Vito Cassisi – Tech Blog
28Feb/100

Last day for R18+ game classification review submissions!

Hurry!

If you haven't done so already, here's your last chance to tell the Australian government that we need an R18+ rating for games! You can get the appropriate document here.

Don't fret though, it takes 10 minutes to fill out, and the comment section is optional (it's only 250 words anyway). When you're done, it's as simple as e-mailing the document to the provided e-mail address. Get to it!

Filed under: Gaming, Technology No Comments
25Feb/101

Illogical Immunity

Good luck! I'm behind 9 proxies, and on a Mac!

It's the age old argument. What platform is most secure, Windows, MacOS or Linux? Apple wants you to believe that their OS, MacOSX, is the best option, which is evident by their ad campaigns featuring two men depicting a 'PC' and a 'Mac' respectively. Perhaps the most relevant skit can be found here. Linux, on the other hand, is known to take security very seriously. Some would say too seriously, with constant nagging not unlike the infamous Vista UAC. Of course, it's arguable that security is a lot more important than avoiding the incessant tending to security dialogues. Then there's Windows. It has a reputation for being riddled with viruses, spyware, or just malware in general. This mentality may have started in 1986, five years after the first virus was deployed on the Apple II. Since Microsoft's software was so popular, it became the obvious target for future attacks.

19Feb/101

Drawing humour: Online Comics

A hint of funny on the Interwebs

Online comics are responsible for more than just the degradation of productivity in work environments. Many life lessons can be learnt from comics, if you manage to wade through the quirky facades and look deep into the core message. But who does that! We want fun, and comics provide just that - a chance for people to sit back, relax, and have a little giggle at all the silliness the Internet offers.

Filed under: Comedy Continue reading
16Feb/100

Microsoft Reveals ‘Windows Phone 7 Series’

A whole new mobile platform has emerged, eager to topple the efforts of Apple and Google.


It's official, Microsoft have released their new mobile OS. It's not Windows Mobile any more, in name nor functionality - it's literally a new OS experience. Playing on their lucky 7 history (read: Windows 7), Microsoft has taken the plunge to deliver a fancy new way to cater to user wants and needs. I've scoured the Internet for information on this new competitor, and have collated the main points of interest.

13Feb/102

‘Anonymous’, the saviour of idiocy?

Fight the good fight, just don't go kicking own goals in the process.

If you haven't already heard, there was a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Australian government servers recently. The intent was to bring attention to the message "no one messes with our access to perfectly legal (or illegal) content for any reason." The culprits go by the name 'Anonymous', and appear to have a strong opinion against Senator Conroy's decision to censor Australian Internet. It's fair to assume that these attacks were to prove how powerful this group is, and that messing with their rights to free speech and access on the Internet will not be taken lightly. A protest, of sorts. But was this attack a demonstration against an Internet clean feed, or another chip on the anti-censorship sholder?

10Feb/101

Social Security

Facebook knows your secrets. Tell? (Y/N): _

The Internet is an insanely massive collection of servers and nodes, all of which serve a part of our rich online experience. At first it was a purely educational technology on a very slow connection; capable of text-only transmission. Since its mainstream acceptance in the 90s, there's been a massive drive to create a intuitive user experience. People have moved on from creating animated GIF filled pages about their favourite pets, and the horrible ad supported 'free' hosting services which allowed anyone to actively contribute to the worlds ASCII art collection. Not to mention the abundance of 'under construction' declarations - there's irony in that, I'm sure of it.

4Feb/104

Mediocre music and the mainstream market

The music you've come to love has been sabotaged.

Not many people realise the degree of degradation music quality has experienced over the years. It has got to the point where the old vinyl records of yesteryear, the same ones that were popular some 100 years ago, provide higher quality dynamic range and clarity than today's CD audio. Remasters of old classics are sounding worse than the originals, and new music is sub-standard from the get go. It begs the question; surely technology has improved since vinyl?