There is no 'Ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's laptop

Chuck Norris is always in control!

Ah, the relief of finishing the final year project for college. As you can guess by the amount of posts on the blog, I have been doing other things. Spending a lot of time "researching" my project somebody pointed out to me to Google "find chuck norris" and press "I'm Feeling Lucky" (Thanks Fitzy!)

Sure enough, those smart guys (& girls) at google came up with this.

Very nice. Must be the person with the same job as the Virgle post!

The 100 year plan :-)

Well you have to put your hands together for Google and their April Fools jokes. I really enjoyed lasts years one, but Virgle. Brilliant.

“Starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars.”

Virgle application form

So much effort and time must have been put into these hoaxes. So I now wish to put my CV into the Google April Fools Department and apply for a job to come up with elaborate hoaxes.

Free Download InfraRecorder

InfraRecorder is an open-source alternative to commercial CD and DVD burning software like Nero. It uses a standard graphical interface for creating disc images and an express creation wizard that helps guide you through the process for the less technology savvy people.

InfraRecorder is a really capable piece of software that allows you to burn all the usual kinds of CD and DVD types. It also supports the creation of dual-layer DVDs and the burning of ISO and BIN images. CNet tested it and said "We got perfect results from discs burned with the software and had no trouble using it from start to finish."

However there can be some slowdown using the application, especially when preparing to burn a disc.

If you have used Nero, Magic ISO or Daemon Tools to create DVD's and CD's, InfraRecorder is a fantastic open source alternative. However if your a complete newbie to burning software you might find Nero that little bit easier to use.

Download InfraRecorder Here

Heuristic Evaluation of Website

During 3rd year of college, I had Human Computer Interaction as a subject. Simply we studied how people interact with computer's/computer applications, and how we can improve this interaction. Part of the subject was conducting a heuristic evaluation of a website. Unfortunatly for www.brooksvideo.com, I had to write up on them. Needless to say I pretty much slated the site (And got a good mark!). After this subject I still keep a keen eye on websites and think to myself, this is a nice site, or the case with the Ryanair.com site, wow did they actually pay somebody to develop this or was it Michael O'Leary's pet monkey! I'm currently developing a site myself, lets lets hope I don't shoot myself in the foot.

If you are studying HCI its worth looking up Jakob Nielsen. He's the main guru when it comes to this. So if your looking for an example of a heuristic evaluation, I have mine available to download as a PDF file.

Vista Advertisement Video

Eco Friendly Software???

I'm never in the same location for too long. Over the last 5 years I have gone through 3 laptops. One of the main things I have noticed is that battery life is getting better. However it's still far from being at the point of saying a laptop is the ultimate in portability. The vast majority of the time my laptop is plugged in. In my mind, the whole purpose of a laptop is to be wire free and to be portable. Not searching for a table within 3.5 meters of a power socket.

Depending of course on what I'm doing, I'd be lucky if my Vaio laptop running Windows Vista lasts over an hour. Credit is due to the hardware engineers over the last decade. We now have special mobile processors, RAM, 2.5' HDD, Graphics cards for mobile devices; all major successes for increasing battery life. In my opinion the software engineers out there needs to increase their efforts.

The majority of students have laptops now. Very few own their own desktop. Business men love showing off their latest flashy laptops. Laptops must be now the main form of computing in the 21st Century. So why do massive software companies like Microsoft create energy sapping products and operating systems? It's no secret that Vista will eat your battery life quicker than I can devour my €4.60 lunch from the canteen. Does Vista really need "Aero"....which is just for a "wow" factor and provides little for productivity or wow. I remember going into Harvey Normans in Limerick and being shown the new and amazing Windows Vista. The salesman showed me the see-through windows and media player. I asked if there was anything else, and he said ...'no'. Needless to say even then I wasn't impressed.

The whole world wants "green" cars, energy saving light bulbs, race against waste etc. etc., (try not to laugh) but maybe there is such a thing as eco friendly software!! So to get onto the point, I'm sure all software companies realise that their software is now more than likely going to be run on laptop's. And when they all read this rant, they will soon change their ways, but until then, here are are a few ways to increase your battery life.

• Disable Aero feature in Vista
• Disable any desktop toolbars/sidebars
• Dim the brightness of your screen as low as you can tolerate
• Exit any applications you not using (Eg winamp launcher, anything in task tray)
• Try NOT to use USB devices (Flash drive, mouse etc)
• Download Vista Battery Saver
• Run MSConfig and disable programs you don't need in Startup section.
• And for Gods sake don't use a laptop on your lap!

Quick Way of Doing Lines

Brilliant!