Monday, January 12, 2009

Windows 7 Beta

Microsoft just released a beta for Windows 7 that is good through August of this year. You can find it here. I had trouble getting the site to work. It kept hanging. Various news sources have stated they are overwhelmed with the interest. I googled the topic and found the Wired Blog which gave additional details. I clicked on the included link and downloaded the 64 bit version.

Tried installing it in VMWare Fusion 2.x on my iMac w/Leopard and after a nearly successful install the system said it couldn't recognize my hardware. The install process was fairly quick on my 2.8 Ghz Extreme iMac. Also looks nice and didn't have a ton of dialog boxes that needed input.

Frustrating but could be an attempt by Microsoft to thwart Mac users? Maybe Fusion is having issues with the virtualization for this beta install. Who knows. I will try the 32 bit version and see what happens.

Monday, January 5, 2009

TV: The Eleventh Doctor Revealed!!!

I know that TK was at some point a Dr. Who fan, and I've become a fan in the recent six months or so. David Tennant will always be what I consider the quintessential Doctor, and it saddened me when I found out that he was going to be retiring in 2009.

However, I was also excited, because that meant I would see a changing of the guard! A new Doctor would be introduced to the world, and the more I read the interweb about who would replace David, the more excited I got. Would it be the always fantastic (and sorta Tennant-looking) Robert Carlyle? Or would they finally have a Doctor of color with Dr. Who alum Colin Salmon? Or would they go an even different direction with the first female Doctor, played by my current English crush Billie Piper?

News came down today that the Eleventh Doctor would be played by English newcomer Matt Smith. This is an interesting take on the Doctor, and I think the new producers are hoping to bring in a younger demographic.



Dr. Who has always been on the periphery of my sci-fi geekdom. I never got into it before I started watching the new series on the Sci Fi channel, and that was only because the show came on right before Battlestar Galactica. With Tennant as the Doctor, I was hooked. I even went back and watched the first season, with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor. He wasn't really my cup of tea (insert English joke here), but his companion was the lovely Rose Tyler, played by the before mentioned Billie Piper. If you haven't seen the current seasons of Dr. Who, try and catch them on BBC America or on the Sci Fi Channel. They are fantastic, with equal parts humor and adventure.