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Windows 8 Minimum Specs Are Good News

Windows 8 Minimum Specs Are Good News

January 17, 2012   Jason Ward
Win8Slate

Windows 8 has surprisingly reasonable minimum specs.

Whenever a new operating system is released–and especially if said OS is released by Microsoft–there’s much ballyhooing to be done about its specs and requirements. Particularly after the debacle of Windows Vista, which was sluggish on even the very newest hardware at the time of its release, Microsoft has been under a lot of pressure to “de-bloat” Windows. With Windows 7, they proved they could do that by shipping an OS that was smaller and tremendously faster than its predecessor. With Windows 8, we’re seeing that evolution continue as Windows slims down and speeds up yet again.

Of course, this time it’s very different: Windows 8 is a complete reinvention of the desktop operating system, with a front-and-center focus on the touch and, if rumors are correct, voice, experience. With all these new bells and whistles, the natural question is: what the hell kind of minimums will I need to run this?! Click through after the break for the full lowdown, sans bellyaching!

Source: Within Windows

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Windows Phone Gets Custom 8107 ROM

January 17, 2012   Jason Ward
WP7

Windows Phone 7 has been out for just over a year now. In that year it’s had some disappointments, but also some great successes. Among the successes it can count an abundance of positive user experience from people who’ve given the fledgling OS a chance, as they’ve discovered with some level of delight just how fantastic the fresh Metro user interface really is (more on that later).

But among it’s perceived failings is that, unlike earlier attempts at mobile, the new Windows Phone is not typically known as a “hacker’s paradise,” instead opting for a very locked-down experience that keeps the OS running ship-shape 99% of the time. That’s a good thing for most users, but it annoys the crap out of people who want to customize their phones to the Nth degree. The good news is that in recent months, that’s begun to change, and today there’s a new ROM for the much-beloved HTC HD7, this time featuring the latest build of Windows Phone 7.5 (AKA Mango). Head on over to XDA Developers to check it out!

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Dear Mr. Wheeler: About The Cape!

January 10, 2011   Jason Ward

It takes a new Nerdy TV show to pull me out of hiding it seems, and tonight’s premiere of Tom Wheeler’s new NBC show “The Cape” has managed to do just that. So without further ado, I present my review.

First, the impression: The Cape has all the makings of a great superhero show, but like a new package of Legos, those pieces have been poured onto the floor in a big, incomprehensible mess. Let me explain.

Let’s start with a discussion of what was wrong (I prefer to end on a positive note, so bear with me,) which can be summed up in a word: Pacing. The show’s pace was all wrong, racing along at breakneck speeds as it tried to get Vince Faraday into his outfit quickly–too quickly. In the space of about twenty minutes we went from a basic character introduction to a man in an outfit, with only snippits in the way of explanation. Sure, we get the gist–Vince is a good cop, most of the rest are scumbags, and then bam-his partner, who’s barely introduced at all, becomes his betrayer.

Faraday’s introduction to the carnival was interesting but raced by too quickly, his “training” barely existing at all. The characters who make up the circus and its various abilities had too little screen time, with virtually no motivation to actually help Vince, much less teach him the secrets of their trade. The security card was nice, sure, but in reality it would have been deactivated before the frame job even happened, useless for a bank robbery, much less several, but we can chalk that up to “suspension of disbelief” and move along.

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Freeware Review: iRinger-Free Ringtone Maker for iPhone!

July 08, 2010   Jason Ward

iRinger It’s no secret that the iPhone is a huge success even in its current, highly-breakable, poor-signal-if-you-hold-it-normally incarnation, and like any other popular phone, people want custom ringtones for the thing. It’s not that the built in ones are crappy–well, it’s not just that–but more that we want to have something personalized, something that says something about us. Or, at the worst, we want to blare our favorite MP3′s ad-infinitum when we receive a call. But whatever your reason might be, there’s a single truth worth being conscious of: Apple’s iTunes store will bend you over and repeatedly rape you in exchange for the privilege of using music you already bought and paid for as a ringtone. Frankly, their fees are ridiculous, and we think you should avoid them wherever possible.

Luckily, that’s very possible thanks to a free downloadable app called iRinger, which will allow you to convert almost any audio format you can throw at it to an iPhone appropriate ringtone that’ll work with any version of the device, included the much-maligned (yet celebrated) iPhone 4. There is no application to install–you simply download the executable and run it. In my tests I found the app speedy, easy to use and virus free, though as a precaution I do encourage you to always perform a virus scan on any executable file you download from absolutely anywhere before you run it. You can never be too safe, after all.

The process is pretty simple. Open the program, click “Import,” and your music will appear on the timeline. By dragging the “In” and “Out” sliders at the bottom right of the app window (it’s a small app window, you can’t miss them) you can select the portion of the song you want to use as your ringtone. When you’ve got the clip you want to use (up to 30 seconds in length, which is the maximum the iPhone supports,) simply click “Export,” browse to the file location where you want to save the ringtone, click the checkbox that says “also export to iTunes,” and click go. In about 10 seconds your new ringtone will both save to the folder you specified and add itself to iTunes, making it quick and easy both to sync to your phone and to email your ringtone to friends, family, and of course to Steve Jobs, along with a note that says “Neener-neener-neener, I still have my $1.50!” Or something like that.

Software: iRinger

Price: Free, though they do ask for a donation if you like it.

Rating: Highly recommended if you prefer an app on your PC vs a web based solution like Myxer.

Download: iRinger

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Beautiful Cacaphony: the Lost Series Finale

May 24, 2010   Jason Ward

Lost Logo    **SPOILERS BELOW, BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LOST SERIES FINALE BUT PLAN TO**

It’s a shame, really. I do love the cast and characters (except Kate–I hate Kate for being a stereotypically weakfemale lead, always making stupid decisions that seem to illustrate that “if she’d just listened to the man” things would have been better), who’ve managed to grow on me, each in their own, wonky ways, over the course of the six seasons leading up to the Lost Series Finale. The drag is that the resolution was disappointing enough that I really will never recommend anybody start from the beginning of the series and watch it. Great acting is always wonderful, but without a well executed overall story, what’s the point?

But enough about the cast and characters; everyone already knows those are wonderful. The problem with Lost was always in its plot, or more accurately, lack thereof. In the end it sort of works out, in some sense, because Cuse and Lindelof successfully managed to explore a number of interesting themes both in the main body of the series and in the finale, not the least of which are those about personal choice and sense of self in the formation of identity. 

Like life itself, Lost ends with no real revelations, no magical key to sudden knowledge or wisdom, and with countless plot threads utterly ignored. Lost can be summed up as a “beautiful cacaphony,” leaving you starved for a melody, yet mesmerized by its absence. As a series, Lost is chaos incarnate, with very little meaning in most of its machinations. It’s like Cracker Jacks: tasty by the handful, but ultimately you really do need to eat a real meal.

Is it worth the time investment? If you got into the series at the very beginning and already had a sizable time investment, say maybe, the first 3-4 seasons, I’d say yes. If you’ve never seen Lost and are wondering if you should start, I’d say no. Why? Simply put, you can get all the major philosophical themes of Lost via countless other stories or films and understand its meaning in a few short hours, whereas the series will leave you, most of the time, confused and spinning your wheels. I submit that life does that enough already.

In the interest of helping you, dear reader, avoid spoilers in the event you haven’t seen the finale but plan to, this is your last chance. Beyond the break you’ll find a list of top Likes and Dislikes about the finale, and I hope you’ll share your thoughts on this non-event Event in the history of television.

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FREE This Week: IObit Advanced System Care PRO

May 19, 2010   The Web N3rd

IoBit System Care Free Previously we’ve done a review of Iobit’s excellent freeware product “Advanced System Care Free,” and recommended it whole heartedly. For the next few days, though, they’re offering the PRO version for free, in celebration of the product’s five year anniversary. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the free version, but let’s face it: if you can get the Pro version for the same free price, don’t you sort of owe it to yourself? :-D

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