.::REALITYRECALL::.

As another NHL season gets underway with six Canadian teams, there is at least some reason for guarded optimism in other parts of the country.

It’s no secret that Microsoft has a slight tablet, err Slate PC problem on its hands: Windows 7 certainly works on a “pad,” but the user interface isn’t meant for strictly finger input. The makeshift solution has been, of course, for its partners to create software skins of their own — see HP TouchSmart UI, the ExoPC “Connect Four” skin, etc. — but according to Microsoft know-it-all Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, the guys in Redmond may just be working on a layer of their own. Now, Foley says these are just recurring rumors at this point, but they happen to line up with similar whispers we’ve heard that Microsoft might develop its own optional “shell.” Foley actually believes that it could be based on Windows Media Center, and points to an article by UK blogger Mark Wilson in which Ballmer is quoted saying, “what you’ll see over the course of the next year is us doing more and more work with our hardware partners creating hardware-software optimisations with Windows 7 and with Windows 7 Media Center […].” We don’t need to tell you, Mr. Ballmer, that we think that sounds like a glorious idea, and it’ll certainly buy you time until Windows 8 is ready in 2012.

Speaking of which, he also confirmed that it won’t be releasing another version of Windows in the interim as some may have suspected. We’ve similarly heard that Microsoft is heavily optimizing the new OS for slates, and is already prepping its partners with information on that front. Obviously all of this should be taken with a grain of salt at this point, but we sure are happy to hear that Microsoft’s starting to understand how important those UI layers are to consumer adoption and that the wheels may be in motion on finger-friendly interface improvements. Of course, for now we’ll be sitting here twiddling our thumbs until next week’s October 11 event to see if any elusive Microsoft slate announcements do in fact decide to make an appearance.

Microsoft creating its own software layer for Windows 7 tablets? Boy, we hope so originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gene Simmons. Once upon a time, he played bass and unrolled his tongue out for that brown paper bag of musical hurt that is Kiss. Now, he just goes around saying stupid things like this: More »

We’re happy to introduce an easier way to use Google Latitude from your computer at google.com/latitude. You can now see where your friends are, start using Latitude apps, and share your location all from one place when you’re at your computer.

Find your friends
We launched Latitude with a desktop iGoogle gadget to help you stay in touch with friends and family that may not have a smartphone. We’ve since learned that a desktop experience is important to you even if you’re already using Latitude on your phone. Today, you can now visit a dedicated site that makes it easier than ever to use Latitude when you’re already on your computer. From the Friends tab, you can:

• See where your friends are on Google Maps
• Add friends and accept sharing requests
• Control your privacy settings

Do more with Latitude
You’ll also now find Latitude and Latitude apps together in one place. After browsing your friends list, go to the History or Apps tabs to turn on optional Latitude apps such as:

• Google Location History (Beta) to see your personal history dashboard
• Google Location Alerts to get nearby friend alerts
• Google Talk Location Status to post your location in your chat status
• Google Public Location Badge to publish your location on your blog or site

Share your location
Just like on your phone, you can choose to share your location with friends and family from your WiFi-enabled computer. Before you can share your location, you’ll need to first give Latitude permission to access your location when prompted by your supported browser. You can always change your browser or Latitude privacy settings later. Learn more in the Help Center.

To get started, go to google.com/latitude on your computer. If you’re new to Latitude, you can then start on your phone by sending yourself a text message or choose to start on your computer.

Posted by Kenneth Leftin, Software Engineer, Google Mobile Team

Okay ASUS, you win. We can’t keep all your leaked Eee Pad prototypes straight anymore. We’re guessing this is some sort of counter-intelligence move you’re making, leaking report after conflicting report of various sizes and operating systems for the things, and now we have word of yet another model joining the hypothetical fray. This one’s supposedly called the EP90, an 8.9-inch tablet with a 1024 x 600 display, storage of 16 or 32GB, a dual-core 1GHz processor paired with Tegra graphics and, apparently, some flavor if Microsoft Windows if reports of it running Office are to be believed. Beyond that, Ynet is also saying there’s a 12-inch tablet model on the way, which either proves the company’s disinformation plot or confirms that the Eee Pad lineup is about to get as confusing as the Eee PC series is today.

8.9-inch Eee Pad tablet leaks, Asus looking to dominate every mark on the ruler? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Believe it or not, Samsung is only now getting around to introducing its Galaxy S handset to the fine isle of Japan. Its announcement of a late October availability for the home of CEATEC was also accompanied by the little note that the rest of the world has already bought up five million units of its multivariate Galaxy S phone family. More than two million of those sales have been notched up in the US and over one million can be found in Samsung’s home field of South Korea. Or could be found if they actually had working GPS units. Zing!

[Thanks, Matt]

Samsung Galaxy S sales surpass five million, world domination plans still on track originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a basement at Carnegie Mellon University, a computer is reading the web. It’s been doing so for nearly nine months, teaching itself the complexities and nuances of the English language. And the smarter it gets, the faster it learns. More »

A few weeks ago we discussed how and why Chrome is overtaking Firefox among power users based on a poll of Lifehacker readers. This week, several tech news sites are highlighting the changes in browser share between September of last year to September of this year; the numbers, from web tracker StatCounter, indicate that Firefox’s growth is at a standstill (not bad, but not great news for Mozilla), Internet Explorer’s share has dropped below 50% (bad news for Microsoft), and Chrome’s share has over tripled in the last year (great news for Google). None of these trends are terribly new (they wouldn’t be that meaningful if they weren’t measured over time), but it’s still interesting to watch how the tools we use to access the internet change over time. [StatCounter] More »

As we keep building on old image technology, types of file formats keep piling up, each with their own nuances and uses. JPG, PNG, and GIF have become the most common, but what sets them apart from each other?

These formats have become the most popular because of their compatibility with modern browsers, broadband speeds, and the needs of average users. Join us as we take a detailed look at each format, and cover the strengths and weaknesses of each.

JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPG was a filetype developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) to be a standard for professional photographers. Like the method ZIP files use to find redundancies in files to compress data, JPGs compress image data by reducing sections of images to blocks of pixels or “tiles.” JPG compression has the unfortunate side effect of being permanent, however, as the technology for the file was created for storing large photographic image files in surprisingly small spaces, and not for photo editing.

JPGs have become the de facto standard image of the internet because they can be compressed so much. A typical JPG can be compressed at a ratio of anywhere from 2:1 to as high as 100:1, depending on your settings. Particularly back in the days of dial-up internet, JPGs were the only viable way to send image information.

However, because of the lossy nature of JPG, it is not an ideal way to store art files. Even the highest quality setting for JPG is compressed, and will change the look of your image, if only slightly. JPG is also not an ideal medium for typography, crisp lines, or even photographs with sharp edges, as they are often blurred or smeared out by anti-aliasing. What is potentially worse, is that this loss can accumulate—saving multiple versions of artwork can cause degradation with every save. Even so, it is common to see these things saved as JPG, simply because the filetype is so ubiquitous.

The Joint Photographic Experts Group developed lossless JPG technology to combat this serious problem of quality degradation. However, because of dial-up speeds and general lack of interest in high quality non-degrading files, the JPG-LS standard never caught on.

It is possible to download plugins that allow users to open and save the lossless JPG2000, and some programs, like Apple’s Preview application, can read and save JPG2000 directly out of the box.

JPGs support 24-bit RGB and CMYK, as well as 8-bit Grayscale. I personally do not recommend using CMYK color spaces in JPGs. It’s also important to note that Grayscale JPGs do not compress nearly as much as color ones do.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)

GIF, like JPG, is an older filetype, and one generally associated with the internet as opposed to photography. GIF stands for “Graphics Interchange Format” and employs the same lossless LZW compression that TIFF images use. This technology was once controversial (for patent enforcement issues) but has become an accepted format since all patents have expired.

GIF is by nature an 8-bit color file, meaning they are limited to a palette of 256 colors, which can be picked from the RGB color model and saved to a Color Look Up Table (CLUT), or simply “Color Table.” There are, however, standard color palettes, like the “Web Safe” palette. An important note is that Grayscale images are by nature an 8-bit palette, so saving them as GIF is fairly ideal.

Apart from support for transparency, GIF also is supports animations, limiting every frame to 256 preselected colors.

While GIF is not lossy like JPG, conversion to 8-bit color distorts many images, using dither filters to optically blend, or “diffuse,” colors, similar to halftone dots or pointilism. This can radically alter an image for the worse, or, in some cases, be used to create an interesting effect.

Because of this non-lossy format, GIF can be used to keep tight lines on typography and geometric shapes, although these things are better suited to vector graphic files like SVG or the Adobe Illustrator native format, AI.

GIF is not ideal for modern photography, nor image storage. At small sizes with very limited color tables, GIF images can be smaller than JPG files. But at most ordinary sizes, JPG compression will create a smaller image. They are largely out of date, useful only to create dancing babies or to sometimes create rough transparencies.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics (or, depending on whom you ask, the recursive “PNG-Not-GIF”). It was developed as an open alternative to GIF, which used the proprietary LZW compression algorithm discussed earlier. PNG is an excellent filetype for internet graphics, as it supports transparency in browsers with an elegance that GIF does not possess. Notice how the transparent color changes and blends with the background. Right-click the image to see. This is actually one image that is on four different background colors.

PNG supports 8-bit color like GIF, but also supports 24-bit color RGB, like JPG does. They are also non-lossy files, compressing photographic images without degrading image quality. PNG tends to be the biggest of the three filetypes and isn’t supported by some (usually older) browsers.

In addition to being an excellent format for transparency, the non-lossy nature of 24-bit PNG is ideal for screenshot software, allowing pixel for pixel reproduction of your desktop environment.

Which to use?

From left to right, these files are: 24-bit JPG Compressed, 8-bit GIF, 8-bit PNG, Full Quality 24-bit JPG, and 24-bit PNG. Note that the file sizes increase in this same direction.

PNG is the largest image type for bigger images, often containing information you may or may not find useful, depending on your needs. 8-bit PNG is an option, but GIF is smaller. Neither are optimal options for photography, as JPG is much smaller than lossless PNG with only minimal loss of quality. And for storage of high resolution files, JPG compresses to tiny proportions, with quality loss only visible on close inspection.

In short:

• PNG is good option for transparency and non-lossy, smaller files. Larger files, not so much, unless you demand non-lossy images.
• GIF is largely a novelty and only useful for animation, but can produce small 8-bit images.
• JPG is still the king for photographs and photo-like images on the internet, but be careful, as your file can degrade with every save.

Image of Keizersgracht, in Amsterdam by Massimo Catarinella via Wikipedia, released under Creative Commons license. Derivative images available under the same license. I don’t care to know who created the dancing baby.

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If you normally like to power off your PC when you’re not using it, do you ever forget and leave it on? Here’s how to configure Windows to automatically power down at night, but only if you’re not using the PC at the time.

To accomplish this, we’ll setup a Task Scheduler job that tells the computer to shut down, and make sure to configure the rules so that it doesn’t kick in if you are up late using the PC.

Create a Task Scheduler Job to Shut Down the PC

You’ll need to open up Task Scheduler to create the new job, so open it up and click the Create Task link on the right-hand side.

Now you’ll want to give the task a name, and make sure to check the box for “Run with highest privileges”, since the shutdown utility requires admin access.

Now switch to the Triggers tab, click New, and then setup a schedule that makes sense for you, like every night at midnight.

Now flip over to the Actions tab, click New, and then enter shutdown into the Program box, and /S into the parameters box. If you want to force a shutdown and kill every app, you can use /S /F to force it to happen right away.

Next head to the Conditions tab, and make sure to check the box to only start the task if the computer is idle for more than x minutes. You can also choose to stop the task if the PC isn’t idle to help make sure it doesn’t kick in if you are on the PC.

Lastly, head to the Settings tab, and you can choose to restart the task every 30 minutes if the task fails—that way, if you are on the PC for a while past the normal time, the job will start up later on and shut down the PC.

Once you’re done, your PC will shut down automatically. Enjoy!

Want to make your PC do something other than shut down? Read our article on creating shortcuts to restart, shut down, hibernate, or sleep mode.

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If it works as smooth as it looks in this preview video, Google TV could provide the kind of seamless web-on-TV experience many have been looking for: Dedicated apps, a Chrome web browser, easy picture and music viewing, and more. More »

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We’ve already shown you how to crack your forgotten Windows password with the Ophcrack live CD, but for those that want to really understand the process, we’ve put together a video guide that will help you visually see how it all works.

In the above video we are able to boot into the live CD, crack our password, and log into Windows in under eight minutes. If you want a more in depth overview on how Ophcrack works make sure you check out the original article here:

How to Crack Your Forgotten Windows Password

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Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff made 27 saves in a 1-0 shutout win over the Edmonton Oilers, the final exhibition encounter for both clubs.

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The future of heavy cargo transportation looked positively eco-friendly and blimp-like earlier this summer, so it’s really no surprise that Australia’s Skylifter cargo blimp is making the Internet rounds this weekend. More »

Thousands of people are in Quebec City to participate in what’s being called the “Blue March,” demanding the return of NHL hockey.