Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Microsoft Surface

What the future brings never ceases to amaze me, and Microsoft, what many think of as a horrid, heartless corporation tied with a legacy of dominating, yet inferior Operating Systems and products have actually produced something very remarkable, Microsoft Surface.

In case you have no idea what Microsoft Surface is, click here. The revolution in computing that it presents to us is nothing short of astounding. I always had respect and, reverence even, for the innovators and revolutionaries, especially in the fields of technology and the mechanical. Nintendo just recently gained my utmost respect with its next-gen console, the Wii, and the revolutionary way in which you interact with the game on the wii, using physical movements and actions such as swings as opposed to the rather dull norm of merely pressing a few buttons.

But anyway, lets talk more about Microsoft Surface. It is very possible to see this technology take off, and when it does i would be willing to bet my house (if i had one) on it being an absolutely tremendous success. I feel at this point that describing its capabilities is best.
So here goes.

Basically Microsoft Surface is essentially keyboard-less, mouse-less and in fact devoid of any standard computer peripheral that you would be using as you read this. All it consists of - is a screen. Thats it. Simplicity plays a major part here. Interaction with the computer is done through your hands. Thats right, its touchscreen, but it doesn't end there. The use of tools normally applied to non-computing objects can be used with Microsoft Surface. Paintbrushes, normally reserved for the use on a canvas, can be used on Microsoft's revolutionary computing system. As can basically...well anything really. It doesn't stop there though, Microsoft predicts that in the near future, its use can extend from comparing mobile phones, where placing mobile phones onto the surface (hence its name) will bring up a comparison of the features of the mobile phone, to planning your day trip, to viewing and organising photos. Its pretty damn amazing really.

Three cheers for the future.
And till later.

N00bs on the Net

Ah yes, "n00b". Forgive my rather immature title, but it is the perfect word in reference to popular internet culture terminology to describe someone whose technological and computer-based knowledge is vastly inferior to my own. I consider myself to know a fair deal about quite a number of aspects of computers, such as hardware, software and a tiny bit about programming in C, which i consider in comparison to other people to be quite exhaustive. I'm in touch with the "scene" and you could classify me as a hardcore gamer, although i only play a bit of Fifa 2005 every now and again. It is therefore no suprise that the use of limewire and bittorent, Emule, Usenet, ftp and rapidshare as a means to "obtain" are second-nature to me.
Remarkably however, many people are hopeless when it comes to computers.

Take for instance the use of limewire and bittorent. To people remotely familiar with the internet, you would be expected to know what bittorent is. Perhaps not exactly how it works, but at the very least its purpose in your internet experience.
People i know haven't even heard of bittorent.

Which is quite suprising, especially considering that these people have come to grasps with the revolutionaries of the "Web 2.0" uprising, such as youtube, myspace, google and WoW. Of course, they barely know how it works, and this puts not only myself, but a whole host of people at a significant advantage.
They are very, very gullible. And vulnerable.

People i know try to argue their point that the knowledge which i posses is useless, others try to put me down saying that they either know more than me, or that i do not know as much as i actually do about computers and the IT field in general. "You're not good with computers" sticks in my memory, a comment from someone overhearing us as i try to explain to someone, with similar grasps of the technological world as myself, about new technology beyond the horizon. Sometimes they feel intimidated, often becoming extremely skeptical and suspicious whenever i ask information referring to their computers, internet or what they use in terms of technology, with the instant reply, "What? Why do you want to know?". It always humors me in some ways, but annoys me in others. However, i know that they are always at a significant risk, i always will have the upper hand over them.

How? Exploits. Although arguably well known to many people when made public,out of a year group of 70-90 per year, i believe that only 2-3 out of that 70-90 will have actually encountered that term and even fewer would understand the full extent of it. To many, their response will be, "whats an exploit?".
Ha. Noobs.

What people do not understand is that exploits for myspace exists. Exploits for msn and other tools which they use to communicate exists, and are so available i am certain that they could obtain the knowledge and tools to which to utilise these instruments. And yet they are oblivious to it all.

Pitiful in some ways, but humorous in others.


Friday, May 25, 2007

Alea Iacta Est

As always, the first impression is always the lasting one. Welcome to my blog, my little piece of the web where i can post articles, opinions and interesting events, and share them with all you good folks.

Although i haven't kept up-to-date in security and how the scene's going in a long time, i suppose i'll update my knowledge in the coming weeks and post a couple of articles on it. Its quite interesting, and often i find this knowledge quite useful. Since you've stumbled into my little space, i suppose a peek into the treasure trove is the least i could do.

Well, till later.
Ave atque vale