tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120768312009-11-09T07:24:20.615-08:00TechTrek is a blogazine dedicated to explaining and simplifying technological advancement. Been a while since an update? Try refreshing the page.Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-35832361064597412322007-07-28T08:56:00.000-07:002007-07-28T09:04:03.415-07:00

I was just reading an ancient Maximum PC magazine, when I stumbled across this headline: China vs. Wikipedia. The item talks about how China requested censorship of some of Wikipedia's pages, and they responded with a resounding "no." Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said that he stands "for the freedom of information, and for us to compromise that would send very much the wrong signal: that

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-77780093862582547022007-07-12T17:35:00.000-07:002007-07-12T17:46:22.947-07:00

Well, here I am. I just got done moving, and have been busy applying for jobs, so I apologize for the wait.That said, here's my update.Microsoft and Apple seem to be going in opposite directions: Microsoft is going down, and you know which way Apple is going. But the reality is that both companies are following different strategies.Microsoft lays the foundation with Windows. The groundwork is all

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-44304214013022014482007-06-18T17:16:00.000-07:002007-06-18T17:29:41.434-07:00

We always knew the MPAA and the RIAA were a bunch of ego-maniacal meanies. But now there is an alternative way to combat piracy, one that doesn't involve the usual crew of lawyers piloting the USS Untactful-ness.You see, these pirates are a funny bunch. Unlike most criminals, who commit crime because they are evil, pirates commit crime because it's fun. That's their sport, their hobby. They don't

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-15216550471599575892007-06-13T14:36:00.000-07:002007-06-13T15:08:02.342-07:00

It seems like every time a new PC World or PC Magazine comes out, there are a few more letters from readers who hate the direction these magazines are going. They want PC content, not general technology news. I agree.The editors, of course, don't care what their customers want. They think they know better. There is a market for consumer electronics magazines. Besides, HDTVs are kinda like LCD

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-48446536473516059082007-06-07T14:10:00.000-07:002007-06-07T14:48:44.654-07:00

I know. That's what I thought. From John C. Dvorak's June 26th column (published in PC Magazine):What's at issue is the sheer number of [Linux] distros that constantly pour into the market looking for homes. And since they are essentially free, people are inclined to jump from one to another, always looking for the be-all-end-all super-perfect Linux. It will never happen until Microsoft does

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-87761092357956598932007-06-02T12:10:00.000-07:002007-06-02T12:53:30.922-07:00

Google's release of a new feature for Google Maps has created quite a stir. It's a feature that allows you to see street-level 360 degree pictures of streets in some major US cities. While it may sound really cool, some people are worried about what this may mean for people in these cities.The following are a few quotes from an article from iTWire and my responses to the concerns:Online reports

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-27200837330725368352007-05-31T13:08:00.000-07:002007-05-31T13:16:24.454-07:00

Google Toolbar. Yahoo Toolbar. Opera Browser. What do they all have in common? No, not the fact that they are all seriously overrated. Besides that.They all have so-called "Form Fillers," a terrible technology that should have been rejected long ago by the security community. It presents several risks in its use. Not only that, but I don't know of anyone who actually uses these things anyway.The

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-69280123215334343792007-05-24T12:26:00.000-07:002007-05-24T12:45:12.281-07:00

This is not an opinion article, so I will not be delving into the reasons why I oppose censorware (applications that block certain web content). There are plenty of other places to do that.This is, however, my attempt to get blocked by every censorware program that exists. To do so, I will be explaining in detail how to get past every single web filter ever made.Step 1: Download this FREE

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-50151232935203546612007-05-23T11:09:00.000-07:002007-05-23T11:17:58.236-07:00

Alright, I'm sick of it. People on one side saying "Google Translate rules!" while others say "AltaVista's Babel Fish is better!" I decided to have a less-than-scientific contest to see which service actually performed better.To do so, I ran a paragraph of correct spelling and grammar through each translator's English-to-Spanish translation, then ran the resulting Spanish text through their

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-83331393316988525732007-05-21T14:33:00.000-07:002007-05-21T14:51:11.590-07:00

Lots of webmasters claim that a hit counter's purpose is to let them see how much traffic they're getting. This ain't exactly so. There are plenty of ways to do that without using a hit counter. The real reason people use hit counters is not so they can see how much traffic they get, but rather so everyone else can see how much traffic they get.So really, hit counters are for showing off

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-57857141111853599812007-05-17T12:08:00.000-07:002007-05-17T12:16:54.095-07:00

Meebo has recently released an updated version of its excellent web-based IM service (which includes support for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Y!, GTalk, and Jabber). The new version has one main new feature called Meebo Rooms. Any user can create or join a Room and chat with other users. These rooms can also be embedded in a flash application on any website.One really cool feature is the use of Snap.com's

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-25394260442590431732007-05-14T14:39:00.000-07:002007-05-14T15:57:13.560-07:00

The music industry seems bent on vehemently accusing the file-sharing community of being thieves and corrupt criminals. Every time they release some new DRM or a statement about file-sharing they refer to the file-sharing community as "music thieves" or some equally toxic term.What they are failing to realize is that their attitude towards their customers is exactly what drives people to share

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-13577686292857228672007-05-08T14:10:00.000-07:002007-05-08T14:57:17.827-07:00

Spam: it's one of the nastiest and most annoying problems in the information age. Forget junk mail and telemarketers: spammers can cram your inbox with junk without doing so much as clicking a few buttons. In this article I will talk a little about what's being done now, and what you can do to fend off spam.CANSPAMIt's a piece of legislation intended to stop (or at least curb) the flow of spam.

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-33863748405292572522007-04-30T13:01:00.000-07:002007-04-30T14:00:30.529-07:00

PCWorld recently published an article on 101 free applications, and I was amazed at how many good ones were left out. Below you will find my list of 10 freebies that I believe are worth mentioning.1. FirefoxDuh. If you want to read one of my articles on this awesome browser, just type "Firefox" into the search box above.2. Google Page CreatorThis wonderful web-based web page editor has failed to

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-7573501566765704532007-04-12T10:06:00.000-07:002007-04-12T10:17:05.762-07:00

Windows Vista implements a new feature known as Shadow Copy, which creates copies of your personal files at regular intervals and allows you to revive them at will. Or so we all thought.Unfortunately, while Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium versions do back up the files (taking up a significant amount of space on your hard disk), they won't let you see these files or bring them back to the

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-56943562984219959282007-04-10T14:45:00.000-07:002007-04-10T15:06:44.291-07:00

Looking back, I guess you could say we really didn't stand a chance. But in this article, I'm going to recap everything TechTrek has come through in the last two years.Blastoff"I started this blog because I knew it needed to be started. Not too many blogs exist where the word "game" does not necessarily mean a First-Person Shooter. I knew that there needed to be a place where serious gamers - who

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-72809319733091625112007-04-08T13:14:00.000-07:002007-04-08T13:39:01.666-07:00

That's right folks, I found one. And this one actually has some potential.One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit organization that is making amazing headway in supplying affordable and durable laptops to children in "developing nations" (code for "third-world countries"). Their first model, the XO (due to ship in July) only costs $150, runs on man-generated (or in this case, kid-generated) power,

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-58333575506678455282007-03-27T16:42:00.000-07:002007-03-27T17:54:11.265-07:00

PC World recently did a feature article on Operating Systems, and named Ubuntu as their favorite Linux distribution. I decided to document my experience working with Ubuntu, and this final article, Part 3, will compare Ubuntu to Wndows XP Pro SP2. I'm using the latest version of Ubuntu, 6.10.CategoriesUser InterfaceWindows: 7/10Ubuntu: 9/10Ubuntu's interface is much more polished and clean, which

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-22201709768950479332007-03-19T12:26:00.000-07:002007-03-19T12:29:29.351-07:00

PC World recently did a feature article on Operating Systems, and named Ubuntu as their favorite Linux distribution. I decided to document my experience working with Ubuntu, and this second article, Part 2, will detail my experience installing and using applications. I'm using the latest version of Ubuntu, 6.1.Installing More ApplicationsUbuntu comes with tons of free and open-source applications

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-68321663585957480752007-03-12T15:49:00.000-07:002007-03-12T16:14:28.462-07:00

PC World recently did a feature article on Operating Systems, and named Ubuntu as their favorite Linux distribution. I decided to document my experience working with Ubuntu, and this first article, Part 1, will detail my experience installing and updating Ubuntu. I'm using the latest version of Ubuntu, 6.1.Installing UbuntuInstallation was rather straightforward, and finished quickly in

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-86109396623498721612007-03-08T15:08:00.000-08:002007-03-08T15:21:08.573-08:00

Yet another amazing bit of ingenuity on the part of Sony: a remote-controlled remote control (in case you lose the first one). But wait! What if you lose the other remote control? Not to worry: Sony will include a remote for the remote for the remote.A great parody.AJAX Site of the Week: Google Calendar

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-50813205708190437562007-03-02T13:26:00.000-08:002007-03-02T13:33:56.290-08:00

According to this video, Fortune Magazine says that Google is the best company to work for; you'll soon see why (video uploaded to YouTube, of course).

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-53415161500897270512007-03-02T13:11:00.000-08:002007-03-02T13:25:25.243-08:00

Less than a week ago the programming game Advanced T-Robots 3's official website went offline. Today, a new and promising unofficial portal for ATR3 gamers has come onto the scene that hopes to keep ATR3 alive.Gamers may browse a catalog of robot files that they may put in their own tournaments, as well as submit their own to the site. A tournaments page (which currently doesn't have any active

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-51738550070984525412007-02-21T11:47:00.000-08:002007-02-21T11:52:14.049-08:00

Google created a video demonstrating why you should use Gmail (uploaded to YouTube, of course). It presents the four best reasons (also the four features other webmail services don't have), while also showing off some typical Google spirit.Hotlink

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12076831.post-58922803614788111992007-02-20T16:39:00.000-08:002007-02-20T16:47:34.134-08:00

So many coding guides follow a step-by-step nature. First, you make a "Hello World" program. Then a countdown. Then a countup. And so on.But I always find myself wanting to work on my own projects. Who cares about "Hello World"? I'll never actually use that. I'll figure out some code syntax rules, but I can do that in other ways.Unfortunately, these step-by-step guides aren't very experiment

Cubex DEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08496911146622498931noreply@blogger.com0