So I kept the Zune. The hardware is a great bang for the buck, the software will come along -- and eventually a hacker culture will develop around it that will provide the level of control I want on the device.
I've ranted in the past about the Transnote. Lovely form - function... rivals many tablets on the market today -- except it's a 700mhz with 320 mb maxed.
Unfortunately I can't get a wireless solution to work with it. I've tried PCMCIA and CF Slot devices. They lock up or can't handle the slightest load before reseting.
IAC, I also can't get (many) updates from MSFT. XP is not what shipped on this machine, I bought it from eBay and received it with the XP upgrade. I updated to XPSP2 via CD, but once I hit Windows Update live I found out I was running an upgrade that did not qualify as "Genuine".
So now I only get "security updates".
With XP, this means it is more inconvenient for me to get security downloads. However with Vista it's a whole new ballgame. If Vista determines it is not "Genuine" it will start to "gracefully degrade". I've not seen this work yet -- but it will be interesting to see how such a feature goes over.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Zune vs PS3
Bought a Zune, thinking about taking it back.
The software locked up my 6 month old laptop 3 times during install, feels like a munge between Media Player and iTunes and doesn't run on Vista.
But here's the kicker -- no Podcasting support. The work around? Use a 3rd party tool to manage the subscriptions... for many that will be iTunes.
Hey Microsoft, this is how you launch a damn product!
Update: Microsoft's Zune Only Looks Simple covers it.
The software locked up my 6 month old laptop 3 times during install, feels like a munge between Media Player and iTunes and doesn't run on Vista.
But here's the kicker -- no Podcasting support. The work around? Use a 3rd party tool to manage the subscriptions... for many that will be iTunes.
Hey Microsoft, this is how you launch a damn product!
Update: Microsoft's Zune Only Looks Simple covers it.
Friday, June 23, 2006
What has MSFT done for us lately?
As part of my recent gear swapping, I've had the chance to rebuild a few machines and test-drive some newer MS software.
IE7: If you haven't checked the Beta, I recommend it. The RSS support is pretty slick, there are Tabs (and a cool Quick Tab feature that lets you see all your tabs graphically on one scrollable page) and performance seems snappy.
SQL Server Express: It's free, and the Management Studio tool works against SQL2K databases. Another new interface which I generally like, combining Enterprise Manager w/ Query Analyzer and again, tabs. You won't find a Data Transformation Wizard or access to Profiler in this free version, but it is quite functional for ad-hoc queries, writing sprocs and doing general table maintenance. One complaint; comments are now done with the odd shortcut of Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C -- that is, you have to do both key combinations. Ctrl+Shift+C was strange enough but this is just lame.
OneNote: not new, not even recently updated -- but I *love* this tool. Not just for use on Tablet PCs. In addition to a personal notes I keep client records; one folder per client, one page per day, each issue designated with a checkbox (Ctrl+1). When an issue is solved I can check it off with another Ctrl+1. When it is time to triage I create a note summary. Open issues show up on top, then with a few other Ctrl+# combinations I can assign priorities and severities. Onenote also supports locking a page, a password is required to read / search and the file is encrypted on disk. Another cool feature is creating a shared session. This allows for real-time collaboration on one or more pages in a meeting or even remotely.
IE7: If you haven't checked the Beta, I recommend it. The RSS support is pretty slick, there are Tabs (and a cool Quick Tab feature that lets you see all your tabs graphically on one scrollable page) and performance seems snappy.
SQL Server Express: It's free, and the Management Studio tool works against SQL2K databases. Another new interface which I generally like, combining Enterprise Manager w/ Query Analyzer and again, tabs. You won't find a Data Transformation Wizard or access to Profiler in this free version, but it is quite functional for ad-hoc queries, writing sprocs and doing general table maintenance. One complaint; comments are now done with the odd shortcut of Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C -- that is, you have to do both key combinations. Ctrl+Shift+C was strange enough but this is just lame.
OneNote: not new, not even recently updated -- but I *love* this tool. Not just for use on Tablet PCs. In addition to a personal notes I keep client records; one folder per client, one page per day, each issue designated with a checkbox (Ctrl+1). When an issue is solved I can check it off with another Ctrl+1. When it is time to triage I create a note summary. Open issues show up on top, then with a few other Ctrl+# combinations I can assign priorities and severities. Onenote also supports locking a page, a password is required to read / search and the file is encrypted on disk. Another cool feature is creating a shared session. This allows for real-time collaboration on one or more pages in a meeting or even remotely.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Back on the Mac
After the 2001 crash that took out our dotcom (Pacifiq Technologies -- you can still find the old website at archive.org) I spent a few years doing small gigs. There wasn't a lot of work in Minneapolis for ex-CTO's -- and there were plenty of us around.
So when our house was broken into in 2003 and my 3rd laptop stolen I had no specific reason to buy a WinTel machine. I'd always loved the Macintosh, and had started doing some Linux work -- so I decided to buy a G4. I bought the 1Ghz Powerbook. It was the last model that was made out Titanium.
Loved the machine -- most elegant laptop I've ever worked with. If you've never spent time with one on your lap you've missed out.
I also loved OSX. It was still pretty new at the time, but it sat on Debian and was rock solid. It took awhile to get used to where everything was. I've been on MS machines since DOS 2.0 and I can make any MS OS sing, and there were definately times when I felt lost on the Mac.
I was Mac only for a few years until we moved back to Seattle and I started my contract gig with the Fox team. After a year it was re-starting Alden Anderson -- and of course working in MS software exclusively. So the Mac became mostly a music machine; Itunes, Abelton Live and MAX-MSP.
So last week my Dell 5160 gave up the ghost. Power supply went bad, I'd already fixed it once and new another few hundred $$$ was a bad investment. But before I pulled the trigger on another Dell I thought long and hard about what I used my laptop for these days.
1) Email - Outlook... which is a pig, but is still the only email client that will let you tag a message to be reviewed for follow-up at a specific date/time in the future.
2) Onenote - Invaluable tool for documenting day to day client activity
3) Web browsing - Firefox
4) Remote Desktop
5) VFP
6) SQL Server
7) Visual Studio
Why are VFP, SQL et al so low on the list? I do most of my dev work remotely with RDC, if you've got a good connection it is a superior way to work IMO. Easier version control and much less exposure when the laptop suddenly disappears, again.
So, I decided to dust of the Mac. Installed my recently upgraded 100gb 7200rpm hard drive from the Dell, got the latest OSX release (10.4.6 or Tiger) and installed Virtual PC for the Mac.
Well, I love it. I've got VPC setup with VFP9 and SQL Server and the rest of the MS apps, installed Firefox Mac and other than that I'm using what ships with the OS.
Of course what I'd really like is a NEW Duo-Core Powerbook. With Boot Camp and Parallels it gives me the best of both worlds -- but a sudden $2500 hit on cashflow isn't in the cards, so I'll sit with my 3 year old Powerbook and enjoy working with a work of art on my lap once again.
So when our house was broken into in 2003 and my 3rd laptop stolen I had no specific reason to buy a WinTel machine. I'd always loved the Macintosh, and had started doing some Linux work -- so I decided to buy a G4. I bought the 1Ghz Powerbook. It was the last model that was made out Titanium.
Loved the machine -- most elegant laptop I've ever worked with. If you've never spent time with one on your lap you've missed out.
I also loved OSX. It was still pretty new at the time, but it sat on Debian and was rock solid. It took awhile to get used to where everything was. I've been on MS machines since DOS 2.0 and I can make any MS OS sing, and there were definately times when I felt lost on the Mac.
I was Mac only for a few years until we moved back to Seattle and I started my contract gig with the Fox team. After a year it was re-starting Alden Anderson -- and of course working in MS software exclusively. So the Mac became mostly a music machine; Itunes, Abelton Live and MAX-MSP.
So last week my Dell 5160 gave up the ghost. Power supply went bad, I'd already fixed it once and new another few hundred $$$ was a bad investment. But before I pulled the trigger on another Dell I thought long and hard about what I used my laptop for these days.
1) Email - Outlook... which is a pig, but is still the only email client that will let you tag a message to be reviewed for follow-up at a specific date/time in the future.
2) Onenote - Invaluable tool for documenting day to day client activity
3) Web browsing - Firefox
4) Remote Desktop
5) VFP
6) SQL Server
7) Visual Studio
Why are VFP, SQL et al so low on the list? I do most of my dev work remotely with RDC, if you've got a good connection it is a superior way to work IMO. Easier version control and much less exposure when the laptop suddenly disappears, again.
So, I decided to dust of the Mac. Installed my recently upgraded 100gb 7200rpm hard drive from the Dell, got the latest OSX release (10.4.6 or Tiger) and installed Virtual PC for the Mac.
Well, I love it. I've got VPC setup with VFP9 and SQL Server and the rest of the MS apps, installed Firefox Mac and other than that I'm using what ships with the OS.
Of course what I'd really like is a NEW Duo-Core Powerbook. With Boot Camp and Parallels it gives me the best of both worlds -- but a sudden $2500 hit on cashflow isn't in the cards, so I'll sit with my 3 year old Powerbook and enjoy working with a work of art on my lap once again.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
TPCI - TIOBE Programming Community Index - VFP #12 and rising!
TPCI - TIOBE Programming Community Index
The death of VB6 has something to do with this IMO, but the VFP community deserves a great deal of credit.
The death of VB6 has something to do with this IMO, but the VFP community deserves a great deal of credit.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
LINQ - Language INtegrated Query
As has been rumored C# and VB.NET are being enhanced to include native data access within the language -- along the lines of SQL in VFP.
Read more here
Read more here
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Google Toolbar for Firefox
Gmail, Desktop search, BlogThis, News, Spell Check in HTML forms (except for the BlogThis popup).
Good stuff, maybe I'm ready to come off of my accidental blogging sabbatical...
Good stuff, maybe I'm ready to come off of my accidental blogging sabbatical...
Monday, June 13, 2005
SpeakEasy DSL
We just moved (part of the reason posts have been so few and far between lately) - so I called SpeakEasy.net to cancel my DSL service at the old place.
To cancel the contract is $300.
Looking over my original paperwork, it appears I paid $150 for hook-up. So it's not like they are trying to recoup those costs.
Of course they are willing to transfer my service to a new location. But service is already setup there -- and it would no doubt mean that I'd be starting my year all over again.
As goes cell-phones providers, so goes cable and now DSL.
To cancel the contract is $300.
Looking over my original paperwork, it appears I paid $150 for hook-up. So it's not like they are trying to recoup those costs.
Of course they are willing to transfer my service to a new location. But service is already setup there -- and it would no doubt mean that I'd be starting my year all over again.
As goes cell-phones providers, so goes cable and now DSL.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Google Maps + Craigslist = HousingMaps
Yet another super cool thing you can do with Google Maps.
Now they just need to get it work with Pocket PCs...
Wired article here
Now they just need to get it work with Pocket PCs...
Wired article here
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The Jeff Pulver Blog: E911/VoIP: Death of the Broadband Parasite in the USA?:
Upcoming FCC rulings may kill independent VOIP by requiring 911 service.
"...Strange as how it sounds, even Canada looks to be a more fertile ground for continued technology innovation than the US, if E911 becomes mandated for VoIP, including nomadic VoIP offerings. If VoIP was the first great driver of broadband, I fear that America will drop even further down the ranks of the countries in broadband penetration and that will further sink the US economy for many decades to come.
Unless something was totally misunderstood with regards to the FCC immediate intentions, 2005 may go down in history as the time we saw both the rise and fall of the unaffiliated VoIP service provider..."
more
"...Strange as how it sounds, even Canada looks to be a more fertile ground for continued technology innovation than the US, if E911 becomes mandated for VoIP, including nomadic VoIP offerings. If VoIP was the first great driver of broadband, I fear that America will drop even further down the ranks of the countries in broadband penetration and that will further sink the US economy for many decades to come.
Unless something was totally misunderstood with regards to the FCC immediate intentions, 2005 may go down in history as the time we saw both the rise and fall of the unaffiliated VoIP service provider..."
more
Monday, May 16, 2005
UML for BioHacking...
We are rapidly moving into a world where biology can be as manipulable as data. After all, DNA is code; life is information. The new tools and methods we're developing for bioengineering reflect this parallel, and the philosophies underlying the "hacker" ethic (in the original sense of someone devoted to exploration, invention and discovery) are being absorbed by the biological disciplines.
more...
Don't miss the link to Biomodeling.
more...
Don't miss the link to Biomodeling.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Web Templates | Flash Templates | Website Templates Design - Template Monster
Nice resource for plug and play Web templates.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Friday, May 06, 2005
Groove Virtual Office - Virtual office software for sharing files, projects and data.
Microsoft has purchased Groove
It looks pretty slick from the overview. Don't forget to check the Rapid Solutions section.
Integrates with SharePoint, seems more powerful than Infopath, I could see it being used as a Team Studio lite...
It looks pretty slick from the overview. Don't forget to check the Rapid Solutions section.
Integrates with SharePoint, seems more powerful than Infopath, I could see it being used as a Team Studio lite...
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
PlateSpin Products - PowerP2V
100% Automated Conversions between Physical and Virtual Machines are the claims made by this tool.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
The Fox Show
Andrew MacNeill has thrown himself in the Podcasting ring with The Fox Show.
He has a great read on the pulse of the Fox community, the show covers a broad range of topics. Enjoyable and informative!
Thanks Frank Burcaw from the ProFox list.
He has a great read on the pulse of the Fox community, the show covers a broad range of topics. Enjoyable and informative!
Thanks Frank Burcaw from the ProFox list.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
