Benchmarks Prove Vista Aero Does Not Affect Performance

One of the most important aspects of Aero, performance, was not shoved aside. A 47 page report concluded that Aero does not affect system performance significantly more than Windows XP GDI.

Despite claims by Microsoft haters it has not been proven that Aero affects performance. This isn'ta surprise, one of the key goals in creating Aero was to make its affect on performance minimal or non-existant. This has mostly been achieved by making Aero GPU dependent.

The only instances Aero could hinder performance significantly would be if real time hardware accelerated 3D graphics (besides Aero) was running in windowed mode. This can easily be fixed, either by disabling Aero when such an application runs or running the application in fullscreen (Vista automatically disables Aero in which case).

All in all there is no proof that Aero hinders performance besides the claims of Microsoft haters. Interestingly Aero is the least flashy of all 3D UIs on the market, OS X and the various Linux distro plugins really emphasize the falshy UI however Vista is very basic in nature and very simplistic.

VIA techy.Bytes

75 Year Old Woman Has Worlds Fastest Internet Connection

At a speed of 40 Gigabits per second Sigbritt can download a HD-DVD in two seconds, or 1500 live simultaneous HD stream. What did she do to earn such a thing? Well she happens to be the mother of Swedish internet legend Peter Löthberg.

Peter Löthberg demonstrated a method in which two routers 2000 kilometeres apart can communicate with no intermediary transponders and is trying to use this example to encourage internet service providers to invest in high capacity fibre optics.

Too bad she won't be putting her connection to good use.

Dear Amazon, Please Provide a Downloadable eBook With Every Book Sold

It has been amply proven that going open with eBooks increases sales though publishers don't seem to take the hint. Given most publishers probably don't have the backbone to move on to the 21st century Amazon should try to provide a freely downloadable eBook to customers who buy the hard copy version.

Seems to be a no brainer, if I buy a book why can't I own it in eBook format too? I can have the digital version while the physical book is still coming in. Piracy is a non-issue here, just about every book can be turned into an eBook whether or not a CD/downloadable is provided and all it can do is help publishers.

There are more advantages to having an eBook over a regular book, if I'm looking for a specific keyword I can do it a lot more faster using a simple search on a computer than having to go through page after page of the same keyword looking for the relevent context in which it is written. I can use it while on the computer, especially handy for computer related books, 3D modelling and photoshop can benefit the most out of this.

Amazon and other online book stores should really consider including a free downloadable eBook for people who buy the book hard copy. Perhaps the most difficult part would be negotiating with the stubborn publishers but if even one publisher gives it a go and its sales inevitably soar then the competition will give it a go too. This is no different to DRM free music, studios that offer DRM free songs get more sales, giving power to consumers is not a bad move, it increases customer satisfaction and thus they come back for more.

Back to the Future DeLorean Spotted

Though it looks like Doc was having some problems with Mr. Fusion, after hitting 88 miles per hour it failed to go through time.

iPhone Email On Sale?

Okaaay, while the hype behind the iPhone and its release was expected and fully understandable, as well as the eBay flooding that came afterwards the next step seems to have become the iPhone email sales extravaganza.

These emails (such as 'iPhone.Fever@yahoo.com') even have bids on them, one has sold for over $100. I did contact the Nigerian embassy to confirm these bids were not coming from scammers and truly enough they weren't. I guess even the scammers don't want anything to do with iPhone related emails.

iPhone Cometh to eBay

While some hopefuls are selling it for well over $999 hoping to make a good $399 profit the realists are settling for just a mere $700, it looks like the iPhone isn't causing any world revolutions, just yet.

When another incredibly hyped product, the Playstation 3, launched it was selling for well over twice its own retail value, granted this lasted for a mere two days but it did happen. The iPhone is barely selling $100 over its retail price. Add to that eBays commission fees and it looks like the campers could have made more spitting into Hamburgers for the one night they camped out.

Of course with a two year service contract for an expensive phone with many features you know you don't want and a design mantra typical of Apples 'so easy to use, no one can use it!' it would be hard to make a sale. No doubt if Apple learns something and hopefully releases some sort of software update the iPhone will be reasonable competition against the other smartphones in the industry.

Then again, I'm saving my dough for the open source alternative.

iPhone Comparison

The iPhone is shaping up to be the next big thing in the tech industry, it may soon revolutionize mobile phones as the iPod did mp3 players. Or, maybe not the way the iPod revolutionized mp3 players, maybe something like the Playstation 3 revolutionizing the console market.

Price: $600 for Playstation 3, $499 - $599 for iPhone.

The Playstation 3 is the most expensive gaming console ever because Sony had hoped it would sell bucket loads by being more than just a gaming console.

The iPhone is one of the more expensive mobile phones on the market because Apple is hoping it will sell bucket loads by being more than just a smart phone.


Extra (read: potentially useless) Features that are ramming up the prices: Many for the Playstation 3, Waaaay Too Many for the iPhone.

Sony took a massive risk by incorporating many features into the Playstation 3, many of which may turn out to be useless and just an excess that forces consumers to cough up extra dough for features that they will never use. These features look good on paper but may be underdeveloped, there could be other (cheaper) ways of implementing them or they don't have any practicality in real world situations.

Apple is going to be taking a massive risk by incorporating many features into the iPhone, many of which may turn out to be useless and just an excuse that forces consumers to cough up extra dough for features that they will never use. These features look good on paper but may be underdeveloped, there could be other (cheaper) ways of implementing them or they don't have any practicality in real world situations.


Brand name: Playstation 3 comes from the Playstation line up, the most successful console brand in history. iPhone comes from the iPod line up, the most successful mp3 player in history.

Sony had hoped that its strong brand name would help it sell the Playstation 3, however entering the market the Playstation 3 faultered, other brands on the market had already established themselves as effective competitors. Despite not having the Playstation 3 logo they are doing quite well with some absurd names (*cough* Wii *cough*) proving that names aren't everything and technology brands are not the same as fashion lables.

Apple is hoping that its strong brand name will help it sell the iPhone, however there is the risk that when it enters the market it will faulter as other brands have already established themsleves as effective competitors. Depsite not having the Apple logo they are doing quite well with some absurd names (*cough* Motorolla *cough*) proving that names aren't everything and technology brands are not the same as fashion lables.


Achilles Heal: No hardware scaler in the Playstation 3, no 3G for the iPhone.

The lack of a working hardware scaler early on in the Playstation 3's life rendered it absoloutely useless in terms of delivering HD content to TV owners who's HDTVs didn't support 1080p and 720p, if they didn't deal with the 480i resolution on their 1080i capable HDTV set they would have to go buy a dedicated Blu-Ray player rendering one of the Playstation 3's coolest features useless (Point of note: This was repaired via a free firmware update).

The lack of 3G in the first batch of iPhones may render it useless for surfing the internet and other things such as using Google maps meaning people who don't know where the Sea Food restaraunt is will have to deal with the slow load times in the iPhone and may end up using their PCs, rendering one of the iPhones coolest features useless. (Point of note: This can only be repaired with either a last minute hardware revision before release or a waiting period for the next gen iPhone).

Creators: Playstation 3 by Ken Kutaragi, iPhone by Steve Jobs

Despite a successful history in the industry Ken Kutaragi failed to duplicate his past successes with the Playstation 3.

With a successful history in the industry Steve Jobs hopes to duplicate his past success with the iPhone.