Firefox 4

So I'm sure by now you've all gotten the new Firefox 4. It was 2008 when they released the 3 version.

I don't use Firefox (Chrome here) but I'm definitely going to switch. It just seems much more speedy now which is good - probably because Chrome is all full of gunk thanks to all that browsing.

Plus what I also did was set Firefox to move the cache into RAM so that its much faster to load. Here's how: http://lifehacker.com/#!5687850/speed-up-firefox-by-moving-your-cache-to-ram-no-ram-disk-required

The rest of the year should be exciting for firefox. It plans to release version 7 by the end of this year. Hope it goes well and its not just fudging the numbers to make themselves look good, but rather actually deliver new features on time. For instance did you know that Firefox had the idea for tabs on top - Chrome got it out first but now finally Firefox has it.

US intervention

The United States has intervened in Libya.

Of course the difference between this and Iraq is that the US has permission from the UN and the Arab League. Now just hope they don't over stay by 8 years or something and it will be all good.

Interesting thing about this and George Bush is that if he had stayed long enough to get into one more war he could have gotten a Nobel Peace Prize as well!

video unrelated (?)

Windows 1 ---> 7

This is a video of a user updating through every Windows release. Windows 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, XP, Vista, and 7.

This looks like a real consumer friendly design. Windows can be updated to a newer release without having too much trouble. But is this a bad design? Windows keeps getting more and more bloated with each release thanks to its insistence on backwards compatibility. And also on the Windows LNK vulnerability It was discovered in 2010 and it affects Windows from XP to the present 7. XP was 10 years ago! (Yes stop and think about that for a second, feels bad old).

Tsunami

Well as you may know Japan has been hit by a large Tsunami - the worst it has ever seen, resulting from an earthquake to the east of the coast of Japan. Over 1000 confirmed death with tolls expected to reach over 10000. Given the population density of Japan the fact that this was not a higher number is a great testament to the civil engineers of Japan.

Japan loves its technology and one of the most high-tech ways to generate electricity is through the use of nuclear power. There was no damage to any nuclear power plants - again a testament to the civil engineers of Japan, but radiation levels around the area have increased. The population nearest the power plants were evacuated from the area while the rest of the population were told to stay indoors, but without basic utilities available that may be difficult to do. Theres also some worry that the radiation will spread to west of the United States.

Speaking of the United States some Americans on Facebook have adopted the idea of Karma and said that the Tsunami was karma’s payback for Pearl Harbor bombings by the Japanese 70 years ago (which then drove USA to be in WWII). Pearl Harbor was 70 years ago. This is an issue that would have not affected them, nor their parents, but their parent’s parents. Any yet they post on their Facebook that this was payback for that??? Forgive and forget much? What about black slavery?

BTW America did get its revenge by bombing Japan in a civilian area not once but twice causing magnitudes more death than in Pearl Harbor.

What is up with Americans and their patriotism? What do they teach you in history?

Of course this maybe just a few cases blown up in the spotlight (the media loves to do that, esp social media) and not a big deal at all.

links related:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/massive_earthquake_hits_japan.html

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/japan_earthquake_aftermath.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Sendai_earthquake_and_tsunami#Nuclear_power_plants

Hey guys

what day is it again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

never mind, I got it. and wtf is wrong with her voice? Is that what autotune sounds like these days?

And if that pissed you off, watch this to get it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsCieykUOHU

Cablegate

It has been around 100 days since Wikileaks released the 'Cablegate' files. In these files are messages between embassies around the world. They have confirmed previous allegations and revealed new ones.

The most dramatic effect that this series of releases has would be the uprising and protest in North Africa and the Middle East. Tension has been building around these regions. Rights and dignities were being violated, costs of living increased (especially due to the 2008-2009 economic downturn/recession), corruption was evident in the government. But protests didn't happen at first because they were scared.

One man however had nothing to lose. After years of harassment by government officials and being unable to support his family he immolated himself in an act of desperation. This started off protests in Tunisia and is spreading around (the domino effect) the middle east and north africa. "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything." This as well as Wikileak's hard evidence of the corruption in their government made people get up in protest.

Egypt is an interesting case. Second protest- started after Tunisia. Had the most western media coverage. A mostly peaceful protest lasting about 10 days. It was a place where the United States sent people to be tortured in its 'War on Terror'. After the protest the citizens stormed the offices were these documents were stored regarding tortue and it should shine some new light on this.

In the western world there are protest in London (about increase of student fees) and Wisconsin (public workers are facing wage cuts).

And reports are that maybe signs of interest are happening in China (Jasmine Revolution) and in North Korea.

2011 will be the year of the people. It's a beautiful day.

and then 2012 will be the end of the world. :(

my recent life

Whats been happening to my life recently. Well in uni I've discovered that all my courses are pretty much the same thing: logic. I'm taking computer science, philosophy and mathematics and its really interesting to see how words like proposition and tautology come up in each of them. Seems redundant.

In other news I had my first actual drink. Had one bottle of Speights. Never drunk before. It feels lightheaded and that blood is rushing to your skin. And you also feel confident in that you don't really care too much about the consequences of your action. This was after our club meeting. Me and my new friends went around talking to girls and having a good time. Then we played pool. That was a great night.

And more to come with this debating club (well actually they call it debating society).

iPad 2

This should be interesting. iPad 2 is faster, thinner, lighter; same battery, display resolution.

It has a camera for facetime and photobooth but no retina display. Also the metal edge around the iPad is ever so slightly more thin.

Also the new case looks interesting.

I picked up my friend's iPad and the first thing I noticed was that it was really heavy. I was thinking, how are you supposed to hold and use this? But I think the lightness will make it better for everyone.

So anyone going to by iPad 2? (including the ones who haven't bought the first iPad)