From the press release from earlier this month:
"Microsoft Equipt offers consumers Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, giving them the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for their personal and school projects; Windows Live OneCare, the all-in-one security and PC management service; Windows Live tools, such as Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Photo Gallery so they can connect and share with people they care about most; and Office Live Workspace, a new service from Microsoft that makes it easy to save documents to a dedicated online Workspace and share them with friends and classmates. Anytime a new version of Office or Windows Live OneCare is released, Microsoft Equipt customers will get the version upgrades as part of their subscriptions."
Cost is $US70 per year for up to 3 PCs. Pretty reasonable I think and improves the home user proposition versus Open Office and Google online services . . .
Student benifits!
I'm currently doing a Bachelor of Communications and Information Technology at UCOL, Palmerston North.
A few days ago I received an email stating I am registered with the MSDN Academic Alliance: Online Software System. I visited the link included in the email and was very pleased to find out I have access to free downloads which include; Windows Vista Business, Windows 2008 Server, Visual Studio 2008 and many more! This is great, I can download hundreds of dollars worth of software for free.
I think I'll be reaching my monthly download quota very early this month!
http://www.e-academy.com/
The Dark Knight: Batman remodeled.
I took the opportunity to see "The Dark Knight" on saturday night, (in Reading Cinemas Gold Lounge)
and I have to admit, the hype is not totally misplaced, it is a stunning movie,
Heath Ledger truly played the part to a legendary level, the gadgets again are fantastic,
the sheer grittyness that was brough about made it all the more real, rather than having a fantastical approach, it gave it a realisticness lacking in many hero movies.
I'd love to write more but I'd hate to spoil it,
I think this movie will go down as a definite movie to watch.
Orcon Homehub/ADSL2 Setup - A Quick Review
After going unbundled with Orcon's Gold+ Account I was having issues getting online and was recommended an Orcon HomeHub over D-Link DST-502T. The 502T was theoretically more than capable of doing ADSL2+ (as I was running it at home on the same plan already). But at $5 a month, and to solve a problem I thought, stuff it, and got one sent out.
The HomeHub is really just a Siemens SX-763 WLAN DSL Router. Its running a slightly modified firmware that has the Orcon settings preset. You can't flash newer vesions of Firmware, although Orcon can from their side of things. This could lead to an interesting future for this little hub - more on that later.
The Homehub features (according to Orcon) -
"This sleek wireless router lets you access your Broadband from anywhere in your house without plugs or cables.On the Siemens site it lists it features as -
What's more, because our network can talk to it, our helpdesk can easily support the device remotely to get you back online faster if there is ever a problem.
In the future, we'll be teaching the Homehub some cool new tricks to give you an even better Orcon experience through new and interesting services, so stay tuned..."
- High-speed wireless data transfer at up to 108 Mbps (compatible with IEEE 802.11b/g)
- Integrated ADSL 2+ modem
- 4 Port 10/100 Hub
- External broadband access modem support (e. g. VDSL, cable)
- Support for up to 6 VoIP public telephone accounts (SIP Protocol)
- USB Support (SMB/FTP/Web/Printer).
The Unit is one of the nicer Routers or modems I've seen, although it does feel a but light and plasticy. All the ports are nicely placed on the back. It can be mounted on a wall or look fine on a desk.
The web inerface is pleasent to look at, and functionally seems to include all the settings. There's wizards both for the absolutely basics and also for the security features. Add to that the normal Advanced Settings, It's feature packed but simple to get around. There's support for all the necessary wireless standards - WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK/WPA-PSK.
I'd love to go into the VOIP settings but as I have never been too interested in it before, I wouldn't know much. The fact they're there, and are quite feature complete shows a feature I imagine Orcon will use in the future.
Connection wise, the wireless seems solid, although I personally use an Apple Airport Extreme to run a parallel 5ghz Only 11N based network and a 2.4Ghz for older clients. Excessive. Maybe. A bonus of using the $5 a month homehub though.
Internet wise, in the Auckland CBD, just off K Rd I've got a 12286 kbps (upstream) ADSL Connection. Its strange as when the connection was first setup I was getting up to 22500kbps on the connection - close to ADSL2's limit - and now its back down to the top of ADSL1's top....... Orcon?
UPDATE See first comment.
Heres some results from speedtest.net -
Auckland -> Auckland (WorldxChange Communications) - 9907 Down / 354 Up
Auckland -> Christchurch (Snap Internet) - 6587 Down / 266 Up
Auckland -> Sydney (Mammoth Media) - 3327 Down / 333 Up
Auckland -> London (Namesco) - 1723 Down / 180 Up
Auckland -> San Francisco (Unwired) - 2739 Down / 194 Up
Things that aren't cool -
USB only does FTP no SFTP so not great for putting online.
The DHCP server won't list connected devices - Wireless status lists the Host name, Mac and IP's of any wireless clients but for the overall IP's - nothing. The settings are there - just broken, a bug that I hope Orcon will get on to fixing.
UPDATE Orcon do indeed have a forthcoming update. Orcon were nice enough to flash mine and it does indeed fix the issue.
Things that are cool -
USB Features.
Looks good.
A full featured router for only $5 a month (on Orcon).
Assumably VOIP support from Orcon in the future.
Backdoor in Skype? We need an open-source replacement
A backdoor in Skype?It has long been speculated that there might be a backdoor built into Skype, something that would allow Skype (the company) or the police to easily monitor Skype conversations. Skype is closed software and can therefore ... (more in the full post)
Update Windows Live Mobile or not?
This week we got the news Microsoft has released an update for Windows Live Mobile. No, don't go updating your Windows Mobile Pocket PC yet. Read on.
First the good news: this update enhances Windows Live on your Windows Mobile. Great. But if you have Windows Live Messenger on your device (installed by an OEM), don't install this update yet. Read more.
Windows Live Mobile is really cool - it enables push e-mail for your Windows Live accounts (this includes Hotmail and even the Geekzonemail accounts).
Here is the bad news: Microsoft stopped providing Windows Live Messenger with Windows Live Mobile - a departure from earlier versions. And if you have an old Windows Live Mobile version with Windows Live Messenger, installing this new version will disable the Messenger component.
The Windows Live Messenger files are still in the system, but the program won't start at all. Uninstalling the "update" will automatically revert to the previous version and enable Windows Live Messenger again.
What is really annoying is that Microsoft makes Windows Live Messenger available for RIM BlackBerry users, but leave Windows Mobile users in the cold, waiting for operators to release their software (which we all know ain't gonna happen any time soon).
If you don't have Windows Live Mobile on your device (some OEMs don't include it), then you can download it now - and use a third party software for communicating with friends on Windows Live Messenger. Try one of the following:
- Fring (free, multiple IM systems, Skype, SIP, Twitter)
- Pocket MSN
- MSN Messenger Force
Windows Server 2008 is my Desktop Workstation
After hearing lots of good stuffs about this new SERVER product from Microsoft called Windows Server 2008, I took the decision to move from Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition 
The good thing is, Windows Server 2008 can be configured as a fully featured desktop workstation. Your one stop guide for completing this ‘awesome’ task is here
Below is my laptop configuration:
2) 4 GB RAM
I have Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x86 Edition installed
Below is the list of software installed:
1) Apple Bootcamp
2) Microsoft Office 2007
3) Microsoft Visio 2007
4) Mozilla Firefox
5) Skype
6) Apple Quicktime
7) Apple iTunes
8 ) Windows Live
- Live Writer
- Live Messenger
- Live Photo Gallery
9) Foxit PDF Reader
10) Flashget Download Manager
11) Virtual PC
12) Kaspersky Internet Security
13) tWhirl
14) Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1
This server is Fast, Sleek, and Customizable (in Features and Roles). That’s a huge benefit over Vista where many services get started no matter you use them.
I have also moved my development stuffs to a virtual environment now and virtual machines run quite fast than in Vista here. Yes, I am quite happy with Virtual PC 2007 and I don’t think I would install x64 version just for Hyper-V. The application support for x64 sucks!
Everything works good in my setup including sleep,shutdown and hibernate 
So far, my experience of having Windows Server 2008 as my main desktop workstation is good and I think I will continue to stay on this for a long, long time until Windows 7 comes out
What makes life? (Kinstens Interpretation)
Is it a rose that opens in the morning light?
A new leaf upon each twig, that grew from humble beginnings?
The branch that broke will turn into the scar for life.The scar of emotion runs deep within us all, this injures everyone slowly but surely. Until the only way out of your own emotion turns to destruction. Destruction turns to chaos. Chaos turns to the way the world is operating at present with only a small amount of reason and intelligent thought.
Don’t believe everything that you see,
Because seeing isn’t believing,
Feeling is.
If I was to die today,
Would I be remembered tomorrow?
Would life go on without me?
Or does someone else’s existence end with mine?
If truth is letting people know the details of something real,
Does that mean reality is a truth only known to you?
Or is truth and reality far more complicated than that?
You could believe anything that someone tells you,
Or decide to think they are lying.
Either way your own decision is what you choose to believe.
Which in turn makes reality your own creation of thoughts comprised of facts given by not only yourself, but other people as well. How these facts are interpreted depends on the translator. You!
If something is too difficult, would you try your best to solve it, or simply give in and let someone else figure it out.
Thought, emotion, truth, justice, wisdom, creation, intellect, visualisation, hands on experience.
Does everything come down to what the individual is capable of, or rather what the individual is willing to accomplish.
You have to experience happiness to know sadness. You have to experience love to know hate. If there is one thing that lives alone in this world, without needing to relate to another. Show me this thing, for it will be a beautiful thing indeed.
To fly is to fall,
To swim is to run,
To walk is to crawl,
To speak is to be silent,
To create is to imitate,
To build is to destroy,
To make peace is to make war!
Everything exists for a reason, and there is always balance. When there is too much of one thing there has to be an equal amount of the other to compensate for the balance lost with the first.
Begin your day with birds in mind,
Never let the dawn show its face,
You will crawl upon any road given to you,
And you will find the path that suits you.
Am I going insane or is it just a figment of my imagination. If I was going insane, would I be trying to figure it out, or would I just ignore it and let things happen as they do. Because when thoughts take over my life, I feel responsible for all the thoughts that are approaching my life.
Never get too involved.
Never hold a grudge.
Never begin something if you do not intend to finish it.
Another DRM infested music store closes - music becomes worthless
Back in April I wrote about Microsoft's music store closing, thus rendering any music purchased from that store worthless. Why? The music is DRM infested, and thus will stop playing after they switch off their servers that are needed for license veri... (more in the full post)
ihug Limited will no longer exist from 1st August
A lot of things are happening at Vodafone on this very special day:
- Prepay customers will start being charged a dollar per call to customer services when a Customer Service Representative is required
- Prepay customers will no longer be able to switch to the classic prepay plans
- ihug Limited will soon no longer exist and will completely be part of Vodafone New Zealand Limited.
It's not surprising that ihug will soon be completely part of Vodafone (rather than the current rebranding) as this fully makes their fixed line products to become part of Vodafone, and reduce confusion.
Things to note:
- Phone numbers won't change
Here are the numbers, just for reference:
Residential: 0800 438 448
Business: 0800 438 458
Red network: 0800 800 215 <- they finally release this!
- Billing is still separate, but pay Vodafone New Zealand Limited directly
Currently, we get a statement which needs to be paid to ihug Ltd, even though it's completely branded Vodafone
The webpage with the information about this changed from welcome to our place to our place is your place:
The Internet Home Users Group
IHUG
ihug / The Internet Group
(1994-2008)
IHUG
ihug / The Internet Group
(1994-2008)
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