(This is a reprint from a frontpage news story, reposting for those who missed the annoucement given further news coverage followed shortly after).

To kick off the post-Christmas news coverage let me tell you about a new feature I implemented in the TechSpot frontpage during the break, news pagination.

Although this feature is widely used by blogs based on WordPress, it’s not a common feature for other platforms including the CMS (Content Management System) we run. Nevertheless it’s quite an useful feature from a reader’s perspective, we can reduce the load off the frontpage, making it quicker, and you can browse up to 60 of our latest news stories by using the page links at the bottom of our frontpage as seen in the image below:

Many of you are probably aware our news coverage is on-going throughout the day, but for those who can’t spend as much time hitting the reload button in a single day, you can now stop by whenever possible and still be able to browse through our past news with ease.

Depending for how long you’ve been reading TechSpot you may have read a variety of comments about Apple products, from hate to well, less hate :). No, but seriously, despite of being mainly a Windows site we have tried to remain balanced and objective when time has come to report on any product, no matter if it came from Nvidia or ATI… Intel or AMD, Microsoft or Apple. We have said it like it is, and backed it up as needed and as possible. It’s what we owe to our readers.

Part of this objectivity comes from recognizing when a company is doing things wrong, and applaud their efforts when they make a brilliant comeback. For example there was no room left for fanaticism when Intel kept pushing the horrible Pentium 4, while AMD had to offer a better product in the Athlon. Likewise, how not to love the speedy and efficient Core 2 Duos nowadays.

But the discussion of the better operating system makes for a much stronger and subjective case, not to mention it’s been around almost as long as the Personal Computer itself. I can remember how Apple still had some loyal following during some of its darkest days in the mid 90s, and around the time TechSpot opened its doors in 1998, I could not help but hate the brand for its delusional claims that did nothing but mislead the end consumer.

In our eyes, Apple had no game in the computer world until the first consumer version of OS X was released in 2001. And even then it was severely lacking in the hardware department until they finally ate their own words to partner with Intel in recent years.

Which takes us to the present day, a revived Apple that is looking healthier than ever thanks to the iPod revolution along with some good long-term decision making on its computer division. The reaction from hardcore Apple fans is evident today throughout the web and even more so in the blogosphere. But like many PC users have begun to notice the fanaticism sometimes goes too far, and what you get as a result is a lot of subjective noise all-around that is certainly not helped by Apple’s own commercials.

But going back to the original purpose of this post, after a failed experiment using a Mac two years ago (Mac Mini G4 running Tiger, I couldn’t stand the slow hardware), I have decided to invest once again in Apple hardware, namely a MacBook Pro running a cool Core 2 Duo processor and OS X Leopard.

The thinking behind my decision was varied, for starters my old trusted ThinkPad T42 was needing a rest and another Vaio TX laptop I own, while very portable at 11″, is sometimes too small to get work done comfortably. Making a long story short, the MacBook Pro offered hardware that was on par with other major manufacturers ‘performance’ models, industrial design that is on par with Lenovo’s and Sony’s top models, and finally I got the choice of ditching OS X for Windows Vista or even XP, if I never found my way around it or needed to use Windows-only software. Of course, if I was going to believe all those Mac lovers out there, that could never happen.

I should add that it was also easier to swallow the $2000 spent on this laptop considering that as TechSpot’s Executive Editor, it comes handy when I can make a knowledgeable and up to date opinion on where OS X stands today against Vista or any other current Operating System, let’s face it it’s an ever recurrent topic.

I have been using the MacBook Pro for about a month now, and my experience has been mixed. The hardware is indeed beautiful and while I was expecting more from the LED lit screen, it’s still very very acceptable. There are small details that add to the overall experience like the backlit keyboard, the magnetic power connector and double finger scrolling, all in one portable package that is also the closest I have ever got to the performance of my custom-built desktop PC.

There are a few drawbacks that for the most part are inherent to every laptop that offers this kind of performance, so I won’t bother mentioning those. In the software side, I came across more than one surprise though.

Whatever you have heard about OS X Leopard’s ability to put Windows Vista to shame is probably not true… at least not from my perspective. In the first 24 hours I experienced two hard crashes, and in the first week I came across a reportedly software bug that locked my keyboard from functioning after waking up from sleep (it forces you to restart). So perhaps Tiger was more polished than Leopard is, and those early reviews that told you otherwise are pure bull.

Not to put the latest incarnation of OS X down, there are a number of things that work much better in the Mac than in Windows, like Spotlight – now that is powerful search that works – but I’m afraid it’s still an above-average consumer platform with flaws here and there, and a far cry from an Apple’s fanboy dream claims.
But my evaluation of the MacBook Pro’s hardware and software is far from over, this is an experiment I may actually be able to pull off (forgive my Windows roots), and hopefully it will also open the door for further Mac-related coverage and perspective at TechSpot for a very valid and growing consumer base.

Update: The site is back up.
Everybody’s favorite computer store Newegg.com seems to be having trouble with its web servers this morning, so if you have kept hitting that reload button for the past hour or so, don’t worry it’s not your net connection.

The more time that passes the less often we see this kind of things happening to large sites, especially e-commerce that depend on its 24/7 availability. That said, when we still see Amazon’s server farms taken to a crawl when an unbelievable deal is available, we have to wonder if perhaps Newegg was carrying a bit of stock on the GeForce 8800 GT which is what caused the glitch… yea, probably not.

Somewhere in between the launch of the Centrino platform and the present day I seem to have lost track on what the web means to a large share of online users, or have I? I mean, I’m cool with the “Web 2.0″ revolution, you know, user-driven content, blogging (how could I not?), platform independence, YouTube, social networking, and the list goes on…

But when I see at least a dozen sites reporting only on web startups getting serious funding like there is no tomorrow, I have to ask myself the question, did I miss something or is it 1999 all over again?

But wait, I’m not screaming it’s the Internet boom and bubble as we knew it in the past, unlike then today there are thousands of businesses relying on the web, actually doing something useful and generating millions in revenues. However I have to remain skeptical about the myriad of web businesses coming out of nowhere with big plans to take over the world… or at least become the “next Google” (phrase often used by traditional media that have no clue or online fanboys to describe a startup with the slight bit of promise, though the later prefer to say Google is now too big and too old, so the next Facebook would be more appropiate).

Ah, and there is Facebook… To be completely fair with them, I do believe they have a real stance in the web, not to mention they brought some elegance (before the open API) to a market otherwise dominated by the horrible Myspace. It’s not their fault its valuation has been catapulted to the stratosphere while today they are only trying to hang in there. You may argue how could I ever say this when Microsoft just agreed to invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in the company, but it’s simple. A company that turns no profit and has such a limited scope in the real world cannot be valued at $15 billion. Only deep pocketed Microsoft could have invested so blindly with the only justification of getting some action where they are lacking against main web competitor Google. The latest news from Facebook? Ridiculous, of course, practically wanting to sell out your profile information and collecting further data for advertising purposes (that will then be shared with other parties).

So far the announcement is too recent to cause major reactions but what is at stake is Facebook’s own popularity when you consider social networking is very trendy and it could easily be handed off to one of its competitors if users are pissed off enough. The underlying reason to do this is that somehow, at some point, they will need to monetize its audience…

But back to the bubble talk. It’s unfortunate but investors seem to be driving this new wave of web services where not all but a large portion of startups seem to be aiming at a big acquisition (of themselves) rather than driving towards uniqueness and value.

So I leave it to you to decide, perhaps I’m just being short-sighted, only time will tell.

One of the reasons that drove me to relaunch the TS blog was that I wanted to share with our site community a variety of things, many of them even PC/tech related, that departed from the core coverage offered on the frontpage and in our usual reviews and articles.

Take for example the current revolution of video and TV shows on the web. Sure, we do report on big things like YouTube and its billionaire Google acquisition. Joost is another promising project that for now is getting limited mainstream attention. There’s a few traditional media giants like BBC and other networks in the US that are delivering video on demand. But just like with websites in the early days of the WWW, the door has also opened for a whole new category of niche focused shows coming from independent sources and not standard media companies.

For many the ball got rolling distributing amateur video on YouTube, but there is also a number of web startups dedicated to offer unique video content. One such company is Revision3, better known for hosting the video blog of Digg.com called Diggnation. That show in particular doesn’t do much for me but there are a couple others that certainly deserve a mention.

PixelPerfect is a very cool show hosted by digital artist Bert Monroy, certainly one to watch if you are into Photoshop or want to learn some basic design tools and skills. Another great show is the GigaOM show, hosted by Om Malik, a seasoned writer for print publications turned blogger. The guy has some enviable writing skills, so his website is pretty decent if you are into web start-ups. The show tries to follow that same line of content but the interviews is what makes it great.

My favorite recent show is the one where they interview Dan’l Lewin, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Strategic and Emerging Business Development. Mr. Lewin defended Vista really well giving an insider perspective of what the OS means to the software giant. He also mentioned how despite of the poor blogosphere reception, Vista sales were doing well (that was weeks before recent news when Microsoft stock exploded after positive financial results due to Vista in part).

At the end of each show, Om and co-host Joyce Kim read some of the feedback received by viewers. In both of the last two shows they have mentioned my own critique for Om’s socks, which has obviously put me to laugh (both times). However, after writing this blog post I will try to clarify with Om that by no means I was trying to be offensive but it was pure constructive criticism (not on his socks choice but how he was wearing them). I saw this as a fault from the production team that did not pay enough attention to the little details that could detract from the professionalism you expect on a visual medium. I know he took it very lightly but still, I wish the best of luck to him and his team, maybe there will be chance to meet at some conference in the future.

There are a number of semi-hidden features on TechSpot that unfortunately go unnoticed by many. It’s likely that frequent readers of our news coverage or reviews have yet to visit the forums and see how thousands of users stop by every week helping and sharing their knowledge with fellow TS members.

Other two (even more buried) sections are our Windows Startup Radar which gives info on startup programs and the User Picture Gallery, otherwise known as “the gallery.”

Just recently the developers of web software Photopost (which we use to run the gallery) announced a new milestone update and website. This piece of software is particularly popular as it integrates well with the even more popular vBulletin forum that thousands of websites use and have relied on for years now.

According to the new Photopost website, our gallery happens to be one of the most popular on the net (using Photopost) with 2,288 photos uploaded, over eight thousand comments, and 29 million picture views. Not bad at all considering we are not a general purpose site but have restricted uploads to technology and PC related pictures for the most part.

Way to go TS members! If you have not checked the gallery yet, you may want to do so now and upload anything cool you have to share, too. BTW, I recently upgraded the gallery to accept pictures up to 2560×1600 pixels.

You have to give it to Valve, the creators of Half-Life and the equally successful Half-Life 2 sequel, not only these guys develop great games, but their focus on detail and execution has really paid off.

It’s good being Valve, after all they have kept on capitalizing big on Counter Strike for the past few years despite of the fact it wasn’t their own creation. But hey, they did create the mod tools and put them out there for gamers to use and expand their game platform (at no cost). They later relaunched the original HL bundled with Counter Strike, since then other similar successful game bundles have followed up until now that they bring the Orange Box.

It’s a beautiful concept, really. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 took way too long to be finished, and Valve knew that. The episodic series momentum was gone for many, so now instead of launching a rather short good game for $30, they have packed it up with the long time coming vaporware-returning-from-the-dead Team Fortress 2, and guess what, it’s another great game. Not to be outdone with that, for the usual retail price of $50, they are giving away the original Half Life 2, the additional pack HL2 Lost Coast, HL2 Episode One, and a sneak peek next-generation FPS single player experience they call Portal.

The Orange Box was just released today through the Steam distribution system and should be available from retail stores as well.

Execution… have to give it to them. From the popularity observed during the Team Fortress 2 beta and the established base of Half Life fans, this looks to be yet another winner for Valve.

I missed this a couple of days ago (and that’s like months in Internet time), but I still thought I would contribute with the news since it’s not techie enough to go on the frontpage.

Radiohead will be taking the boldest move ever on Internet music distribution with their upcoming album “In Rainbows”. The band expects the release to hit store shelves next week while at the same time they will be making a downloadable DRM-free version available on their site which will set you back… X amount of pounds. The bold move is just that, the unimaginable, you can set the price you want to pay whether it is 2 cents or 10, or 100 dollars, it’s up to you.
They sure have got lots of online publicity so far, and we can only imagine the flood gates won’t fully open until the album is released next October 10th.

It’s been a long time coming that I wanted to voice off regarding these whole social media movement, but until now there was no blog to do it. This comes right after reading the latest news on Facebook on TS’ frontpage…
Facebook is hot these days, as is social networking. But then again there’s no question to be asked, 1) Facebook has still to prove how viable its business is from a financial point of view, and 2) Until then, it’s a very overvalued company (at $10B?) that is benefiting from the online advertising wars created by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.

As a site that relies on advertising to pay the bills, TechSpot also benefits from a bonanza in online advertising, but nobody wants a bubble either. Those guys at Silicon Valley are going like crazy looking for the next big thing, the next Google. The problem is they won’t find it, and then what will happen?

Just recently there was a startup conference organized by TC (another site that has benefited greatly from this investing madness). The conference proved to be extremely popular on web 2.0 circles, and while I did recognize some very unique and creative ideas from the projects shown there, still for some start-ups (which were supposed to be picked as the best of the best), I had no remedy but go “ok, but what is it that you do?” Only time will tell, we just don’t want another dot com bubble.

A development build of Firefox now passes the Acid2 Browser Test. This makes Firefox the latest Browser to pass the test; other Browsers which pass are; Safari, iCab & Konqueror. Opera 9 also passes, however as with Firefox both are non-final releases; that said, Opera 9 will be released well before the Firefox passing version is – Firefox 3 (Expected early 2007). This leaves Internet Explorer (7 & earlier) as the only mainstream Browser making no appreciable effort to pass the Acid2 Browser Test.

With the market share of Firefox still growing & surpassing IE in some instances hopefully Microsoft will re-assess it’s current level of commitment to standards support (Although IE 7 does fix many of the more common implementation bugs), so that site Developers & End-Users can finally be quite certain that a site will render the same in every Browser & there’ll be no more need for implementating time-consuming hacks just to get a site displaying correctly in a specific Browser.