I am not too happy to have read the following:

Caffeine boosts risk of heart attacks in the genetically susceptible.

People carrying a common variation in a certain gene could be worsening their risk of a heart attack simply by drinking several cups of coffee per day.

Daily count of coffee mugs: 6 so far.

More ‘coffee items’:

• Coffee Leads to Stress
• Mister Coffee
• Coffee Beer
• Concentrated Coffee
• Coffee in a Can

Will such folks ever lie to you???

IVERSION from the truth has been one of Microsoft’s greatest strengths and marketing techniques for decades. Here are the most recent examples, accumulated over the past couple of days alone:

• Microsoft “re-launch” or “unveil” a shiny, brand-new search engine, to reside on a new domain. This hype-driven drivel (e.g. “MSN is twice as good as Google”) sounds better than “we have improved our rusty search engine slightly”, right? Microsoft pulled the same trick a few years back, arguing that MSN had been re-invented to incorporate major innovation (all in vain of course). Such overstated facts are intended to attract curious Web surfer, nothing more. It is an enticement, which is sometimes backed by financial rewards too.
• Arguably, the following was alluded to by Windows advocates: Do not attempt to take Linux Live CD’s for a spin as they can destroy your computer. Such calls for ejection were deterring Windows users from seeing something else and carry on with an installation and progressive platform migration. Fortunately, some ‘penguins’ (not ones with a beak and a tuxedo) have taken matters into their own hands.
• OpenOffice 2 is 10 years behind, according to Mr. Yates of Microsoft. Lo and behold: another FUD campaign which indicates that Microsoft’s revenue suffers. Similar dirty tactics were embraced as means of halting the momentum of Linux servers sales. Merely everyone knows the false and controversial campaign that followed. A Google search for ‘linux’ still puts microsoft.com at the top, owing to a sponsored link paid for by the Dark Forces. Such conflicting search results have led to lawsuits in the recent past. I still await Google’s rectification of such shameful fiascos. Lastly, let us remember paid forum members that advocated Windows.

Microsoft can try hard to conceal their past lies, but a few journalists, observers and professionals will never forget.

Here comes yet another article on the significant new detriment (see more example below), but in an entirely new context.

This latest one comes CNET

In today’s gadget-jammed, sensory-overloaded culture, drawing and keeping a consumer’s attention is more important than ever to businesses.

[...]

Related items:

• Treating Online Addicts
• The Electronic Information Overload
• Blog Depression
• Internet Addiction

OOGLE has got an illicit mirror, which is known as the infamous Scroogle (appendage of the words “scrape” and “Google”). It also has plenty of legal harvesters, which use Google as the source for some search results (e.g. Webcrawler et al. and Google with traffic gauges such as A9).

Google, however, has yet another mirror, but in a more practical sense of the word. Have a look. The nice little thing is that the user gets re-directed to the site which matches the query, only reversed! (anagram)

Related items: Gizoogle

ANY Linux users are secretly pleased with the current state of Linux adoption, which is rather slow and yet steady. Others are somewhat disappointed that it remains a minority among the ‘operating systems pie’.

Many people out there wish to migrate to Linux, genuinely and wholeheartedly so. This move is often prevented by fear, as well as impulsive attempts to jump onto Linux without that initial and temporary dual-boot ‘cushion’. Sometimes, the former fact, namely the desire for eventual change, makes Linux users victims of others’ envy. Sometimes, the latter is a cause for admiration, for Linux users are falsely collectively believed to be masters of the command line, as well as code wizards of the unknown. It is a fallacy, a misinformation that must be fought. Linux has become very trivial to use and set up. It can be bought pre-installed from large vendors too, with full support.

Meanwhile, many failed migrants remain underpaid yet overworked due to viruses and related issues. The mind boggles: what is it that led wide audiences to believing a Linux user’s life revolves around computers and troubleshooting? Wishful thinking probably. For instance, when things go awry for a Windows user, there is usually a neighbour or a friends to voluntarily help. So, a Linux deficiency is prevalence of skills, not the operating system in its own right.

To borrow another key point, many would whine about hardware support in Linux. Yet, the horses must be put before to carriage. Hardware which was originally bought for Windows need not necessarily be compatible with all platforms. The move to Linux is a worthwhile investment, not an overnight change of pyjamas.

INE is one among various projects that enable Windows programs to run on Linux and other UNIX derivatives. While Wine is probably the most mature and best known ‘emulator’ (WINE truly stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator since it uses an abstraction layer cunningly), there is also the commercial tool called Win4Lin, which snatched a few headlines recently.

The Wine team has just released another version of their software, as reported by broad media, The Inquirer included.

The people behind Wine, some clever software that tries to get Windows to run on Unix and Linux machines, have released another version.

Wine is a translation layer capable of running Windows applications on Linux and other POSIX compatible operating systems.

It seeks to get Windows programs running in Wine to behave normally, without suffering the performance problems of an emulator.

On top of it all, IBM have recently become obliged to OpenDocument, which eliminates Microsoft Office dependencies. No wonder IBM are perceived as the most daunting rival to Microsoft. IBM further ease the transition from Windows to Linux (and Java), either by using portability through IDE packages for Linux (Mono) or by teaming up with other companies. This makes any transition and penetration to Linux as smooth as necessary, even without prior familiarity with Linux. Windows becomes a a transparent layer, much like a man on laxatives and milk!

Related item: Free Emulators

Yet another day in La-La Land®

ILLED with frustration over some recent rotten conducts, I once assembled a few streams of consciousness to compose a bitter essay. It was saturated with citations on the way Microsoft continues to exploit its desktop monopoly-like state-of-affairs. I titled the essay On Operating Systems Monoculture and it spanned 4 pages. Today I would like to elaborate on that matter, whilst venting some anger (rant alert) and pointing out facts that Microsoft prefer to hide from their users, owing to Vista’s prematurity.

In a world where a desktop monopoly prevails, there is also mental manipulation of minds. Innocent people are (mis-)led to believe they are IT-proficient when they manage to change font size in Word. Skills are not sufficiently generalised and MSCE qualifications are a glaringly-obvious example of this. Advice must be taken from people who live in a broader reality and are neither delusional nor biased.

To take an overview, as well as a look into the future, Microsoft continue to use dirty tactics to push away any type of rivalry. They also propagate some hackney myths. Microsoft cried “Wolf” whenever someone criticised Windows Vista. Yet, based on some recent screenshots, Vista Starter Edition will allow only 3 processes to run at any one time. It is one among the numerous ‘penalties’ that will force a paid-for upgrade.

Then comes the issue of desktop environment visualisation. Graphics in Vista are unimpressive, assuming Aero cannot be run. Aero is the glass-like component in Vista’s window rendering, which enables translucency (as in Linux and Mac OSX). Aero is estimated to be properly-supported by 50% of today’s hardware. So, is Microsoft taking a step backwards, both in terms of hardware support and functionality? Even when Aero is enabled, it offers nothing out of the ordinary. LiteStep can already enrich the looks of Windows, so Vista offers nothing innovative. Aero only suffocates the CPU. The 3-D effects make the system choke. Vista is the same product which is known as XP Service Pack II (or Windows Server 2003), but it was put in a new dress. It is no surprise given the recent major fallback in terms of the codebase.

Microsoft employ a famous composer to work on sounds in Vista. Judging by what the O/S has to offer and rave about, Microsoft could take the easier route and just go with Mozart’s Requiem. It may soon be “Hasta la Vista“.