I zapping

Malgré le retard d’Android, la menace Google plâne. Aussi, Nokia vient de récupérer quasiment toutes les parts de Symbian chez Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Panasonic, Siemens, Samsung étant le seul qui n’a pas encore donné son accord, le tout pour un montant total de 264 millions d’euros.
Mais là où Nokia frappe fort, c’est justement que la marque finlandaise ne compte pas se garder pour elle seule Symbian et vient d’annoncer la Symbian Foundation pour transformer Symbian en logiciel libre sous licence Eclipse.
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i played a lot with LEGO briks in my childhood, it was (and still is) an amazing and creative activity for me.
over the years, i was buying different models and toys just to have fun and enjoy collecting them.
until now, that childhood feeling is still here and pushes me to buy that huge lego box that costs almost 300TND.
today, LEGO turns 50, it’s really amazing to see the impact of such small-multicolor-bricks on the human culture and childs games and how has meant something significant to endless millions of people around the world.

“I just wanted to remind everyone that Saturday, January 19th 2008 will mark the beginning of the 30-year countdown to the Y2K38 bug, when Unix time will overflow 32 bits. Some 30-year loan calculation software might start having problems with this over the weekend.”

google released 23 translation chat-bots.
you just send them a message and they’ll reply back with the translation within a second.
you can use it inside Google Talk or any other jabber client.

List of bots:
ar2en, de2en, de2fr, el2en, en2ar, en2de, en2el, en2es, en2fr, en2it, en2ja, en2ko, en2nl, en2ru, en2zh, es2en, fr2de, fr2en, it2en, ja2en, ko2en, nl2en, ru2en, zh2en
Explanation on the language codes:
EN = English, NL = Dutch, DE = German, ES = Spanish, FR = French, IT = Italian, KO = Korean, RU = Russian, JA = Japanese, ZH = Chinese.

i was surfing when i found this funny [ and right ] article.

Erasing Whiteboards
Because whiteboards are often shared you need to identify a protocol for when to erase them. Here are my rules, in order of importance:

• Everyone should erase their own work once it is no longer needed.
• If you want to save your work for a future working session you must include a message indicating so. This message must include your name, contact info, and an erase date after which someone is allowed to erase it.
• If you need a board, and there’s no message or the erase date has expired, then erase it.
• If a message just says “Do Not Erase” but does not include the other required information you should make a judgment call whether you want to erase it. If you don’t put the date on the diagram then useless diagrams will proliferate throughout your org and you’ll quickly run out of whiteboard space.
• Don’t ever spit on the whiteboard to clean it. Not only is it gross, it means that subsequent writing will not ‘take'.
• If you’ve used a permanent marker on a whiteboard use whiteboard cleaner to erase it or simply go over the writing with a whiteboard marker to loosen the permanent ink.

General Tips

The list below is a summary of many of the common features of typical “Web 2.0” sites :

• Simplicity
• Central layout
• Fewer columns
• Separate top section
• Solid areas of screen real-estate
• Simple nav
• Bold logos
• Bigger text
• Bold text introductions
• Strong colours
• Rich surfaces
• Gradients
• Reflections
• Cute icons
• Star flashes

a nice article that teaches you how to imagine and design your site following the web 2.0 mode
[ via web design from scratch ]

As a new photographer, these are some of the ideas that have helped get me going.

1. Don’t go crazy buying the most expensive equipment right away.
   It’s possible to get very nice photos with an inexpensive point and shoot.The more photos you take, the more you’ll know about what kind of camera to get when it’s time to upgrade.
2. Consider a tripod.
   On the other hand, an inexpensive tripod is worth getting, especially if you have shaky hands like mine. When I got a tripod, my satisfaction with my shots skyrocketed. For even more stability, use your camera’s timer function with a tripod.
3. Keep your camera with you all the time.
   Photo ops often come when you least expect it. If you can keep your equipment relatively simple - just a small camera bag and a tripod - you might be able to take advantage of some of those unexpected opportunities. Or, if your phone has a camera, use it to take “notes” on scenes you’d like to return to with your regular camera.
4. Make a list of shots you’d like to get.
   For those times you can’t carry your camera around, keep a small notebook to jot down places you’d like to come back and photograph. Make sure to note any important details, like the lighting, so you can come back at the same time of day or when the weather’s right. If you don’t want to carry a notebook, send yourself an email using your cell phone with Jott.com.
5. Don’t overlook mundane subjects for photography.
   You might not see anything interesting to photograph in your living room or your backyard, but try looking at familiar surroundings with fresh eyes. You might catch an interesting trick of the light or find some unexpected wildflowers in your yard. Often a simple subject makes the best shot.
6. Enjoy the learning process.
   The best part of having a hobby like photography is never running out of things to learn. Inspiration is all around you. Look at everything with the eyes of a photographer and you’ll see opportunities you never noticed before.
7. Take advantage of free resources to learn.
   Browse through Flickr or websites like the Digital Photography School Forum for inspiration and tips. Also, your local library probably has a wealth of books on all types of photography. If you’re interested in learning about post-processing, give free software like the GIMP a try.
8. Experiment with your camera’s settings.
   Your point and shoot may be more flexible and powerful than you know. Read the manual for help deciphering all those little symbols. As you explore, try shooting your subjects with multiple settings to learn what effects you like. When you’re looking at your photos on a computer, you can check the EXIF data (usually in the file’s properties) to recall the settings you used.
9. Learn the basic rules.
   The amount of information about photography online can be overwhelming. Start with a few articles on composition. Be open to what more experienced photographers have to say about technique. You have to know the rules before you can break them.
10. Take photos regularly.
    Try to photograph something every day. If you can’t do that, make sure you take time to practice regularly, so you don’t forget what you’ve learned.
11. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
    If you’re using a digital camera, the cost of errors is free. Go crazy - you might end up with something you like. You’ll certainly learn a lot in the process.

these are the tips that i use often for my shooting.
they are quit simple, easy to apply and efficient.
[ via digital photography school ]

CSS3 is the new kid in the stylesheet family. It offers exciting new possibilities to create an impact with your designs, allows you to use more diverse style sheets for a variety of occasions and lots more. We created this site because we want to share our experiences of CSS3 with you, and want nothing more than to simply be the biggest online resource covering CSS3. (Hey, we’re ambitious!)

I recently reviewed several commercial, closed-source slideshow authoring packages for Windows and came across an alarming trend. Several of the packages I installed included GPL and LGPL software without any mention of the GPL, much less source code. For example, DVD Photo Slideshow ( www.dvd-photo-slideshow.com ) included mkisofs, cdrdao, dvdauthor, spumux, id3lib, lame, mpeg2enc, and mplex (all of which are GPL or LGPL). The company tried to hide this by wrapping them all in DLLs. There are other violations in other packages as well. Based on my testing of other software, it seems that use of GPL software in commercial Windows applications is on the rise.
My question is how much are GPL violations in the Windows world being pursued? Does the FSF or EFF follow up on these if the platform is not GPL? How aware is the community of this trend?"