6.12.07

Windows live part 1: Writer

Like I said in a previous post I recently ditched gmail (good timing) leading me to find hotmail which comes with a suit of other kool services, including "Writer". Writer is blog post composer (for lack of a better term). When first launched it asks you if you have a blog or if you want to start a new one (threw its own blogging service), I said I already had one, then simply put in my blog's url, it saw I was using blogger, configured it's self appropriate and simply prompted me for my user id/password. That was it. I have composed my last few posts simply and easily with it. It beats using the blogger web composer because:

1. I can compose offline.

2. Better spell check.

3. More formatting options.

4. Kool plug-ins that make simple tasks like embedding images, tables and maps easier. There is even a gallery of fun easy to include plug-ins. 5. Hyper linking is much easier.

 

This free tool is definitely worth trying out, it integrates easily and fully, and adds a lot of functionality. I will soon post on the other live services.

Gmail: your account has been disabled.

Quite a few users are haveing their accounts dissipear on them, both old and new accounts. It looks like the problem started last nite and has yet to be resloved

AIM on Gmail

Well, google just added aim into the built-in chat on gmail. To me this seems unnecessary and useless. The last updated just served to slow down gmail, and this just makes it slightly more complicated. I have used gmail from the start and have loved it. But these two most recent updates have caused me to switch to windows live hotmail. I like it much better than what gmail has become. On of my favroite parts is how intregrated the live services are. I have my zune, xbox 360, hotmail, SkyDrive (will post on this later), Calender, messenger, Photo Gallery (will post on this latter also), writer (a blogging piece of software) (will post later) events, and OneCare. I love having all of this stuff under one account, all integrated. The mail even comes with a desktop client resembling Windows Mail for vista and Outlook that is nice for off line stuff.

Free WiFi on Jet Blue

If this takes off it would be pretty sweet. However they are limiting the service to Yahoo mail and IM. Another bummer this is only a one day test. (12.11.07)

Dell coming to Best Buy

Until now dell has been an online only (with the small exception of small booths at some malls) however they will soon be coming to best buy.

WTF?

m

This device as been appearing all over the blogs today (wired's post on it to the right) and I just cannot figure out why. Its a little bluetho0th dongle that grabs the photos from your camera phone and saves them on your pc. I have the Sony w300i camera phone, and I have been using my laptops integrated WiFi for months to do this same thing. So I can't understand the importance of this device.

Firefox 3 Beta 1

I know that this is not a new update but I wanted to give my take on it after using it for a couple weeks. The changes are very small, there is a star button next to the "go" button that allows you to easily bookmark web sites which I have found very handy. The download manager is updated, sadly they took off the remove button so now you have to right click > remove in order to clear a download. I have noticed some sites render faster. However my  igoogle page does not render like it should. The beta is very stable and I would recommend any interested power users give it a try. The major update in firefox 3 is that it will look like an native app in what ever major os it is running on (this is not in the beta) so in vista it will look like a vista app, and on a mac it will look like a mac.

SAFE -Securing Adolescents From Exploitation Online act

Our house of reps just passed a new bill that will attempt to hold all ISPs, WiFi hotspots, and even Email providers responsible or any obsecne content passing threw them. There is no way this will ever work (can you imagine gmail filtring every one of the emails passing threw it?) (or an isp filtering every ad that had an breasts on it?), however the prospect raises many privacy concerns.

Latitude XT

Dell's first tablet, looks pretty nice, Its one of those nice convertibles so it flips around into a laptop. Spec wise options include the dual core intel jobs, fairly average resolution screen (wxga 1280 x 800), vga out, 3 usb 2.0 ports, finger print reader, and express card slot. It even supports 802.11 N, bluetooth and HSDPA and EV-DO. Personally I have had bad experiences with dell laptops, they often feel cheap and plasticey, hopefully this will change that.

5.12.07

WalletPop: Hack your wallet?

New blog I have discovered, full of handy tips on ways to save money and the such, worth a read

Nokia N810


This is my latest fascination, the Nokia N810, the third in their line of "Internet tablets" that are slightly bigger than PDA's and not quite laptops/tablets/umpcs. Why this over a PDA? well, first its beautiful 4.13", 800 x 480 touch screen display that is easly sun readable. 800 x 400 is much higher resolution then any palm/pocket pc on the market, even high enuf to view normal web pages. It comes with 2gb of built in storage, however 2/3 of that is reported to be filled out of the box mostly with maps for the integrated GPS. It supports mini/micro SD cards up to 8gb for more storage. The device also has integrated Wifi (b/g), bluetouth and a webcam for webconferencing threw apps like Skype (which comes with the device) Nokia says this about the battery life-
"Continuous usage (display on, wireless LAN active): up to 4 hours
# Music playback: up to 10 hours
# Always online time: up to 5 days
# Standby time: up to 14 days"
However, my favorite part of this amazing device is the slide out keyboard. This is the only non-phone pda I can find with a decent full qwerty keyboard, yes it has handwriting recnotion and an on screen keyboard, but there are many occasions (such has whenever I am moving) that an actual keyboard would be beneficial. Another great feture of this device is that it runs an open source linux os! It fully supports 3rd party apps, Nokia even supports a sourceforge like site for the n810. (maemo.org)
I can easily see this device being used for full web browsing, note-taking and word processing (threw 3rd party apps or even google docs), keeping track of RSS feeds, mulitmedia and an always hand GPS device.

Technorati

Being a new blogger I am looking for ways to get my blog out and known, in researching ways to do this I came accoss an excellent blog discovery service, Technorati, I have used it to find a few blogs I plan to read. I also hope a few people will find mine.
Technorati Profile

Zune 30

Has I mentioned in my last post I currently own a pink Zune 30. I know this is not a new product to anybody, however I wanted to give my opinions after using it with the 2.0 software and firmware for a few weeks. I have owned a Zune device since it came out last November and much appreciate the software update. That was the biggest flaw in the Zune experience, the old software was clunky and slow. The new software is very streamlined and smooth. My only issue is that in Microsoft's attempts to simplify the Marketplace they took out some more advance options. At first I missed these, but now I do not even notice that they are gone. My other grievance is the Wifi sync, when I ask my device to WiFi sync without being plugged into the wall it often does not work, however when it is in my dock and syncs on its own then it works perfectly. I love grabbing my Zune on my way out the door in the morning and knowing that all of the latest podcasts will be there. The new gui on the device looks nice but doesn't matter that much to me, it is almost exactly like the previous one only bigger(I love the twist interface). I wold highly recommend the Zune to anyone looking into a new pmp this season.

4.12.07

First Post

This is my first post, and has such I will briefly introduce my self. I am a student who also works in the tech field as a computer repair and general help man. I currently have a Compaq Presario V3000 (its slow and basic, yet works beautifully) witch runs XP and Suse 10.2, mainly I use XP. Also I built my desktop 4 years ago, now it is running Vista x64 and I use it mainly for multimedia. As for my other gizmos I love my pink Zune 30, I have an old Dell Axim x5 pocket pc witch I use for school and keeping organized. Also I own a Xbox 360.