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The dubious honour of being allowed to purchase Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system belongs corporates and business customers since today. The general public has another month or so to consider parting with a hefty license fee, upgrading or replacing their hardware and inviting DRM and information rights management to their homes. Built-in media player – ok, if you have an XBox. Fancy GUI – nice. Resource consumption – horrendous. Inclusion of features we really need, such as desktop search – already here with Google Desktop or Beagle.

It’s been two years late, so any further wait should hardly be a problem. Do yourself a favour: just try out Linux. Or get a Mac. There are alternatives!

If you have a number of USB thumb drives or external hard disks, you may find that you lose track of which one is currently plugged in. Initially, I created volume labels to give each one a descriptive label, but I’ve found the following technique to be slightly more elegant. By creating your own AUTORUN.INF file, you can assign a decent label and an icon to make the device easier to see in the Windows Explorer.

Make sure the external storage volume or thumb drive has been inserted or attached. Grab an image somewhere, crop it to a decent size and save it as an icon. IRFanView is a great utility for saving images in different formats, cropping and cutting. Open Notepad and copy the following text into it, then adapt the label to your needs:

[autorun] label=My external drive – 20GB icon=autorun.ico

Save the file to the root directory of the relevant thumb drive or external storage media as AUTORUN.INF. Finally, rename the icon file to AUTORUN.ICO and save it in the root directory of the thumb drive or external storage media.

If all has gone according to plan, the next time you insert the device Windows Explorer will show your icon and the description:

The same is obviously possible when creating a CD or DVD – just prepare the icon and autorun files beforehand and place them in the root directory of the compilation you intend burning.

If you are deciding whether or not to take the plunge, have technical questions or are simply interested in what’s going on, UbuntuOpenWeek runs until Saturday.

Tutorials are run on the IRC channel #ubuntu-classroom-chat and you may ask questions. Mark Shuttleworth is available too. A schedule of events is provided, and you’ll need an IRC client installed…on your Ubuntu desktop, of course

For any browsing requirement on my JAMin, I rely on the Opera Mini browser. The latest version available provides a number of new features, including RSS feeds and photo sharing. No new software release of any kind would be complete without the promise of increased speed, and for a browser, additional security and safety features.

Opera Mini is a remarkable browser that I’ve enjoyed using on a number of different devices. It’s generally fast and formats web pages quite nicely to fit in the available display area. Most certainly better than PIE…

This is a bit after the fact – the Airbus A380 landed at OR Tambo International yesterday on its ’round-the-world tour. I’m sorry I missed it, but with everything going crazy this November, that’s no surprise.

Catch some of the action online. And, if you’re in Australia (Sydney, to be precise) you may have the good fortune of spotting this 550 seater.

For designers who felt that they were unjustly excluded from the opportunity to design an emblem or logo for the 2010 World Cup, this website provides an opportunity to show off a design. Some of them are really good and would, in my opinion, have had a good shot at making it to a final selection.

If you’re into supporting strange causes and consumerism is a touchy subject, consider tagging along with people in the UK tomorrow. It’s buy nothing day during which…you’re not supposed to buy anything.

Simple.

Maybe not for the female of the species

The Jones Soda Company has some unique soft drink flavours available to discerning thirsty people. Instead of an extraordinarily pedestrian peach and litchi combo, why not settle for a more satisfying turkey and gravy or even pea and antacid flavoured drink. Chilled, off course.

Five bottles, collector’s edition, 2006 holiday pack…

never-to-be-repeated…

oft-repeated…

YUK!

While you’re busy planning on getting rid of some cash on a gaming machine, why not include this in your shopping basket:

For racing fanatics, the Home Pro Racing Simulator works with the XBox, PS2/PS3 and a PC.

Try not to spin the wheels on the living room carpet…

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Wired. That magazine’s availability at the end of the month is something I look forward to. Any writers affiliation with Wired is something I respect. In the case of the The Long Tail, it’s not just a writer for Wired. It’s the editor, Chris Anderson.

The Long Tail theory started as an investigation into economics, primarily due to the increase in Internet stores such as Amazon and the Apple iTunes music store. These stores are able to offer a thousandfold more content than any real-world store could ever wish to present on its shelves. In fact, a brick-and-mortar store has some real restrictions and a tiny audience to appeal to. The long tail is the phenomenon that permits niche products to be offered to a huge audience and make sales. Whereas a certain CD in a store has a limited shelf life, has to pay its rent, be visible to potential purchasers and appeal to someone to actually be bought, Internet-enabled stores suffer none of those issues. Using filters and search tools, intelligent cross-referencing capabilities and buyer habit tracking, even the most obscure song is able to find an audience and a buyer. Maybe not many, but enough to sell and make a profit.

Anderson takes the reader through many real-world examples, including the creation of the successful Sears-Roebuck catalog that instantly made thousands of products available to millions of Americans, all from the convenience of their homes. More modern examples include iTunes and Amazon which suggest, track and allow potential buyers the ability to sample before purchasing. The argument is that the more choice we have, the more likely it is that we will purchase something that matches those things we tend to prefer. Music is a good example, as suggestions to sample songs from a band we’ve never heard of may provide us with a new outlet to spend cash. That choice, in turn, may lead to something else entirely – these choices would generally not be visible without the advanced search features available.

The description of stores and their planning is fascinating. It’s easy to see how a large warehouse store is unable to afford to stock even a fraction of the CD’s an online retailer has access to. Retail space, rental, visibility and shelf space all play a part. Anderson gives an excellent description of his theory and how it works in practice.

Anderson researched and wrote a short article for Wired magazine. After that, he posted his ideas and comments on a website to gain comment and reviews from readers. Overall, the book is well written, easy to read and understand and full of examples that are relevant for today. If you’re into the web, economics (why?) or enjoy marketing theory, this is for you.