News

August 2005

Today (only today 31 August) Opera is free: to celebrate the 10-year birthday of Opera, the founders decided to offer registration codes to anyone stopping by http://my.opera.com/community/party/reg.dml.

You read it here and only here!

Hunting for a laser printer: Or how I replaced my old HP LaserJet 4L with a brand new shiny laser printer. Some interesting tidbits are in the article.

12 M-pixel D-SLR at Canon: It is confirmed. Canon is showing it's new EOS 5D. It paves the way to the future of digital photography: 12 Mega-pixel, full frame sensor. But the price (around 3500€) will reserve it to a small photographic elite interested by the big leap into the future of digital photography.

Rumours around Canon: People talk and talk about the possible new D-SLRs coming to the market before the end of the year from Canon. And it is obvious Canon intends to stays ahead of the (small) pack of manufacturers.

A high end D-SLR (probably EOS 5D) with a 12 M-pixel sensor in 24x36mm full frame (no optical correction factor, but incompatible with the EF-S lenses), shooting at 3 images/seconde, for 3400€ in October.
A dreamlike zoom EF 24-105mm f/4 L USM IS.
Some digital compacts like an 5M-pixel Ixus

As is heard at Chasseur d'Image, this poses the question of the future of the EF-S lenses. Supposed to create a new lens system for the future for all Canon users, these lenses could well become the dead-end where Canon customers will be trapped if they bought lenses that will become outdated as soon as Canon will step back into full frame sensors totally incompatible with the still recent EF-S system. Choices, more choices... but impressive news from the technological front.

TrustOnMe: French-speaking people provide tutorials for using Linux. An excellent source of information, aptly written and correctly organized (in French).

Dynax 7D tip #17: We start seeing some articles in the press about the Dynax 5D (also known as Maxxum 5D or Alpha 5D depending on the destination market). My first feelings: an excellent DSLR keeping the advantages of the 7D and adding its own good ideas (reduction of the number of buttons, reduction of weight, low speed USB, a less impressive LCD screen and a major price reduction). A few places to find more details:

The latest issue of French magazine Chasseur d'Image (in French)
DP review (in English)
Letsgodigital.org (in English and in French)

After reading these, I am convinced thus is a major product whose arrival in the shops in September will open new opportunities for Konica Minolta.

Today's snapshot photo: Chimneys on Paris roofs.

Windows 98 SE Service Pack (unofficial): I did not have time to test it myself yet, but I feel it could be very interesting to Windows 98 die hard like me. Alper Coskun of Exuberant software offers a kind of Service Pack for Windows 98 SE where it grouped all official Microsoft upgrades and a few optional tools. Of course, this is not branded by Microsoft, but the software giant does not seem to care about this. And, of crouse again, it is free (as in free beer, if you already bought a Windows 98 SE license).

Today's snapshot photo: Chimneys on Paris roofs.

Why don't I want DRM #1: What's gonna happen to all those that bought music files protected with active Digital Rights Management when the owner company shuts down? In many cases, the purchase will no longer be moveable to another machine (you listened to your music on a PC, you no longer can reformat it without loosing the right to listen to this music, you can't move it to your own MP3 walkman). In some cases, it will be worse. Sony decides to stop ATRAC support and you're stuck with an ATRAC player that can no longer read anything: your music files are just plain junk and so is your player. Nice isn't it?

Theme-based special pages:

Linux test #2 (Kanotix): Still looking for a replacement coming from the Linux world for MS-Windows, I checked a German distribution named KANOTIX. Again, this is a LiveCD (you can merely boot off the CD-ROM without requiring to install anything on the hard drive - no disk formatting, no dangerous repartitionning).

I'm less easilty convinced (somehow, I found the bundled games very nice; I know that Minesweeper is often the more important application of Windows, but...). The default bundle of applications seems quite nice for a desktop replacement:

KDE as default Windows Manager in order to have nice little Windows very similar to Microsoft's. It's the default choice and you can choose another one (honestly, I don't see why you should since the others are quite ugly to me and not very functional). Its configuration fully exploits transparence modes allowed by modern graphic video cards.
WINE to run some legacy Windows programs (see the specific comment below).
Full networks services ready to access both the Internet and a Local Area Network compatible with Microsoft's.
An exceptionnaly good online help on the Kanotix web site. Totally oriented toward providing solutions to real problems and written by one or more people who know how to do a good manual.

As a matter of fact, I had a few good surprises:

Download times were good and there is a BitTorrent link to accelerate download for those who use this kind of P2P.
Immediate recognition of the ATI Radeon 9800 pro card (even if the driver does not provide more than 1024x768 resolution at 75Hz).
Network fully configured automatically right out of the box (clearly using my Linksys BEFSX41 routeur DHCP server).
Effortless reading of MP3 audio.
Effortless reading of DivX video.
OpenOffice application suite to replace MS Office (version 2.0 Preview proves that the developers are keeping an eye on upgrades; Good!).
The KPilot application allowing synchronisation/data-backup of a Pilot, a Palm, a Sony PDA. Right on!
The firewall configuration is made easy by a good window-based interface. Much better than most Linux firewalls.
To stop the PC and quit Linux/Kanotix, it is recommended to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and wait for switch-off. Fast, real fast! Kudos.

But there were also a few issues:

My Epson Stylus Photo 750 was not automatically recognized and installed, but it's easy to do it later while choosing drivers. Aceptable.
WINE does not work. Apparently designed to allow execution of legacy Windows applications without a Linux-based equivalent (excellent idea), WINE does not succeed in running anything I tried (at least in its original configuration). I tried small utilities like SamSpade, Corel PhotoPaint 9, DreamWeaver 3.01, Pegasus mail v4.21c. Nothing except a flood of error messages. There is an application supposed to help in WINE configuration. We are still far from reaching success. At first, it is too complex for normal users, but it may be a good basis to later find a solution.

Overall feeling is fuzzy. Missing/incomplete support for languages not German or English may be a real problem for a rather good product. Maybe later. Evaluation: 13/20.

Linux test #1 (SLAX): Looking for a replacement coming from the Linux world for MS-Windows, I tested a distribution named SLAX. This is a LiveCD (you can merely boot off the CD-ROM without requiring to install anything on the hard drive - no disk formatting, no dangerous repartitionning).

A good product, simple and reliable. With only 188 Mo, the Kill Bill edition contains all the elements needed to build desktop PC:

KDE as default Windows Manager in order to have nice little Windows very similar to Microsoft's.
WINE to run some legacy Windows programs (see the specific comment below).
Full networks services ready to access both the Internet and a Local Area Network compatible with Microsoft's.

I had a few good surprises during this test:

Download times were really good and there is a BitTorrent link to accelerate download for those who use this kind of P2P.
Immediate recognition of the ATI Radeon 9800 pro card (even if the driver does not provide more than 1024x768 resolution at 76Hz).
A real fast boot (short boot time).
Network fully configured automatically right out of the box (clearly using my Linksys BEFSX41 routeur DHCP server).
Effortless reading of MP3 audio.
KWord and KSpread applications to replace MS Office (I would prefer OpenOffice, but it will be easy to install later).
Usually, LiveCD distributions suffer from the fact that the user configuration is lost as soon as you reboot (remember that there is nothing installed on the hard drive). Most of these distributions have the feature of saving configuration on a USB keychain. SLAX adds an innovative solution: Configuration backup directly on the SLAX site can be restored anywhere if you have an Internet access.

But there were also a few issues:

At first boot, the CD-RW I had burned was not read completely by my Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Most probably, a minor problem coming from a bad write since it was OK with the other drives. Beware.
Starting with an American QWERTY configuration for the keyboard, but there is a boot option to change this and it may be easily configured when making a hard drive install. No problem. A mere remark.
In order to stop the PC and quit Linux/SLAX, it is recommended to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and wait for switch-off. I may have encountered a bug related to my Asus A7N8X deluxe motherboard, but it never happened and I had to switch off manually. Nothing big, but annoying.
My Epson Stylus Photo 750 was not automatically recognized and installed, but it's easy to do it later while choosing drivers. Aceptable.
WINE does not work. Apparently designed to allow execution of legacy Windows applications without a Linux-based equivalent (excellent idea), WINE does not succeed in running anything I tried (at least in its original configuration). I tried small utilities like SamSpade, Corel PhotoPaint 9, DreamWeaver 3.01, Pegasus mail v4.21c. Nothing except a flood of error messages. It seems too complex for normal users.

This was a very pleasant experience but, as it is, I would not recommend jumping into SLAX without additional thinking. Evaluation: 12/20.

DRM #5 (Windows Vista goes too far with DRM - bis): A solution found by the Inquirer to make your current monitor PVP-OPM or HDCP-compatible (see DRM #4, below) is a small conversion box installed between the graphics video card and the monitor.

Only problem, but a significant one, in order to use your nice current monitor in the best conditions possible with Microsoft Vista: 400€. It may be better to buy a new screen or forget about Vista.

Elsewhere on my web site:

Best LAN routers for eMule

Ailleurs sur mon site :

DRM #4 (Windows Vista goes too far with DRM): Most people interested saw it coming, Microsoft used the worst of Digital Rights Management (DRM) in its new Windows just starting its beta test under the name of Vista.

If your PC isn't of the latest technology equiped with a screen/monitor integrating Digital Rights Management (Protected Video Path - Output Protection Management or PVP-OPM) when you will start a video or a music file, Windows/Vista often decides by itself to reduce its display quality in order to avoid any chance of your taking advantage of an art work that you wouldn't have paid. This is new, but above all it means that if you expected to keep part of your previous investment when moving to Windows/Vista (like keeping your old faithful wide-screen monitor), you were awfully wrong. Worse, there are nearly no monitor currently on the market and compatible with PVP-OPM and even less graphic cards.

You got the message: Not only Vista will stop you from doing what you want to do with your PC, but you'll have to pay a fat price for new equipment (probably a new motherboard, a new graphic card and a new monitor) just for the pleasure of being shackled by your brand new Windows. The old stuff is considered worthless by Microsoft.

We'll see if they keep this line, but it looks like a bad idea from the consumer point of view...

EtherKillers: They kill not only Ethernet. As they say: Don't mess with the IT department guys.

LongHorn becomes Vista: Minor bews bit, Microsoft decided to rename Vista its future version of Windows, while it was previousl known as LongHorn. Go figure...

One thing is sure: The name is so common that judges will have to decide about the use of such a name (for example, there are several high tech companies already using Vista in their names).

DivX, Kiss and CISCO: The most well known brand of manufacturers of home DVD and DivX movies players was bought out by CISCO/Linksys, always on the look for small companies with a very high level of technological content.

Why did the chicken cross the road? During a public recording of France Culture "des papous dans la tête" show on 6th of June 2004, Françoise Treussard rhetorically asked the public if the author of the classical question-story about the chicken who would have crossed the road was present in the recording hall. I took the issue in my own hands as if I could find the actual author. Alas! Would I know that I was embarking on a long journey through time (actually only a few days of work, but years of Internet history).

The answer itself is on WhyDidTheChickenCrossTheRoad.com.

Online newspapers: After the list of online french-speaking newspapers (Giga-Presse), I offer you the list of the online international press (World Newspapers).

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August 2005

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