First of all user interface is not a measurement for rating an application. Although it is the first thing that the end user sees. Personally I like the idea of making Firefox look like a native application on each operating system. The user interface varies even between windows vista and windows xp. Mac users will feel like home too as Firefox 3 will look similar to safari with the well known minimal mac feel.

I have tested Firefox 3 on a vista system. Bad news is that the web developer plugin did not work. Probably that will be fixed with a newer version of the plugin when Firefox 3 final version is out. Good news is that the browser renders pages much faster and most of the memory leaks that were a pain when using Firefox 2 have been fixed. Web standards are supported as usual with Firefox. Download manager has been upgraded too. A “search” field is there helping you navigate through your downloads. You can pause, resume, cancel or open multiple file locations at any time.

The feature I enjoy most on firefox 3 is the new security features. When visiting a web site, you can click the icon next to the address bar which will provide you information about the identity of the site you are visiting. Also if you want to see as more contest as you can at once, there is a full screen option which eliminates the user interface buttons and fills your screen with web content. Useful improvement, especially for notebook users.

In general web standatds support, native user interface which makes the browser easy-to-use even for users that have used only IE and security improvements make firefox 3 the best browser out there (and IE look like the worst one…).

It has been about two weeks since I upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5. The new version (which was delayed for about one week) brings many changes, most of them in the backend (administration panel). These changes, which change the blogger’s experience when he admins his blog, offer a faster, and more organized admin panel. WordPress 2.5 could have been released as version 3.0 for sure.

The new admin panel is more friendly than the old one (as soon as you get used to it). Anything that is about the frontend of your blog (write, manage, comments, design) is on the upper left corner, and anything that has to do with the backend (settings, plugins, users) is on the upper right.

The new dashboard is well organised. Page elements are divided into small “widgets”, which inform you about incoming links, recent comments, WordPress news feed and recommended plugins. AJAX is used in every edge of the new dashboard, making comments’ moderation, editing and saving faster and more entertaining.

The WYSIWYG editor, Tiny MCE 3.0 offers permalink editing option and autosave seems to work nicer. There is no “Save & continue” editing button in the new editor. This button is divided to: “Save” button and “Publish” button, which makes the operation cleaner. Last but not least is the “Toggle Full Screen” button of the new editor, which lets you write your post in full screen mode, like editing a document in MS Word. Photo and media can be added easier and photo galleries can now be created without using external plugins.

The biggest surprise though comes when you access the plugins page in the new WordPress 2.5. Plugins can now be automatically updated with a single click, without using FTP access to your server. You just provide the FTP access information (username, password) to your WordPress installation and if a plugin is outdated, you click “Upgrade automatically” and WordPress automatically replaces the older version with the newer one.

WP 2.5 offers also many security enhancements (Technorati will stop crawling WP blogs that use WP 2.3.2 or older). If you want to further secure your blog, you can edit your wp-confing.php file and add one more constant called SECRET_KEY and use the unique key that Wordress.org will provide to you. More info on that here. It is also recommended to upgrade to version 2.5.1 as it fixes a critical security issue, especially if you use the open registration mode in your blog.

In general WordPress 2.5 is a milestone, a great upgrade, which makes blog’s administration much easier and faster as long as you get used to it. Remember to check plugins and themes compatibility before upgrading! Simpla widgetized theme works great with WP 2.5

Mozilla Prism is a project created by the Mozilla Foundation (Firefox and Thunderbird creators). Prism is dedicated to bridge Web apps with desktop apps. The project is based on Webrunner which moved to Mozilla code repository and took the name Prism.

The first thing you may think is that “We have already Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe AIR for that kind of stuff”. Thats true, but first of all Prism is open-source, which means that developers around the world can add features or help to the development and fix security issues. Secondly Prism is not aimed to replace the Web. Its just acts like a bridge (like a mirror) between web apps and your desktop. Lets use an an example to understand how Prism works. Assuming that Gmail is your favorite web app. Prism lets you split Gmail out of your browser window and run it directly from your desktop on its own window.

Prism is built on Firefox, so it supports rich internet technologies like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The Mozilla team works on adding more features to Prism, like support for 3D graphic cards and offline data storage. Up to now though Prism is available only for Windows as it is in beta mode.

When the final version will be released, Prism will probably be integrated with Firefox and you will not even have to download and install it. A button in Firefox that will let you with one-click to add the web app you like on your desktop is also in plans. You can download the current beta version of Prism (Microsoft Windows version only) from here.

If that project succeeds, it will be a great step on improving the web experience and bring the web “everywhere”. Its big advantage agains Silverlight and Adobe AIR is that it can bring any web app in your desktop and not only the apps that are created using specific frameworks. As the project is open-source, you can participate in the development. Most info on that, here.

Toshiba decided to give up its HD-DVD format. The company made this decision after the announcement of all major studios that they are going to support Blu-ray (last one to do so was Warner Bros. Studio). Shoppers now should not be confused and they should move to Blu-ray. Although Toshiba will offer support for owners of HD-DVD drives.

The HD war is over and Blu-ray is the winner. That will lead for sure to sales rise as users do not have to choose a format taking the risk of being given up after some time. The question now is what will Microsoft do with xbox that comes with a HD-DVD drive. Up to now Blu-ray leads the market with 82% of total HD sales, so a small amount of users (around 18%) will have to move on Sony’s format too.

Toshiba Ceo pointed that HD-DVD is much better than Blu-ray but Toshiba would not like to cause trouble to partners and consumers:

“This was a very difficult decision to make … but when we thought about the trouble we would cause to consumers and our partners, we decided it was not right for us to keep going with such a small presence”

All now wait to see if that movement will have the awaited affection in the High Definition market.
[via]

During Macworld 2008 keynote, Steve Jobs made some announcements for the forthcoming Apple products, itunes and some statistics for the previous year.

First of all iTunes will offer from now on the opportunity to rent movies. Movies can be rented for 30 days (playback should be started up to 30 days after the rental) and when you begin watching them you have 24 hours to see the movie once or as many times you want. Movies will be available in iTunes for renting 30 days after their DVD release. Movies from all major studios are featured and HD movies will be available in a while. When you rent a movie, you can watch it on your pc or mac or on your ipod/iphone.

Apple TV is upgraded to Apple TV take 2 and integrates completely with iTunes, offering the ability to rent movies straight from your HDTV. Time Capsule is also a new device that offers back-up solutions to Mac an PC users. Time Capsule features a server hdd and an airport extreme wireless solution, which means that you can backup everything without having to plug any kind of cable. Time capsule is offered in 500GB and 1TB capasities.

Last but not least, Steve Jobs announced a new member in the MacBook family, called MacBook Air (“there is something in the air” was the slogan of Macworld 2008). Macbook Air is extremely thin (0.16″ to 0.76″) and offers an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (1.6 standard and 1.8 Ghz optional), 2GB of RAM (not upgradeable), an isight camera, a touch pad with advanced capabilities similar to the ones for ipod touch and iphone, 13.3″ LED backlight display, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. There only one USB port, a DVI port and the MagSafe port for the power cord. MacBook Air is equipped with a 80GB hdd drive as standard. Also there is an option for replacing the standard drive with a 64GB SSD drive (no moving parts) for $1000. There is no DVD combo drive so if you want to uses CDs or DVDs you have to purchase the external one which needs the only-offered USB port (the external combo drive is powered via the usb cable so no power cord is needed). Prices for the new Macbook start at $1700. Although if you want a MacBook Air with the SSD drive and the 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, you have to pay near $3000.

In general -as a geek- I love the design and the portability of the new MacBook. The only problem is that a portable notebook should have the option for manual battery replacement. MacBook (as most Apple products, like ipods and iphone) does not offer that option. Battery (according to Apple) lasts for 5 hours, but with wireless on I think that it should be around 3.5 hours. So as Paul Stamatiou said:

For a notebook so perfectly poised at being the ultimate travel computer, not being able to have spare batteries is a huge turn off.

RAM is also not upgradeable but MacBook Air is an ultra-portable notebook and not a desktop replacement. 2GB are ok for most cases and everyday uses.
More photos from MacBook Air can be found here.

WordPress 2.4 is scheduled to be released on 24th of January! The changes in this version will be many and most of them on the backend (admin interface). The new interface seems to be much faster and uses much AJAX and caching! I think that its more easy-to-use as long as bloggers get used to it. If you want to take a preview on the new interface you can see the online demo here.

This demo includes all the core features and aesthetic changes of the new interface! Maybe there will be a beta or release-candidate version of WordPress 2.4 and bloggers could see it in action before 24th of January!

Happy New Year to everyone

Sorry for the little downtime (around 40 minutes), but I updated Typpz blog to WordPress 2.3.2! This update fixes a critical security bug and adds the ability to create a custom db error page that will apear if WordPress cannot connect to you database instead of the classic WordPress db error page. The official announcement from the WordPress developer blog mentions:

“WordPress 2.3.2 is an urgent security release that fixes a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts. 2.3.2 also suppresses some error messages that can give away information about your database table structure and limits and stops some information leaks in the XML-RPC and APP implementations. Get 2.3.2 now to protect your blog from these disclosures.

As a little bonus, 2.3.2 allows you to define a custom DB error page. Place your custom template at wp-content/db-error.php. If WP has a problem connecting to your database, this page will displayed rather than the default error message.”

It is recommended for any WordPress user to upgrade to version 2.3.2! Happy upgrading WordPress fans !

Recently I purchased a new notebook: a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21E. FZ series come with 15.4″ wide displays. VGN-FZ21E features: Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2Ghz processor, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160GB DD, WiFi (802.11 a/b/g), DVD RW and a Nvidia GeForce 8400M GT GPU with 64MB RAM. Its operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium.

The package contains the notebook, a rechargable battery, the power cords and the guides. That means that there is no Windows Vista recovery disk. In case of operatin system crash or if you want to format your notebook, there is a hidden partition containing the operating system and sony vaio’s preinstalled programs. The hidden partition makes the HDD looks smaller (around 140GB) in Windows Vista.

The design is minimal with the big vaio logo on the back. The keyboard is black except the media buttons on the top as long as the on/of button which are silver. Built-in speakers offer medium quality sound, but loud enough (except if you use the battery life profile). The fans cooling the gpu and the cpu are quiet and even under high cpu load, the notebook remains cool which makes it a great and quiet portable solution, especially if you usually use your laptop on your knees.

FZ Vaio series offer wide connectivity solutions. The built in WiFi offers stable and fast data transfers. The are audio outputs, a card reader (reads sd cards and memory sticks), iLink port for camcoders and digital cameras, 3 usb 2.0 ports, ethernet, modem, and an HDMI port for full High Definition (1080p) output.

The keyboard is elegant and provides great feeling when typing. Charging the notebook takes about 45 minutes with the vaio turned off and 1 hour and 30 minutes with the vaio turned on. Although battery lasts only for 1 hour and 20 minutes with medium use (WiFi enabled, internet surfing). With hard use (3d graphics, gaming) the battery lasts for 40 minutes, which makes it necessary to buy a second battery if you need your laptop on whenever you are.

The display is one of the best I’ve seen on laptops of tha price range. Colors are vivid and bright and watching HD videos (720p) is exciting. The built-in motion camera offers only the basics. The picture quality is low and pixelates but it will cover your needs for basic video chat.

Vaio VGN-FZ21E costs 1100 euros (around $1500). There are more expensive laptops in the FZ series, which offer blu ray drives instead of the DVD-combo and graphics cards with more memory. In general this Vaio will cover everyone needs. Its not ideal for hardcore gamers though. People who travel a lot should consider buying a second battery. Its weight is 2.7kg, so this laptop can be called portable for its display category.

All of us nowadays visit and participate in social sites and networks. Practically a social network is a web site where users take action and not just read content. Digg.com and Facebook are perfect examples of such sites.

PHPizabi is an open-source script written in PHP (like the name shows) which is aimed to help developers create their own social site in fiew steps. As most of web apps (like WordPress), PHPizabi requires:

PHP 4.2.x or above
MySQL 3.23.x or above
Apache 1.13.19 or above OR IIS 5.1 or above
GD2 (Image Processor)

PHPizabi is built with security in mind: there are three administrative security layers and internal structure management, coupled with bruteforce protection. The app seems to be fast (though I have not tested it under heavy load). Modules (add ons) are supported, so developers can expand functionality and features with few clicks.

The end user experience seems to be complete, compared to famous social networks: customizable profiles, internal message sending (PMs), online-offline status, friend invitations, private photo gallery, smilies, comments and all the cool stuff used around. You can see a complete list of the features in the official PHPizabi web site. A demo installation can be found here.

In general PHPizabi seems to be a usefull platform for building social sites and is supported by an ongrowing community. If anyone uses PHPizabi and has tested it under heavy load, feel free to leave a comment and share your experience with us !