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visualnary is about to turn 2 years, and I am about to turn XXXVIII (or XXXIIX).

Happy birthday, and thanks for sticking with this blog.

Looking at the statistics, still most my visitors use some Windows machine, but down from the high 80%s to now 58%, with Linux a surprizing 31% – unless those are all spiders…

I get about 200 visitors a day or almost 6000 per month. This would make for a nice party, thankyou

There are over 400 posts, and about 350 comments. Over 10.000 spam comments were recycled into fast food.

Browsers used

Internet Exploder is now below 50%, at 44%, with Mozilla chasing at 35%. If you add the 10% from Firefox users, then Mozilla is actually the number 1 browsing platform, at least here on visualnary. Safari represents about 8%, Opera 2%. The remaining breadcrumbs go to Netscape , Lynx, Firebird, Konqueror, Camino and Flock, all below 1%.

Interestingly, less than a third of IE users have installed the new 7.0 version, while 10% are still on versions below 6.0. If you are one of those, this might be a good time to update to 7.0. Or even better: give Firefox a try. It is faster, more stable, more standard-compliant. And free. The install is quick and painless.

Previously I wrote about the difference between Apple and Microsoft in One Sentence, but here I stumbled upon a little video showing the fundamental different philosophies between Apple and Microsoft, as shown in their packaging.
One tries to do everything — offer the customer anything that is technically possible, and ends up in a bloated mess-up. The other boils appliaces down to their essence, and makes them look like a gem.

The top 5 priorities of Microsoft and Apple

Microsoft

1. Technology
2. Technology
3. Technology
4. Usability
5. Design

Apple

1. Design
2. Usability
3. Technology
4. Design
5. Usability

One-line Vistaâ„¢ Joke of the day

Can anyone confirm the rumor that Vistaâ„¢ Service Packâ„¢ 1 will install Windowsâ„¢ XPâ„¢?

I have previously written about Microsoft’s attempt at making a mobile phone (here and here), but now the first two spec ads have been leaked:

and

In the past few weeks, Microsoft has managed to impress me, and impress me thrice. First with their campaign “Bring the love back” (link). Then they showed a new way of collecting meta data for photographs. And finally, they have a cool table-top computer in the works.

But then the old Microsoft factor jumped in. They just do not know marketing. When I visited their site, I was surprized how un-cool they managed to make their videos. Yes, they have a cool web-site, but the videos are just old-school; nicely made, but essentially boring. If I hadn’t seen the video from Popular Mechanics first, I wouldn’t have grasped how cool this thing really is. Worse yet, in the same week that Microsoft has the first public showing of this new Surface thing, everyone is talking about a mobile cell phone.

They have the means to pay for any type of ad strategy, but it seems that the problem is at the core of Microsoft. Stories are much more interesting than facts.

So, without further ado, a video that uses Microsoft footage with a new voice-over, putting the Surface computer into perspective: (via)
and

Microsoft really seems out to change my mind. Yet another cool technology, one that allows for hyperlinking of photographs on the Net. I think this can become a medium killer app. Many people have thousands of photographs on their harddisk, but no meta-data. Software like this could help sifting through – and organizing – all these pictures. And just imagine this technology weaved into Google Maps…

(via)

As my regulars reader will have guessed, I am usually a big fan of everything with an Apple logo, while trying to avoid anything that starts with “Microso” or “Windo”. A short while ago, I was officially impressed by two of Microsoft’s campaigns. But today, I was short of blown away by the following glimpse from the MS laboratories:
(via)
I couldn’t help but feeling “Hey, this is Apple territory – it’s easy to use, it’s definately cool, I want one”.
Starting at USD 5.000, I don’t see why they are not targeting the (upper/geek) home market.
For more info, hop over to Popular Mechanics. Update: Doug pointed me to Microsofts website about the Surface. If you are in New York on June 9th, you can see it live. Lucky you Americans, in one month you get two cool gadgets from Apple (iPhone) and Microsoft (Surface).

After the merely luke-warm reception of Microsoft’s previous offer of free phones to Bloggers, the Redmont company has now adapted their marketing strategy for their upcoming mobile phone project. Tranferring Vista’s “Quantity before clarity” campaign, they will offer the same phone in many different versions. Additonally to the zPhone, Microsoft has plans for an expected 6 other flavours. For one of the models, the oPhone (with built-in oTone (offering downloadable music) for the teen-ager market, and oZone (automatic adjustment for clima quotes) for the business traveller), had just an instructional video leaked:

(Video via Sparkplug9)

Gems from the Web:

• nito .: hawkeye :. – Hawkeye simplifies creating custom DVD mixes with minimal knowledge.
• Biodiesel and Elephants – Biodiesel can be made 50% cheaper.
• Mac spoofs – TrueNuffs Mac spoofs have been updated. Here is one about the upgrading capabilities of Windows and Mac. Enjoy
• Ripzor.com – YouTube & Google Video Ripper – Ripzor offers a unique service that provides users with the ability to rip and download videos from popular video sharing websites, such as YouTube and Google Video with the click of a mouse.
• Despicable Squatters Reserve the Domain Names of those Killed in VA Tech Shootings – Domain cybersquatters are reserving the names of the people killed in the Virginia Tech shooting incident, as well as the names of their family members. The squatters then [...] offer to sell them back to the family members at exhorbanent prices.
• Lots of Links for Filmmakers – film production knowledge and resources – Nice collection of links, not only for Minnesota people.

When a Microsoft programme works smoothly, I am surprized; when a Apple programme doesn’t, I feel personally insulted.

There I said it.

…and it’s a Friday, too. Anyways, here are today’s Gems from the Web:

• My favourite quotes – “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
• Wacky laptop tricks – While you are waiting for your MacBook, here are some things that you can do with your laptop.
• Apple Macintosh G3 tossed over a 45-foot cliff – Total destruction, unsurprizingly. But why would anyone want to do this?
• TechRepublic Photo Gallery – Chaoscope fractals showcase the beauty of chaos
• Securing OS X 10.4: Tips from Apple and the NSA – Apple and the National Security Administration (NSA) have published a security guide for Mac OS 10.4 with key highlights on network administration, securing Safari and the importance of physical security.
• Microsoft naysayer bandwagon gets crowded – Goldman Sachs removed Microsoft from its “conviction list,” the equivalent of a super-duper buy list.
• Lawmakers pushing iPods flew on Apple’s dime – Two state lawmakers backing a controversial plan to buy iPods for every schoolchild in Michigan were among a group of politicians who made a trip to California that was paid for at least in part by Apple, the maker of iPods.
• Welcome to Prisma – Imagine, an international company, and their sitemap is not clickable! Hmm…
• Creative Planet’s Digital Production BuZZ – News – Red camera supports the /i Technology, developed by Cooke Optics. /i Technology enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens and camera data for every film frame shot and provide it to post-production teams digitally.