invent a fictional hobby, extend invitations you know she can't accept, and avoid hugs.

The Workaholic has sacrificed his life for his job and expects the same from you.
How to Deal: Let this person know there is life outside of work. Discuss family, friends and hobbies at every opportunity.

The Teller of Bad Jokes always has one for you and it's always bad.
How to Deal: Be prepared for the painful punchline and feign amusement. Then change the subject.

The Supreme Delegator takes all of the credit and none of the blame and essentially is setting up others to take the fall.
How to Deal: In writing, advise on all key decisions and plans, but be prepared for a denial of knowledge if anything goes wrong.

The Yes/No Manager could care less about useful information or discussions and simply wants every decision boiled down to "yes" or "no."
How to Deal: Present summaries with several alternatives for action. If asked for a recommendation, give it orally.

The Passive-Aggressive Boss procrastinates, complains about not enough time, and then blames others for the bad job.
How to Deal: Involve others in projects as much as necessary so that you have witnesses.

The Indecision Maker needs info from many different sources before making any sort of "independent" decision.
How to Deal: Present any question as if you've taken an informational survey of any key employees who might have a stake in the problem.

The All-Business-is-Personal Manager can't separate business and personal life.
How to Deal: Make your work time enjoyable, one bad incident could ruin your work relationship.

classic action films

deepfresh — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 20:30:00 GMT

So on the flight to Brisbane this morning, I was watching Die Hard 2 on my PSP. That movie is your classic action 90's americana film, great one liners, great gunfights, great explosions and great Bruce Willis.

Yippie-kay-yay.

What the heck is Web 2.0?

deepfresh — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 16:49:00 GMT

The best thing about Web 2.0 is that… nobody knows what the hell it really means. Even the ones who coined the term are still struggling to find a compact definition. And this is the true beauty and power of Web 2.0—it makes people think.

Read about it here

Xbox 360 San!

deepfresh — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 13:40:00 GMT

Check out the Xbox 360 store which will be up and running in Tokyo in November.

Skippy

deepfresh — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 19:00:00 GMT

An Australian man who works for a company that makes road signs warning motorists of kangaroos has been involved in a motorbike accident - with a kangaroo.

"I was riding my motorbike with my mate when the kangaroo jumped straight into it," Australia's Herald Sun newspaper on Friday quoted John Fleming as saying.

"Of course I've got a bit of flak from my mates calling me Skippy, and the guys from work sent me a get well card that's a warning sign for a kangaroo."

Skippy was the kangaroo star of an Australian television series.

Australia's population of kangaroos is conservatively estimated at more than 57 million and pose the biggest animal risk to motorists, accounting for more than 70 percent of animal related accidents in 2004.

Whitewash

deepfresh — Mon, 10 Oct 2005 04:40:00 GMT

Australia has just won the third game against the World XI, they won the series 3-0. Rather dissapointing from the World XI, the big names didnt fire. Some highlights were Kumar Sangakarra looking in top form with his batting, good to see because Sri Lanka will be touring Australia during the summer. Australia is grooming Shane Watson to be the next big Allrounder. Could he be the Freddy Flintoff for oz?

The Test super series starts next week. It was good to see the new use of technology being used for uses other than run outs. LBW appeals could be referred to the third umpire. It will be interesting to see whether it will be used in future matches. Good to see the ozzies back in good form, they got quite a bit of slack after the ashes.

Master Chief in NZ

deepfresh — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 14:13:00 GMT

The new Halo movie will be filmed in Wellington, NZ at Weta Digital and will be directed by Peter Jackson himself. Nice.

Summer is coming

deepfresh — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:05:00 GMT

I can tell Summer is coming, spent yesterday in the water and putting the AC on in my place. Went to parklife 05 on Sunday which was off the hook.

For all those marketing buffs out there check out this site- Creating Passionate Users

On the Gold Coast Tech Ed'ding

deepfresh — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 03:19:00 GMT

Tech Ed Student Day 2005 went off with a blast. With over 500 students in attendance it absolutely rocked. Gold Coast is the place to be!

Addicted to RSS

deepfresh — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 16:13:00 GMT

Ok you know your a geek when your actually thinking about making some marketing collateral with the RSS logo on it. :p

Found an awesome RSS reader called Pluck

Have you dugg yet? this is awesome, users decide which stories are shown on the homepage.

BTW, the next version of Windows will be called Vista

Its great to be a winner

deepfresh — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:22:00 GMT

Russell Crowe isn’t the only Australian making headlines, its all about the Imagine Cup finals downunder!

The two final teams were from RMIT, Melbourne and QUT, Brisbane. The winning team was Team Doug from QUT. Doug is a PhD student at QUT and his application was truly innovative! Doug’s project, ‘Colle’, makes it easy to create and share flash cards, provides automated and intelligent training and allows for collaboration in distributed and close-proximity environments for learning a foreign language. The application takes advantage of mobile technologies such as Tablet PC and Smartphone as well as some of the newer development technologies such as Avalon. Doug is pretty excited about the opportunity to travel to Japan for the global finals. He will have the chance to go up against the best for a top place prize of USD$25,000!

On another note Team Sam from RMIT has won the global Windows Student Embedded Challenge which was held up in Microsoft HQ in Seattle recently. They competed against ten other finalists to take away US$8,000 for their computer-based system, ‘EverGreen,’ an intelligent watering system that determines how much rain has fallen in an area and adjusts watering needs accordingly. Full Press Release here.

Australian Imagine Cup 2005 Winner Douglas Stockwell with Deeps

Runner up team Team Opticus with Deeps

Beautiful view from Star City

Love the quote

deepfresh — Mon, 30 May 2005 04:10:00 GMT

"My response is, 'Let me know when your rent and college tuition are free, when gas and groceries are free, and when your girlfriend decides that you having no money is a great idea. When all that is true I'll get on the bandwagon, too.' Some people don't understand that it costs salaries to develop stuff and support stuff."

http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2005/05/25/cz_dl_0525linux.html