Music Player Tutorial

Well, soon I’ll be making a music player tutorial – another to add to my “For Idiots” guides.

The “Creating a web browser in VB” tutorial went down well, and as I don’t currently have much time to add much to it (a major revision IS coming, I’m working on it slowly) I want to add something small and simple that will teach you the basics of playing a media file, and will keep the website going.

 My exams are now over, my results (that I know):

English = 80%

Science = 80%

Maths = 76%

French = 96%

Geography = 79%

Rel. Eductation = 80%

History = 80%

 Overall, I’m pretty pleased

It’s been a while since I last posted…

It’s been a while since I last posted, so I thought I’d post.

 As you all know, I’ve got a tutorial on “How to build a web browser in VB”, and I’m looking for ideas on what to do next.

I was thinking of maybe a quick launcher, that pops up when you click a system tray icon, or perhaps something more advanced.

 So what would you like to see??

Also this week: I’ve almost finished my RuneScape trading program; TraderX. Once it’s completed I’ll post a blog entry on how I did it, and I’ll add a page where you can download and post suggestions.

Child’s Memoirs

A diary has recently been bought forward concerning the Holocaust. For the less enlightened of you, the Holocaust was a terrible thing that happened during the war, which killed thousands of Jews.

It’s amazing how matter-of-factly the child has written the diary, its actually very chilling.

Full story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070604/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_holocaust_diary

Palm Foleo vs Samsung Q1

I reckon this is going to be a big question in the future. The latest big thing from Palm is the Foleo  – watch vid for details.

To be honest, I’d go for the Q1. It has much more functionality and a (probably) familiar user interface, since it uses Windows XP Tablet Edition.

The Foleo however, although I haven’t been able to dig up a price, may be cheaper than a brand new Q1 – but you can pick up a brand new Q1 for £250 on eBay – where I buy loads of tech anyways. It does email, office documents – though I like to work on my Office documents with Microsoft Office, not some dodgy alternative from Palm. Also, I enjoy being able to write documents using a tablet – something which the Foleo (weirdly enough) doesn’t support. Why didn’t they give it a spin screen and a touch screen? People would definately go for it then.

In my honest opinion, the Q1 (a similar product) wins hands down. The Foleo does nothing that my existing Treo doesnt. And I can do a lot on that lil’ thing!

[Edit] Vid doesn’t work. Heres a link instead. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid452319854/bctid935459074

Vista!

Well, as promised here is my opinion on Vista!

Pros

Awesome UI – Very sleek and sexy

Start menu – Takes a bit of getting used to and the control panel is completely messed up in my opinion – why take away add/remove programs? Just makes things more complicated.

Security – Sometimes a bit over the top… every time you launch an application THROUGH another, it asks you for permission… rather annoying after a while.

Cons

IE7 stopped working for me, and it’s stupidly difficult to uninstall once you’re on Vista, so if you plan on upgrading, uninstall it in XP before you do, to ensure it works. Otherwise, I’ve gone to Firefox, who’s UI is much better.

They could’ve updated the menu’s – when you right click it feels like you’ve gone straight back to 98. They should’ve used Aero on those.

What did they do to WMP11?? They butchered it! The good ol’ icon has gone, and instead of the sleek black, flowing UI, they’ve changed it to a bubbly feel.

Also, Aero is amazing. Not only does it make overall use more fun, but it helps make things so much easier to use… and gives the UI that unique feel, that in my opinion, not even those Mac’s can beat.

So, my opinion? 8/10. Go for it… make sure you back up your music though, I spent 8 hours re-loading my huge library. If you are? Go for Home Premium+ – I’m running Ultimate (the equivalent of pro edition), but I’ve used Home Premium (Standard) and Home Basic – Home Basic is nothing in comparison.

 

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Also, check out this: www.legalsounds.com

5p per track, 50p per album (average). I downloaded 2gb of music last night… and the downloader software is very good.