Category: Technology

My take on some of the latest technology news and issues.

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SuprNova Down

I can’t believe it. The site that I visit without fail everyday is down…and this time, probably for good.

There was news that MPAA recently is going to crack down on BitTorrent sites. Most of the time I pay little attention to this sort of news. I mean, how can you stop a website that doesn’t (technically) break any copyright rules?

Take SuprNova:- it doesn’t host any infringing files. What it does provide is a link of all new and active torrents on the site. It also provides a tracker for these torrents. MPAA (or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) claims that anyone facilitating the infringement of copyrighted materials is as guilty as the infringing party.

This is truly a disturbing development. Does it mean that if I provide a link to say another movie BitTorrent site that I would be liable too in the eyes of MPAA, even if I did not ripped, mixed, burned or shared any illicit copies?

Anyway, I look forward to the next leap in technology when someone would develop a server-less version of BitTorrent. This version would work like any P2P software and it can use the gnutella technology to search for torrent files. Trackers would be decentralized. Upon locating the required torrent files, the program would then download using BitTorrent.

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Panther

You know how some people get excited about Football Finals or Tennis Grand Slams? Well, I get that way about operating system updates. Yes, I’m that kind of nerd. So when MacAsia Apple Centre in GE Mall announced a Panther launch event on 24th October 2003 at 8pm (which happened to be Deepavali as well), I was like a kid who just found out Christmas was coming early – if Christmas involved binary code and kernel improvements.

Being the slightly paranoid tech enthusiast I am (blame it on years of Windows trauma), I double-checked the date. You know, just in case someone fat-fingered the keyboard and I’d end up being that guy standing alone outside a closed store with my credit card and dashed dreams. Turns out, yes, they were really hosting it on a public holiday, complete with food and drinks. And no matter how much I cajoled them, they won’t sell me the software before that date regardless of how much I had spent with them.

Here’s the thing about Panther (Mac OS X 10.3 for those who don’t speak Apple): every new operating system software update makes your older hardware run faster. Coming from the Windows world, this concept was as foreign to me. In my Windows experience, new operating systems were usually just elaborate schemes to make you buy new hardware – kind of like how you are forced to buy a new house every time there is new interior design idea.

But Panther? This magnificent beast actually made my Powerbook and Powerbook purr. I’m not talking about that placebo effect where you convince yourself your computer is faster because you just spent money on it (we’ve all been there). No, this was real. I even installed it on my friend’s ancient clamshell iBook – which was crawling on Mac OS X 10.1 – and suddenly it was dancing like it had discovered caffeine.

So here’s my challenge to Microsoft: try making Windows updates that don’t require users to basically upgrade their computer. For once, it will be kinda nice to squeeze every ounce of power from older Intel machines.

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End of MSN Chat

Chat rooms are the digital equivalent of your local mall’s food court – sometimes sketchy, always interesting and perpetually sticky with teenage drama. Recently, Microsoft has decided to play the role of overprotective parent and shut down MSN chat rooms worldwide. Their reason? Child safety. Though if we’re being honest, it feels a bit like trying to childproof the ocean by removing one beach.

Shutting down MSN chat rooms to protect kids is about as effective as my attempt to diet by removing just the sprinkles from my ice cream sundae. The internet is vast, wild and remarkably resourceful. Close one chat room and users will simply migrate to countless other platforms – from other chat services to bulletin boards that make MSN look like amateur hour.

Microsoft, being the tech giant it is, has a real opportunity here. Instead of the digital equivalent of taking their ball and going home, they could have turned MSN into the cool, responsible uncle of the internet – teaching kids about online safety while keeping the channels open. You know, actually solving the problem rather than just sweeping it under the virtual rug.

But let’s be real. There’s probably a spreadsheet somewhere showing how much money they’ll save by shutting this down. And while I understand this cost-cutting measure, this feels like choosing convenience over responsibility.

The real solution isn’t about closing doors; it’s about teaching our kids how to navigate them safely.

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Apple’s New 15″ Aluminum PowerBook

Apple’s new 15” Aluminum PowerBook takes techno-lust to nearly uncontrollable levels.

The brand-new, stunningly sleek, and irresistibly sexy 15” Aluminum PowerBook from Apple is simply too much to handle! I’ve been using the older 15” Titanium PowerBook for about a year and a half now, and honestly, I have no major complaints—except for a couple of issues:

  1. The LCD screen had 3 to 4 dead pixels (though I did get a perfect replacement after the first display completely failed in the 11th month).
  2. The original 30GB hard drive failed (but I replaced it myself with a 40GB one since it was a standard component).

Aside from these two hardware hiccups, the PowerBook has been an absolute dream to use. Before Apple’s latest announcement, I had been anticipating something even bigger—perhaps a G5 notebook? But hey, something is better than nothing, right?