Author: loserx

Finally: CDBurnerXP 4.0 Final

Its been three years since the public last release but now CDBurnerXP 4.0 is finally available. The official website features a spanking new design too. CDBurnerXP is a freeware CD and DVD burning software for Windows, in case anybody did not know that.

Most exciting new features for me, Unicode support and the ability to burn FLAC files. It is now based on .NET which could be a turn off for some users, but the setup file itself is now a stupidly small download at 1.92 megs.

Like I was saying, it is freeware, so there is no reason for anybody to not try it.

Addendum: I gave it a whirl, and while it feels and works great, it does not yet handle the burning of audio CDs from CUE files, so I guess it will not be my primary burner for a while.

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Categorized as Tech Tagged

The XP SP2 Half Open Connections Limit Myth

I still see this bandied about as a possible factor in slow P2P speeds. It is easily misunderstood, but the half open connections limit imposed by XP SP2 and Vista does not matter for P2P speeds. It limits the rate at which connections can be made, not the total number of simultaneous connections.

Now, 10 half open connections seem a little low, but most ordinary users do not need more than this. Even heavy P2P users such as myself.

I usually run eMule and Bittorrent at the same time and I do not usually partake in very popular torrents (my usual haunts: Pleasuredome and DIME; what would I do without you guys?) but I usually have no problem maxing out the bandwidth available to my 3 Mbps connection. Sure, the clients spin up a little slower than before but how does it matter? I wasted maybe two or three minutes? The other negative side effect would be the occasional 4226 error in the Event Log, but I don’t care about that.

I am not denouncing LvlLord’s patch as evil as I really do not care if everybody installs it, but it won’t increase your P2P speeds. It won’t make your computer run better. It won’t solve the global poverty problem and it definitely won’t make you more popular with the gents/ladies.

XName – Free DNS Service

Hating to deal with the inconvenience of the ZoneEdit "only the first five domains are free" rule (yes I’m very cheap), I searched for a free alternative and I think I found it, XName. Though the ZoneEdit user interface is simpler and probably more helpful, making it more suitable for beginners, XName does not lack in features and the interface is arguably more convenient once you get used to it.

In any case, its really a great and free service, so please contribute some spare cash if you use the service and can afford it.

Prince: Not Getting It

I though Prince was a musician who got it, but apparently he doesn’t. Stunts like this will only cost him legitimate fans.

Trent Reznor, on the other hand, is one of few artists who gets it and has the balls, knowledge and integrity to do the right thing. He is the man.

Published
Categorized as Music, Tech Tagged

Windows Live Writer Beta 3

I am typing this on WLW Beta 3. I wrote about the first beta, which was already very usable at the time. This is the best of breed in blogging software on Windows.

Quite a lot of changes for beta 3, but the best thing for me is “Publish XHTML-style markup”.

In other news, CCleaner 2.0 is now RC and Spybot Search & Destroy has reached 1.5.1 final. I recommend both very highly.

R.I.P. Pavarotti

Always a tragedy when music dies.

Queen + Luciano Pavarotti - Too Much Love Will Kill You (Brian May)

This is my favourite non-opera memory of the maestro, a fantastic duet between the opera singer and the astrophysicist.

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Categorized as Music

Thermochrom’ing

Indeed, the thermochrome CD is very nice. Unfortunately… the tropical climate of Singapore renders it useless. I need to hold the CD up to the air conditioner to cool it down enough.

That said, I’ve recently discovered our local band The Observatory released their album second album Blank Walls with a thermochrome cover. Very nice, and all along I was thinking that the ink used was just especially susceptible to oily fingers.

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Categorized as Music

Stevie Wonder – Drum Solo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCZv7786KY

Monstrous technique and a thick, fat groove. I love how the regular drummer is just standing behind and sorta shuffling his feet (I should just go be a pizza deliveryman or something).

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Categorized as Music

Rhapsody of Fire – Power of the Dragon Flame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZqzfZPLZw4

Duh Magnet
“It’s got Power, Dragon and Flame in it! Triple Threat, man!”

“AWESOME!” *mad riffs all round*

loser-x
dude…that video would be embarrassing for a singapore band

Duh Magnet
Singapore bands have trouble making ends meet, hence dignity is more impt. [:)]

…

Duh Magnet
Finished the PotDF mtv. It was truly a masterpiece. [:)]

loser-x
“There’s just no way that we can win, that was a masterpiece.”

Duh Magnet
Seriously, I think most metal songs should only have videos using concert footage, there’s no other way to make it non-ridiculous.

loser-x
or just a straightforward performance video

Duh Magnet
Assuming limited budget, competence and imagination, that is.

loser-x
but given their “moves”, that would be embarrassing too

Duh Magnet
I like the “finger rings round eyes” gestures. Seriously….