30. March 2007 16:38
[updated - 6th April]I've just been going through files on my computer and giving it a bit of a spring clean in preparation for installing Windows Vista. As I was doing this I came across a Cisco folder containing more notes than I thought I had. When I get time I'll sift through them and post them in my Cisco section with the others, and add a link to them here.
In the meantime, thanks for all the nice comments and remarks I receive about my Cisco notes. If you're nearing your CCNA test I wish you the best of luck!
[newly published content]
Here's my CCNA cram sheet: Cisco CCNA pre-exam cram sheet
29. March 2007 16:36
I finally received my Vista Home Premium upgrade DVD this morning. I got an email claiming it was being shipped earlier this month and commented on my thoughts here.
Unlike the retail versions of Vista you don't get the snazzy clear box with the rounded corner. I can't complain though, it came in a clear DVD case with a quick start guide and a new OEM Certificate of Authenticity (CoA). You may remember I bought a copy of Media Center 2005 with a Vista Upgrade voucher last year.
It also comes with a slip of paper that states the following:
Licensed Device. This Windows Vista software replaces the Microsoft Windows XP software that is eligible for the upgrade to this software. You may install and use this software only on the device on which you acquired the Windows XP software.
Reassignment to Another Device.
You may not reassign the license for this software to another device.
It also goes on to talk about transferring to a third party and support services.
This goes someway to answering some of my questions. When I get around to installing Vista I'll no doubt be adding some more posts here. I need to give my hard drives a spring clean before I can do that though ;-)
27. March 2007 16:36
I received an email from Amazon Associates yesterday explaining their contextual adverts are now out of closed beta and are now available for their associates to use (although still in beta).
I checked out the demo sites they mentioned, looked at the source HTML and logged into the Associates homepage to see what customisations were available.
All it requires is a few Javascript includes at the foot of the page and all the rendering is done client-side. Essentially any word(s) on your page can be linked to Amazon or Amazon Marketplace items, and they're all relevant!
No More Manual Links!
Hold your horses! Those of you who are Adsense publishers beware! I have been reading Adsense terms and conditions and some blog posts and I'm pretty sure you can't use Adsense and Amazon Context Links ads on the same page.
Does anyone have Google's official stance on this?
What about Amazon's terms and conditions? Do they have similar terms concerning competitor contextual ads?
At the end of the day, you can't blame Google from wanting to hold on to it's huge Adsense publisher network.
24. March 2007 16:35
Media Extenders are particularly useful for streaming video to your TV. Here in the UK the only available Media Extenders you can purchase come in the form of an Xbox 360.
I have been using my Xbox 360 to stream movies stored on my main Media Center PC to my living room over a wireless network (802.11g).
Occasionally I get a "Network Congestion" message appear in the top-right-hand corner, which comes accompanied with a small amount of picture judder/stutter. It's still highly watchable, just a little annoying. Information is available to help you improve your wireless performance; however the crux of the issue is the wireless standards. The Xbox wireless networking adapter supports the following WLAN standards 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. The 802.11n standard has not been ratified by the IEEE yet, but when it comes around it will improve the throughput of data.
The Xbox 360 wireless networking adapter doesn't support any draft version of the 802.11n standard however, so we are stuck with 802.11a,b,g, unless we run an ethernet cable from the router to the Xbox, but that kind of defeats the object, doesn't it?
Microsoft recommends the following:
- Only have 1 wireless route between your PC -> Router -> Media Extender
- Use 802.11a standard as it works at 5GHz compared to the congested 2.4GHz channel
- Use a router designed for Windows XP Media Center Edition
I fairly certain 802.11a is not legal in the UK, can anyone confirm this?
22. March 2007 16:33
Apple have just released Apple TV, essentially a device used to wirelessly bridge the gap between iTunes on your computer (Mac, PC) and your TV set in your living room.
Apple added video downloads to the iTunes service a while back, by getting several Hollywood studios on-board. These videos have so far only be available to watch on your computer screen or on your iPod video. Apple TV aims to fix this, by allowing your iTunes library to be wirelessly streamed to your HDTV.
Xbox 360's Media Capabilities
Microsoft on the other hand have similar strategies on invading peoples' living rooms with digital content, theirs though, is in the form of the Xbox 360, which as well as being a high definition games machine is also a very capable Media Center Extender.
As a Media Center Extender it wirelessly streams content from Windows Media Center, or Windows Vista (Home Premium and Ultimate editions) computers. If you don't have a Media Center edition of Windows you can still stream your music, pictures and just recently WMV videos too from the Xbox console using Windows Media Connect.
So How Do Apple TV and Xbox 360 Compare?
Ok, here's a matrix comparision table between Apple TV and the Xbox 360, so you can make your own mind up.
Feature
| Apple TV
| Xbox 360
|
HD Games Machine
|
No
|
Yes
|
Stream Audio
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Stream Video
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Stream Photos
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Component Video
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
HDMI
|
Yes
|
No
|
Audio Out
|
Yes (optical and RCA analogue)
|
Yes (optical and RCA analogue) |
Ethernet connection
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Wireless capabilities
|
Yes (built-in) (pre-n)
|
Yes (sold separately) (a, b, g)
|
HD Resolution capabilities
|
1080i, 720p, 576p, or 480p |
1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480i,480p
|
DVD player
|
No
|
Yes
|
HD DVD player
|
No
|
Yes (sold separately)
|
iTunes compatibility
|
Yes
|
No
|
Remote control
|
Yes
|
Yes (sold separately)
|
HD drive
|
40GB
|
20GB (premium package only, not needed for streaming)
|
Video formats supported
|
H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps
iTunes Store purchased video: 320 by 240 pixels or 640 by 480 pixels
MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps)
|
WMV only, although a Windows 3rd party app called Transcode360 will allow most other formats to be streamed
|
Audio formats supported
|
AAC, protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3, MP3 VBR, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV |
MP3, WMA, un-encoded AAC, CD, DVD audio
|
