WeaponsGradeCode » IT Industry

D’Oh! One dead pixel on the OLPC XO laptop and the system crashed after 20 minutes…

Brian — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:35:01 +0000

Bummer about the dead pixel, but what are ya going to do?

The OLPC runs Open Source software so in a round about way the crash is my responsibility to diagnose and fix. I’ll see what I can do…

Yay!!! We received our OLPC XO laptop today!!!

Brian — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 05:29:50 +0000

Maybe it’s because I don’t get out much, but this one of the coolest pieces of hardware I’ve seen in a while. It’s worth the $400 even without the satisfaction of buying a second one for someone who needs it.

It’s heavier than I thought it would be, a bit smaller than I thought. Functionally, it competes with any laptop out there, USB slots, SD slot, great display than turns into a tablet, a half dozen input mechanisms, hardened for child use. Really amazing. I can’t believe they’re only $177 to build.

I’ll post a proper review later here. Here are some pictures:

Icing on the Cake: Windows Desktop Search 3.01 Doesn’t Work

Brian — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:59:03 +0000

So after installing, uninstalling, and being forced to re-install Windows Desktop Search 3.01, I now find out that it doesn’t work.

I need to find a file in a folder, so I right click the folder and click search. Holy Cow, Windows Desktop Search comes up now instead of the terrible, but functional Search Companion.

I give it a shot and enter the file I’m looking for and get no hits:

Luckily, they gave be a button to load the Search Companion, I click it and search again. Low and behold, the files are there after all:

So it appears that the purpose of Windows Destop Search 3.01 is NOT to provide a functional search tool:

…rather, it’s to keep Google’s product off the desktop:

Time To Break the Monopoly: You MUST Install Microsoft Window Desktop Search 3.01

Brian — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 17:26:12 +0000

Back through the ’90s, I didn’t understand why Microsoft was sued for coming up with competing products and distributing them with Windows. I thought they were being good capitalists and competing in an open market.

Today, I now fully understand the pain the virus scanning, tools, browsers, and media player companies felt back then and why they had a case.

Google saw a new market in a desktop search product, developed it, and paid a bounty fee for each installation. This may have cost several hundred million dollars to bring a new, quality product to market.

After proving and developing the market, Microsoft comes along with its own cut rate product and distributes it for free using their Windows monopoly and Window update mechanism.

Microsoft’s distribution of its Windows Desktop Search 3.01 product costs Microsoft nothing, there is no install bounty, no opt in, there is no ‘Terms of Use’ to accept, there is no ‘Privacy Policy,’ nothing.

This is what Google must present to earn an install of the Google Desktop Search product:

Microsoft get’s to step in and over-night own a market that costed other companies perhaps billions to create.

The icing on the cake is that you’re not allowed to uninstall Windows Desktop Search 3.01. After installing via Windows Update, I uninstalled, rebooted as it asked me to, the the first thing to appear is this:

Yes, even though I uninstalled it, Microsoft is insisting that I re-install.

Something must be done to this company.