MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search

Daniel

I’ve been writing about tabbed browsing for over two years now. Considering that it’s been so long, it’s kind of ridiculous that we’re talking about downloading an add-in for Internet Explorer to enable tabbed browsing.

The add-in in question is the MSN Toolbar. It actually sports a few features that Firefox’s tab implementation doesn’t — a toggle button for opening all links in new tabs, and the ability to bring a new tab to the front or leave it in the back. I’m not particularly excited about the front/back option, but I’ve written about the ability to open all links in new tabs in regard to Firefox.

The problem is that the tabs are sluggish and on my system cause some screen flicker. This is not unexpected with an add-in.

But the real gem of the download is Windows Desktop Search. It is far superior to the Find/Search tool that comes loaded with Windows, and it’s even better than Google Desktop. Yahoo! also has a desktop search tool, and I’ve read that it is comparable to the MSN version, but I have never used it. Google was fine, but I like the way results are presented to me in the MSN offering much better. The kicker is a preview pane.

I had one issue with Windows Desktop Search. When I installed it, I had Norton Antivirus 2004 Professional installed, which gives you an undelete feature one step beyond what the Recycle bin does. I was never crazy about the feature because it was slow, its interface window was small and not resizable, and I never needed the feature. Well NAV Pro keeps its data in cryptically-named files located in C:RecyclerNProtect, and every time one of those files is accessed, a file with a similar name is created.

A heads-up to anyone who’s never used a desktop search program: Before you get functionality, the utility must scan all your hard drives for all files, and then create a table of contents or index which is somehow superior to the file allocation table. The index is what makes Google Desktop, Yahoo Desktop Search, and Windows Desktop Search superior to the search tool that comes with Windows.

So … it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out that the Windows Desktop Search got stuck in an endless cycle. Each time it accessed an NProtect file, Norton created another file, which WDS then decided it had to index …

The saving grace here is that WDS provides a very useful status window that you can bring up at any time. It tells you how many file are left to index, the file currently being indexed, and allows you to start or pause indexing or put it on snooze. When I found that the indexing was still underway even though it had far surpassed my estimated time of completion, I opened up the status window. It showed six files remaining. Then eight. Then seven. Then five. Then eight. Then six … and on and on. So I opened up the C:RecyclerNProtect folder, and I could clearly see what was going on.

To get around this, I added to WDS’s list of file extensions to skip. The extensions that got me out of the endless loop were .001, .002, and .003.

A couple days later, I bought Norton Antivirus 2005 (standard) at Staples because Norton offered a $20 summer rebate and a $20 upgrade rebate, and Staples offered a small rebate to cover everything else, and I got it for free. I lost two features, one of which is the “enhanced” Recycle bin and the other I can’t remember.

Final word, Windows Desktop Search is better than Google Desktop, and that surprises me.

MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search

Google Bookmarks

Daniel

Google’s customized homepage (“portal”) service now offers bookmarks. Two weeks ago I wrote about Google’s Firefox toolbar, and then I wrote another post about features I want added to it. Google’s bookmarks aren’t a part of its toolbar yet, but that is the next logical step.

Once Google does this — and I know they will — I will officially have no more reason to prefer Yahoo! over Google. In fact, what Google is offering today may be enough to make me switch.

Google Bookmarks

San Andreas: Adults Only

Daniel

Yesterday, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) changed the rating of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from M (Mature) to AO (Adults Only).

This is a setback and a wake-up call.

It’s a setback to Take Two Interactive, publisher of GTA games, and Rockstar Interactive, developer of GTA games. It’s a setback to the video game industry, an industry that many wish would receive respect as an art form on par with music and film.

It’s a wake-up call to the ESRB, and also to the public, society, the government, fans, parents, gamers, whatever.

Part of me wants to talk about Rockstar and say, “What the hell were they thinking?” But then I think it through. A game like San Andreas contains millions of lines of code and hundreds of thousands of man-hours. The content in the game that caused this whole mess in inaccessible through normal means. It’s stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor, to bust a cliche. But a cliche that represents an excellent metaphor.

When it comes to film, material cut from theatrical release but available on DVD is referred to as “bonus material.” The rule is also that when you buy a DVD with bonus material, you’ll often find text written on the back of the case, somewhere near the bottom, that says, “bonus material not rated.”

And you know what? Wal-Mart sells that DVD.

Of course, we’re not talking about X-rated or even NC-17 films. Wal-Mart doesn’t carry them. But there is a significant jump from R to NC-17 (or at least in theory). The jump from M to AO is, apparently, three words. Please examine the lengths to which the MPAA goes to explain its rating system, and then examine the lengths (or lack thereof) to which the ESRB goes to explain its own system.

It seems that for a game to warrant an AO rating rather than M, it must feature one or more of the following: prolonged intense violence, rather than (brief?) intense violence; graphic sexual content, rather than (nongraphic?) sexual content; or nudity. I find it interesting that nudity is one of the taboo items, because nudity certainly does not warrant an automatic NC-17 in film, and actually doesn’t even warrant an R; Please see PG-13 rated film Titanic. Also, please see M rated game God of War, which featured full-frontal female nudity, and a nongraphic (but easily accessible) sexual mini-game.

So with the revised rating of San Andreas, the ESRB is telling us that minus the sexual mini-game, San Andreas contains intense violence, but not prolonged intense violence? An average player can expect to spend 20 to 40 hours playing San Andreas. Missions involve sniping, drive-by shooting, setting explosives … and these do not make for prolonged intense violence?

The distinction between the M rating and the AO rating is neither large nor distinct. If it’s small and hazy, we really have to wonder if there is any distinction at all. The fact is, the point of AO is not to protect children from those horrible, ultra-violent, ultra-sexual games. The point of AO is so that no matter how offensive an M rated game seems, you can always say, it could have been worse. It’s not the worst possible thing out there. AO protects everyone — developers, publishers, retailers (Wal-Mart), and consumers (parents). No matter how bad a game is, retailers can say, “Well, at least we don’t sell AO games to young, impressionable children,” and parents can say, “I made sure that little Jimmy never played any of those nasty AO games.”

It would almost seem that the ESRB caved under political pressure. Who wouldn’t? Does deceiving consumers, retailers, and the ESRB — intentionally or unintentionally — warrant a slap on the wrist? Absolutely. Does a sexual mini-game (that features no nudity!) warrant the AO rating? Absolutely not. But the publicity surrounding this story got out of control and the ESRB had to take some concrete action. Something that would make a good headline.

This is a setback because it makes game developers and publishers look bad. It doesn’t help the ESRB, but revising the rating is the only way to save face. It’s a wake-up call because developers from now on must consider all code in the shipping version of a game, whether it is executed during normal use or not. It’s a wake-up call to the ESRB because you know someone (Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer) will be looking at video game ratings with enlivened eyes. It’s a wake-up call to everyone else because we’ve got to understand that video games are not movies, the same ratings do not apply and the same rules do not apply. It is not as simple as playing the game before allowing your children to play the game, but it is certainly not as simple as looking at the big letter on the front of the box, either. Reactionaries claim that parents should not rely on ratings to do their job for them, but let’s be realistic. It might take a person a month or a year to complete a game. Ratings are necessary. It is the responsibility of the ESRB to ensure that its ratings are realistic and reasonable, and it is the responsibility of developers and publishers to ensure that those ratings are based on a product in its entirety.

San Andreas: Adults Only

I Hate Flash

Daniel

That’s right. I’m sick and tired of the most popular, most successful browser plug-in ever. Why? Two reasons.

First, it can be a bandwidth hog. I know, I know … dial-up, blah blah blah. But seriously. Sometimes I wait for one page to finish loading before I click on a link to get another page loading, and I scroll around the page to find out what I’m waiting for, and it turns out to be some Flash advertisement that has an embedded video file. I don’t want the video file. And as it turns out, I don’t want Flash.

Second, it can be a processor hog. Typically the same media that occupies the internet connection also occupies the processor — video files and long, complex animations. My computer has a 1.8 GHz processor and only (only) 256 MB of RAM. I assume that the RAM is what’s killing me, but come on — scrolling down a web page shouldn’t give me an epileptic seizure just because it’s got a couple Flash ads.

So I formatted a couple days ago and I have not installed Flash since then. It’s great. I get the little white box instead of an ad that brings my computer to its knees. Before the format I had resorted to using a Firefox extension called, appropriately enough, Flashblock. It is just slightly clunky. But I’m afraid that I will once again be installing it, because of one Flash animation:

Behold: Girl in black bikini, falling. Just click on it.

PS – When she gets stuck, you can drag her around, through tight squeezes, etc.

I Hate Flash

Sports Talk

Daniel1 Comment

Good day for sports today.

If you’re a fan of Tiger Woods and the New York Yankees.

Today Tiger won the British Open, upping his major victory total to ten. Today I got thinking about how it’s special that I was old enough to appreciate Tiger when he turned pro, and I’ll be around when hes right there to break Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major (professional) victories.

I have to think that Nike, American Express, and Buick executives are popping some Cris right now. Especially if they bought into the Tiger will never be the same hype.

I then thought about how I take a genuine interest in Tiger, which is unusual for me because I often scoff at magazines like People or Us because celebrities are just people, and one celebrity is no more important than an everyday person. This got me to thinking about how I occasionally reflect on the absurdity of the media coverage of OJ Simpson’s murder trial. OJ’s just a guy, right?

Then again, I never saw OJ play in the NFL, except for clips, which aren’t the same. I knew OJ because he covered the NFL for NBC. (I wonder if NBC will bring him back for their new Sunday night package.) But I was never in OJ’s corner. I never rooted for him. But if Tiger were in that position? Yeah, I’d root for him.

In other news, Al Leiter returned from the dead today. Last week the Florida Marlins designated him for assignment along with his 3-7 record and 6.64 ERA this season. Yesterday the Yankees acquired Leiter from the Marlins for a player to be named later and cash roughly equivalent to the remainder of Leiter’s pay for this season. (I am borrowing heavily from ESPN.com’s story on the game, here.) Leiter, a former Yankee, made his first start for the Bombers in 16 years and 82 days, breaking Babe Ruth’s record for time between starts. So what does Leiter do? He pitches 6⅓ innings, allows one run, and strikes out a season high eight batters. Crazy.

Oh, and the Yankees pulled to within a half game of the Red Stinx.

Finally, have you noticed that ESPN.com offers many of its articles in paginated view, but gives you the option to click on a single page view? What is the point of the multiple page format? At first I thought it was so pages will load faster over a slow connection, but loading three pages worth of graphics has got to take longer than loading one page worth. I always click the single page view link. Always. ESPN.com should provide users with a cookie to set preference on this.

And as long as I’m on the subject of article format preference cookies … every web site in the world should look at Wired News and emulate the system it uses for font size selection. The single biggest drawback of a high resolution display is that all the fonts get small, and you either squint or sit closer. With sites like Wired News, you can literally sit back and relax.

Sports Talk

G4: My Guilty Pleasure

Daniel

For a while now I’ve said that I don’t watch regular television programming anymore because I’m turned off by the need to watch every week on a schedule, and that my interests have turned to sports and news.

As of the last two years or so, my habits have expanded.

I mean, I catch MTV now and then, and MTV seems to cater to my schedule disdain because they often show, say, this week’s The Real World at 9:30 PM on Tuesday, and they’ll show the previous three episodes, in order, starting at 8. It’s great. You can watch once a month and never miss a thing.

To be honest, I also watched a marathon of the entire Las Vegas season (had to record the last couple episodes) and watched the Paris season every week, but at that time I was watching a lot of stuff every week. The latest thing I enjoyed was Inferno 2.

Back to now. X-Play. It used to be called Extended Play, and it started on TechTV. I have posted about TechTV before. Back in my senior year of college I would watch Call For Help on TechTV with Morash. It was very dorky, and most of it was stuff that wasn’t new to me. But about once a week there was something interesting that I had never seen before, and even the stuff that was familiar was attractive because programming like that was available nowhere else.

I remember watching Extended Play when it was new (during senior year) and Adam Sessler was the host. I remember thinking how awful the show was. Then a few months ago I realized that I enjoy the program, and I respect its opinions. At some point (maybe when they changed the name), X-Play added Morgan Webb as Adam’s co-host. You might have heard of Morgan when Madonna’s website got hacked a couple years ago — one of the hackers posted a marriage proposal to Morgan Webb on Madonna.com. Also, Morgan was one of Maxim’s 100 most beautiful women or something.

Now because of X-Play I find myself watching other G4 shows. I can’t stand Cheat!, but Attack of the Show is sometimes bearable and there is a drift racing show that I find interesting if for nothing else its unique content. I’ve never seen G-Phoria, but I’d like to.

With the praise, I have to bash a little. The other game review shows on G4 suck. All of them. X-Play is the only good one.

G4: My Guilty Pleasure

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Daniel

For all my Japanese readers:

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I Would Expect Rove to Resign, But …

Daniel

It looks like Karl Rove has made President Bush look like an idiot. There are stories all over the place about this, but I picked this one to link.

Under normal circumstances, under a normal administration, I’d expect Rove to resign tomorrow or the next day. But hey, I expected Donald Rumsfeld to resign about thirteen months ago, and that didn’t happen. As the story goes, Don submitted his resignation to Bush twice, and Bush refused it twice.

So, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised by a similar turn of events this time around.

I Would Expect Rove to Resign, But …

Is Anybody Else Tired of Chris Berman?

Daniel

The Home Run Derby was on last night. Chris Berman was the master of ceremonies and the host. Joe Morgan was the co-host. Is anybody else tired of Chris Berman? I liked his schtick for the first few years, but it’s almost like he can’t say a normal sentence anymore. It’s all just “BACK BACK BACK!” and “CURTIS MY FAVORITE MARTIN!”

When I turned on the show tonight I actually had one of those, “oh God, not …” moments when I heard Berman’s voice. Can’t they just station him permanently on the Deuce?

Is Anybody Else Tired of Chris Berman?