The great thing (and the terrible thing) about the iPhone is that it gives me the chance to play with a bunch of new applications. I’ve got to admit that most of the ones I’ve been using are for putting information up on the web — iBlogger (from the same people who wrote Ecto, the tool I use to blog from my desktop), Pixelpipe (for sending photos from my iPhone to Flickr), Facebook (yeah), and TweetDeck (the same platform I use for Tweeting from my desktop). With these, I can do much of my daily work from the phone if I can’t put my hands on my laptop to make things happen.
I’ve also grabbed a couple of things that help me keep information moving between the iPhone and the Macbook Pro. Evernote is a wonderful cloud application for keeping notes and information available regardless of where you are, and Bento is a super little database that I use for information that’s a bit more structured — my health info and notes on tutoring sessions, for example.
All in all, I’m really pleased with the iPhone — it’s one of the few tech purchases of the last few years that hasn’t carried some regret with it. Now, if I can start keeping up with my Microsoft Office docs on the phone, I’ll be set…
Sometimes, folks help you see traditional technology in an entirely new way. I’ve been shown the possibilities of sticky notes in ways I never thought possible.
Keeping in mind that these are the same folks who brought us dancing fountains crafted from Diet Coke and Mentos, I have to say I’m seriously impressed by the work, here. I can’t even imagine what they might do with a good stapler…
No, it doesn’t replace the InfoWorld job, but it’s an addition: I’m the new technology columnist for the GainesvilleSun, our local newspaper here in the land of ‘gators. You can see the inaugural column here. I’ll be writing about a mix of things (and I’d love suggestions), with technology for families, students, and small businesses getting the heaviest roles in the rotation.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a bunch of stuff to write, edit, read, and record. For some reason, my life seems to be getting busy…
One of the skills I need to improve is my photography. I do get some decent shots, but the ratio of good to bad isn’t as great as I’d like. I found a link to the Nikon Digital Learning Center, and found what looks like a very helpful group of folks. I’m looking forward to getting some help and learning to take better photos–who knows, the improvement might be enough to help me get higher grades on my photo projects.
You know, there’s something nice about re-discovering an old friend. Since I moved over to Vista, I’ve been using Internet Explorer as my browser. Microsoft has done a good job of making it better with each major release, but it’s still not as stable as I’d like, and it can be terribly sluggish at times. Last week, I downloaded Apple’s Safari browser and have been, on the whole, underwhelmed. The one good thing Safari did for me was to make me re-think FireFox. The good folks at LifeHacker are big fans, but I’d been away from it for a few months. I have to say it works beautifully under Vista. Fast, stable, and customizable–I think I’ve found software to make me happy.
The latest project around the house is a new master bedroom closet. Carol planned it and has been managing the project–I’m supplying the muscle. I’d been wanting to upgrade my chop saw, and this project provided the perfect opportunity. We decided that an early Father’s Day gift was in order, so Carol got me this Hitachi dual-bevel miter saw. I’ll admit that the big reason for choosing the Green Monster was the price–it was nearly $200 less than the Dewalt and Ridgid saws at the Home Depot. So far, though, I’ve been pleased with the performance. It’s easy to adjust, square and accurate on the angles and bevels. The only complaint I have is the dust collection system. It doesn’t really collect the dust. It’s more that it splits the stream of sawdust coming off the blade and collects the little bit that sticks to the outside of the bag. I’m going to spend some time trying to adjust it, but even if it doesn’t get better it only bothers me so much. I’m a happy camper with this one–look out, crown moulding.
Vista is, in many ways, like a new puppy: I enjoy taking it out, but I’m always on the lookout for stray puddles on the carpet. I’m working on a set of tests down at the university, and today was the first trip to the lab with the new Vista machine. On the whole, I was pleased. My laptop recognized the university wireless network, properly complained about a certificate, and asked just how vulnerable I wanted to be while I was there. Good stuff. On the other hand, I needed to download a file and Vista worked hard to keep me from storing it where I wanted.
That really sums up my experience with Vista, so far: Lots of good stuff with a lot of little annoyances thrown in to keep me from being enthusiastic. I’ll agree that it is, on balance, an improvement over Windows XP. I wish the 64-bit version was readily available (and usable) right now, but I’ll limp along with the junior version. With everything I’ve been through on the switch to Vista, though, there is one thing I’m confident of: If Apple released a version of the Macintosh OS that would run on my laptop I’d switch in a heartbeat. I’m confident I’m not alone in this. Apple should be listening.
After a week of working with Vista I can say that I’m…still here. I can’t say that I’m thrilled with Vista, because I’m not, really. There’s the sort of “did I just survive that!?!” one often gets after a particularly reckless motorcycle stunt, but it’s not the kind of thrill you generally want in a business setting. There are some interesting things going on, but I should set this up just a bit…
I got my copy of Vista through the Express Upgrade program. My Gateway laptop, ordered in late November, shipped with XP, but I jumped through the hoops necessary to get my disc sent on its way. It arrived in due time, I backed up all my data files, and the Great Upgrade began.
I decided, against Microsoft’s advice, to try the update (rather than the clean install) for my first installation attempt. Big mistake. There’s nothing like a looping Blue Screen of Death in an OS install to get your attention. After an hour or so of trying to get the installation process to fix itself I gave up and did the clean install. Much better.
Vista comes alive, and it’s first impression time: Hmm, they seem to have given me a new toolbar. I’m a fan of the Google sidebar, so I look at the Microsoft version and spend about ten minutes with it before downloading Google.
Getting things set up was relatively straight forward, though it took a while before I got the MTU issue settled. I run a screwy custom MTU on my home network (thanks, BellSouth), and getting the new value established took a while. It was finally done, though, and I could start using the system.
First note: I’d been told that Office 2007 ran faster under Vista than under XP. My impression is that this is true, tbough the difference in performance isn’t nearly as great as I’d like. Perhaps if I work up the courage to upgrade to Vista 64…
We’re going to be going to Kyoto later this year so Carol can attend a conference, and we’ve started thinking about the software that will help us get ready for the trip, or be more productive while we’re there. The first task is to learn something about the language. We’ve looked at the Rosetta Stone software for Spanish and found it worthwhile, so we’re going to try Rosetta Stone software. We’ll see whether the software can help with what seems to me (a single-language guy) to be a difficult language to learn.
Earlier this week I wrote about my adventures in Daylight Saving Time. In that post I mentioned that the Cingular support site said that my Samsung Blackjack didn’t need an update–that everything should be fine. That turned out not to be the case; I found the necessary patches and fixed my system. All worked out just fine.
Today, March 15, I received a text message from Cingular letting me know that we are going to change to Daylight Saving Time on March 11. Oh yes, my Blackjack will need a software update last Sunday. When I went to check this out on the Cingular Support Page, I found that the page had been updated to say that, yes indeed, I will need to update my Blackjack on or before the 11th.
I draw several lessons from this. First, it’s to Cingular’s credit that they did eventually figure it out and deliver correct information to their customers–I’m going to assume that other Blackjack owners got a similar message in their in-box today. Next, in a company the size of Cingular/AT&T you’d think they could find someone who has mastered verb tenses. They need some work on the whole past/present/future thing. Finally, while I give them credit for eventually sending out correct information, why wasn’t it available, oh, last Saturday (March 10th)? It’s not like this whole Daylight Saving Time were some last-minute surprise tossed at the phone company. There were announcements about this. It was in all the larger papers.
Of course, I shouldn’t complain too loudly, since Cingular is far from the only small business to have trouble with the shift to Daylight Saving Time. Yesterday when I flew back from San Francisco our Delta Air Lines 767 gave us the local time at our destination. Yep, their clock hadn’t gotten its new marching orders. It’s hard to explain just how much confidence that gave me as we soared into the sky. It was enough to make me forget all about my cell phone…
Welcome to Daylight Saving Time, Deluxe 2007 Version. There were lots of warnings, a few dooms-day scenarios and, as best I can tell, a lot of folks for whom the day passed with nothing more traumatic than a late entry to Sunday morning services. I thought I was in good shape since I made sure that my systems were patched and visited various vendor sites to see what they said about DST and their products. I only made one real mistake: I trusted Cingular.
I have a Samsung Blackjack phone from Cingular. On the whole, it’s a fine cell phone, though I’ll admit that I often miss the Treo I was using in my last job. Anyway, I went out to the Cingular support site and was told that I didn’t need to do anything to the Blackjack–it was ready for the shift to Daylight Saving Time. With my other systems patched, I felt pretty good. Silly me.
When I got up yesterday morning I had to quckly head out to the airport, so I didn’t look at the phone for a couple of hours. When I did, I noticed that the Blackjack was still on standard time. I turned it off on the plane, and when I turned it back on at the mid-point of the trip I expected the time to have reset. Nope. Turning the phone off and traveling to California didn’t help, either. Rats.
I finally did some searches and found that Microsoft had released a Special Daylight Saving Patch for the Blackjack. I downloaded the patch, applied it to the phone, and the world was once again in temporal balance.
So what’s the lesson here? I suppose it’s that you shouldn’t trust a single participant in a multi-vendor system to tell you all you need to know. In my case, there are three vendors who have portions of my phone; Cingular, Samsung, and Microsoft are each participants. My mistake was assuming that Cingular would have a handle on the operating system issues. It would be nice if the company that directly took your money for a product could be counted on to properly support it, but that may be asking too much in today’s world. Congratulations, pilgrim–you’re on your own. The times, they are a-changing, and it’s up to you to make sure all your systems keep up.
In some ways, my search for a podcast recorder is like my search for a briefcast or backpack–everything I see would be just perfect if only this one little thing were a bit different. i’ve used several different recorders, starting with a Tascam PocketStudio 5 digital recorder that seemed super when I bought it–which turned out to be about three months before they discontinued it. It has limited memory and is (by today’s standard) large, but it is a decent recorder and I’ve recorded some very nice podcasts using the box and a Samson dynamic mic. Most of the time, though, I’ve recorded straight to my computer using Propaganda or Audacity software. On the whole, the setup has worked well, though I’m interested in doing more audio tours and remote work in the near future, so…
I’m looking at new recorders. Right now, my number one choice is the Zoom H4. It has most of what I’m looking for, though I’ve heard some complaints about the user interface complexity and a “light” feeling to the construction. Since I may do some music recording in addition to the basic podcast work, it seems like it would be a good choice. I’m also big on the phantom power capabilities and the ability to use it as an A/D interface when I do want to record directly to the computer.
Now, if money were no object I might consider the Sony Professional Portable 24-bit Linear Recorder, though I have serious reservations about the DRM Sony tends to stick on any of their recording equipment. Between that and the $1,600 price tag, the Zoom looks pretty good.
The other recorder that seems to be serious competition for the Zoom is the Edirol R-09. I’ve used Edirol recorders in the past, and found them to be quite adequate machines. The word from users is that the user interface is considerably simpler than that of the Zoom, and the physical dimensions a bit smaller. I suspect that, if speaking-voice recording is your only task, the Edirol would do a fine job. Since the feature set is smaller and the street price a bit higher, I suspect I’ll stick with the Zoom, though I’m open to suggestion.
I’d be interested in hearing your suggestions–what recorder are you using for podcasting? Comments are open…
I once heard an old-time road warrier say that for the first year of your business life you got to travel. After that, you had to travel. I understand. It’s been a while since my yearly flight mileage was in six figures, but business travel is still tough. I’ve spent too many evenings eating a room-service chicken Caesar salad to get deeply into the whole “glamour of travel” thing.
With that said, it looks like the Marriott chain wants to make things better. I can’t say that a 32-inch HD TV would make every night on the road better, but it wouldn’t hurt. Now, if we can just get them to make sure that there are HD channels worth watching in each hotel, then we’ll truly be on the right track. The only downer is that they’re limiting the chains slated to get the nice televisions; you have to stay in a Marriott, JW Marriott, or Renaissance hotel to get the eye candy. Forget the high-end properties–it’s the weary road-warriors in the Courtyard who need their HD TV.
Once in a while you see something that’s just a darned good idea. We ran across an incredibly good idea at the International Builders’ Show, and I suspect I’ll be placing an order before too long. FlatWire is a wide tape with two paper-thin ribbons of copper bonded to the surface. You spray an adhesive on the wall, apply the FlatWire, hit it with spackle and then paint–and you can’t see where the wires are. This is going to be a neat product for folks who need to run home theater systems in existing rooms, or who need to add lighting without going into the walls. Now, the lighting products are low-voltage lights with a transformer in a wall-wart, but there are a number of different styles and sizes available.
The FlatWire company was purchased by SouthWire over a year ago, and it’s taken a while for the transition to new ownership to work through the company, but they’re beginning a marketing push that should have these products much more visible in the near future. Right now, you can buy the lighting and audio products through an on-line store, and they were demonstrating FlatWire video cable, telephone cable, and data cables in their booth at the show. In some of the marketing material on their web site they talk about Cat6 FlatWire–I want to see it and look at performance numbers before I buy that particular product–but even without the Cat6 this is a seriously cool product that looks like it could make life much easier for remodelers. With so much structured cabling and home entertainment equipment aimed squarely at the new-construction market, it was great to see something aimed at those of us whose houses have already been built.
In a recent post I mentioned the compact fluorescent bulb that came in the press kit at the International Builders’ Show. It’s been installed in the front-entrance fixture, where it’s nice and bright without giving the house that “prison-yard feel” that my dear wife loves so much. Inside, I’ve started evaluating a Koncept Z-Bar Lamp that uses 60 LEDs to give a nice blue-white glow. I’m using it beside the bed as a reading lamp and, so far, it’s working well. The light balance works well in a task lamp, since it’s not expected to do anything kind to skin tones. I’m also pleased that it doesn’t cast such a wide light circle that it illuminates the whole bedroom. It’s a very high-tech look, but Carol says she’s interested in one on her side of the bed, too, so I think we may have a winner.
I was very impressed with some of the LED fixtures we saw at the IBS. They use far less energy that halogen or incandescent fixtures, remain relatively cool to the touch and, in the newer versions, have a color temperature that’s shifted much farther into the yellow than earlier LEDs. They’re still far more expensive than the other lighting technologies, but with a lifetime that can be measured in decades and lower energy costs, LEDs have an important role to play in the lighting future.
