Monthly Archives: May 2006

Windows Media Photo: Microsoft’s New JPEG Rival

May 28, 2006
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According to a CNet article:

If it is up to Microsoft, the omnipresent JPEG image format will be replaced by Windows Media Photo.

The software maker detailed the new image format Wednesday at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference here. Windows Media Photo will be supported in Windows Vista and also be made available for Windows XP, Bill Crow, program manager for Windows Media Photo, said in a presentation.

[...]

Typically digital cameras today use 6:1 compression, Crow said. Windows Media Photo should offer better pictures at double that level, he said. “We can do it in half the size of a JPEG file.”

Not only does compression save storage space, which is especially important for devices such as cell phones and digital cameras, a smaller file can also print faster, transfer faster and help conserve battery life on devices, Crow said. “Making a file that is smaller has all kinds of benefits.”

Considering that Microsoft already has the Windows Media Audio and Windows Media Video formats, Windows Media Photo seems like a no-brainer addition to the Windows Media format lineup.

But then again, do we really need yet another image format?

Microsoft Considers Atom to Be an RSS Format

May 20, 2006
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Looks like Microsoft will be considering Atom an “RSS format” in Windows Vista.

From the Windows Vista Developer Center RSS homepage:

Windows Vista will support all common RSS formats, including: RSS 1.0, 2.0 and Atom 0.3. We will support Atom 1.0 when it’s released.

And from the RSS Support in Longhorn article:

RSS, as we use it in this document, refers not to a single format (such as RSS 2.0), but to the general concept of feeds of syndicated content. It should be considered to cover all feed formats that meet the basic criteria of updateable [sic] collections of items.

I do see why Microsoft has chosen to define RSS this way, and at the same time I don’t.

There really isn’t a term that exclusively encapsulates both “RSS” and “Atom.” You could say the word “feed,” though that can include other formats such as OPML.

But don’t you think “feed” is more technically accurate and user-friendly than “RSS” when describing both RSS and Atom?

Make 3D Computer Games with Visual Studio

May 17, 2006
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Who knew you could make games with Visual Studio? MSDN’s Coding4Fun site has an entire section devoted to Game Development!

Until I saw this, I was under the impression that game development could only be achieved using C++ or a “beginning game programmer language” such as Dark Basic.

Looks like I was wrong! If I decide to get into computer game development again, I’ll definitely consider using Visual Basic or Visual C# as a balance between the power of C++ and the ease of use of Dark Basic.

Windows Media Player 11 Screenshots

May 16, 2006
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The SuperSite for Windows has just posted screenshots of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP yesterday. I’m really impressed with WMP11′s new method of displaying albums and songs.

I’m Listed in DMOZ!

May 15, 2006
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I can’t believe it: JohnLamansky.com is listed in the DMOZ, one of the most popular website directories on the Internet!

To tell you the truth, I thought for sure that this blog wouldn’t be listed, since I had submitted my listing more than once (not realizing at the time that that was frowned upon). But despite this, today I was elated to find that about 9 months (!) after my submissions, this blog has been listed! I guess my listing must’ve been assigned to a nice editor. ;-)

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