i shuai dot org

Wow, I am getting so much spam…
i.e.
Well anyway, wanted to tell you spammers and everyone else:
http://shuaiking.org/ is my new blog. So ha. And I have some good spam stuff even for trackbacks. hah.

Hello everyone!
I’m announcing that I’m now moving to a new podcast with a new blog.
It will serve the same purpose, except you’ll probably hear my voice more. So, please point your browser to:
http://www.teentec.net/

And look at the blog posts, and listen to the podcast please!

Thank you!
Also: I’m announcing that I’m probably not going to keep the domain name, www.ishuai.org (well probably for another year), well so I’ll renew it for another year, then I’ll deal with it after that.

This blog is now an archive.

This morning, 10:00 AM PST, in San Jose, California Steve Jobs revealed not one, but two great new Apple Products, the new iMac G5 and the new iPod. (Watch the Keynote) As well as the new iMac G5 and the new video iPod, Apple also released iTunes 6. Today, I have a review of all three:

The iMac G5
This iMac G5 design is quite similar to the previous iMac G5 except for a three cool changes. The new 17″ runs at $1299 and the 20″ runs at $1699.

1. Built in iSight Camera

Compatible with iChat AV

Able to take pictures of yourself with Photo Booth

Set these pictures as your iChat Picture or you Screen Picture

2. Front Row

An application which allows you to browse all or your pictures, videos, music or even a DVD from your couch.

iMac G5 now have a remote control used for Front Row included with all iMac G5 models

Watch music videos, TV shows or other movies you might have in your iTunes library

Jump back and forth from Frontrow to your desktop

3. It’s Thinner!

All of these new features and it’s even thinner than before

Now, the 20″ Model is even thinner than the previous 17″ Model

For more information and tech specs, go to http://www.apple.com/imac/

The New iPod

Apple hadn’t changed the wide iPods in a while also. Today, the change was revoulutionary. Now, iPods can play videos, music videos, video podcasts, photos, podcasts, music, audiobooks, etc. The other wide iPods are gone and these new iPods which can play video are here!

Come in 30GB and 60GB models

$299 and $399

Can play music videos and TV shows

Are even thinner than before

Come with a carrying case

Have a much biger screen than before

All the technical specs and more pictures can be found at http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html

So far apple has released one ad for the new iPod which can be found on Apple’s Website. Watch the iPod Ad

iTunes 6

You have read all about how these new iPods can play videos and TV shows but where are you going to get them? Along with announcing the new iPod and the new iMac G5, Apple also released iTunes 6. The free download can be found on Apple’s Website or by Software Update. iTunes 6 has the same interface as iTunes 5 and didn’t look different at all after I had downloaded it. Then I looked at the source bar and low and behold there is a section called “videos”.

iTunes 6 now sells music videos for $1.99

iTunes 6 now sells Pixar Animations for $1.99

iTunes 6 now sells TV Shows for $1.99

iTunes 6 now has a “Just for You” section of the Music Store - A place where iTunes gives you recommendations based on the songs you have previously bought

With iTunes 6 you can now give a song, album, video, TV show, animation or playlist to someone via email

For more information on iTunes 6 you can go to Apple’s Website

For more screenshots of iTunes click below:

Just for You

Music Videos

Gifting A Song (1)

Gifting A Song (2)

Citation: Jeff Bond

Uh oh…Triton is here
AIM Triton Beta is the new AIM. Fresh and clean, and not AIM/AOL, this thing kicks butt. This is awesome.

Well anwyay…I am honestly jealous of AOL because of this. I hoped they stick with the other old interface. All for the better.
Hear the full “podcast” here: http://www.ccstudios.tk-host.com/my.mp3

Sorry for the wierd host, I had to quickly upload it, and also sorry for the background noise, my microphone was kind of …broken.

Also, AIM Mail is targeting the Gmail thing by saying “We don’t target ads with what you write. That would be creepy.” Wow.

Hope you like it. And remember, support Trillian. www.trillian.cc

ReminderFox

Extensions. The Mozilla Foundation was really thinking with this.
Now these extensions turn into almost full programs that have a lot of functionality.

Case in point: ReminderFox.

ReminderFox is a Firefox extension that displays and manages lists of date-based reminders and ToDo’s. ReminderFox does not seek to be a full-fledged calendar system. In fact, the target audience is anybody that simply wants to remember important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc) without having to run a fat calendar application.

This Firefox extension is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Thank you Mozilla and Developers!

Thanks to Karan from GeekRamblings.com for this.

Yes the nano was cool. And yes iTunes 5 was awesome. But you know what ruined it for me? The Motorola ROKR. We all waited and hoped that the ROKR would bring something new to the world. And indeed it did. unfortunately, it was for the worse. And now, humble readers, I am here to tell you just why the ROKR sucks. So without further adieu, I bring you:

The top five reasons for why the ROKR sucks:

1) Ugly as a three legged rhinoceros: Let us start with the basics. The phone looks like a fake metal brick. It has shiny stuff all over it, and ribs that serve no apparent purpose. Not only that, but the iTunes button looks like it was just smooshed in there. Like it doesn’t belong.

2) You call THAT an interface?: Is Nokia the only company that can get this right? The interface is slow, with at least one second of a delay when you try to do anything at all. Whilst it tries to look like an Apple GUI, it isn’t. It just isn’t. And the whole resuming a song thing? Steve Jobs couldn’t even get it to work during his Keynote. Smooth, Apple. Real smooth.

3) I want more songs!: The phone may have the same amount of storage as the smallest iPod shuffle, but you can only fit 100 songs no matter what you do. Why? Reader, meet DRM. DRM, meet reader. Apple doesn’t want to undermine their sales, so no more songs for you! Unless of course, you want to splice two or more songs together, completely ruining your listening experience.

4) Stereo Sound? Psh: That’s right. That amazing stereo sound? It sounds like crap. That’s right. It sounds worse than mono. It doesn’t work because the speakers are too close together. So unless you want a mammoth sized phone, kiss your stereo sound goodbye. Not only that, but with headphones, the sound is reversed. Right plays through the left earbud, and vice-versa. You’ve got to be joking! Whilst you can just swap earbuds, I can’t figure out why this bug wouldn’t have been squashed beforehand.

5) Realtime copying: These songs, for all intents and purposes, copy in realtime. That’s because they travel over outdated USB 1.1. 1.1! You have got to be joking. It took one guy more than an hour to copy a hundred songs. No one has that amount of time to waste. No one.

So please, don’t get a ROKR.

Sprint and Nextel have a merger. I’ve just noticed this.
Nextel has provided elite-class wireless, such as all phones have GPS capability, Walkie-Talkie, and more.
Sprint had, well, we kinda forgot. This merger, in my opinion, will be in line with Verizon Wireless.
The merger will be under Sprint’s name.
Sprint and Nextel. Together, with a cooler logo. And better service.

PRINT NEXTEL ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY STOCK AND CASH
CONSIDERATION FOR NEXTEL COMMON STOCK

RESTON, Va. –Aug. 15, 2005–Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) today announced that, in connection with the completion of the merger transaction between Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications, Inc. on Aug. 12, 2005, based on preliminary calculations, holders of Nextel common stock will receive approximately 1.2675 shares of Sprint Nextel common stock and approximately $0.8463 in cash in exchange for each share of Nextel common stock. The per share cash amount is based on the estimated cash ratio of 0.0325, multiplied by $26.04, the average of the per share closing prices of shares of Sprint series 1 common stock during the 20 trading day period on the New York Stock Exchange ending on (and including) the closing date. The actual stock exchange ratio, cash ratio and per share cash merger consideration are expected to be announced on or before Aug. 17, 2005.

The actual stock exchange ratio, cash ratio and per share cash merger consideration will be computed in accordance with the adjustments set forth in the merger agreement and will be based on, among other things, the actual number of shares of Sprint and Nextel stock outstanding immediately before the effective time of the merger.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business and government customers. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks offering industry leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

View Merger Details on Sprint.com: http://www.sprint.com/yesyoucan/
By the way, look at the TV commercials…I especially like the “More Morning” one.
http://www.sprinttvads.com/SprintMicrosite.html

A small number of iPod Nano screens are cracking and scratching.
No kidding.

Complaints that iPod nanos scratch and crack with irksome ease has prompted Apple Computer to offer to replace defective screens on the music players, company officials confirmed Wednesday.

Sales have been strong, and complaints about scratching rife, since the nano model was unveiled by the Silicon Valley company three weeks ago at a theatrical press conference in San Francisco.

“My dog’s chew toys get less scratches than using my nano for three hours in my pocket,” Jarad Spatola wrote in one of many online discussion groups excoriating Apple for evidently using flimsy material in the product.

The display screen of Lee Ju-Sun’s nano shipped to him from Shenzhen, China, scratched after he put it in his pocket the first day he had it, he explained online.

Ironically, Apple president Steve Jobs introduced the nano by plucking it from the coin pocket of his jeans at the September 7 press conference.

“The nano is designed superbly; I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Lee wrote. “But, in regards to scratch resistance, it is very low in quality.”

Trouble with screens cracking or easily scratching has affected less than a tenth of a percent of the iPod nanos the company has shipped, Tom Neumayr of Apple said.m

“This is a real but minor issue involving a vendor quality problem in a small number of units,” Neuayr said. “It is not a design issue.”

Anyone with a nano with a defective screen should contact “Apple Care” and “we will replace it,” Neumayr said.

~TheAge.com.au

That’s right. It’s Google’s seventh birthday today since it opened it’s doors in 1998. And to celebrate, they’ve expanded their index, tripleing it in size!
Google ROCKS!

Fun Fact: Ever wondered why Google’s site isn’t all fancy? It’s because the two guys that started it didn’t know a scrap of HTML!

Old news, but…

London, September 12, 2005 – eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY; www.ebay.com) has agreed to acquire Luxembourg-based Skype Technologies SA, the global Internet communications company, for approximately $2.6 billion in up-front cash and eBay stock, plus potential performance-based consideration. The acquisition will strengthen eBay’s global marketplace and payments platform, while opening several new lines of business and creating significant new monetization opportunities for the company. The deal also represents a major opportunity for Skype to advance its leadership in Internet voice communications and offer people worldwide new ways to communicate in a global online era. Skype, eBay and PayPal will create an unparalleled ecommerce and communications engine for buyers and sellers around the world.

Question is, what is eBay going to do with Skype? Is eBay going to create a community where ebay users can communicate with other ebay users by voice?

No more Skype. Maybe. Just Google Talk and Gizmo Project.
I am thinking that the whole Skype is dead, for 2 billion.

For all of you guys that use Photoshop and store your photoshop stuff in a folder called “photoshop” in My Documents (this is for Windows), I have an icon file for you.

Sorry about the weird filename “adobelogo” but I was in a rush.

Right-Click the file and click Save Picture As or Save Image As and then go into your My Documents (or where the photoshop stuff is stored) and right click the folder. Then click Properties, Customize, Change Icon, and Browse to where you saved the ico file. Then click OK and select it. Then click OK and OK again. Refresh and it’s there!

Hope you like it,
Shuai