Power down

Hello everyone. Sorry for not posting for a few days. Unfortunately my computer at home isn't working. I suspect that it's the power supply at the back and that it might need to be changed. A person's going to come and look at it today in about an hour. Should be up and running by tomorrow or day after. The worst part is that I'm on after-exam holidays and that I'm really bored without my computer. Just reading some books, watching the TV and just sitting around. I was just sitting down to a game of Age Of Empires 2 after almost a year and after about 20 or so minutes the computer shuts off without a fuss and I'm left staring at a black screen. Still staring.

In better news my readership is growing, at least when compared to when I first started. I must be doing somehting right this time. Maybe I'm posting a bit more varied or that I've signed up to a number of things like the Blogs for Firefox blogroll and link2blogs. Also I've got loads of referrals from other blogs. Just see the referrer list on the left. Anyway, I'm just happy. For those of you who are returning visitors I've changed my profile somewhat to reflect the "changing me". Hope it gets a better picture of me across.

I'm on a public computer right now. I'll be back once my computer's back up again. See you all then. Bye.

Storage space

Iomega recently launched a USB powered external 40GB hard drive which apparently weighs only 99gms. This little piece of information got me thinking. External hard drives in various sizes and capacities have been around for quite a while now. Though normal computer users like me find little use for them, I'm sure that there are people to whom these hard drives are indispensible.

But for ordinary, not-so-tech-savvy computer users, the preferred means of externally storing and backing up data is of course re-writable CDs and more recently DVDs. Once upon a time when CD writers cost a king's ransom Iomega ruled the external storage world would there mighty ZIP drives (remember those heavy squarish ZIP drives?). Unfortunately Iomegas ZIP drives were almost killed off by the appearance of much cheaper, smaller and lighter rewritable CDs. And now with blank DVDs becoming common, the CDs days are probably numbered.

But what happens in the not so far future when the DVDs currently ample storage capacity of almost 5 GB becomes obselete. Well there appear to be two feasable alternatives. Thy're both types of DVDs the first one is called the Blu-Ray DVD. This uses a blue coloured laser to read data. This format will supposedly allow upto 50GB of data to be stored per disc. That's ten times the capacity of a standard DVD today. The Blu-Ray format is being supported a large number of comanies like Sony, Hitachi, Phillips and LG. Phillips has also come out with a Blu-Ray DVD drive which is expected to become public later this year. Then there is the HD-DVD which is being pushed by companies like Toshiba, NEC and a number of film production companies. But this has a smaller capacity, only 30GB.

So should we start throwing out our drives? No not yet. It'll still be some time before these formats become standard. And only one of them will win. To find out more visit the HD-DVD, Blu-RAy and Blu-Ray Association websites

Google is good

First Google gave us the world's best Internet search engine. Now it's given us the world's best e-mail, blogging tool and desktop search. So what else can it give us? Maybe a Web browser and then maybe even an OS. There have been rumours about both for a while. But here's the first one that I know of that gives us a vision of what Google OS might be like. Read on: A Google OS by 2010?

While you're at it, here's a collection of Gmail tips for those of you with an account. For those who don't keep watching this blog. Why? You'll find out soon. :)

Decoding the Da Vinci Code

Yes, The Da Vinci Code is old news, but I've only recently been able to get at it, thanks to you-know-what. The book is undoubtedly a very good book and has quickly become one of my favourites. The plot and storyline is wonderful and a lot has already been said about them. But what impresses me as much, if not more than the plot, is the sheer amount factual information Dan Brown presents in the book. The information relates mainly to religious and cultural symbology throughout history. While things like that may not be everyone's cup of tea, they are quite interesting. I'm sure my friends Kazarelth and Alarond would feast on them. What's also impressive is how expertly Mr. Brown weaves the large amounts of information seamlessly into the main story with the result that it is well-nigh impossuble to get bored. I do suggest you read this book. Even if you don't agree with the theme of the book, read it as an excellent piece of fiction literature.

The Da Vinci Code took me about 2 days, which included watching the movie Constantine with my friends followed by lunch at Pizza Hut. Constantine is a nice movie. A recent newspaper review called it "Exorcist meets The Matrix" and I agree. It's interesting if you're into the occult and stuff like that. It is a bit lacking on the action front and personally I thought that the end was somewhat anti-climatic. I suppose many of you know the storyline already so know point wasting time on that.

Right now I'm trying to get through a book called Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. It's a popular science book which deals mainly with higher dimension and how they've influenced our concepts of physics throughout the last few centuries. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a genuine interest in science, but it is quite simple and easy to understand. ONce that's done I'll be reading a Bertrand Russell book called The Impact of Science on Society. I hope to wrap all this up by the end of next week so that I still have another week to browse through my school books for next year.

That's that for my reading and recreation. Once school starts again I'll be struggling to find time for reading. Oh well, one crisis at a time.

24 hours

It's been 24 hours since Status Quo went online. I've made a few tweaks to the template and I've been added to the Blogs for Firefox Blogroll on the left. I've also claimed ownership of the blog over at Blogshares. Here is the link to the Status Quo page. You might add it to bookmarks if you're interested. Unfortunately The Truth Laid Bear ecosystem seems to be having problems, so my attempts at adding the blog have been frustrated. I'll have to try again tomorrow.

I've also got a better XML feed from feedburner. I'd be glad if you used that one instead of the Blogger defualt as it lets me track subscribers. I don't think any of my local blogger friends have visited yet, but I hope they do. After all I was the first guy in my class with a blog. :)

I Am Here...

...And I'm here to stay. Exams are over and I'm back with a brand new template and a heart and mind set on some quality blogging. Don't mind the name, it's the same old blog. Stay tuned for a more detailed report tomorrow.