Facebook Is Down for Maintenance, faces hordes of complaints

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By MAJOR TOM | October 13, 2009

After a database problem knocked out the accounts of about 150,000 Facebook users for more than a week, the social networking site said today that most are now back up and running.

Despit the fix, many of the 150,000 users affected by the problem are still expressing frustration and anger with the social network.

The account problems were caused by “several technical issues” with a single database, Brandee Barker, a Facebook spokeswoman, told Computerworld in an e-mail. Barker didn’t provide details on what caused the problem, but said that the issues have been corrected.

Thousands of Facebook users who have been unable to access their accounts for nearly a week and a half now are now seeing their profiles restored–but some data related to recent profile updates may have been lost.

What happened? According to Facebook, the replacement of profiles and login screens with a “down for maintenance” notice–which appears to have started on October 3–stemmed from “a technical issue with a single database.” The company has stressed that there is no chance that it was due to hackers or other malicious activity.

In response to user complaints, Facebook posted a note on its site on Oct. 6, about three days after the first account was dropped. “We are experiencing a technical issue with one of our databases that is resulting in an extended period of maintenance for some of you. We are working on a fix and hope to have this resolved in the next 24 hours,” noted the post.

The message didn’t go over well with a lot of users who didn’t see any progress over the next 24 hours or even in another week. The Oct. 6 message was facebook’s only update about the situation.

Best Superflously Liquid Mac Wallpapers

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By MAJOR TOM | October 7, 2009

Francesco Mugnai offers one of the most beautiful collection of of Wallpapers for Apple Mac OSX. I quickly fell in love with them.

You could say, they are the most beautiful collection of wallpapers one could see on the net these days.

To download, check out at Francesco Mugnai’s site.

Nokia E71: A Computer On One’s Hand

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By MAJOR TOM | September 23, 2009

Okay, we’ve seen already quite a number of previous cellphone models that acts and stimulates a full computer on the palm of the hand but E71, in a glance could be just the first-ever unit that truly epitomizes full functionality computing in one’s hand, especially with the QWERTY keypad right below the screen, not on another flap or fold, but right in front, just like a notebook or a laptop.

With WIFI capability and long-battery life, E71 could just be as good as a notebook, only more convenient to be slipped into a pocket.

There’s just a downside with its 3.15 megapixel camera which many test-users had a problem with while sound quality is just average.

But all in all, E71 is touted to be the best of its kind coming from Nokia’s new line of cellphones.

Windows 7 Should Be Free

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By MAJOR TOM |

This might sound like a joke but Frederick Paul over there at Information Week believes it should be, at least for many Vista users who felt cheated when Vista proved to be a failure and that it would be unfair if XP users have the same upgrade price as their.

In an ‘open letter’ to Microsoft, Paul further argued:

More importantly, Microsoft can afford it. In the long run, Vista upgrades will be a small portion of overall Windows 7 sales. And by recognizing and rewarding its most loyal customers, Microsoft could reap a public relations windfall while finally outdoing rivals Apple and Google. Heck, it probably wouldn’t be long before Microsoft made it all back, and more.

Of course in reality heeding Mr. Paul’s complaining would cost Microsoft millions of dollars in revenues and that’ll make everything far-fetched.

But hey, we can dream sometimes, can’t we?

Intel To Launch Larrabbee Soon

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By MAJOR TOM |

Intel is finally entering the graphics processor market with Larrabbee, in direct competition of AMD and NVIDIA.

The new chip boast of ray tracing technology, allowing more realistic 3D environment for gameplay and allows an easier programming platform for developers as the processor is built similarly with most of Intel’s x86 chip architecture.

Larrabbee is Intel’s spearheader for a development of gaming chips, aiming to meet the demands of many game environment today such as image processing, physical simulation, and medical and financial analytics.

Intel on the one hand promises a big jump in development of integrated graphics chips in the coming year.

VIRAL BLOGGING: GREAT TRAFFIC TIPS AND HINTS

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By MAJOR TOM | September 21, 2009

Carlo Ople of New Media Philippines blogs about Viral Blogging and offers great and very helpful tips in increasing blog traffic and patronage. Every blogger should read about this, learning ways in content strategy and effective use of social sites for site promotion. In essence, this could be the most insightful and concise in terms of content strategy, straightforward and easy-to-follow. Read more about Viral Blogging.

Enter Google Chrome

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By MAJOR TOM | September 3, 2008

Another browser would be out in the public, er, I mean it’s already out just hours ago.

Google has just released Google Chrome web-browser and is already ready for download.

It had been known how Google wanted so much to have it’s own browser, except that it had given way to Mozilla Firefox and delayed the browser project.

But now, they just went into it and perhaps had added another major browser that is available out there after Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

Read this thorough review of Chrome at Yahoo! Tech.

Adobe Media Player: A Flash Revolution

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By MAJOR TOM | August 28, 2008

Ever thought if you could play those flash videos on your Winamp or Windows Media Player?

Wonder no more. Adobe has just launch and made available for download the Adobe Media Player.

Since almost 3 out of 5 video in the online sites are flash items, Adobe Media Player may just revolutionize the way we view our videos. It is still in the beta stage and while testing it, I found the graphic quality to be so excellent and prime class, towards HD quality already, as only the best flash media player that there is could afford.

Except that some videos in its gallery are not playable still or available in every territory—-but we can wait, don’t we?

Download the Adobe Media Player now.

Widget Channel: The Future of TV and Internet

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By MAJOR TOM | August 27, 2008

Just about these times that I had been daydreaming about something concerning television—about how the way we should watch and enjoy it, in this age of supercomputers—Intel and Yahoo! has just recently announced the latest innovation in Internet technology by initiating the Widget Channel project . To be sure, this technology would entirely change the way TV viewers enjoy the ever-present boob-tube. The combination of TV and Internet is just the way to go for home entertainment.

Accordingly, Yahoo-branded TV widgets “will enable consumers to engage in a variety of experiences such as watching videos, tracking their favorite stocks or sports teams, interacting with friends, or staying current on news and information.”

Sometime ago, while I was watching TV at home by my lonesome, I had suddenly imagined someone, or some voice that was trying to catch my attention. “Hey you!” the voice said, “It’s me, Mr. Ryan Seacrest of American Idol”.

I would of course be so startled and would have asked the voice (to which I am not yet sure to where it came from) “Me? Are you talking to me?”

And the voice (allegedly that of the famous and handsome Ryan Seacrest) would say, “Yeah you, the one sitting on a rocking chair wearing an orange shirt. You just won a million dollars!!!” and other voices would suddenly come bursting out saying “Congratulations, you who is presently sitting in a rocking chair, from the Philippines!”; voices that should come from Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and the miraculously nice-sounding Mr. Simon Cowell.

Of course that scenario was just an illusion and if it had actually happened to me just most recently, I would have been so amazed and so startled that I wouldn’t be able to move from my rocking chair for some moments.

But someday, that scenario, where TV and Internet are fused together, allowing easy interaction between and among the viewers and the viewed, especially becoming useful for TV contests that give lots of money away, would no longer be so startling and so surprising, for in fact that’ll be just the future of the way we enjoy home entertainment.

And with the advent of Widget Channel, the future is so near. Thanks to Intel and Yahoo!

Mozilla Launches Ubiquity

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By MAJOR TOM |

Wonder if web-browsing could be even better with ultra-modern PDA’s around—Palm and iPhones for example—well, you bet there could be such a scenario.

Enter UBIQUITY. Mozilla is launching this state-of-the-art program that would greatly enhanced web browsing while on the road.

One could e-mail, map addresses, search the web and saving updates all at once by allowing users one-touch funtionality.

Accordingly:

The overall goals of Ubiquity are to explore how best to:

Empower users to control the web browser with language-based instructions. (With search, users type what they want to find. With Ubiquity, they type what they want to do.)
Enable on-demand, user-generated mashups with existing open Web APIs. (In other words, allowing everyone–not just Web developers–to remix the Web so it fits their needs, no matter what page they are on, or what they are doing.)

Use Trust networks and social constructs to balance security with ease of extensibility.

Extend the browser functionality easily.

Check Ubiguity now at its official website.