A website on the edge of real and cyberspace. Visit www.knightwise.com for the full story. http://www.knightwise.com Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:14:53 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.knightwise.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.knightwise.com A website on the edge of real and cyberspace. Visit www.knightwise.com for the full story. http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/671/72/ I could say life has been getting in the way, I could say I have been busy with work, I could say I've been abducted by aliens. But only two out of those three statements would be correct. The truth is I've been getting a masters degree in procrastination and have been a bad bad blogger. So without further ado, lets kick back into rattling on the keyboard. Quite a bit has been going down the last few weeks, and you'll be pleased to know that i've been working on some new projects and some new technology to tune into your way of life . Its not always easy to find 'new stuff' to talk / podcast / screencast about, but the last few weeks of silence have brought up some interesting topics that we can talk about in the upcoming weeks. For those of you who realy want their Knightwise-Fix to trickle into their digital vains on a daily basis you can always check out my twitter feed (that is very active) on www.twitter.com/knightwise (http://www.twitter.com/knightwise) But before we kick off into the new series of articles and stuff, I want to take a moment to wish my good friend Dave Gray (http://www.aussiegeekpodcast.com/about-dave/) a Get well Soon from the heart. He's my long time digital friend and we've been co-hosting both the Global geek and the Aussigeek podcast (http://www.aussiegeekpodcast.com/) for a few years now. He's had some serious health issues the last couple of weeks and all our hearts and thoughts go out to Dave and his family. So Get Well Soon buddy ! But since one picture is kinda dull, I decided to rally up some more Belgians to wish Dave Well (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=therooster w=93099243%40N00) . Its amazing how friendly, loving and caring all of them where. You can join in and send your own picture to the AGP Forums here (http://aussiegeeks.lefora.com/2010/03/08/get-well-soon-dave/) . Blog. - Life Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:18:28 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/670/70/ A calm Sunday afternoon. The ideal moment to sit down behind my little Acer Aspire Net-book and punch out some of the thoughts and idea's that have been on my mind for the last week. A busy week I must say. A week filled with work and meetings and a lot of rushing about. Clocking up some more miles in the car and spending quite a bit of time being out and about . The cool part about that is that you need to get creative when it comes to your on-line life . Most of us have an on-line social scene that centres around the moments where we sit behind the computer. Werther at home or at work, our digital lifestyle is closely bonded with the keyboard and mouse that we are using at that moment. As soon as we step outside ( or even wander near the coffee machine ) small physical space represents the giant gap between our 'Analogue' (I refuse to call them real ) lives and our Digital Lives. Or does it really ? To me that mobility started to fade away when I got my first smart-phone that had a GPRS connection (my good friend the Palm Treo). It was one of the first cellphones I owned until it , quite literally died and I was quite attached to it. Not because of the hardware (it was a decent piece of kit) but because of the fact it bridged the digital life I had behind the keyboard, with my real life when I was out and about in off-line-land. From that moment on, with slow GPRS pop3 pull-mail as my only lifeline, something fundamentally changed in the way I used computers and more importantly, in the way I experienced the internet. Fast forward to last weekend, when I traded up my trusty Blackberry Curve 8300 for a Blackberry Bold 9000. A streak of luck would have it that I found a busy businessman with a taste for the newest gadgets who was going to buy a Blackberry 9700. In order to scrounge up some extra cash he put his Bold 9000 up for sale on the internet and I was the first one to call him about the offer. The cool little device was only 5 months old and came with a one-year warranty and plenty of extras. (Deluxe casing etc.). I was looking out for a BOLD because I had enjoyed my Curve very much over the last year but was itching to try out a new toy. What I did NOT expect when I got my hands on the BOLD, was the fact that is was so radically different from any smart-phone I had owned prior. Ok, With the Blackberry Curve came the advent of Push-email (My Knightwise.com mailbox in my pocket) and that in itself meant the end of using my personal cellphone as a 'voice communicator'. Next came übertwitter on the Blackberry (another great step forward) and next came the Googletalk client. With these three applications I had a pretty firm tie to the internet, no matter WHERE I went. Downside was of course the poor speed (GPRS Only) and the limited data plan I have (100 meg's a month). With the Bold however this changed. The device in itself is bigger and comes with a much better screen. Its a lot faster then the Curve, and upgrading the internal SD card from 1 to 4 gigabyte did give me a lot more storage. But what surprised me the most was the fact that this baby could run several applications at once (multitasking) and came with a Wifi connection. This last part (something that I had always scoffed at in a smart-phone, (Who needs wifi on a device with a numerical interface') turned out to be yet another killer feature for this device. What happened is that I started to browse the applications on the Blackberry Appworld and downloaded not only the Facebook app, Ubertwitter, GoogleVoice and Googletalk, but I also went for MSN messenger, Flickr uploader and some others. I had some of these applications on the Curve, but the combination of Wifi connectivity at home AND multitasking brought on a whole new way of connecting to my digital life. Where at first I would have my Netbook next to me on the couch, with Skype, MSN, Twitter and Email open, these applications have now been permanently moved to the Blackberry. I no longer run an MSN/Adium/Pidgin client to manage my MSN, Googletalk and Facebook contacts. Those applications are now running on the Bold. 24/7. Suddenly these apps have been liberated from the computer and now permanently reside in my back pocket. Same with Twitter. When I'm behind the computer I'll probably fire up Tweetdeck, but only as an extra way of interacting with my Twitterstream. The combination of the screen real estate, processor power, multitasking abilities and wifi/3G connection of the Blackberry has turned the device in a full-blown communicator instead of a phone with email . I don't really see the Blackberry as a Phone with extras . I look at it as a personal communicator with the 'extra option' to make voice-calls. The application Nimbuzz (that I found thanks to @meon) now even ties all my major social comlines (MSN, Skype, Facebook and Googletalk) into one single IM application. As I find more and more applications on the app store I'm feeling myself become more and more independent of just not 'one computer but 'any computer'. While finding new tools for the Blackberry (I've even found a stand alone podcatcher that will auto-download my podcasts over wifi and store them on the SD-card) I've pondered ditching the Ipod touch (and its need to sync podcasts) every morning in favour of the Blackberry. But the drain on the battery is becoming the showstopper. However, aside from it all, I'm amazed at the way we change the way we interact with the digital world now devices become more and more powerful. Pretty soon classic phone-calls will be a thing of the past and trees can grow without fear of being cut down to make books out of them thanks to ebook readers. But what about our computers ? Will we see a drastic change in the way we interact with our digital lives ? Will the Ipads and the Smartphones take over the communicational aspects and will a computer regress into an interaction terminal for tasks that require a bigger screen ? Or are down the path suggested by @thenos100 when he asked us the question : Would you use a Smartphone with an external keyboard, screen and mouse ? Its a valid question that requires some pondering. Perhaps its time to say bye bye computer ? Blog. - Technology Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:52:40 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/669/71/ Docu-Cast : DC005 Configuring Ubuntu 9.10 and making it look Sexy. Ubuntu is a great operating system if you think about it. You can download it for free and it comes bundled with a whole lot of applications out of the box. Adding software is easy and the operating system is extremely versatile when it comes down to using it. You can run it on older hardware, use it a server or a workstation .. and stuff like that. The one downside that there is to installing Ubuntu Linux from the CD is that it does not come with a LOT of software. Sure its very easy to point and click and get all of the stuff you need via the software center. However : Installing non-free software like MP3 and DVD playback ability, Some applications like for example Google Chrome and Skype is not always possible using this method. So we've pointed you to the right places to go in this manual. But then you are still stuck with a classic Ubuntu Interface that does not really look all that sexy. Well , let's take care of that too then. We are going to take a plain vanilla installation of Ubuntu 9.10 and add all the extra software you require PLUS show you some tips and tweaks how to make it look ... Sexy. So if you want to take your installation of Ubuntu to the next level .. Follow along ! A Vanilla install. Adding Repositories. Enabling DVD and MP3 playback, flash etc. Adding extra software Installing Picasa, Google Chrome,Skype etc. Configuring Cairo Dock. Making it look Sexy. Bleumangolearning.com (http://www.bluemangolearning.com/screensteps/) Blog. - Podcast. Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:24:05 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/668/ Blog. - Pictures Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:49:21 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/667/71/ Last weekend I featured as a Co-Host on the Click HERE to listen. (http://www.aussiegeekpodcast.com/2010/01/aussie-geek-podcast-031-back-for-2010/) Blog. - Podcast. Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:45:57 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/666/ RSS + Calibri + Sony Ebook Reader + XKCD = Awesome ! Blog. - Pictures Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:49:42 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/665/84/ KWTV 0014 Chatting on IRC. This week we show you how to chat on IRC using Windows, Linux and web based clients. We give you the basic rundown on how to connect an behave on IRC channels and use this powerful tool to your advantage. Shownotes Intro Chatting on IRC using MIRC (http://www.mirc.org/) Chatting on IRC using IRSSI (http://www.irssi.org/) Chatting on IRC Using Xchat (http://xchat.org/) Chatting via Mibbit (http://Www.mibbit.com) Chatting via Webchat.freenode.net (http://webchat.freenode.net) ! IRSSI AND XChat are also available for WINDOWS ! A funny little video on how the nUmb3rs guys think IRC works (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rGTXHvPCQ feature=player_embedded) . Itunes. (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=78310707) or MIRO (http://www.getmiro.com) Or DOWNLOAD (podcasts/kwtv0014.m4v) the episode. regular feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/feedburner/knightcast) Shyniwhitebox.com (http;/www.shinywhitebox.com) Blog. - Screencasts Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:21:38 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/664/71/ Shownotes for KC0033 My Uber_Netbook. In a classic hardware review we take a hands-on look at the Acer Aspire 1810Tz. We peekl at this special little laptop and its 11.6 inch family and see small, but remarcable differences between the different brands, models and form factors. We see how this full-powered laptop has the size of a Netbook and manages to impress both under Ubuntu and Windows 7. Intro Make it happen Competition. (content/view/662/9/) Laptop Quest : Looking for a special kind of laptop. The Packard bell dot MA (http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/laptops/264319/packard-bell-dot-ma-netbook-first-look) Packard Bell dot MU (http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/16/packard-bell-debuts-dot-m-u-netbook-with-the-performance-of-a-n/) Acer Aspire 1018tz (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-Timeline-1810TZ-Subnotebook.21322.0.html) My written review of the 1810tz (content/view/661/9/) Unboxing the 1810Tz (content/view/660/9/) Signoff Play or Download the episode (podcasts/kc0033.mp3). Itunes (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=78310707) or Miro (http://subscribe.getmiro.com/?type=video url1=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffeedburner%2Fknightcast). (Get Itunes here (http://www.itunes.com) or Miro here (http://www.getmiro.com/) ) Be part of the show and leave a message via Skype or via Google Voice: (218) 262-9237 Blog. - Podcast. Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:35:38 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/663/74/ It had to happen someday. For all of you Cybergeeks out there desperately LOOKING for a cool wallpaper .. There HAD to be an answer. Call it a cool idea , Call it the pinacle of vanity or just call it your next desktop wallpaper. Thanx to @Sharky @jawboneradio and @regravity .. We present the first four OFFICIAL Knightwise.com wallpapers .. For you to download. ( Click on the links for High Res.). 4:3 Ratio : Click for High Res. (http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4266284027_ddbb716cc1_b.jpg) Widescreen Ratio : Click for High Res. (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/4267031108_f981f269f4_b.jpg) 4:3 Ratio : Click for High Res. (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4261873134_ff5780e279_b.jpg) Widescreen Ratio : Click for High Res. (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4261119443_4f303d4c7c_b.jpg) Blog. - Funny Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:17:09 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/662/70/ If the internet is about ONE single thing, then it must be about interaction . About finding out new things on the net thanx to your peeps. About inspiring people, showing people the way and so forth. The whole interweb is one big interactive community that constantly influences eachother. So why stop at the edges of your screen. In my new office ' Nicely dubbed 'The laundry room' by some of my Twitter followers' I've put up some frames and hung up some pictures to make the whole place nice and cosy. I have however left an 'open spot' in my decorations for a little social experiment. I've put up 3 little picture frames on the wall directly next to where I sit. I have however , on purpose put NOTHING in them yet. Why ? Well , because I'm not going to decide whats gonna be in them : Its up to you guys ! Yes YOU can decide what will become the content of these three catchy picture frames that are going to be in full view AND are going to be in the shot whenever I need to record a video-segment for KWTV. There are a few parameters. It has to be something that's at least a little family safe, It has to be in picture format (they aren't hung in landscape mode) and Nyana gets a veto wether or not its gonna be on the wall. (She IS the Style Guru of the house) But for the rest : Its a free for all. Whatever you send it ( picture , drawing etc) should be something YOU yourself have made and you can sign it with your name on the bottom. So help me decorate the office and ... become a part of the Knightwise.com Wall of fame . Blog. - Technology Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:35:03 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/661/70/ This weekend I had the honor AND the pleasure of going out to buy me some new gear. After renovating our laundry room over the holidays, I had planned on getting me a second 28 inch monitor, but Einstein got in the way. According to some teeny weeny law of phisics 2 atoms cannot occupy the same room in normal spacetime. As a result the edge of my Second 28 inch display would occupy the same atomic space as the wall of my office. ( I just didn't have the room for 2 screens). So that purchase was canceled. This DID free up the next item on my list for purchase : A new(er) Pc laptop to run Ubuntu and Windows 7 to replace my TC1100 Tablet pc. I love the device, but at over 2 kilograms its a little heavy to lug around ALL the time. The parameters for what I wanted out of this new laptop were a little conflicting to say the least. I wanted the power of a full size notebook, but wanted something distinctly smaller than the standard 15.4 or 17 inch size notebooks out there. I had even been hitting the bargain sites for a second hand 13.3 inch Macbook, but still found it too large. With nostalgic memories of my old 12 inch Ibook in my mind, i went on the impossible quest of finding this mix between high power-small formfactor - affordable price. The Small form factor was not an issue. There are hundreds of Netbooks out there in every possible color, ready and able to become your portable companion. From 7 inch screens (nice but too darn small) to 9 and 10 inch screens (getting there, but still too low when it comes to screen resolution) to the newer 11.6 inch models. These last models sport displays with a screen real estate of about 1300 by 768 which is pretty decent. The additional bonus of this form factor is that you get a full sized keyboard. So I did some looking around and was a little disappointed to find a few models out there (From Acer, Packard Bell etc) but all of them once again with an Atom Processor ( Some with the new Atom 520 chip set that means HELL when you want to run Linux on them). So Friday afternoon I hooked up with @woollymittens on twitter and we talked about the notebook HE got for his trip to Australia. Apparently Packard Bell had created a special DOT MA model that had the same look and feel of a netbook, but sported an AMD instead of an ATOM processor and came with 2 gigabytes of ram. I was intrigued about this Uber-Netbook and did some more Googling around. We found the Packard Bell M.U model with 1 gigabyte of ram and a peculiar Intel Intel CULV processor in the Local Mediamarket, and for about 400 euros it was quite a bargain. After checking out some reviews online (Tweakers.net) it appeared to be a very interesting notebook. Mind you : This is NOT a netbook, Because the machine did NOT have an Atom CPU, its ram capacity was NOT limited to 1 gigabyte AND it came with an HDMI connector on the side. (and an ATI Radeon videocard). This gave it the edge over the 'regular netbooks' by stepping away from the Crippled/underpowered Atom architecture while still holding true to the compact formfactor. So it was time to hit the road and go take a look at the machine. The great thing about having a Geeky wife is that you have a buddy that loves to go with you on your Laptop Quest . So I talked the desired specs' through with Nyana (just so she knew what we were hunting for) and we dashed off to the nearest MediaMarket in Herstal (French speaking part of the country). to go see if we could find one of these Packard Bell M.U notebooks. Unfortunately they were sold out BUT they did have one very good looking Acer Aspire 1810 model on the shelves. A little bit higher in price then the Packard Bell , but it was one sweet little notebook. I had read online that the Packard Bell dot MU series were actually the same machines as the Acer Timeline Netbooks. So I asked the shop-dude for details. Surprisingly THIS friendly Mediamarkt shop clerk DID now what he was talking about and he explained that the Acer Aspire 1810TZ came with an even newer processor then the Packard Bell MU series. With a 1,3 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core ULV SU4100 processor this baby came with 2 gigs of ram AND a 64-bit version of Windows 7. The led screen , the low powered processor, the 6-Cell (8 theoretical hour), the 4500HM graphic card AND the HDMI port make this little laptop a very VERY powerful dwarf that puts its Netbook-family to shame. All in all, this isn't a Netbook, The Acer Aspire 1810tz is a small form factor laptop. 3cm thick, fast, fairly silent, very fuel-efficient and extremely portable it is a dwarfed-down version of your run-of-the-mill laptop.At 499 euros it was a pretty high price for a Netbook .. but its NOT a Netbook. So if you compare the price to a 'regular' laptop ..its pretty cheap and portable. First impressions of the device are very positive. The display is nice, the cpu is fast, the keyboard is wonderful and the Windows 7 needs to be de-crapified after installation (plenty of useless software provided by acer) But beside that its a great machine ! What i like is the 5 in 1 card-reader , The wireless b/g/N card and the fact its only 3cm thick (and very light). The real fun however started when I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on it. Every single thing worked out of the box. EVERYTHING. The wifi , the sound , the video drivers, (ok i still need to check the HDMI port) the card-reader ... EVERYTHING .. And its lightning fast ! The bad press 9.10 has gotten so far has nothing to say on this install of Ubuntu. The laptop is supported flawlessly. Even my Mobistar 3G modem (for which i Still need to find 64 bit drivers to get it to work under Windows7) works like a charm. And did I mention it was Fast ? like in : Really fast. All in all the combination of fast hardware, a small form factor and flawless software support by both Ubuntu AND Windows 7, elevate this little notebook to one of the better ones I've owned in a long time. I even dare to say this is the BEST PC-laptop i've owned up until now. (Looking at bang for the buck). Over the next couple of days i'll be pushing the limits of the Graphics card by trying Half-Life, I'll hook up our TV on the HDMI port and Release the power of the dwarf . Links : Another review by Notebookcheck (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-Timeline-1810TZ-Subnotebook.21322.0.html) My own UNBOXING set. (content/view/660/9/) Blog. - Technology Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:04:05 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/660/70/ I went shopping for a new notebook yesterday and got me an Acer Timeport as my main 'non mac' system to run Ubuntu , Windows 7 and stuff like that. I'll post a complete review once i'm done testing. But the unboxing porn IS ready to go. Instead of doing it mysellf, I outsourced the process towards two friendly Starfleet Officers. Blog. - Technology Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:09:16 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/659/72/ Those of you who have been following me on Twitter over the holidays, might have noticed that there were a lot of tweets about Renovating flying back and forth. Yep .. its true. I've been hitting the DIY over the holidays, renovating our spare/laundry room into an office. When we moved in here we had the office upstairs in the attic. A big desk with the 24 inch Imac, Some extra screens, a couch, a tv .. it was a nice hangout.. But it was upstairs This meant that it was rather inconvenient to computer away as the better half was making dinner in the kitchen, or if one of us wanted to hang out on the porch. So Nyana moved the 24 inch Imac downstairs (Kitchen Table) because quite frankly : Technology is THAT MUCH a part of our daily lives. So the next logical step would be to move the rest of our office downstairs to an area that was more in-line with our daily routine. A geek hangout that still had the characteristics of 'a geek hangout' with plenty of room for computers, screens, stuff and geeky-memorabilia, but was not this intrusive 'mission control-style' technoblob in an otherwise stylish house. So we came up with a compromise and turned our spare/laundry room into a geek-o-sphere WITHOUT kicking out the laundry element of the room. The result ? A stylish use of a reserved amount of space. Maximum storage capabilities and total integration of the secundary function of the room (laundry room) into its primary function : Geek pad. Before. Before Blog. - Life Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:05:27 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/658/70/ One of the shows that allmost puts me in a Coma every time I see it , is MTV Cribs ! Some punked up rapper with too much money and about half a braincell does loooove to show people around his great house with its 4 pools, 3 Garages and 45 Plasma Tv's so he can watch Martha Steward while taking a crap. But the voyeur inside of us does like to poke around in peoples houses to see 'how they hang . Well the question about how they hang in the highest penthouse apartment know to human kind .. has ALSO been answered. Thanx to Sharky we get a great video tour of the ISS Spacestation in this youtube video he sent in. The funny thing is that its A: Not at all Spacy (it looks more like the inside of a Russian Pop-bands Tourbus) AND that its damn Cramped. The one thing I noticed is that Zero G is not all that its worked up to be. Sure you never Fall Down and impress your friends by propelling yoursellf by the power of your own farts, but you also need to strap EVERYTHING down. So I hope you think of things like that when you see those ISS guys on Tv. Remember how cramped their little condo-in-space is. Ok , they have the greatest view OF the planet, but they also run the risk of being hit by (hopefully their own) flying poo. < Blog. - Technology Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:23:36 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/657/74/ Its always nice to have a laugh at a running gag, and somehow THIS one is becoming a classic. What started out as a prank by some Co-Workers has turned into its very own little internet Meme. For those of you who don't remember The Mega Mindy Incident you can find out more HERE (content/view/402/74/) . This week The Herne (from Theherne.com (http://www.theherne.com/) ) and Dave Gray (From the Agp Podcast (http://www.aussiegeekpodcast.com/) ) merged some layers in Photoshop and gave the Australian weather forcast .. a bit of a twist. So could the predictions be true and the appearance of pink-tighted superheroes point to some kind of Global Charming ? Blog. - Funny Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:23:59 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/656/71/ Shownotes for KC0032 Ethical HacKing. In a very interesting interview we talk to Finux, An ethical Hacker about all things Hacking. Whitehat Hacking, Blackhat Hacking, Penetration testing and other security related topics all pass the review in this one hour talk about Hacking and Security. Intro Happy New Year. Interview with Finux Tracsec security Podcast (http://www.tracsec.com/) Hacker Public Radio (http://hackerpublicradio.org/) Signoff Play or Download the episode (podcasts/kc0032.mp3). Itunes (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=78310707) or Miro (http://subscribe.getmiro.com/?type=video url1=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffeedburner%2Fknightcast). (Get Itunes here (http://www.itunes.com) or Miro here (http://www.getmiro.com/) ) Be part of the show and leave a message via Skype or via Google Voice: (218) 262-9237 Blog. - Podcast. Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:22:56 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/655/70/ Let us start out with the formalities of wishing you well for the coming year. Knightwise, Nyana, LotCha, Scotty and Kira the cat wish all of you the very very best for 2010. May this coming year herald the fulfillment of many of your dreams and ambitions (not all of them, we need something to aspire to) but still, a lot of them. We hope you had a great new years celebration and it has been a pleasure in receiving your new years wishes via mail, twitter and IM as the we watched the globe turn into the new year. So its time for one of these rhetorical and prophetical posts where we ponder the year gone by and peer into the murky depths of the future .. From a technology point of view of course. Its time for the Annual Knightwise.com 'tech of the year' awards. We look back at the way technology worked for us the last year on a personal basis and hand out some awards. Most used technological device. The best gadget you own is not the most expensive one, or the very latest one .. its the one you use the most. So looking back at which of my thingamagoo's I used the most the last year I've made a selection of 3. Bronze : Macbook Pro. I acquired my Unibody Macbook Pro early on this year and handed my older Macbook Pro over to Nyana. After we re-decorated our kitchen , the 24 inch Imac in our house moved downstairs and claimed its rightful place on the kitchen table. (That was Nyana's Idea). As a result, the only Desktop Mac we have in the house, that was otherwise my main machine and mostly used for Multimedia stuff (podcasts , videocasts etc), now became Nyana's main machine. She wakes up in the morning , comes downstairs, turns on the Imac and logs in for the rest of the day. This meant that I spent a lot more time on my Macbook Pro then on the Imac. I must say I was hesitant at first, not very confident in the thought that this laptop was powerful enough to compete with the 'desktop machine' I was used to. However , I was wrong. Over the last year I've done just about EVERYTHING on this little machine. Granted : the four gigs of ram AND the 7200 rpm hard drive give it that extra bit of power that lets my creative urges run wil. Screencasting, Imovie, Podcast production , DJ-Software, Photoshop.. its all done on that 15 inch slab of silver. The addition of an external keyboard, mouse and 27 inch display to the Macbook, have changed my concept of a 'desktop' computer forever. In my new office there is a docking spot for the Macbook as I hook it up to the main screen and enjoy the luxury of stationary computing on a device that was actually designed for mobile use. The 27 inch display becomes the Macbooks 'main screen as the laptop display becomes a secondary screen housing IM-lists, Tweetdeck and all things related to communication (I use it as my 'Skype terminal'). So far I'm very pleased with it. Looking at the hours I clocked on this baby, the Macbook Pro gets the bronze for most productive hardware this year. Silver : The Ipod Touch. For the second year in a row, the Ipod touch saw a LOT of action. Listening to music an podcasts makes up a large part of my day. The Ipod touch seldom to never fails when it comes to battery-life and the little device goes just about everywhere. For a 300 euro portable device its pretty rugged and boasts no signs of wear and tear, even it its second year of heavy use. The one thing that does surprise me is the fact that the advanced capabilities of the device ( Wifi, Videoplayback, Applications etc) still have not really caught on in my daily use. I mostly use the Touch for its primary function : As an audio player. Sure I've installed some additional apps and have done the 3.0 firmware upgrade, but don't catch myself using the touch for Mail / Facebook or Twitter when I'm within wifi coverage. This might be due to the fact that I have my Blackberry for that. But still : If i take a look at how much I use the advanced options of the Touch, I'm wondering if I would use those functionalities more when they where on an iPhone. Who knows. Still : Miles to the gallon : The Ipod Touch touch gets second place. Gold : The Blackberry. If I where to calculate the amount of hours spent on this device it would surely be a LOT. My Blackberry Curve just goes ANYWHERE with me and keeps me connected during those daily and boring traffic jams. I'm not one for 'calling people over the phone' so the phone functionality of the Blackberry doesn't see a lot of action, BUT the Data-connection on the device is used all the time. My digital sidearm/lifeline to the world wide web is how I can best describe the Blackberry. Keeping me connected with Twitter (thanx to Ubertwitter ) is one of the main functionalities. Its great to use Twitter on the Blackberry for general Tweeting, but thanks to the Geo-location option of Ubertwitter its also nice to post where you are, so you could find a Tweet-up in the neighbourhood. So is using Twitter as a Digital helpline to post questions when i'm on the road . If Twitter can't give us any answer about our surroundings when Nyana and I are out and about, we can use Google maps and its built in search functionality. With the Blackberry,I can shoot pictures to Flickr straight away, and of course browse my way out of any argument (thanx to wikipedia). And it of course also does general Mail and Sms messaging, which has taken over as my main line of communication. In the beginning of last year I set my personal Cellphone to Voicemail, told everybody to mail me on my Blackberry and have barely powered on my personal cell at all. The Blackberry is the perfect combination of portability, a good simple interface and connectivity to the net. For that . it gets gold this year. Best application of the year. If I need to choose what was the most interesting piece of software this year, it would be a little bit of a tie. On one hand there is of course Linux. Over the past year I've endeavoured to learn more about the workings of the command line and have found it to be a fast and very productive way of getting things done. Simple applications, commands , little home-made scripts, they all added to the great experience in using Linux. On the other hand there is Firefox. Easily the most used application of the last year, as more and more of my computing activities become cloud based. The google Apps suite and countless web-based applications like Meebo, Zoho Notebook and others got me to spend a lot of time in the Browser. I have been trying out Google Chrome and must say I am very very impressed with its ease of use AND speed. I think we are going to see Chrome make a big impact in my browsing activities in 2010 .. but those are just predictions. But in any case : the application awards go to the open source applications. New technology of the year The best new technology this year is my Sony Ebook Reader. Having got mine about 6 months ago I spend my time on the device 50/50 between USING it and DEMONSTRATING it to other people. People are very curious about it whenever you pull it out. Personally I think the Ebook is going to be big in 2010 and that Apple is keeping an eye out to turn the Itunes store into a digital bookstore once the Apple Slate is going to be released. The switch from paper to digital book has almost gone overnight for us, and its been quite a drastic ride. Packing up all my Star Trek novels and archiving them up in the attic, together with my cds was something that happened in once single day. It was funny to notice how the shelves and cupboards that housed our books, suddenly sported little ornaments and nothing else. But it did point out the significance of this technology. the end of IM If we are to mourn the loss of one technological aspect, then its gonna be MSN. What had once been the communications hub of the Knightcastle , is now reduced to a list of chatters that are 99% idle. MSN used to be the main link between Nyana and her family (mum and grandma ) but has been replaced by Facebook Chat. However, the biggest change we've noticed is not the fall of MSN as a client, but how instant messaging has made room for a more indirect form of chatting. Popping up chat-bubbles have faded away, in favour of IM services like Twitter and Facebook. More and more Chatting has made room for Posting and conversations take a more indirect swing. Not that we mind, I think its a natural reaction to communication overload thats hitting us these days. But still , i'm curious whats gonna happen with IM in 2010. So .. those have been my predicitions, reviews and prophecy's. As a new years resulotion i'll try to post more articles on the blog so .. Off we go ! Blog. - Technology Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:21:35 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/654/74/ See more funny videos (http://www.collegehumor.com/videos) and funny pictures (http://www.collegehumor.com/pictures) at CollegeHumor (http://www.collegehumor.com/). Blog. - Funny Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:09:45 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/653/71/ Shownotes for KC0031 Simplify Technology. Does new tech always mean more tech ? We give you some interesting tips, tricks and insights on how to simplify the ever growing clutter of technology into your daily life. With music from Esem Laidegg provided by the www.spacemusic.nl podcast we chill into an intersting episode on how to simplify the technology that in your life by using virtualisation, cloud computing and plain old common sence. Intro Does new tech always mean more tech. Simplification using VM-Ware server Cloud computing. Multi Monitoring. Chat-client unification. Music : ESEM by Laidegg (Download the entire track HERE (http://abmp3.com/mp3/esem-laid-egg.html) ) Macrium Free (http://www.google.be/url?sa=t source=web ct=res cd=1 ved=0CAkQFjAA url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.macrium.com%2Freflectfree.asp ei=eDYnS4_dEpONjAenioiuDQ usg=AFQjCNF6uRx3XO6hyO7L3tgekvN5nExInA sig2=wLfnxWa_QuPuDzEmpdo1wg) Vmware Converter (http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/) VMware Server. (http://www.vmware.com/products/server/) Logmein remote control. (http://www.logmein.com) Signoff Voicemails Music Provided by the Spacemusic Podcast (http://www.spacemusic.nl) . Play or Download the episode (podcasts/kc0031.mp3). Itunes (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=78310707) or Miro (http://subscribe.getmiro.com/?type=video url1=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffeedburner%2Fknightcast). (Get Itunes here (http://www.itunes.com) or Miro here (http://www.getmiro.com/) ) Be part of the show and leave a message via Skype or via Google Voice: (218) 262-9237 Blog. - Podcast. Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:20:30 +0100 http://www.knightwise.com/content/view/652/74/ Quite frankly .. I am. Blog. - Funny Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:27:17 +0100