tech
Buy your books like you buy your music
At least that's what VitalSource is hoping you'll do: buy eBooks from them in the same way people buy music from the iTunes Music Store. James Duncan Davidson just finished the new version of their client application, which looks pretty nice. I, for one, cannot get in to the whole eBook thing. I have a few PDF-based books that I use for reference material, and I've read Cory Doctorow's books in electronic format, but the latter is really because I'm unemployed and have to do what I can on the cheap. I much prefer the dead-tree edition of literature still.
GoogleRumors
Not content to rest on his laurels, Jon's decided to start GoogleRumors.com. I also can not believe there wasn't a site like this already.
Pod Squad
On my way to a doctor's appointment this morning, I was listening to WBAP; the morning news crew is hysterical. During a commercial break, the station plugged it's "On Demand" services, MP3 and WMA audio files of show broadcasts, nationally syndicated ones excluded, of course. The on-air advertisement for the service had a line about joining the WBAP "Pod Squad," a reference to dumping the audio on to your iPod. Everyone's favorite digital audio player is the only such device referenced on the On Demand page, though it is misspelled as "iPOD." iPod, podcast, Pod Squad. Is it any wonder Gates and Ballmer have the willies over Apple's digital music strategy? [Leftist mouth-foamers beware: WBAP showcases those evil, twisted, right-wing neanderthals known as "conservatives". Don't say I didn't warn you, though I'm sure they'd appreciate any ratings bump they can get.]
What should they do with the company, Michael?
The company Michael Dell said should be sold off and the money given to its shareholders is kicking his butt:
Overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry is unchanged from a year ago at 74, but changes within the industry give Apple a commanding lead. The PC maker maintains big improvements from 2003 and 2004, holding at 81 for a second year. Apple’s sales are up 33%, net income has grown 300% and its stock price has nearly tripled over the past year. A slew of product innovations and an emphasis on digital technologies and customer service have been very successful for Apple with a high degree of customer loyalty as a result.
Dell is a different story. Based on a strategy of mass customization, the #1 PC maker worldwide has been a leader in customer satisfaction for several years. This quarter, it suffers a sharp drop in ACSI, down 6% to 74. Customer service in particular has become a problem, and service quality lags not only Apple but also the rest of the industry. Customer complaints are up significantly with long wait-times and difficulties with Dell’s call-center abound. Still, competitive pricing as a result of Dell’s direct-sales business model keeps overall customer satisfaction slightly above other competitors, with the exception of Apple. Whether Dell’s declining satisfaction will have a negative impact on the company’s stock performance remains to be seen; however, ACSI history has shown that changes in customer satisfaction often signal similar changes in future financial performance. Apple’s stock price is up 35% for the year-to-date, whereas Dell’s is flat. [Via MacInTouch, emphasis in quoted text added. --R]
Unreleased OS already has virus
This must be one of those things that keeps Bill Gates up at night. Windows Vista, the next version of Microsoft's flagship operating system, already has its first virus. [Via MacInTouch.]
Gmail on Mailsmith
I finally attempted, once again, to set up POP access to my Gmail account in Mailsmith. I used all of the settings found on the Configuring other mail clients page, made sure to check "Leave Mail on Server", and like any good technology, it all just works.
Cable modem, anyone?
For sale: Toshiba PCX1100U cable "modem," with one 10BaseT port, one USB port, one 12V DC port, and one co-axial, aka, cable, port. Item is 3.5 years old, still in working condition as of two weeks ago, when it was taken offline. Includes AC adapter, and Ethernet patch cable for connecting to PC or router. Cheap. All offers considered.
Windows backup recommendations
Dear readers, I am seeking a personal backup solution for Windows XP that will allow me to back up a user folder to CD. Preferably cheap, preferably easy, though I would say of the two, easy is the higher preference. Retrospect is not in the running, please do not suggest it. Please leave your recommendations in the comments, for others to enjoy. Thanks!
When a serial number really isn't
I'm installing a new hard drive in my wife's PC, to replace the 5+ year-old that has died. I dutifully noted the part number and serial number for warranty registration purposes, since this drive has a 5-year warranty itself. Calling it a "serial number" may be stretching it, however: Y2CJECZE. Can you call a string a "serial number" when only one of the characters qualifies as a numerical value?
A terabyte for less than a grand
OWC announced today it is now offering 1 Terabyte (TB) of RAID storage for $979.99. Wow.
Shreddin'
ATPM staffers lead glamourous lives, let me tell you. When we're not unemployed (moi), running our own businesses (Michael and Evan), or working for others (Lee, Ellyn, and practically everyone else), you might find one of us interning for a popular magazine. I thought Wes had hit the big-time when he got to wander around Manhattan, challenging perfect strangers to lightsaber duels. Now, in the August 2005 issue of PM (not yet online), Mr. Meltzer's in print, taking part in the "Shred Reckoning" personal shredder comparison. For the record, that is not Wes's photo used in the test document.
Arlo's revenge
What do you do when you perceive a major computer company has totally ripped off your software and tout their version as a major feature of their latest operating system? Why, you sell out, of course. MDJ publisher Matt Deatherage, ever the trooper, offers this bit of analysis on the MacJournals-Talk list, even though he's laid up with an illness:
Kind of a "widget wow" moment. Anyone think there will be about six billion more new Konfabulator widgets in the next 3 months? Apple just got trumped on the "we're making our widget format available for free to more users" strategy; now Dashboard may be the underdog in the long-term. (Just for the record, my original notification of the sale came from Matt's post to the list.)
Still useful
From Merlin's del.icio.us page comes a link to a Levenger 3x5 card How-To. The brief history of the index card is interesting, but I really enjoyed the tips. I know sometimes use the same card for more than one subject, and this is a habit that needs to be broken immediately.
Why bother with CC?
Unlike Jeff, I don't hate Creative Commons. I just don't see the point. I believe we're much better off working with our legislators to getting copyright lowered, back toward something resembling what the Founding Fathers intended. Update, 8:45 PM CST: In the August issue of Wired (archive not posted online at the time of this writing), in the "Posts" section, there is a little blurb on Creative Commons, targeted at the right-leaning talk show host the left loves to hate, Mr. Limbaugh:
Hey, Rush! Ever Heard of the Creative Commons?
"There are some things [from my show] that we can't [podcast] yet, like music because of copyright problems. ... But just want to tell you we're continually working on it. ... I know the Millennium Copyright Act is what this is all about, and until that's changed, none of this is going to change."
From The Rush Limbaugh Show
June 14, 2005
Rush Limbaugh, talk radio host Now, unless I'm completely misunderstanding, I don't believe, Wired writers, that the Creative Commons would be of help in this situation. Whatever music Rush is referring to, my guess it is of one of two natures. First, he's talking about music they use to lead in and out of the show from commercial breaks. This music is more often than not popular music from the last three or four decades, and is the copyrighted material of those artists. Creative Commons would play no role. Second, the music referred to could be the parody songs some times featured on the show. More often than not, these songs are not the copyrighted property of The Rush Limbaugh Show or the Excellence in Broadcasting Network, parent company of the show. These parody songs are often the property of a third-party artist. Again, Creative Commons would play no role. So I'm not sure why Wired feels the need to slam CC on Rush...
Wherefore art thou, Bluetooth headset?
Great. After multiple usage so far today, it would appear the aforementioned problems with my Akono headset were not the fault of the headset at all. (Still, mucho kudos to SE for the replacement; at least this helps clear it up.) It looks like the problem is indeed with my T616. The phone is out of warranty. This is, as the Fontosaurus would say, the suck.
Types of Windows users and I wish we'd bought a Mac Mini
Wil Shipley, in a DrunkenBlog interview:
The two types of Windows users I've identified at my café are:
a. I use Windows to run Word and Excel and browse the web (and read e-mail in my web browser), and b. I'm a programmer and I spend all my time in a Windows IDE or hacking around with my system. I'm sure there may be a third category of user out there, but this has been my observation as well. My wife and parents clearly are the first type of users, and could just as well be served on a Mac. The SuperToad falls in to the second camp; he makes his living as a Windows programmer, but he does so with a Mac on his desk as well. Plus, he's still getting mileage out of a decrepit, original orange iBook. Since my switch to Macintosh over a decade ago, one of the reasons we have kept a PC or two in the house was due to my wife's work. She's a corporate attorney, and could always work from home, if need be. After our move to Dallas, the firm she worked for here had a VPN system set up, and she could work on items in the firm's document management system from home, just as if she was sitting in the office. Her new employer, however, being tied in to the stock market and the myriad regulations therein regarding insider trading, etc., does not have such a system in place. You work at the office, or you work on a company-provided laptop, or you don't work. Also, my wife's position also is not as intensive in outside-normal-business-hours work as her former firm life was. She doesn't need a PC at home any more. Last year, when her old desktop PC was giving up the ghost, and I set out to build her a new one, if we had known then she was going to change jobs, I wouldn't have bothered. I would have milked the old PC until after she moved in to her new career, then replaced it with a Mac Mini. Hindsight is always 20/20.
WallyPower 118 redux
Back in April, I blogged the WallyPower 118, beating the boys from Uncrate by, well, by a lot. Granted, Uncrate's only been online since June 11th. Looking at the trailers for The Island, it seems the WallyPower 118 is going to make a cameo. (I'll save you some time: Trailer 2. Don't blink.) I still want one when I win the lottery. Jeff, you're heading the list for crew. You've already got the uniform.
Sony Ericsson rocks
More than a month ago, my Sony Ericsson Akono HBH-602 Bluetooth Headset stopped syncing with my T616. I could get it to connect to the phone via Bluetooth, but the BT connection would drop out randomly, and often. I finally got around to calling SE tech support on this issue. I told them I was sure it was the headset, not my phone, as I had no issues syncing the T616 via Bluetooth to my PowerBook or Cube.
I was issued a RMA number, and given an address in the DFW metroplex to ship the headset to. "Just the headset, please," is what the rep on the phone told me. No problem. Just the headset. This, of course, happened just before the long July 4th weekend, when we were traveling to and from New Orleans, so I didn't actually ship the headset out until Friday the 8th.
Today, my replacement headset arrived, via FedEx. Not only did my replacement headset arrive, but I got the entire headset kit! In other words, they just pulled a retail box off the shelf and shipped it to me. So I got an extra AC adapter--that works with the T616 phone, too--and some more of the color plates, which I won't use. (I stick with the silver.) Kudos to Sony Ericsson!
Thoughts on a podcast
I will confess: I have not only thought about putting together my own podcast, but fantasized about what I would say, the music I would play, etc., etc. I have looked in to what tools I might use. I have had instant message discussions with a certain someone on teaming up to do a podcast, even discussing possible opening-theme music. My friend Richard has enthusiastically prodded me to do a podcast. The more and more I think about it, however, the more and more I'm thinking this is one online fad I'm going to sit out. (Though I will not rule out guest appearances on someone else's podcast, should someone ever wish to have me.) First, there is the issue of "what would I talk about?" I thought about doing something Macintosh or technology-related, since that has been my professional, and personal, field of interest. Richard thinks I would be really good at doing something politically oriented, and I thank him for that compliment. However, there are a lot of people out there already doing podcasts in these areas, and frankly, doing a better job than I could hope to pull off. A case in point is that the certain someone mentioned above used to be a radio DJ, and would likely put me to shame. Second, and more importantly, I'd like to stick to writing. Like Jeff, it would be a craft I would welcome to make a living at some day. As my family will tell you, I have long talked about being a writer, churning out novels. Normal blogging already cuts in to the time I should be devoting to such writing, and podcasting will only draw my attention further away. Reading Gruber and listening to Maciej has only convinced me this is the right course of action to take. I'm not ruling out the possibility totally, but in the near future it seems highly unlikely. Just in case you were wondering. Which I know you weren't.