Novice Technology

Floodgates of E-Readers

2009-08-25T21:07:00.003-04:00

I haven't been around for quite a bit with the tech thoughts and ramblings, and I've been meaning to come back around with some thoughts.

Color me an odd mix of dysfunctional and old-fashioned but I seem to read best without justification of text to accommodate ads online and space usage in newspapers. I actually prefer reading articles in NYTimes on their website rather than in the newspaper where the text is smaller, segmented sometimes in columns and disappears to some other part of the newspaper I have to chase if I intend to continue to the end. I'm also not a fan of untangling and unraveling newspapers on crowded trains or dragging around a wet paper on rainy days.

I've done a pretty good job reading news snippets on my Blackberry using the WSJ Reader and on the worthless RIM OS browser, but I don't really find the reading enjoyable since the screen is backlit and small. Sometimes, I'll feel inclined to print out something to drag along and read it but it is a waste of paper to consistently print things out. Dedicated e-readers solve this type of problem for some people. I've heard a ton of arguments about how mighty PDA's, iPhones, and other devices that are well priced for multi-functional uses make great readers, but it's really trying to explain the idea of buying a single purpose product that solves a problem versus a Swiss Army knife solution that doesn't have a proper handle to go with the tooltip. Yes, the mini saw in that Swiss Army knife will cut a few twigs but it'll take a pretty long time to get through a log - which is why small screen backlit lcds reading a paragraph at a time will not be very satisfying if reading is a hobby.

I've tried a Sony Reader before and I found the e-ink text to be crisp on the PRS-505 and the ability to use software like Calibre to convert and put together text to read, it's a very cool but expensive single purpose device. The issues with this device is the slow processor, reformatting text to fit the screen the first time to load the file for reading is painfully slow and the rendering of PDF's are disappointing as it stands. However, it does do well in other areas in accepting a good number of file formats, standard mass storage device for all OSes, and the ability to expand the storage. As it stands, the firmware on the Sony Readers allow for Adobe Digital Editions compatibility to borrow library books from libraries equipped for e-books. The process is very smooth, Adobe Digital Editions recognizes the Sony Reader and it is literally drag n' drop.

I did not get around to trying the Amazon Kindle. I'm a bit put off knowing the device functions mostly to serve as a link to the Kindle Store and the firmware is designed to for purchases rather than open formats. After the lowered price, the device does feel more attractive with its built-in dictionary and wireless access. As it stands, the Kindle is a better buy than the Sony Readers for value and convenience of wireless access.

Sony's new e-reader is pricey ($400) and I'm not quite sure what to make of it since it does not have a partnership with Barnes & Nobles/Fictionwise but does have a direct link for wireless downloads at libraries. I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but libraries only have a limited amount of digital editions for lending, and its likely that items are not always available to be downloaded until it expires for someone else. The glimmer of hope for this device is for enthusiasts to hack the heck out of the Linux based firmware to do some cool things.

What do e-readers need for academics? JSTOR connection is a must. Most things seem to be scanned in JSTOR, the e-reader would need a screen big enough to accommodate those scanned images and deliver crisp text.

I'm pretty excited about new e-readers coming along and creating some serious competition to lower prices enough so they become common devices rather than niche devices most people don't really understand the concept of.

HBX Report Builder vs. SiteCatalyst Excel Client

2009-02-22T18:24:00.002-05:00

I've used HBX Report Builder for a few years and knew the quirks by heart and also its limitations when it came to exporting big chunks of data. I loved the tool because it allowed for cell matching and referencing. Although the tool was limited in most cases, but the design possibilities on a spreadsheet seemed limitless, as long as someone else could use and understand the work.

Fast forward to SiteCatalyst taking over and slowly developing their Excel client since they bought Visual Sciences. I can't say I dislike the tool, it's very graphical and helpful for new users, but it loses a lot of the ability to design worksheets aspect of HBX version. The main difference I can obviously see is that it exports more than the limited 200 rows HBX was able to do at once. I haven't gotten around to test regular expressions on it, and I'm unsure if it is supported.

Graphically, SiteCatalyst creates a more user-friendly tool to export the data but I prefer the old HBX version where I was able to run queries for search totals within a single cell and match cells with data points.

Average Time Spent Per Visit in SiteCatalyst v14

2009-01-11T13:33:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest gripes I think people have using this version is the menu is completely revamped. I get questions all the time where average time spent per visit is hidden in version 14. Sometimes, I don't even remember how deeply nested it was in v13.5. But I found somewhat of an easier solution in solving this then rummaging through the menu. The simplest way of getting this metric if you have not started building a Dashboard reportlet is to create one simple reportlet for all top line data - the option to add average time spent per visit is available.

I think v14 favors creating more dashboards and reportlets than using Bookmarks. I used to use Bookmarks in v13 and I missed them because there were reports I wanted to look at but not necessarily report on. The dashboards didn't have the the instant date range option available without modifying the entire reportlet.

What do I expect for v14.5? The default settings need work. The default metric should be pageviews or visits, not revenue where most of the time, the report will show up blank because e-comm metrics aren't available for some sites.

Tech Shrinkage

2009-01-06T11:40:00.003-05:00

I'm hoping there is an investment in creating more IT jobs as I know there are tons of folks who love the work and would love to keep the jobs here, on the homebase where students are graduating with IT related degrees and need a place to work. Tech jobs are largely unappealing for starters as most of the entry level support positions are pretty rare and overseas, the ones available usually pay extremely low. People need to start somewhere, at a rate where the vacancy notices don't flat out say they need three to five years worth of experience. Where would they get this experience without opportunities to learn when there are not many helpdesk positions to even get some feet wet?

The price of consumer electronics has actually come down in price a lot within a decade, there are a lot of goods once too expensive like first generation digital audio players and flat panel televisions to being more affordable today. The technologists behind many of these devices usually are not American engineers. I'm pretty certain we've got the intelligence and mettle to become those great engineers, we just need more opportunities to groom young graduates to be tech leaders in the states.

In a shifting trend, consumers are buying low powered devices like netbooks which fulfills many needs for casual web browsing and text editing. Perhaps the desire for the latest gadgets are waning due to the economical circumstances we are facing, but I'm looking for consumers to become more frugal when it comes to their tech purchases. Maybe less is more today, and we're not going to buy all those bells and whistles.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

2009-01-02T22:26:00.003-05:00

The Raving Rabbids are hilarious and I played all three installments of the series. I have to say, nothing beats the first one in terms of originality and comedy but this third one is pretty good for integrating the balance board. Some mini-games have the option of using the balance board but it is not a necessary component to play the game. There are some races where you will sit your rear on the balance board and lean one side to turn and lean back to accelerate. Other race games include using the balance board as pedals for driving, requiring you to sit and rest your heels on the board, and using pressure to accelerate. This is one of the first games to integrate the balance board, and I think it this title does it pretty well.
The mini games will get redundant but it's a pretty fun party title to have around for good times.

Land of Dead Zunes

2008-12-31T16:25:00.002-05:00

The New Year is hours away and I don't know what to say, the years always feel so long and so short at the same time. Sometimes it's easy to count chunks of times based on gadget purchases and how long they last. Three years will go by before a new computer enters my life, another three years for a new console, another two years for a new phone, and that's how modern time seems to check itself out. I could probably apply this to car loans and whatever that follows a chunk of time schedule, but this is a technology blog.

Zune 30GB owners woke up with a nasty surprise in the morning with a glitch that won't let the device boot properly. I'm sure there's a patch somewhere to fix this but it's never good to end a year with anything broken. I'm wondering what Microsoft will give away to ensure Zune owners they care. Zune music store passes? A discount on the next Zune purchase? It wouldn't hurt to be a bit more generous!

Madden NFL 09

2008-12-20T19:39:00.003-05:00

The last sports game I really enjoyed was probably NBA Jam, way back in the day, it was truly a classic "sports" game with bunch of great boosts and secrets. I'm a football fan and having missed Madden 07 and 08, I figured it was time to give it a spin. The training mode was pretty cool, a nice interactive way of teaching someone to play the game, it took a while to go through the process but I thought it was a great attempt at showing the fluidity of the game

The actual gameplay is pretty boring and I felt finished with it after two matches. I can't say it was an awful game, but it certainly didn't have a shine to it and there wasn't so much a reason to keep playing unless someone were to chase achievement points. As EA is setting to lay off some workers to focus on core projects, I hope Madden 2010 is one of those projects to get some extra attention.

LCD Prices Drop, Demand Wanes

2008-12-19T12:09:00.004-05:00

This one is pretty easy to predict that after all the price slashing and the overflow of sub-brands of LCD television sets, the demand would wane. This isn't such a good thing for manufacturers and employees of those factories in the US, but I'm imagining it doesn't seem reasonable to spend $800 right now on a television even though it is deeply discounted. With many households already owning large lcd sets, it's tough to sell more of them and in today's economy, the discounts aren't enough to convert people with older sets.

Call me old fashioned, but I rarely buy new electronics unless it is something I do not have, or the existing is on the verge of breaking or broken. It's unlikely there will be a new television in my life unless my current set quits out on me.

Ruining a Classic

2008-11-30T03:09:00.002-05:00

I got a rental copy of Cooking Mama World Kitchen and was really disappointed with how bad the controls and the entire game was. I couldn't even get past the gimmick of making Mama 3D to think it was a nice try. I didn't think Cooking Mama needed to be 3D, the game just needed to evolve as a two player game. The recipes will always be limited to basic motion controls which made the original game a lot of fun, and simple to master at the same time. The new controls took away that magic, it was no longer obvious and while in the middle of the recipe, if you swung the wii-mote too hard, the dog which is always in the kitchen will try to grab the food. You end up swinging the wii-mote rampantly to "out-run" it. I think I rented the game just to listen to Mama's poor Engrish pronunciation and break a few eggs, this one was a total miss.

Hands On/Off With Blackberry Storm

2008-11-29T00:58:00.003-05:00

I'm probably being really biased here because I'm a QWERTY fan but I finally got around to the store to try out the Storm. The store model was pretty nice, the exterior looked real slick, but when I got around to pressing the buttons, I found it pretty unresponsive. The gimmick to the whole "click" thing is, the touchscreen is essentially one giant button. I could feel the entire screen depress as I pressed on it. So the buttons are separated virtually by software, this would have been pretty clever but the idea of pushing in the entire screen dozens of times to type a message, gets old fast. I tried to load the Yahoo! homepage but it took a bit to load after an initial freeze. iPhone killer? No, not even close. Great milestone for RIM? Yes. I'm sure a software update could fix a lot of the bugs, but it was a major letdown to see it in such a beta-stage.

Pivot Tables in Mac Office 2008

2008-11-18T23:37:00.004-05:00

... are a disaster. That's all I have to say about that. I've used many versions of Excel and I thought I disliked Office 2007 for Windows, but never would I imagine a simple pivot table in the Mac version could make a file go from 1 MB to 21 MB and take eons to compute. I don't even know what to do with that.

Thoughts on the Blackberry Storm

2008-11-08T15:49:00.002-05:00

There seems to be a lot of issues with software that delays the release of this product. I'm pretty anxious to see how it works since I'm up for a new device soon. My initial thoughts on anything touchscreen after demoing the iPhone is that I find it a bit difficult to write sentences. I'm probably a long-winded soul who likes to come up with a thoughtful reply even in SMS form, but I can't stand a virtual keyboard.

The keys look pretty big on the Storm, so that leads me to consider a touch screen interface. My current Blackberry is an 8700 series brick that has been dropped far too many tmes to count and a has a giant gash on the screen. It's not that I don't treat my stuff the right way, but I'm quite clumsy. I'm wondering how much physical careless abuse the Storm can manage before it stops working, since the screen is the only way to input anything.

There's quite a number of functional questions that puts me on the fence of buying the device or not, plus the fact that it takes eons to get anything good released on CDMA. It looks like I'll have to wait two weeks before I see it in stores and see how good/bad the OS has evolved.

So Long, Circuit City

2008-11-02T17:07:00.007-05:00

Circuit City is in serious financial trouble and will be closing a good number of stores across the country. This is bad news for employees during an economic downturn and good news for those looking for liquidation sales. The Circuit City at Union Square on 14th Street has always been a mystery to me, even during peak shopping days, it always seemed empty and understocked with goods yet it remained open for years. I bought my CRT television from there three years ago and I recall finding help at that location was a bit difficult. The salespeople weren't very enthusiastic and I knew they probably didn't get the right training for the departments they worked in. Add poor customer service and low selection in one pot and it'll be a revenue disaster. I'm hoping there's a place for those affected employees to go.

Hard Games Are Not Always Fun

2008-10-19T00:42:00.005-04:00

I didn't learn my lesson after playing the demo and rented Ninja Gaiden II, anyway. I had it in my head that the game could get better, and there would be some gnarly boss fighting involved. On hard mode, there were swarms and swarms of baddies, a true button mashing good time. The bad part, was the camera not following the character and the amazingly hard bosses. I didn't get far in the game, and there wasn't a compelling storyline to keep me playing it. Not that I don't like amazingly hard games, but some games are just so hard it's not even fun anymore.

The hardest game I have ever come cross across was probably Super Ghouls N' Ghosts for the SNES. That game was probably designed to just punish and torture anyone attempting to beat it.
I found a nice run of it on Youtube and it brought back tons of memories of my cousin and I sitting for hours trying to play it.

How to Destroy Console Sales

2008-10-11T15:14:00.002-04:00

I had this conversation a dozen times with probably half a dozen people about console pricing and how consumers respond to them. For the most part, those who love games and consoles are not so hestitant about paying more, to get something they want. The key, obviously, is to convert those are unsure about the console purchase with bundled software and other types of marketing, keeping them conscious of value and price. Sony has decided it will not change the pricing on their Playstation 3 console, which is a mistake to most people since the Xbox has reduced its prices over the course of time. The response so far, is positive as there are more software titles for the Xbox and it is almost $100 less than the PS3.

I have always thought Sony's products were ahead of its time, even when they fail like the MiniDisc player. The only product that did not evolve properly was the PSP. With the PS3, the technology inside was built for future gaming and the included Blu-ray disc player is a good value. However, most consumers will probably not understand the extras and the thought behind it and focus solely on software availability and pricing. Golden opportunities to push the console out are being missed since the price remains at a lofty $400.

Nintendo Handhelds

2008-10-01T17:01:00.007-04:00

I remember being barely taller than a countertop and clutching the mega massive portable system called the Gameboy and running around the apartment with it fused to my hands. It was a brick, almost, or a size of a paperback novel. I'm sure my parents would have preferred that I lug around an actual book. That was the early 90's and I probably never used something religiously as I did then, other than a TI-83 calculator. I remember playing Tetris until I fell asleep from the exhaustion of watching spinach colored and shaded blocks drop for hours on end. I did have plenty of other games for the handheld, including titles like Super Mario Bros, Battletoads, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Dr. Mario. There were other games, but those were the ones I played most.

Since the first iteration, it really shrunk down to being smaller and lighter, adding touches like color screens and currently, a dual-screen set up. The great thing about Nintendo handhelds is probably hanging on to backwards compatibility. The lifecycle of the games lasted a good number of years before the next device did not have a input slot to read the cartridge. Cell phone games emerged and the young adults moved on to a life without Nintendo handhelds until the dual-screen touch DS came along. Life began all over, a stylus and traditional controls and more interactive games. I once again, saw young adults and adults clutching their Nintendo handhelds through commutes and waiting rooms.

My favorite DS game to date is probably New York Times Crosswords. The game is really a great way to play the back puzzles that are still relatively recent in terms of the trivia and have answers to them. The stylus makes it a breeze to input the letters by writing on the touchscreen.

Nintendo will release an update to the current DS. I'm pretty excited to see the evolution since Nintendo is known to evolve and refresh before making a big leap towards innovation. I'm hoping this new device is a companion to the Wii, include a web browser, and nice touches like auto-downloading demos from the Nintendo network. Here's to dreaming.

Mobile Web Tracking

2008-09-18T01:06:00.001-04:00

I don't know much about mobile Web Analytics, it's fairly new territory since most websites are pretty bad on a tiny non-smartphone screen. I had a chance to see some vendors make their sales pitches on the analytics packages. I have to admit, some of it is pretty amazing, the ability to identify unique visitors and their regions even though they use shared routers. The technology behind mobile web tracking is getting better as more sites have mobile versions of their full site.

What I'm really waiting for is the inevitable, Omniture will either crush or buy them all. I'm waiting for the day when mobile e-commerce is an interactive experience on handheld devices and Omniture launches some snazzy mobile e-commerce tracking service. I believe the future is probably three years and a few log-ins away.

Touchscreen Gaming

2008-09-13T13:49:00.002-04:00

The new iPod Touch boasts to be such a great multimedia player, that it is dipping its paws into the gaming market. I'm not against devices that perform many functions, but it is a bit hard to imagine playing games on a touch interface other than using the stylus for the Nintendo DS. The iPod Touch does have potential for delivering a pretty good gaming experience because of the detailed graphics and the variety of games available to a touch interface. But nothing in touch interface can truly replace the A/B buttons found in Gameboy/DS interfaces. I'm talking about short pick-up type of games where a directional pad and standard A/B is used for games like Contra and Super Mario Bros where buttons provide a good feedback when playing the game.

Some games I would like to see for iPod Touch/iPhone are card/board games where it is possible to play with friends when everyone has some sort of network connection. This would give it a definite edge over traditional portable games.

How Could It Be So Annoying?

2008-09-06T22:35:00.003-04:00

I'm talking about installing Windows from scratch and letting third party, but very necessary third party applications work against each other to make the system unusuable. It was probably the sequence in installation that wrecked havoc on my test system, but it become less forgivable as other OSes have been better about handling applications or outputting errors in the system log.

One thing that came up was failed Windows update hotfixes, even after several restarts and a full shutdown, there was no resolution. Fortunately, there was a simple fix via the Microsoft support pages. It involves typing something into the command prompt, something a novice user would have a difficult time doing or finding out how. This is some rotten stuff, Windows XP SP3.

Awful Ideas in Portable Gaming

2008-08-31T18:41:00.004-04:00

Years ago, I remember the release of the original PSP and the ability to pretty much play Playstation 1&2 type of titles on the go. The idea was pretty good, multimedia type of device, a great homebrew community, and quality hardware. The problem is, fast forward almost 5 years later, it's still pretty much the same product, perhaps lighter, slimmer, but still the same product playing the same games the people probably outgrew. On the release cycle is the 3rd iteration of the PSP, with the UMD slot still around. UMD racks have been killed off by many retailers because it generated very low sales. Gamefly actually rents out UMD movies, but their shipping service is quite slow in comparison to Netflix that it may be much easier to rent the DVD version of the movie than watching it on a tiny screen.

I would not buy one of these unless major things changed like creating an extra analog stick to control perspective found in first person shooters, a bit of rumble for driving games, and removing the UMD slot to make it lighter. There are some good games for the PSP but none on the list that I am dying to play on the road. Here's to hoping the 4th iteration is much better.

Machinarium Preview

2008-08-30T16:09:00.002-04:00

These folks at Amanita Design really know how to make things look beautiful and flow perfectly. The style hasn't changed from Samarost chapters but this one looks to be even more fun. I like how this gets some coverage and recognition on gaming sites, because these games really deserve it. To make something even better, the background music is pretty good for this:

Machinarium Preview from Amanita Design on Vimeo.

Summer Comes to a Screeching End

2008-08-28T14:09:00.003-04:00

Last night the temperature felt like a cool 67 degrees in the evening. The summer is almost over and there are tons of things Fall-related to look forward to. Hardware, software, and other refreshes in technology. The fun part is seeing those products in person after months of waiting after the press release. I'm in the market for some new things, specifically a new phone and digital audio player. I'm pretty much open to any brand as long as the product delivers a good experience and has decent hardware reliablity stats. I try to run devices to the ground before upgrading because I feel a sense of guilt creating waste and throwing out something that still somewhat works. After reading a NYT article about kids and adults in China disassembling logic boards and parts with lead and toxic fumes, it really put a damper device hoarding and tossing. I donated my very old Canon point and shoot to a colleague who helped run a school in Africa for boys and I felt glad the camera, despite being very old, found a second life out of my hands.

Verizon Wireless will be on deck to release one of the most sought after Blackberry devices for the year, a touchscreen version of its smartphone. I'm definitely not a fan of touch technology because I like the feedback of buttons, but I won't judge it without giving it a spin as it could end up being my next phone. The OS looks promising as there are many updates to create a multimedia experience which is very much needed if they intend to compete with the iPhone. The only thing holding RIM back is probably interest in its devices as developers are quickly creating iPhone applications much faster than any smartphone platform.

The only other product I'm really looking forward to seeing in person is the Nikon D90 for its bold step into doing more things than any other DSLR. It will look to include features commonly found in compact cameras like using the screen to frame the shot rather than the viewfinder, and being able to record high definition video. When devices try to do too many things at once, they usually end up failing for being not very good at anything at all, but this camera may be an exception. The release of this new model also opens the doors to discounts on soon to be discontinued but very good cameras like the D60 and D80.

I think this is going to be a good Fall for device testing and possibly buying.

Wall Street Journal Mobile Reader

2008-08-25T19:15:00.006-04:00

This is probably one of the most elegant readers I have seen in a while besides Viigo for Blackberry devices. This is strictly for WSJ content but the design and layout is pretty innovative for such a small screen application. It features tabs to organize content by category and allows for some customization for personal favorites. What I like most is the blinking training mode of what to press on the keyboard to make the selection or traverse through the tabs. The reader is good for another reason, it displays images corresponding to the article while downloading articles very quickly on 3G speeds. To sweeten the deal, it's a free over the air download to access WSJ for free. On my wish list, is a port for this application for New York Times content.

Waiting for Amarok for Windows

2008-08-23T16:00:00.004-04:00

Almost a decade ago, I only knew to use Winamp and it was perfect for my slow and crappy computer, the installer was small and left a very small memory footprint. This was the Windows 98 days where there weren't too many choices and Windows Media Player was still large and ugly. As my operating systems changed, so did Winamp, and I found myself using Amarok and liking it better than the newer Windows Media Player. Amarok is different than Windows Media Player and iTunes because it is an optional component in an OS rather than a native media player. Most Linux distros come with Amarok preinstalled, no compiling necessary and it's probably one of the nicest open source media players I have come across. The builds get better each time around and will be making its way to Windows. I'm hoping when the day comes, it installs and runs as smoothly as the Windows version of GIMP.

Skyfire Browser

2008-08-22T13:20:00.001-04:00

Skyfire looks like a good alternative to Opera Mini and worth trying out for Windows Mobile devices. Too bad they will not be supporting Blackberry devices because the interface is pretty neat. I'm waiting to see what a mobile version of Firefox looks like and if it would offer a better experience than Skyfire.

A Trip Back To The Past

2008-08-16T14:38:00.003-04:00

Years ago I used to carry sketchbooks as cryptic diaries with drawings of inanimate objects and lines that shaped something or another. I began a test of writing short sentences, to short passages and the name of the game was to write about the moment without referencing where and what exactly happened. The drawings were exercises in line movement mixed with a bit of abstract interpretation of everyday objects and things, while the writing was part of a mental exercise to produce a snippet of the moment. Some of the drawings later translated to paintings and others became ideas for other pieces of art. None of it used computers or any modern technology, it was the days before broadband connections and multimedia phones were the norm.

After a long break from it, it may be time to start again after taking a look across the room to see an old plastic kitchen cutting board recycled as a mixing palette, with blotches of dried paint collecting dust.

OS X Firewall

2008-08-16T14:16:00.003-04:00

The main thing that bugs me about OS X is the firewall application. There aren't very many options in configuring it using the GUI. It's either turning it off, allowing certain applications, or only essential applications. The information not shown is the ports open. Sure, there are other non-free firewall applications to deal with this in OS X. However, for a software company to be so keen on security, how could they not include a native application to do this?

Fake CNN E-mail Alerts

2008-08-09T17:15:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I do check my spam folders in case someone I actually know writes me a note and it gets marked as Spam. I noticed there was an overwhelming number of CNN alerts with top stories delivered. The funny thing is I never signed up for any of this stuff and do not recall ever considering wanting to sign up. To investigate further, I opened one of the e-mails to find almost a legitimate alert e-mail with links to the CNN site stories. However, after examining the further links and sender address, it does not seem so legit. After checking with Slashdot, I can see this is a pretty nasty piece of mail with the ability to wreck havoc on Windows based computers. Linux and Unix based systems are not affected because they have far too little market share for malware creators to bother, at the moment.

For those infected, there is perfect way of fixing this, the nasty malware will need to be removed using malware remover or completely re-formatting the disk. The only methods of protection is to carefully examining what comes into the inbox and clicking very carefully while installing software from trusted software vendor sites.

Barely Quarter Million Kindle Sales

2008-08-03T13:20:00.003-04:00

Amazon released the sales figures for the Kindle and at 240k units, it's not so bad since most people rather read paper media through purchases, library loans, or through friends. I love handling books, much like typing with a physical keyboard, there's nothing that replicates the feeling of touching and feeling the weight of the paper. However, as a commuter, the idea of having a device with font large enough not to strain eyes while having access to a ton of reading material is really a great idea. The price tag is the only deterrent as buying e-books and magazine subscriptions are expensive, and the screen is not color, either, which makes magazine subscriptions not as vibrant as the real thing.

The Kindle would be king when it comes to college textbooks, instead of buying those large books where students barely use 1/3 of the content, it would be great to buy a cheaper e-book version. The idea of printing out a few key pages to study from the Kindle would be great for students who need to stand during rush hour to colleges. After years of having my feet run over and tripping over nursing students' rolling suitcase backpacks, they would greatly benefit from having a Kindle handle all their textbook needs. Of course, there would be need to be a backup system in case the Kindle fails, to be able to read the content online via a special Kindle site to protect their assets. The doorway for piracy would probably be huge, but it would greatly increase revenue as iTunes Store does extremely well. I can't imagine how happy textbook publishers would be to not be able to sell $120 texts to students, but that stuff creates waste like no other as the editions are rendered useless after a year.

The next Kindle would probably need to have a color screen to make it truly next generation, have incredible battery life, and offer something for everyone, not just recent bestsellers and magazines/newspapers we can easily read on the computer. So far, I have only seen a handful of people own these devices in the city, perhaps it's because people own smartphones and can access media to read while on the train/bus. We'll have to wait and see what the engineers and designers churn up in Kindle v2.

Missed Interest

2008-08-02T16:28:00.002-04:00

One of the things I will probably never understand is making things look like other things explicitly without the function of what it intends to copy. I'm talking about skins and themes for phones and desktops which emulate something else but fails to function like it. Over the years, I have never skinned my Windows or Linux desktops to be something else, it just did not seem like it would increase functionality for me. The past year or so, enthusiasts have been skinning their Blackberry devices to look like iPhones. Some people love it, but I much prefer the original Blackberry OS look with a custom background instead.

Randy Pausch

2008-07-26T00:29:00.002-04:00

After a short battle with an incurable illness, he didn't make it. I listened to his lecture months ago and was moved by his enthusiasm towards life and goals. His optimism towards life's ambitions made me consider what I have done with mine. Some people are born to be leaders and have the ability to inspire hundreds and maybe even thousands.

Not So Crazy Logic

2008-07-20T17:26:00.002-04:00

Ben Stein makes it pretty clear and easy when he compares investments with love. If only it were that simple. Life is full of junk, and we need tiers and layers of filters to weed out the crap and come up on top. Nonetheless, this article made me laugh because it goes off in pretty wild tangents with some good points to be made.

RIM Has 3rd Party Apps, Too!

2008-07-17T00:14:00.002-04:00

Apple's iPhone is pretty great in terms of looks, features, size, and function. It probably has almost everything a technology driven consumer would want for a personal smartphone. The applications from 3rd party publishers truly make a device feel personalized and alive. With that in mind, I think sometimes people forget that there are a lot of applications available for RIM Blackberry devices. The problem with RIM applications is distribution and the ability to find them. The Blackberry Help page launched from the Blackberry browser will link the user to available applications to install over the air, but the organization needs work.

They're not showing the neat features, the great little things that make RIM special. Some of my favorite applications are GoogleTalk, Google Calendar Sync, Google Maps, Blackberry Messenger, and JiveTalk. Blackberry Messenger is a built in messaging application for Blackberry devices only using data to talk to other RIM subscribers, allowing free chat and sending files. It's rarely talked about but Google Calendar Sync works with the built-in Blackberry Calendar to sync events between the two calendars.

GoogleTalk on the Blackberry is a surprisingly good experience, it doesn't lag and works faster than Blackberry Messenger. The best chat client I have found is JiveTalk which works with most major chat services including MySpace. The interface looks very much like iChat and I have found it to be very intuitive as well.

Opera Mini is an alternate browser which has the ability to shrink webpages with zoom in and out features. It's a good alternative to the current Blackberry browser which performs pretty poorly. Both browsers do not handle javascript very well as the load times are slow even on 3G speeds.

Considering there are still currently more RIM subscribers than any other smartphone, there will be more applications over time, along with OS and device upgrades to keep it moving. I believe there is hope for the Blackberry faithful.

Love to Hate The Game

2008-07-13T02:21:00.003-04:00

Sometimes a game so big comes along that I end up playing it, despite my prior feelings for the series. I have to at least give the story and interaction a chance before saying it is not worth the time and effort. I very slowly finished GTA4, at a snail's pace, succumbing to swearing here and there when Niko died from coming out of cover mode or suddenly dialing the cellphone at the mission's end.

The acting was a bit irritating and the dialog was downright cheesy during cutscenes. I found the radio station deejays hilarious and the actual music tracks pretty good. I'm pretty certain I would never replay this based on how tedious the missions were and how linear it felt. Perhaps the effort went into making New York City look alive virtually with most landmarks being high detailed, but the gameplay felt unpolished and features in the last iteration were removed. Niko moved at a snail's pace as if he were drugged and everything was delayed by half a second. I never got used to pace of camera either.

One thing that probably upset a lot of people was the driving part. Driving was essential in the game as the missions mostly relied on driving and evading the police after the crime. Most of the cars fishtailed out of control at acceleration in what looked like 30mph speeds. I've never driven a sedan that would fishtail going in a straight line from 0-30mph. Over time, it became much easier to control the vehicles but one thing that truly bugged me was the ability to mow down lampposts going 5mph but having the car come to a screeching halt when hitting scaffolding.

Despite the frustrations it was easy to keep on going to see what would happen to Niko and the gang. I left off at 62% and won't return for more.

Taught The Right Way

2008-06-29T22:40:00.002-04:00

I recently listened to a lecture recorded in 1986 by Dr. Hal Abelson teaching HP employees on the topics of programming in LISP. Abelson gives quite a good primer on some fundamentals of programming, at a much higher level than textbooks but manages to explain it in a really easy way to understand. He skips the messy stuff like syntax and goes straight to abstracts and approaches. As someone who suffered through many engineering courses, the topics become less difficult depending on how well the professor relays the information. I think the right undergraduate program at the right institution does inspire more than a generic computer science program.

iRiver POS

2008-06-25T22:57:00.004-04:00

Cheap isn't always good, especially when it comes to things we depend on. I'm a bit against buying into perception-altering popular brands and such, I'm even known to destroy designer threading off denim, so it's not likely I'll be walking around with a signature set of white headphones. However, this last MP3 player purchase may lead this stubborn horse towards the giant glass retail store and buy a shiny little device.

Everything, literally, is wrong with the e10, from the physical design all the way down to the navigation menu. It began freezing after a few months, to the point where I have to carry around a #7 lead pencil to reset it or stash a safety pin.

There is a feature in the e10 where it is capable of acting like a television remote control. Really, how could that ever be useful considering most of US customers have digital cable?

Nothing can be written to the internal database without the awful included software, much like the other known brand. I'm not against the software all together, but I really wished it worked with just Win Media Player as it's the default media player in Windows since this product is not OS X compatible.

I'm swearing off the cheap audio players. As soon as this thing plays its final tune, I'm off to the glass circus.

Standby for Service

2008-06-19T18:21:00.004-04:00

I like to approach frustrations with technology using some humor. I know machines break, parts that use electricity may overheat, and parts that spin may decide it is time to stop spinning. I have been battling, valiantly, trying to a fix a long-running cable internet service issue. After going through several modems, changes in ethernet cables and coaxial runs, I found the problem was beyond my control. It turns out the entire area has dropped connections, intermittent service, and sometimes no service. This is a problem with low signal and the technician had nothing in the van to solve it.

After speaking with a resident, I discovered it has been a problem for years and nothing was ever done to fix it on the provider's end. This is a problem because some services are moving online while the internet is no longer an additional service, it's a tool for daily living. Unfortunately, there is no other provider available in the area as these coaxial runs are old and the original node has been split far too many ways to retain a strong signal.

My solutions for persistent connection is tethering a smartphone or paying for a monthly aircard. Both options cost money and will not be fast connections. This just sucks and I stopped laughing now that I know everyone on the block knows the joke.

Einstein's Letter for $404k

2008-05-18T22:52:00.002-04:00

I never thought a letter from one of the most famous scientists of our time would fetch such a high amount. Unfortunately, this one note fell slightly shorter than the stack of love letters Einstein wrote to his wife. Love notes trump debatable God stuff, I guess.

Ghostbusters!

2008-05-17T18:17:00.002-04:00

I want this, mainly because it actually looks fun and it's a nice change away from first person perspectives and the regular machine guns. The camera does not look frustrating, at least from the sample gameplay. I'm hoping the bosses will be a good challenge along with some co-op play. Most of all, it's Ghostbusters and anyone who watched the movies and cartoons as a child will probably get a kick out of this.

Phone Rant

2008-05-17T17:12:00.004-04:00

That's two screw-ups in one week, Blackberry device. I'm mad at you. First, the alarm went off one hour later than expected and I checked the settings, they were correct. I was not the only person experiencing this. Second, you were two hours off today until I restarted you. This is not cool, especially when your mothership is pushing out new models soon. Is this your way of letting me know I need to buy new things to stay sane?

Grow Island: Sim City Without Commitment

2008-05-04T16:53:00.011-04:00

This is a pretty neat little flash game where technology placed on the island grows in relationship to other technologies. It's very cute, and quite addictive just to see the outcomes when selecting the technologies in different order.
I chose science based technologies over Architecture, as the little guy is standing next to a pile of logs, with no house, but the trains are running!

Firefox 3 Beta 5 on Linux

2008-05-03T00:37:00.003-04:00

I can't seem to get Flash plug-in to work properly despite going through the forums. Ubuntu 8.04 has significant improvements in core function and greater support for laptop users, even with the included beta browser.

This is going to be the start of something pretty good, especially the improvements in the network management area. More chipsets are supported, which means last year's mainstream laptop models will work pretty well without too much effort in adjustment. I'll give this another spin once Firefox gets up and running.

What Was The Point?

2008-04-23T23:56:00.001-04:00

The other day I helped someone migrate to Microsoft Vista from XP. The laptop flew with a hefty serving of 3GB RAM and a dual core processor. Unfortunately, he was not impressed with the visual modifications and became annoyed with UAC prompts. He felt a bit more comfortable after I changed the Start Menu to Classic.

I said, "It took more than five years for this to launch."

He responds, "What was the point? Why didn't they keep XP and just add a number to it?"

Dear April: You're Escaping Me

2008-04-13T19:52:00.002-04:00

I'm still around, physically, but my hands aren't dancing in these forms . If you check for updates, I apologize. Please comment and let me know what topics we could discuss together. I'll post soon, I promise.

DMC 4

2008-03-26T01:33:00.005-04:00

Looks like barrels of fun, right? Too bad the game play is repetitive and the game design is really poor. This is a classic thumb-jammer, hack and slash through levels type of game. Weak thumbs are not allowed and highly discouraged from even attempting this type of game. The difficulty levels can be adjusted based on a player's tolerance for physical pain.

What makes this game terrible after one playthrough was the design of the game where the story centralized in one map. The player progresses through the map in one direction only to have to go backwards, facing the same scenes and same monsters/bosses. I will not spoil it for those who have not played it, but there is even more repetition towards the end. The map is not one of the finest I have seen, it is easy to get lost and wander as there are no pointers to indicate the next destination. The game is very linear and feels rigid, with scattering of secret missions which are pretty tough to beat hidden in the regular missions.

The main character wields a gun along with a sword, but the gun is too weak to be useful. I would have liked to have at least seen this weapon utilized more or better promoted in the upgrade options. Getting through the first ten missions is practically playing the entire game, there is not much to look forward to. There will be a part 5 and I hope it will be much better than this one.

Small Window Into Verizon Wireless Openness

2008-03-22T18:35:00.003-04:00

Last fall Verizon Wireless announced its plans to open its network to other devices not offered by VZW retail stores and resellers. This was amazing news to a lot of people who were hopeful to use different devices while maintaining the coverage and phone plan they currently held. This movement will be quite slow as VZW will test devices and approve them to used. Many are hoping to use devices like iPhones on VZW's CDMA network which is highly unlikely to fall through as there is no CDMA version of the iPhone. The purpose of the development conference according to Laura Holson is for VZW top executives to explain the thought and process behind opening up this doorway towards devices, applications, and developers.

For those who use Windows Mobile and RIM based phone on Verizon, installing applications and running them is not an issue. For everyone else who is locked into the VZW branded versions of popular handsets, this may be a glimmer of hope to use Sidekicks, Sony Ericsson phones, and other mainstream devices not compatible with VZW right now. It would be nice to see the iPhone on VZW some day, but I would not be upset or angry if it never happens. The price and other technical aspects of the iPhone makes it unappealing to me, but at the same time, it would be nice to have the option to try it out on EVDO.

I think the closest devices to VZW compatibility would be Sprint handsets which are not all that much better but still offer some variety other than the very limited selection VZW currently offers. My biggest gripe perhaps is the long wait for VZW version smartphones to be available. Data plan subscribers already pay more for the service, it's almost offending to also have to wait for devices other carriers are already discounting.

Violent Games and Harvard Researchers

2008-03-22T16:53:00.003-04:00

The argument is that game playing and games which the storylines and characters are drenched in violence may cause real-life violence, most of us turned out fine. I recall a time it was more common and focused that kids fought each other over whose turn it was to play or argued over the method to pass a certain mission. Games, like all other toys, offer ways for kids to bond with each other and fight over pretty silly things in hindsight.

Now, as an adult I realize some children are very impressionable and cannot distinguish the difference between reality and the fixation on a certain topic or idea. It is up to parents/guardians to regulate values and frown upon inappropriate behavior while they are young to ensure the kids react properly to all of life's moments with grace. Bullying comes naturally in all playground sizes and towns, it really does not matter who and where, someone is going to get picked on and violent video games do not always encourage young people to retaliate as most media and press like to push for.

I like the level of research involved and how Dr. Cheryl Olson examines the reasons why the boys liked the games and what it meant to them. She also mentions girls who also play and the unclear reasons why they may enjoy the games as well. I believe the desire to play these games is connected to the desire to connect with others who share the same interests, the level of discussions, and setting up challenges for each other. For the most part, from what I remember and still remember, it's never fun to play alone and I would not expect kids today to play these games alone without that internet connection to share scores and thoughts at the same time.

AT&T's New Information Site

2008-03-18T21:14:00.002-04:00

AT&T launched a new information site today with pages and pages of information about choice and openness of its network. The GSM based carrier explains to its visitors the benefits, features, and innovation of its network. There is a development center for developers to sign up and learn how to create applications for many smartphones. The site is visually appealing and aims to target customers and developers at once. Looks like the new craze these days is openness and acquiring customers who wish to bring their own phones and customize them as well. This is a carrier approach to what Nokia Nseries phones do, offer tons of applications and does not restrict carrier choice. In the near future, contracts will be a thing of the past and phones will be treated like regular home phones and fax machines, buy whatever we want, and use any service we desire.

More From The Samorost Gang

2008-03-16T20:13:00.004-04:00

This game is beautifully crafted, great background music and fun puzzles. The level of the puzzles are aimed at grade school kids, which forces them to compute to advance to the next level. If you haven't played Samorost 1 and 2, go here.

Hulu.com Test Drive

2008-03-16T02:03:00.002-04:00

Hulu has been live for a bit now and I finally got around to trying it out. The quality of the feed is really good and the commercials are only 15 seconds long, quite bearable but the clutter on the sides of the screen lets us know the meaning of free. The full screen mode is pretty fuzzy and almost useless. I watched an entire Simpsons episode on Hulu and found it less irritating than watching it on television since the commercials were shorter and fewer. The library has variety with newer and recent shows to really old shows like the original Addams Family. This service is aimed at high speed connections, low speed DSL and dial-up should not bother.

Digsby, The All-In-One Application

2008-03-16T01:53:00.003-04:00

Digsby is a pretty cool idea that ties all the e-mail accounts, instant messaging, and social network channels together into one application. The interface looks to be pretty slick and from what I see, it is a Windows application for the time being. The nice thing is it stores your settings across different computers with a lot of themes to choose from. I'll make a note to test this out once it moves from private beta to live.

Crawling Through The Mud

2008-03-09T01:00:00.002-05:00

High winds, rain, and the usual poor cable service left me half the day without any service. I spent half a day wrangling with software for a new system, seeing random errors, fixing errors, and living with perpetual errors I wholeheartedly accept as Windows environment married to third party hardware. Nothing is quite perfect, but I can't help but try.

Blackberry Social Networking: BBMNation.com

2008-03-06T22:46:00.004-05:00

This should have been thought of early on for Nextel Direct Connect during its heyday. Really, this would have been pretty cool during the days everyone was beeping and chirping away at their walkie talkies. BBMNation is a social networking site where RIM subscribers input their photo and PIN to chat. PIN messaging is free with a data plan and the interface is pretty standard, in a nothing can go wrong sort of way. It is not very fast but gets the job done, without using SMS and integration with the on-board camera.

The site still looks very beta with a lot of missing features and layout is pretty simple. This idea has great potential if executed in a LinkedIn type of way, where the freak and stranger level is lower than MySpace.

Edit: It just occurred to me that PIN messages and requests cannot be blocked, which is a feature that should exist. Well, proceed to join Blackberry social networking sites with caution. There is an application for blacklisting certain numbers or a person in the address book called Black & Whitelist.

IE8 Beta Available Now

2008-03-05T21:16:00.002-05:00

Microsoft has released the beta version of IE8 for the adventurous to try out. I am not a big fan of IE7 but this could be a worthy upgrade considering how much I dislike the current interface and nested menus. This version has more buttons to press and a bunch of other stuff we currently live without in IE7 and don't really miss. I know, I'm biased because I prefer Firefox but I will give it a chance at some point.

Massively Boring

2008-03-02T22:05:00.005-05:00

Playing this game is like watching a movie, but with hiccups on frame rates on an otherwise beautifully rendered space world. The aliens look great and the dialog is endless, it seems. The menu is not as fluid as it could be and somewhat confusing on how to change things around. Perhaps this type of menu would have played out better on a PC with a good graphics card, but it is definitely cumbersome on the 360.

The shooting part of the game, which is the only action, is really low tech, the aim is awful for the guns. The upgrades for weapons cost a lot of money, and there is no direct system like other RPG's to earn the money to buy them. After several hours into the game, I had no clue what omni-gel really was and why I couldn't just open those storage containers. This game is dense and probably needs a serious manual to explain everything along with tweaks for optimal play experiences.

The dialog system is pretty good, there are some options which relay instantly different results. The female human characters all seem to have the same haircut for some reason while the male humans don't. What is up with that? This is not a horrible game, I consider it along the same lines of Oblivion, big world, lots of dialog and walking around. There are sidequests like most RPG's which can stretch the gameplay longer to make it worth the full sixty dollars and tax.

Dell Miffed at Microsoft

2008-02-29T19:30:00.000-05:00

According to this article by Gregg Keizer, Dell is pretty mad at Microsoft for key changes in their Vista launch which led to customers being discontent by the confusing compatibility stickers. Dell is taking Microsoft to court over the poor performance in the transition to Vista since they are a PC manufacturer which only sold Microsoft OSes up until last year when it decided to test the waters of Linux. Since consumers do not have direct support for the operating system when purchasing from Dell, it is almost obvious the complaints will be about the "computer" not working, not so much the hardware not working caused by software driver issues.

Some people experienced initial troubles with driver and hardware compatibility during their migration to Vista but those who suffered most were the consumers who bought everything prior to the launch. The negativity about Vista and experience probably gave people ideas on moving to OS X to evade hardware and driver issues at once. The television commercials are enough to keep pushing the bar that the computing experience should be pleasant and simple, almost down to the point of idiot-proof. I am sure there are plenty of people who enjoy a challenge here and there, and stick with Windows or Linux.

Discounted Vista Licenses

2008-02-29T18:49:00.002-05:00

In effort to raise sales of the new operating system, Microsoft is putting some versions of Vista on discount mode. Even on sale, the $219 price tag for Vista Ultimate is very steep and not necessary if everything is working fine under Windows XP. The price discount is very large, considering Ultimate used to go for $299, but not attractive enough to be purchased or upgraded to. In comparison, $129 buys a single user license for OS X Leopard, and they are both functional operating systems with a lot of third party software to work with. Windows is very expensive when not purchased with a new system, which accounts for most new license sales.

What also hinders the movement towards all Vista machines is the hardware upgrades needed to experience all the features it offers. It is easier to buy a new system with Vista pre-installed rather than attempt to upgrade existing hardware while purchasing a legitimate license for it. This does not concern most consumers as their licenses come with PC purchases and upgrades only occur when it is time to buy a whole new PC. For everyone else, does the price cut mean anything? I would appreciate if Microsoft reduced the price of their OS down to nothing, since Office is expensive as it is.

Amazon Web Services

2008-02-24T17:14:00.003-05:00

Amazon offers competitive pricing for their web services which includes remote computing, storage, database, and remote dev sites. This service would be good for small shops who do not want to pay for hardware and software required for reliability and storage. The pricing is pretty good, paying for what is needed per month in terms of storage and usage, without bearing the cost of buying anything physical. I could use the storage version of Amazon Web Services, instead of having to rely on free services which have caps on how much data may be stored and their changing usage policies. Amazon makes it clear with:

"10.2. Your Applications, Data and Content. Other than the rights and interests expressly set forth in this Agreement, and excluding Amazon Properties and works derived from Amazon Properties, you reserve all right, title and interest (including all intellectual property and proprietary rights) in and to: (i) content and data you may send to us or use as part of your use of any Services, including Amazon S3 or Amazon SimpleDB, which are designed by us to permit you to send content or data to us ("Your Content"); and (ii) your Applications."

This would be an economical way of storing photos and other files privately, and being able to access them remotely.

A Can of Air Disables Years of Research

2008-02-24T01:31:00.002-05:00

The researchers at Princeton University discovered the vulnerability of software encryption by using cold air. The PDF is lengthy and offers quite an explanation of the processes involved with this method. All this really means is software encryption will have to be reevaluated for the future as data breach costs a lot of money for companies and individuals.

Sanyo Phone For iDEN Network

2008-02-22T23:51:00.002-05:00

Motorola is no longer the only manufacturer of iDEN phones as this Sanyo is set to release after gaining FCC approval. iDEN is still what most of us remember it as, really low tech half duplex communications service where one could literally smash the phone into bits during an argument using it. There is no way of butting in, until the other party releases the "talk" button. The service and devices are less popular today as there are better alternatives like multimedia phones instead of signing up for pretty poor CDMA/iDEN service and very little choice in devices. I am not sure which customers this phone aims to target but I cannot imagine it being any more popular than the existing Motorola i-Series line.

Palm Centro

2008-02-21T22:42:00.002-05:00

Palm has a new budget priced smartphone out for around $100 with contract. It is nothing spectacular but it is a cheap smartphone for those who like the OS. I cannot comment too much on the newer Palm OS but after demoing a Treo at a store, I felt that I preferred Blackberry's interface.

Some of the nice things included are XM Radio Mobile Client, instant messaging software, and full qwerty keyboard. The white and green looks like a cousin to an Xbox360 but there will be more colors available for those who find the first combination an eyesore.

Dell Commits to Linux Fans

2008-02-18T20:16:00.003-05:00

Dell is pushing hard for Linux and it is pretty awesome. They have been including Linux as an option for some of their computers, which means better driver support and friendlier conversion from Windows. I do like Thinkpads for Linux compatibility but Dell is quite alluring with the pricing.

I'm up for a new desktop and a laptop but it is pretty hard to choose between building the perfect Linux desktop for non-work related tasks and dual booting Windows, or buying a stock desktop (with OEM Windows license) and just slapping on an extra drive to run both OSes. For the laptop, I may even consider Apple brand for its multimedia experience but I'm very much attached to a Thinkpad running Linux. The most ideal setting is probably owning all three and using them for tasks they perform best at.

Unlimited CDMA Packages

2008-02-18T16:10:00.002-05:00

Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless are testing out unlimited packages for voice, data, and unlimited SMS/MMS. The price for Sprint's version is $120 while Verizon Wireless cost much more for the same thing at $150. Sprint will be testing out the plans in select markets while Verizon Wireless will be offering them starting February 19. Both carriers are not cheapest around and have a pretty poor selection of phones compared to its GSM competitors.

The unlimited plan would not be good for someone like me who uses mostly data and less of the voice portion since the carrier allows for free calling to in network subscribers. I hope it is a good deal for some folks, but it would probably be cheaper to just hop over to T-Mobile.

Linux Goes Nowhere

2008-02-18T00:24:00.003-05:00

Let's face it, Linux is going nowhere fast and it will not change any time soon. I love the idea of free, can openly modify, and the ability to distribute. What I do not like is the amount of time to invest to get it working as we are most used to with Windows or OS X. The first time I installed Linux (Fedora) was several years ago on a Dell desktop and it was a pretty bad experience. I shelved it until Ubuntu starting gaining speed for desktops and finally laptops. So far, the experience with Linux and laptops has been good and less painful to set up.

The painful part was manually pounding into the terminal what I took for granted with Windows and OS X with their reasonable GUI's. It is nice to learn new things and solve small issues by investing the time to research followed by trial and error. I do admit, Linux is no substitute for the multimedia experience Windows and OS X provide, the hassle to install drivers and lack of professional/business software make the idea of free seem not worth the effort. OpenOffice is no substitute for Microsoft Office and GIMP is no substitute for Photoshop.

For basic chores and web browsing, Linux works perfectly and gets the job done. It is a shame the movement of freeness is not gaining ground in the consumer world.

Speaking of Being Bad at Piano

2008-02-16T21:27:00.002-05:00

This is very cool, but at the same time, very useless. I can imagine a harmony of some sort when pairing out a few of these and everyone playing in sync. That is actually a pretty good idea, if there were enough iPhone owners who all happened to be pretty good at piano.

Not Made for Guitar Hero or Rock Band

2008-02-16T18:42:00.004-05:00

It seems like the most popular games today are those rock'n and rolling party games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I love music, but do not own either versions. What is wrong with the picture? It is called sloppy finger syndrome in my book, for the life of me, I cannot follow the screen and press the color coded buttons rapidly. I could probably practice and get good enough to enjoy it, but I am not wild about spending the time on it.

I'm wondering if others have this issue, where the games are fun, the music is great, but it is frustrating because the hand-eye coordination is not there. This whole mess probably explains why I hated piano lessons as a child as it stressed me more than learning fractions.

Lenovo Thinkpad X300 Undressed & Unraveled

2008-02-15T23:48:00.002-05:00

Thin, light and slim is always welcomed in laptops, especially since the Macbook Air made its appearance. This newest Thinkpad is a somewhat of a shrunken version of the existing X series. The X300 has more storage, DVD drive, removable battery, ethernet port, and more USB ports than the Macbook Air. It runs $1000 more than its OS X running competitor but will run Windows XP or Vista quite well.

I am a big fan of Thinkpads for its build quality, ease to repair and upgrade. There's also something comforting about seeing a red nub in the middle of a keyboard. I hope it never changes.

The Winner: Blu-ray

2008-02-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

HD DVD is the loser in this era of formats with Netflix choosing Blu-ray for their high definition rentals. Netflix is probably the most reliable rental service stretching fifty states, and if it chooses Blu-ray, that is the player subscribers will buy.

The new movies will still release in standard DVD format for years to come while Blu-ray players have not come down in price. The electronics manufacturers will start pumping out Blu-ray players and the prices will start coming down within a year. This is great news for consumers who wait.

Sony Ericsson, Fresh Designs

2008-02-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

I always thought Sony made some nice gadgets, and I still have people in my life who swear by their television sets. Sony has failed in digital audio players for having really poor software and higher prices than other brands. For a hot second, they even made pretty good minidisc players. The designs are always innovative and eye-catching. If I weren't a CDMA subscriber, these new SE branded phones would be on my consideration list. They pack a good set of features like music player, 3+ MP camera, web browser, and generous on board memory. It is refreshing to see a company keep pushing for better designs instead of reusing the same one.

Micro-hoo!

2008-02-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

Instead of trying to improve the existing search engine, Microsoft bids to buy Yahoo to gain market share. This is some competitive business since Google is the biggest player in ads and search engine revenue. There is no doubt that Microsoft still holds plenty of market share in the software business and this is one serious step towards dominating more channels.

I recall a time where MSN and Yahoo were the premier search engines, and using Hotmail or Yahoo Mail were a common thing. These days, most e-mail addresses end with "@gmail.com" and by instinct we use that nifty Google Toolbar for all our searching needs.

Files Should Be Private

2008-02-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

Not surprising, but PC repair techs and the like pillage through personal files while working on a client's computer. There are many things morally wrong with this, despite some good such as catching potentially dangerous people. I feel that some consumers are being extorted by technology sometimes, to buy a piece of hardware that runs a certain piece of software, and when it stops working, they are at the mercy of warranty repair or third party shops. It is not wonder portable drives are flying off retail shelves, consumers should not save personal files on machines if they do not have the knowledge to perform repairs.

I never understood the need to go through personal files while repairing a client's machine, perhaps it is my lack of interest and knowing that even if they did not suspect it, it is still morally wrong. The lesson for most consumers is sending a computer for repair is much like sending a car to a mechanic, the files like anything in the glove compartments may be tampered with or stolen.

Dell Kiosks Folding Up For Good

2008-01-30T23:50:00.000-05:00

Dell will be closing those little mall kiosks where one cannot purchase their computers but order one while standing there. The kiosks seem like a pretty good idea, a mail/internet computer company with samples of what they sell and someone available to answer all the questions. I recall a time where Dell owned the desktop industry with a lot of offerings, from low budget to gaming machines. Even today, Dell remains very competitive with prices and configurations for both desktops and laptops. It probably makes more sense to sell at retail giants giving consumers a better retail experience by having easier store returns and being able to go home with the product the same day.

KDE 4.0

2008-01-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

Ryan Paul reviews KDE 4.0 , the successor to KDE 3.5 in a positive light, instead of aggressively attacking its shortcomings and incompleteness, he contends it is the upward motion towards something much greater later on. I currently use KDE 3.5 in favor of Gnome because there are better interfaces for wireless networking, at least, to me. I am not very fond of decorations (widgets) and desktop visualizations as they eat up system resources and do not enhance my tasks or my personal experiences. KDE 3.5 is very good and has all the extras expected in a responsive desktop.

I understand 4.0 will require a lot more resources and probably a newer machine to run it. It also looks very close to Vista/OS X, which is not a bad thing. If so many users are inclined to choose either Windows or OS X based system whether for personal or work reasons, it seems logical for an open source OS to follow suit and gain trust from new users. I emphasize new users as there are plenty of existing users, still pounding away at their terminals and treating their setups like an on-going project. There is no doubt in my mind that the future of Linux pretty much rests in attaining new users while giving them an opportunity to try Linux without having to use the terminal. The Asus Eee PC is a good start to not using the terminal.
I will wait until I upgrade to a new machine and hopefully KDE 4.0 will be mature enough to be used with all the features being more than just visuals or rearranging the existing parts.

A Lease on Technology

2008-01-21T19:28:00.000-05:00

Saul Hansell has the right idea about how technology is now a subscription service rather than a straight shot purchase. I think this is derived from our constant need for upgrades, to get firmware automatically, to gather new content for our devices, and to constantly be on innovation's wing. Everything needs some sort of internet connection as of late, and I find it difficult to avoid.

I treat every piece of technology I buy as a lease understanding that it will someday stop working or it will no longer serve the needs it once did. I still have a desktop computer I purchased as a refurb for just under $500. Many operating systems have passed through it since 2003, the date of purchase, and it still somewhat does basic tasks fairly well. The disc drive is slowly starting to fail and it is no longer fast enough to keep up with the software demands. Still, I keep it around for what it is good for, the basic tasks. The desktop computer pretty much cost me $100 to own each year, which is less than 30 cents per day. This is more than acceptable considering I have accomplished many tasks using it. It is almost time for a new desktop and it is even easier now to find a brand new desktop for $500 which hopefully would last the same amount of time.

The only purchase I cannot warrant spending too much on is mobile phones/pda's since they are usually replaced within two years and requires monthly payments for voice/data plans. The sweet spot for me is $200 with the contract price, bringing it down to less than 30 cents per day.

Of course, this formula cannot work for everything and should not work for all things. The point is everything is a subscription now and with some careful calculation, it is not so bad.

Netflix Instant View: Now Unlimited

2008-01-21T15:30:00.000-05:00

Netflix removed cap on the hours of streamed media viewing to give members unlimited instant-view. This is great news but unfortunately the selection as of now is not very good, it is a mix of older movies and sitcoms, nothing too recent. The service is to be used with Windows XP or Vista only, those who use other operating systems like OS X or Linux are left out. I am not upset since I prefer getting physical media in the mail and not rely on my intermittent internet connection. It is disappointing they did not build the streaming service for all OSes.

This is not the first time Linux users are neglected in this department. I tried streaming the ABC shows available but the service only recognized Windows and OS X users. For all of the sites I work on, I do notice there is very little presence of Unix/Linux users (less than 1%). It is only Windows users, using Internet Explorer and Firefox and a good handful of OS X folk. Where are the Unix/Linux users? I know there are plenty of you based on the forums!

Stock Price Dropping Newness

2008-01-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

The day after the Mac Keynote is a time where all blogs and information sites take a step back, and complain about the disappointments of the new products or upgrades. I personally think all the products Apple releases are form first before function. We love pretty things. The wireless networked terabyte drive looks very useful, aesthetically pleasing, and a good deal for the amount of storage but it requires Leopard as the operating system to use. The super thin and portable Macbook Air has everyone obsessing over its features and what it lacks. The concept and the design makes an amazing portable internet tool and it is priced for those who do not consider the cost as an obstacle. The bare bones version without the upgrades is powerful enough to comfortably use for the next year or two with the only downsides such as not being able to replace the battery, do any upgrades with RAM, or replace the hard drive. The announcement of the iTunes movie rental service is another sign that media is merging to one service, one device, and merging to replace physical media.

Cheaper Junk in the PS3

2008-01-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

According to BusinessWeek, PS3 is slimming down on the manufacturing costs of the console with Blu-ray leading the pack in the format wars. This is a good thing because the PS3 did cost too much to begin with and did not have the software library to support it. For $400, some retailers will sell the PS3, include one movie bundled in the box, and a mail-in form for five additional Blu-ray movies. That is a pretty good deal to build up a Blu-ray disc library while buying a game console.

I am a big fan of consoles because they are just easy to use, turn it on, insert disc/cartridge and play. The purchase of a PS3 is definitely a unconventional one to me, since the software library is very weak in comparison to Microsoft's Xbox 360, the decision to purchase one is based solely on the desire for the Blu-ray player. I rarely purchase DVD's to begin with since I rather use rental services, so the free movies do not appeal to me. Where are the good games? That part is still in production, somewhere.

First Glances at Starbucks+Apple iPhone GUI

2008-01-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, these initial screens are pretty cool. I do not own any Apple products but the pace they move with consumer experience and aesthetics is beyond measure. I also do not go to Starbucks enough to warrant an iPhone purchase, but needless to say, the interface looks very user-friendly, intuitive and simple.

Massive Panasonic Plasma

2008-01-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

This television is a beast and the woman standing next to it looks like a spectator of a giant tank at the aquarium. I cannot imagine how this would fit into a house based on the dimensions. There is no price tag on this yet, but it's going to be expensive.

The Super Bowl on this would be amazing!

Ideapad

2008-01-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

Lenovo is introducing a new line of consumer laptops with the word "pad" appended to it. Their 3000 series failed as a cheaper alternative to the T and X series of laptops they are really known for. When I say failure, I meant that it was geared towards consumers but were priced a bit higher than competitors with less multimedia features than HP/Compaq and Dell. I do not believe I saw any 3000 series laptops available at local electronics stores, which is marketing failure as well. I consider most laptops to be similar in function and value, so it is important for a consumer geared laptop to be available at shops to be demoed and inspected based on feel and aesthetics.

The Ideapad is different. It is a consumer laptop in many respects, it is glossy, colorful, and have some sort of personality other than matte black finishes covering steel cages. Instead of including a biometric fingerprint reader, they included facial security software paired with the 1.3MP webcam which is interesting. I am unsure how exactly that works, but I am assuming like most recognition software, it measures distances between points like your eyes/nose and compares it with a stored image. It is pretty futuristic, to sit down at your desk at home, and log on without touching the keyboard or muttering a word.

I am a big fan of Thinkpads because the parts are very much interchangeable for one series, easy to repair, and consistently get driver updates for hardware. Most of all, and most important to me, I am able to install a few operating systems on a Thinkpad and have very little issues with drivers. I hope the Ideapad is the same way, but I will have to wait until Linux compatibility is listed.

Mobile POS for iPhones

2008-01-01T19:02:00.000-05:00

Anyone who stood behind a register will easily say that point of sale systems are very ugly, old, and often unapologetic in unexpected errors. Caufield writes that Apple will patent a mobile POS system for Starbucks drink ordering. This seems like a good match, bringing technology to those who love technology, and allowing them to order faster. Since the iPhone has such a simple user interface, I cannot imagine the interface for the ordering system to be complicated or convoluted. I have always been impressed with Apple's considerations for user interface and easy to understand menus.

Although this technology has many limitations, such as ownership of the hardware, willingness to store credit card information on a device, and preference for Starbucks coffee, it is a good way to calculate and keep track of how much one is spending on their drinks per week, per month, and per year.

Web Analytics Moves to Applications

2007-12-30T19:56:00.000-05:00

According to users, Omniture is currently monitoring usage of Adobe CS3 products, and does it discretely without notifying the user. Users are not happy with the reporting of their application usage and feel threatened that an analytics company is using their network connection and violating their sense of privacy. Since I use analytics products and know the type of information collected, it is not a threat, but I can see the concern in not being able to simply click "No" to opt-out.

Adobe products are expensive and require newer hardware to use, but they are the standard products of design and publishing professionals. There are no comparable products to substitute them. I can see how monitoring software usage can help Adobe design better and intuitive products based on statistics. However, for such pricey software, Adobe should give users the option of not participating in the data collection.

Blaming Technology

2007-12-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

While I was in college, the professors would emphasize that it was not technology's fault if an assignment or term paper perished along with your computer's fatal crash. The fault was with the students being careless and saving things on a hard disk only. I suspect the professors knew that it was a favorite excuse and they were tired of hearing it. We carried around 3.5" floppies and USB flash drives and stored all our work in multiple places.

Today, I store everything on hard drives, mail accounts, mobile phone inboxes, and mp3 players. Out of paranoia, I keep copies and copies of things, so a loss of a device or a crash does not interrupt my sanity. Do people blame technology for all their woes? Is it easier to blame your computers and devices when late delivering work or late on getting an important document?

Sometimes, I find checking e-mail faster and easier than listening to phone calls, listening to every, "uh", "like", "and" between the important parts of the message. Most workers today respond using their Blackberry devices, the keyboard is small, the message is short and simple. The only issue is misinterpretation and not knowing if the message is read with the proper tone. I am unsure who is at fault, the person using the device to relay an important message or the receiver not taking the initiative to call back instead of responding through e-mail. Or, would it be valid to blame the small device and keyboard, which makes it harder to type a more detailed message? Sometimes, even detailed messages can be misread, misinterpreted or even accidentally caught by the spam filter.

I think it may be easy to blame technology.

Improperly Touting Google Docs

2007-12-20T14:57:00.000-05:00

Darlin improperly promotes the use of Google Documents as a substitute for a real word processing application for a desktop/laptop setup. He does raise valid points on how the newer versions of Office are far too advanced for the typical user and cost too much. What he does not fully understand is the inability to save documents or access them (unless you edit, download a copy to your hard disk - repeat this many times) without an internet connection. Web browsers do crash, with multiple tabs open all running different types of scripts and loading many MB's of flash, and when that happens, you risk losing unsaved work prior to the last Auto or Manual save.

Google Documents works wonderfully for small scale writing, short paragraphs, but it is not a real word processor and does not have all the functions of a desktop application. I use Google Documents as a supplement to a word processor, as a portable editing tool, but not as a solution.

The author did not mention other free word processing applications that fall under the GNU license like OpenOffice which has most of the widely used capabilities of Microsoft Office without cost. The only cost in using this application is learning the placement and the arrangement of the slightly different menu. The changes would cost productivity, of course, but the end result is a free word processing application which also saves documents as PDF's!

I am certain the author and most of readers are very novice in free technology that has been available for a long time. To tell people Google Documents is a free solution to Microsoft Office is not understanding that a web application is very much different than a desktop application. I really wonder how he will use Google Documents where there is no free wifi in range - will he type in Notepad or Wordpad and run to the next hotspot, copy&paste to edit?

3D Motion Graphics to Ruin All Childhoods

2007-12-15T13:58:00.000-05:00

I never understood the concept of taking a really old cartoon from the 80's and reworking it in some 3D form and adding human characters to support them. I did not like what the production studios did to Garfield, he was much better as a standard cartoon, and so was Jon.

Alvin and the Chipmunks is about to get ruined as well, taking away the sensible childhood humor it was once, into a slapstick comedy with punch lines. I am pretty disappointed in how the studios are using 3D to rework older characters instead of coming up with new ones like Shrek.

Only Transformers passed the rework test, where the movie and its visuals were amazing to adults and children. The latest Ninja Turtles Movie was actually a nice attempt to bring back the classic story of crime fighting reptiles, but it was not anything new and amazing.

Where have all the new ideas gone? Have they been dismissed in favor of safer projects like creating sequels and reworks? Does technology inspire people to revisit old ideas instead of starting all over?

Operating Systems

2007-12-13T23:26:00.000-05:00

I use Windows at work, but use it very rarely at home. I have an older desktop that still runs Windows, but really slowly. For software reasons, I cannot do everything in Linux. Linux is still very much a hobbyist operating system, it requires a lot of patience and time to set up. The only support available is forums, unless someone happens to own a Dell branded Linux computer - they can call a support center.

I do not like Windows for a general home user because of the amount of software needed to use it. The mounds of software in the Taskbar seems to grow on every release, there is hardly such a thing as a Windows Slim. I think Windows really shines from a business perspective with Exchange, Outlook and Active Directory working in harmony. I will probably not purchase another computer with Windows installed until a better home user experience version is available.

I almost considered buying a first generation Zune for its value in sale price and storage. My mind was changed very quickly when I realized additional software was needed to use it. Why is Windows Media Player not good enough? Oh, right, the additional software allows for Zune Marketplace to sell media. No, thank you.

MAC OSX has the right idea, they only use iTunes, and all their media players/phone(s) only need iTunes, and nothing more. My only gripe with Apple products is their high price for an equivalent computer not licensed to run OS X. The lower end models have only integrated video cards and still command more cash than better equipped non-Apple comparative systems. The lifecycle of hardware is typically 2 - 3 years, it is hard for me to justify purchasing a Macbook Pro. Their software works flawlessly with the hardware they put out with very minimal headaches.

My solution for sane computing at home is to only use Windows for Excel and other specific pieces of software. Everything else, I can almost do in Linux - except for printing. There are not enough print drivers, especially for recent multifunction printers. I do not mind it so much since I use the copier portion of the printer more than anything.

I am in the market for a new computer very soon and it looks like I will have two hard drives and two separate operating systems. I cannot imagine having to commit to one operating system.

A New Motorola Handset In the Horizon?

2007-12-13T20:20:00.001-05:00

Motorola has not been very innovative since their RAZR phone release a few years ago. I think most people are tired of that phone and all the phones that look like it. The company is looking to release a new phone soon to bring the sales back up. I recall Motorola being the pioneer of cellphone fashion with their StarTAC phone. It was the first sleek clamshell of the late 90's with its green backlight and battery in the front. I remember owning that phone and having the antenna break off a few times. I also remember the buffet of ugly aftermarket antennas to replace the broken original.

I look forward to trying out their next phone. The last phone I thought looked great was the first iteration of the Q Smartphone. Unfortunately, like the RAZR, the Q had terrible battery life. Their future designs would need to be beautiful and function at the same time.

OPENhulu as a Substitute

2007-12-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

OPENhulu.com allows you to watch some of the same content as regular still-private-beta Hulu. There is little content available and the ads are all over the place. I could not get the video to stream as my connection may be slow in this area despite broadband access. The ads load just fine, though.

Free prime time television shows streamed to computers may eliminate the need for basic cable service some day. I hope others have better luck than me in sampling the free feed.

Gothic Batman Flying Suit

2007-12-10T21:43:00.000-05:00

The NYTimes ran an article today about a man named Jeb who wants to jump out of an airplane in his wingsuit and eventually land with all limbs intact. Although this is not humanly impossible it is a terrible idea. I can see this suit becoming some sky diving acrobatic sports equipment but definitely not to be used without a parachute.

This reminds me of when I was about six years old and decided to jump down an entire flight of stairs holding an umbrella like how they did it in cartoons. Needless to say, two skinned knees and two decades later, I know that gravity is a force not to be messed with, even with well thought out technology and design.

Everex Cloudbook, Even More Linux

2007-12-10T20:56:00.000-05:00

More cheap pre-installed Linux is coming by the next year. This is a direct competitor to the Asus Eee PC. The major difference is this comes with a 30GB hard drive and a media card reader. The version of Linux on this little guy will be Google branded. Most people use Google products regularly and will probably be able to use this mini laptop very easily.

Aesthetically, the Asus just looks better, but this is a better value if it promises to stay under $400. This does not have a trackpad, though carrying a wireless mouse or a mini mouse does not seem like too much hassle.

I know I emphasize form more than function, but I feel that we forgive good-looking technology even if it does not perform to our expectations. I do not like that giant gap between the hinges. I am not sure if I even like the hinges, they look fragile where they are positioned.

Considering this has 30GB storage capacity, it can fit a lot of music, pictures, and volumes of e-books. I hope more mini Linux laptops come out and they evolve to become as standard as a PDA phone.

Will You Hulu?

2007-12-10T20:21:00.000-05:00

Finally, high definition quality streaming television shows come to your local computer setup. Hulu is funded by the major media giants in the US. They do IP address filtering, so if you are not in the US, you will not be able to watch these fine American shows. The library of shows is quite impressive with all the latest shows and some older series.
I could see myself watching a random Simpsons epidsoe on this someday soon.

This technology is limited to only broadband subscribers, I think DSL will chug and choke during the buffering and dial-up is not an option. This is not completely free, there will be a fair amount commercials to watch.

Palm Pilot Still Lives On

2007-12-09T21:28:00.000-05:00

I used to own a Palm IIIxe more than seven years ago. I remember the crazy stylus writing method called "graffiti" where shortstroke stylus movements translated to letters of the alphabet. They also had a virtual keyboard for the stylus to tap, a model still used by some mobile units, like the iPhone.

The crazy thing is, the devices are still in production, I do not know for what reason other than some sort of electronic planner and e-book reader usage. I recall finding it impossible to type without a real keyboard, and sync-ing from the desktop software was a real pain. Palm Desktop was not definitely not a great piece of software.

Palm OS still lives on select Treo phones. I considered purchasing a Treo but after some research and seeing it in person, along with the $400 price tag, the negatives definitely weighed in. The Windows version of the Treo responded better and faster. I do not see too much evolution in the operating system and the Palm Treo worked better as a mobile computing device rather than a phone.

These new Palm devices run about $180 for some PDA action with WiFi. I have only seen a few people still own these things.

Use Other CDMA Devices on Verizon

2007-12-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

Verizon Wireless will let customers use other devices on their network someday soon. Considering they use CDMA technology and most of the sought after devices work only in GSM networks, I do not see how great this could be.

Also, considering one would actually lose money by not using the carrier subsidy when buying a new device, this change would mainly benefit those who switch to Verizon and want to carry their old device on board.

I have to admit, Verizon Wireless is late on getting good devices and often disables features in effort to push for paid subscription services, but unlocked phones usually cost around $400 for a recent device. Having the option to bring your own is nice, though.

Verizon Wireless will be switching to LTE GSM in the future but it will be a long while before we start seeing something worth mentioning again. I was a customer of all the carriers except T-Mobile, I had to switch my mindset to signing up for service when switching to VZW instead of letting a device steer me to sign up for carrier. I may have to rewire my brain when there are more options.

Asus Eee PC

2007-12-08T23:17:00.000-05:00

I waited for this to come out for a few months. I also thought it would stay below $300. It pretty much suits what I would want in a small low tech laptop, opensource, full web experience (unlike mobile phone units), and a full keyboard.

I am passing on this for a few reasons. The first is the thick black borders of plastic encasing swallowing up valuable screen size real estate. I am sure there is a purpose to it, but I wished the screen was larger.

Since I do not own a USB CD/DVD-ROM drive, I would need to purchase one in addition to this laptop in order to install custom OSes on it. Yes, I am sure I could find a way to boot a flash drive to install an OS, but I do not own a 4GB USB flash drive either. It is just easier to use a USB CD/DVD-ROM drive. Purchasing more hardware for this laptop would not make it as economical as it looks since this laptop only comes with 4GB HD space.

What I do like about this laptop is the beginnings of what could be a revolution towards low tech and low priced technology. This laptop runs a very user-friendly flavor of Linux and is very small in size. I can see this laptop as a great little customization project.

In the meantime, I am sticking to business laptops where the price includes the full laptop experiences and a decent sized HD.

Super Mario Gaaaalaxy!

2007-12-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

Super Mario Galaxy is entertainment technology at its finest. If you grew up on 2D games and the very original Super Mario, this is quite a new way of playing the game. Mario's movements remain the same, jump, run around, throw shells, swim, and slip 'n slide on ice. The only noticeable difference in this iteration is the use of motion controls. To make him do a spin move, you shake the Wii-mote. The levels are quite innovative with a lot of upside down, sideways camera angling and gravity themes where Mario would fall into the direction of the gravitation pull. There's nothing really bad to say about this game, it is hours on end of 3D jumping around and shaking the Wii-mote.

I managed to beat the game but did not get all the stars. After about 55+ levels of jumping around, it stopped entertaining me but I am still impressed by the use of new hardware.

Google Analytics Advanced

2007-12-08T15:21:00.000-05:00

Google Analytics is a free metrics tool for measuring web statistics with many nice functions and features. As I sat through a sales meeting for this product pitched to Fortune 100 clients, I learned its strengths and weaknesses. For a free tool, Google Analytics is quite impressive with the biggest strength going to AdWords and having a comprehensive kit for setting up campaigns. The only drawback I saw for this tool is the inability to import data from other non-free tools and the inability to export the data to be analyzed by another tool.

I feel that this tool is great to be used along with another non-free tool but not to be used alone with bigger clients. Using two tools gives two perspectives in data interpretation, but increases the amount of time for interpretation as each tool computes metrics differently.

I do not have experience with Google Analytics but I am interested in trying it for the advanced features like setting up segments.

A Blog Without a Plan

2007-12-08T15:05:00.000-05:00

Hello,

This is the early beginnings of a random technology blog. I chose this template as a default because it reminds me of the earth toned default Ubuntu Gnome Desktop colors.

The purpose of this blog is to express opinion regarding types of technology. I feel as though technology brings people together and connects people with similar interests. I am interested in sharing thoughts and ideas with people who love learning and using new technology.

Regards,
Amateur