andreiadis_weblog_

New, everything!

2010-06-20T20:20:00.005+03:00

After what is, in today's internet world, practically an infinity, I post here my goodbyes to Blogger before sending you all to a new, exciting destination:
my updated website!

grow up, talkie!

2005-08-27T00:06:00.000+03:00

The trendiest thing ever is to talk about gtalk. I must obey. So I prepared since yesterday to write a review about this new addition to the Google panoply. Prepared, that is, by using the product. Of course, words can only palely describe the feeling I had when first opening the program. I was taken aback, to say the least. The reason? Who better to resume it than Ken Fisher:
Google Talk is clean and easy to use. It's also absent almost every feature found in other IM clients. Want to send a file? Pshaw! Want to have a group chat? You're too social! Want to view your previous chat sessions easily? Get outta here! Want little emoticons? Skins? Go bug somebody else! Google Talk is Spartan in the way that the Lacedemonians were Spartan: it seems ancient!
I know Google’s preference for minimalist design and reduced functions, and I have to admit it feels good sometimes. (Although Picassa and Hello surely betray their adoption by much fancier and annoying style.) And yes, sometimes you hardly manage to communicate because of those “Insiders.” So I appreciate the sleek and stylish interface, although a bit exaggerated (who needs all that slide and snap behaviour?), and the serious appeal any conversation in gtalk has. The minimum of resources used by the application surely is a bonus if you care for memory management (I surely do). Actually regarding this aspect, as I speak, YPager hungrily devours about 40 MB of RAM, while googletalk manages on 3.5 MB of leftovers, while in use (VoIP). The quality of voice communication is very good, comparable to the one of Skype’s.

But my appreciative remarks above cannot compensate for the lack in functionality this product so shamelessly displays. To exemplify the gap which exist between it and other modern IM, I decided to make a list (in random order) of all the things I’d personally lose upon shifting from Y! messenger to gtalk. Analyze this:

1. Emoticons. Surely, syntax colouring exist in gtalk for the most rudimentary of smileys, but the difference from smiley and emotion surely doesn’t have to explained. Some say that they don’t need the colourful gifs Y! provides. Certainly, they must be aware that the emoticons can be simply removed by deleting the corresponding files. Of course, the horror of opening Program Files... Better not to have them at all, right?
2. Conferences. No one can comment upon this. Also: voice conferences.
3. Detailed options. Detailed everything: custom ringtones, invisible login, etc. I adore options. The more the merrier me.
4. Text formatting. Rich text formatting. Although abused by many, it remains a way of expressing your personality. Albeit Comic-Sans fans don’t posses one.
5. Avatars and display images. Not necessarily a means of communication, but certainly capable of transmitting a lot. Seen my avatar lately? Also here: status change via Winamp plugin.
6. Environments. Not a fan of. But some prove to be very useful at times, just think about Doodle.
7. Webcam. When you have a dear friend hundreds of kilometers away, you learn to appreciate it.
8. Archive. So you want Gmail-integrated chat history? Laugh out loud. Sure, gtalk can keep a record of things there spoken. I certainly believed this yesterday, when after activating this function, I used the program to talk with a friend about this very list. Today I opened gtalk and searched for my recorded history in order to improve on this post. And there it was. Care to know how much of it? The last 20 lines... Certainly, the function has a proper description: “Save recent chat history.” The guys undoubtedly have a sense of humor.
9. File transfer and photo sharing. Grouped together for the sake of a round number. But each so important in its own that it would deserve two entries. What a simpler way of exchanging files directly with the person you talk, without any server-side mediation? And what a better way to share, view and comment your photos? There is not a single day in which I don’t use them at least once.
10. Games. Last but not least. You don’t like games? Don’t play them. They are, to say the least, unobtrusive. But what a fun...

Okay, so what has gtalk to offer? Some people stress upon the minimalist everything. Just a Gmail account and here you are. No need for personal profiles or 360º adventures. Or is it? Google was careful to start the public sign-in for its mail service in the same day it released gtalk, as the two products are strongly related. However, registering for an account with Gmail is still a rather complicated procedure. Personally, I believe it’s faster with the yahoo. I agree, the first opening of Y! messenger is a horrifying experience. I go straight for the Preferences page and only stop after the interface regains the simplicity it probably had on its second version. Skins? Content tabs? Searches? Audibles? You have to be kidding. Surely some users appreciate and use these functions (if you can call the skin a function; it’s an organ!), but here I present my personal view.

To conclude, the plethora of useful goodies present in the main stream IM programs will keep me away from gtalk for a while. Occasionally, I may use it for voice calls, although I believe Skype offers better quality and of course many more functions (voice conference anyone?). The start however seems promising for a beta version. Although Google products have a strange habit of preserving beta status apparently indefinitely, for obvious reasons.

google? relax...

2005-08-25T10:55:00.000+03:00

So two days ago while reading some posts I stumbled upon a rumour saying that the much-expected, everyone-curious-about Google IM was due to be released on Wednesday. And so it was. Amazed? Please.
Now everyone stand up and explain to me the Google-hype. Since the release of Orkut I had developing a strange but compelling feeling regarding the not-so-hidden intentions of the Mountain View company. And although positive that many people sense this, there is little action against using the monopoly of services that Google wants to provide. Is it the colourful balls? The holiday logo changes? The minimalist simplicity that appeals to everyone? But hey, don’t get me wrong. I have a primary Gmail account, a blog hosted by Blogspot, an identity on the Orkut social engineering scheme and a wish list on Froogle. And I heavily search with their engine. My darkest secrets exposed to them. Some time ago I told Firefox to erase the cookies after each session in order to maintain some privacy. My naïveté has passed. Ever found yourself curious about your Search History? It’s a really scary place to watch. So my hope that erasing a cookie can change anything was a bit shaken. There is more that a string of text that can leave a trace. There is the static IP I have, my Gmail account that I access from that IP, my searching habits and so on. Hey, of course you can try to protect yourself. Various artifices, chain-linked proxies and other nerderies. But I am a lazy person. The only thing I would consider doing is using less Google-flavoured products and services. So I now officially announce the death of my Orkut identity and my Froogle wish list. I’m sure the Internet will crumble behind me, but it’s a necessary thing to do. Plus, I don’t have time to socialize like that. I have this blog. Oh, the irony…
P.S. And who the hack am I to consider I receive so much attention, you may dare to ask. But it’s all about statistics. If it’s not me, there is some other foolish guy. So why bother? Until all the guys become proactive and start taking actions, I can enjoy my oblivious rest.

the word and blogger

2005-08-24T20:20:00.000+03:00

When I first read about the Blogger for Word I felt rather excited. The idea that I could publish and annotate my posts without necessarily open the browser was enough to make me download and install the plugin. After testing its capabilities, the results seem favourable. Let’s analyse with a bit of detail.
The “small” (85%) Georgia typeface I use for the posts is the equivalent of using a 10 px size in Word. Larger (14 px) or smaller (8 px) characters are translated correctly. Italics, bold and underline work just fine. However, colours are not supported, as this was supposed to be red and obviously is not. Borders or backgrounds are also unavailable. I didn’t even bother to see how the translator deals with embedded objects or pictures, as I can imagine the result. When an option like on-the-fly conversion of MathType equations to gif images will be available, I’m sure I’ll read about it in large print.
On the bright side though, lists are converted correctly, and one can use either numbers or bullets for the items. For example, this is a list of the things I wish:

IBM ThinkPad X41 Notebook

Sony V3 Cyber-Shot

Sony Ericsson K750i Mobile Phone

You get the picture.
I was curious about the special characters, and so I decided to try the following: diacritics (ă, î, ş), common signs (©, ™, ®) or not so common (á, Ø, ( , K ). The later were supposed to look loke this:
Lastly, various fonts can be used without problems, provided that the user has the respective typefaces installed on his machine. E.g.,
Palatino Linotype 10 px
Arial 10 px
Trebuchet 10 px
Verdana 10 px
To conclude, putting aside the limitations, which most of the times will get unnoticed, the plugin is a good tool for the blab la bla. I’ll use it sometimes when I feel like it, okay?

opuscules vs. opuses

2005-08-19T12:30:00.000+03:00

Those of you curious enough to browse through my site probably wondered and questioned my choice of name for the former writings section, that is the Latin opuscules. My friends know I have a weakness for fancy sounding, exotic vocables [a word, esp. with reference to form rather than meaning], so I always tried to keep myself at their high level of expectations. After some Oxford Dictionary searches, I almost decided for opus, albeit their grandeur-implying meaning [any artistic work, esp. one on a large scale], but then an entry in the Thesaurus made me shift in favour of the diminutive opuscule or opusculum [rare, a small or minor literary or musical work], which I regard in fact as quite appropriate to denote my artistic escapades.
In a different line of modifications, I decided to change the vague works section under which my professional writings were grouped, into something more revealing, such as science. Hope this will make it easier for the reader to navigate the site.

a word about copyright

2005-08-17T19:45:00.000+03:00

For the privacy aware bloggers, including myself, here is a part of the Terms under which Blogger, owned and operated by Pyra.com, Ltd. ("Pyra"), offers its services.

Unless stated otherwise for specific services, Member will retain copyright ownership and all related rights for information he or she publishes through Blogger or otherwise enters into Blogger-related services. (from Terms of Service for Blogger.com)

Pyra does not claim ownership of the Content you place on your BlogSpot Site. Pyra may quote or reproduce small portions of your content (if you have made it public) in order to promote your BlogSpot site and/or the BlogSpot service, but only on a fair-use-type basis. (from Terms of Service for Blogspot.com)

The full document is available, or say hidden , at http://www.blogger.com/terms.g

and so it goes

2005-08-14T17:12:00.000+03:00

Don't know exactly how the idea came to me in the first place, but after many attempts of joining a community, be it real or imaginary, I think that actually creating a community is a good place to start. And so it goes. Consider yourselves members. Of whatever.