http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/prof-sues-note.html
Apparently from the above article, a professor in University of Florida is suing the company Einstein Notes for "repackaging notes as 'studykits' and then profiting from the other lazy students that don't go to classes" without permission. Some students in the class are "payed" for taking notes and thus the professor states it's a "illegal distribution of copyrighted material" and thus is "infringement of copyright laws"
Unlike previous cases, this professor actually copyrighted his lectures, and he recorded every one of them. So, it's much more viable for a law suit. BUT, lots of possibilities could open up if this law suit against Einstein Notes is successful. Companies like Cliff Notes have been in the business of providing commentaries and summaries of novels, which are supposed to be copyrighted - what if they get sued?
Friday, April 4, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The difference between FAT32 and NTFS
I have always wondered what's so different about NTFS file system. I mean, there is file encryption alright, but I don't really need it. It's unnecessary as I carry no sensitive data.
FAT32 is older, and thus has better backward compatibility, and thus I kept it for some time.
I finally found out the major difference - file size limit.
Oh yeah, you can have a 1000GB hard drive filled with files in FAT32 system.
However, there is one major limit. You CANNOT have a single file that is larger than 4GB.
I discovered this while *trying* to backup another hard drive and keep getting error in the same spot.
Right... so I point the backup to a NTFS drive and it worked.
Strange, right? But remember, FAT32 is more than 10 years old, and has limitations.
Unless you need backward compatibility, convert your drives to NTFS.
FAT32 is older, and thus has better backward compatibility, and thus I kept it for some time.
I finally found out the major difference - file size limit.
Oh yeah, you can have a 1000GB hard drive filled with files in FAT32 system.
However, there is one major limit. You CANNOT have a single file that is larger than 4GB.
I discovered this while *trying* to backup another hard drive and keep getting error in the same spot.
Right... so I point the backup to a NTFS drive and it worked.
Strange, right? But remember, FAT32 is more than 10 years old, and has limitations.
Unless you need backward compatibility, convert your drives to NTFS.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Unreliable Softwares
Well, since the sturdy Partition Magic 8.0 doesn't work in Windows Vista, I got another software for managing and partitioning hard drives last year. It's called Paragon Partition Manager.
However, it seems less robust than Partition Magic. I've already had failures and fatal errors with it, including some bugs appearing when moving large amount of data (which is required for partitioning drives).
For example, one time, during the "quick data moving" stage, after moving a ton of data, it stopped, render the system unresponsive. Another time, during the same quick data moving stage, it stopped near the end stating "security error" leaving a few MB of files invisible.
Softwares that do these kind of risky job should be stable and robust itself, not introducing failures in critical areas, almost corrupting the hard drive in the process.
However, it seems less robust than Partition Magic. I've already had failures and fatal errors with it, including some bugs appearing when moving large amount of data (which is required for partitioning drives).
For example, one time, during the "quick data moving" stage, after moving a ton of data, it stopped, render the system unresponsive. Another time, during the same quick data moving stage, it stopped near the end stating "security error" leaving a few MB of files invisible.
Softwares that do these kind of risky job should be stable and robust itself, not introducing failures in critical areas, almost corrupting the hard drive in the process.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Website Hits
So, you think if you stop updating the website/blog, nobody will visit, right??
Actually, I'm quite startled by the result myself.
I made a blog about a game in July 2006, and then I periodically post in it until April 2007. In total, 95 posts were made, and the blog got about 5000 hits. Then, I decided to stop posting, because I no longer played the game. I totally forgotten about the blog, until I visited it today.
Guess how many hits? 9036. I'm not kidding. The blog continued to get hits long after its last update. The number of hits per day increased in the past 4 months without any new posts!
And so... here is an advice if you are running any websites - never ever remove any page that has been exposed to the internet. Old information is useful information, and old pages get MORE views.
As for the number of hits to this site? About 2500 hits (since April 2007).
Actually, I'm quite startled by the result myself.
I made a blog about a game in July 2006, and then I periodically post in it until April 2007. In total, 95 posts were made, and the blog got about 5000 hits. Then, I decided to stop posting, because I no longer played the game. I totally forgotten about the blog, until I visited it today.
Guess how many hits? 9036. I'm not kidding. The blog continued to get hits long after its last update. The number of hits per day increased in the past 4 months without any new posts!
And so... here is an advice if you are running any websites - never ever remove any page that has been exposed to the internet. Old information is useful information, and old pages get MORE views.
As for the number of hits to this site? About 2500 hits (since April 2007).
IE8 & FF3
Just recently, IE8 Beta 1 has been released. A rather quick progress I'd say, by Microsoft's standards. So, I and my friend downloaded it.
According to various sources, IE8 passes Acid2 test. However, really, it doesn't pass. Oh yeah, it rendered correctly, but there are some unnecessary scroll bars on the eyes.
And Acid3? Well, it did even worse than IE6 - a dismal 10/100.
Also, the interface looked almost exactly the same as IE7. In other words, rarely any updates.
As for FF3... I'm updating to the latest nightly builds everyday. They seem to do very well. FF3 passes Acid2, catching up to other browsers, and scored a 71/100 on Acid3. Also, there are lots of impressive UI (user interface) changes, such as when you type in the address bar, it will match any letters in the URL instead of just the first ones. Also, the new theme looks better than FF2 IMO. One thing: don't use nightly builds unless you can withstand crashes. The betas are more stable.
Safari and Opera betas scored 100/100 on Acid3, but they still have the performance issue on test26. Safari also hacked around some of the tests (like in test#71 about font rendering, they hard-coded the svg font used to make sure they antialias correctly) which kind of defeats the purpose of the test.
According to various sources, IE8 passes Acid2 test. However, really, it doesn't pass. Oh yeah, it rendered correctly, but there are some unnecessary scroll bars on the eyes.
And Acid3? Well, it did even worse than IE6 - a dismal 10/100.
Also, the interface looked almost exactly the same as IE7. In other words, rarely any updates.
As for FF3... I'm updating to the latest nightly builds everyday. They seem to do very well. FF3 passes Acid2, catching up to other browsers, and scored a 71/100 on Acid3. Also, there are lots of impressive UI (user interface) changes, such as when you type in the address bar, it will match any letters in the URL instead of just the first ones. Also, the new theme looks better than FF2 IMO. One thing: don't use nightly builds unless you can withstand crashes. The betas are more stable.
Safari and Opera betas scored 100/100 on Acid3, but they still have the performance issue on test26. Safari also hacked around some of the tests (like in test#71 about font rendering, they hard-coded the svg font used to make sure they antialias correctly) which kind of defeats the purpose of the test.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Some new stuff
Well, for the past 3 months, I've been working on a lot of things. Including some animations, some small games, and some web tools.
Anyways, I've cooked up a proxy for anybody that needs to get around school censoring system.
it's http://www.jjtchiu.com/go.php
I know it's not perfect, but it should work on 50%~60% of the websites.
I, however, will monitor the traffic. So don't go to illegal sites!
The next one is a new game. It's fairly small, but fun. It's called Nim.
Basically, there are some piles of stones. You can remove any number of stones from only 1 pile in each turn. The person that gets the last stone loses.
Play it here: http://jason.jjtchiu.com/flash/nim.html
See if you can beat the computer! Remember, if you make even ONE mistake, you will lose.
Anyways, I've cooked up a proxy for anybody that needs to get around school censoring system.
it's http://www.jjtchiu.com/go.php
I know it's not perfect, but it should work on 50%~60% of the websites.
I, however, will monitor the traffic. So don't go to illegal sites!
The next one is a new game. It's fairly small, but fun. It's called Nim.
Basically, there are some piles of stones. You can remove any number of stones from only 1 pile in each turn. The person that gets the last stone loses.
Play it here: http://jason.jjtchiu.com/flash/nim.html
See if you can beat the computer! Remember, if you make even ONE mistake, you will lose.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Flash CS3
Just recently I got flash CS3. It has many exciting new features, but I'm having mixed feelings.
For one thing, ActionScript 3.0 is... urm... really different. I liked the way AS2 was - fast development, and easy to write. But then... when it comes to AS3.0, everything changed. So different,
The movieclip hierarchy is now a completely different package. For example, instead of createEmptyMovieClip(), you call "var my_mc = new MovieClip();" and then "myParent.addChild(my_mc);"
Event handling is also different. The ECMAScript-style "my_btn.onrelease = function()" is obsolete in AS3.0. You now have to create a function "function my_btn_release()" and then "my_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, my_btn_release);" It's cumbersome and time consuming.
Also, lots of freedom and advantage of AS2 is now gone. Variable typing is necessary, and it is also necessary that no variable referenced is undefined.
The only major improvement is... performance, sometimes by 5 folds or even 10 folds. I consider it really good, but seriously, flash applets rarely need such high performance. I mean, it certainly opens up possibilities for things such as 3D rendering and bitmap manipulation. However, for most needs, AS2 will be faster to develope for small program complexities. *hope it doesn't become deprecated in the future*
For one thing, ActionScript 3.0 is... urm... really different. I liked the way AS2 was - fast development, and easy to write. But then... when it comes to AS3.0, everything changed. So different,
The movieclip hierarchy is now a completely different package. For example, instead of createEmptyMovieClip(), you call "var my_mc = new MovieClip();" and then "myParent.addChild(my_mc);"
Event handling is also different. The ECMAScript-style "my_btn.onrelease = function()" is obsolete in AS3.0. You now have to create a function "function my_btn_release()" and then "my_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, my_btn_release);" It's cumbersome and time consuming.
Also, lots of freedom and advantage of AS2 is now gone. Variable typing is necessary, and it is also necessary that no variable referenced is undefined.
The only major improvement is... performance, sometimes by 5 folds or even 10 folds. I consider it really good, but seriously, flash applets rarely need such high performance. I mean, it certainly opens up possibilities for things such as 3D rendering and bitmap manipulation. However, for most needs, AS2 will be faster to develope for small program complexities. *hope it doesn't become deprecated in the future*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
