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Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh

MS Office 2008

Coming soon to an OS X near you, the latest installment of Microsoft Office 2008 for the Macintosh. It has been four years since the last release of Office for the Mac and I’m honestly glad even just for an updated user interface. But Office 2008 does so much more, obviously.

What’s the deal with Microsoft releasing several editions of Office though? They’ve gone version happy with Vista and now MS Office as well? Why can’t they just release one, Microsoft Office 2008 “Really Good” edition? Is one office suite less productive than the other? Gee.

According to MacWorld, Office will be available in three versions: Office 2008 for Mac ($399.95; $239.95 upgrade), Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition ($149.95) and Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition ($499.95; $299.95 upgrade).

I’m not liking the way the Microsoft software division sees consumers. So does being an educator or student dictate how I’m going to use my computer all the time? This sort of degenerated access to software is actually limiting to consumers instead of allowing them to explore. If all the students need is a discount, then offer a special student promo, not a completely different version. What’s in the “special media” edition? More clip arts? Just offer it as an add on, or heck, offer the whole damn package in one REALLY GOOD edition. Stop with the scrimping.

[Office Tweaks]

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Mostly Everything

Recession and back

ION CANNOOOOONNNN

December 2007 was a complete slowdown for me. As I isolated myself from the world and spent the days and nights cooped in front of the PC, I reintroduced myself to the wonderful world of gaming. Apart from Christmas and airsoft, December can be summarized as follows:

Bioshock 2
Command and Conquer 3 (my high school friends have a yearly tradition where we do an 8-hour C&C marathon between Christmas and New Year.)
Team Fortress 2
Call of Duty 4 (kick ass game – finished the campaign in an afternoon)
Gears of War
The Witcher (still playing — load times are horrendous but the game is solid, like you’re reading a novel)

As my calendar is slowly getting filled with new appointments for January, I slowly bid goodbye to a lax December. It was fun while it lasted.

Image of the Ion Cannon pwnage taken from Gamepro.com.

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Mostly Everything

My 2007 in Photos (Part IV)

European Food Festival

The European Food Festival at Serendra. It was like a fashion show but we had trays of food parading the stage.

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Mostly Everything

Verzio Duplii Unboxed and Reviewed: Dual SIM done right?

What's in the box?

This came in the mail a few days ago. The Verzio Duplii is one of two dual SIM phones manufactured by a SIngaporean company and distributed here. The phone will be out very soon. If you have extra 13th month pay to spare and have been wanting a phone that basically holds two cell signals simultaneously, then read on.

The two SIM slots are labeled as SIM 1 and SIM 2 with the primary SIM card being chosen through the Settings menu. This is usually the default number that will be used to send messages. Although when sending messages, the phone allows you to select which SIM to use to send out your SMS. Thus, let’s say you’re using a prepaid line on one end and a post paid on the other, you can use your prepaid line to receive SMS and reply using the other line seamlessly.

[Full review with photos]

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Mostly Everything

Wrapping Up 2007 in Technology

Technology in 2007

For those of you bored in the office wondering why you’re still reporting to work at this odd time of the year, do grab a copy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer from Manong Guard and turn to the 2bu! section. I have a piece there that wraps up the highlights of technology in 2007. Consumer technology mostly, as it’s rather difficult to mention everything that happens in the entire industry. I focused more on how core competencies are shifting – Microsoft sucks at operating systems and does well in gaming for instance, as well as how the “elite” are now going mainstream with the aggressive move of Apple into consumer technology.

That’s all folks!