Mint is an extensible, self-hosted web site analytics program. Its interface is an exercise in simplicity. Visits, referrers, popular pages and searches can all be taken in at a glance on Mint’s flexible dashboard.

In short, it allows you to track activity on your site [assuming you have any, lol] so that you can see what exactly it is the generates more visits. The interface is quite nice as well. No matter how helpful or cost-cutting an application or program may be, if it is not user-friendly or it has an ungly interface, people are not going to want to use it. Plain and simple.

Speaking of interfaces, HP’s new “TouchSmart” PC looks a lot like a cross between an iMac and a TV ... and that’s the point [the TV capabilities anyway]. Here’s a pic for those who haven’t seen this yet:

Instead of bore you with jibber jabber, why don’t you see it in action for yourself? Enjoy!

With respect to Blender, what can you tell me about your community/user
feedback that you have heard regarding file formats?  Specifically,
Microsoft is slowly shifting toward a more open standards based
approach to its file formats.  The ISO standard Office Open XML is an
example of the direction we are moving towards.
A good user experience of Blender on Windows is good for your
project/community and good for Microsoft.  What we are trying to
understand is what file formats, which are not open or not fully open,
are impeding the optimal experience with your community. If this is an
important issue to your users then it also accrues to the experience in
Windows. I would like to know what feedback you might have received
regarding the files your users most often import and those they might
be having a sub-optimal experience with.  Please also include in that
list any Microsoft files that you might have trouble with.

It is quite clear that Microsoft doesn’t know what open source truly means. It seems like they are trying to buy up every awesome company and their programs/apps so they can come out on top again. Don’t get me wrong, I use Microsoft’s apps [Visual Studio, XP, etc.] but this is a joke. You can check out the source of the story [here].

And even if I don’t get it, I’ll just reapply. Tech is my verb, it’s what I do.

EDIT: After the interview I was actually able to get Rough Guide’s Macs and OS X 10.5 Leopard book at the local Barnes & Nobles FTW.
EDIT #2: I’m invited for a second interview! I am SO getting this job, just watch. Apparently, I didn’t have enough work experience to have the required “people skills” ... since when did jobs become the only way you interact with people? Don’t you do that everyday? Meh, whatever.

Also reported from Akihabara News, a talking voice-activated universal remote controlled robot for your desktop called ApriPoko is available from Toshiba [wow, that was a mouthful!]. I love peguins and this robot looks like one too! It understands your commands but I’m thinking that it understands Japanese only [it is made in Japan]. Check out the cool pic and story [again, click on the pic].

In gaming news, the long awaited and eagerly anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl has come out for the Wii but am I playing it? ... no. I want to play it [duh] but I don’t have a Wii [or even time to play it]. Oh, and for Megaman Starforce fans [yup, all 5 of you in the back], the second installment will come out this June [of ‘08]. A ginormous fan of MMBN, I was hoping to feel the same sort of fanatical enthusiasm for Starforce but it’s just not the same. Sure, the battle system, chip collection, and beating down bad guys and viruses are there but there’s no more Lan and Megaman. The Capcom team could at least throw in some hints and tie-ins as to how life was for Lan and Co. at the end of MMBN6 [the last MMBN game].

I made a replacement icon for a program called Celtx [which you can get here]. I won’t get into the whole explanation of what the application does here since I’ve provided the link but if you are a script writer or do production for plays and such [or if you’re embarking on a highly ambitious MMORPG project ... like myself], then you will find it most handy. Anyhoo, back to the icon. When you create a project file, the icon for it looks rather bland, and I was tired of seeing it, and so I made one. I emailed the Celtx team and they liked it so, hey! Maybe this will be the start of some freelance work?

EDIT: Okay, so I had to restart my computer [well, didn’t have to, but y’know] and once I did that, I fired up IE8 right away. Of course, it asked me if I wanted it to be my default browser. Mmmm ... no. Anyhoo, let’s get this analysis on the road! [Click for a bigger picture]

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This is what IE8 looks like when it starts up ... not bad I must admit. It looks more or less the same as IE7, but take a closer look at the title bar. You will see that the main domain is the one that’s in black text and everything else is in a light gray. It’s a pretty slick look. Also, when you are typing URLs, they will be preceded by the text “Go to” which is also light gray.

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This is what the “New Tab” screen looks like. Bleh. But it’s still in beta, remember that. The tabs looks slightly better but they’re not smooth. You can still see vertical lines where they shouldn’t be.

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But of course, I wanted to see if my site would display correctly ... and for the most part it does. But the words are oddly smushed or cut off. And my smilie looks like he needs a vacation. The funny thing is, the title “Internet Explorer 8” displays perfectly fine. Huh. All in all, the experience wasn’t too bad. I noticed also that IE8 loads webpages a whole lot faster than IE6 and IE7 but I can’t guarantee that for everyone. At the rate IE8 is going though, I think Microsoft won’t have to worry about losing to Safari. I’ll still use Opera though, although not as exclusively if IE8 meets or exceeds my expectations. To read about all of the new features and features to be implemented, you should definitely take a look.