Another Tech Blog

So glad to see this stuff happening.  Finally, the  car manufacturers are getting it right, and believe it or not, Ford is on top of the mass market, consumer accessible devices.  Very cool!  I can’t wait to have Pandora in my car…..

http://mashable.com/2010/04/20/ford-sync-applink/

Have you been using Google Buzz?  I’ve been playing with it, and I like the way conversations flow, but honestly it’s just a little too much at the moment.  I follow just a few people, but some are verbose and have lots of comments.  The nice thing is that you are not limited to 140 characters, but the really really really BAD thing is that you can’t collapse the comments at all.  That means that if I have 100 new posts to read, I get through about 3 before I give up.  With all of the comments displayed, you have to scroll through endless nonsense to just see what you might want to read.  totally annoying.

At least Google seems to be addressing things that people complain about, and is adding some control options to help limit the inbox flow for Buzz.  Specifically,  the ability to choose which items get sent to your inbox.  If you just want an e-mail when someone comments on your post, it will soon be possible.   If you want just posts where you are @replied, that’s possible as well.   The second feature is a “Mute” link on individual buzz posts, which will stop a buzz post from reappearing in your inbox every time someone comments.

Good starts, but where is the supress comments??!!??

Apple’s big reveal of the iPad today had the tech world on the edge their seats, ready for the “next big thing” from Mr. Jobs and the Cupertino crew.  Does the iPad live up to the hype?

Here are the basic specs:

9.5 inch x 7.5 inch multi touch capacitive display

.5 inches thick

1.5 lbs

1024 x 768 pixels at 132 ppi

1 Ghz Apple A4 processor

Available with 16, 32 or 64 GB flash drives

10 hour battery

WiFi by default, 3G models available too

Price starts at $499 for the base WiFi model, runs up to $829 for the 3G 64 MB model

I have not had one in my hands, but the device looks impressive on the surface.  It runs the iPhone OS, so all of the iPhone apps you know and love are there, plus some tweaks and additions, notably the addition of iBooks.  Sort of iTunes for books.  I like the idea of books on demand (I’m a big fan of the Kindle app for iPhone) so the addition of e-Books on the iPhone platform is welcome.  Several apps look like they have been upgraded – mail has many more options, contacts, calendar, maps all have much needed upgrades that make use of the additional real estate on the iPad.

The iPad also builds on the iTunes store in the video arena.  Movies and TV shows will look great on the device, as will You Tube and streaming web content.  There are a couple of downsides – it looks like the display is only 720p, and for Apple only knows why, they STILL won’t display flash.  That said, given the display size video will likely look great.

Is it a game changer?  I’ve been thinking about that since the demo ended and honestly I just don’t think that it is.  I do think that in its category it will be the clear leader, and its competitors will be scrambling to follow.  That is the key though – in its category.  The iPhone was a game changer because it dominated its category (cell phones) with must have added features.  Web browsing, music, video, maps and of course, the app store.  It was revolutionary because it brought all of these things together on a device that everyone already used every day, their cell phone.  I don’t see the same demand for what is essentially a really big iPhone.  Sure there are people for whom this device will be the end all be all, I can’t live without it, greatest thing since sliced bread.  Commuters, techies, travelers will benefit from this device.  Most people though just don’t need it, and there was nothing in the demo today that makes me think people are going to look at the iPad and say – OMG I NEED THAT. 

Is it cool?  Yes.  Is it great technology?  Absolutely.  Is it great design?  Sure, but really just more of the same iPhone design.  Is it going to be as big as the iPhone?  No way.  Will it “change publishing as we know it”?  I really don’t think so.  It’s hard for me to believe that a device as costly as this is will be ubiquitous, or even really popular in the average household.  People like to read papers and books, share them with friends, leave them on trains.  Yes, the content you can get from an eReader is way beyond what a magazine or newspaper can deliver, but I don’t see people paying $500 for the privilege.  Especially when you throw netbooks into the mix.

Think about the average household and what people’s computing needs are.  Email, web browsing, games, some word processing (homework, letters), spreadsheets, pictures.  I can do all of this from a netbook for $299, almost half what the iPad will cost.  Also, the netbook will likely be windows based, so will use MS Word and Excel, not iWorks (eeeww), so I can edit documents for school or work without an issue.  If iPad can run Office for Mac, that would be great, but there is no indication that this is possible.

Here’s another measure I use for the iPad.  If I am going on a trip for a week, can I get through the trip with only the iPad?  For me, the answer is probably not.  I’m going to need a device I can edit word/excel on.  I can view the docs on the iPad, and iWorks allows me to save MS Office documents, but will specific formating in Excel and Word save too?  I don’t know the answer here, and it’s important.  If I can safely edit anything that Office throws at the iPad in iWorks, then I’m all set.  If, as in the past, the formating gets messed up, that means I have to take either a netbook or a laptop with me which means I’m not likely to take the iPad with me – too many devices.  Which in turn means that I probably wouldn’t buy it if I can’t use it on trips.  Oh I wish there were open standards for documents.  Oh wait, there is.

So, what do I make of all this?  I love that the iPad exists.  It means that people are thinking about how we look at our online universe.  It didn’t WOW me, but something will.  Maybe it will be an app for the iPad, or some yet to be released feature, but it’s not there yet.  C’mon Steve, make me NEED THS!

Speaking of the internets, Cisco is going extraterrestrial.  “In a move that could revolutionize satellite communications, Cisco extends the Internet into space for testing by the U.S. government and businesses”. 

Yep, cisco has a router on Intelsat 14 launchedNovember 23.  The router has passed initial testing and is ready for use.  Cisco’s goal is to have “a router on every communications satellite”.  A lofty goal to say the least, and is part of Cisco’s IRIS (Internet Routing In Space) initiative.  The goal of the initiative is to route traffic (voice, data, video) between satellites directly rather than down to terrestrial routers and back up to space.  The implications for the communications industry (and the military) are tremendous, engendering heady comments from industry players.  Don Brown of Intelsat General says “IRIS is to the future of satellite-based communications what Internet forerunner ARPANET was to the creation of the World Wide Web in the 1960s.”   I don’t know if I’d go that far, but it is a pretty big deal.

The big advantage of direct IP between satellites is decreased delay in communication.  Signals between people on opposite sides of the world often have two or more satellite hops to get from one place to another.  If IRIS gets traction, then speeds could be greatly improved.  Think about that the next time a CNN reporter and anchor are staring at dead air while they wait for the other’s words to reach them.

Here’s the press release from CISCO – cool stuff.

Google’s new phone, the Nexus One was released at CES (I really want to go one year!) and although at first blush the phone seems a rousing success, is Google really prepared to deal with supporting a phone?  Along with the initial sale of the hardware you need to be able to support the people who use the phone and have questions/problems.

Have you ever tried to contact Google?  There are no phone numbers.  No place to call, no human to yell at if your phone stops working or drops a call.  Google’s support model up until this point has been to have forums and email support for its products.  That works very well when you are dealing with software and software services, but phones are different.  User problems are immediate, and people get very mad when they are told sorry, send an email and we’ll get back to you in three days.  That model just won’t work!

According to the NY Times, Google recognizes the problem and says “we have to get better at customer service”.  This from Andy Rubin who is in charge of Android technology for Google.  That sounds great, right?  He goes on to say that instead of taking three days to respond to a customer email, they need to “close that three-day gap to a couple of hours”.  I’m sorry, what?  Are you kidding me?  NO, Mr Rubin, what you need to do is get an 800 number, staff a help desk, and answer people’s questions.   “A couple of hours” is not immediate and just will not do.

And what about enterprise support?  How would I ever think of deploying a device for which I had to wait three days (or a couple of hours) to get support?  It’s laughable.  For a company that gets enterprise computing as well as Google does, I’m really surprised at their complete flat footedness here.

I love most of what Google does – they think about things in unique ways that question the status quo and tend to make real improvements to technologies where I thought improvements were hard to come by and would largely be incremental (think Gmail).  With the Nexus One, I have high hopes that they will eventually pose a real threat to Apples dominance.  That said, Apple REALLY gets customer support and customer loyalty.  If Google has any hope of taping that market, they need to fix their customer service issues.

Another in a series of “Questions I Get Asked”.

This one is from my wife – she is an avid user of Google Calendar and Gmail, and loves Gmails use of labels and the ability to color labels any way you like.  She was quite surprised to learn that you can NOT color calendar appointments in Google Calendar in the same way.  That is, you can not pick a different color for each appointment in the same calendar.  I thought this was odd, then found out that not only was she correct, but also that this is probably one of the most frequently reported bugs/feature requests for Google Calendar.

So what to do?  Turns out there is a way around this, and although I think I’d prefer the ability to directly choose a color, this works pretty well.

In short, you need to create multiple calendars in Google Calendar , assign colors to them, then tag appointments to the color you want.  Sound complicated?  It’s not, and it works well.  Here’s what you do.

First, create a second calendar:

1. At the bottom of the ‘My calendars’ section on the left, click the Create link.
2. Enter the required information – name the calendar the color you want to star with, say Blue, for example.
3. Click Create Calendar.
4. Next, assign a color to your new calendar by clicking on the down arrow next to the calendar name and pick the color you want.  

Now you have two calendars, your primary and another called “Blue”

Now add an appointment (click anywhere on the day you are working on, or click Create Event).  On the details pop-up, simply choose the Blue calendar from the Calendar Drop down list, enter the event details and click Create Event.

 That’s it – you’ve just created and event and given it the color you want! 

You can add as many calendars/colors as you want.  Once an event is created, you can change the calendar (and its color) by clicking on the event, then choosing Edit Event Details, then changing the Calendar to any of your existing calendar/color combinations.

 Easy enough, right?  I like that you can add lots of colors or event groupings and move things around easily.  For more poeple, I think there are just a few categories events will fall into, so creating a seperate calendar for each is a very easy way to manage your buckets.

Engadget posted pics of the Nexus One. I’m really excited by the slew of Android phones out now, enough that it is making me rethink my iPhone 3GS. Oh, there is that nagging two year contract I just purchased, but good tech trumps cost, right? Well, no, not in this economy, but I digress.

Here’s a link to the article, the phone looks great!

So far, Windows 7 is the bee’s knees.  The more I find out, the more I like, which is saying a lot – with operating systems, it’s usually the other way around!

Here are a few things that make Windows 7 neat.  Big thanks to Tim Sneath for most of these.

1) Windows Management – in XP, your choices on what you could do with arranging windows on your screen was somewhat limited.  You could maximize a window to take the whole screen, you could manually shrink it to the size you wanted and move it to the side, iconize it, etc.  In Windows 7, several “docking” features were introduced that make moving things around on your screen really easy.  If you press the Windows key, then the left arrow, the current window will dock to the left side of the screen.  WIN+right arrow will dock to the right, WIN+up arrow will maximize the window, WIN+down arrow will restore the window.  In addition to the WIN shortcuts, you can drag windows to the top to maximize it (double clicking the title bar still works too), or you can drag the window to the left or right to dock the window there.

On a related note, in a multi monitor setup, you can move windows from one screen to the other using WIN+SHIFT+right or left arrow.  Now were talking!

2) Get rid of the noise – Have you ever been working on a document and been annoyed that all of you other open windows are just in the way?  Press WIN-Home in Windows 7 and all windows but the current are minimized.  Press WIN-Home again to restore the windows.

3) Browser load times – This is really an IE8 tip, but I’ll include it here.  If IE is taking a long time to load, it may be because of the add-ons you are running.  Go to Tools/Manage Add Ons and you will see  a list of what IE loads at startup.  The neat thing is if you scroll to the right in the list, you can see the load times for the Add Ons.  This is a great way to see where the bottle necks are.

4) Quick start for taskbar apps – you can use WIN+1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to quickly go to or start any of the first 5 apps in your taskbar.

5) Look at the desktop – Another helpful feature is WIN-space bar.  This combo lets you look at the desktop and see any icons or widgets you have.  You can also click on the rectangle all the way in the lower right hand corner – this is the old “show desktop” icon.

6) Additional instance of an open application – there are a couple of ways to do this, but by far the fastest is to hold the shift key while left clicking on the taskbar icon.  Way better than going through the start menu again, or right clicking and choosing to open the app.

7) Running with elevated rights.  If you hold CTL-Shift while clicking on a taskbar app, you will bring up a new instance with full administrator rights (assuming your account has permissions).  When Windows 7 is deployed in an enterprise, this will be GREAT.

8) Specialized Window switching – this one I love.  If you are like me, you have tons of windows open all the time.  In XP if you want to switch between windows you can ALT-Tab through them all, or you can click on the taskbar icon and guess which window is the one you want.  In Windows 7, you can essentially Alt-Tab through all of the open windows associated with a specific application without scrolling through every open window.  You do this by holding down the CTL key, then clicking on the taskbar icon for the application you want.  Windows will “scroll” through the open windows as you click the icon.  This is great if you want to scroll through all of your open Outlook windows, for example, but don’t want to run through everything you have open.

9) Move focus the taskbar – this is neat keyboard shortcut.  If you press WIN-T you will move focus to the taskbar.  You can then use the arrow keys to move through your taskbar apps to choose the one you want.  For keyboard shortcut junkies, this is great.

10) Open windows explorer keyboard shortcut – Press WIN+E.  This will open up and explorer window at the Computer Node.  Note that SHFT+click on the explorer icon opens at the Document Library Node.

More to come –

From the Gmail blog

One of the neat features of Gmail is that you can use it to aggregate all of your email addresses to one inbox.  You add the email addresses to your gmail account, and they connect via POP or IMAP to your other accounts and everything is in one place.  Until this past Thursday, when you replied to a mail that was not to your mail account, Gmail would put your main account in the “Sender” field so that your mail would not be kicked as spam.  What the recipient would see is a message that the mail was send “on behalf of” the intended address “from” your main account.  While this is ok in most instances, if you are trying to mask that Gmail is the tool you are using for all of your mail, then this can be annoying.

Thursday, Google introduced a way to route your mail through the SMTP server of your choice instead of their SMTP servers, so your mail will look like it is comming from the system you choose and the “on behalf of ” messages will go away.  Neat!  If your office allows POP/IMAP and you allows remote SMTP then you are golden.  If not, well then you have to live with the “on behalf of” messages.

Growl v2.0 beta 18 was recently released for Windows – should you care?  If you are like most people, it is getting harder and harder to keep up with everything happening around you on the web.  Twitter, facebook, email, calendar, IM – the draws on your attention are almost overwhelming.  Wouldn’t it be great is there were some tools out there to help with all the noise?  The ability to be automatically notified when things happen would be really useful – enter Growl for Windows.

What is Growl?  In their own words:

Put simply, Growl lets you know when things happen. Files finished downloading, friends came online, new email has arrived – Growl can let you know when any event occurs with a subtle notification. The rest of the time, Growl stays out of your way.

Along with letting you know when things happen, Growl also gives you full control over how you are notified and what action (if any) you want to take in response to the notification. You can choose to be alerted with a visual indicator or an audible alert, both, or neither. You can choose the type of display that is shown, whether the display remains on the screen, the importance of the notification, and even if the notification should be forwarded to another computer. You can have notifications that trigger an email, run a script, launch a program, or are read out loud.

Growl has been available as a MAC application for some time now, so their foray into Windows land is a welcome addition to help you manage your machine. All of you have Windows Update on, right?  Well now you have a tool that you can configure to notify you and/or take action on lots of other things on your machine.

How does it work?  The setup is somewhat manual, but this is a good thing, since the whole point is that Growl is unobtrusive.  Once you install the application, the software sits in your system tray waiting to be told what to do.  You download pluggins from the Growl site for the applications you want.  There are tons of apps there – Firefox, iTunes, Outlook, Gmail, even a system monitor.  You run the setup for the app you want and let Growl do the rest.  What you get is a configurable pop up window for whatever application you choose.

You get configurable reminders for things as they happen – new emails, calendar appointments, what the tune you are playing on iTunes is (they have Pandora too).  New apps are being added all the time, and there is a GNTP library and command line tools that you can use to work with almost any API.

Neat stuff.  Not perfect, but I like it so far.