Optimized Queries

What's New, Mac?

Chris Barnes — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0500

With an eye towards further growth of its phenomenally successful notebook line — by far the most popular variety of Mac — Apple introduced a major update in October that dramatically changes the mobile Mac experience. In its consumer-oriented MacBook line, Apple dropped plastic casings on all but the lowest-Another brick in the wall: The new aluminum MacBook, released in October, was known as the "brick" before release due to its new single-piece construction method. The notebook's body is built by carving out pieces from a single brick of aluminum.end model in favor of new aluminum casings that had previously been reserved for professional models.

Operating Systems in Harmony

Chris Barnes — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Ever since Apple switched to Intel processors in 2006, one of the main things Mac users have wanted to do is to run Microsoft Windows alongside Mac OS X. Although Mac OS is one of the main selling points of Apple’s whole computer lineup, there are just some things you need Windows for — many games, for instance, are still not released for the Mac at all.

Form and Function: The New Nano

Chris Barnes — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

(iPod) nano technology.: The new iPod nano lineup from Apple.

Google's New Gadget

Chris Barnes — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Traditionally, October marks the true arrival of autumn, along with the incessant stress of papers and exams, the brief (if not glorious) escape of fall break and the eventual parading of costumed trick-or-treaters through the streets on Halloween. This October, however, will mark the release of the next round of the smartphone revolution, with the introduction of the T-Mobile G1, the first handset to run Android, the new mobile operating system from Google.

Master Your Own Galaxy

Chris Barnes — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Ever wanted to play God with your own little universe?

Apparently, so did Will Wright, the celebrated father of Sim City, Sim Ant, The Sims and a slew of other similarly-themed games that have come out of Maxis over the last two decades. After years of hype and delays, the now-Electronic Arts-owned studio released Spore, a start-to-finish civilization simulator, earlier this month.

[video:node=32134] Spore lets you design your own single-cell life form, plop it into the primordial ooze, and then guide it on its evolutionary path towards sentience and eventually global — and galactic — domination. The game takes the conceptual feel of progress from all of its earlier works and moves it to a much grander scale than ever before.

I Spy: New iPods

Chris Barnes — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

It’s that time of year again: when September pops up on the calendar, you know you won’t have to look far to find Steve Jobs on a stage somewhere introducing new iPods. This year was certainly no exception, as everyone’s favorite iconic CEO delivered the keynote at Apple’s “Let’s Rock” special event in San Francisco on Tuesday.

As the name implies, the event focused on Apple’s booming music business, which includes the iTunes music player, its accompanying online store and the ubiquitous iPod, an entity which, according to Jobs, has now sold over 160 million units for a phenomenal 73.4 percent share of the digital music player market.

What's All That Ruckus?

Chris Barnes — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Much of our time on campus this semester will be spent consuming music, television shows and movies through our computers. Much of that entertainment will be obtained through electronic methods — some legal, most not. Many times before, I have written about those more seedy methods of obtaining music on campus, so I’m not going to do so again. (Freshmen: visit cornellsun.com and search for “DC++” if you are interested.)

No, this semester’s inaugural Optimized Queries was inspired by an email sent by Kent Hubbell, the dean of students, to all of his charges at the beginning of orientation. One paragraph in particular drew my attention.

The CoursEnroll Disaster

Chris Barnes — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

So, the new iteration of Just the Facts crashed and burned Monday in its first real trial by fire. Oops? Of course, as anyone familiar with Murphy’s Law knows, anything that can go wrong will go wrong — especially where computer systems are involved, and especially where giant, massive, integrated computer systems that haven’t been disturbed in almost a decade are involved.

Settling the Browser Wars?

Chris Barnes — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Most people don’t give a second thought about surfing the web — just hit the big blue “e,” and you’re off to the races. However, the truth of the matter is that there is quite a wide selection of browsers that will all get the job done — to one degree or another.

This Could Mean Sayonara, BlackBerry

Chris Barnes — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Look out, BlackBerry — here comes the iPhone.

Since its birth on Jun. 29 of last year, Apple’s versatile device has managed to capture 28 percent of the smartphone market, second only to Research in Motion, the Canadian firm behind the ubiquitous BlackBerry. In its first-quarter conference call, Apple announced that it has sold over 2.3 million iPhone units since launch, which they claim is on track to meet their goal of 10 million sold by the end of the year.

Deal or No Deal for Microsoft and Yahoo

Chris Barnes — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Microsoft shook up the Internet last Friday when it announced its intentions to buy Yahoo for the ridiculously large sum of $44.6 billion, over 60 percent more per share than the price at which the company’s stock is currently valued. Although it certainly did not come out of the blue, the idea of the “big three” — Google being the third in the triumvirate — collapsing to the “big two,” coupled with the overall depressing conditions that have gripped the market in the last month, sent a chill down the spines of web surfers everywhere.

Light as Air: The New MacBook

Chris Barnes — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Last week, Apple welcomed all of us back to campus with a presentation at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at the Moscone Convention Center in his trademark black sweater and blue jeans get-up and, among other things, introduced the world to his company’s new baby, the MacBook Air (which I will henceforth abbreviate as MBA for space).

All I Want for Christmas is Wii

Chris Barnes — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

As corporate America has reminded us, the daunting task of finding the right gift for your friends and family comes along with the holidays. While the best gifts are those from the heart, in case you’re looking for something a bit more tangible, there’s a lot of great stuff in stores this December. So, without further ado, here are a few of the top picks from my own Christmas list.

iPhone and iPod touch. Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last five months, you’ll doubtlessly have heard something about the iPhone. This classy smartphone is also remarkably well-built and sturdy; the iPhone and its little, phone-less cousin, the iPod touch, offer the best experience on a mobile device that I have ever encountered, hands-down.

Identity as Advertisement on Social Site Facebook

Chris Barnes — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Facebook, the incredibly ubiquitous social networking site, made its latest move in the struggle to make a buck on Wednesday. The company is calling its latest breed of marketing “social ads,” a system where your own expressed brand preferences and Internet browsing habits and even your very identity are used to pitch goods and services right back to you and your friends!

While I’m all in favor of the little guy — if Facebook can even be called that anymore — cashing in on its own success, I hope I’m not the only one that’s more than a little disturbed at privacy-invading advertisements.

Inflating and Deﬂating The Web 2.0 Bubble

Chris Barnes — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Early this month, the stock price of Google shot above $600 per share, and its meteoric rise shows no signs of stopping — despite the fact that the price exceeds the company’s actual earnings by a factor of 50.

Meanwhile Facebook was recently valued at $10 billion dollars by the investors at Microsoft. However, estimates place its annual revenue in 2006 only in the millions, nearly 100 times lower than its crazy valuation.

The list goes on and on, of course. Online advertising company DoubleClick, a rare survivor of the first dot-com bubble, was purchased by Google for $3.1 billion in April, while YouTube was acquired last year for $1.65 billion, also without a clear revenue model — i.e. one that could justify the purchase price.

Nine Months Later: Windows Vista

Chris Barnes — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Back in February, I wrote an article in The Sun detailing Cornell’s plans to deal with Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows Vista. This major upgrade to the Windows platform made many changes to the underlying system that rendered several programs, including our own Bear Access, inoperable without tricky work-arounds.

Now, despite all this, and despite CIT’s official recommendation to hold off on Vista for the time being, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to delve into next-generation technology.

Who Will Buy the 700 MHz Band?

Chris Barnes — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Next January, the Federal Communications Commission will be conducting a very rare auction for the 700 megahertz band, a large portion of the radio frequency spectrum that has been used until now for television broadcasting. Since broadcasters on this frequency will be departing the airwaves for the realm of digital broadcasts in 2009, this relatively low-frequency, highly desirable part of the spectrum will be up for grabs for the first — and likely the last — time in decades.

Don’t expect the band to come cheap. The FCC has set a minimum reserve price of $4.6 billion on the item up for auction.

Resolving the NBC - Apple, Inc. Debacle

Chris Barnes — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

If you’ve been browsing the web at all this week, you’ll no doubt have heard something of the spat that is brewing between media giant NBC Universal and iPod manufacturer Apple, Inc. The two corporations have so far been unable to negotiate a new contract for the sale of NBC shows through Apple’s iTunes video store, and this disagreement came to a head last Friday, when Apple announced that it would be blocking the addition of any new NBC episodes to the store.

A Scenic Tour of Cornell Computing

Chris Barnes — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Hey everyone, my name is Chris Barnes, and I am the Web Editor at The Sun. This semester, I’ll be writing a column that takes a look at the technical side of life, both on the Hill and beyond. We live in a world that is becoming more and more dependent on the fast flow of information, and finding the right gadgets and software can be a big help in getting things done.