Jetlogs.org » Technology

R.I.P. GeoCities 1994-2009

Jetlogs — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:31:45 +0000

After almost 15 years, GeoCities will be closing down its doors later this year. It is a sad day as one of internet’s oldest icons will finally be made to rest.

For those who weren’t old enough, GeoCities is a free website hosting service that was extremely popular during the early days of the internet. Back then, hosting your own website was still prohibitably expensive, but GeoCities offered a free option for new users. This caused an explosion of content within GeoCities, hosting anything from computer tutorials to humor and gossip. And all of these content were done with less than 10MB of space! Who couldn’t remember all those blinking text and animated backgrounds that became a trademark of that era? And who didn’t hate Yahoo’s ads that inserted itself on every opportunity it gets?

But sadly, in this time and age, Yahoo’s business model is now being disrupted by Google. Yahoo has now choice but to let go.

GeoCities, you will be missed…

MySQL is Screwed: Oracle Buys Sun Microsystems

Jetlogs — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:03:23 +0000

With Sun’s announcement that the company will be bought by Oracle, a very big question comes into mind: What will happen to MySQL?

MySQL is currently under Sun, and soon Oracle, one of its competitors will buy Sun and claim MySQL. What does this forebode with MySQL’s future? Right now, MySQL is a huge threat to Oracle. For one, MySQL is free and open source, while you need to purchase Oracle. And MySQL’s market share cuts off Oracle’s bottom-line.

One scenario is that Oracle can simply drop MySQL support to kill off competition in the low-end market. They could also send MySQL to a slow death where future developments for MySQL are slowed or halted. Another possibility is that MySQL will be transformed into Oracle Lite and better integrate itself with Oracle. This opens up additional revenue from upgrading from MySQL to Oracle. The last outcome is that Oracle fortunately leaves MySQL alone to continue its normal operations, but everything is still uncertain at this point.

But in any case Oracle decides to be business-minded(greedy), expect a fork in the future.

Another Google Map Mystery

Jetlogs — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:03:06 +0000

Here is another one of those Google map mysteries…

What the heck happened here at Los Angeles Airport?

Metal Gear Solid Mystery Solved

Jetlogs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:54:34 +0000

Remember the cryptic message on Konami’s website concerning the new Metal Gear Solid game?

Some people thought (even feared) that MGS4 would be ported to the XBOX360.
But now the mystery has been solved:

According to the latest Famitsu scan, the article shows:
これがメタルギアソリドタッチ
(kore ga metaru gia soridu tacchi)

Which translates to:
This is Metal Gear Solid Touch

The article also features a screenshot of the iPhone, so it will be a game that uses the iPhone’s touchscreen features.

Why this game is not on a traditional gaming platform like the PSP or even the DS is still a mystery. This will be a huge gamble on Konami’s part.

UPDATE: Konami has now officially unveiled Metal Gear Solid Touch for the iPhone / iPod Touch. You can view their release news here:
Metal Gear Series Latest Release / 4 Titles Made for iPhone / iPod Touch

CNN: Amazing Use Of Holograms

Jetlogs — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:08:46 +0000

CNN demonstrates to us on what the near future could possibly look like. Instead of doing a live 2D feed, why not project a hologram instead?

Although this technology has been a fancy of scientists for a long time, the technology still hasn’t been perfected yet. But soon, we will eventually get there.

The big question is: How long will it take before this technology is utilized in TV, video games, or even ~~porn~~ the internet? Will this technology be the disruptive technology in the future? Only time will tell.

UPDATE: This not not technically a hologram, its just 2 feeds meshed together

Google Parties Like Its 2001!

Jetlogs — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:58:05 +0000

In celebration of Google’s 10th birthday, it has put up it oldest index from 2001. Time to take a time warp back to the past when Search results weren’t as plentiful and confusing as it is today!

Google 2001

SquareEnix x iPod

Guncannon — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:40:41 +0000

Other than music, SquareEnix found another use for the IPod. One of their newest release Song Summoner is now available on the iTune store exclusively.

Song Summoner’s Offical Site

Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 Bundle

Ven — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:45:36 +0000

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 Bundle

I am extremely impressed with the new developments and hype regarding Metal Gear Solid 4. The game will be released on June 12th worldwide (which is very rare for a Japanese-made game to coincide with its international release) and will also be released in a PS3 bundle pack feature. The bundle includes the game, an 80 gig PS3, and a wireless dual shock controller.

The price for the entire bundle is slated to be US$499, which isn’t bad considering the current $499 price of just a single 80 gig PS3 by itself. The prices of all this jazz are of course subject to change. The PS3 pricing on its own is really ludicrous though. The hard drive space seems to be determining the price with a clever marketing ploy. The 40 gig is still in production and being sold at retailers for $399 now. First we saw the 20 gig, then 40 gig, then 60 gig, now the 80 gig. They’ll just keep on adding in an extra 20 gigs and tack another $100 to the price, making the previous version look “cheaper” (in both quality and price) prompting a buy both ways for the poorer who want a lower price, and the richer who want the latest model pawning their old one off. Soon we’ll likely see 100 gig models on the shelves for $599. Is 20 gigs of HD space worth an extra $100? Hell no. The differentiating cost of production between these different HD models would be complete peanuts — mere cents in labour.

As it looks now at $499 for this bundle you also get the game, a cool-looking hardware box, and wireless controller (which isn’t cheap). I’d estimate the saved money in buying this bundle to be about $100 to $150 depending on where you live and how high your taxes are. Not too shabby!

I’m one of those guys who has been holding off on buying a PS3. It was too expensive, no good games, and was very underdeveloped and buggy in the early releases. Looks like the kinks have been worked out finally, and some good games are actually coming out for it. I told my friends long ago that I’ll be buying a PS3 probably whenever Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out because I don’t see the price of a PS3 going below 400 dollars any time soon within the next 2 years.

So well this is ok for me — I’m going to buy this very bundle when it comes out and I believe it’s going to be worth every dollar. Way better than the featureless and buggy 20 gig model and the middle of the road 40 gig model — an 80 gig model should be more than sufficient for the amount that I’ll use system even when the 100 gig or more models do come out. I’m not sure this bundle in itself will significantly boost PS3 sales or not but Konami clearly has great marketing and development teams. I’m convinced enough to be buying a PS3 just for the game, so I’m sure Metal Gear Solid 4 will be a huge success in the western market.

Innovashun! Wii Virtual Reality

Jetlogs — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:43:39 +0000

Its only a matter of time until virtual reality comes into our homes using the Nintendo Wii. The Virtual Boy and other early prototypes of VR might have flopped, but there is a great possibility that it will become a mainstream phenomemnon.

Can you imagine a 3D shooting game utilizing the head tracking + wiimote as light gun + wii balance board for cover? That would be one hell of an awesome game.

Nintendo really needs to hire this guy!

Wiimote as a Multi-touch Whiteboard

Jetlogs — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:42:10 +0000

Everyday people have been developing new uses for the Wiimote. We’ve seen it already used as a 3rd party controller for the 360, as well as other uses.

But did you know that you can also use a wiimote as a multi-touch whiteboard? Even better, as the video below shows, you can basically transform any laptop into a tablet PC. This is certainly one of the coolest applications for the Wiimote yet.

This technology was innovated by Johnny Chung Lee from Carnegie Mellon University, and the program for this application can be downloaded here

Want to see something more amazing? This other video shows us how the Wiimote can be used to track individual finger movements. Now that is innovation. Its only a matter of time until we get those 3D interfaces.

Fake Consoles: Wii, XBOX360, and PS

Jetlogs — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 14:25:15 +0000

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the days of the 7th generation console wars, fake consoles have also shown up to capitalize on the major console’s successes. Most of these fake consoles have the looks of the real consoles on the outside packaging, but on the inside, its a completely different story. Let’s take a look at some of these fakes:

The Wee: A cheap knockoff of the Nintendo Wii as shown here being sold in Japan. Makes a pretty convincing cover, but don’t be fooled. It doesn’t even feature a Wiimote on its package.

The Vii: Another Wii imitation, but this time, they even got advertised on a Chinese magazine! Its a more convincing advertisement this time as they even show models playing with a Wiimote clone.

UPDATE: It seems that the Vii now has its own TV ads:

X-Game360: You guessed it, from the name alone you know that it tried to rip-off the XBOX360

Super PolyStation 2: One of many in the PolyStation series which tried to copy the PlayStation. You’ll never guess that this console plays brick games!

FUNSTATION 3: And to top it off, the FUNSTATION3! This big black box can play… NES cartridges…

The PopStation, wow this one certainly is one to laugh about. Based on the PlayStation portable or PSP, this clone only plays an LED game.

And last but not the least: The Neo Double Games. This console takes the cake in terms of pure novelty. Based on the popular Nintendo DS, you just replace the LEDs and voila! a new game is playable… well not really as you can see in the video.

Just remember that when some things are too good to be true, it usually isn’t. Always check the contents and the label carefully before buying a console. It always pays to be careful, espescially now that the holiday season is near.

Wii: Metroid Prime Mod

Jetlogs — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:41:53 +0000

Any Metroid Fans will die at the sight of this. Morpheon Mods has created a unique Wii mod based on Samus’ Varia suit in the Metroid Prime series. The console is currently up for grabs on eBay. However, be prepared for a bidding war. So far, the current bid is almost equivalent to the price of 3 Wiis.

On other news, Slowtaku still doesn’t have a clue on what the S logo stands for… (It stands for Screw Attack)

Jumbotron DS: Tablet PC turned into a Giant DS

Jetlogs — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 03:47:57 +0000

Another gaming breakthrough is making news. It seems that somebody had successfully transformed a tablet PC into a Giant DS! The project is currently called the Jumbotron DS. You can see additional screenshots of the project at the Jumbotron DS website.

In the following video below, you can see him playing different games like Mario Kart DS, Kirby Canvas Curse and Meteos on the tablet PC. Now that’s quite an awesome achievement. It’ll be certainly fun playing Ouendan or EBA on the Jumbotron

Apache vs. Lighttpd on PHP

Jetlogs — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:30:01 +0000

Let me share with you my research on the web about the advantages and disadvantages of Lighttpd vs. Apache, and how it might possible affect your applications ins PHP. The following article is a compilation of what I have found on different sites on the net.

Lighttpd or “Lighty” is a lightweight webserver made with speed and load balancing in mind, Unlike Apache which comes with a lot of modules that consumes a lot of server resources. One of the features of Lighttpd is that it is an event-driven web server. It uses select/poll/epoll/kqueue from a single process/thread.

Now for the Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Compared to Apache, it has a smaller CPU and memory usage. Since Lighttpd uses fewer resources per request than Apache alone, it can generally serve most static content faster than Apache.

Lighttpd has a better load-balancing than Apache

Lighttpd has easier configuration options compared to Apache

Lighttpd is recommended for static content, or dynamic content that is cached as a static page.

PHP has a better performance under Lighty due to its FastCGI module (which has its own disadvantage. see below)

Because of its FastCGI module, the server and application processes can be restarted independently which is important for busy websites

Also because of the FastCGI module, per-application security policies can be implemented

Cons:

Lighttpd doesn’t have support for .htaccess files which might break current security / functionality implementations for some of your applications (i.e. HTTP authentication)

Using Lighttpd will only support PHP running under FastCGI as opposed to running it as a module (mod_php) which might have additional implications for the application and server (PEAR modules won’t work under FastCGI)

Lighttpd has some problems processing request headers (specifically CR anf LF) from browsers like Opera. For example, Opera under SSL will hang under Lighttpd.

Lighttpd is incompatible with Apache modules (i.e. mod_security), and has its own module repository. Lighttpd has a smaller module repository compared to apache, and has a limited community which might become a problem when needing support.

Lighttpd doesn’t support some control panel applications like cPanel or Plesk and will require special configurations to run them

Given these Pros and Cons, its really hard to decide when to do a switch to Lighty. But as a basic rule, for server only serving mostly static content, Lighty is the better choice since it lesser overhead than Apache. Youtube’s video servers which serves static content runs on Lighty.

However, if you are on the fringe case wherein you need Apache’s functionality, but lacking on server resources, and an upgrade is not a viable option, there is some good news for you. Lighttpd can be run behind Apache via Apache’s proxy module. Instructions on doing this can be found on this article:

Running Lighttpd through Apache’s proxy module

So what does this basically mean? In short, we can let Apache handle the dynamic content, while we let Lighty handle the static content from a server.

NES Emulator for iPhone developed

Jetlogs — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:09:32 +0000

This event was certainly inevitable. After the iPhone was cracked a NES emulator has been developed for it. What’s amazing is that the UI for the controls is a touchscreen version of the NES controller. Although on the downside it still runs quite slowly and there is no sound. Here is the video of the emulator in action:

The files for the emulator can be downloaded here from google