Jim Lynch: Off the Top of My Head...

5 Reasons Why World of Warcraft Doesn’t Suck

Jim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:54:24 +0000

A while back on ExtremeTech, I barked about why I thought World of Warcraft sucked. Well I’m happy to report that some (but not all) of my complaints have been answered by Blizzard. In fact, World of Warcraft doesn’t suck nearly as much as it used to and here’s why. #5 Cold Weather Flying At Level [...]

Google Chrome OS

Jim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:17:27 +0000

Exciting news for computer users, I hope I can get a copy of this for a review at some point on DLR. It’s been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching [...]

Customize Your Linux Desktop

Jim — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:41:55 +0000

Maximum PC has a great article about Linux desktop customization: The days of ugly Linux desktops are a thing of the past. Modern distros include many tools and options that enable them to look good and be more useful. Unlike Windows, Linux has several different widget toolkits. The most well-known widget engines are GTK+, (distributed with GNOME) [...]

How To Make It Easy to Switch from Windows To Linux

Jim — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:29:05 +0000

I think these tips are pretty much right on about how to ease the transition for users from Windows to Linux: Moving users to Linux can be tricky, but Jack Wallen has some practical measures that should ease the transition. Sheer economics are making the use of the Linux operating system increasingly widespread. It is free, reliable [...]

Overheating iPhone 3GS

Jim — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:19:41 +0000

Wow. Well I’m glad I only have an iPhone 3G! Technology sites and Apple forums have been indundated with comments about the new model overheating and becoming discoloured since it was launched on June 19. Some iPhone users have complained that the device has become too hot to [...]

Desktop Linux Reviews Update

Jim — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:13:40 +0000

Just a heads up that there are a number of new desktop Linux reviews up on the DLR blog: Live Linux Gaming Tiny Core Linux 2.1 Knoppix 6.0.1 Kubuntu 9.04 I’m pleased to note that Linux Today has linkedto the Kubuntu and TCL reviews and Distrowatch has linked to the TCL review. So traffic has been up significantly and I’ve [...]

Michael Jackson’s Body to Be Plastinated at the O2 Arena

Jim — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:28:10 +0000

Well the Michael Jackson story just keeps getting weirder and weird. It’s a never-ending circus. Today, I came across this: Michael Jackson will live on as a ‘plastinated’ creature preserved by German doctor Gunther von Hagens. Von Hagens has caused controversy with everyone from the Pope to the chief rabbi in Israel with his practice of embalming [...]

How To Find ExtremeTech’s Staff

Jim — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:03:24 +0000

Just wanted to post links to the sites of my fellow ExtremeTech alumni. I added them in the sidebar but here they are for anybody out there who is googling and trying to find them: Joel Durham Jason Cross As of this writing, I don’t have a site yet for Mike Nguyen or Loyd Case but if they put [...]

Why Twitter Sucks

Jim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:59:31 +0000

This seriously sums Twitter up pretty well. I know people that are totally addicted to it and can’t disconnect. Sad.

Readers: Anti-Clickers Versus Anti-Scrollers

Jim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:42:50 +0000

Somebody posted a note on a site I frequent yesterday complaining about articles being broken up into too many pages. The point this person was making was that he/she found it annoying and/or thought that web publishers were being greedy or just otherwise trying to annoy readers. Well why do sites break up articles into multiple [...]

Linux Today Linked To My Linux Mint 7 Review

Jim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:38:15 +0000

I pitched it this morning and they linked to my Linux Mint 7 review over on my new Desktop Linux Reviews blog. Thanks so much Linux Today guys! It made my day to see that. One of the nicer things about mintInstall in this release is Featured Applications which highlights some popular apps for [...]

Social Media Consultants: A Huge Waste of Money?

Jim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:49:55 +0000

I really couldn’t agree more with this. Lately it seems I can’t go anywhere without running into a gaggle of social media consultants bloviating about the wonders of social network marketing. Sure, you’ve seen ‘em, too. Slick shake-and-bake “experts” promising to help you leverage the power of Twitter and Facebook to raise your profile and, inexplicably, [...]

Life After ExtremeTech

Jim — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:48:52 +0000

Well the countdown has begun until Friday, my last day at ExtremeTech as Community Manager. Loyd’s farewell column is up and it’s touching to see some of the messages there. It’s nice to know that ET has meant so much to so many people. And it will live on in its new form and probably [...]

Hybrid Car Sales Decline

Jim — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:04:17 +0000

Well this really isn’t much of a surprise. Given that they were overpriced to begin with, I figured hybrid sales would drop significantly once gas prices dropped. Americans have cut back on buying vehicles of all types as the economy continues its slide. But the slowdown has been particularly brutal for hybrids, which use electricity and [...]

My Review of Amazon’s Kindle 2 and the Amazon Kindle App for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch

Jim — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:48:22 +0000

Well I finally got my Kindle 2 and also downloaded the Kindle App for iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. I did a review of both of them for ExtremeTech. From the Kindle 2 review on ET: So should you spend $359 for a Kindle 2? Is it worth the money? Well so much of the answer to [...]

Waiting For My Kindle 2

Jim — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:06:46 +0000

I finally bought a Kindle and I can’t wait for it to get here. With the design tweaks, I finally felt it was time to try one. I am very annoyed that Amazon isn’t shipping them until the 25th though. That’s more than two weeks after their announcement. Why the big wait for shipping to commence? [...]

Warhammer Online Population Decline

Jim — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:59:56 +0000

Well I reactivated my WAR account recently to play with a friend who had gotten the game. I was shocked to see so many servers reduced to low population status. When I left WAR it wasn’t too long after it’s initial release and it was packed with people. But when I returned it was like [...]

World of Warcraft Interface Clutter

Jim — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:50:01 +0000

This guy has a good point, you can get REALLY carried away with adding mods to World of Warcraft: As Blizzard Entertainment’s designers created it, WoW is set in a pretty, almost placid Tolkienesque universe. But for the hardcore gamer, that pristine landscape is begging for augmentation. There’s just too much to track: At any given [...]

Steve Jobs: Hormone Imbalance Making Me Lose Weight

Jim — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:10:39 +0000

I got two emails this morning from Apple PR. One is a letter from Steve Jobs and the other is from Apple’s Board of Directors. The one from Jobs indicates that a hormone imbalance has made him lose weight and that he is seeking treatment. The letter from the board expresses support for Jobs. Here’s the [...]

Life Inside Apple From A Former Employee

Jim — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:58:25 +0000

Very interesting take on life inside of Apple from a former employee: I went to work for Apple in February of 1989 for simple reasons: I loved the technology. It was a company that I felt could make a difference and improve society, and I wanted a chance to help make those changes. I think it’s [...]

iFart Mobile Developer Raking in the Cash!

Jim — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:34:18 +0000

The developer of iFart Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch is making money hand over fist: Fart, therefore I am (the #1 iPhone app). Or something like that. iFart is fast becoming one of the most popular iPhone/iPod Touch applications out there. The developer of iFart, Joel Comm, has been pretty forthcoming with sales figures, [...]

Windows 7 Beta Available On BitTorrent

Jim — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:26:54 +0000

Apparently the latest beta of Windows 7 has leaked onto BitTorrent. I checked over at the Pirate Bay and sure enough it was there. Note that I do not condone downloading it as it is not an official release by Microsoft. But there are people who are going to do it no matter what anybody [...]

Buy the iPhone 3G At Walmart

Jim — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:05:20 +0000

I guess today is the day they go on sale at Walmart. Wal-Mart officially announced that the company will start selling Apple’s iPhone on Sunday, December 28th. The news confirms multiple reports about the impending sale. The report also confirms that rumors of a $99 Wal-Mart iPhone were incorrect. Wal-Mart will sell the iPhone for only $2 [...]

The Vatican Blesses the iPhone…Sort Of

Jim — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:13:55 +0000

Wow. Well maybe Steve Jobs really did create something divine. The Vatican has lent its approval to an iPhone application – with the iBreviary bringing the book of daily prayers to Apple’s handset. The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications has given its seal of approval to the application, which was created by Italian priest [...]

25 Great Website Footer Designs

Jim — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:09:39 +0000

Well this makes me feel like a blog loser. I don’t have anything like this on any of my blogs. Footers on web pages have evolved from being a simple section where you host your copyright information and additional links, to a multi-functional section where you can find a variety of site features such [...]