Softpedia News - Editorials

Newspapers Close to Signing Their Own Death Sentences

Softpedia News (Lucian Parfeni) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:51:02 GMT

Most people would agree that change is good. At the same time, most people are afraid of change. At this point, it isn't surprising to anyone that the old media is terrified of change, meaning the web, and it's hard to pick the one that's most afraid, the movie industry, music labels, or newspapers. It's a lot easier to pick the one which has been hit the hardest though, most newspapers are struggling hard to survive. Luckily, they have a convenient scape goat to offset their own failures, the search engines. Music labels have the Pirate Bay, newspapers have Google, the roots of all evil in their view, a company which has been making money by “stealing” content from the hard working news organizations. Hearing someone like News Corp.'s CEO Rupert Murdoch talk about the issue, it becomes apparent that the higher ranks at these companies have little to no idea how the web works, how to make money online, or how Google works and what it does.

This hasn't stopped them from lashing out at search engines which - along with news aggregators and that most vile of online creatures, the blogger – have been taking advantage, making millions while contributing nothing. All this time, most people even moderately knowledgeable of the web had one simple answer, opt-out of being indexed by Google or other s... (read more)

Living Your Life by a Book

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:01:00 GMT

I don't think it's a secret that I have something against organized religion. I've never tried to keep that a secret, and I've struggled to explain why throughout my articles. In my quest to discover people with similar points of view to my own, I came across some fairly interesting speakers, as well as upon some conspiracy theorists that believe everyone is out to get them. This duality in people who shun religious beliefs resembles the duality of religious people as well. More accurately, the duality of various religious groups. We shall call them the moderates and the fundamentalists, or fanatics.

The former group is the mass. We will stick to talking about groups in the United States, because here the divide is the most visible, and almost asks to be analyzed. In the US, at this point, it is considered OK to talk about all possible subjects, including politics, sports, climate change and leisure time, but this freedom of expression stops when it comes to speaking about religion. This is considered a taboo, something pertaining to each individual, and which cannot, and should not be changed. I will cover why this is limiting, and detrimental to society later on.

The second group is smaller, but also more dedicated and subversive. The fanatics are all the more dangerous because they actually believe that they are right. The... (read more)

Android 2.0 Available Today, Android 2.1 Next

Softpedia News (Ionut Arghire) — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 13:12:00 GMT

Search engine giant Google has been hard at work with the development of its operating system for mobile phones, the increasingly popular Android. First launched on the market about a year ago, the Android OS has just reached version 2.0, which is also known around the world as Eclair, and has been through a series of interim releases, including Android 1.1, Android 1.5, and Android 1.6.

Anyone should agree that 2009 has been a great year for Android, not only due to the fact that it has seen this large number of updates, but also courtesy of the high popularity it sees among mobile phone users. Android's market share has been growing fast, and it is expected to maintain the momentum for a longer period of time: some of the previous forecasts showed that it is set to take the second position on the market by 2013. The odds seem favorable for Android, that's for sure. While at the beginning of the year, there was only one device available on the market running under it, namely the T-Mobile G1, also known as HTC Dream, now we have more than a dozen, and they come not only from HTC, but also from other leading mobile phone makers around the world.

Just to remind you some of the most popular Android phones available or about to be launched, we should name the HTC Magic, HTC Hero, HTC Tattoo and HTC DROID ERIS, t... (read more)

Democracy Does Not Equal Freedom

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:56:00 GMT

As someone who has had the chance of studying the world's political systems and doctrine in detail, I am often surprised by just how many people put the “equal” mark between democracy and freedom. It's absolutely true that there are higher chances of people being free within a democratic society than in a totalitarian one, but that should never be used as justification. I will concentrate in making my point on the case of the United States, a country whose residents are firmly convinced that they are free.

When looking at totalitarian regimes, or at dictatorships, it's immediately apparent that people are free within the limits imposed either by the central, single-party government or by the dictator, whatever the case may be. In the case of fascist and communist states, this is most obvious. State security (read: the security of the party and its ruler) are the main concerns that authorities have. The economy almost always comes second, with the best interests of the citizens coming in third, and last.

The thing about these regimes is that you, as an individual living within the state, know where you stand. You do not expect to have access to all the things you want, and are firmly aware that there will be consequences if you do certain things the government/party does not approve of. You also know that you... (read more)

7 Things About Windows 7 You Shouldn’t Believe

Softpedia News (Marius Oiaga) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:01:00 GMT

On October 22nd, 2009, Windows hit store shelves worldwide, and, unlike its predecessor, it was received with accolades. While stirring up user enthusiasm, Windows 7 also managed to generate a consistent number of headlines around the world. And, apparently, enthusiasm was contagious, while, at the same time, there were strong reactions to the latest Windows client release from Microsoft, and even whispers of criticism.

While surfing, I came across a variety of opinions on the new operating system designed to replace Windows Vista, some stronger than others, some blatantly incorrect and then others just uninformed or unwise. I selected a collection of Windows 7 musings that I think end users should be taking with a grain of salt, and then went ahead and added my own ruminations. I will not link to the sources of the opinions included below, as I am not attempting to generate a debate, nor to criticize. I simply want to put my two cents in and nothing more.

1. Windows 7 is perfect - no it is not. Proof of Windows 7’s imperfection comes from the growing number of Knowledge Base articles with updates and hotfixes that Microsoft has been constantly stacking up even before General Availability this week, but after the OS was complete, namely after the July 22nd release to manufacturing deadline.
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The World's Greatest CMS

Softpedia News (Catalin Cimpanu) — Thu, 8 Oct 2009 11:56:00 GMT

I wrote this editorial after the recent nominees for the Open Source CMS Award from Packt were released to the public a few weeks ago. After passing through a testing, updating and indexing process with all the nominees, some useful tips, details and conclusions can be presented to help readers in their voting process and maybe in choosing one of them for future projects.

Open source has long been the darling of all developers. Even if money is scarce, and mostly missing in these projects, developers continue to commit their work force to projects that sometimes end up revolutionizing the web. You don't think so? Well, then you probably never discovered or used a WordPress-powered blog, a Joomla!-based website or installed free software on your computer. There are many developers or designers out there that will openly admit they knew nothing about coding and development until they installed Mambo (which later split to Joomla) and tried to build their very own website.

Fooled by the easy interface, they thought that web-design was “that easy” and started to read, learn and tweak more on their little CMS-powered website. Many liked it and learned a web programming and scripting language. Many didn't. But that is what open source and CMSs did to the world of web development. It brought more enthusiasts to it, more... (read more)

Music Begets Music

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:58:00 GMT

All of you have at least one friend who is crazy about music. They are not one of those people caught up in a single band, or music style, but rather the persons you and your friends go to when you need to know the name of a certain song or band you can't remember. You know that, even if you sing a few notes from that song, even if completely out-of-tune, they will recognize it, and give you the answers you seek. This kind of people, the music fanatics, simply live their lives through music, and know precisely which type or genre of song they should listen if they want to go into or exit a certain mental state. And they are close to you because of it.

Music is most definitely one of the universal traits humankind has. It can be found across all cultures, and all civilizations, with no exception, have produced and played specific kinds of music since the earliest days of mankind. Ever since we, as a species, developed a sufficiently large brain, we started producing musical instruments to satisfy our thirst for culture, and for sounds that were literally out of this world. The sound of a flute may resemble that of a bird's song, but it does not appear naturally. Additionally, it can be controlled, and therefore makes its user and listeners feel special.

Even after tens of millennia of playing music, it's still unclear what drives ... (read more)

It's 'Just' a Theory

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:43:00 GMT

Even when I was but a little boy, I had respect for science. The people in my family have it as well, with them being engineers and doctors and whatnot. They may not have agreed that evolution is the way humans evolved, but they were in doubt on this matter, especially my doctor mother. She believes in God, but cannot dismiss the mountain of evidence that supports Darwin's theory. So she found herself in a bit of an awkward situation whenever I asked her about this sort of things. But the bottom line is that, even though disagreement existed, the general idea in the family was that science was good, and, as such, everyone had respect for it.

This is certainly no longer the case today, especially in more developed countries. The leader in disbelief is the United States of America. Levels of scientific acceptance here are very low. Maybe this happens because the level of education in the country has plummeted over the past 15 years or so, and because scientific literacy rates are appallingly low. The US is no longer a leader of the scientific community through its own citizens alone.

A quick look on the Science section on Softpedia will reveal a large number of Asian and Indian researchers leading the way in breakthroughs in various fields. That is not to say that I have something against them, or that I am implying that A... (read more)

Caveman Logic - Book Review

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:53:00 GMT

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”

Aside from the God part, which was intentionally left out, this Alcoholics Anonymous mantra seems to be the best way to describe what Hank Davis is trying to do in his book “Caveman Logic: The persistence of primitive thinking in a modern world.” Another way to briefly summarize the idea expressed in these 300 pages is given by the author himself: “Stop trying to change or control what isn't under your control!” If this statement seems to disagree with the teaching of so-called self-help gurus, then it's probably true, and a thorough read of the book will tell you why.

I don't think anyone can dispute the fact that we are extremely apt at finding patterns. And I'm not, of course, talking about discovering secret codes in seemingly random rows of symbols, but about seeing faces in the clouds. For over 2,000 years, people have put together various stars in the sky, based solely on their similarity to an animal, or an object, and have termed them accordingly. This ability that we developed in the Pleistocene Age is arguably the reason why we still exist today as a species. Discerning between a mold of leaves and a crouched predator was important then.

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WM 6.5 Might Save Windows Mobile from Sinking

Softpedia News (Ionut Arghire) — Wed, 2 Sep 2009 15:42:00 GMT

Windows Mobile is one of the currently available operating systems for smartphones that might sound as a rather bad choice for many people out there, and the reasons for that vary a lot. Some of them include the fact that the OS is rather old and unfriendly, or that it is too heavy, not to mention that it does not have the looks to compete with other platforms either. To put it all very simple, the future of Windows Mobile seems to be a rather dark one.

The latest changes on the mobile phone market showed that users tend to choose touchscreen devices over not-touch-capable ones, while also going more for those that offer simple and easy usage features. Simplicity and user friendliness are the keywords, and the makers of Windows Mobile seem to have finally got the point, as some of the long needed and awaited such features should come along to the market with the next flavor of the OS, Windows Mobile 6.5.

Microsoft already announced that the upcoming platform version would mark a change in the way it approaches the user experience of handset owners, and the goodies included in Windows Mobile 6.5 might turn the tables in its favor. Better user interfaces, service implementations, ease of usage, along with fast access to information, weather updates, sports and others through widgets and other more are just so... (read more)

Quantum Gods by Victor J. Stenger - Book Review

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:03:00 GMT

It was only last night that I finished reading Victor J. Stenger's new book, “Quantum Gods: Creation, Chaos and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness,” and, boy, I can tell you for sure that my understanding of quantum physics was a bit off before. In fact, it was not necessarily wrong, as it was featuring the correct information, but no explanation as to why things are the way they are at a level of miniaturization that seems almost incomprehensible. And that is exactly what this book does – it explains quantum physics, albeit from a point of view that negates the premise of a classic God, such as the one found in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Overall, we are treated to a coherent and well-written physics theory, which is a part of the dwindling current made up of those scientists who also try to offer a philosophical explanation of their discoveries. It became obvious over recent years, and Stenger identifies this accurately, that most physics researchers now adopt a “shut up and calculate” attitude, which was not common, for example, among those who conducted their investigations in the first half of the 20th century or earlier.

The former Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, currently an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of... (read more)

How We're Cutting the Ground from Under Our Feet

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:11:02 GMT

I've been trying to find an appropriate title for this article for quite some time now, but I couldn't come up with one that would draw as many readers to it as possible. This piece is about the challenges that are brought forth by global warming, the people fighting to sooth or exacerbate them, the animals that will die if we don't act, the ice that will melt if we do nothing, as well as many other things. I will also discuss some of the agendas behind people and groups who oppose the idea of global warming, as I've grown tired of having witless comments posted on the site, saying that climate change does not exist.

I've always found it amazing how people who are so indoctrinated with a certain belief system can go past all the concrete evidence they are shown, and still believe in their own, completely-off idea. A basic representation is your average global warming critic. And I'm not talking here about the scientists whose researches give results differing from the accepted view, but about the average people who think that they know the way climate change science is done.

Now, this individual will post a comment to an article and say something along the lines of “all the information in here is biased, and the studies are bogus,” with fewer or more words. The problem is that these so-c... (read more)

Circular Causes and Consequences Paradox

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:26:00 GMT

One of the most widely recognized paradoxes of time travel is the circular causality problem, which basically states that the consequence of a phenomenon cannot be said to be its root cause. If that were true, it would shamelessly violate all laws of physics and time, and could, at least in theory, lead to the destruction of the Universe. Of course, that's a very serious matter to discuss, seeing how no one really knows what would happen if one of the numerous paradoxes that have been identified thus far in relation to time travel or the flow of the space-time continuum was violated.

Some say that the very fabric of time would act in very much the same way in which dark matter particles are said to behave – namely to annihilate each other when they interact or are compressed together. If we are to believe some theories, the Universe in which we live is just one of the endless possibilities that exist in the Multiverse, or meta-universe. Theorists say that a hypothetical set of multiple universes, which includes our own, contains all possible outcomes of all actions that were or could have been taken.

It also holds all possible configurations of all celestial bodies or celestial formations in the Universe, including the scenario in which the reionization epoch – which lasted un... (read more)

The Threats on Our Privacy Are Real

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:40:00 GMT

With filmmaker Robert Spence's announcement that he will be using the first-ever eye-shaped video camera for his new documentary, security experts and privacy advocates are becoming increasingly concerned as to the impact that the next generation of surveillance equipment will have on the traditional way people perceive their own personal space.

Already, street-mounted cameras, most of which are visible, record, document and store everything we do on the streets, for our own security, advocates of CCTV (closed-circuit television) and other means of “civilian spying” say. But are they really used for this purpose alone? I have often wondered if the people behind the monitors checking us all out have only our best interest in mind, or if they are motivated by other agendas as well.

Such a line of reasoning is not that far-fetched, especially when you think that large corporations are already considering placing hidden cameras in street ads, which will analyze your face, determine your relative age, gender and ethnicity, and then display relevant ads on huge billboards. This type of advertising was completely unheard of until now, but it would appear that its proponents consider it the way of the future.

But, while supporters say that the images will not be stored, but disca... (read more)

Communicate at the Speed of Light

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:01:02 GMT

Here we are in the age of interactions, the time of cell phones, computers, PDAs and social media. And the almighty Internet looms overhead, possible even through this post. Even though as a small boy I had a hard time understanding what all the fuss was about, and what this “Internet” everyone kept talking about was, I soon grew to understand that it meant more than games and looking at pictures until late at night.

And the moment I figured this out was when I started taking an interest in history, and learned about the sketchy beginnings of electricity, and about Graham Bell's telephone, and about how all these inventions seemed to somehow correlate to the way our world looks today. Because, there's no doubt about it, without the vision of some really outstanding individuals we wouldn't be able today to browse the Web at will, and learn in 20 minutes information that our parents spent their entire life working out.

Moreover, remember the old way of communicating, when news would reach their receiver about 2 or 3 days after they were sent, that is provided the two people communicating were in the same country. For a trip from Europe to India, letters took as long as six months to be delivered, which really left little time for important decisions to be made. Most often, delive... (read more)

This May Change Your Mind About Going Back in Time

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:01:02 GMT

For us, wanting to go back in time is as natural as thinking and breathing. Around the world, countless people, myself included, believe that a simple trip to a certain point in our past would most likely change the course of our lives, maybe for the better, because I imagine no one would like to go back and make things worse. Some people even think about this day and night, while others dismiss the thought as impossible within a few minutes. But, then again, there are those who dedicated their life's work to finding a way of accomplishing this long-standing dream.

Over the years, numerous ideas of how to create the time machine have appeared, and they cover almost all possibilities, from generating wormholes between the folds of space to accelerating a cylinder at super-high speed. However, current technical limitations mean that these hypothetical constructions will not become a reality very soon, as most of them require materials that haven't yet been discovered. And these materials have to have properties that are not yet fully understood, but merely deduced through painstaking calculation.

But the real question that arises, if we imagine that we could go back in time, is “would we really want to do it?” Understandably, the desire to change things for the better in your life is to be praised, but who is to say that a potential ... (read more)

My Take on the Universe

Softpedia News (Tudor Vieru) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 10:00:00 GMT

Every once in a while, I stay up a bit later than usual, and just wonder about what's beyond us, over the stars and far away. Although I have a pretty clear notion of the size of the Universe and its age, and I know that it looks somewhat like a bubble, I still find it hard to integrate its vastness into my head. And, to make things worse, no one seems to be able to tell us for sure how the whole thing was formed. Admittedly, some say that it was made by God, while others say that physics played a major part. Don't worry, I won't turn this editorial into a debate between creationism and evolution.

Definitely, the most mind-boggling thing about our Universe is that it could, potentially, fit into a single grain of sand. That is to say, for world is beyond it. This idea was exploited in the Men in Black movie, which featured the catchphrase “the galaxy is on Orion's belt,” where Orion was just a small kitten, which carried a little glass sphere on its collar. The sphere contained a full-grown galaxy, millions of light-years across.

But the relativity of scale is one of the fundamental truths of the whole design. In astronomical terms, objects that are near to each other may take thousands of years to travel between, even on ships going as fast as 10 kilometers per second. Our nearest neighboring... (read more)

Sensation Lands in Madrid

Softpedia News (Traian Teglet) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:50:00 GMT

This last past weekend, I got on a flight to Madrid, Spain, which is where one of Europe’s biggest dance events, Sensation White, took place. For those not in the know, this is a major event that originated in the Netherlands in 2000, and which, for five years, was held exclusively for the people in Amsterdam. Over the years, the Sensation White phenomenon gained proportions, opening to a more general public across Europe and, in time, turning from Sensation White to simply Sensation. Nowadays, people in Germany, Australia, Chile, Belgium, Hungary, Russia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Spain, Poland, Denmark and, obviously, the Netherlands, can hardly wait for that one day of the year to arrive, when Sensation reaches one city from their countries.

This year was the first time that Sensation was hosted by the capital of Spain and the country’s largest city, Madrid. It was also the first time I had to travel by air to a country that I had never visited before. However, no matter how many “firsts” I had to experience, none could possibly match the anticipation of being about to attend an event that could potentially leave me “marked” for the rest of my life.

Oil Peak and the Renewable Abiotic Petroleum

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 10 May 2008 10:48:00 GMT

We are living in a civilization based on oil. It is an issue that makes us extremely vulnerable. That's because of the global "Peak Oil." The oil production follows a bell curve. Its peak is the moment when oil has been 50% depleted. After the peak, oil production decreases while its price starts to go up.Many scientists, bankers and investors consider that 2005 was the year of global Peak Oil. US domestic oil production reached its peak in the '70s. The bell of the oil production shows that by 2030, the global production will be the same as in 1980. With one difference: the world's population in 2030 will be double and much more oil-consuming than in the '80s. Think only in the ascend of China. The demand for oil will significantly overcome production, and the oil dependent economies will fall apart, while oil wars will intensify. Simulations show that a drop of just 10-15% in the oil supply is enough to throw oil dependent economies into poverty. In the '70s, production fall of just 5% boosted by four times the oil price. That was temporary and the result of political events. In 1973, OPEC dropped its production in retaliation for US support of Israel. In 1979, Iran did the same attempting to cripple "the great Satan." US could turn to other oil producing nations like Venezuela. But the after Oil Peak will be a permanent conditi... (read more)

Humans Are Not Made Monogamous

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Of course, when Hollywood stars or politicians have extramarital affairs, the whole world rumbles. But if we peek into human biology, anthropology and sociology, the monogamous human appears as a very weird notion. We are mammals, and if we look to the mammalian world, just 3 to 5% of the about 5,000 species of mammals form lifelong, monogamous bonds - this is the case of beavers, wolves, gibbons, jackals, foxes, some bats, dwarf deer and antelopes (like dik-dik). A strictly monogamous animal mates only inside the pair. For example, in the case of geese, albatrosses or some parrots, the death of a partner totally compromises mating for the other, for that season or for life.But biologists say that strictly sexually monogamous species are almost non existent. Most mammals have just a social monogamy: they pair up to mate and raise offspring, but still have flings. For example, in the case of the Arctic foxes, 25 % of the litters are not fathered by the male of the pair. Having offspring from multiple fathers allows a female to increase the genetic variation in her cubs. This increase in variation improves the chances that at least one cub in a litter will have the genetically proper stuff to survive for a long term in such a harsh and changing environment. Why Monogamy?Monogamy is a breeding behavior that is considered to give offspring a better... (read more)

The Mystic River: Nile

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:05:00 GMT

This river is the maker of the oldest civilization recorded by the historical sources: 5,000 years ago, the Egyptian state emerged on its banks. It is best known as the longest river on the planet. Nile is consensually considered so as it has 6,695 km in length, even if some say that Amazon is longer (6,800 km). The problem is that nobody could tell where Amazon ends, due to its huge mouth. Anyway, while Amazon is the mightiest river on the planet (with a debit of 200,000 cubic meters/second, 20 % of the freshwater volume penetrating the oceans), Nile has a 60 times lower debit, as it does not receive any affluent on its last 2.400 km (1.500 mi). Moreover, the Nile's debits fluctuate a lot, as it receives the most abundant waters during the rainfall on the Ethiopian Plateau. But the role played by the Nile in human life and history is much more important. The Nile starts from molten snow and rainfall, which make torrents like Mobuku and Semliki in the Ruwenzori Mountain (a glacier-covered equatorial mountain, with a maximum height of 5,119 m / 17,633 ft). Semliki enters Lake Albert. Another southern source is located in Burundi, at a height of 2,050 m (6,830 ft): Kasumo. Then, from the large Lake Victoria, the Nile starts under the name Kagera for emptying itself into the Mediterranean, on the place where 2,300 years ago Alexander the Great founded the ... (read more)

Toraja: The Burial that Can Ruin You

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:51:01 GMT

Indonesia makes the world's largest archipelago, with 17,000 islands. One of its largest islands is Sulawesi (Celebes), which is like a bridge between Australia and Asia. A particular universe in Sulawesi is represented by Tana Toraja ("the Land of the Highlanders"), in the southern part of the island, dominated by the Rante-Kombola peak, 3,455 m (11,516 ft) tall. The Toraja people consider that the soul is the most important notion and their religion is connected to one of the most spectacular burial rituals in the world, aimed to save the soul of the deceased, easing its way to the other world, that of the gods and spirits of the ancestors. Toraja myths say that Rante-Kombola is the place the first people descended from on a stone ladder. Soon, the gods broke it, and the rocks of Bamba Puang are just remains of the sky ladder. In 1905, Dutch troops defeated the resistance of the Toraja warriors, after one year of fights. The courage of the famous and fierce head-hunter Toraja warriors could do nothing against the modern weaponry as they used spears, swords, shields or threw pepper towards the Dutch soldiers. The Dutch army was soon followed by missionaries of the Reformed Church, with the aim of converting the locals to Christianity and forbid the older customs and traditions. The Dutch were especially worried with how whole families g... (read more)

Weekly Highlights

Softpedia News (Ionut Ilascu) — Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:31:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but it's been a hell of a week for me: dealing with all the spring frenzy, getting the right presents for all the ladies in my life (what can I say, big family), IE8 Beta 1 launch and testing all that software really raised the hectic level to limits I never knew I had.So, this week we've been going through this and this file protection software, an FTP client, frilled XP up with a nice Flip 3D effect, freed up some of the RAM tangled in the system, peeked at the next Internet Explorer and turned some pictures into great looking sketches. All are useful tools for different activities and different interests, coming at a more or less accessible price, or even for free.Internet Explorer 8 - First impressionThe week's star was definitely the release of IE8 beta 1 to the general public, which caused quite a commotion on the Internet and soon turned into a catalyst for leading websites to analyze (well, mostly criticize) the new release, right after Microsoft servers had made the software the software. It turned out that Microsoft did not want to change our opinion on beta software and launched IE with a few glitches, nothing major, just a slip here and there. It seems that Microsoft's next web browser did not impress users too much, as they had too high hopes for it and were expecting an avalanche of features which, sadly enough, were n... (read more)

Who Were the Byzantines?

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:21:00 GMT

Initially, Byzantium was a Greek city located on the European shore of the Bosporus strait, which separates Asia Minor from Europe. Understanding the importance of this settlement, surrounded from three parts by water, the Roman emperor Constantin re-founded this city in 330 AD, naming it by his name Constantinople. The city turned into a "New Rome" that governed the eastern part of the empire. The eastern part of the Roman empire still had resources and considerable wealth, fact that allowed it to stand the tough period that peaked with the fall of the western Roman empire in 476 AD. The Eastern Roman Empire continued to govern the Balkans, Greece and the Mediterranean. Its rulers named it simply Empire, and hoped that they would recover the lost Western Roman Empire. This idea made Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD) to initiate a strong military movement which reconquered North Africa, Italy and southern Spain. Justinian made remarkable achievements; he amended the Roman Law, and he built towering constructions, like the Saint Sophia Church (today Hagia Sophia). The "Greek fire" (a mix of dry lime, petroleum, sulfur, which ignited in contact with the water), invented by 675 AD, allowed the control of the Byzantine fleet on the Mediterranean. But the empire could not defend such long borders. In 568 AD, the Lombards (a Germanic tribe) conquered northern... (read more)

Who Are the Maori?

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:56:00 GMT

The indigenous people of New Zealand are the Maori, belonging to the Polynesian group. Between 800 and 1,350 AD, a wave of Polynesians coming from Tonga and Samoa on their canoes settled in New Zealand. The Maori tradition says that a Polynesian chief of the island of Hawaiki, called Ngahua, knowing the abundance of jade in New Zealand, a shiny tough green stone used for making carvings, collars and adornments, headed an expedition made of 8 canoes. Each canoe was 30 m (100 ft) long, harboring over 100 persons. This contingent settled in Te-Ika-a Maui, the Maori name of the northern island of New Zealand, where they made a population nucleus to which new colonizers were soon added. Maori simply means "human" in the Maori language. Maori had large villages comprising wooden houses and formed numerous tribes headed by an old chief. Houses were made of large tree trunks, used as posts and beams. Houses were decorated with carved reliefs, often painted in vivid colors. The population boom between the 15-16 centuries triggered frequent conflicts between the tribes, included real wars resulting in large numbers of casualties. The main house of a Maori village was the House of the Council, where the most important men of the community gathered to discuss questions of general interest. Maori people had four main gods, and some minor gods, the spirits of the dead ... (read more)

Inca: The Empire of the Sun

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:26:00 GMT

In 1527, starting from Panama, a handful of Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro managed to conquer the largest empire a pre-Columbian civilization ever created. The empire of Incas stretched through the highlands of Andes, in today's Ecuador, Peru, south Columbia, western Bolivia and northwest Argentina and it numbered 10 million people. The name of Inca came from the appellative of the emperors; the name of the people was Quechua and they still make most of the indigenous population of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia (in this last country, together with Aymara). The Inca Empire comprised the most abrupt part of the Andes chain, in whose valleys and fractions an array of original cultures (Moche, Nazca, Chimu, Tiwanaku) had developed previously, civilizations whose many achievements were inherited and perfected by the Incas. The colossal Inca architecture was outstanding, with its cities having paved and regular streets, sewage systems, roads, palaces, temples, but also the fortresses, agricultural terraces, irrigation ditches, and so on. One of the most famous Inca fortresses is Macchu Picchu, on the top of the Andes at 4,000 m (13,300 ft) altitude, which could have been at the same time an astronomic observatory and religious center. The stone carving and the cut of the enormous stone blocks were made without using iron tools! Moreover, the Incas did no... (read more)

How Did the Islam Conquer the World?

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 2 Feb 2008 08:59:00 GMT

Arabia is mostly made of desert, inhabited mainly by nomad tribes during the 7th century. On the shores of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, fertile areas with many flourishing settlements were found, but the products were mainly local. The trade roads led to Syria and Mesopotamia (Iraq). Prosperous oases were found on the commercial routes, like Mecca and Medina, and the agriculture in the arid areas was possible using waterwheels and irrigation ditches. The kingdom of Sheba, in Yemen, was signaled even from the Bible and maintained trade contacts with eastern Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Persia and the Greeks.

During the Christian era, many Arab areas received influences from the heretic Nestorian and Monophysite churches. Each tribe was independent and led by a sheik. This mosaic of nations knew unity only in limited occasions, like after the intervention of an Ethiopian Christian king, who found about the religious persecution triggered by Himyarite king (in southern Arabia), who had converted to the Mosaic religion. The campaigns of the Sassanid Persians agglutinated sometimes the tribes as well.

But the definitive unity and expansion came with the Islam. The prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, son of a camel herder, in 571. He lost both parents when young and was looked after by an uncle. By the age of 25, in 596, he a... (read more)

Assyrians, the Lords of the Massacres

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 08:44:00 GMT

Assyrians were one of the most warlike people in history, lovers of the violence of the war and hunt. Amongst the people of the ancient Middle East, they were famous for their cruelty. At the peak of its power, Assyria stretched from Egypt to Persian Gulf. Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their location: Assyria was in northern Mesopotamia, north of Babylon. As no natural bounders like shores or mountains were found there, they were vulnerable to attacks from any direction. This required the presence of a strong and mobile army.

Assyrians were also good traders, and the main trade routes of Mesopotamia passed through Assyria. Their control was a source of richness.

[img=2]Like the Babylonians, Assyrians were Akkadians, thus descending from the Semites that during the third millennium BC went out of Arabia and conquered Sumer and Akkad. Assyria emerged around 1900 BC, but it was under the control of the Mitanni kingdom. During this period, Assyrians developed a military tradition and during the 14th century BC, they started their campaigns.

Tukultiapil-Esara I expanded Assyria to the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the 12th century. But their success was fluctuating, due to numerous migrations of people, and the emergence of a new powerful enemy, the Arameans, who were Semites as well.... (read more)

Persians: the Zoroastrian civilization

Softpedia News (Stefan Anitei) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:19:00 GMT

The civilizations of Egypt and Middle East had already ages measured in millenia when the Iranian nomad tribes of the Medes and Persians left the steppes to establish in the Iranian Plateau, 3,000 years ago. The Medes settled in the south of the Caspian Sea, the Persians in the southeast, in the area of what we call today the Persian Gulf (Shiraz). Before the arrival of the Iranian tribes, the plateau was inhabited by the Hurrites and other non Indo-European tribes. Unlike as depicted in the movie "300", Persians were (and are) typical White people, with some blue eyed individuals and sometimes light haired (even Arab chronicles and stories stress that Persians are much lighter skinned than Arabs). [img=2]They were less developed than the neighboring people, like Assyrians and Urartu, but they brought the Zoroastrian system of religion and ethics that still survives, a belief that humans can choose between good and evil. Avesta was a collection of sacred texts expressing the Zoroastrian doctrine. Zoroaster had been a religious reformer which preached the existence of a supreme god, Ahura Mazda, lord of the good and creator of the world, identified with the sky light. Its emblem was the Sun and its representation was a winged circle with bird tail. Minor deities were called yazatas, which many times were represented as winged animals with... (read more)

What Your U3 Shouldn't Be Without

Softpedia News (Ionut Ilascu) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:57:00 GMT

Although U3 technology has been on the market for some while and it has already been adopted by many users, I still get questions from friends of mine asking me to explain the difference between a regular USB drive and a U3 Smart one. At the end of the explanation they are pretty disappointed that the U3 is not that smart to cook or do laundry and that the only difference is ease of management via the LaunchPad it comes with and the security program that protects the key via a password.Surely, these do not seem like much, but to tell you the truth, Launchpad makes things a whole lot easier as you do not have to appeal to application launchers (I imagine you do not dig for the executable manually each time you want to start an app) and installation files no longer mix with personal data as there is a delimitation between the two (just like Program Files on a PC. Only on U3 these are hidden from view).I have a list of applications installed on my U3 I can't do without. This is a software that makes moving to a new computer as easy as plugging in my U3 Smart drive. The basic apps a regular user needs include an email client, and for this Mozilla Thunderbird's capabilities are great and if you are willing to shell out some money, The Bat! Professional and Voyager make an extraordinary team. Not a single email is missed and everything is secu... (read more)