Reading through the version update note for WritePad for iPhone, one item stood out of its short list: Support for Bing Translator. I had not hear of this before (or have forgotten) and went searching for it. You can find this web-based written language translator at:
…works too. But, it just redirects to MicrosoftTranslator.com. It can translate anything from a single word/phrase to an entire web page (just enter the site’s URL). I liked the way it places the original and translated web page side-by-side (see screenshot above).
Microsoft also provides a Translation Bot that can be used with Windows Live Messenger. Add mtbot@hotmail.com as a contact and invite it into a conversation for translation assistance.
ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley (back in August) seemed to be puzzled by it too. So, I’m not alone in trying to understand what the removal of this feature means.
Last week my Acer Aspire One got about 2.5 to 3 hours of use on its 3-cell battery. I was running Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR) 9.04 at the time. I updated the netbook to UNR 9.10 last weekend. After the update, the netbook won’t boot unless it is plugged into an A/C electrical outlet. Pulling the plug with the netbook running results in it shutting off immediately as if the battery does not have any charge. UNR’s battery status icon reports that the battery has a 0.0% charge level (no charge) but is, at the same time, “fully charged.”
I suppose I could test it by wiping the SSD and reinstalling UNR 9.04. But, that takes a lot of time and I’m don’t have a lot of incentive to do so (the Aspire One is not my primary netbook). Anyone else having netbook battery issues after upgrading to UNR 9.10?
I know several people (including me) have wondered how exactly Windows 7 got its “7″ designation. My count was:
1. Windows 1
2. Windows 2
3. Windows 3
4. Windows 95
5. Windows NT
6. Windows 98
7. Windows Me
8. Windows 2000
9. Windows XP
10. Windows Vista
I was also tempted to throw in Windows for Workgroups 3.11 and Windows 98 Second Edition which I consider significant releases. So, how did Microsoft figure out the current release is “7″? This item from their Higher Innovation blog might explain it…
Microsoft does not “count” Windows 2, 3 (they skip to 3.11), and 98. Windows NT is mentioned but apparently not included in the family line. So, there you have it. This is how Microsoft counts Windows versions:
1. Windows 1
2. Windows 3.11
3. Windows 95
4. Windows 2000
5. Windows XP
6. Windows Vista
7. Windows 7
…for the holiday buying season. I hope a lot more products start to ship with this kind of packaging and wish other vendors can adopt a similar strategy.
Noticed a Dell all-in-one PC with a touchscreen running Windows 7 Vista in a local Costco yesterday. Recorded a bit of me playing with the touch UI. I was very impressed by its responsiveness and ease of use. Was tempted to buy the Dell desktop PC. But, I don’t really want an all-in-one desktop PC at the moment. I would like to get a touchscreen LCD display that can be used with existing desktops running Windows 7 though.
The desktop PC sized supercompter features 960 Nvidia graphic cores with 24GB of DDR3 DRAM. At an estimated US$14,519 this is a very affordable supercomputer.
I went to Costco earlier this week to buy new HP 56 inkjet cartridges. As usual, I was staggered by the price of a few ounces of ink. And, the package at Costco was a tri-pack. I really didn’t want to buy three black ink cartridges because the printer isn’t used that heavily. Then, I noticed a sign nearby saying that Costco has an inkjet cartridge refill service for HP and one or two other popular brands.
So, I returned today (Oct. 24) with a nearly empty HP 56 cartridge, walked over to the photo processing area and asked how to use the ink cartridge refill service. The Costco person handed me a 1 Hour Photo envelope. I was told to fill out my contact info and to write in the cartridge name (HP 56) in the “Special Instructions” box on the front of the envelope. The person then told me it would take about an hour and handed me the top receipt from the photo development envelope. I returned a bit over an hour later and paid $7.99 plus a local excise tax (total was $8.37).
I was handed the refilled ink cartridge and a small strip of paper with, presumably, a sample printout from newly refilled cartridge. After returning home, I placed the refilled HP 56 in an aging but functional HP 56 printer, turned it on, and placed the HP 56 back in the printer.
The printer complained that the cartridge only had 10% of fluid left. However, that is to be expected since it is unlikely anyone but HP has access to the information to reset whatever ink level sensor technology is used. I printed a couple of sample test pages to see what the output looks like and am happy to report that everything looks fine. I’m very satisfied with the refilled cartridge and Costco’s service so far.
Costco.com lists a single HP 56 cartridge selling for $21.25 (plus shipping). So, the refill service is essentially 62% cheaper. That is quite a savings.
The sign about the service says that refill service for the HP 02 cartridges are coming soon. I’m looking forward to that since that ink system consists of 6 cartridges (5 color and 1 black). Certain colors burn through fast (yellow and magenta for me) and cost about $11 each for the color cartridges.
Most are tablet, netbook, notebook, and all-in-one desktop computers. However, there are also touch capable monitors including a 42-inch behemoth from HP.
The list includes the Asus Eee PC T91. However, my understanding is that this model is a single touch device. The T91A (not released yet) is the multi-touch model. I tried to post a comment on the On10 blog. However, it requires a sign-in and did not have a way to create an account. Why doesn’t this Microsoft site use Passport?
I noticed Costco has a new HP ink cartridge refill service. An HP 56 (black) refill was listed as $8.95. They say it takes about an hour to get the refilled cartridge back to you. I plan to try it out later this week.
