Note for Win 7 users: DO NOT INSTALL UPDATE KB977074

In the last post I forgot to add of a little problem I had while finishing my thesis.
Actually the thesis was already printed, but I was still working on the powerpoint slideshow which I would have then used during my from 10 to 12 minutes long thesis' discussion.

Basically I was using OpenOffice, it's free and it works fine. Unfortunately, its powerpoint counterpart is a bit lame, not really user-friendly, and quite limited in some aspects too.
So I went for Microsoft Office 2007. After the first day using it, I checked Windows Update, and saw some updates was there both for Win and Office. So I downloaded those which interested me and went to sleep.
The day after the laptop refused to start (see pic above), Windows wasn't working if not in Safe (Pointeless) Mode, and the few times I managed to get trought he startup Win was going to stop working in 5 minutes. I thought it was something between OpenOffice and Mic. Office, but I couldn't get rid of any of the two. Fortunately I had sent of copy of the slideshow to one of my millions of email accounts. So I finished it in my second computer I built out of an old Asus laptop and a CRT screen, which I originally setup for the girlfried when she stays at my place so that she can leave her laptop at home.

The point is that even after the D Day and the degree, I couldn't regain control of my laptop, and things weren't looking good, even after that I managed to uninstall basically all programs. As I went trough failing HDDs many times, I was ready to connect the HDD to the other computer to recover the data, and then format my laptop.
A bit of searching on the internet revealed the problem wasn't due to conflicts, programs or other stuff... it was Microsoft, again.

Now Windows 7 is a good OS, no doubts, it's lighter and faster than Windows Vista, easy call btw.
On the other hand, just because Microsoft got this right, it doesn't mean all the updates are safe.
So basically this bad guy, KB977074 is the one, this bad guy is going to take your computer away from you, and won't care if you were playing World of Warcraft with no cheats or if you were working on your thesis, he just won't listen.

So do yourself a favor, don't install this update.

Cheers.

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What's going on over The Italian Junkyard...

Well, at the moment I'm trying to relax after eventually finishing all the exams at university.
The last one was the toughest, and took months to be prepared but finally I made it!

That means I'll soon be an engineer...I've yet to understand how I feel about that...

Now I'm writing my thesis, which (SPOILER ALERT!!!) is about a critical analysis of hybrids vehicles, like the ubiquitous Toyota Prius, the Honda Insight but also that panzer of the BMW X6 Active Hybrid, among others. Yes, the Chevrolet Volt is included as well, obviously.

Don't get fouled by the argument though, as I'm not going to jump on the green-cars-save-the-world bandwagon any time soon. On the contrary, my work is trying to show how hybrids cars actually posses some strong and valid points that make them more efficient than a conventional car, but also how many data and other characteristics are somehow hidden or less strensed than what should be in order to make you believe everything about hybrids is just awesome and that it's all about that small electric motor.

As many of you already know, it's rather the effect of a lot of different solutions to make those cars so fuel efficient if compared to similar conventional vehicles, from aerodynamics to reduced frictions, from low rolling resistance tires to fuel economy focused ECUs and so on. Also, many solutions adopted on hybrids aren't used on standard cars, probably both to underline the gap in mileage and pollution, and because people wouldn't buy a more expensive conventional car, while hybrids can rely on their status symbol to demand an higher price.

It's undeniable how the ability to recover the kinetic energy of the car can improve the mileage, and that you can use that recovered energy both to propel the car with less fuel or faster, which is why my analysis is covering everything from the frugal Insight to the pointless X6.
So there is something good and basically all automakers can adopt this technology to their own advantage. Fiat could build more frugal cars, Ferrari could make them faster without using more fuel, just to stay close to home.

We'll see how it will end, but right now I honestly don't care, the biggest obstacle was to pass that last exam, right now I'm on a downhill path.

Now if only I could start to sleep relaxed again...

PS: that 10.2 chapter on the Italian Bugatti will eventually come, I swear!

Image Copyright: Damiano Garro
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