Kyle LeBoeuf

Engadget, Infoworld, and various other technology news sites are reporting on a new Microsoft OS project code-named “Midori”. Midori, rather than being based on previous architecture (such as the NT kernel for NT/2000/XP/Vista), will be based on an entirely new kernel, or maybe not even a “kernel” as we know it at all.

They are claiming that Midori will remove dependencies between hardware and applications using virtualization technology that exists today and taking it to the next level. While all of this sounds cool, Microsoft would have a hard time pulling it off.

Every time an OS company makes major changes to their product, they have to add compromises that cater to the desires of customers running legacy applications when moving a product from R & D to production. We’ve seen this in every major release of the Windows operating system, as well as releases in other operating systems, such as Mac OS (example: OS 9 to OS X, then OS 10.1-10.2-10.3 etc.)

Microsoft is already deep in development of Windows 7, the next version of it’s flagship product. Between supporting that product and any offshoots from it, a significant change in architecture probably isn’t in the pipeline anytime soon.

On top of all of that, you have the fact that the Windows brand is universally recognizable. That’s like telling Sony to rename their console series to something besides “Playstation”. That’s like Apple calling their new OS anything without “Mac” in it. It’s just not feasible.

Microsoft is putting a lot of R & D into pushing products out to the cloud, but they are all branded under the Windows Live brand. Read: Windows. Even with it’s cloud computing initiative (which is probably where MSFT is heading with Midori), it’s still retaining the Windows moniker.

Even if there is a completely different Microsoft OS out there in the future, don’t be surprised if it retains the famous/infamous Windows branding.

Then again, losing the Windows brand might be the thing that makes Microsoft look like a different company. Perhaps we’ll see within the next 5-10 years.

Kyle [at] kyleleboeuf.com

I wanted to point out some neat sites maintained by some friends of mine that you may not have heard of.

Benjamin Spell Photography- Ben Spell is a friend of mine from high school and a gifted photographer. You can see his portfolio and projects there. You can also see his blog here.

Facts Buffet- Facts Buffet is exactly what it sounds like: A buffet of facts. Owned and operated by my college friend Daniel Weber, he offers up seemingly random, vaguely useful facts that are entertaining to read. Check it out.

Pixel Brush Media- PBM is a company started by a friend of mine from college, Tyler Woerner. PBM specializes in web and graphic design. He offers awesome, professional and cool-looking web sites and graphics at competitive prices.

Check these out.

Kyle [at] kyleleboeuf.com

I saw an article on Lifehacker today discussing the hardware and software they use for their work.

The article inspired me to discuss my own gear that I use in my day-to-day work.

Basics:

• Firefox: I am hard pressed to find a tech enthusiast who does not use Firefox. It’s simply awesome. Extensions include: FireFTP, Greasemonkey (and a lot of scripts), Facebook Toolbar (favorite extension, seriously), and Adblock Plus
• Windows Live Writer: I use WLW for all of my blogging, because it’s simply an incredibly powerful, free, WYSIWYG blog publishing application. I can manage all of my blog accounts from one tool. It handles photo uploads, drafting, and tagging, all locally. Awesome.
• Microsoft Office: Yes, I am a purist. Most of you think I probably suck because I don’t use a whole bunch of open-source software, but I’m just not into it that much. I use Word for a lot of my writing and Outlook for email/organizing.
• iTunes: Again, most of you will laugh at me because I use mostly proprietary software solutions, but I think in the case of iTunes, I have a good reason to. A ton of people use iTunes for music organization and jukeboxing because it’s dead simple (the fact that it’s integrated with the best portable media player on the market doesn’t hurt either).
• Twhirl: One of the greatest Adobe AIR applications in existence, as well as one of the best Twitter clients in existence. Simple to use. Also works with a few other networks. While your checking it out, follow me.
• AIM: Now I don’t really have a good excuse for this. The only AIM client I really like is iChat. Unfortunately, I don’t own a Mac.
• MediaShout: MediaShout is a powerful, easy-to-use worship presentation software package used for churches to make flashy presentations with video backgrounds and smooth transitions. Comes with a song and bible database. Able to make changes to presentations on the fly.
• Photoshop: An indispensable application for any guy who runs web sites.
• Dreamweaver: Dreamweaver is good for more than just web design. I use it to edit PHP scripts and pages (such as wordpress files) live on the server, without having to use a text editor and reuploading.

OS:

For the most part, I just stick with Windows Vista Business. There’s some features of Vista that I really like, including the new search/indexing features, and Flip3D.

Hardware:

Under normal circumstances, I have three machines that I use on a regular basis. They are:

• Laptop: Dell Latitude D420 w/ 1.06 GHz single core processor and 1 GB of RAM. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. This is my most used computer. I am always on this thing. The greatest asset to any student or techie on-the-go
• Desktop 1: A Dell Inspiron desktop bought on the cheap at Wal-Mart. Works just fine, plus it came with a 22” monitor. A 2.6 GHz AMD processor with 2 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive. I’m all set
• Desktop 2: A gateway PC with XP media center and a sick 512 MB Radeon Graphics card. While not technically mine, as it resides at the BCM, I use it for most of my media-related work.

Webapps:

• Google Reader: I think this is one the greatest web applications ever made. It’s a powerful tool for aggregating RSS feeds and I can access it from anywhere and with anything with a web browser. I occasionally use ReadAir, a desktop RSS reader that syncs with Google Reader and uses an Aqua-like interface. Built for Adobe AIR.
• Gmail: I am slowly but surely using the gmail interface more and more rather than using the IMAP interface in Microsoft Outlook. Awesome webapp.
• Flickr: One of the first Web 2.0 applications and the best one for photo organization. I use the Flickr Uploadr application to upload and organize photos from my desktop. You can see my Flickr profile here. I also use an AIR app called DestroyFlickr to browse Flickr from the desktop.
• Facebook: Probably the most visited site by me personally, ever. I practically live on Facebook (I dig the new design by the way). You can add me here.
• Twitter: I’m a big user a fan of Twitter. What better way to quickly communicate with my friends? You can follow me here. As stated above, I usually use the Twhirl application on my laptop. I often use the new interface called Tweenky when I’m on another computer. Tweenky is a Twitter client that uses a Gmail-like interface.
• Last.fm: I use Last.fm to track of my listening habits, mainly with the “scrobbling” feature, which keeps track of the songs I play both in iTunes and on my iPod. Check my profile here.

Peripherals:

• iPod Classic: I’m not quite sure what I would do without this thing. Die? I have an iPod interface on my stereo deck in my car. Sweet. My iPod also doubles as an external hard drive. You know, so the space doesn’t go to waste.
• Shure SE110 Sound-Isolation in-ear phones (Black): Before I really started getting into audio and music stuff, I never really made a big deal about headphones. Ever since getting a hold of these, I will never go back to cheap headphones again. Ever.
• Microsoft Wireless Optical Notebook Mouse 3000: I’ve had this cheap mouse for three years and have only had to replace the batteries twice. An awesome mouse, and one of the best selling.

Self-Assessment

I love proprietary software. Why? When something breaks, you usually have a number to call, where you can get professional, helpful support. Money has it’s benefits. The problem with a lot of open source software, is that when it breaks, you usually have to fix it yourself or seek help from the community. This may not be that bad of a thing, but it bothers me, and I am entitled to my own opinions. For the record, I so like a few open source applications, like Wordpress…

by: Kyle [at] kyleleboeuf.com

Hey guys.

Welcome to Kyleleboeuf.com

Some of you may have made your way over here from some of my other sites, and may be wondering why I have opened up a third. Allow me to explain: one site is my personal blog on philosophy and Christian spirituality, the other is a site for devotionals (not just from me).

This one is so I can write about whatever I want.

Make sense?

Good.

Welcome aboard. First official post is coming at you soon. In the meantime, check some of the features around the site. Leave comments.

Kyle

Hey guys. Just wanted to give you a sneak preview at the new site. The basic framework for the site is now up. I’m adding a few more pages and widgets before I decided to publish the new layout.

Here is the new Kyleleboeuf.com:

I still have a few kinks to iron out. I’ve done some CSS customization from the original template.

Just keeping everyone updated.

Peace.

Kyle

Hey everyone. Letting you guys know that the RSS feed served through Feed burner has been changed.

You can access it here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/KyleWeb

I’m working on a few things for the site as we speak. Rather than have a place for pictures and what not, I’ll put that project off for a later date and instead turn this into a general about me page and a blog where I can talk about things that don’t neccessarily have anything to do with religion, like my other blog.

Stay tuned to the site for more information. I’ll post more details as I get close to releasing the site.

Kyle

I threw this theme up because Domain-parking ad-farms annoy me.

Kyle