iTunes 100% CPU in Windows - solution: lower priority [Digg.com This!]

Sick of iTunes hammering your machine when it's downloading or playing a video? A method I've found to reduce its affect on system performance is to change its priority from Normal to Below Normal. This seems to have no negative affect on iTunes itself from my experience, even when downloading a few files. You can change this when needed by right-clicking on the process in Task Manager, but you can also use the start command.

Simply create yourself a cmd file as so:

@echo off
cd /d c:\Program Files\iTunes
start /belownormal iTunes.exe
exit

Save this file as c:\StartiTunes.cmd or whatever you like. Make sure the location of iTunes matches.

You can now create a shortcut on your desktop, etc, to run it.

Syntax highlighting in colour in HTML [Digg.com This!]

I recently found a fantastic feature in GVIM that allows me to syntax highlight my code and turns it into HTML. I'm sure there are tools out there specifically for this job, but given the convenience of having this built into my editor I couldn't help but mention it.

You can get GVIM from their website. When you've loaded your code up (and practically every language is supported), click the Syntax -> Convert to HTML menu option.

Here's a sample:

<?php

if (isset($_GET['album']))
{
        //echo 'gallery: ' . $_GET['album'];
        $d = dir('Photos/' . $_GET['album']);

        $bFirst = true;
        while ( ($file = $d->read()) !== false)
        {
                if (strpos($file, 'tb.jpg') !== false)
                {

FIX: Microsoft Word 2003 Backspace Doesn't Work [Digg.com This!]

I just came across some really annoying behaviour with Word 2003 (I dare say it's the same with 2000 and XP too). I somehow managed to change the behaviour so when I selected some text and pressed backspace the text remained there and the cursor moved to the start of the selection. Equally if I selected a word and tried typing over it the original word remained there and the new word would be typed immediately before it.

Solution: Turn on 'Typing replaces selection' mode.

Options -> Edit tab -> Tick 'Typing replaces selection'

Search Engine Effectiveness - Practical Test [Digg.com This!]

I've been wondering recently how effective alternate search engines are compared to Google. As a small test I decided to take 25 searches I had performed in the last week and search on Google, Yahoo and MSN Live Search to compare results.

The following table shows the results. A score of zero means the target info was found on the search page itself (I didn't have to click through to the site). A number 1-10 is the position of the search result with the target info. A blank score means the target info was not found on the first page of links.

The score is a sum of each search position negated from 11. As so:

Target info on search page: 11-0 = 11
Target info on page result 4: 11-4 = 7
Target info on page result 10: 11-10 = 1
Target info not found: 0



Conclusions:

I was pretty suprised Google was so far ahead compared to Yahoo and MSN. Google won because it was better at finding more niche searches, whereas Yahoo and MSN failed completely. For more obvious searches all three performed flawlessly and may do for day-to-day searches.

Google tended to either have the result first, or not at all. Yahoo had a few useful results in the top five. MSN had some results nearer the bottom of the top 10. This is significant for MSN because much lower results seriously increases the time taken to find what you want.

Some oddities included Yahoo having numerous entries that were highly irrelevant and MSN having a curious slant to open source results, particularly source code.

Where is the mobile phone market going? [Digg.com This!]

To answer this question let's think back around 25 years. These were the days when computers used proprietary hardware and proprietary operating systems. Companies like Commodore, Sinclair and Apple were selling their combined hardware and software solutions. The market was largely fragmented, and the systems available varied widely in functionality.

It was only in 1982 that we saw the start of what now represents the vast majority of computer sales: clones. Compaq Computer Corp introduced the first IBM PC clone. As a result, by luck, Microsoft's operating system was able to run on computers from two hardware companies; it was no longer at the mercy of a single manufacturer. Soon this would become three, then four, then many. Whilst hardware manufacturers were able to concentrate on improving hardware technology and manufacturing process, Microsoft was able to concentrate on improving the operating system.

The above is relevant because we see the same story playing out today in the mobile phone marketplace. Manufacturers with proprietary operating systems are moving to those that are common.

A few years ago mobile manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson used proprietary firmware. They did this because, just like the Commodore PET, the firmware performed such a simple function that writing it was no major overhead on development.

In the last few years we've seen mobile phone power and functionality increase dramatically, and as a result the use for a common, complex operating system has become more attractive. Quite simply, mobile manufacturers have an increasing burden to create what has gone from being a simple firmware, to a rich operating system.

Microsoft, much as they did 25 years ago, has been one of the companies to provide a common operating system for multiple hardware manufacturers. Unfortunately for Microsoft, not all hardware manufacturers were as naive as computer manufacturers when they first seized the computer OS market.

One very real competitor to Microsoft Windows Mobile is Symbian OS, originally developed by Psion and now co-owned by Nokia, Ericsson, Panasonic and others. In July 2006, it had 67% of the 'smart mobile device' market. This operating system achieves by design exactly what Microsoft achieved by luck: being a common OS capable of running on many manufacturers' hardware.

With Microsoft a very competitive player, Symbian OS having a strong grip on the market, and Apple joining the party with the market awareness and sex appeal to have an impact, only time will tell if in 25 years time, the mobile phone market will have played out exactly as the computer market has. This time around, however, Microsoft has some strong competitors to reconcile.


Of course I could also have mentioned Linux as another competitor, but I'll save this for another post.

iTunes 7.0.2 takes up 100% CPU when downloading? [Digg.com This!]

This is something I've noticed with previous version of iTunes for Windows, but 7.0.2 seems especially bad. Why should downloading one file cause iTunes to max out my Athlon 3200+ CPU??



As soon as the file has finished transferring iTunes resumes low CPU usage:

Fanboy Christmas Wishlist [Digg.com This!]

Here's the start of my fanboy Christmas wishlist.. Comment if you'd like to add your own!

Digg Fanboy Wishlist

1. Kevin Rose distributes $60m among users
2. Netscape admits to being a cheap clone of Digg
3. Diggnation moves to daily shows
4. Lala co-hosts Diggnation... in fact, replaces Kevin/Alex

PS3 Fanboy Wishlist

1. Someone takes the PS3 seriously (anyone...)
2. Developers realise writing code for 8 processing units is actually easy
3. Wii fanboys get Wii Tennis Elbow and cannot comment on Digg
4. Sony decide they're not selling the PS3 at enough of a loss and drop price to $200

Microsoft Fanboy Wishlist

1. Mac owners stop being smug about lack of malware for OSX
2. Mac owners think Windows is shit, but still buy it (done)
3. Apple move hardware and essentially become a PC (done)
4. Vista works on their mediocre hardware and doesn't take up 10 GB to install

Apple Fanboy Wishlist

1. Microsoft release Zune in colour associated with shit (done)
2. iMobile/iPhone/iWhatever released for $99 and is better than a Treo/Blackberry
3. OSX released for all PCs... and it works with the millions of hardware configurations
4. Apple rumour sites are in fact well informed
5. All products everywhere come with shiny white plastic cases

Wii Fanboy Wishlist

1. PS3 becomes huge failure (done?)
2. Nintendo admit fault in wiimote wrist strap, replace "my broken 50" HDTV"