Interesting Bug Involving Flash and Firefox
I've been running into an interesting bug involving Flash and Firefox, and finally spent the time to track down the cause and a workaround. When I surf the web, I tend to use keyboard shortcuts to make things easier. Google is my homepage, so I when I want to search the net, I hit Alt+Home. When I want to type in a new URL, I use Alt+D. If I'm not using my external mouse, I tend to navigate Back and Forward using the keyboard shortcuts as well (Alt+Left Arrow and Alt+Right Arrow respectively). Unfortunately, those key combos seem to magically disappear on me from time to time only to reappear for all for no apparent reason. Until recently, I didn't know why, since I only rarely watch flash videos in fullscreen (they look like ass on a 1080p display). Now, I've finally figured it out. What's happening is that, when a video is watched in fullscreen, the flash plugin appears to intercept all Alt+
Since the trouble isn't found in Internet Explorer, I don't know if the issue is with the Flash plugin for Firefox, or Firefox itself. Either way, at least I have workaround until it gets fixed.
Hak5 — Check it out
I discovered Hak5 quite awhile ago, but I figured it's about time I posted something new here and they're worth writing about. It's all about useful, usually security related, computer stuff. Every week they've got new and interesting stuff and it's worth a watch. Check em out at http://www.hak5.org
Windows 7 – First Impressions
Those who know me know that I am anything but a fan of Vista. There are too many little things that bother me. Now, the beta of Windows 7 has been leaked onto the internet. I have a close, personal friend who's decided to download and install it on one of his laptops. He and I have very similar views of Vista, so his testing of the OS will be very informative for me.
This will certainly be a difficult test for Windows 7. It is, reportedly, very similar to Vista in look and feel and my friend is extremely critical of many of the "features" such as User Account Control. Additionally, the laptop it will be installed on is several years old. Here are the specs:
Gateway 7508GX
Mobile AMD Athlon™ 64-bit 3400+
1 GB RAM (PC2700)
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X600 64 MB
40GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM) (Not stock - old 80GB died and had to be replaced)
He's already installed it and used it a little and here are his first impressions:
"I'm really quite pleasantly surprised. The install was very easy. It asked a few basic questions like what language and time zone to use. It also asked me to setup a password but made it plainly obvious that this was recommended but not required. After only a few screens (three maybe?) it began the install. It was completely automated and fast. The whole thing was installed in less than a half hour. I never thought I'd say this, but one nice thing about Windows 7 is that it uses the same drivers as Vista. This meant that I was able to use Driverheaven's Mobility Modder to install the latest ATI Catalyst drivers.
One notable improvement is in the User Account Controls (UAC), where the annoying popups have been reduced and it's no longer an all-or-nothing endeavor. Inside the UAC Control Panel is a slider bar that allows you to adjust how often you are prompted, or turn it off entirely. Mobility Modder requires UAC to be disabled, so it was quite nice to be able to adjust it so easily.
The Windows 7 Beta also includes the Internet Explorer 8 Beta so I'll be trying it as well. I usually use Firefox but Microsoft has been making great claims about this new version so I'll give it a shot. So far it's been pretty similar to IE7. There's a Compatibility Mode that is easily enabled on a per page basis, but whether it makes a difference remains to be seen. I'll continue trying this out and let you know how it goes."
Could be interesting.
EFF fights RIAAs “Making Available” Argument
I hate the RIAA. They use their vast resources to bring thousands of individuals and companies to court over alleged copyright infringements that they've often only performed the tiniest investigation into. On top of they, they allege grossly inflated damages and bully defendants into settling out of court simply because these people can't afford to properly defend themselves.
On the other hand, I love the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They keep an eye out for issues that I might never see coming and they have the money to pay for lawyers to research and develop arguments that often make the RIAA's lawyers look like the donkeys they are.
Recently, the EFF got involved in an ongoing case in which the RIAA alleged that simply making a copyrighted work available for download constitutes Copyright Infringement. You can check out the article on Slashdot and read the full amicus curaie brief here.
The brief is typical legalese but it is actually very informative on the issue and, in my opinion, pretty much shuts down the RIAA's entire argument. This has been an interesting case where the court had previously made a summary judgment in favor of the RIAA, only to reconsider at the request of the Defendant. In December, the RIAA submitted a supplemental brief claiming that it is illegal to make a copy of music you legally own and compress it into mp3 format. This claim is in direct opposition to the stance of the RIAA's own lawyers in previous cases, and is contrary to many established precedents and interpretations of the Audio Home Recording Act.
In short, this whole case should be dismissed as one of a number of attempts by the RIAA to prosecute someone without bothering to build a real case first.
GMail goes IMAP!
All I have to say is 'About freakin time!'
More info here:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=78799
Rentable, Electric Car? About time.
I was reading an article on a device claimed to be a functional, commercially viable, quantum computer, when I stumbled upon images of this little beauty. I love the idea of a stackable electric vehicle that I could rent when I'm traveling in a big city. With my wife from New York and me from near Chicago, it would be wonderful to be able to take the train into the one of those cities and then, if need be, rent an electric car to get where we want to go. Some of the features include customizeable interior and exterior, new and novel restraint systems, and fully self-contained wheels that allow 360 degrees of rotation. Imagine walking up to a car, swiping your credit card, hopping in and customizing the color and instrumentation to match your style and preference. Even better, you know that companies will do things like storing your preferences so you can swipe and the system will apply the preferences you last used. Anyway, it's still in the prototype phase so we'll see which features actually make it.
Read more at:
- http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2007/02/18/the_car_20/
- http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,1674780,00.html
Fuel economy…in a rocket?
Until now, all chemical rocket engines function essentially the same: spark off the reaction and hold on for dear life. You could redirect the thrust and, sometimes, turn it off entirely, however it was pretty much a light-switch type reaction. Although this certainly made it easy to calculate fuel use, it was also extremely inefficient. See, an engine must be capable of accelerating the rocket to escape velocity, and keeping it at, or above, that speed. Since our current rocket engines are only capable of accelerating, we have to calculate the exact break even point where the rocket runs out of fuel but has enough velocity to reach it's intended orbit. This means a lot of wasted fuel and problems if we miss our mark. It's basically like driving a car with only one gear, no brakes, and a throttle that is either open all the way, or completely closed. To get anywhere, you must accelerate to a point where you can just coast the rest of the way. Fortunately, that's all about to change. Some researchers at Georgia Tech have designed an new rocket engine that would be 40% more efficient, and be smaller, than what we have now. It's basically the equivalent of upgrading to a five gear transmission with full throttle control.
Curious? Read more here.