Jim Bytes! - An IT Blog

Moving Home

2007-06-01T22:30:00.000+01:00

Ok so May didn't go according to plan for the posting rate but I did accomplish one thing and it's finally decided. I'm sticking with the mirrored copy of this blog on WordPress.com and will no longer update on Blogger.

Please update your bookmarks / feed reader with the following:

Jim Bytes - Doing I.T. in Dublin!

RSS for Posts

RSS for Comments

With new themes, plugins and a more active development and user community WordPress is the place for me to be so bye bye Blogger.

See y'all on the other side!

P.S Blogger, the word verification and supposed auto-save for posts not working in my Firefox was the final straw.

WordPress Magic Button ....my arse!

2007-05-05T22:30:00.000+01:00

Oh the joys of blogging eh! Over the past few months I've gone from resisting a move to the new Blogger ( until forced ) to trying out WordPress 2.1 on a free hosting provider that said they supported PHP & MySQL (only to delete my test WordPress database after just a week for no apparent reason) to ending up mirrored on WordPress.com. Phew!!

While transferring the existing Blogger posts to WordPress I used the so called Magic Button and it worked sweet as a nut first time. A couple days later though I decided to try it again to bring in posts added since the original transfer ...man was that a mistake.

Here's what happened when I clicked the so called Magic Button for the second time.

I ended up with around 100 duplicated posts that had to be picked through and manually removed. I'd read about this problem about 6 weeks prior and with no update thought safe to assume that it had been sorted. I think Twenty had similar problems with his earlier move.

Bad form WordPress. With the rate the hosted offering is growing, these teething problems , particularly with transfers from the more popular platforms should be getting sorted a damn site quicker.

So, be warned, don't press the Magic Button twice!

Nope, not dead...just been taking a long break!

2007-04-27T16:30:00.000+01:00

Who said this blog was dead, eh? I've just been taking a really long break, mostly due to work.

So what have I been up to since early March? Well myself and Melloney spent almost a week in Galway on a nice getaway (though it was the second week of the still on-going drinking water crisis, so we had to be really careful!), the remainder of the month just flew by with work.

Early April saw me cross the pond with work for a week in the Boston area, well Burlington, about 30 mins from the city. I did get to spend Easter weekend in the city and despite the freezing temps managed to see a lot of the sites!

Since returning to work I've been upskilling in Crystal Reports and Business Objects (BOBJ)..exciting stuff! I've also mirrored this blog on Wordpress.com with a nice new look. Why you ask? Well it's all the fun of Wordpress without the hosting costs! I'll probably dual post for a while before an eventual changeover so update your bookmarks/feeds when I give the word!

That's all folks. Here's to more frequent May dated posts and a summer of happy blogging ;-)

technorati tags:Blogging,Personal, Galway, Boston, Crystal Reports, Business Objects, Wordpress.com
youtube myspace american idol google joost paris hilton marilee jones second life web 2.0 coda bebo galilea montijo joost invite redfin music

Friday Office Fun!

2007-03-02T12:53:00.000+00:00

Voting closes at 4.30 today !

Ringtones coming on iTunes ...or...Jobs is a Genius!

2007-02-25T22:15:00.000+00:00

The big TechCrunch story yesterday was the news that Apple are likely to start selling ringtones on iTunes to coincide with the release of the iPhone. I think it's a very natural step and the video linked provides some compelling evidence. Judge for yourselves.

Jobs really is a genius. Since dropping the Computers piece of the Apple name and rebranding as a media company, this would appear to be a killer move on their part to further dominate in the mobile media world.

As for Mike Arrington's dismissal of consumer opinion on the high pricing, well I wouldn't be so quick to do so.

This news comes as others are talking about the price of the iPhone, which studies are sayingis too high for consumers to stomach. My instincts tell me the studies are meaningless, though, and that Apple will sell these things as fast as they can produce them in Taiwan.

These pro bloggers eh, what happened to listening to the consumer? Yeah they'll sell, but not like the iPod, until the price drops, period.

technorati tags:Apple, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Ringtones, TechCrunch, Arrington, Consumer, Opinion, Survey

Antonella Barba Gmail Dell Myspace American Idol Joost Youtube Bebo Web 2.0 Britney Spears Google Studivz Ning Paris Hilton Essjay Beyonce Knowles Anna Nicole Smith WWE Internal Revenue Service Charlotte Church Limewire Lindsay Lohan Naruto Hi-5 Ghost Rider

Hey W3Counter ..when exactly is "early 2007"?

2007-02-16T21:15:00.000+00:00

BlogPatrol was down again today so while well and truly pissed off I thought I'd try sign up for what looks to be an excellent offering from W3Counter. Hey what do ya know, it's invitation only.

Despite the then black text in the form heading I filled out the usuals and clicked Submit, only to find the text gleefully turn RED (about the same time I did!) and I could almost hear it say "I cant let you do that Dave".

Answer me this W3Counter, just what do you call "early 2007" eh? And how do you choose who to invite? You have a great looking service, if only people could use it. If I'd tried to buy a pig in a bag and chosen the $4.95 a month Personal Account offering at signup would we be having this problem? I think not.

Shame how something great can be so easily ruined by lack of insight. How can you expect people to shell out for paid offerings before taking the test drive? Alienating customers at signup...pathetic.

technorati tags:W3, Counter, Web, Traffic, Stats, Analysis, Blog, BlogPatrol, Metrics, Visitors, Measurement

Tammy Nyp Britney Spears Myspace Web 2.0 Youtube Iphone Obama Yahoo Pipes Anna Nicole Smith Windows Vista Grey's Anatomy Google Michelle Manhart Tim Hardaway Second Life

Vista and beyond - Vienna for 2009 ?

2007-02-11T17:45:00.000+00:00

Vista is hardly out the doors but the Microsoft machine rolls on with word that the next gen OS, codenamed Vienna, is expected sometime in 2009, promising great things from virtualisation and a revolutionary new interface. We'll see eh!

Meanwhile, Vista developers are busy with the Fiji service pack, and rumour has it this will appear far earlier than originally planned. Take up of Vista must be good, that or Microsoft is resolved to further deliver on quality for Vista by getting the bundled fixes out the door faster than ever before.

Vista successor Vienna planned for Late 2009 - Engadget

Mac lovers, what do you think of Vista, and will Vienna be a Leopard clone?

technorati tags:Microsoft, Windows, Vista, Codename, Vienna, Apple, Tiger, Leopard, Virtualisation, GUI, Interface

Anna Nicole Smith Barack Obama Yahoo Pipes Youtube Vista Windows Vista
Erika Ortiz MySpace Kim Kardashian Amanda Marcotte Lift07

Apple vs Microsoft rages on - iTunes vs Vista

2007-02-06T23:00:00.000+00:00

What a day! On the day that saw Steve Jobs actually agree with Bill Gates on the fact that current DRM technology is the mother of evils and asking the music industry to make it disappear, Apple has asked iPod owners to steer clear of Vista for " a few more weeks" until they can release a fully Vista compatible build of the iTunes software.

Apparently iPod owners running Vista have been using the system tray USB tool to stop and remove the unit rather than ejecting it first from within the iTunes software an today's Apple statement suggests this can lead to corruption, rendering the device useless. Remember folks, it's not just your average USB key drive so you've got to treat it a little differently!

Microsoft has a team on the case and already released an update for Vista to allow iTunes downloads play correctly. It seems now Apple are the ones playing software catch up again!

Apple warns iPod users against Vista - Telegraph.co.uk

technorati tags:Apple, iPod, Microsoft, Windows, Vista, iTunes, DRM, MP3, Music, Industry, Bill, Gates, Steve, Jobs

Celebrate then get ready to deploy Windows Vista

2007-01-29T22:54:00.000+00:00

Celebrations are underway for all those at Microsoft around the world as today marks the public availability of Windows Vista. When the smoke clears tomorrow, once the bosses have seen the keynotes et all that has gone into the most recent $500 million marketing campaign and bought into it, many admins will no doubt start sweating as they ponder how to roll it out.

Sweat no more for all you need to know is already available via Technet. Find all you need on drivers, hardware compatibility and step by step deployment at the Vista TechCenter.

The Wow starts now ....indeed!

technorati tags:Windows, Vista, Microsoft, Launch, Wow, Starts, Now, Million, Dollar, Marketing, Launch, Gates, Keynote

BlogPatrol Sucks - Recommend a Counter?

2007-01-20T23:13:00.002+00:00

That's it, I'm sick to the teeth of BlogPatrol and it's inability to cope with connected users. I've used it since starting this blog simply because it was the first half decent looking free effort that I came across on a Google search for free counters. It seems every second time I try log onto it lately I get this error.

Can anyone suggest a free alternative counter that provides decent breakdowns of all relevant site stats ? I've just one requirement ... I must be able to start it off at changeover by setting it to my current count at the time.

BlogPatrol, if you read this maybe you could let us know what you plan to do about your traffic problems!

technorati tags:BlogPatrol, Blog, Counter, Traffic, Analysis, Visitor, Site, Metrics, Stats

Apple says Beatles on iTunes soon ...so what!

2007-01-20T22:55:00.000+00:00

I read earlier this week that Apple are planning a big ad during the upcoming Super Bowl to announce the availability of The Beatles catalog on their iTunes Store. Big deal!

Is anyone else tired of the remaining Beatles cashing in all the time ? Doesn't everyone who can rip or download MP3s already have at least one of their greatest hits albums, or that CD that has their entire catalog on 1 menu driven disc that was for sale underground a few years back ? Aren't we tired of making wrinkly McCartney richer by the day? After that fucking awful "Love" album last Christmas I say boycott the money grabbing asshole and if you must, download elsewhere and dont part with a red cent!

And to Apple, come on! Wake up and smell what Microsoft is actually getting right with the Zune. It's Zune Social site is higlighting lots of upcoming new acts, encouraging downloads of something different. What's your next move?

technorati tags:Apple, iTunes, iPod, Beatles, MP3, Downloads, Free, Zune, Social, Music, Upcoming, Acts, McCartney

Everything the iPhone could have been to all mankind ;-)

2007-01-14T18:21:00.000+00:00

Sunday = Funday so here's some humour. One of the most watched videos on YouTube at the moment, well executed by Conan and Co!

Enjoy!1. Iphone 2. Saddam 3. Trainwrecks 4. Michelle Manhar 5. Youtube
6. Tammy Nyp 7. Daniela Cicarel... 8. Britney Spears 9. Spocko 10. Studivz
11. Ron Paul 12. Shawn Hornbeck 13. Hey!watch 14. Bush Speech 15. Marketing

technorati tags:iPhone, Commercial, Parody, Comedy, Conan, O'Brien, Show, Apple

I WANT an iPhone!

2007-01-09T23:00:00.000+00:00

Well it's official, the worst kept secret of the second half of 2006 was confirmed, unveiled by Steve Jobs today. The iPhone is a reality and believe me you're gonna want one.

You can see details of the very impressive specs and all the launch photos you could ever wish to drool over here, courtesy of the Engadget story. By the way, it's running ...well what else ...OS X!

All other mobile vendors take note, this is some serious innovation and there's a definite long term vision behind all this that all of you are lacking. The intelligent decision to use an iTunes style interface when docked , coupled with an ever more familiar operating system, will help sway loyal iPod fans and eliminate that alien feeling you often get with a new mobile phone.

Will the performance of all the media functionality deliver ? It should do since we're talking technology from Apple but expect slow uptake in Europe initially if the unit launches in Q4 at the prices quoted.

Think, Steve. While we know the consumer has to pay for the innovation, many of us already have internet enabled phones and iPods. Drop the price and I'm sold for my next upgrade!

technorati tags:Apple, iPhone, 2007, Mobile, Technology, Vendors, Innovation, OS/X

Music Pick for 2007 - Paolo Nutini

2007-01-03T23:05:00.000+00:00

Forget James Blunt and James Morrison, there's another rising star you have to hear. Just a quick mention on Paolo Nutini, one of my picks for further stardom in 2007.

I've had his album "These Streets" on my iPod for the past week and been listening to it a lot. If you haven't heard any of the singles released to date check them out below, plus the title track, and go buy the album. You wont regret it!

1. Jenny Don’t Be Hasty	Listen
2. Last Request	Listen
3. Rewind	Listen
5. These Streets	Listen

technorati tags:Music, Picks, 2007, Paolo, Nutini, These, Streets, Amazon

Dont hold your breath for Zune in Ireland!

2007-01-03T22:51:00.000+00:00

Today's free Metro paper reports in a gadgets for 2007 feature that the Zune MP3 player and so called "iPod killer" from Microsoft wont be available in Ireland until next October so we've quite a wait to find out how rubbish it is or otherwise.

On the plus side, someone is listening as the Zune social site has showed some improvement since my last visit before the holidays, though it still takes too long for the flash to load. Kudos when and where it's due I guess!

technorati tags:Microsoft, Zune, MP3, Player, Availability, Ireland, iPod, Killer, Social, .Net, Zune.net

It's official ... Britney wants a Wang!

2006-12-29T15:59:00.000+00:00

Yeah it's completely off topic but I saw this earlier and couldn't resist the gag!

Britney wants to follow in the footsteps of Angelina Jolie and Madonna by adopting a boy called Wang from Bali, a child orphaned by the Asian tsunami of 2004.

Get the story here. Poor silly slapper!

technorati tags:Britney,Spears, Wang, Adoption, Angelina, Madonna, Slapper

Surprises on Amazon.com Best of 2006

2006-12-29T10:58:00.000+00:00

Amazon.com has just released it's Best of 2006, featuring sections like Best Sellers, Most Wanted and Favourite Gifts across all it's product ranges. You can view the release here.

It contains a few surprises to say the least and gives a good insight into the buying public, and the lousy gifts some people have ended up with this Christmas!

While it's no surprise that the various incarnations of iPod were top of the electronics list (note the distinct lack of a mention of Zune!), the popularity of the Nintendo DS Lite (in must have Polar White!) is a bit of a shocker, and who'd have thought the Tony Bennett album "Duets: An American Classic" would top the most popular music gift? Where's poor Britney? Oh yeah off somewhere flashing her goodies instead of in the studio making anything for Amazon shoppers ;-)

I'm a bit surprised our Snow Patrol or U2's "U218 Singles" didnt make top of the music lists. Has America bought enough U2 greatest hits albums ? Mmmm.

There's some weird stuff on there and no mistake...what's with the Pampers Cruisers? I would have thought the "Sims Pets" would have been on more people's wish list and not "Sims Open for Busines" as the pets are so damn cute !

You Americans eh!

technorati tags:Amazon,Best, 2006, List, Apple, iPod, Britney

Got Broadband for Christmas? How fast is it REALLY?

2006-12-27T22:44:00.000+00:00

Have you just got broadband connectivity over the Christmas period, maybe one of those plug and play "no wires and no fuss" jobs from Irish Broadband or ClearWire? Maybe you're finding it's not all it was made out to be as your movie and music downloads crawl?

I posted a few months ago about a site called Speedtest.net and that post still gets quite a few hits so if you haven't seen this site you might like to give it a go before reading any further.

Maybe you've already got some numbers from there, and now you're asking how we can improve on it and squeeze some more out of that line ( or widget if you're on a wireless gadget!). I just came across a piece of software called TweakMaster Pro and frankly it's a must have for anyone serious about getting some bang for your broadband bucks.

It boasts an impressive feature set and is the first application of this type I've tried that actually delivers on it's promises. Prior to installation, my connectivity tests from several sites including SpeedTest came out as follows :

Download : 1681 Kbps , Upload : 215 Kbps , Throughput : 113 Kbps

After a quick installation and just 1 run of the Connection Optimization Wizard, several test sites report a significant improvement in download speed and a throughput of 144Kbps, a gain of 31Kbps.

Now while that may not seem like a hell of a lot, it's not so long ago we were all living with that kinda speed on dial-ups everywhere ! Plus, this software lets you try 5 Wizard based configurations and allows manual tweaking for the hardcore folks out there who like to dig deeper, so there's lots more potential gains to be had when you have a little time to invest.

So, dont hang around, install TweakMaster Pro today and get that new connection humming!

Get the full version here.

technorati tags:Broadband, Speed, Boost, Tweak, Testing, Tweaking, Software, TweakMaster, Pro, Speedtest, .Net, Dial-up, Connection, Wizard, DNS, ClearWire, Irish, ISP, Provider

Now playing ...All the Britney you want for Zune on Vista !

2006-12-20T11:59:00.000+00:00

Now you can have all the Britney Spears you want for your Zune running on the RTM release of Vista. Yesterday Microsoft released a (long awaited in some cases) hefty software and firmware update to v1.2 that makes the Zune unit compatible on Windows Vista. Fixes include imrovements in video loading speed too apparently.

So if you've had a Zune stuck in a drawer since you bought it cos Vista wouldn't play nicely it's time to dust it off. You can get the update via the Windows Update service or via this direct link.

Note, this update is not for Vista RC releases, you'll have to wait til Jan 30th!

Full story here from ZuneInsider.com.

technorati tags:Microsoft, Zune, MP3, Player, Firmware, Update, Software, Windows, Britney, Spears, Audio, Video, Patch, Rockstartup

WebJam - A Glimpse of Web3.0 ?

2006-12-11T23:52:00.000+00:00

WebJam has just gone live and launched at the LeWeb3 event in Paris. Natali has the lowdown on it at TechCrunch.

You can get a feel for it's capabilities from the demo below. It looks like a Ning killer to me!

“It’s very powerful because it’s bringing the power of communicating tothe next level,” said Yann Motte, co-founder and managing director ofWebjam. “Sharing is fine, but so what? We will make people better byallowing them to build on the communities of what Webjam is doing. Ifyou have no clue on how to run a Web site, you can go to Webjam, pickone you like, and just replicated it.”

Is this the future of web based portals and user generated content type sites? There's been a lot of buzz about de-portalization this week (the death of portals) and this may just start a few new ones.

Give it a go and let me know what you think. Is it easy to learn and produce respectable looking results? Are we about to see an explosion of more imaginative user generated content sites pulled from all over the web? Is this the start of a copycat epidemic or the infancy of Web 3.0?

technorati tags:WebJam, Launch, LeWeb3, Conference, Social, Networking, Applications, Site, Builder, User, Generated, Content, Portal, Designer, Startup, Paris

Snooping Microsoft Zune marketing exec perhaps?

2006-12-11T12:15:00.000+00:00

It's funny sometimes what your visitor stats can reveal. A glance at mine this morning shows an early morning hit from a Microsoft Ireland employee reading my "Zune is Rubbish" related post.

I wonder if it's someone involved with European marketing of the Zune trying to gauge opinion / market perception of the unit from the blogosphere. I wonder if they're thinking about a different approach to it's marketing in Europe, particularly in Ireland where the iPod is so huge. Let's hope they get rid of those ridiculous "Join the social" ads. The Zune tag line just had to include the word "social" since the whole direction of the web changed with the social networking explosion of 2006 didn't it! Someone at Redmond thought so anyways.

Perhaps even more curious is the unknown Windows version registered for the same hit. Is BlogPatrol not registering hits from machines running Vista? Has Microsoft already (probably long since) rolled out Vista internally?

If you know, please leave a comment and let me know !

technorati tags:Microsoft, Zune, Marketing, Promotion, Vista, Blog

Ssshh dont tell but ...YouTube gets the Google Labs Treatment - TestTube

2006-12-09T22:17:00.000+00:00

Scroll down the end of the YouTube home page today and you'll find a new link. It seems Google is further helping to shape the direction and hone the creativity of YouTube development by giving it the Google Labs treatment with the release of Test Tube.

It's the same deal as Digg Labs and others, an incubation area for new site features. Unlike the main site though, you do need to sign up for a YouTube account to gain access.

Go sign up right now because the Stream idea just might be worth a look. Stream allows you to chat with the people online who are watching the same videos that you are. It's Flash based and slow to load (forgiveable for Beta!) but worth a look.

The odd thing about it is the very low key mention of it. I'd have had the logo on the main video site, but I guess Streams cant handle the traffic volume the main site gets on a daily basis right now, so don't tell too many folks ok!

technorati tags:YouTube, TestTube, Google, Labs, Digg, Streams, Beta, Site, Launch, Testing, Incubation

Topping Google with curiosity around Zune

2006-12-09T20:20:00.000+00:00

It looks like I'm finally getting the hang of the whole traffic generation / SEO deal. I just discovered a reader to my blog was referred by Google for the search term "Zune is rubbish" so I decided to replicate his search and find that I'm on top of Google ...YEAH!

That Zune related post has had a lot of traffic over the last few weeks with the Christmas shopping public doing their homework on the web. Thanks to all who have visited recently, my traffic is up 300% and more every day ( the "porn on your ipod" drew the crowds too!)

I hope you find an interesting opinion and keep coming back for more ;-)

technorati tags:Google, Zune, SEO, Search, Engine, Optimisation, Traffic, Generation, iPod, Porn

Vista finally here with Irish Launch Dec 5th!

2006-12-04T23:37:00.000+00:00

Hey all! Last Thursday saw the official launch of Windows Vista, and for the first time ever in Microsoft history, the simultaneous launch of Office 2007. Enough folks blogged about Steve Ballmer's speech in NY on the day so I wont bore you with it.

What you may not know is that tomorrow is the official launch of Vista in Ireland, and you can read the keynote etc on this specially created virtual launch site.

Get the full buzz from the horse's mouth - Technet Ireland Blog

technorati tags:Microsoft, Windows, Vista, Ireland, Irish, Launch, December, Office, 2007, Exchange, Groove, Infopath, Sharepoint

Would you like porn with your iPod?

2006-12-01T22:32:00.000+00:00

One of the top stories on Digg and other tech news sites today tells the story of a guy who bought a "refreshed" ( read refurbished ) laptop from a London based Apple store only to find a desktop folder full of porn images when he got home. Apparently an Apple tech didn't quite do his job right and the 11 year old intended owner had a lucky escape when dad had to reformat himself at home.

Apple sells refreshed laptop filled with porn to 11 Year Old Girl

It's a worrying trend as this is yet another example of standards slipping at Apple. It's only about 6 weeks since we saw about 1000 iPods ship infected with a Windows virus thanks to an infected pc at the manufacturing site.

Apple accessories are outselling Zune units themselves this week and Apple are struggling to keep up with the demand. It seems like the world and his dog wants an iPod this Christmas too. My concern is, after so much success in recent years, it would be a real shame to see more serious cock ups in the run up to the holidays, as they rush to stock the shelves and neglect the basics that's made their name, like build quality.

Let's hope nobody opens a video iPod under the tree this holiday season to find it preloaded with "Debbie does Dallas" or worse !

technorati tags:Apple, iPod, Porn, Quality, Slippage, Video, Zune, Accessories, Windows, Virus