Bad Web Pages

Honestly, the first web page that I can think of, off the top of my head, that is a badly made website is brookline.k12.ma.us.
What were they thinking? Information feels scattered around, the top pictures provide no clue of what they represent (until you scroll over them), and the stupid size of the page. It takes a good 10 seconds on decent connections. The other gripe is how image transitions seem...very choppy due to low framerate. At least smooth it out. The biggest mistake would be to use flash, which can run absurdly slow under bad conditions. Frankly, it's still not nearly as bad as Xerox (which takes 40 seconds for it to be ready to use under many connections), and is cluttered beyond cluttered with its pointless popups that you can't close until it's done popping up!

Networking in a Business

Just watch the powerpoint. Ok?

Today, we are visiting two obscure websites for two different hobbies, both found in the latter pages of Google Search, between pages 11-20.

The two websites we are examining are BananaHobby, an RC Aircrafts shopping site, and Spectrum Audio, an audiophile audio shop. The respective products are an F-22A Raptor RC aircraft and the Harman AKG Acoustics Quincy Jones Q701 headphone.

The two respective products are worth a great deal, so security is a must here. Both sites indeed use cookies to identify return shoppers. The checkout processes are also signed and verified respectively, by Yahoo! Inc/EquiFax and SecureTrust Corporation.

The two also offer PayPal, which is essentially a form of person to person payment.

Generally speaking, the two sites are relatively trustworthy despite being on the latter pages of Google Search, as both are verified secure in the checkout process and use the https:// protocol to transfer data.

When shopping online, one should always look for verification and signing from a trusted security source, multiple user reviews, and outside-of-site feedback. For example, if one is shopping for headphones, it is a very good idea to go to head-fi.org and ask for help regarding a purchase and a site there in the respective forum section. This can apply to many other hobbies as well; just don't let them talk you into anything too crazy. The AKG Q701 I have listed is rather difficult to drive properly to the point where listening is enjoyable.

If still curious, here are the websites urls/product pages.

http://www.spectrumaudio.com/akg-q701.html
http://www.bananahobby.com/2131.html

Oh and for anyone who wishes to dispute that Beats are better...A studio monitor is supposed to have as flat a frequency response as possible. Beats are precisely the opposite with overpowering bass and piercing treble, while Q701's fit the bill quite well with balanced and non-piercing treble, controlled bass, and balanced mids. Just a bit of knowledge I've picked up over time.

That is all for today. Goodbye.

Off shelf- vs custom built computer

Off shelf advantages
Relatively cheap
All in one package
No assembly required
Warranty intact
"Boot and it works"
Disadvantages
Integrated Sound
Integrated video
Integrated parts, if they break, computer is screwed
Non-replaceable components

Custom Built?
Cheaper!
Custom selected components
More bang for the buck in terms of raw power
Open Source OS
Fully custom tweaked to your preferences

Disadvantages?
No warranty (you must fix it if something goes wrong)
Potential for fake parts during purchase
Chance of hardware failure increases with user idiocy (where applicable)
Open Source OS (unfamiliar work environment)
Different software set (basic tools, word processors, etc)

Today, we are building a computer. The plan proposed here will fall precisely $1.74 short of the $300 maximum.

Antivirus?

Oh yeah, feel free to try out Webroot's SecureAnywhere cloud-based antivirus.
Features: Cloud based
Firewall
Behavioral quarantining
Sandbox
Remote Management of security
Task and Process Manager
System Cloaking

Very lightweight, and you can combine it with MalwareBytes and Hitman Pro for absolute protection.

Today we are going to take a look at Kubuntu, a branch-off of the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system.
The first thing you'll notice in Kubuntu is the much more Windows 7 style "Aero theme". The whole of the system has a very glassy look, quite similar to the Windows system most people use. However, the resemblances stop here. KDE's desktop environment has no desktop icons or shortcuts. Instead, you rely on widgets (similar to Android) and an application launch drawer, again, similar to Android. Kubuntu also comes preloaded with its own suite of tools used for day to day operations, such as e-mail via Kontact. Kubuntu does, however, share the same terminal Ubuntu uses, except renamed to Konsole.
Konsole shares the same commands as the standard terminal. Lp to print, lpstat to get printer status.

mkdir creates a new folder, mv moves a file or folder (can also be used to rename files)
rm removes files, -r (recursive extension) is required to remove file directories
I'll edit this later...

HP TouchPad CyanogenMod progress

As of a few days ago, the CyanogenMod team released their first Alpha publicly available build of Android 2.3.7 for the HP TouchPad.
Due to its highly experimental nature, it is highly unstable and you are advised against installing it until refinements are made. A plethora of things work whilst more are broken. But, it is more than capable of daily average use at this moment, battery life concerns aside. You may find the release, here.

Again, you are NOT advised to install this until it is further refined. Install at your own risk.

Computers and humans-Our automated future?

According to Henry Markram, our brains are essentially massive super-clusters of small processors, so closely packed that the surface contorts and folds in order to fit more and more. Consisting of over 100,000,000,000,000 synapses, or contact points within the brain (literally contact points), it is an extraordinarily complex organ. Supercomputers at this moment are being used to model the brain in order to understand how it works, and why. These computers and their models will most likely be able to help us understand the brain and disorders, perhaps even developing cures for them in the near future.

My question is, can these artificial brains experience and understand emotion? That is one of mankind's greatest abilities, the ability to use and understand complex emotions.
http://www.ted.com/talks/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets.html

(Reuters) - Authorities in China's southwestern city of Kunming have identified another 22 unauthorized Apple retailers weeks after a fake of the company's store in the city sparked an international storm.
 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/11/us-apple-china-fake-idUSTRE77A3U820110811

Also take a look here.

Looking for a new computer for grandma or grandpa? Try the Asus N71Jq-X1!
Take a look here. at a presentation.
There are some issues with specification discrepancies as some people have reported getting faster than advertised RAM, non-bluray, etc. Nonetheless, it is still a speedy little laptop.

In recent news in the headphone world, Ludacris decided to introduce some new headphones, known as the Soul. Aesthetically, they appear very similar to the Beats by Dr. Dre (as a head-fier, I highly disapprove of the Beats. Try an Ultrasone Pro series/HFi series or Pioneer HDJ2000 if you want bass both are cheaper by far and built far better, the HDJ being magnesium). What Ludacris claims is that these headphones offer the studio quality, flat frequency response you'll find in headphones such as the Audio Technica ATH-M50, the AKG K702, Sennheiser HD-650,and other such studio monitors. I may demo these in the future once I acquire a proper DAC/amp, but until then, I'm opposed to say these will most likely be a rehashed version of beats with the same bloated bass, recessed mids, and piercing headache inducing highs. Oh, and a lack of sound stage. If they do maintain the advertised quality of sound, many people may have just found their outside "style" headphones.
Article can be found here

A badly made online assessment of computer knowledge...

1) Sure, the test did evaluate the knowledge I had. Very poorly thought out though on the part of whoever wrote it. Correct answers are sometimes marked incorrect anyways. Better HTML knowledge and a bit of refreshing on how scripts work would help.
2)One too many to list. Theoretically, nearly all of my answers should have been correct, but some were simply marked wrong for being right. Feel free to tell me otherwise.
3)Paperless. That is all.
4) Room for error during test creation, i.e. bad scripts.
5)A simple test on paper would do far better. A human is far more efficient at processing test results. The EMACS Doctor would do a better job.
6)No. That is all.
7)No. They're usually poorly made.

Again, this is a terrible test.

So, some specs from my computer at home.

Alright guys, here's some specs from my home laptop.
HP Pavilion entertainment laptop,
Processor: 2.2gHz Dual core
RAM: 4GB
Hard Driver (solid state): 400GB, Approx 384GB formatted capacity.
Webroot Antivirus installed, with MBAM for dedicated anti-malware.
Some installed applications...Android-sdk, adb(android-debug-bridge), Firefox 4.
Running Win7 Professional.

At school, the computer...Won't let me see the specs. Control panel doesn't work.