On April 12, 1961, an almost unknown 27-year-old became the most famous man on the planet. Yuri Gagarin, in an 108-minute orbital flight aboard the Vostok 1, became the first human into space. Today is the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, and though the Soviets were very quickly outclassed in the space race, that accomplishment a half-century ago is one that will live forever in the minds of most space enthusiasts.
Riding a converted ICBM, Gagarin lifted off in the cockpit of the Vostok 1. His flight lasted just 108 minutes, and it was only a month before the Americans' first manned space mission, but on April 12, 1961, no one was riding higher than Gagarin and the entire Soviet space program.
This reprint of "The Huntsville Times" heralds Gagarin's accomplishment.
The Vostok 1 capsule, which is said to have been difficult to get to separate
from the final stage of its rocket, nearly causing catastrophe.
Each year, Gagarin is remembered with a series of special events held at locations the world over known as Yuri's Night.
In this photo from 1965, Gagarin is greeted warmly by members of the American
Gemini 4 program at the Paris International Air Show.
Here, we see Gagarin in his spacesuit.
This is the control panel of the Vostok 1.
According to NASA, "Dr. George M. Low, acting administrator of NASA, presented to the USSR on January 21, 1971, a plaque in memory of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who made the first flight into space on April 12, 1961. Accepting the plaque at the Moscow ceremony was Soviet Gen. Kuznetsov, commander of the USSR's Star City space base, where cosmonauts have been training since 1960."
Although Gagarin gets all the ink, much of the praise for the Soviet Union getting a man into space first should go to Sergei Korolev, the father of that country's space program.
Apple tops customer satisfaction; Motorola, HTC No. 2; RIM hits bottom
According to the smartphone customer satisfaction rankings, Apple remains top dog, but Motorola and HTC are nearly tied for the No. 2 spot. In other words, HTC and Motorola—two of the flagship Android brands—are improving. Here’s the scorecard:
A few items worth noting:
- Motorola and HTC are equals in customer satisfaction, which may reflect more on Android commoditizing hardware.
- Research in Motion is in trouble and at the bottom of the JD Power rankings.
- Palm is in the middle of the pack and that may mean HP could get a smartphone foothold.
- Samsung also rated near the bottom. That ranking is a bit surprising given the good reception for the Galaxy franchise.
- J.D. Power said the ability to use social media on smartphones was a key factor in customer satisfaction. Smartphone users that used Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook on their phones had satisfaction averages 22 points higher than folks that didn’t use their devices socially.
The dimensions of the iPad 2.
J
obs opens the event with Apple success stories from the past decade.
The iPad 2 is officially official. At first look, the iPad 2 doesn't look much different from the original iPad.
The iPad 2 will be thinner than even the iPhone 4. Jobs says the new edge will be easier to handle.
The iPad 2 killer detail may be the price tag - same as the original iPad.
Here are some of the upgrades from the original iPad.
Jobs touts how the original iPad is already dominating the market
The smart cover is a bendable flip that sticks to the side.
the iPad 2 will come in white and black. The polyeurothane case comes in five colors and the leather case also comes in five colors.
Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software, takes the stage to talk about iOS 4.3. Improvements to AirPlay now include photo slideshows, and video and audio from apps to other devices.
Apple updated its MacBook Pro line with next-gen processors, graphics and I/O technology dubbed Thunderbolt.
The new MacBook Pros have a FaceTime HD camera, a multi-touch trackpad, and a 7-hour battery.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,199 and features Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 processors up to 2.7 GHz.
The height of the 15-inch MacBook Pro is 0.95 inches and the width is 14.35 inches. It weighs 5.6 pounds.
The ports include a Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps), MagSafe power port, Gigabit Ethernet port, FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), and Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps).
Apple also gave a "Developer Preview" of its next Mac OS X version named Lion.
In the early days of development of what would become the Windows 95 operating system, there were three buttons on the lower left part of the screen called System, Find, and Help. The System button had a Windows flag icon and was considered to be the main menu. The icon on the Find button was an eye looking into a magnifying glass, and the icon on the Help button was a question mark along with the letter I for information.
In its final form, Windows 95’s Start menu retained the Windows flag on the button with the addition of the word Start. And, you can see that Help, Find, and Programs were all put on the menu along with Run and Shut Down commands. Also added were Documents and Settings.
Soon after Windows 95’s debut, Windows NT 4.0 made its appearance and it too featured the new Start menu. As you can see it has the same base items, but its name is emblazoned vertically along the side with a colored gradient background.
When Windows 98 hit the streets, its Start menu indicated its tight integration to the Internet via the Windows Update button at the top of the menu and a duplicate of Internet Explorer’s Favorites menu right after the Programs menu. You can see that the Log Off command became a main part of the Start menu.
In Windows 2000, we saw a shift back to cleaner Start menu. Favorites were gone and the Log off command now appeared in the Shut Down Windows dialog box. (However, you could put the Log off command back on the Start menu, if you wanted.)
The Windows Me Start menu basically looked and worked just like the Windows 2000 version.
When Windows XP made its debut, it was immediately apparent that the developers had radically modernized the Start menu. So much so that they provided the option to switch back to the Classic Start menu, so that those who were not ready for a new start menu could go back to something familiar. The Classic Start menu looked and worked like the one from Windows 2000 and previous versions of Windows.
After 6 years of Windows XP, the developers of Windows Vista decided to shake up the user interface with Aero and made many changes to the Start menu. The most obvious was the Start button, which changed from a box with the word Start on it to a glassy orb sporting only the Windows flag. The next major new feature was the Start Search box, which served as the main Search interface for the entire operating system.
The most recent version of the Start menu, in Windows 7 is almost identical in appearance and functionality to its predecessor’s Start menu. However, you’ll notice that the Shut down button has changed back to words and the lock icon is gone. All shut down options appear on a small menu adjacent to the Shut down button.
O
n Wednesday Feb. 2, Google offered an in-depth look at Honeycomb, also known as Android 3.0.
Notifications pop up in the lower right hand corner.
You can view your notifications and read, look up or delete them.
There's a customziation tool to set up your home screen.
You can easily view your music apps.
You can use 3D customization tools such as this one for anatomy. Using this you can better describe your symptoms when talking to a doctor, for example.
You can take pictures or videos with the camera app.
CNN is very excited about Honeycomb.
Here's the beginning of a transaction. Again, it's easier to purchase items.
Microsoft has spent a fortune on marketing Windows Phone 7, but there are some areas in which the system just doesn’t measure up.
1: The interface takes a little getting used to
Windows Phone 7 uses a new interface that is completely different from anything Microsoft has ever created before. This new interface requires you to use several touch gestures and can take a bit of getting used to. While some areas of the interface are completely intuitive, others may leave you scratching your head.
2: Some of the hardware is optional
Although Microsoft made phone manufacturers adhere to a strict set of hardware requirements, some components are optional. In other words, the Windows Phone 7 OS will support these components, but the manufacturers are not obligated to include them in the phone. Some of the optional hardware components include:
- Wi-Fi (802.11g and 802.11n)
- Bluetooth
- Expandable storage
- A hardware keyboard
3: Some ActiveSync policy settings are missing
Unlike Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows Phone 7 supports only some of the ActiveSync policy settings that are offered by Exchange Server. These Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) policies include:
- Password Required (applicable only to Exchange 2003 SP2)
- Minimum Password Length
- Idle Timeout Frequency Value
- Device Wipe Threshold
- Allow Simple Password
- Password Expiration
- Password History
There are a few other EAS policy settings that are technically enabled, but that will always return a value of True. These include:
- Disable Removable Storage
- Disable IrDA
- Disable Desktop Sync
- Block Remote Desktop
- Block Internet Sharing
All other EAS policy settings always return a value of False.
4: Managing certificates is more difficult
Windows Mobile 6.x had a built-in applet for managing certificates. Microsoft has done away with this applet in Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 devices have built- in trusts for well-known commercial certificate authorities, but there is no interface for managing certificates that were issued by an in-house enterprise certificate authority.
In spite of the fact that the Certificates applet is gone, all is not lost. I have found that you can install a certificate by emailing it to yourself and then opening the attached certificate through the phone. When you do, the mobile operating system will install the certificate.
5: There’s no access to the file system
For as long as I can remember, Windows Mobile operating systems have included an applet called File Explorer that allows you to navigate the device’s file system. This applet has been removed from Windows Mobile 7, and the underlying file system is no longer directly exposed. Unfortunately, it seems that navigating the device’s file system through a PC when the device is connected to a USB port is not an option either.
6: The initial build is incomplete
Less than a month after the Windows Phone 7 launch, Microsoft announced that an update would soon add copy and paste functionality to Windows Phone 7. Since that time, there have been rumors that a much larger update is on the horizon that may add support for HTML 5 and app multitasking.
7: It won’t work with all mobile networks
I have used Sprint as a cellular carrier since the mid-90s, and my last several phones have had Windows Mobile operating systems. Imagine my shock and disappointment when I learned that the only carriers in the United States that support Windows Phone 7 are AT&T and T-Mobile. It is worth noting, however, that there are rumors circulating about an upcoming CDMA version of Windows Phone 7 that will work on Sprint and Verizon networks. In fact, I recently discovered a Web site that allegedly shows a picture of a soon-to-be-released HTC device from Sprint running Windows Phone 7.
8: It’s really a consumer device
When you read about the missing ActiveSync policies, you might have wondered why so many policy settings aren’t supported by Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system. Microsoft’s official answer to this question is that Windows Phone 7 was developed primarily as a consumer device, not an enterprise device. However, Microsoft hints that more enterprise features may show up in future phone updates.
9: Cell providers can block updates
Many of the smartphones on the market can technically be updated, but many of the mobile carriers have a history of taking measures to block updates. After all, it is in a mobile carrier’s best interest to sell you a new phone, not to extend the life of your existing phone.
When Windows Phone 7 was introduced, Microsoft decided to follow in Apple’s footsteps and provide updates to the phone. However, it has recently been revealed that mobile carriers will have the right to block Microsoft updates for their customers, at least for a while. Microsoft’s corporate vice president and director of Windows Phone Program Management, Joe Belifore, was recently quoted as saying, “We build updates for all Windows Phone users but must certify them with the carriers. They’ll happen on a regular cadence like they do on the PC. If a carrier wants to stop an update, they can. But they will get it out on the next release.”
10: The emulator is broken
In recent years, Microsoft has provided an emulator as a part of the Software Development Kit for Windows Mobile. In the case of Windows Mobile 5 and 6.x, the emulator was an exact replica of a physical Windows Mobile device.
Although Microsoft has released an emulator for Windows Phone 7, it has locked the emulator so that most of the operating system’s features are hidden. Almost immediately, someone hacked the emulator and released a patch that will unlock it. Even so, some areas of the emulator are still inaccessible. For example, the options to set up email accounts and social networking accounts do not seem to do anything.
