From Friday through July 11, consumers in the U.S. will be able to buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Home premium for $49 or Windows 7 Professional for $99. That offer is good for both XP and Windows Vista PCs, regardless of whether someone has been trying out the pre-release version of the operating system. That matches the details in a memo from Best Buy that leaked earlier this month.

[...]

When boxed copies of Windows 7 go on sale on October 22, Microsoft plans to charge $119 for Home Premium, $199 for Professional and $219 for Ultimate. The Home Premium upgrade is down $40 from the product’s original price, although the Vista product had already gotten a price cut along the way. The Professional and Ultimate versions are priced similar to where Microsoft was with Vista. The upgrade prices apply to those moving from a previous version of Windows to Windows 7, but only those from Windows Vista will be able to upgrade without doing a clean installation of the product.

The full versions of Windows 7–the editions for those without a copy of Windows–will be priced at $199 for Home Premium, $299 for Professional and $319 for Ultimate. The Ultimate and Professional editions are again on par with their Vista counterparts, while Home Premium is down from the $239 that Microsoft had charged with Vista. Microsoft also plans to offer the operating system in an easier-to-open box.

-via CNET

I didn’t spend a lot of time on this.  I meant to do more to match the lighting on Aang, but with limited time to land a joke, I just quickly threw this together.  The sources are the first picture of Aang from The Last Airbender, and a picture I found of Lex Luthor from Smallville.

I’ve been researching camcorders to fit the following specifications:

• Less than $600 (Prefer around 500)
• 3CCD
• Great Picture Quality
• Editable in Premiere CS4
• Records to SDHC Memory Cards

This is for a series of youth group videos, and I was thinking of getting 2 when I thought I could spend about $400/ea. but research has been more than confusing, as people generally have so many various views of great cameras, and in certain budgets they compare a $600 camera to an obviously superior $1100 camera.  (Duh, the higher priced camera is going to be better… it’s nearly twice the price!)

I’m not looking for anything TERRIBLY high as all the videos will end up on YouTube and perhaps DVDs to give to the kids after the summer.  I also want something that’s slightly future-proof.

Anything from Panasonic? Canon?

I found the Panasonic HDC-SD9 that seems to fit the specifications, some reviews I’ve found have scared me a little.

Sony uses their own super expensive MemoryStick Pro cards… don’t know if that’s really within budget.

Anyone have some insight?  What would you do?

You can either comment here, or at Videomaker.com, or at Amazon.com

In my search to convert the flat file format of Cutenews over to the database driven WordPress, I came across a plugin that someone was creating.  This news transfer tool is called Other-Ext-WP.

I was pretty excited to find it, as I want to move two of my websites off of Cutenews and into the more secure database driven format.  It worked okay when I tried it out to see what it would do.  It did pull in the stories as well as some of the categories and the dates.

However, there are a number of issues with the importing, however, that have been reported by others as well.

1) The Categories don’t transfer correctly.

2) The Full Story doesn’t transfer, just the short story field.

3) You can only attribute the stories to one user.

4) It strips out all mark-up.  In both stories and comments.

I’m not too worried about moving the uploaded pictures over, as that can be fixed later.  But I would love to have a working script to run that will properly convert things.

The latest WordPress version that the creator says that it works in is 2.3.1, so I tried that to see if it worked, and that’s where the issues came in.  The person developing it appears to have given up on the plugin, so I’m asking for anyone that has some spare time to help out if you can.

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: Other-Ext-WP
Plugin URI: http://www.nexterous.com/scripts/otherextwp.php
Description: This useful plugin allows Cutenews users to transfer their Cutenews installation into WordPress, including categories, posts, and comments.
Version: 1.0 Beta 2
Author: Daniel
Author URI: http://www.nexterous.com
*/

/*  Copyright 2007  Daniel  (contact: use form at www.nexterous.com)

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
*/

// Hook for adding admin menus
add_action(‘admin_menu’, ‘display’);

// Add the page first
function display(){
add_submenu_page(‘plugins.php’, ‘Other-Ext-WP’, ‘Other-Ext-WP’, 10, ‘extwp.php’, ‘display_options’);
}

// Function to control what is displayed or activated
function display_options(){
if(isset($_POST['submit'])){

// Start the functions of the transfer
// Begin to set all the variables: $option, $path
if($_POST['add_comments'] == ‘yes’){
$option = TRUE;
} else {
$option = FALSE;
}
if(empty($_POST['path']) OR ($_POST['path'] == ‘enter a different path’)){
$path = $_POST['pathorigin'];
} else {
$path = $_POST['path'];
}

// Check the path & report error if not correct
$dp = opendir($path);
while($file = readdir($dp)){
$filearray[] = $file;
}
closedir($dp);
$checklist = array(
1 => ‘data’,
2 => ‘inc’,
3 => ‘rte’,
4 => ‘skins’);
$checkarray = array_intersect($filearray, $checklist);
if(empty($checkarray)){
?>
<div class=”wrap”>
<h2>Error</h2>
<p>Are you sure you have the correct Cutenews path? Please go <a href=”plugins.php?page=extwp.php”>back</a> and try a different path.</p>
</div>
<?php
exit;
}
$path = $path . ‘/data/’;

// Clear all the categories before beginning
$result = mysql_query(“TRUNCATE TABLE `wp_terms`”);
$result = mysql_query(“TRUNCATE TABLE `wp_term_taxonomy`”);

// Define all functions necessary
// Read the file and retrieve the each line into a separate row in an array
function read_cn($file){
$fp = fopen($file, ‘r’);
$read_array = file($file);
fclose($fp);
return $read_array;
}

// Take each row and explode it into another array and return back to a master array of all values
function return_entry($read_array){
foreach($read_array as $key => $data){
if($data == ”){
continue;
}
$array[$key] = explode(‘|’, strip_tags($data));
}
return $array;
}

// Get the information from each row and send it to the database using the post_wp() function
function send_post($array){
define(‘CONSTANT’, 18061);
foreach($array as $key => $data){
list($date, , $title, $post, , , $categories) = $data;
$title = mysql_real_escape_string($title);
$post = mysql_real_escape_string($post);

// Convert Date
$date = $date + CONSTANT;
$date = date(‘Y-m-d H:i:s’, $date);

// Separate Categories
$categories = explode(‘,’, $categories);

// Set-Up Post
$user = $_POST['user'];
$post = array(
‘post_author’        => $user,
‘post_date’            => $date,
‘post_date_gmt’        => $date,
‘post_title’        => $title,
‘post_content’        => $post,
‘post_status’        => ‘publish’,
‘post_type’            => ‘post’,
‘post_category’        => $categories);

// Send the post
wp_insert_post($post);
}
}

// Add category to the database
function add_category($category){
$cat_edited = mysql_real_escape_string(trim(strtolower($category)));
GLOBAL $table_prefix;
$terms = $table_prefix . ‘terms’;
$term_tax = $table_prefix . ‘term_taxonomy’;
$query = “INSERT INTO `$terms` (`name`, `slug`) VALUES (‘$cat_edited’, ‘$cat_edited’)”;
$result = mysql_query($query);
$id = mysql_insert_id();
$queryrel = “INSERT INTO `$term_tax` (`term_id`, `taxonomy`) VALUES (‘$id’, ‘category’)”;
$resultrel = mysql_query($queryrel);
}

// Set all the new categories
$url = $path . ‘category.db.php’;
$categories = read_cn($url);
$categories = return_entry($categories);
foreach($categories as $key => $category){
$category = $category[1];
if($category == ”){
continue;
}
add_category($category);
}

// Set all the posts
$url = $path . ‘archives/’;
$dp = opendir($url);
while($dirarray = readdir($dp)){
if($dirarray == ‘.’ OR $dirarray == ‘..’){
continue;
} else if(eregi(‘(comments){1}|(index){1}’, $dirarray)){
continue;
} else {
$url2 = $url . $dirarray;
$array = read_cn($url2);
$array = return_entry($array);
$result = send_post($array);
}
}
closedir($dp);
$url = $path . ‘news.txt’;
$array = read_cn($url);
$array = return_entry($array);
$result = send_post($array);

if($option){ // Check for comment option

// New Feature as of v.1.0 Beta 2: Transferring comments
// New functions must be defined due to the nature of the comment set-up on Cutenews
// These functions are only defined and used if you select “yes” on the comments option

// Get all the comments and format them correctly
function cn_getcomments($file){
$array = array();
$rawarray = file($file);
foreach($rawarray as $key => $data){
$blogtime = substr($data, 0, 13);
$data = substr(strip_tags($data), 13);
$comments = explode(‘||’, $data);
foreach($comments as $key => $comment){
if(md5($comments[$key]) == ’81051bcc2cf1bedf378224b0a93e2877′){
// This checks for a blank comment; cannot use empty() because of the way comment is formatted
continue;
}
$array[] = $comment . ‘|’ . $blogtime;
}
}
return $array;
}
function cn_addcomments($array){
foreach($array as $key => $comment){
$newarray = explode(‘|’, $comment);
list($date, $author, $email, $ip, $comment, $blogtime) = $newarray;
if(empty($comment) OR $comment == ’81051bcc2cf1bedf378224b0a93e2877′){
// This checks for a blank comment; cannot use empty() because of the way comment is formatted
continue;
}
$author = mysql_real_escape_string($author);
$email = mysql_real_escape_string($email);
$comment = mysql_real_escape_string($comment);

// Try quick spam protection – sets most of them to need approval
if(eregi(‘(http://)|www|(?p=)|(?pid=)’, $comment)){
$status = 0;
} else {
$status = 1;
}

// Convert Date
define(‘CONSTANT’, 18061);
$date = $date + CONSTANT;
$date = date(‘Y-m-d H:i:s’, $date);
$blogtime = $blogtime + CONSTANT;
$blogtime = date(‘Y-m-d H:i:s’, $blogtime);

// Change Email
if($email == ‘none’){
$email = ”;
}

// Check Entry
GLOBAL $table_prefix;
$wp_posts = $table_prefix . ‘posts’;
$result = mysql_query(“SELECT `ID` FROM `$wp_posts` WHERE (`post_date` = ‘$blogtime’)”);
while($array = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
$postid = $array['ID'];
}

// Set-Up Comment
$comment = array(
‘comment_post_ID’ =>        $postid,
‘comment_author’ =>         $author,
‘comment_author_email’ =>     $email,
‘comment_author_url’ =>     ”,
‘comment_author_IP’ =>        $ip,
‘comment_date’ =>            $date,
‘comment_date_gmt’ =>        $date,
‘comment_content’ =>        $comment,
‘comment_approved’ =>        $status,
‘comment_agent’ =>             ”,
‘comment_type’ =>            ”);

wp_insert_comment($comment);
}
}
$url = $path . ‘archives/’;
$dp = opendir($url);
while($dirarray = readdir($dp)){
if($dirarray == ‘.’ OR $dirarray == ‘..’){
continue;
} else if(eregi(‘(news){1}|(index){1}’, $dirarray)){
continue;
} else {
$url2 = $url . $dirarray;
$array = cn_getcomments($url2);
$array = cn_addcomments($array);
}
}
closedir($dp);
$url = $path . ‘comments.txt’;
$array = cn_getcomments($url);
$array = cn_addcomments($array);
}

?>
<div class=”wrap”>
<h2>Congradulations!</h2>
<p>You have now finished converting your Cutenews installtation into WordPress. Don’t forget to delete this plugin now since it has no security besides basic plugins. For more scripts and goodies, check out <a href=”http://www.nexterous.com”>Nexterous.com</a>.</p>
</div>
<?
// Start the functions of the application
} else {
?>
<div class=”wrap”>
<h2>Other-Ext-WP</h2>
<p>Other-Ext-WP is a WordPress plugin that allows the user to transfer there Cutenews installation into WordPress. It supports categories, blog entries, and comments. To set up the transfer, check the options below. Please see the <a href=”http://www.nexterous.com/scripts/otherextwp.php”>instructions and help</a> before beginning. </p>
<h2>Notes</h2>
<p>This plugin takes a while depending on the number of posts and comments (if you select it) you have on your Cutenews installation. This plugin is recommended for use on a fresh installation of WordPress. It does wipe all the categories when it begins the transfer. Also, this script automatically files any comments with a link into moderation because most spam originates from that. </p>
<h2>Begin…</h2>
<p>Select the options that you would like to apply to the transfer. Please also make sure that all the configurations are correct. <br />
<em>Note</em>: This plugin automatically detects the path if it can find it. If not, it will present an input box. After you click “transfer”, it will check the path for certain directories to make sure you have the correct path.<br />
<em>Warning</em>: If you click the transfer button, the process will begin. </p>
<br /><br />
<form action=”plugins.php?page=extwp.php” method=”post” id=”searchform”>
<fieldset>
<legend>Add Comments?</legend>
<select name=”add_comments”>
<option selected=”selected” value=’yes’>Yes – Add All Comments</option>
<option value=’no’>No – Do Not Add Comments</option>
</select>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<legend>Select User for all Posts</legend>
<select name=”user”>
<?php
GLOBAL $table_prefix;
$table = $table_prefix . ‘usermeta’;
$result = mysql_query(“SELECT `user_id`, `meta_value` FROM $table WHERE (`meta_key` = ‘nickname’)”);
while($array = mysql_fetch_array($result)){
$id = $array['user_id'];
$nick = $array['meta_value'];
$combo = $id . ‘ – ‘ . $nick;
print “<option value=’$id’>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; $combo &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </option>”;
}
?>
</select>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<legend>Path to Cutenews</legend>
<?php
$path = ‘../../’;
$dp = opendir($path);
while($file = readdir($dp)){
if(eregi(‘^(cutenews)$’, $file)){
$path = $path . $file;
echo $path . ‘&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; OR &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;’;
print ‘<input type=”text” name=”path” value=”enter a different path” />’;
print “<input type=’hidden’ name=’pathorigin’ value=’$path’ />”;
$lock = TRUE;
break;
}
}
if($lock != TRUE){
print ‘<input type=”text” name=”path” value=”enter the path to cutenews (where ../ is one directory up)” style=”width: 400px;” />’;
}
?>
</fieldset>
<fieldset>
<legend>Click to start!</legend>
<input type=”submit” name=”submit” id=”submit” value=”Start Transfer” class=”button” />
</fieldset>
</form>
<br style=”clear:both;” />
</div>
<?php
}
}
?>
I have also found the blog of a man named Mark that was able to pull all the cutenews data with MySQL queries.  I’m not sure how it works just yet, but you can find it here: Migrating from Cutenews to WordPress

Resources:

Plugin Other-Ext-WP Plugin
WordPress 2.3.1: zip | tar.gz | md5
Cutenews 1.4.6: Cutephp

Also gone are the Device Updates heading that has the SMS set up linked underneath, as well as the RSS feed link.  Those may yet be added to the new layout, but the SMS link was pretty redundant and could be served in the settings area.  The RSS feed link is one that I would like to see return, but I don’t know how functional it really was, or if its’ removal was due to a lack of use.

I also love the addition of Twitter Search to the layout, as well as the Trending Topics links.  Both are great time savers.

When?  In Windows 1.0, of course.. in 1985.  Take a look at these two screenshots to see where Windows started and where it is going:

“Wow Paint! A tribute to the best software ever created.”

But then I stumbled onto a post on Twitter about Stanza, created by LexCycle.  Someone said that Stanza is the reason that no one will ever need a Kindle.  So I looked that up, and found that it, too, is a potential option.  The only thing is that I’d need an iPod Touch.  Not only that, but the books look like they’re cheaper on Stanza.  Sure, they don’t have the same level of selection as Kindle, but they do have the books that I would want. The real downside is that you need a wireless connection to make the connection.

In fact, both devices offer all of the books that I would love to be able to have with me wherever I go.

And this morning I discovered Plastic Logic’s eReader, which seems like it won’t be available for at LEAST a year.

So I’m at a loss for what device or software would best serve my needs / wants.

[poll id="2"]

According to the Windows 7 Beta, there will be more than one version of the next Windows OS.  I had been hoping that Microsoft would get a little smarter, and release a single version of their operating system, like Apple does with OS X.  I suppose we have to wait for Windows 8, or a revolt, for that.

I am sure that the variations of the OS is set up to appease the many that have purchased a certain edition in the past, but the problem with releasing so many versions of the operating system is that there no clear difference between the capabilities of each version of Windows.

XP Home vs. XP Pro was bad enough.  Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate is ridiculous.  The Windows 7 Beta says “Windows 7 Ultimate” which makes me pretty upset.  Does this mean we’ll have four different variations of Windows 7?  Can anyone tell me why it is necessary for Microsoft to do this?

This is also verified when reading the blog of a Microsoft employee about Windows 7:

In Windows 7 we moved the license key to the Windows Welcome page, so you can enter it after the install. This makes it easier for people to evaluate and get started with Windows. We also provide a better experience when upgrading editions (i.e., from Home Premium to Ultimate) by enabling specific, licensed components, not reimaging the system.

I’m not sure I see what makes this a positive for Windows users.  Just give us all the same experience from the start, Microsoft.  We don’t want limitations.  In this economy, if you want to sell more, pair it down to the single release you used to do.

My guess for the releases we’ll see?

• Windows 7 Home Basic
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Windows 7 Business
• Windows 7 Ultimate

And the worst part of it is customers will continue to be confused as to which version they need.  Can’t we go back to the sales format of Windows 95?  You went to the store, picked up a box that said “Windows 95″ on it, and you knew that you were getting all of Windows 95.  There were no disabled features, there were no “added value features” costing you an extra $100 to unlock.

I know that it’s all about the bottom line, but the sales of Vista should tell you something.  People weren’t adopting it, not because it’s an inferior operating system; the latest SP1 edition is the release that Vista should have been.  People weren’t adopting for many reasons, but I submit that a major issue with the upgrade was the variations of Windows Vista.  Nobody knew what they needed or would use in the future, and nobody could tell which version did what they wanted.  Because of this, people stayed away… far away.

It looked like Microsoft might change this with Windows 7.  But they haven’t made the switch, and I don’t think they will…. but I hope that they come to their senses and get intelligent about it.  They’re making the best Windows since XP with Windows 7, the might as well make the best release ever with a single unified version.

Thoughts?

The bad news is the same problem that I had with ordering Fireworks CS4 was duplicated when I tried to order it again.  I had to create a separate order just to get it.  It shouldn’t have worked out this way, but it did.

I put the Production Premium CS4 upgrade into my cart, and followed that up with the Dreamweaver CS4 upgrade.  At that time, it asked me if I was in need of the upgrade of full version of Dreamweaver, to which I obviously answered with the upgrade.

I believe that is the root of the problem.  You see, it sets that option then, for every other individual software, or at least that’s my impression.  I suppose that if you were ordering upgrades for individual programs, it would save you a click or two, but it caused me to pull out my hair.  I would have liked to have an option to click OUT of that for other programs.  It would have made ordering the full version of Fireworks CS4 a breeze.  Instead, I put in my order for the other software (and selected the fastest shipping time available… hey, it’s free!).  Then I proceeded to the Fireworks page, and added the full version to my cart without a problem, submitting a second order.

At least the shipping is free on both.  But still, there’s an oversight that I’m going to report to Adobe at my earliest convenience.

I’m excited to check it all out, though, and to finally have Adobe software that makes use of the computing power that I have.  Now all that I need is Windows 7 64-bit (I’m skipping Vista), and instead of using only 3 GB of RAM, it’ll use all 4.  That’ll be a nice day.  Moving from 32-bit to 64-bit, and from 3 GB of RAM to 4 GB with a single install of what is reportedly Microsoft’s best operating system in years.