2008

In 2008, FIA Formula One World Championship reintroduced the Singapore Grand Prix to its legions of fans after years of inactivity. Despite this fact, the race that takes place at the scenic Marina Bay in Singapore has a history that dates back to the mid 1960s. In fact, a lot of the appeal of this particular F1 event is its course that runs around the picturesque Marina Bay area vicinity, and also because of its night race that takes place amid the bay's incredible visuals. And with that said, this is the very reason I have selected this particular … Read more

Lately within this blog I've been discussing classic European sports cars and classic sports car racing. Yesterday I dedicated my web video and blog time to the Ferrari 712. While I was searching for clips of the 712, I stumbled across another related subject that I thought would be fun to talk about here. It is perhaps the most unusual sports car ever built in terms of appearance, and it is the Ferrari 250 GT - a car most enthusiasts and historians refer to as the "Breadvan".

The Ferrari 250 GT was dubbed the "Breadvan" … Read more

WhiteSmoke analyzes users' writing and provides suggestions for improved grammar, style, and spelling. Although the program looks nice and is easy to use, there are a lot of errors that it doesn't catch.

The program's interface is intuitive and attractive, and the program's built-in Help file does an adequate job of explaining its functions. Users type or paste their writing into a box, and the program analyzes the text and provides suggestions for improvement. While WhiteSmoke did easily catch spelling errors, it had a harder time with grammar. Comma splices in particular don't seem to bother … Read more

Cartopro Evolution offers to help users make a digital collection of their maps. While the options will appeal to mapping experts, casual users will probably find this program overwhelming and unnecessary.

The program's interface is a mad collection of icons and jargon that will take a trip to the Help file and possibly a cartography degree to solve. Users looking for the point-and-click simplicity of online mapping programs will be disappointed here. However, those familiar with maps may enjoy the freedom, flexibility, and depth the program's options provide. Users must first scan a map into the program. Once … Read more

A couple of weekends ago at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, two Formula One race car drivers made headlines, but for very different reasons. Reigning F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton chalked up his first victory of the 2009 season by finishing first at the race, and Felipe Massa suffered a career-threatening crash and injury that has pretty much ended his hope for a world title this season. I've blogged about these subjects in greater depth (i.e., more depth than I've written in this specific blog) earlier this week, so I'll spare you the repeat (and since some … Read more

As some of you already know (either by my blog from yesterday or from other sports news sites), Formula 1 race car driver Felipe Massa suffered a nearly lethal crash at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix due to a freak accident - a random car part coming off another vehicle which subsequently hits Massa in the head, leaving him temporarily unconscious. Well, Felipe's racing career hasn't been all bad; in fact, he had an impressive year racing for Formula 1 in 2008 where he garnered 6 wins and finished in 2nd place in the overall standings. (Coincidentally, the … Read more

TaxACT 2008 Standard Edition guides users through the tax preparation process and allows them to file their returns online. The program does as good a job as many of the other popular tax preparation programs, although users may find themselves attempting to use features that can only be accessed with the purchase of other versions.

The program's interface is quite attractive and intuitive. Users can choose between two methods of entering their information; the question and answer method guides users through a series of easily-understood questions, while the Forms method allows more advanced users to enter their information directly … Read more

Microsoft dropped a mini-bombshell on Monday, announcing that it is contributing thousands of lines of code for inclusion in Linux.

But lest anyone think Microsoft suffered a massive head trauma over the weekend, the code it is releasing isn't really about helping Linux compete better with Microsoft. The drivers are really geared at making Windows a better host for Linux.

"The Linux device drivers we are releasing are designed so Linux can run in enlightened mode, giving it the same optimized synthetic devices as a Windows virtual machine running on top of Hyper-V," Tom Hanrahan, director of … Read more

Microsoft is releasing the second service pack update to Office 2008 for Mac, the company said Monday.

The free update, which is expected to be available later on Monday from Microsoft's Web site, is designed to improve speed and stability as well as add new features for connecting to SharePoint servers and to Microsoft's Office Live Workspaces.

"With SP2 we are not only delivering on top customer requests midcycle, but also taking a first step in bringing Microsoft software plus services to Mac users," senior product manager Mike Tedesco said in a statement. "This connection … Read more