Zoho: Killer App

I usually use Google docs but Zoho is has lot better web apps.  Everything about them is intuitive and intense.  There interface is very easy to use and very user friendly.  My Google docs are right on my iGoogle page and too easy to click, I just have to make it a point to go to Zoho and use it instead, I know I'll be happier. 

PC World - Zoho: Strategies for a Potential Giant-Killer

Now this is cool

This is so cool I can't wait until this arrives and is affordable! ! !  OLED's - Coming soon   Super flat.  Excellent Color.

PC World - How TVs Will Get Much, Much Flatter

Bluetooth users beware

With the idiotic laws making a lot of people have to use Bluetooth with their cell phones there are a few things to be aware of.  Pairing your cell with Bluetooth? Buyer beware from Cnet has some interesting and useful information for users.

Text Messaging Rip Off

I always thought that text messaging was kind of a rip off but never crunched the numbers.  This article - PC World - Business Center: AT&T's Text Message Racket does that and wow is it extreme!  You can call someone on the same network and talk at no extra change but texting costs now up to around 20 cents a message.  Somebody is making the money and it ain't us.

Technology and Education

This article in PC World - Lego Introduces WeDo Package for Education is an interesting project that some kids will get to in school.  I wish I got to do fun stuff like that!

Computers Don't Improve Learning

I blogged on this a while back when the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) craze was catching on.  I didn't make sense to me then and now it seems I was right to be skeptical according to an article - "Thanks for the PC.  What do I do with it?" on Cnet.  Just giving computers to kids without showing them what to do with it is just asking for trouble. 

Portable Apps

I have found something very useful to me and maybe even indispensable to someone else. If you have a decent size USB disk, say 2GB and up, you can take many everyday applications with you wherever you go and use them on any computer where ever you are. They are PortableApps. Applications that are small enough to run from a USB disk.

Some of the Applications include a web browser, mail application, internet messenger, a full office suite, image editor, web editor, audio editor, games and more. All of it free and able to fit on your USB drive ready when you are where ever you go.

iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard

Over this Christmas Amazon had a deal for the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for Pocket PC's and bluetooth enabled phones for $30 that normally is around $150. That deal is no longer offered but here's one offer available there.

It is pretty compact and very easy to use and setup. I had no problems using it with my Dell X51v. I installed the software provided and it has worked great. I have also found that it is very good on battery drain and I haven't noticed any additional drain beyond what I experience during normal use.

I needed some minor adjustments in my typing skills, because it is a small keyboard some keys are used for three characters. For example the Q, 1, and ! are all on the same key. To use the extra characters there is a blue and a green Fn key that enables you to choose the appropriate character that you need.

I am very satisfied with the iGo Stowaway keyboard and I keep it with me wherever I go so that whenever I get a chance to write anything, I can at a moments notice. The letter recognizer or on screen keyboard on my Pocket PC are pretty easy to use but with the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard it is even a lot faster and easier.

Unmanned aerial vehicles the size of a cigarette

Now I think this is really cool. Things just keep getting smaller and better. An article on Unmanned aerial vehicles the size of a cigarette

SigmaTel Audio, WaveOut mix, Gateway, & Vista

I came across an issue with my new computer and I blame LAWYERS and the RIAA! ! ! ! From what I have found is that certain companies are not allowing recording what is coming out of the speakers of your computer. The option is disable by default in Vista but on some systems can be enabled this way unless it is not allowed by the audio card manufacturer by not providing it in the driver or hardware.

• Right-click on the speaker icon on the system tray
• Select "Recording Devices"
• In the resulting dialog,ensure that the "Recording" tab is selected
• In the middle of the dialog, right click on the empty area and select "Show Disabled Devices". The Stereo Mix device will be selected.
• Right click on the Stereo Mix device and select "Enable".
  

I can't enable it on my Gateway GM5626 as I have found others have said Gateway and Dell may not allow this. I am sure it is the fear of lawsuits is the reason. I am sure part of the reason there are lawsuits is the amount of music being stolen.

Vista copying finally got alot better

Microsoft should have done this a long, long time ago, from the beginning. There was many, many times with previous versions of Windows when I was copying or moving a big folder to another drive or subfolder and one file had a problem and it would error and stop in the middle and there was no way to know what file caused it or even what files were copied and not copied. In Vista you have the option to skip the file and keep copying or moving the rest of the files.

Another thing I like is the third option given when the possibility of overwriting a file(s). You have always had the options to overwrite the file or cancel it, but now you have the option of copying it but it adds a (2) to the file so you can keep successive versions of files if you need to.

Blue Ray vs HD-DVD war over?

I hope the reports of BlueRay's probable winning the latest format war turn out to be true. Sony got screwed during the VHS vs Beta war in the 80's. They had the better format but some excellent marketing made an inferior format be the most popular. BlueRay seems to be superior to the HD-DVD format and maybe this time the best format will win.

Warner Bros. to back Blu-ray DVD format exclusively
Paramount has clause to back-out of HD DVD support deal

First Impressions of Vista

I was planning on using Microsoft XP Professional for many years to come. But a few weeks ago after my computer motherboard went bad I felt I really didn't have a choice and I needed to get a computer fast. I couldn't wait to figure out which new components I would need to build a new one, let alone wait to have it shipped, so I went to the local Best Buy and found two Gateway models that seemed like they may work. So I came back home and did some research on the particular model numbers and found that the one model seemed to have people reporting cooling problems and that it restarting all the time after 3 weeks, so that one was out. So then I looked around at Circuit City's web site and found similar Gateways there and finally decided on one and brought it home.

I was not very enthusiastic about Vista. Only one person has it at work which is the only one I previously had any experience with. What I previously saw of it, it didn't seem very user friendly. After I got it home and turned on and worked with it a little there is alot I like about it. I did get the Home Premium version knowing that the Vist Basic was worthless for what I use a computer for.

So far I am very impressed with the media center capability. Navigating windows explorer is alot easier in some ways and others it is a little harder, I guess I have to just adjust my habits to work with the new OS. Renaming is pretty cool. You don't have to worry about the 3 letter extension anymore, when renaming it only highlights the actual name of the file. New folders open after renaming. The folder structure automatically centers it self. I am anxious to try the speech recognition. I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking previously and want to see how Vista's built in version compares.

I was disappointed that I had a problem of Outlook 2002 remembering e-mail passwords, which I found is a known problem that there probably won't be a fix for being that that version of Outlook is out of Microsofts regular support cycle. I did find a work around that works for me that I will write about in a future blog entry.

As I continue to work with and learn more about Vista I will detail my experience here.

Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1

Microsoft released Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1: Upgrade for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats
this week.

It will allow Windows Mobile users to work with Office documents created in the Open XML formats. It is an upgrade for Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile and allows viewing and editing of Word documents and Excel workbooks and viewing of PowerPoint slideshows created by using Microsoft Office 2007. Some other improvements are enhanced viewing experience for charts in Excel Mobile, the ability to view SmartArt in PowerPoint Mobile, and the ability to view and extract files from compressed (.zip) folders.

The upgrade is for Windows Mobile 5.0 software for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile 6.

Relevant articles:
PC World
Microsoft