teknia micro tech news | tech quest | conquer tech

Switch... Many businesses and Government offices are switching from Microsoft Office to free Google Software.

teknia — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:14:02 -0600

Switch... we did.

Free alternatives can save you a great deal of money--as much as $2325 per desktop (according to this PC World article) and deliver a raft of other benefits associated with open source software in general.

The following 2 sources will be much safer to use over file sharing or bit torrent sources that can be infected with spyware, viruses or other types of malware.

The Free Software Directory

http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Main_Page

OSalt

http://www.osalt.com/

Find open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software

Open Source as an Alternative
Our mission is to provide easy access to high quality open source alternatives to well-known commercial products. Open source software is a freeware alternative (that is usually nag-free).

Why 'Share My Apps' is a Terrific Android App

teknia — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:24:05 -0600

Half the battle of finding good Android apps is picking the one your friends suggest out of the lineup in the Google Market. Many have goofy names or aliases... ShareMyApps eliminates the confusion of finding the app your friends are referring to.

ShareMyApps replaced 'App List' our previously recommended app list generator. It generates a list with a link to the 'Market' and comes in handy when restoring your apps after a phone reset. The App list ShareMyApps generated and copied from the email sent by ShareMyApps follows our comments.

Your experience with these apps may vary by personal preference, brand of phone, carrier or Android version you run.

Current App List - Samsung Epic - May 2011
App Name & Market Link App Description

Adobe AIR - undetermined crapware 'required' to use Adobe TouchUp Lite Photo editing program
Dolphin Browser Mini - alternate web browser of choice
SemiSilent - turns phone ringer on for contacts you select
TouchUp Lite - Adobe Photo editing program - just like desktop bloatware - intrusive and awful
AccuWeather.com - best weather app we've found
Alarm Clock Plus - great alarm clock, nice clock, photo slide show
Alchemy - game
Amazon Kindle - book reader for Android
Amazon Cloud Player - didn't come across as an app but 5 GB Free Music storage
Android Relaxation Ringtones - waiting for new version, doesn't work on Samsung Epic w/2.2
Angry Birds - game
App List - replaced by Share My Apps
Astrid Tasks - syncs with Google Tasks or our favorite GTD App - Producteev
Barcode Scanner
Bible - select bible version of choice
c:geo - Geo Caching App also try Columbus
Camera Fun Free - filters
CamScanner - invoice scanner
Catch
Chess
Chess Buddies
Compass - novely app that's cool but un-dependable in our tests
DailyBible - sends a verse daily
Docs - Access to Google Docs
Dropbox - cloud storage
EasyTether - alternate tethering app for normal HTTP websites
Evernote - somewhat cumbersome but excellent note gathering app
feedly
Flashlight - Indespensible
GDocs Notepad with Sync - Excellent Gmail add-on - replacing Catch as a note repository
Google Reader
Google Voice
Groupon
HootSuite - Twitter should have purchased HootSuite instead of TweetDeck
ICE - free version doesn't inspire confidence enough to purchase
Instant Heart Rate novely app that's cool but un-dependable in our tests
Jorte - Best Google Calendar App available
Klondike - best Solitaire App
Labyrinth Lite - electronic vesion of classic maze game
LiveShare - share photo albums with any Facebook Friend(s)
ing ofMy Tracks - Google App that records and allows sharing of hikes, bike rides, etc
MyBackup - see note below
No Lock - Our Most Used App! No lock at home, Locked when phone goes in pocket
Office Phone Ringtones
Pandora - free music player, find music you like
PdaNet - cell phone tethering - excellent support
Phone Tester - accurate battery charge status
Pulse - news feeds
Relax and Sleep - novely app that's cool but un-dependable in our tests
Remote Web Desktop
RoboForm - Essential Password MAnager - see note below
Scoreboard - Google app sends team scores by SMS by qtr
ShareMyApps - Awesome!!
ShopSavvy
Shush! Ringer Restorer - temporary ring stop - good for meetings
Smooth Calendar - displays Google Calendar but we use Jorte for editing calendar entries
SMS Search! - enter a business name, SMS search sends a text with locations and phone numbers
Soft Guitar Ringtones - best of class for us
Springpad - excellent note gathering app we're checking out
Steamy Window - fun
Super sudoku
The Federalist Papers
The Periodic Table
The Protection App - Sprint backup and remote wipe
Toggle Settings Lite - too complex fopr our tastes
Twitter
United States Constitution
Wapedia - prefer wikipedia or Google Search
WeatherBug - somewhat buggy - we prefer AccuWeather
WordSearch - better than the classic paper version
X Construct

We are seeking the following Android Apps:

A free photo editing app - must have these features:

saves original pictureability to rename pictures
crop
redeye fix
fill flash
filters optional

A free screen shot app - must have these features:

all phones; not just rooted
this app is valuable after a reset to re-create your phone desktops

Notes:
We like Android apps that make info available everywhere. This is why we are fans of Gmail and the plethora of add-ons that work or have work-arounds between PCs, Laptops, Tablets and cell phones.

Why Everywhere?
An example of an app that drove us to finding new solutions was the built-in Memo App that came on our Android OS. We liked 'Memo' and used it a lot but when a phone reset wiped all our notes we found 'Catch' and still appreciate it's intuitive interface but find that we can do without it now that we found: GDocs Notepad with Sync

Paid Apps:
Our initial approach was 'everything free' but time vs effort came into play:

RoboForm A best of class password manager. Roboform Everywhere uses it's own browser on phone.
MyBackup We'll purchase MyBackupPro Version when faced with next phone meltdown
PdaNet - cell phone tethering

GTD- Getting Things Done - A Project Management Sytem we aspire to...
Producteev turns Gmail emails into Tasks

Comments are open. Please share your apps and suggestions.

Our New Favotite Connection Speed Testing Site - Speedchecker Limited

teknia — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:01:50 -0700

Millions of users trust Speedchecker Limited results and so do we.

The speed test is located here : http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk

They have servers around the world and it's all Geo-location enabled so you should test against the server in your closest location.

It Looks Promising for a Google Nexus One Phone for CDMA (Verizon) Networks

teknia — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:04:00 -0700

Between the lines this says Google will offer a CDMA version of the Nexus One Phone and it will be available this spring.

So far, so good; we're still holding to our 2010 New Year's Resolution: Google Android Phone & Straight Talk or Bust

...and maybe it will work on Straight Talk, the 'generic priced' Verizon available from Walmart.

Nexus One Phone

Spring 2010
The Nexus One Phone with Verizon Wireless service. Coming soon in the United States.

Theft From Miner Corp. Leads To Arrest

teknia — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:49:00 -0700

GPS Tracking Leads to arrest, vehicle & equipment recovery.

GPS Story line by Video:

WikiMHEDA:

Theft From Miner Corp. Leads To Arrest - 1/4/2010
A stolen service truck led San Antonio police to an illegal stolen-goods route to Mexico.

The Miner Corporation reported a theft from their north-side warehouse building early Wednesday morning: more than $10,000 in tools, including 5 welding units and a work truck.

What the thieves didn’t know was that the truck had a GPS tracking device in it.

Miner Corporation’s David Janssen, vice president-business distribution, said, “We can tell when the truck was started, where it went and where it stopped, and it was stopped at this location about 1 a.m. for about 20 minutes, apparently to unload it, then it was dumped in another portion of town.”

The company called police, who quickly got a search warrant for the home in the 1100 block of Pecan Valley.

That’s where detectives found not just the welders, but hundreds of items: televisions, power-washers, even a wheelchair. Many of those goods were also reported stolen. Detectives believe the address is a halfway house for a black-market operation.

Luis Rodriguez Sr. was booked on felony theft charges.

2010 New Year's Resolution: Google Android Phone & Straight Talk or Bust

teknia — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Drawing the line on crappy cell phones, AT&T's awful network & high airtime prices we affirm a move to a great cell phone & generic Verizon (Straight Talk) cell service.

We think this is an affordable, common sense mobile communication & computing pledge and plan to stick by it.

Goals:
Mobility - Work anywhere
Affordable, high quality mobile communications & tethered laptop

Voice
Texting
Data & tethering

Ability to demo our GPS Fleet Management Software in the field and manage our fleet of vehicles, route drivers with GPS dispatching and track our heavy equipment and trailers.

Ability to monitor home & office using Control4 Home Automation.

Requirements:
Purchasing an unlocked Android phone enables price comparisons between cell providers and month to month billing allows us to walk away from poor service or towards better offerings.

Notes:
A trade-off has been made to move away from desktop Microsoft & OutLook to "the cloud" using Google Gmail & Google Docs.
Straight Talk is available through Walmart
Page Plus Cellular is another possibility for airtime.

Because AT&T and iPhone can't and Verizon & Droid won't...

Dawson Barber.

Google Phone May be Available in Early January
FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc plans to sell two versions of its own-branded cell phone: one with a service contract with T-Mobile USA and another that is unlocked, a source familiar with the matter said.

The phone, manufactured by HTC, has a number of code names such as HTC Passion, Dream or Nexus One and could be available directly though the Google website as early as January 5, according to the source.

Google said on its official blog on Saturday that it was testing a new mobile device with its employees. Media reports have said that Google will sell an unlocked version of the touch screen phone, allowing consumers to pick a carrier of their choice to provide wireless service.

Follow teknia tech on Twitter:

GPS Fleet Tracking

Google to Sell HTC Android Phone For Consumers

teknia — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:11:07 -0700

Highlights:

Unlocked
Probably ATT or T-Mobile Network
HTC Quality

Note: We're holding out for an unlocked Android CDMA-based (Verizon) to use on Straight Talk, a generic version of Verizon's airtime offered through Walmart.

InformationWeek.com

'Nexus One' Is Google's Android Phone For Consumers
by Eric Zeman - Dec 13, 2009

Mere hours after Google posted a blog about an unnamed Android device that it gave its employees, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that the device will in fact be sold to consumers as the Nexus One. This is the real, actual, Google Phone, and it will be available in early 2010.
It's still not called the "Google Phone", but the Nexus One -- to be made by HTC -- is as close as I think we're going to get. The WSJ cites sources familiar with Google's plans and says that Google has designed this handset and plans to sell it directly to consumers, unlocked.

The device will run Android version 2.1 and will run special software not available to current Android devices. The WSJ reports, "Google designed virtually the entire software experience behind the phone, from the applications that run on it to the look and feel of each screen. Google appears to want to throw its brand behind a device more directly, designing a phone without working with the wireless carriers that often dictate what features they allow on their networks."

What's interesting is that the head of the Android project at Google has flatly said, more than once, that the company is not interesting in making or selling hardware. Obviously, this changes things. Granted, HTC is actually making the device for Google, but it will be fully branded by Google and the user experience will be Google's and not HTC's.

The device will be available directly from Google online, and buyers will have to provide their own cellular service. It will be sold unlocked, so that users can choose the network on which to use it. Whether those will be CDMA-based (Sprint, Verizon) or GSM-based (AT&T, T-Mobile) is unclear, though it is more likely that the device will be GSM-based to give it a wider base of possible users.

On Saturday, Google admitted that it had given its employees a device to test out over the holidays. They'll be evaluating all the systems on the phone and report how things work. Google calls this process "dogfooding." This device is the Nexus One. It will be available in early 2010. Price point and other specs remain unknown.

Fork Lift Accident Brings Down The Warehouse Video

teknia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:51:21 -0700

Work safety? Sheesh...

Fork Lift Accident in Russian Vodka warehouse creates massive damage -- Luckily, no one was seriously injured.

YouTube

Fork Lift Accident Brings Down The Warehouse Video

TweetMyPC – free program lets you control your computer using Twitter

teknia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:23:56 -0600

Can't wait to try this.

TweetMyPC – The Red Ferret Journal

TweetMyPC – free program lets you control your computer using Twitter

TweetMyPC is a free program which lets you control your Windows computer using Twitter. That’s right, all you need to do is install the software on the target PC, set up a special Twitter account for the machine (disabling public access via the Protect My Tweets setting of course!) and log in on the PC.

From then on you will be able to shutdown or restart your computer, grab a file from your hard disk (via your email account) or even take a screenshot just by sending a tweet. You can even create your own custom commands (switch on my security cam, for instance). There’s also a Mac version too, called…ahem…TweetMyMac. Clever eh? .NET required for the PC version.

TweetMyPC v2.0 lets you shutdown/restart/LogOff and lots more in your windows PC.remotely.

Tags: tweetmypc, freeware, twitter, Windows, remote access

AT&T can't handle the iPhone

teknia — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:40:35 -0600

Mike nails the complaints;

Our dilemma is that we're eligible for new phones from AT&T but without tethering the iPhone is not an option & AT&T doesn't have an Android phone. Currently Google Android phones are stuck on the T-Mobile network which is awful here.

Sprint service is awful so Palm Pre is not a consideration.(period)

The HTC Tilt2 with Windows Mobile 6.5 is not available from AT&T yet so...

Our current situation remains:
It's better to have a crappy phone than to be stuck with the wrong phone for 2 years.
Long live the Moto Razr...

Mike Elgan:

Even AT&T says AT&T can't handle the iPhone
It's unanimous then. Everybody agrees iPhone shouldn't be exclusive to AT&T

Mike Elgan

Most iPhone users oppose Apple's exclusivity arrangement with AT&T, and have since the beginning.

Competitive carriers, such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile, didn't like being shut out of the iPhone phenomenon.

The FCC isn't thrilled, either. The agency is looking into Apple's exclusive relationship with the carrier.

And Apple has got to be unhappy. AT&T failed to support multimedia messaging (MMS) and tethering (using a phone as a laptop modem) now that iPhone itself supports those features. (AT&T finally said last week it would add MMS starting Sept. 25, although there's still no date for tethering.) Apple's best customers complain about AT&T's lousy service and misinformed salespeople. Apple worked hard to perfect the iPhone experience, and AT&T is wrecking it.

This week, even AT&T itself started complaining about the burdens of serving as the only U.S. carrier for iPhone.

It's unanimous. Everybody hates Apple's exclusivity arrangement with AT&T. Even AT&T.

AT&T blames users for its lousy service

While iPhone users complain about AT&T's "dropped calls, spotty service, delayed text and voice messages and glacial download speeds," according to a piece published last week in the New York Times, AT&T blames iPhone users. "Overnight we're seeing a radical shift in how people are using their phones," AT&T CTO John Donovan told the Times. "There's just no parallel for the demand." Donovan told Fortune magazine that "3G networks were not designed effectively for this kind of usage."

And, as a BusinessWeek article makes clear, there's no way AT&T will be able to meet the traffic demands of iPhone users any time in the next few years. (The article also confirms that AT&T has deliberately delayed MMS and tethering because it simply can't handle the traffic.)

An article in the Wall Street Journal last week even has AT&T complaining about the $400 subsidy it has to pay for each iPhone sold.

Blaming users might convince some critics, but my questions to AT&T are: So why did you take the job? And why do you take my money? After all, it's not as if iPhone fans were clamoring for Apple to sign with you exclusively. You "won the contract" against the wishes of the iPhone user community. Now deliver!

And although AT&T is fishing for sympathy now, the story just one fiscal quarter ago was that AT&T's profits were "boosted by iPhone," and that the iPhone was helping the carrier weather the recession better than most. "The base of iPhone customers is now large enough to offset the subsidies for new iPhone users," Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said back in April. What happened in the past three months to change all that?

Besides, AT&T acts like a company with money to burn. AT&T reportedly spent $8.2 million in the first half of this year lobbying Congress. The company is expected to spend more on lobbying this year than it did last year -- money that could be spent improving network performance.

In fact, AT&T is the No. 1 political contributor in the nation, spending an incredible $43.5 million since 1989 to buy influence in government. AT&T complains that it doesn't have the money to service its iPhone monopoly, while at the same time spending more than every other company on currying favor in Washington. That doesn't make sense.

The solution isn't government regulation, but for Apple to save its most valuable product by offering it on as many carriers as possible. That would spread the "burden" of iPhone traffic across multiple carriers; enable users to switch carriers that provide bad coverage, service, networking performance or pricing; and let iPhone users enjoy "family-plan" pricing that includes their non-iPhone family members. Competition works.

One analyst predicts that the iPhone will be offered on other carriers next year. But that's just some dude talkin'. I would like to see Apple announce the expansion of support beyond AT&T as soon as possible. Wednesday would be nice.

I don't think an exclusive Apple relationship with AT&T serves iPhone users. I'll bet you don't either. The FCC sure doesn't. The other carriers don't. Even Apple probably doesn't think so.

And now, the piece de resistance: Even AT&T admits that it can't handle the iPhone all by itself.

Apple: Tear up that contract!

Mike Elgan writes about technology and global tech culture. Contact Mike at mike.elgan@elgan.com, follow him on Twitter or his blog, The Raw Feed.

Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-ray player with Netflix & Pandora

teknia — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:34:47 -0600

This Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-ray player/makes our 'next purchase list because the included features integrate 'must have' technology that make sense:

Blu-ray Discs player with Netflix Movie and Pandora Music streaming.

Can't wait to get this blu-ray player integrated into our Control4 Home Automation system!

Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-ray players/recorder reviews - CNET Reviews.

Samsung BD-P2550

Product summary

The good: Excellent image quality on Blu-ray Discs; Profile 2.0 compliant; onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, plus bit-stream output; Netflix and Pandora streaming; 1GB onboard memory; 7.1 analog audio outputs.

The bad: PlayStation 3 may still offer a better value for some buyers; some disc compatibility issues; relatively slow loading times.

The bottom line: The Samsung BD-P2550 adds Netflix and Pandora to an already well-featured and top-performing Blu-ray player, with only some minor disc compatibility issues giving us pause.

Specifications: DVD type: Blu-Ray disc player ; Form factor: Tabletop ; Remote control type: Universal remote control ; See full specs

Price range: $209.95 check prices

RFID Technology. Do You Know Where Your Tools Are?

teknia — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:19:37 -0600

Innovative use of RFID technology. Pretty cool but with limits. Let's be practical here, no-one leaves a $1000 saw out overnight...

That's why we would use GPS Heavy Equipment Tracking from teknia micro that protects heavy equipment & trailers, allowing the tracking of vehicles & equipment in one online management console.

edit!! protect the tool box or trailer

Gear Log: It's 5 O'Clock. Do You Know Where Your Tools Are?

Ford trucks now keep a running tally of what construction tools are back on board and which may have been left on the job site. It's part of Tool Link, a $1,120 RFID tag option for Ford trucks. That sounds like a lot until you leave a $1,000 sliding compound miter saw on the job site overnight and it's not there in the morning. Ford developed Tool Link with DeWalt. You get a 50 ID tags (in DeWalt yellow, of course) that you apply to tools, an RFID scanner and software for creating a database, and two RFID antennas that go in the truck bed and monitor what's onboard and what's missing. You monitor the tool status via the Ford In-Dash Computer. One button press brings up a screen that shows what's missing that you had on board earlier in the day.

While it's meant for construction tools, there's no reason it couldn't be used, say photo or video equipment. A carbon fiber tripod can cost $500-$1,000, a pro's digital camera or HD camcorder many times that. You don't think anyone could be so stupid as to leave a digital camera on the work site, when you bring two or three, those things can happen.

BillShrink Finds the Best Cell Phone Plan

teknia — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:17:26 -0600

Wow: An end to cell phone rate plan mumbo-jumbo?

A comparison between the upcoming MyTouch 3G, Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS rate plans.

Results:
* MyTouch: $1998 – 1000 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
* Palm Pre: $2359 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
* iPhone 3G S: $2839 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

* MyTouch 3G: $1998 – 1000 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
* Palm Pre: $2359 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
* iPhone 3G S: $2839 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

BillShrink Finds the Best Phone Plan for You

These days, folks are watching every penny. And when it comes to mobile phones, it’s usually not the initial hardware cost that hurts the most. It’s that recurring bill for the next 24 months that hits the wallet. To help minimize that expense while also getting the services you need, you could hit up every carrier and wade through their offerings. Or you could just hit BillShrink and have them tell you which plans will best meet your needs — and your budget.

With BillShrink, you just pick the terms and services you’re looking for on a monthly basis: voice minutes, data and messaging needs. Enter your zip code and provide an email address to get your results. It’s that simple. If you want be really lazy, you don’t even need to enter the data. Instead, you can authorize BillShrink to gain access to your wireless account records online.

The free service looks fairly useful and it just ran a little comparison between the upcoming MyTouch 3G, Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS with these results:

· MyTouch: $1998 – 1000 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

· Palm Pre: $2359 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

· iPhone 3G S: $2839 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

MyTouch 3G: $1998 – 1000 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
Palm Pre: $2359 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging
iPhone 3G S: $2839 – 900 minutes/month + unlimited data and messaging

There’s a vast difference between the total cost of those three devices. Not that I didn’t know that before, but it’s a good example of where a service like BillShrink can come in handy.

magicJack is a threat to Skype, not Google Voice

teknia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:32:41 -0600

Is Google Voice A Threat To Skype?
No, but interestingly, magicJack is a threat to Skype

-- Counter point to Matt Hartley's article from a small business perspective.

Skype Review:

Skype suffers from a nasty interface and overpricing.
We have suffered numerous hardware issues with Skype over a 2 year period
    * too loud/not loud enough
    * no sound, incompatible sound cards, etc
$40 per year for Skype out includes a phone number.
    * That was a good price 2 years ago. Not now. See below.
Voice to email setup is cumbersome if not impossible to decipher.

magicJack
Included with a magicJack for $39.95:

A (Free) phone number from one of many metropolitan areas around the country that can receive free incoming calls from around the world.
A license to use the magicJack to call the US and Canada for FREE during your first year of use.
A USB optional extension cord.
Free local and long distance calling to US and Canada.
Free International calling to US/Canada numbers when traveling outside of the US.

Also:

Additional years of service are $19.95 (ck magicJack site for deals)
magicJack can be used with a standard phone or on your PC with a headset.
Voice quality surprisingly good.
Voice mail comes to you by email with Caller ID.
* Attached in .WAV format
Proof of call to fight violators of your 'No Call' listing

Major Points:

$20/year for a phone number with magicJack vs. $40 for Skype
Voice mail is captured and sent by email
Additional phone lines for Small Business are affordable

Conclusion:
We are evaluating Google Voice and may have analysis later. We suspect we'll end up using a combination of magicJack and Google Voice in the end.

We will be 'porting' our Skpe number to magicJack as soon as we can. Phone number portability is expected from magicJack later this year (2009).

Is Google Voice A Threat To Skype? ~ Web Developers.

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
by Matt Hartley
In a few instances, I have found myself questioning this very same thing. Clearly, Google Voice is pretty cool. However it is worth noting that it is hardly a standalone application. Basically, it’s voicemail with reverse call forwarding.

As a Skype user, I have found that I use this service much more. Why? Because it does not require me to provide another number to ring through to when someone wants to call me. It’s right there, running on my PC anytime I want to use it.

At the end of the day, I see Skype failing big time in the mobile space while continuing to grow on the desktop
. And I see the reverse happening with Google Voice.

Options to Satellite TV, Hollywood Video or Cable!

teknia — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:04:43 -0600

Mike Elgan offers some good insight for 'cutting the cable.'

The problems with:

DirecTV - can't share content between boxes (cable equipment can)
Hulu - Only 5 episodes of network TV programs like House, Lie to Me, etc
Pay per view - expensive
Any premium movie package like HBO, Showtime etc.

poor selection
repetitive

Hollywood Video -

alienating customers
poor options with their Power Play package

Highlights of:

TIVO

time shifting (watch on your schedule)
fast forward through commercials

DirecTV
Hulu - HD content
Hollywood Video - they blew it with Power Play
HBO, Showtime etc.

Final Analysis

Go with a combo of NetFlix & Redbox; it's cheaper and better than the Power Play rip-off

Cut your cable!

Cut your cable!

After canceling my cable TV subscription, I realized that online TV is much better

Mike Elgan

May 16, 2009 (Computerworld) As part of my transition to semi-nomadic living and gadget-consolidation project, I canceled my subscription to cable TV and returned the cable box and remote.

I assumed tradeoffs in this arrangement: I would end up with an inferior TV experience, but save money. What I discovered, however, is that the overall experience is actually better. Much better.

My TV, which I've had for a couple years, is a 42-inch Sony Bravia. My laptop (and now my one and only PC) is also a Sony: A Sony Vaio AW that has an HDMI port. To watch online TV on my big-screen TV, I simply plug the laptop into the TV with HDMI (The Vaio even comes with a remote). Other cabling options are almost as good.

Finding a show is easy: Just Google it. All major shows that I'm aware of have a link to the streaming or downloadable HD version on the first results page. You can also find clips and shows on social bookmarking sites, TV sites like Hulu, and on YouTube.

The picture and sound quality is amazing. It's not quite as good as HD programming via cable, but far better quality than analog TV or even DVDs. That surprised me. But a long list of other benefits surprised me even more.
Cable TV creates a minor anxiety. If you don't record shows, you feel the need to essentially keep an appointment each week to catch updates of whatever shows you're following. If you record them using TiVo or something similar, you feel pressed to hurry up and watch recorded shows before your available storage maxes out.
When relying exclusively on shows online, however, I don't have to think about TV schedules or DVR storage space. I can watch whatever I want whenever I want, or I can just stop watching TV for any amount of time. The missed episodes are always online when I want them.

Location independence: Of course, you can always watch your regular TV shows on a laptop. But by carrying cables while traveling, you can plug in to whatever big-screen TV is available. That laptop becomes a portable cable box. Time savings: Many shows, such as Saturday Night Live, TV news programs, the Colbert Report and others tend to be a mixed bag containing a lot of time-wasting junk, but also nuggets of entertainment gold.
We have been acclimated over the years to suffer through entire shows, essentially fishing for something funny or interesting. But TV is presented online often in the form of individual clips. One of the best sites is Hulu, which offers shows both in full format and in clip form. The clips are sortable by "Popular Clips" and "Featured Videos." The site does a great job of separating the junk from the gold. You can watch only the good bits and save a lot of time.

Watch in "epic-sode" form: In the same way that you can reduce shows into their component parts, you can also combine episodes into "epic-sodes" - multiple episodes viewed as one. By doing this, you can watch shows a season at a time.

Rather than watching one episode each of four shows per week, you can find shows online where the season is completed and watch consecutive episodes of only that one show (15 minutes per night, one hour per night, two hours per night - whatever you like) until the season is done. Then you move to another show. This is a great way to watch shows like "Lost," where every episode references previous ones.

Fewer commercials: Online HDTV shows often have commercials, but about a quarter of the commercials you'll find on regular TV.

Money savings: Obviously, not paying for cable saves money. In my case, the elimination of my landline phone and cable bundle saved me about $110 per month. (If I put all that money in the bank for 10 years, I'll be able to pay cash for a brand-new car.)

Browseability: Amazon Kindle users will tell you that they both read more and read more widely with a Kindle because books are easier to discover and browse. The same goes for online TV. It's much easier to find and browse for shows online and to try them out.

Two weeks ago I thought canceling my cable subscription was a good idea for digital nomads. But now I'm convinced it's a better way to go for everybody. It changes the way you think about and watch TV, and improves the whole experience.

If you don't believe me, then I challenge you to try it out. Before you cancel your cable, go cold turkey for one week without using the cable service, getting all your TV online and watching it on your regular TV. Let me know how it goes!

Mike Elgan writes about technology and global tech culture. He blogs about the technology needs, desires and successes of mobile warriors in his Computerworld blog, The World Is My Office. Contact Mike at mike.elgan@elgan.com, follow him on Twitter or his blog, The Raw Feed.

Bing 1.0 | Microsoft Search Engine 2.0

teknia — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:52:14 -0600

Bing Search Engine Initial Analysis

Microsoft Search Engine 2.0
Version 2 of any program is usually skipped for marketing purposes and to build consumer confidence.
It's about the impression, Bing looks good but isn't it about whether it can find anything?

Search results show 10 listings.
No way to change to 100 results
- Pushes the Top 10 Listing Value
- Leads users to give up and settle for a top 10
10 results perpetrates the keyword hamster wheel of SEO alimony.

Image search was better than Google's
Surprised us, a search for 'Fox Mask' actually showed some good examples using Bing.
Google uses user labels and fails to provide 1 in 100 of our expected results; you know, pictures of fox faces on masks...

When will phone info factor into search results?
Microsoft hates phones...
Sales closed by phone are important and so is the AAA naming convention that gets calls by being the 1st name listed in the phone book. Examples; Pizza, taxi and lock services. As phone books transition to the web, AAA naming conventions have been one-upped by Crossover Business names as domain names.

Why isn't dating info important?
Yahoo answers are so out of date the info is useless:

Try a Yahoo Search for 'Does Cricket offer 3G'
- answer has not been updated to show that Cricket has 3G
- The 9 month old answer isn't good enough... Cricket does offer 3G
- Where's the flag to let them know the answer needs updating?

Bing.

Live Search is evolving. Welcome to Bing.

Twitter "Best Video" Scam Attacks PCs

teknia — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:37:07 -0600

Twitter "Best Video" Scam Attacks PCs & Users
Apparently, visitors to juste.ru (a website with the Russian country domain extension dotru) will see an embedded YouTube video. Behind the scenes, the page launches an exploit-laden PDF attack that, if successful, will install a fake antivirus program called "System Security."

Isn't it time to 'kill' a domain extension?

Skip the diplomatic channels, how about a dotru tea party?
Most PC users don't want anything from Russia...
...Not even a mail order bride.

Companies that provide Email and browser programs need to step up.

Microsoft!
Outlook - A one button kill for email originating from Russia? ...Make that a 'kill button' we can find and not named something stupid from that Microsoft Naming convention from hell...

Internet Explorer - A one button kill for websites using the Russian dotru domain extension?

Google - Chrome & Gmail
FireFox
Opera
Safari

In defense of Adobe
...Like drinking from Niagra Falls with a dixie cup trying to defend against hacker exploits.

DotRU
The dotru is a Russian Domain Extension. DotRU is a Country Code Top Level Domain designated for Russia .ru

Through the years tons of SPAM, malware and exploits have originated from websites with .ru domain extensions.

How about a Twitter Tea Party?

It's time to stop these attacks at the border or at least give PC users the ability to do it themselves. Maybe a Twitter Tea Party can get some attention brewing for the companies listed.

PC World

Twitter "Best Video" Scam Attacks PCs

Erik Larkin Jun 1, 2009 11:44 am
Crooks are going after Twitter users once again, this time with a "Best Video" tweet that attempts to lure victims into visiting a site that will launch PDF-based attacks.

According to an analysis from Kaspersky, visitors to the juste.ru site (which you of course shouldn't visit) will see an embedded YouTube video. But behind the scenes, the page will launch and exploit-laden PDF attack that, if successful, will install a fake antivirus program called "System Security."

The Kaspersky researcher didn't find any evidence of a self-spreading worm, and instead theorizes that the scammers behind this attack used stolen logins from a recent "TwitterCut" phishing attack against the service to send the poisoned tweets.

Twitter says it is aware of the problem and is working on it. To stay safe, in addition to avoiding any "Best Video" tweets, be sure that any Adobe software is up-to-date. Flaws in Reader and Acrobat are a huge target for online crooks right now.

Provacative Titles
Isn't it time to 'kill' a domain extension?
Skip the diplomatic channels, how about a Twitter 'dotru' tea party?

Social media, Call to action. How about a Twitter Tea Party?

An Unofficial User's Guide to Gmail

teknia — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:47:00 -0600

Gmail Rocks
Eliminate the 'Folder Dance' (the drag to folder duties) because Gmail search works...
Eliminating the 'folder dance' saves a lot of people over an hour a week of email organizing.
Sadly we don't need Neo - The email organizer anymore.

Microsoft search does not work quickly and can find very little.
...No wonder they continue to pursue Yahoo.

The pst file (the Outlook data file used to store email and contact info) is one of the worst things ever pushed onto small business and PC users by a software program. The pst file is unmanageable and your worst nightmare.

The small business clients we have converted from Outlook to Gmail are ecstatic about the freedom they gain from eliminating the folder dance and not facing a Microsoft Server with Exchange expense.

As always, a few things can be annoying. People that send emails without descriptive subject lines or without subject lines make it harder if you need to find something.

Multiple signatures would be nice to have. <hint, hint>
Tons of Gmail Storage is great. 7 GB and increasing. One of our Gmail accounts has over 5000 emails stored and uses 6% of allowed space.

Reduced SPAM is huge if you have an online presence...

PC Mag : An Unofficial User's Guide to Gmail.

An Unofficial User's Guide to Gmail
ARTICLE DATE: 04.29.09

By Eric Griffith

Five years in beta mode hasn't prevented Google's Web-based Gmail from flourishing. In fact, it's one of the few e-mail products continuing to innovate in any way these days. Desktop clients like Outlook and Thunderbird haven't changed much in years; Hotmail gets a new name every few months, but that's about it. Gmail, via experiments from the Gmail Labs team, is constantly adding new features.

Plus, Gmail is simple to use. At least on the surface.

However, much of Gmail's power goes untapped. So we've put together this guide to highlight the features you may have missed—ones that separate Gmail from the pack.

Understanding Gmail

Gmail's interface is simple to master, even for those with no e-mail experience whatsoever. However, if you're used to old-school e-mail programs like Outlook, a couple of things might throw you off.

One is labels. Whereas Outlook, Thunderbird, and even webmail from Yahoo still use a folder-tree interface, where you drag messages from the inbox to the folder to categorize and archive, Gmail eschews that and uses labels instead. They're essentially tags, like those used by most blogs, and a message can have as many labels as you wish to assign. If you archive a message, you can find it by clicking on the label assigned to it (or by doing a straight search). Outlook 2007 offers color-coded categories that are similar to Gmail labels, but it still relies primarily on the folder tree.

Are Gmail's labels the better solution? They can be frustrating if you're used to dragging and dropping messages. If Gmail is your only e-mail, however, mastering the "label first, archive later" method is simple enough. And to be honest, you don't ever need to archive messages in Gmail, where searches are as fast and accurate as you'd expect of Google.

Another aspect that may be hard to get, at least at first, is conversations. Gmail groups messages with the same subject line, so replies are matched to the original message. It's similar to the threaded conversations found in most online discussion boards. Click Expand All on the right (above the ads) to view an entire conversation from start to finish. You can even forward a whole conversation as one big message.

You can mimic the conversations view in Outlook (right click the field headings and select "Conversations" as a new option for organization) and Thunderbird (click the word-balloon icon in the upper left-hand corner of the message list).

Access Gmail Anywhere

Gmail is designed to be viewed in a Web browser. However, it's not limited to the browser. Any e-mail client software can access Gmail. The easiest method: Forward every Gmail message to another address that's already set up with Outlook or Thunderbird (or even to another webmail service like Hotmail or Yahoo). More typical is to use POP3, the protocol most e-mail accounts are based on. You can enable this in Gmail's settings—you can even opt to send every existing e-mail you have stored in Gmail to the client software, not just new messages, to do a full backup. Gmail provides complete configuration instructions for POP clients.

Better yet is Gmail's IMAP support. With IMAP, any changes to Gmail messages in your e-mail client software are reflected in Gmail on the Web. Delete a message—it's gone from the account. Drag a message to a folder and it will be archived and labeled with that folder name. With POP3, you'd need to delete or label it on your client and then again at Gmail.

You might not ever need to visit Gmail directly if you use iGoogle as your home page. Naturally there are Gmail widgets available; in fact, there are several, including one that does full-screen access (though why you wouldn't make the extra click to simply visit Gmail itself I'm not sure). Try them all; they're free. Users of Yahoo Widgets will also find a Gmail reader with summaries of incoming messages.

Offline Access

Google's Gears browser extension allows a number of Web-only services—not just those from Google—to be accessed off-line, so you can access Gmail in your browser even when you can't get an Internet connection. Gears stores messages on your hard drive and lets you compose mail for sending when the connection is restored. If you install Gears on multiple computers, no problem: Any changes in Gmail on one computer eventually sync with the main account, and then sync again to the other computers.

Gears works in Firefox 1.5 or IE6 and later. Once you've turned on the feature under the Labs tab in Settings, you'll see an Offline link at the top of Gmail; click it and a dialog box asks you to make sure you're not on a public computer. If Gears is installed, click Next, agree that you trust the Gmail Web site, and click Allow. (If Gears isn't installed, this box will install it for you. The link won't appear if the browser doesn't support Gears.)

Gears can take a while to finish off-line installation—it must download all your messages and attachments. If you've got a lot, it could take a long, long while. Make sure you've got enough room on your hard drive (up to the 7GB of online storage, see "Storage Space"). You don't have to store all your Gmail messages locally, of course, which is handy if you're short on space. Set a date range and limit it to only the most recent files. Junked messages and spam are not available off-line.

For those who have an on-again, off-again Internet connection, Offline Gmail provides a Flaky Connection Mode. All data synchronization takes place in the background, whenever possible, while you do your work on local copies of mail messages; it's not completely off-line, but it's pretty close. Use this mode when first syncing Gmail to your hard drive, so you can continue working.

Track your current off-line status using the icon at the top of the Gmail page. A green circle with a check mark means you're online; green with a spiral means you're online and syncing; gray means off-line; and the blue spiral indicates Flaky Connection Mode. Click the icon to deactivate Offline Gmail anytime. You'll find more settings under the new Offline tab under Settings.

Themes for the New Year

Is changing the look of Gmail's Web interface going to change how you use it? Not really. But personalization is always hot. You can choose between straightforward color changes or more advanced themes that feature artwork or photography. The choices are limited, especially when you compare them with what's available on iGoogle, and there is no option to have the theme change for you automatically each day. But anything is better than looking like everyone else's Gmail. Gmail themes are fully supported by only a handful of Web browsers: Internet Explorer 7.0+, Firefox 2.0+, Safari 3.0+, and Google Chrome. Other browsers won't show a Themes tab under Settings.

It is important to set your location in themes, as some of them change slightly based on where you are and the time of day.

Filter Your Inbox Searches

Of course, Gmail's search ability is pretty great (consider the parent company). If you decide not to label messages, finding what you need is still easy. But why limit yourself to one way to find things?

When you do a search in Gmail, don't stick to text. Use operators to narrow things down. They include from:, to:, subject:, label:, list: (for mailing lists), filename: (for specific attachments), and quotation marks to find specific phrases. Gmail Help has a list of useful operators.

All the terms you search on are grouped by default with the AND Boolean operator; if you need to find only one of your terms, put an OR in between them. Putting terms in curly brackets like this: {from:eric subject:hashtags} will also mimic the OR operation. Then you can pair that set with required terms in the search. Likewise, search terms encased in parentheses are forced to use AND. So you can execute complicated searches of your inbox, like this:

(to: (Dan Jeremy Lance) subject: {hashtags twitter})

That would find all messages to Dan, Lance, and Jeremy that have either "hashtags" or "twitter" in the subject line.

Filters modify messages as they arrive (just as Rules do in Outlook). The primary change is applying labels based on criteria that you set. You can also filter items so they're marked as read, archived (meaning they move out of your inbox), deleted, or forwarded to other addresses based on who the message is from, the subject line, or any words included or absent from the message body. Use the parentheses (or AND) or curly brackets (or OR) in your filter criteria as well.

Other Boolean operators you can use: a minus sign (-) in front of something you don't want to show up in a search/filter (such as -from:Jeremy to avoid all e-mails from that guy, or -from:*@pcmag.com to avoid all PCMag.com e-mails). Put multiple domain names styled like that in curly brackets and they're all ignored.

A search in Gmail includes the archives, so there's no reason not to use filters and labels to keep that inbox extra clean.

Dots and Plus Signs in the Address

When Gmail receives messages, it ignores extra periods inserted in the first part of the address. That means youraddress@gmail.com is the same as your.address@gmail.com and even y.o.u.r.address@gmail.com and your......address@gmail.com.

What's more, you can append words to the Gmail address, like so: youraddress+comics@gmail.com or youraddress+news@gmail.com. Combine dots and pluses all you want: Messages sent to your.addr.ess+superstar@gmail.com will get there nonetheless.

Why are these infinitely customizable aliases useful? They make it easier to filter messages as they arrive. Give one kind of address to friends, another to coworkers. Append +spam when you sign up for a service you fear might pass your name along, then filter out any messages sent to that address.

Better yet, sign up and append the name of the service you're using (like youraddress+pcmag@gmail.com)—you can tell when it gets passed along. That makes it easy to remember when you have to sign in using your address as a username.

Of course, not all services will let you put a plus sign in your e-mail address, so this technique may not work for you.

One more alias you can use: the domain names of gmail.com and googlemail.com are interchangeable. youraddress@googlemail.com is the same to Gmail as all the above examples. The same alias rules above apply, therefore.

Getting Attached

Some services have a pretty strict cutoff on the size of file attachments. Gmail is generous, allowing files in aggregate up to 20 megabytes. (For anything bigger than that, use something besides e-mail; try Drop.io).

Because Gmail is Web-based, attachments must be fully uploaded to the Gmail site before you can send them. If an attachment is big, attach it before you start writing your message. Otherwise you might find yourself waiting to send your message while that file uploads. To search for messages with attachments, both those received and sent, use the operator has:attachment. Add the filename: operator to look for specific filenames (naturally). It also looks at the content of text attachments.

Want to send someone an executable file, like those ending with.exe? You can't. Same for files with the extensions .bat, .com, .dll, and .ocx. Gmail won't allow it, because of concerns about spreading malware. In fact, Gmail automatically checks every attachment for viruses as standard operating procedure—and you can't deactivate that scan. You can't hide the executable in a compressed file either; Gmail looks inside them.

There is a workaround for sending an executable, however: Change the name of the file and tell the person on the receiving end to change it back. Annoyingly, Gmail uploads the whole file before it warns you that it won't send your executables. To save time, change their names first.

Storage Space

As of this writing, Gmail users get 7,318MB (or 7.14GB) of space to store messages, plus attachments. You can watch the number of gigabytes allotted to you grow on the bottom of the Gmail Web page. Visit the Basic Storage usage page and you'll see that Google claims to provide even more: 7.69GB, plus 1GB for Picasa Web Albums storage.

That's a whole lotta space.

Yet you can upgrade to get more (10GB for $20, 40GB for $75, up to 400GB for $500, each price per year). Casual users are probably nowhere close to filling the more than 7GB they've got. So why not put it to use?

Google has yet to launch the mythical Google Drive (aka Google My Stuff) for online storage, but you can work around that if you have Firefox as your main browser. Install the Gspace add-on to get instant access to the extra space in your Gmail account via an FTP-esque interface in the browser. It works on Firefox for Windows, Mac, and Linux; Gspace also can access multiple Gmail accounts (it doesn't combine the storage of multiple accounts).

Create a filter in Gmail to archive anything you upload via Gspace; otherwise those files appear in the inbox and clutter things up. Filter for the line subject:d$, as those characters appear in the file names of everything you upload via Gspace. Tell the filter to "Skip the inbox" so the files get archived when uploaded. Gspace is now owned by Wi-Fi provider FON Labs, which uses it to power FONBackup, a Windows-only Java utility for accessing Gmail storage without the browser. It synchronizes only one local folder per Gmail account, however.

Note that when Google makes changes to Gmail, products like Gspace are occasionally crippled and made useless. This shouldn't be your only solution for important file backups.

Notification

Gmail power users keep the service open on a browser tab 24/7 and always know when a new message comes in. However, casual users might like the occasional hint of when to log in for something new. For that there are notifiers.

Gmail Notifier. The official app from Google for alerting you to new messages, it runs in Windows 2000 and XP and on Mac OS. You'll be shocked to read that it's in beta.

Notifier2. This Windows app informs about e-mail from multiple services, including Gmail, Hotmail, RocketMail, and Yahoo and also previews messages.

KCheckGmail. Linux users with the KDE interface can be notified of new messages with little message snippets, via the KCheckGmail tool.

Gmail Notifier for Firefox. Put a Gmail icon in the Firefox status bar to tell you what's arrived.

Widgets. Search the Apple, Google, and Yahoo Apple gizmo/gadget/widget pages for an abundance of notifiers to place on the desktop. Vista users feeling left out can try Gmail Counter for the Vista Sidebar.

You've Got Gmail for Trillian. As the name implies, users of the multi-protocol instant message client Trillian can use this to see what's new.

Anyone using the Google Talk client software for instant messaging—even with Windows Vista—will also get notification of new Gmail via the Gtalk tray icon.

Using Multiple Accounts in One

There's nothing stopping you from having multiple Gmail accounts. Gmail's free, after all. Having more than one is handy if you run out of storage space or simply want multiple personas that keep work and home messages separate. It's possible to link those accounts, albeit indirectly. In fact, you can link them with non-Gmail e-mail accounts too, so Gmail becomes the primary hub of your communications.

In the Settings of the main Gmail account, go to the Accounts tab. Choose whether you want all replies sent to go from the account each message? was sent to (to keep things separate) or from the main Gmail account. The latter choice will go a long way toward consolidating your accounts to a single Gmail, if that's what you prefer. When you click the "Add a mail account you own" link, a simple dialog box pops up asking for the e-mail address. You will receive a verification message at that address with a link you must click before you can send messages from your Gmail account as that address. (Google doesn't want you spoofing accounts you don't control.)

Now you can send messages from Gmail as if you are sending from that second e-mail account. But how do you receive messages sent to it in Gmail?

If the second account is also Gmail, it's simple: Go to the second account's Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and forward everything it receives to your primary Gmail. Archive or delete the messages in the secondary account, that's your call. Back in the primary account, create a filter to label messages from the second account as you see fit, so you can tell at a glance where they came from.

If the secondary address is from a provider that supports POP3 e-mail, Gmail can also import the messages using Mail Fetcher. You will find the feature under the Accounts tab in Gmail's Settings. That can be an effective way to use Gmail as your work e-mail—even if the powers that be won't give up that aging Exchange server.

If you own the domain name for your secondary e-mail address, your Web host probably has a control panel that can forward incoming e-mail to your Gmail. It's not always worth the cost, however; for example, to forward message from Yahoo Mail, you need to upgrade to Yahoo Mail Plus for $19.99 a year. Ouch. To access multiple Gmail accounts that remain separate, a Firefox extension called Gmail Manager—which doubles as a notifier—lets you switch back and forth between them, without constantly reentering your username and password.

Keep the idea of a second Gmail account in mind if you near your allotted space limit. At the very least, a second account might be a good place to filter all messages with oversize attachments you can't bear to delete.

Take a Shortcut

Gmail is rife with keyboard shortcut options, so you seldom have to touch the mouse while e-mailing. You can turn the shortcuts on or off in the Settings, under the General tab. In the inbox, hit the J key to move the indicator arrow down (to older items), or the K key to move it up (newer items). If you hit Enter, the message with the arrow opens.

Then use J or K to cycle through open messages. Get familiar with these other shortcuts:

The C key brings up a new compose-message form; Shift-C puts that in a new window. (Turn off pop-up blockers for this to work.)

The / (forward slash) key puts your cursor in the search box without your having to click the mouse.

The S key will put a star on a message, or an entire conversation thread. Or take one off if it's already starred.

The Y key will instantly archive any message, hiding it from the main inbox. It remains searchable, even if the message hasn't been labeled.

Hit the ! (exclamation point) key to mark a message as spam and remove it from the inbox.

The # (pound) key will instantly delete any message or conversation thread you're reading. You can also select multiple messages in the inbox or other folders and dump them all directly to the trash.

The R key simply replies to the sender; A will Reply All; and F will forward. Add Shift to any of those to bring up the box in a new window.

Shift-I will mark a message as read; Shift-U will mark it unread.

The Z key will undo a previous action, if that's allowed.

If your cursor is in a text input field—meaning, if you type, the text appears on-screen in a box as in the subject or body of the message, or even the search box—hit Esc to get out of it. Then you're free to continue using the short cuts above.

If you need to find more shortcuts—and there are dozens, the ones I've mentioned are merely the basics—hit the ? (question mark, aka Shift-/) key. An overlay of shortcuts will appear, no matter what page of Gmail you're on. Finally, a new Gmail Labs extra lets you remap shortcuts. For example, if you don't like C for compose, you can assign a different character for it.

Extras in the Interface

Gmail's main page is straightforward enough, but you can layer in the extras and gewgaws until the page has all the info and services needed to get you through the day. Web Clips puts informational links at the top of the page. Pick what to display in the Gmail Settings, Web Clips tab, by choosing from popular news sources that Google has pre-picked. If you have a specific source you like, paste its RSS feed into the "search by topic or URL" form. Once the Web Clips are on display, click the arrows on the far right to scroll through the top headlines, then click the headline to go to the article.

Google Talk IM chat is obviously well tied to Gmail. Notice the screen with your Gtalk buddy list on the left, under the labels list. You can also add video chat over Gtalk so it appears in Gmail, sign in to your AIM account and use that over Gmail, and stick a Google Calendar box and a Google Docs box in the side area. The latter two come courtesy of Gmail Labs; first turn it on in Settings, then click the green beaker icon at the top to choose which Labs features to use.

Tasks is another new feature from Gmail Labs. Once it's activated, you won't get a window for it alongside Gtalk and Calendar, but click the Tasks link and you'll get a pop-up listing your to-dos.

In fact, any gadget you can put on an iGoogle home page can be slapped into Gmail now, using the Gmail Labs "add a gadget by URL" tool. Copy and paste these URLs to add the following social-network gadgets:

TwitterGadget
www.twittergadget.com/gadget_gmail.xml

Digg
digg.com/goog/ig.xml

Del.icio.us
www.labpixies.com/campaigns/delicious/delicious.xml

Facebook
www.brianngo.net/ig/facebook.xml

FriendFeed
friendfeed.com/embed/googlegadget/spec

Remember The Milk
www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml

There's some important information at the bottom of the Gmail screen. It's called "Last account activity," and it tells you approximately when your Gmail was last accessed and what IP address the computer was using. Click the Details link to get a table of recent activity; you may see a number of recent—even current—sessions taking place. That happens if you've got multiple devices with multiple methods of access, such as online, through a mail reader like Thunderbird, and with an iPhone. If you use Gmail in only one place, this is a great way to track if your account has been hacked or used without your knowledge. (Always sign out after using Gmail, especially at work or on public computers.)

Safety Features

Everyone makes mistakes in e-mail. Some are worse than others—not attaching something you promised might not be as bad as sending an angry diatribe to your boss (which is worse depends on the attachment…and the boss). Gmail Labs has ways of addressing these and other issues, at least in part.

Click the green beaker icon at the top of Gmail to visit the latest Labs options and look for these items:

Sender Time Zone. Adds an icon next to names in your contacts so you can tell at a glance if they're likely to get your message right away or not, based on their supposed location. You'll see the icon next to their name in messages, green if they're near you, red if they're not.

Mail Goggles. This is an advanced preventative against sending mail late at night. Turn it on, go to the General settings, select days and a time range (say, 10PM to 4AM) when you are likely to be somewhat inebriated, and Goggles (not Googles) will force you to answer simple math questions that may prevent you from drunken e-mailing. You can even adjust the difficulty of the math problems.

Undo Send. Every e-mail program or site needs this feature. The feature gives you 5 or 10 extra seconds after you click send to undo the dispatch. You'll see "Your message has been sent. Undo" at the top of the browser screen after you send a message, but beware: That "Undo" link disappears fast.

Forgotten Attachment Detector. Don't forget to send that spreadsheet you promised! This Labs extra looks for words in your message (like "attached") and suggests that you double-check what you're sending if the message doesn't really have anything attached.

External Extras

There are ways to tweak Gmail that rely on external forces, primarily in browsers that support extensions (read: Firefox).

A mainstay of Firefox use is Greasemonkey, which can accept a multitude of external scripts that impact select Web sites, both how they look and how they function. Of course, there's no lack of scripts for Gmail. An overwhelming number, really.

That's why the good folks at one of our favorite blogs, Lifehacker, created the Better Gmail 2 extension. It compiles several of the best Gmail-related Greasemonkey scripts into one add-on. You control what's activated with check boxes arranged under tabs for different categories. Among the scripts: options to hide the invites box, hide the spam count, and hide the chat window; the ability to put replies in the bottom of a post rather than the top; icons that identify what kind of attachments you have; a filter creation button; and a notifier in the form of an unread message count in the Gmail favicon (the little Favorites icon in the Firefox tab).

Gmail Mobility

Being Web-based, Gmail is simple to access on handhelds. In fact, earlier this month Google revamped the mobile interface found at m.google.com/mail (but you can use plain old gmail.com too). It runs much better than before, on the iPhone and Android-based phones in particular. It integrates Gmail access with tabs for Calendar, Docs, and other Google services, much like those you see in the browser on your computer. The Gmail view in particular does a nice job of bringing the "conversations" interface to the phone. Labels are easy to see and colored approximately the same as on a regular browser.

Gmail on an iPhone isn't limited to the view in the Safari browser. The iPhone Mobile Mail app can access Gmail over IMAP, so all changes made on the phone are reflected online. Go into iPhone Settings, then Mail, Contacts, Calendar. Click Add Account and you'll see Gmail listed as an option. You can add multiple accounts, in fact. That said, the Gmail mobile Web interface equals or outperforms iPhone Mobile Mail in most respects. It supports Gears, so you can still use it even if your iPhone isn't online; the Mobile Mail app can do that too but doesn't display conversation threads and has limited search and archiving functions. The iPhone app has one specific benefit, however: It indicates on the start screen how many messages are waiting.

A nice trick with Gmail on iPhone is that it lets you easily read documents attached to messages, even DOC and PDF files. Click the attachment in a message you're reading on an iPhone, and the DOC file will be converted to HTML or the PDF will display. This works through Gmail in either Safari or the iPhone mail application. A full list of phones that support Google services can be found at Google Mobile.

Desktop Access

Don't like your Web browser? I'd admonish you that the Web is the future of your computing life, but I'll save myself the trouble since there are several applications that give you full access to Gmail as if it were installed on your hard disk.

GMDesk does more than access Gmail, it also puts Google Calendar, Docs, Reader, Picasa Web Albums, and Maps on your desktop. Essentially, it's like running a browser devoted to just those six services. It requires the Adobe AIR runtime environment and also works with Google Apps (see below). GMDesk, however, doesn't support off-line Gmail with Gears.

GeeMail is also an Adobe AIR app, it's newer, and it has off-line e-mail composition, though not using Gears. Off-line access is part of the application, which doesn't mimic the interface of Gmail in the browser. It provides a minimalistic look and feel. In fact, it looks the way Gmail did when it launched five years ago.

Affixa is a new, free application that has replaced gAttach, a utility that integrated Gmail into the Windows OS. The similar yAttach did the same for Yahoo Mail. Now Affixa does it for both. Applications that try to send e-mails, such as Microsoft Word, and that don't usually work with webmail can send through Affixa with ease. If you pay 2 pounds sterling (about $3 U.S.) for the subscription version, you can support multiple Gmail accounts and get several more features.

iContact isn't very polished, but it doesn't have to be to do its thing: Give you desktop access to the Gmail Contacts list. Edits made in the application are reflected online, and vice versa.

You don't need anything too fancy to put Gmail on a desktop if you use a site-specific browser (SSB). Every SSB runs in its own process in Windows, so if your main browser crashes, the SSB won't. Google's own Chrome browser can create an SSB for any site you choose. Read about using them for Gmail (and other sites) in our story "How to Run Web Apps from Your Desktop".

Importing Data

If you're well established with another e-mail provider, there are ways to get your data—both messages and contact lists—into Gmail. By default, Gmail's single built-in method for retrieving e-mail from another source is to use the Mail Fetcher (see "Using Multiple Accounts in One," above). Gmail uses it to suck in the messages waiting on your POP3 e-mail account.

That is going to work only with messages still on the e-mail server, though. That's great going forward, but what if you've got years' worth of messages that you want to import to Gmail as a permanent, searchable archive?

In a desktop client like Outlook or Thunderbird, set up IMAP access to Gmail. You'll see it as a separate inbox. Your Gmail labels will appear as regular old folders. Drag and drop messages from your POP3 inbox and folders into the Gmail folders. This retains all the original formatting and date stamps—even the attachments are moved over. The copying can take a while, but once it's done, you should have a complete archive of your messages in the online storage of Gmail—and still have access to it in the desktop software. Windows Live Hotmail, being a Microsoft product, is best accessed in an IMAP-like way using a Microsoft product such as Outlook. Download and run the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector to link your Hotmail (if it's updated to a Windows Live Hotmail account) to Outlook (2003 and 2007 versions only). The third-party IzyMail will also handle Hotmail to Gmail message conversion and forwarding. Once you've got access, copy the Hotmail messages to your Gmail.

I'd hoped when moving from Yahoo Mail to use Yahoo Zimbra Desktop. It's a free download providing desktop access to multiple types of e-mail accounts (including Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and other POP3/IMAP accounts). It is, in fact, the only way to get IMAP access to Yahoo Mail—even paid Yahoo Mail Plus users get only POP3 access. However, while you can back up messages to a compressed TGZ file from any account, restoring them to a different account—such as Gmail—doesn't actually put the messages on the Gmail server. Zimbra provides backup locally only.

So for now, moving messages from Yahoo Mail to Gmail means moving all the messages to your Yahoo Mail inbox, paying for POP3 support, and using Mail Fetcher to grab them. The paid account also lets you forward other incoming messages to Gmail. (You might get around paying by using the open-source YPOPs to install a POP3 gateway to your Yahoo Mail.)

To import contacts, first save your current contacts into a CSV (comma-separated values) file. You can do this with Outlook, Thunderbird, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail. Importing with Gmail is limited to 3,000 contacts at a time. Click the Contacts link on the left in Gmail and you'll find Import (and Export) links on the upper right-hand side of the screen. You may find yourself reformatting some fields; do that to the CSV file using Microsoft Excel first and it might be easier. Gmail will tell you if it left out some entries; it doesn't always like non-ASCII characters, for example. Alas, distribution lists/mailing groups don't get imported; you'll have to recreate them with Google Contacts.

If your contacts are on a handheld like the iPhone, you can typically sync it with Google Contacts; that's an option through iTunes sync with the iPhone, for example.

Exporting and Backup

Getting data out of Gmail is pretty straightforward. In the case of contacts, the only option is to export the entire list into a CSV file. You can also, as noted before, sync it with other services, such as with the Thunderbird contact list or onto your iPhone. The Zindus extension will do that.

Convenient as Gmail is at being accessible in so many ways and places, keep one thing in mind: With all your messages on Google servers you're at Google's mercy. The occasional outage is one thing, but what happens if it loses data? Your data? You want a backup. Just in case. Trust us.

The simplest way to do that is to run a program like Thunderbird or Outlook that downloads your Gmail via POP3. This won't impact what you have stored on the Gmail servers, but it also doesn't take into account filters, or changes or deletions you make to messages; in fact, using POP3, you have to filter and delete messages twice, once online and once in the e-mail client.

Sure, POP3's extra file manipulation is irritating, but it's more or less the best bet for backup. IMAP, which mirrors what you do in the client back onto the server when you sync (and vice versa when you're online), is not a backup method at all unless you drag and drop messages from your Gmail account to your other mailboxes in the client. That's fine one time, but not convenient enough to do regularly.

There's another option: Create a second Gmail account and make sure all messages sent and received in the first are forwarded there. It's not a perfect solution, of course—if Gmail is out altogether, it's useless—but might not be a bad idea nonetheless.

Gmail Labs believes in data freedom. One recent experiment is an option to import and export filters. Turn it on and you can go to Settings/Filters and create a single file that backs up your filters. You can then share the filters with other people, who may appreciate your skills at labeling and archiving incoming messages. I'm hopeful that Google will add a full message backup experiment soon.

Until then, there is one effective solution, the aptly named Gmail Backup utility. It offers one-click backup of Gmail messages. Make sure you've turned on IMAP support. The messages it downloads are stored locally as EML files, which e-mail clients like Thunderbird can open to read as though they were regular messages. This is a good method for moving your Gmail account to client software...or even moving it to a Google Apps account (see the next section for more on this).

Google Apps for Your Domain

Many eschew using a webmail or ISP-provided mail system because the address you get isn't very personal—why go generic when you can have your own domain name? Google knows that and provides use of Gmail (plus Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gtalk, and Google Sites) with your domain name via the free, standard edition of the Google Apps package.

This does not mean that Google will host your domain. Instead, messages sent to your domain name funnel to your Google Apps account. (Google will help you buy a domain name in conjunction with GoDaddy, if you're starting from scratch; the cost is $10 per year for registration.)

After finishing all that setup, you'll find that Google Apps doesn't look much different from ordinary Gmail—there are still ads on message pages, and the size limit is the same (about 7GB per user). If you pay $50 a year for the business version, you can skip the ads and get 25GB of space per user—plus business extras like phone support. Once you've linked your domain and the Google Apps account—which will require some Web site server access on your part—you'll get access to a dashboard that you can use to dole out accounts to the 50 friends, family, or coworkers who want the same domain. Remember, if you do any of this, you're setting yourself up to be the IT manager for the whole group. And down that road you'll find... madness.

For Google Apps users only, Google created a utility called Email Uploader to assist those with Windows XP or Vista and existing Outlook e-mail software in moving message data from PST files directly to Google Apps. It's a shame the company doesn't offer this for regular Gmail users as well.

Gmail Tips, Tricks, and Experiments

Some random and useful things to take advantage of in Gmail:

Vacation Auto Responder. If you know you're going to be away from Gmail, use this tool (found in Settings under the General tab) to let people know the details when they drop you a note.

Mute Conversations. Conversation threads in Gmail are handy, but you don't want to be part of every conversation. When reading such a message hit the M key. This archives the conversation and all subsequent replies as they come in. You can still find them with a search, if you change your mind.

PDF, TIFF, and PPT Reading. You can read a number of document types on handhelds by accessing them through Gmail. The same is true with Gmail on the desktop when it comes to PDF files, TIFF images, and PowerPoint presentations. You don't need Adobe Reader or FoxIt Reader installed, nor that infamous Microsoft Office app. Access any message with one of those document types attached, then click the View link next to the file size. It will open the file in your Google Docs account.

E-mail to Document. This is very handy for a particularly large conversation in Gmail, but works with any message. In Gmail Labs (click the green beaker icon), enable "Create a Document." This adds a link to the collection at the right of your message named, surprisingly enough, "Create a Document." Click it and Google Docs loads the thread into your default word processing document.

Secure Gmail. If you're concerned about snoops and want the equivalent of PGP for Gmail, get the FireGPG extension for Firefox. It activates public-key cryptography for securing your messages in Gmail using Gnu Privacy Guard, an open-source implementation of the OpenPGP standard.

Suggested Recipients. The very latest in Gmail Labs excellence, this experiment suggests recipients you might want to include in the To: field, based on the content of the message and who you've e-mailed before.

Insert Images. It's possible to stick a picture into your messages in Gmail, not as an attachment, but so that others will see the image upon receipt (fellow Gmail users will still have to click "Display images below"—that's part of Gmail's security). Turn the service on in Gmail Labs, then look for the picture icon in the toolbar when composing a message in rich formatting mode.

Delete Spam Now. Visit the Spam folder occasionally. Gmail has what is probably the best spam blocker in the world, but occasionally it can be overzealous and categorize your friend or a newsletter you want as spam. If this has happened, mark the messages you want to save as "not spam" and then click the Delete Spam Now link to clear the rest.

Multiple Signatures. Gmail has built in only one signature for use on all messages you send. Several Firefox extensions will provide multiple signatures from which you can pick and choose, including Clippings and Blank Canvas Gmail Signatures.

Copyright (c) 2009Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Top 7 Reasons People Quit Linux

teknia — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:24:00 -0600

7 Reasons but not 'The Reason.'

#1 People are smarter now. Articles like this PC World are not convincing and evidence 'Linux World' remains a nightmare. A Google search for "Thrashed by the Penguin", an obscure bit of knowledge acquired from repeated exposure to the nasty flavors of Linux provides over 47,000 results. That means at least 47,000 people that won't go near Linux again.

#2 Linux arrogance. Command line input. Hardware drivers don't work or are missing.
Repeat...

Respect Linux... Ok, when it's wrapped up with a Mac OS

Top 7 Reasons People Quit Linux - Business Center - PC World.

Keir Thomas, PC World | Friday, May 01, 2009 7:24 AM PDT

Top 7 Reasons People Quit Linux

I've been writing Linux guidebooks for some time, and it's fair to say that most people who buy my books are Windows users looking to make the leap to Linux (or perhaps just wondering what the fuss is about).

Because of this, I've heard a lot of excuses why people quit Linux, and return to Windows. I'm happy to say that the excuses are getting far less common nowadays, compared to 2003, when I wrote my first book. But I still hear 'em.

Here are the top seven reasons I've come across. No doubt you've heard them too.

1. Linux doesn't run a program I use.

In this particular argument, people typically point out that Linux doesn't run one of the main Adobe products, such as Photoshop or Dreamweaver. They then point out that there's no swap-in replacement in the world of open source.

This is true. I can't argue.

The problem is that they're using specialized industrial tools. Most people neither know nor care what Dreamweaver is. It might seem otherwise in the circles in which that person moves, but out here in the real world it just ain't the case.

Much of the work that's gone into desktop Linux in recent times has been to make it better for the ordinary individual. Linux now has a top-notch browser and office suite, for example. But, so far, nobody has got around to recreating specialist toolsets such as high-level Web design software.

The solution is simple: If you need to use a particular industrial tool for your work, then you should keep using it. That means you'll have to keep using Windows. It's no big deal.

2. I installed Linux but some element of my hardware didn't work!

That's incredible because I installed Windows the other day and had the exact same experience! My graphics card didn't work, and wifi didn't either.

Might this just be the way PCs are?

But do you know what I did? I fixed everything. Maybe I'm lucky to be clever enough to do so, but if I wasn't, I could easily ask around for solutions. I know there are smart people out there who are willing to help.

If you do this, you might have to do some hard work, and step into unfamiliar territory. But there are lots of instructions out there on the web, and it only has to be done once. Plus, as you work through the solution, you'll be learning stuff about your new operating system. Treat it as an opportunity, rather than an ordeal.

Some people expand this complaint to point out that Linux can sap their precious time as they work through getting it setup the way they like. Again, this is as true of Linux as it is of Windows. It's just the way PCs are.

3. I tried Linux but I had to type commands!

OMG!!! Really?

But seriously. So what? Are you scared of the keyboard? This is usually related to point #2 above, and it's usually a one-off manoeuvre designed to get something working. For example, to get DVD playback on Ubuntu, you have to type a certain command after downloading software. Once done, however, DVDs will play back automatically forever and ever.

If you had to do this every time you wanted to play a DVD then you might have a point. But typing a few strange words won't kill you.

There are also those who take a haughty position and project their fear onto others: “I had to type commands! Ergo Linux just isn't ready for the ordinary person!”. Here, the individual concerned seems to be implying that the “ordinary user” (whoever that might be) suffers from an intelligence deficit and is incapable of typing commands. It that really true? Why do we always assume that other people can't possibly be as smart as we are?

4. I did *this*, and *this* happened. That doesn't happen with Windows!

Again, so what? Nobody said Linux was a clone of Windows. Things are going to be different now you're using Linux. Not necessarily better, not necessarily worse. Just different. You're over the rainbow, Dorothy! Rather than griping about your troubles, why don't you get used to it? If you're unable to adapt, it says more about you than it does about Linux.

5. I posted a message on a forum, but Linux people were mean to me

It's true that some community members aren't paragons of virtue and honor. These kind of people are found in all walks of life, however, and are best avoided. You can't blame Linux for their existence.

But in most examples of this complaint, the individual concerned brought wrath on themselves in one of several ways:

a) By being aggressive and/or unfriendly in their posting, or in their replies to other people. Yeah, you might be frustrated that you can't get Linux to work how you want, but try and keep that temper in check;

b) By not doing basic homework before asking for help, such as searching the forum for a particular issue that may be extremely common. There's only so many times community members can answer the same query before getting annoyed;

c) By simply not respecting Linux and its culture. Switching operating systems is like switching support for a sports team. When chatting with fellow fans, you can't keep mentioning how good you think the other team is, or how you think their techniques are better. In fact, even making reference to the other team might stretch your fellow fans' patience to breaking point.

6. I just don't like it

It would be marvellous if people were honest enough to state this as bluntly as I've listed it above. After all, Linux isn't for everybody.

But what people with this complaint always do is make a spurious argument about usability – that wonderfully nebulous term that means different things to different people. “Linux just isn't as usable as Windows or OS X,” they'll say. When asked to backup their complaint with evidence, they don't bother to reply.

What they're really saying, of course, is that Linux was unfamiliar and spooked them so much that they ran back to Windows. Again, this is reasonable. It's their choice. But they shouldn't pretend they're making an objective evaluation. It's just an opinion.

7. I installed Linux and things went honey-nut-loops crazy

Typically the person with this complaint will say something like, “I installed Linux and the installer program crashed half way through. I tried to boot but nothing happened and I found myself at a command prompt. I eventually got the desktop running but none of the programs worked correctly.”

This might also be known as the “shaggy-dog story”, because it's usually a long and rather pointless tale of things going wrong. (Ironically, their attempts to fix things usually makes the situation worse. But I digress.)

Most times I've no idea what the cause of the problems are, and the individual concerned has my sympathy. But I do know that what they describe is probably a one-off event, and definitely not indicative of what most people experience. As with point #6 above, it's not really fair to make an objective argument out of it, because--effectively--it's little more than one person's bad luck. If it happens to you, just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try again.

Keir Thomas is the author of several books on Ubuntu, including the free-of-charge Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference.

Windows 7 on a netbook - Not yet - Draw a line in the Sand

teknia — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:09:52 -0600

Not yet; Draw a line in the Sand
Just a couple drivers here and there to install Windows 7...
Needs 2 GB of Ram...
Downplay the 70 second boot up time.

Sheesh, same kinda crapola as Vista with marketing improvements?

Experience tells us that when installing the drivers most won't have been approved by Microsoft and your new OS will complain and Microsoft and Samsung have an excuse to deny support, blame you for installing non-compliant hardware andagain, somehow, you did it to yourself...

A netbook install will depend a lot on the hardware manufacturer, in this case Samsung, making the drivers available and usable from a USB key and they probably are but where is the accountability for universal hardware drivers? Microsoft drags their feet at approving drivers so manufacturors don't bother to get them submitted and approved.

Result: Windows OS instability. Another user dismayed...

So not yet Microsoft... The line is here |

Categories: Windows 7
Tags: Microsoft Windows 7, Netbook, Samsung NC10, Battery Life, Netbooks

Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com.

Windows 7 on a netbook - My verdict
Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 6:33 am

I’ve been running Windows 7 on a Samsung NC10 netbook for some months. With the Windows 7 Release Candidate now leaked, it’s time for a verdict on whether Microsoft’s latest OS is suited to these tiny portable PCs.

The Samsung NC10 is a fairly typical netbook. It’s equipped with a 1.6GHz Atom processor, an Intel GMA950 graphics chip, a 1024 x 768 screen, and it comes in a choice of hard disk sizes - 80/100/120GB. Battery life is also in the 4.5 to 7.5 region, depending on how hard it is being used.

It’s hard to come out with a final definitive verdict about Windows 7 on a netbook because many of the netbook’s features rely on specific drivers. For the purposes of this piece I will ignore any driver-related issues.

Installation

Installing Windows 7 on a netbook is pretty straight-forward as long as you either have access to a USB optical drive, or are able to put the installation files onto a USB flash drive.

The whole install process took a little over 30 minutes and the installation consumed some 7.5GB of drive space.

Features such as WiFi were easy to set up. I did have to load a few non-Windows 7 drivers onto the machine to get some of the trackpad and battery features working right.

Performance

The performance of Windows 7 on the NC10 is, on the whole, pretty good. It scored a 2.2 on the Windows Experience Index rating, Bootup times felt a little longer than what I’d come to expect with Windows XP. Under XP the system would cold start in about 40 seconds, but with Windows 7 this increased to about 70 seconds.

Another issue that I found was that with Windows 7 and IE8 I was not able to open as many browser tabs before the system started to feel sluggish compared to Windows XP with IE7 running. It didn’t seem to matter if the system was running in low power mode or not, so the issue didn’t seem to be down to CPU power.

The problem seemed to come down to the fact that the NC10 only had 1GB of RAM. So the answer to the problem was to whip out the 1GB DDR2 PC5300 SODIMM module and replace it with a 2GB module (there’s only one slot in the NC10). Cost of this upgrade is somewhere in the region of $25.

Problem solved.

Verdict

Windows 7 works on netbooks, but if you push the system the same way as you push a desktop system then you might need to add more RAM. On top of that, remember that Windows 7 takes some 7.5GB of disk space, so you need to factor this into your thinking, especially if you have a netbook with a small SSD fitted.

My advice would be not to bother upgrading an existing netbook unless you really feel you want a particular Windows 7 feature. wait for Windows 7 netbooks to arrive on the scene as some of these will hopefully come with 2GB of RAM fitted.

Tablets and Netbooks of 2009

teknia — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:10:00 -0600

Touch screen tablet for mobile estimating
Pros: GPS, two USB slots, an SD Card slot, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Storage 16GB solid-state drive or a 16GB SD Card

Cons: Not enough processor HP, No Windows 7 yet, 20GB Web drive (use gmail storage)

10 Most Anticipated Ultraportables and Netbooks of 2009 - PC World.

Asus Eee PC T91

Price: Rumored to be around $500
Release date: Summer 2009
OS: Windows XP Home
Screen size: 8.9 inches
Weight: Under 2 pounds

Why you'll love it: The Asus Eee PC T91 has a swiveling touchscreen that can also work with a stylus if you’re a tablet PC lover. The T91 packs an Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor, a TV tuner, 1024 by 600 resolution, GPS, two USB slots, an SD Card slot, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. For storage, you can use a 16GB solid-state drive, a 16GB SD Card, and a 20GB Web drive.

Rip-off Report: Hollywood Video Promotions - Power Play vs MVP

teknia — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:37:30 -0600

Is it a ripoff to alienate thousands of customers by abandoning a great promotion?

Hollywood Video says, "They were losing money with the old MVP Plan."
So instead of fixing it, they dumped it.

Customers (and we were big fans) liked the 2 tier segmenting of movies, the backbone of the MVP Plan, that had people wait a few weeks to see Hollywood's latest. As we have reported, because Hollywood doesn't release 5 movies a month worth watching, the Power Play promotion that replaced the MVP Promotion is a rip-off.

Hollywood Video is the victim of the junk movies we get from Hollywood...

The old MVP Plan had customers coming back to the store in 5 days and paying late fees.

The hated late fees...

If late fees are reasonable and expected people will respect them and come back to renew their movies. Rip people off and they're gone. Worse, anger them and they now have a way to publish reports about their bad experiences...

Power Play is poorly considered and a badly received movie rental promotion.

Articles that reference the Power Play Follies

Hollywood Video vs Hollywood
If Hollywood was better, the Hollywood Video Power Play would be better...

PowerPlay Launches Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video Rentals
It's true "the economy is in the crapper" but Hollywood Video will be to.

Rip-off Reports: Game rentals, Hollywood Video Lied, Power Play promotion, "MVP card"

Rip-off Report: Hollywood Video Lied concerning promotion to make "MVP card" sales quota

Report: Game Crazy Hollywood Video

Category: Bait-and-Switch

Game Crazy Hollywood Video Lied concerning promotion to make 'MVP card' sales quota Moline Illinois
Bob - 3/29/2009 Moline, Illinois
Apparently Game Crazy stores in Illinois and Wisconsin have stooped to lying to their consumers about their promotions in order to pad sales figures.
I went in to take advantage of Game Crazy's disc buffing which is a 5 punch card they sell for $5. I was told they dont sell that card anymore, that it is $10 now. I think fine, the recession, lots of stuff is going up no big deal.
I get my discs buffed, get home and find the receipt is for a MVP membership. At Game Crazy the MVP card is something they stuff down your throat so often I have consciously decided to NOT purchase it. Let me be clear...I absolutely did not want and will never want this membership.
I asked a friend who works as a manager in another Game Crazy what the deal was, and he told me that their District Manager, Diane Walters, specifically instructed them to lie about the existence of the $5 punch card, and sell the $10 MVP in its place to boost their MVP sales percentages. I understand they are rated on how many MVPs they sell as a percentage of transactions they can be sold on. He said another manager objected to this outright fraud on the call and was disconnected for his insubordination.
So if you do business with Game Crazy in Wisconsin or Illinois be very careful. Obviously at least as far as the district manager level they have resorted to fraud and deception to further their sales figures, the consumer be damned.

Samsung Mondi Ultraportable

teknia — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:06:59 -0600

Samsung Mondi
Keyboard, GPS, the Opera 9.5 browser, 4GB internal memory, a 3.0-megapixel camera with video support, Bluetooth 2.0, HDMI-out, Wi-Fi, WiMax, push e-mail, and a car mount

Cons: No Windows 7 yet, Sprint

PC World.

Samsung Mondi
Price: Unknown
Release date: Spring 2009
OS: Windows Mobile 6.1
Screen size: 4.3 inches
Weight: Light

Why you'll love it: Designed to run on Sprint's Clearwire Wi-Max network, the Mondi is one of two Internet devices to make our Top 10. The Mondi features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, GPS, the Opera 9.5 browser, 4GB internal memory, a 3.0-megapixel camera with video support, Bluetooth 2.0, HDMI-out, Wi-Fi, WiMax, push e-mail, and instant messaging support for Messenger, Fring, and Gypsii. Samsung will ship the Mondi with a car mount for on-the-go action, too.

Hollywood Video vs Hollywood

teknia — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:23:44 -0600

If Hollywood was better, the Hollywood Video Power Play would be better...

Hollywood doesn't release 5 Premium movies a month worth watching...

Hollywood Video is coming out of bankruptcy and they are:

Offering rip-off Power Play plans they don't understand will fail
Alienating loyal customers
Candidates for a bailout

Hollywood Video Missed the Value
They summarily dismiss the value and features of the old MVP program

don't recognize why people come to the store
haven't analyzed their competition
Power Play puts them in 3rd or 4th place at the $14.95/m price point

The Power(less) Play $14.95/m

15 points gets you 5 Premium movies
=> Pay $3.00 each vs $1.00 Red Box
=> Same $ at Netflix gets more movies per month

That's a problem, the old MVP program demoted All Hollywood movies 5 - 6 weeks after they were released on DVD.

All the mediocre Hollywood movies stay 'premium'...

More problems:

In this economy the higher priced Power Play plans are ridiculously over-priced
Without a rental deadline, store visits & frequency go down
With the economy, people will feel the pain of the wasted rental dollars more
With the option of having 2 - 3 movies out at a time, there was always a movie to watch even if one of the movies you get is defective.
All the Hollywood 2nd tier movies stay 'premium'...

Fix the old MVP Plan With:

A new, slightly higher $19.95 MVP Solution
This is $5 more than the old plan but adds value people will appreciate.
This solution revives the Hollywood Video MVP Plan, gets customers back & will make them money.

They missed the $19.95/m price point
The MVP program offers more than a combo of NetFlix & Red Box

Proposed Plans, Pricing and Benefits

MVP $19.95/m
3 Total Videos out at a time for 5 days

1 Premium video
& 2 other videos

Check out a movie for over 5 up to 10 days and pay late fees
Over 10 days out, customer bought the movie

MVP Premium $24.95/m
Same as above but 2 Premium Videos or Blu-ray movies out at a time.

MVP Premium Gamer $29.95/m
Same as above plus a game.

Walking Away - We're voting with our feet
We tried the new Power Play plan and will be canceling it the 1st week of May, 2009.

$3.00/ movie is not competitive
Power Play points over-rate crappy movies

Apple No Bargain as the 'Lone Mac Ranger'

teknia — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:39:48 -0600

Apples to apples
Of course every geek wants a Mac; but as a second PC.

Cmon,

PC & Office student is still less expensive than a Mac with iLife
Free anti-virus on a Mac? vs AVG Free or Comodo

Depending on your surrounding network of friends, family & work, tech life may be much smoother with a PC. If you are the lone ranger Mac user, good luck.

The Toybox | ZDNet.com

Apple: 'PC is no bargain when it doesn't do what you want'
Posted by Andrew Nusca
Categories: Apple, Computers, Consumerism
Tags: PC, Apple Inc., Desktops, Hardware, Andrew Nusca

Microsoft’s Laptop Hunters advertisements continue to provoke more spilled ink, this blog included. The latest such example is from BusinessWeek, in which writer Arik Hesseldahl outlines why an Apple machine definitely costs more than a PC but all things considered, really doesn’t.

You follow?
In the article, Hesseldahl asserts that “Yes, $699 beats the $2,800 you’d pay for a Mac with a 17-in. screen. But when it comes to PCs, there’s still a great deal more to buy.” He’s not talking about putting a price tag on design, either.

He explains this disconnect by outlining unspoken costs that come with PCs. For example, security: With a $699 PC, you need to pay for antivirus protection beyond the trial period, somewhere in the range of $50 per year. That’s at least $150 over three years, if not more. A four-digit Mac won’t need antivirus, Hesseldahl writes.

Then, service: WIth a $699 PC, a third-party vendor such as Best Buy’s Geek Squad will charge you $129 to diagnose an ailing PC. Apple’s Genius Bar? Free.

Same goes for software bundles: Apple’s iLife multimedia suite is simply more capable than whatever comes preloaded on a PC, he says, and applications such as Photoshop Elements and Garageband are costly to replicate on a PC.

The list goes on, citing Apple battery life, screen resolution, and overall consumer satisfaction. It’s a reasonable argument, though I wish there was a bit more detail — surely it costs a consumer to depend on a single vendor. Competition does drive down price, after all.

Still, the conclusion is clear: with a Mac, you get what you pay for. With a PC, same deal.

When Hesseldahl asked Apple directly, they had this to say: “A PC is no bargain when it doesn’t do what you want.”
Be careful what you wish for.

PowerPlay Launches Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video Rentals

teknia — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:43:00 -0600

We won't attack an employee for defending a company that comes up with such a lame way of rewarding loyal customers. It's true "the economy is in the crapper" but Hollywood Video will be to. It's sad that Hollywood Video doesn't get better business and marketing advice. We wish them well as they seek new jobs.

Most significant? Unprecedented pricing?
That's a joke...

Power Play is not competitive and a poor value for customers.

Screenhead.com

PowerPlay Launches Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video Rentals
Filed under: DVD, Blu-Ray, Games, Movie News, Movies, On-demand, Online Videos
Tags: Games, Movies, Powerplay, rentals

Game and movie rentals are among the largest demanded items that people look for in the market today and apparently PowerPlay is trying to make the most out of that opportunity. In response, Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video are introducing PowerPlay(TM), a convenient movie and video game subscription service that offers the least expensive rentals in the industry, with no due dates or late fees.

PowerPlay makes it easy for customers to rent what they want, when they want it, from an enormous selection of titles - an experience that online services and kiosks just can’t provide.

“PowerPlay is the most significant in-store customer offering in the movie and game rental industry since the introduction of 5-day rentals in the late ’90’s,” said Clifford Torng, chief marketing officer, Movie Gallery, Inc. “Kiosks and online services have a place in our industry, but our new subscription service offers unprecedented pricing, convenience and selection that can only be delivered in-store. Many people still crave the immediate availability of the newest releases, or being able to choose just the right film from a wide selection and take it home right away
Filed under: Dvd, Games, Movie News, Movies, On-demand, Online Videos
Tags: Games, Movies, Powerplay, rentals
= Comment =
The decision to replace MVP with Powerplay was a corporate wide decision that was reached in response to the massive loss of revenue generated by MVP. It was a little too good of a deal, and we ended up paying the price for it on a grand scale. It was not “created to make more money at the expense of our customers”, it was created in the hopes of making more.

Had we continued down the road with MVP, the continued loss of money would have caused catastrophic consequences, especially now, with our economy in the crapper. Powerplay is at least giving us a shot to get back on the map… and the truth of it is, this program is better suited towards more casual renters, which is what a majority of our customers are.

As a Hollywood Video employee… I have to say, to all the people upset about this new plan, I guarantee you, we’re just as upset. We don’t like losing our valued customers over the loss of MVP, especially those we have grown personal relationships with. It’s almost like losing a family member, all for something we have absolutely no control over. As a consumer, I completely understand your frustrations, and can see that this isn’t as good of a deal as MVP was, but unfortunately… this is the way it’s going to be. We’re sorry to all customers who are upset, but we ask you to bear with us, and understand we know why you’re upset, and are right there with you.

In the end, we can’t force our customers to stay with us. If Blockbuster or Netflix works better for you, then by all means use them. Just understand, if you decide to leave, that we had no control over it and we’re just as upset as you are over losing our valued customers.

Hollywood Video may follow Blockbuster & Shut Retail Stores

teknia — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:57:36 -0600

Blockbuster Retail Stores Dead and Hollywood Video Stores just smell that way...

Coincidentally, last week-end a light fixture at the Littleton, Colorado Hollywood Video was emitting smells strong enough to disgust customers and gave employees a headache. Management also failed to address a bathroom odor issue that plagued the store for years.

We were once big fans...
But that wasn't all that stunk at Hollywood Video on Saturday; management bungled the conversion of MVP Customers to the new Power Play promotion. This forced employees to explain why and attempt to defend the over-priced Power Play promotion or more accurately, demotion. Less for more as Beverly Hills Chihuahua and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People surprisingly cost 3 points on the Power(less) Play.

Amazingly, 2nd tier Hollywood B grade movies cost as many Power Play points as Quantum of Solace a new 007 movie?

Power Play is Lame & Weak, Misnamed Marketing Ploy
14.95/m gets you 5 movies a month, compare to the old MVP Program, or a better value of NetFlix & Red Box and you will understand our displeasure. Management blew off thousands of MVP Program subscribers with a poor offering and failure to respect customer loyalty.

Cable and Satellite Offerings are Overpriced & Repetitive

HBO
Showtime
Cinemax
Starz/Encore the best of the bunch for movies

Red Box
It's hard to beat or compete against $1 rentals

NetFlix
$8.95/m for 1 movie out at a time as many /month as mail service allows
(still a good value even if postal service cancels Saturday Deliveries)

Video Price Point Sweet Spot
We've always thought the sweet spot for video rentals was $19.95

Our Analysis:
Hollywood Video doesn't have long to get competitive.

Do something for your loyal MVP customers
Save face and add a $19.95 MVP Reward Program
Include 4 Premium Movies/m & Unlimited 6 week old movies
No late charges
Discontinue rentals to abusers

Save Hollywood Video

deliver a video on demand service in the near future
Don't Over-promise/Under deliver
or

Hollywood Video will follow Block Buster & shut their Retail Stores

Prior Articles about Hollywood Video

PC World

Blockbuster May Shut Retail Stores

Brennon Slattery, PC World Apr 7, 2009 8:19 am

Once Goliath to Netlflix's David, Blockbuster appears on the defensive in an effort to stay relevant to movie fans and viable as a business. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee Monday, Blockbuster stated it may have to permanently close its retail stores. The company recently took out a $250 million loan -- on top of its $780.9 million debt -- and does not know if it can meet the conditions of the loan.

Blockbuster said it has "substantial doubt" about continuing as a "going concern." A going concern is business jargon for the ability to continue as a functioning business that is not forced to liquidate its assets. The company operates 7400 stores globally, which spells bad news for Blockbuster employees and brick-and-mortar movie rental mavens.

Blockbuster did not fare well in a battle against DVD-by-mail powerhouse Netflix, mostly because it was late to join the innovative distribution method and invested too much time and money in other endeavors, such as a set-top box. Netflix has no retail store overhead expenses compared to Blockbuster which must keep the lights on at thousands of brick-and-mortar stores and pay retail staff.

Blockbuster is also facing competition from upstarts such as Redbox Automated Retail which operate self-serve DVD rental kiosks in retail locations such as grocery stores.

While many may be sad to lose the "convenience" of entering a Blockbuster store and choosing that night's rental, more have chosen Netflix, one of few companies in this recession that posted a Q4 profit, leading many to believe Netflix is recession-proof. From the looks of its numbers, and its own grim outlook on the situation, I'm betting Blockbuster closes sooner rather than later.

Hollywood Video can afford to turn away customers...

teknia — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:03:38 -0600

Following up on Hollywood Video, MVP Fiasco as they drop the MVP plan. We evidenced the 'false late' fees here in Littleton, Colorado too.

Bankruptcy, reduced hours, poor management, poor economy, surly managers...

With all that success Hollywood Video can afford to turn away customers!

Sheesh, check out some of the comments.

Hollywood Video in Harrisburg, NC - AOL Local Yellow Pages.

Hollywood Video - MVP versus Bonus Points program
   CPRK2002 - 03/19/2009
I have been a long time regular customer and MVP program participator and I am totally disgusted with Hollywood Video's dropping the MVP program. Personally, I think the new Bonus Points program is a farce. In fact, I have spoken to several of my friends that are (or should I say was MVP) and they all are very disappointed with the new program. Times are tough right now and if I were in top management the last thing I would want to do is piss off customers. Especially when MVP rental was old stuff with some dating back 20+ years. Good bye Hollywood Video and here's hoping you survive!!!

Lost movies...
   cphdrider - 05/13/2007
Other than being occassionally told I have not returned a movie, of which I did and they either found it or gave me credit, Hollywood Video in Harrisburg has been nice. Yes... the mgr (Bill) is not an out going person and on the surface does not come across as friendly, but... he is strictly business and works very hard to keep the store in tip top condition. Try finding an employee that works as hard as Bill and you have found a valuable employee and one worth keeping. After all... who cares about your business anymore -- not the average worker...!

Hollywood Video Harrisburg
   artistikpsyche - 02/21/2006
I stopped going here due to being treated RUDELY and having FALSE late fees, the manager, Bill, is EXTREMELY RUDE! The district manager Al Laten admitted Bill has said he was disrespectful to customers even other employees said he was. After all was supposed to be taken care, this still goes on. I have numerous False late charges on my acct and my kids are treated disrespectful, as well as their friends. I'm going to BlockBuster!

Gh0st RATs Cross Digital Borders

teknia — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:32:00 -0600

Rats, vermin, Chinese and Russian hackers, we need to fortify the digital borders; Call Orkin?

PC World

The Gh0st RAT in the Machine
Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld
Mar 30, 2009 3:51 pm

By now you've probably read about GhostNet, the vast spy network that was uncovered after the office of the Dalai Lama asked researchers at the University of Toronto to examine their computers for malware. The researchers not only found nasties there, they uncovered an entire network that connected almost 1,300 computers in 103 countries -- mostly government organizations, but also some machines at private companies, offices of NATO, and the Associated Press. (You can read their 53-page report here at Scribd.)
All of them had been infected with the Gh0st RAT (remote access tool) that turned their hard drives into an all-you-eat data buffet and their computers into RC toys. Per the New York Times:
The malware is remarkable both for its sweep -- in computer jargon, it has not been merely "phishing" for random consumers' information, but "whaling" for particular important targets -- and for its Big Brother-style capacities. It can, for example, turn on the camera and audio-recording functions of an infected computer, enabling monitors to see and hear what goes on in a room. The investigators say they do not know if this facet has been employed.
Well, that explains those "Tibetan Monks Gone Wild" videos I've been seeing advertised. Talk about raw, uncensored, and out of control. Hello Dalai!
As to the culprits, the Toronto researchers are somewhat circumspect. Chinese hackers? Probably. Spies working for the Chinese government? Maybe. It could also be freelance "patriotic hackers," or even Russian or CIA spooks trying to make the Chinese government look worse than it already does, say the researchers.
Security wonks at the University of Cambridge, on the other hand, aren't pulling any punches. In a report titled The Snooping Dragon: social-malware surveillance of the Tibetan movement, U.K. researchers Shishir Nagaraja and Ross Anderson accuse the Chinese government of running the spy show.
[A]gents of the Chinese government compromised the computing infrastructure of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. They used social phishing to install rootkits on a number of machines and then downloaded sensitive data.... What Chinese spooks did in 2008, Russian crooks will do in 2010 and even low-budget criminals from less developed countries will follow in due course.
(Look for the movie Snooping Dragon, Nosy Tiger coming to a multiplex near you.)
The U.S. government is not on the list of those infiltrated by GhostNet, but that hardly means we're in the clear. Defense officials have claimed China has attacked the DoD's IT infrastructure on several occasions (China denies this, natch). The country has been accused of breaking into White House computer systems and the Obama and McCain Web sites to have a look 'round the joint. Just this week Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) claimed Chinese hackers compromised the machines in his office.
Whatever it is we're doing, the Chinese appear to be deeply interested. That, or maybe they're just still really ticked off about that Guns-N-Roses' Chinese Democracy album. So I'm betting the Cambridge guys are on the right track. And they're saying nobody in government or business should be feeling very cozy about their IT security right now.
No-one should think that it could not happen to them, just because their company is in New York or London rather than an Indian hill station! The Tibetan sys admins were just as capable as one finds in the USA or Britain. Indeed, they were probably more aware of the Chinese threat and as a result more alert than a typical company security team. ... All in all, the Tibetans' performance has been more effective than we would have expected from a randomly-chosen Western organisation.
Are you spooked by Chinese spooks? E-mail me: cringe@infoworld.com. Just be careful what you say about the Dalai Lama -- you never know who might be listening.

Hollywood Video - Hero to Zero Marketing Blunder

teknia — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:25:00 -0600

The April Fool Award 2009; Littleton, Colorado

Hollywood Video axes MVP Program in favor of a 'points' system that alienates customers.

For $14.95 a month, MVP members could rent up to three '2nd Tier' videos at once for 5 days. (2nd tier movies were available a few weeks after release)
It was a great offering as people held on until Hollywood Video released a video streaming service. Sadly this was spoken about but more of a fib than reality. Blowing smoke....

Video Rental Competition is Steep
In light of the fact that Hollywood Video recently emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the economic downturn we can't understand the slap in the face to loyal customers with the poor Power Play transition.The Power Play is a feeble effort in light of other competitive video offers that include videos on demand, TIVO, DVR, Hulu etc.

With better in-store service than Block Buster, Hollywood Video had an edge.
Sadly that edge has dissolved and it's time to Switch to Blockbuster?

According to un-named sources, Hollywood Video Employees are secretly empathetic to the thousands of loyal customers dis-satisfied with the new offerings and the elimination of the Hollywood Video MVP Program. They say 'customers are pissed' and walking away. Combined with reduced hours of operation being hard on HV employees, many are jumping ship as the end is near.

Maybe a combo of Red Box and NetFlix...

On a side note: NetFlix could face a service down-grade if the US Postal Service cancels Saturday mail deliveries.

Since their MVP Program is DOA maybe a new business would benefit from a great MVP Business Name and domain name combo with web savvy branding that will make the phone ring.

PC World

Netflix Raises Blu-ray Rates: Time to Switch to Blockbuster?
JR Raphael, PC World
Mar 30, 2009 3:30 pm

Buying a new movie on Blu-ray may be getting cheaper these days, but renting one is actually getting more expensive. Netflix has announced it's raising its Blu-ray surcharges, replacing the $1-a-month flat rate introduced last fall with a new tiered alternative. Translation: Your bill will go up by anywhere from $1 to $8 per month, depending on which plan you've chosen.

Thinking of jumping ship and switching over to Blockbuster? Read on to see if it'd be worth your while.

Netflix's New Blu-ray Plans

Artwork: Chip Taylor
First, how the Netflix Blu-ray change will affect you: Basically, the higher your monthly bill, the higher your Blu-ray fee will soon be. If you pay $13.99 a month for the two DVDs at a time plan, for example, you'll have to pay $3 a month extra for access to Blu-ray titles under the new system. On the other end of the spectrum, if you pay $47.99 for the eight DVDs at a time plan, your Blu-ray surcharge will jump to $9 a month. (You can find a full list of all the Netflix rate plans and how they'll be affected here.)

As for the reason driving the change, about 10 percent of Netflix users now rent Blu-ray discs, the company says, compared to what was described as a "very, very small, single-digit percentage" this time last year.

Customer Reaction

The equations may make sense, but that doesn't mean customers are happy with adjustment. The announcement on the official Netflix blog is already filled with irritated comments.

"I've been holding off investigating alternatives, but now that this price hike is going in, it's time to look at what else is out there," one user says. "Will my extra money guarantee that I won't wait days/weeks for a new release Blu-ray like I do now?" asks another.

Other commenters suggest the amount of titles available isn't high enough to warrant the change, noting that they often receive DVD even when requesting Blu-ray due to limited stock.

Should You Switch?

So, the big question: How do the adjusted costs stack up with Netflix's main competitor, Blockbuster? The simple answer is that it depends on how much you're renting. Blockbuster does automatically include Blu-ray access within its base prices. Still, in some cases, Netflix will remain cheaper -- even with the upcoming change.

Here's how the plans stack up. Note that Blockbuster has fewer plans than Netflix, so your specific Netflix plan may or may not have a direct comparison.

• 1 DVD at a time, limited to two per month, with Blu-ray

Netflix: $5.99

Blockbuster: $9.99

• 1 DVD at a time, unlimited per month, with Blu-ray

Netflix: $10.99

Blockbuster: $11.99

• 2 DVDs at a time, unlimited per month, with Blu-ray

Netflix: $16.99

BBV: $16.99

• 3 DVDs at a time, unlimited per month, with Blu-ray

Netflix: $20.99

BBV: $19.99

To sum it up, if you rent one or two DVDs at a time, you'll end up paying either the same or more by switching to Blockbuster. If you're renting three DVDs at a time, though, Blockbuster will end up costing slightly less. Of course, this isn't taking into account the perks each company offers -- namely, online streaming from Netflix and free in-store exchanges with Blockbuster -- so be sure to consider those in your decision, too.

Netflix's new rates go into effect starting April 27. If you don't want to pay them, you'll need to go into your account settings and disable Blu-ray access before that date.

For Sale:
1-MVP.com - A Crossover Business name with integrated marketing for phone, web and branding.

1-MVP.COM

1 Dash MVP

One Dash MVP

Pizza Videos - the latest Pizza Videos from 1-Pizza.us

$99 iPhone at Wal-Mart in Late December?

teknia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:53:00 -0700

Make sure it's 3G...

$99 iPhone at Wal-Mart - ExtremeTech.

A cheaper version of Apple Inc's iPhone will be sold at Wal-Mart Stores Inc for $99 later this month, the New York Post said. Two models of the popular device will hit shelves at the retail giant, the paper said, citing employees at several stores.

Employees also told San Jose-based Mercury News that the $99 iPhones would be 4-gigabyte models, and that Wal-Mart was attempting a pre-Christmas launch. The iPhone went on sale starting July 11 at $199 for the model with 8 gigabytes of storage and $299 for the 16-gigabyte version.

However, iPhone users need to sign up with data service provider AT&T Inc for a plan that costs at least $30 a month for unlimited Web access and another $5 for 200 text messages or $20 for unlimited texting.

Wal-Mart has been gaining market share and clout in the recession as cash-strapped shoppers seek out its low prices. Neither Apple nor Wal-Mart were immediately available to comment.

Firefox 3: 8 Untold Secrets

teknia — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:50:34 -0700

A tip that drives another nail into the MSFT coffin.

As we switch to an Office Free environment, one of the last remaining hurdles is the default, "Send by email" that automatically loads OutLook. Since we dumped OutLook email for Gmail this year this has been a constant thorn. Now if we could get One Note to do the same we'd be golden :)

Days to MSFT Freedom Day?? Soon. Very soon...

Firefox 3: 8 Untold Secrets - ExtremeTech.

3. Send e-mail via Yahoo! Mail or Gmail by default. Normally, clicking on an e-mail address on a Web page will open up a new e-mail using your default e-mail program. If you'd rather use Yahoo! Mail, open up Options under Firefox's Tools menu, select the Applications tab, and scroll down to the mailto: entry. Select Use Yahoo! Mail and click OK. Send e-mail via Yahoo! Mail or Gmail by default click on image for full view Gmail is not included as a built-in option in every installation of Firefox, but if yours doesn't have it, you can add Gmail easily enough. Skip the Options dialogs for now and instead type about:config in Firefox's address bar and hit Enter. In the Filter field, type gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost. Actually, you can simply type gecko and find the entry in the filtered list. Double-click the gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost entry to change it to True. Next, cut-and-paste this line into the address bar and hit Enter: javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto", "https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","Gmail") A message will appear at the top of the browser window asking if you want to add Gmail as an application. Now, repeat the process above for choosing Yahoo! Mail, but select the new Use Gmail option instead.

Why we're always fixing our parents' PCs

teknia — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:13:41 -0700

Make that everyone's PCs...
It would be easier for all tech owners if help info was better and available when needed.

Reboot
Google is your tech support friend
Reboot

ars technica

Study reminds us why we're always fixing our parents' PCs
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: November 17, 2008 - 11:53AM CT

No matter how into gadgets and hardware we are, we're all forced to face a cold truth every once in a while: our PCs and gadgets sometimes break. What's important, however, is how often it happens and how easy (or difficult, as the case may be) it is for us to remedy the problem. According to survey results from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Americans tend to have the most frequent problems when it comes to their Internet connections, home PCs, and cell phones, and often find themselves confused about how to fix them.

According to Pew, almost half of adults said they needed someone to help them set up or learn how to use their gadgets. Once they finally get them going, however, things aren't all smooth sailing—44 percent of adults with home Internet connections reported service failure sometime in the last 12 months. Similarly, 39 percent of those with home PCs or laptops, 29 percent of cell phone users, and 26 percent of those with BlackBerrys, Palm Pilots, or other PDAs said their devices stopped working sometime in the last year. Apparently, the most resilient gadget included in Pew's survey was the iPod/MP3 player—only 15 percent of those surveyed reported problems over the last year.

Interestingly, age seemed to be a factor in at least one of these technological failures. Although almost all age groups experienced problems with their Internet connections (roughly) equally, younger people appeared to experience cell phone failure of some kind much more frequently than their senior counterparts. According to the numbers, 30 percent of 18 to 29 year-olds and 33 percent of 30 to 49 year-olds had cell phone issues, while only 18 percent of those 65 and older had problems. Pew doesn't say why, but we're going to take a guess and say that younger folk are more likely to play around with their cell phone configurations and ultimately run into issues than seniors, who are more likely to just use what they have and not mess around with it too much.

Unsurprisingly, people aren't very thrilled when this happens either. 40 percent of those surveyed reported feeling confused by the information they got when trying to fix their tech woes, while 48 percent felt discouraged by the amount of effort needed to fix the problem. Even more—59 percent—were impatient about the problem because they needed to use it for important things. Still, despite all these negative emotions, almost three-quarters of the group said that they felt confident that they were on the right track to solving the problem with the help of tech support, friends or family, online support, or just their own know-how.

The category that got the highest number of tech support calls was failed Internet connections, bringing to light the importance of competent and friendly customer service. According to a report from CFI Group in September, however, customer service from cable companies tends to leave customers fuming and "highly vulnerable to new competition." Looks like it's time to step it up, lest these companies lose business to someone who can do a better job at keeping those 44 percent of users with Internet connection problems happy.

Remember The Milk for Gmail Gadget

teknia — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:12:00 -0700

Adding notes to Gmail. Easy to install. Worth a look.

UPDATE: November 18, 2008
After a short trial, we decided to not use Remember the Milk anymore.

The program is ok, but since it requires a login Roboform can't remember after logging into Gmail, it's too cumbersome to use.

Hmm, guess that's a signal for buyout or time for Google to develop their own app.

Official gadget for task management and to-do list service, Remember The Milk.
Requires a free 'Remember the Milk' account be setup.

Remember The Milk for Gmail / Gadget.

The Remember The Milk Gmail gadget allows you to manage your tasks in Gmail:

Review your upcoming tasks for the week

Add new tasks and edit existing ones

Easily complete and postpone tasks

Review your overdue tasks

Optionally show tasks with no due date

Display tasks from a particular list or Smart List

With the "quick add" feature, you can easily add tasks and (optionally) include a due date and/or tag:

You can add tasks like:

Pick up the milk

Call Lizzie at 9am tomorrow

Return library books in 2 weeks

Finish report, tag with work

Installation:

Adding to Gmail

Please note: The gadget requires Gmail Labs.

1. In Gmail, go to Settings then the Labs tab. Find "Add any gadget by URL" and make sure it's enabled, then press Save Changes.

2. Still in Settings in Gmail, go to the Gadgets tab. Copy and paste the following URL into the "Add a gadget by its URL" field. Press Add.

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml

Gmail Backup

teknia — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:00:28 -0700

Maybe the last step before ditching Microsoft...
Open Office 3.0 is now a good enough office suite and with web based Email backup the missing link has been filled.

Gmail Backup.

Gmail Backup Description

This program is aimed to backup and restore of your GMail mailbox. You will need to activate the IMAP access to your mailbox, to do so, please open your GMail settings and under POP/IMAP tab activate this option.

The messages are stored in the local directory in files which names follow the format YYYYMMDD-hhmmss-nn.eml where YYYY is the year, MM the month number, DD is the day number, hh are hours, mm are minutes and ss are seconds when the e-mail was SENT. For the case there is more emails with the same timestamp there is the number nn which starts with value 1. Label assignment is stored in the file labels.txt which is the plain text file and it pairs the emails stored in the file described above with the assigned labels.

Examples:

To perform full backup of your GMail account into directory dir, use:

gmail-backup.exe backup dir user@gmail.com password

To specify time interval, you can add additional date specification in the format YYYYMMDD. The second date can be ommited in which case the backup is from the first date to now:

gmail-backup.exe backup dir user@gmail.com password 20070621 20080101

You can do multiple backups into the same directory. The labels.txt is updated according the new e-mails not in the previous backup.

To restore your backup use the restore command. To restore your GMail account from the previous backup in the directory dir, use for example:

gmail-backup.exe restore dir user@gmail.com password

You can also use the extra feature of GMail backup. It allows the user to completely clear his mailbox (for example if the user wants to end using the GMail). All messages are permanently deleted (of course the email can be stored somewhere deep in the Google company). To do so, execute the command:

gmail-backup.exe clear user@gmail.com password

The program will ask you to repeat the username, so you have the chance to cancel your mistake.

Note:

If your internet provider does not allow you access the IMAP ports in the internet, than you will not be able to download the emails from GMail.

Prepare for Digital TV Changeover

teknia — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:42:11 -0700

This video offers a step by step tutorial that will make the steps necessary to prepare for digital TV clear.
Finally... Feb.17, 2009 will be here before we're ready...

digitalconversion.wmv

www.huh?

5 Things DirecTV Does Not Want you to Know

teknia — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:32:13 -0600

Interesting. The retention info also works for land-line and cable internet service.

Tags: directtv, retention,cable tv, dish network, phone service

Link: 5BESTLIST.COM

5 Things DirecTV Does Not Want you to Know

by Master Blaster at 10/20/2008 12:23 PM

***DISCLAIMER***
This article is for informational purposes only. I am not suggesting you use any of the following information to break the law.

Read on for descriptions:
5. Protection Plan
4. Upgrades
3. Retention
2. Phone Lines
1. Receivers are Untraceable

5. Protection Plan

When your DirecTV equipment breaks down, you will have to pay about $80 for a service call, unless you shell out $5.99 per month for the protection plan. Instead you could wait until you have a problem, call to add the protection plan to your account (don't mention you have a current problem), call back the next day to schedule a $5.99 service call.

4. Upgrades
If you have fulfilled your contract with DirecTV, call them every six months and ask for a free upgrade. You can get additional rooms, new equipment, HD receivers, and DVR receivers.

3. Retention

Ahhhh, retention the magical customer service department that can get almost anything done. The retention departments job is to keep you from canceling your account. Retention representatives get bonuses if they can get you to stick with DirecTV, so they are always willing to help.

The key is to pretend you are going to cancel your account. I have had to evoke the magic retention word a few times when dealing with regular customer service, and every time my problem was immediately fixed and a credit added to my bill. Just tell the regular customer service rep. that you have had enough and want to cancel your account. Once they transfer you, tell the retention agent what is going on, and they will do whatever they can to keep you. If they do call your bluff, just say you have to sleep on it and you will call back tomorrow to cancel.

2. Phone Lines

DirecTV receivers can not send pay-per-view billing information back to DirecTV unless the receiver is connected to a phone line. That means if you disconnect your receiver from the phone line, and order pay-per-view with the remote you will not be billed. Some receivers have safeguards to prevent or limit this.

1. Receivers are Untraceable

As long as you disconnect your receivers from a phone line, DirecTV has no idea where that receiver is geographically. That means one receiver could be at your house, one at Grandmas house across town, one at your best friends house, and one in your R.V. You would have to be handy enough to install a few satellite dishes that you bought on Ebay, and run some coax cable.

The top five reasons why Windows Vista failed

teknia — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:29:51 -0600

Our top reason that Vista failed is that Vista won't remember mapped drive credentials making backup a nightmare.Truth is people wanted Vista to work but Microsoft didn't learn enough lessons with Windows ME so decided to overwhelm their support staff with new challenges...

Link: ZDNet.com

The top five reasons why Windows Vista failed

Posted by Jason Hiner @ 4:21 am

Tags: Information Technology, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Corp., IT Department, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Windows Vista (Longhorn), Microsoft Windows XP, Operating Systems, Software, Jason Hiner

On Friday, Microsoft gave computer makers a six-month extension for offering Windows XP on newly-shipped PCs. While this doesn’t impact enterprise IT — because volume licensing agreements will allow IT to keep installing Windows XP for many years to come — the move is another symbolic nail in Vista’s coffin.

The public reputation of Windows Vista is in shambles, as Microsoft itself tacitly acknowledged in its Mojave ad campaign.

IT departments are largely ignoring Vista. In June (18 months after Vista’s launch), Forrester Research reported that just 8.8% of enterprise PCs worldwide were running Vista. Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to have put Windows 7 on an accelerated schedule that could see it released in 2010. That will provide IT departments with all the justification they need to simply skip Vista and wait to eventually standardize on Windows 7 as the next OS for business.

So how did Vista get left holding the bag? Let’s look at the five most important reasons why Vista failed.

5. Apple successfully demonized Vista

Apple’s clever I’m a Mac ads have successfully driven home the perception that Windows Vista is buggy, boring, and difficult to use. After taking two years of merciless pummeling from Apple, Microsoft recently responded with it’s I’m a PC campaign in order to defend the honor of Windows. This will likely restore some mojo to the PC and Windows brands overall, but it’s too late to save Vista’s perception as a dud.

4. Windows XP is too entrenched

In 2001, when Windows XP was released, there were about 600 million computers in use worldwide. Over 80% of them were running Windows but it was split between two code bases: Windows 95/98 (65%) and Windows NT/2000 (26%), according to IDC. One of the big goals of Windows XP was to unite the Windows 9x and Windows NT code bases, and it eventually accomplished that.

In 2008, there are now over 1.1 billion PCs in use worldwide and over 70% of them are running Windows XP. That means almost 800 million computers are running XP, which makes it the most widely installed operating system of all time. That’s a lot of inertia to overcome, especially for IT departments that have consolidated their deployments and applications around Windows XP.

And, believe it or not, Windows XP could actually increase its market share over the next couple years. How? Low-cost netbooks and nettops are going to be flooding the market. While these inexpensive machines are powerful enough to provide a solid Internet experience for most users, they don’t have enough resources to run Windows Vista, so they all run either Windows XP or Linux. Intel expects this market to explode in the years ahead. (For more on netbooks and nettops, see this fact sheet and this presentation — both are PDFs from Intel.)

3. Vista is too slow

For years Microsoft has been criticized by developers and IT professionals for “software bloat” — adding so many changes and features to its programs that the code gets huge and unwieldy. However, this never seemed to have enough of an effect to impact software sales. With Windows Vista, software bloat appears to have finally caught up with Microsoft.

Vista has over 50 million lines of code. XP had 35 million when it was released, and since then it has grown to about 40 million. This software bloat has had the effect of slowing down Windows Vista, especially when it’s running on anything but the latest and fastest hardware. Even then, the latest version of Windows XP soundly outperforms the latest version of Microsoft Vista. No one wants to use a new computer that is slower than their old one.

2. There wasn’t supposed to be a Vista

It’s easy to forget that when Microsoft launched Windows XP it was actually trying to change its OS business model to move away from shrink-wrapped software and convert customers to software subscribers. That’s why it abandoned the naming convention of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000, and instead chose Windows XP.

The XP stood for “experience” and was part of Microsoft’s .NET Web services strategy at the time. The master plan was to get users and businesses to pay a yearly subscription fee for the Windows experience — XP would essentially be the on-going product name but would include all software upgrades and updates, as long as you paid for your subscription. Of course, it would disable Windows on your PC if you didn’t pay. That’s why product activation was coupled with Windows XP.

Microsoft released Windows XP and Office XP simultaneously in 2001 and both included product activation and the plan to eventually migrate to subscription products. However, by the end of 2001 Microsoft had already abandoned the subscription concept with Office, and quickly returned to the shrink-wrapped business model and the old product development model with both products.

The idea of doing incremental releases and upgrades of its software — rather than a major shrink-wrapped release every 3-5 years — was a good concept. Microsoft just couldn’t figure out how to make the business model work, but instead of figuring out how to get it right, it took the easy route and went back to an old model that was simply not very well suited to the economic and technical realities of today’s IT world.

1. It broke too much stuff

One of the big reasons that Windows XP caught on was because it had the hardware, software, and driver compatibility of the Windows 9x line plus the stability and industrial strength of the Windows NT line. The compatibility issue was huge. Having a single, highly-compatible Windows platform simplified the computing experience for users, IT departments, and software and hardware vendors.

Microsoft either forgot or disregarded that fact when it released Windows Vista, because, despite a long beta period, a lot of existing software and hardware were not compatible with Vista when it was released in January 2007. Since many important programs and peripherals were unusable in Vista, that made it impossible for a lot of IT departments to adopt it. Many of the incompatibilities were the result of tighter security.

After Windows was targeted by a nasty string of viruses, worms, and malware in the early 2000s, Microsoft embarked on the Trustworthy Computing initiative to make its products more secure. One of the results was Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), which won over IT and paved the way for XP to become the world’s mostly widely deployed OS.

The other big piece of Trustworthy Computing was the even-further-locked-down version of Windows that Microsoft released in Vista. This was definitely the most secure OS that Microsoft had ever released but the price was user-hostile features such as UAC, a far more complicated set of security prompts that accompanied many basic tasks, and a host of software incompatibility issues. In order words, Vista broke a lot of the things that users were used to doing in XP.

Bottom line

There are some who argue that Vista is actually more widely adopted than XP was at this stage after its release, and that it’s highly likely that Vista will eventually replace XP in the enterprise. I don’t agree. With XP, there were clear motivations to migrate: bring Windows 9x machines to a more stable and secure OS and bring Windows NT/2000 machines to an OS with much better hardware and software compatibility. And, you also had the advantage of consolidating all of those machines on a single OS in order to simplify support.

With Vista, there are simply no major incentives for IT to use it over XP. Security isn’t even that big of an issue because XP SP2 (and above) are solid and most IT departments have it locked down quite well. As I wrote in the article Prediction: Microsoft will leapfrog Vista, release Windows 7 early, and change its OS business, Microsoft needs to abandon the strategy of releasing a new OS every 3-5 years and simply stick with a single version of Windows and release updates, patches, and new features on a regular basis. Most IT departments are essentially already on a subscription model with Microsoft so the business strategy is already in place there.

As far as the subscription model goes for small businesses and consumers, instead of disabling Windows on a user’s PC if they don’t renew their subscription, just don’t allow that machine to get any more updates if they don’t renew. Microsoft could also work with OEMs to sell something like a three-year subscription to Windows with every a new PC. Then users would have the choice of renewing on their own after that.

Netgear Router Reset & Most Common Default Router Password

teknia — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:34:11 -0600

Netgear Router Reset procedure and default user names and password.
...for those tired of searching for info buried in a FAQ or forced to read an encyclopedia for basic info.

default username is admin
password is either password or 1234

The actual reset procedure is filed under a misleading title...

Forgotten or Lost Router Password
Link: Forgotten or Lost Router Password.

Reset for most routers with a reset button       on the rear panel


Write down configuration information such as IP addresses, security       keys, opened ports and services, etc., that you modified. (The default       username is admin and the password is either password or       1234. Try these before resetting the router.)

Press the reset button on the back until the test light blinks. This takes about 10 seconds. (To       avoid accidental resets, the small button is recessed. Use a pen or       paperclip to access it.)

Release the button.

Wait for the router to reboot.

Log in with the default
      password.

If the router was not cleared, try these additional steps AFTER the
      router has finished rebooting.



Unplug the router's power.

Press and hold the reset button. While the button is held down, reconnect
      router's power.

Continue to hold the reset button for 20 seconds after reconnecting
      the power.

Wait for the router to reboot.

Log in with the default password.

Dear Adobe, can we please have a 64-bit Flash player?

teknia — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:17:00 -0600

The 32 bit version of Adobe Flash is screwed up and has been since day one of our Vista installation a year and a half ago. Adobe should jump on the 64 bit wagon just so they have a believable excuse for not fixing the 32 bit version of Flash.

If you are listening Adobe feel free to use this;

We no longer support any of our old software because we can barely hold off the support load of the new mistakes we make. It's a full time job juggling Apple loyalties and you pesky PC users demands that stuff works...

Link: Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com

July 30th, 2008

Dear Adobe, can we please have a 64-bit Flash player?

Posted by Ed Bott @ 9:21 am

In the TalkBack section of my earlier post on the sudden popularity of x64 Vista, a commenter makes a good point:

Flash is not yet 64 bit (at least not the last time I looked). We got a new PC last summer running Vista 64 bit and when you use IE and go to a site that uses Flash it will not work.

That’s true, and it’s the source of one of the minor annoyances in using 64-bit Vista. As I note in my reply, 32-bit IE is the default in Vista x64, presumably for this very reason:

Although there’s a 64-bit IE, you have to go through some special steps to enable it as a default. Virtually everything opens in the 32-bit IE, which you can tell if you look in Task Manager.

You can find the shortcut for IE x64 on the All Programs menu:

But if you use the IE shortcuts on the Start menu or the Quick Launch bar, or if you double-click a link or a URL shortcut, you get the 32-bit version of IE (or Firefox, which doesn’t even offer a 64-bit version for Windows as far as I can tell). All those *32 entries in this snippet from Task Manager provide the proof:

The single biggest blocker to using a 64-bit browser is the absence of a compatible Flash player. If you open the 64-bit version of IE and click Adobe’s Get Flash Player link, you get redirected to this TechNote:

Flash Player support on 64-bit operating systems

Issue: Adobe Flash Player is not supported for playback in a 64-bit browser. However, you can run Flash Player in a 32-bit browser running on a 64-bit operating system.

Reason: Adobe is working on Flash Player support for 64-bit platforms as part of our ongoing commitment to the cross-platform compatibility of Flash Player. We have not yet announced timing or release dates.

Solution: To use Flash Player to view Flash content on a 64-bit operating system, you must run a 32-bit browser.

That article was last updated on February 8, 2008, nearly six months ago. Not even a “we’re still working on it.” With the increased popularity of 64-bit Windows, someone needs to light a fire under the Flash development team.

Update 23-July 1:30PM: A commenter suggests that Flash 10 will eventually offer 64-bit support. Maybe, but that support is certainly not there today. I just downloaded and installed the latest (July 2008) Beta 2 build of Flash 10. It doesn’t work with either IE7 x64 or a compiled 64-bit experimental build of Firefox 3.

Google Counts 1 Trillion+ Unique Web URLs

teknia — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:52:58 -0600

The information age will squish us if it isn't managed properly. The issue will be to weed out the bloat with better and better search capabilities. Google has always led the pack (much to Microsoft's chagrin) What isn't spoken about:

How much info will vanish as content is lost through website abandonment. Many point out that the web is free, but it costs real money to keep sites hosted and pay the annual domain name registration fees.
Digital Noise overwhelms us...

Blog popularity fed much of the information bloat and advertising revenue will help keep many informative sites alive. But we notice many forums are dying and disappearing. Google has social responsibilities...

Link: Google Counts More Than 1 Trillion Unique Web URLs

From: www.cio.com

Juan Carlos Perez | IDG News Service
July 25, 2008

In a discovery that would probably send the Dr. Evil character of the "Austin Powers" movies into cardiac arrest, Google recently detected more than a trillion unique URLs on the Web.

This milestone awed Google search engineers, who are seeing the Web growing by several billion individual pages every day, company officials wrote in a blog post Friday.

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In addition to announcing this finding, Google took the opportunity to promote the scope and magnitude of its index.

"We don't index every one of those trillion pages -- many of them are similar to each other, or represent auto-generated content ... that isn't very useful to searchers. But we're proud to have the most comprehensive index of any search engine, and our goal always has been to index all the world's data," wrote Jesse Alpert and Nissan Hajaj, software engineers in Google's Web Search Infrastructure Team.

It had been a while since Google had made public pronouncements about the size of its index, a topic that routinely generated controversy and counterclaims among the major search engine players years ago.

Those days of index-size envy ended when it became clear that most people rarely scan more than two pages of Web results. In other words, what matters is delivering 10 or 20 really relevant Web links, or, even better, a direct factual answer, because few people will wade through 5,000 results to find the desired information.

It will be interesting to see if this announcement from Google, posted on its main official blog, will trigger a round of reactions from rivals like Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask.com.

In the meantime, Google also disclosed interesting information about how and with what frequency it analyzes these links.

"Today, Google downloads the web continuously, collecting updated page information and re-processing the entire web-link graph several times per day. This graph of one trillion URLs is similar to a map made up of one trillion intersections. So multiple times every day, we do the computational equivalent of fully exploring every intersection of every road in the United States. Except it'd be a map about 50,000 times as big as the U.S., with 50,000 times as many roads and intersections," the officials wrote.

Copyright © 2008 IDG News Service. All rights reserved. IDG News Service is a trademark of International Data Group, Inc.

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Sony’s amazing crapware-free PC

teknia — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:51:06 -0600

Sony crap... everyone recognizes it.
Ok, we're still annoyed at the Sony root kit crap.
$2300 are you kidding? Not in our budget.
We may be taking out a loan for a fill-up soon...
We could get thrashed with an Apple Laptop for less. Sheesh.

Good article. Bad topic. We wouldn't be thrilled about a Dell crap free laptop at this point either.
Maybe a Gateway or EEPC.

Link: Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com

Posted by Ed Bott

Sony is finally taking on its crapware problem. For the past two months, I’ve been using an astonishingly light and agile Sony VAIO notebook and loving every minute of it. The best part of all was that this machine was absolutely, completely, unequivocally crapware-free, which meant I was able to be productive within a few minutes of unboxing.

That’s a huge switch for Sony, which has taken a beating as “the poster child for negative experiences” with new PCs running Windows Vista. And it was a happy surprise for me. When I wrote about my hands-on experiences with two older VAIO notebooks earlier this year, I called it a “truly miserable experience.” It took a crapware-cleansing clean install to fix a 2007-vintage Sony notebook, and I spent hours replacing outdated drivers and removing unwanted software from a 2008 model (if you haven’t read that installment, see Fixing Windows Vista, one machine at a time).

In a March interview, Sony Vice President Mike Abary assured me that Sony was “listening and taking action.” The first phase, he said, was a new program called Fresh Start, in which Sony promised to remove all trialware and unnecessary software for customers who chose the Fresh Start option as part of a custom-configured VAIO. Sony announced initially that it would charge $49.99 for the privilege of ordering a crapware-free PC and then quickly reversed its decision.

Daily Gameplan Announces Updated Website and Features

teknia — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:15:09 -0600

The premier automobile sales tracking and accountability system on the market today.

Daily Gameplan is the industry standard in sales & follow-up systems. Three specific sales planners and CRM system are designed to keep your sales team working towards the same goals; increased customer follow-up, appointments and sales.

Does your sales team need a Daily Gameplan?

Link: Daily Gameplan News

Daily Gameplan, Inc., a Golden, Colorado based corporation, has announced the addition of their new website dailygameplan.com to compliment their DailyGameplanNews.com site.

While Daily Gameplan has maintained a web presence over the last 10 years, the new site will feature exciting new features, such as NADA video feeds, sales tips articles, and a more comprehensive learning center for their products.

Daily Gameplan is considered among many to be the industry standard in low cost, high quality sales & follow-up systems. Their systems have been used in over 3000 dealerships nationwide since their inception in 1998.

Home | Auto Sales Planner | Order Info | Contact us | Gameplan CRM | Executive Summary

Copyright © 1998-2008 Daily Gameplan, Inc. All rights reserved

Diary of a deliberately spammed housewife

teknia — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:07:39 -0600

Presidential Politics; No one addresses this... The candidate that eliminates SPAM gets my vote. Fix it. Harsh penalties and opt-in would be a good start.

Link: Networkworld

What happened when 'Penelope Retch' answered her spam e-mail

By Ellen Messmer, Network World, 07/01/2008

For Tracy Mooney (pictured), a married mother of three in Naperville, Ill., the decision to abandon cyber-sense and invite e-mail spam into her life for a month by participating in a McAfee experiment was a bit of a lark.
The idea of the Spammed Persistently All Month (S.P.A.M.) experiment — which fittingly started on April Fool's Day — was to have 50 volunteers from around the world answer every spam message and pop-up ad on their PC.

What would be the experience in 10 countries when everyday people, armed with a PC and e-mail account McAfee provided for the Global S.P.A.M. Diaries project, clicked through the spam and chronicled the results?

Mooney — who had observed the family's PC crippled just before Christmas by a virus — was game, especially because McAfee was giving a free PC to all participants. She was selected to be among the 50 volunteers picked by McAfee out of 2,000 people who applied to be part of the adventure.

Related Content

By the time it was all over, after every bank-account phishing scam, Nigerian bank scheme, and offer for medication, adult content and just plain free stuff had been pursued. "I was horrified," says Mooney, a realtor by profession. "It's all snake oil. I'm amazed at what true junk is out there when you're clicking through on e-mail."

McAfee is releasing the results Tuesday of its free-wheeling month-long S.P.A.M. experiment, done largely to illustrate — if you didn't know already — how spam is connected to malware and criminal activity, not to mention some of the slimiest marketing ever devised. (Compare antispam products.)

Each S.P.A.M. volunteer saw an average of 70 spam messages arrive in their in-box each day, with men receiving about 15 more per day than women. That was a lot to answer, but "Penelope Retch" — the alias that Mooney chose for her S.P.A.M. adventure — answered every single message.

The spammed life of Penelope Retch

In her guise as Penelope Retch, Mooney answered the e-mail that came into her account. "I'd see an interactive spam, open it, click on it and asked to be removed. That would only make it worse," she says. "They'd say 'no.'"

Whether trying to win an iPod online, get free travel brochures, weight-loss tea or Maybelline eyeliner, the effect of entering a home address was extreme. Immediately, a deluge of mail landed at her doorstep, directed to the attention of Penelope Retch.

"One of the mail offers I got was a $7,500 credit card for Penelope Retch," Mooney says, noting that the sudden upsurge in junk mail left the neighborhood postman somewhat aghast. "It grew exponentially, so I stopped giving out my home address," she says, adding, "I am concerned about the environment."

Mooney clicked through on the phishing e-mails for fake Wells Fargo and other bank sites, sat back as the supposed government of Nigeria sought to give her an inheritance, and watched a foreign IP address go after a dummy PayPal account that had been set up as part of the S.P.A.M. experiment.

Overall, the most obvious result of the S.P.A.M. experiment was that the PC that McAfee had provided for the project noticeably slowed down, clogged up with spyware, Mooney says.

According to McAfee, which selected five participants from each of 10 countries for the S.P.A.M. experiment, the five U.S. participants received the most spam: 23,233 messages over the course of the month.

Related Content

Brazil and Italy were in the 15,000-plus category, and Mexico and United Kingdom above 10,000. Australia, The Netherlands and Spain were in the 5,000 to 9,000-plus spam range. The S.P.A.M. volunteers in France and Germany got the least, less than 3,000 for the month. McAfee didn't even include what it calls "grey mail" (e-mail that arrived after participants signed up for a newsletter, for example) in this count.

Phishing e-mail accounted for 22% of the spam received by the Italian volunteers and 18% of the U.S. ones. In general, spam appears to still largely be delivered in English; French- and German-language spam were the only non-English spam to amount to more than 10% of spam received by the participants in France and Germany respectively.

Some oddball facts that emerged from the experiment are that fake Chase.com was the most common phishing e-mail spotted during the project, and that the British volunteers received the most Nigerian scam e-mail.

In addition to Mooney, the other S.P.A.M. participants also kept a blog about the experience, which some found amusing and others disturbing. One participant in Australia named Marika wrote, "I don't know whether I would feel safe to surf to that extent again. I tried to sign up for jobs that would generate an at-home income with what seemed like respectable sites, however these sites led to massive amounts of spam."

All contents copyright 1995-2008 Network World, Inc. http://www.networkworld.com

Jay Leno's 2008 Tesla Video

teknia — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:50:57 -0600

Shocking! Electrifying!

Interview with Jay showing off his production Tesla, over 200 miles on a charge, low maintenance, tech-o-rama!

Study Finds Instant Messaging Helps Productivity

teknia — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:30:06 -0600

Productivity vs. Nazi Managers/owners

A case where the workers know more than managers...

Ability to unobtrusively interact while someone is engaged in a phone call
- What do you want me to pick you up for lunch?
- Jim's on line 2... take a message or?
Informal - relaxed rules
Quick questions
From my plate to yours. Handle it or get back to me.
- Yahoo IM led the way with off-line messages that arrived at next login
Sometimes 1st five minutes with a new contact is silly but it becomes business after that

Link: HotHardware

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - by Daniel A. Begun

The results of a recently published study of workers' instant messaging (IM) use shows that IM can actually improve workplace productivity. This contradicts a widely held belief that IM in the workplace is a hindrance to productivity. IM is often perceived as an interruption, and as such, "it can significantly hinder productivity by disrupting thought processes and work flows, causing individuals to take longer to complete tasks."

Researchers at Ohio State University and the University of California, Irvine conducted a telephone study by randomly surveying individuals employed full-time who use computers in an office environment at least five hours per week. They netted 912 respondents, of which 29.8 percent claimed to use IM in the workplace "to keep connected with coworkers and clients." Interestingly, the demographics of the IM users were essentially identical to that of the non-IM users in the study, with a mean age of 43.7 years old and 53.2 percent female. Neither occupation, education, gender, nor age seem to have an impact on whether an individual is an IM user or not. This should throw out a few more generally accepted beliefs that IM users are predominately tech-savvy young men.

"IM users report lower levels of interruption"

The study theorizes that using IM enables individuals to "flag their availability." Doing so can limit when IM interruptions occur. Even if an IM interruption comes when it is not necessarily convenient to the recipient, it is "often socially acceptable" to ignore an incoming message or respond with a terse reply stating that the recipient is too busy at the moment to properly respond. Also, new "patterns of communication" develop around IM:

"IM provides a means of obtaining task relevant information rapidly and with minimal disruption, allowing a worker to ask clarifying questions without the expectation of engaging in a longer conversation. Alternatively, it can be used to participate in a sustained form of low-intensity collaboration... Setting up a line of communication via IM is as easy as making a phone call, and the line can be kept open indefinitely, allowing participants to query one another infrequently on an as-needed basis and with the expectation that a response will be forthcoming at the next convenient opportunity."

The study goes on to show that using IM does not increase the amount of time an individual communicates, in place of using e-mail, telephone, or face-to-face conversations:

"There is no significant difference in the overall levels of work communication between IM users and non-users in terms of either the time spent in communication... or in the amount of information exchanged with colleagues... In other words, workers' communication levels are unrelated to their use of IM, and there is certainly no evidence that IM use increases the overall amount of communication time. This might provide a partial explanation for why IM is not associated with an increase in interruption."

As to why the perception persists that IM disrupts productivity, the study posits that IM users are more likely to use IM for personal communications. Increased non-work related communications could easily be construed as harming productivity. However, the researchers found that personal-based IM communications have the same benefits as work related IM communications in that they can be short and responses can be delayed or even ignored.

Hopefully, employers who view IM communications with suspicion or disdain will see the potential benefits that the communications medium can bring. While many work environments have come to embrace IM communications, it is often viewed as a necessary evil. Perhaps this study will show those employers that this power can be used for good as well.

Netflix Player by Roku

teknia — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:31:22 -0600

4 out of 5 => Last one is a deal killer...
The un-availability of recent movies is 'exactly' the reason that keeps me from subscribing to NetFlix.

Link: PC Magazine

REVIEW DATE: 05.20.08 by Tim Gideon

As a confirmed Netflix addict, I was immediately intrigued by the new Netflix Player by Roku, an on-demand video streaming device that works with the popular movie rental service. How does the Roku box compare with the Netflix device of my dreams? My dream device wouldn't require a PC, just like Apple TV—Check. It would be diminutive and discreet, yet have excellent connectivity (HDMI with surround sound, S-Video, standard composite and component ports)—Check. It would be incredibly easy to set up and would update available films on the device whenever I updated my queue online—Check. I'd pay an upfront cost—say $100—for the box, but my monthly subscription fee wouldn't increase—Check. Lastly, it would have full access to the entire Netflix library—No check there. Well, four out of five ain't bad—in fact, that's pretty fantastic.

Microsoft experiments with managed e-mail

teknia — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:56:59 -0600

Of equal value would be an easier way to manage PST files. Maybe a fix is in the works...

Link: IDG News Service

'Employee Managed Mailbox' would give companies more control over e-mail in order to better meet regulatory requirements and e-discovery laws.

By Shane Shick, Computerworld UK, IDG News Service
March 20, 2008

Microsoft is experimenting with a potential product that would give companies more control over the electronic messages their staff exchange in order to better meet regulatory requirements and e-discovery laws.

The product, which has been informally dubbed Employee Managed Mailbox (EMM), is being used internally at Microsoft and may eventually turn into a commercial offering, according to Joel Freedman, chief financial officer at Microsoft Canada.

"Instead of e-mail that would be utilizing the hard drive, you'd have e-mail that gets managed by a server," he said, adding that a server-based product could help companies do a better job of adhering to compliance-related policies. "You could have a one-month, one-year, or three-year limit on retention [of an e-mail message], for example."
Freedman suggested EMM could become a direct way for Microsoft to assist corporations who are struggling to keep up with accounting, privacy, and other rules that increasingly govern the way they handle information.

Although some vendors are developing specific tools to match the requirement of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley legislation or Canada's Bill 198, many firms, Microsoft included, are making the best of existing office productivity tools to keep themselves out of trouble.

"For most companies, it's Office and e-mail," said Jeff Dunmall, principal with Toronto-based IT consulting firm iMason, which specializes in Microsoft-based technologies. "The problem is if you send out something about a new process via e-mail to five people for comment or approval, you've suddenly got five different versions of that document."

A better approach, he suggested, was using Microsoft's SharePoint portal to store and exchange comments on a document.

Dr James McKeen, a professor of IT strategies at the Queen's School of Business in Kingston, Ontaria, said compliance is challenged not only by costs but by what he called "complementarities" -- enterprises need one product already deployed before another product or element of the compliance project will succeed.

A lot of companies also make the mistake of measuring the anticipated benefits of a compliance project, rather than the actual realized return on investment.

That said, McKeen said vendors are getting better about providing the kinds of tools companies will need to obey the regulators.

"It used to be mostly a case of retrofitting existing products to meet the compliance process," said. "Now you're seeing a lot more that's being built right out the box."

While Freedman said he could not imagine not owning the compliance responsibilities for his company, he said IT departments play an important tactical role in helping define requirements and implementing the right product. Although some IT professionals have complained about their compliance chores, McKeen said others take a "perverse" pleasure in it.

IT departments also have to be on board to make sure that projects don't just meet compliance needs but also benefit employees in some way. "There has to be an advocate for the end-user," he said.

Computerworld UK is an InfoWorld affiliate.

Want Vista SP1? Here’s what to expect

teknia — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:50:00 -0600

Excellent. If you are like us you will be attacking this update this weekend if it is available from Microsoft Update. Here's a good run through.

Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
Link: ZDNet.com

Posted by Ed Bott
Categories: Windows Vista, Service Pack 1, Windows Update

When Microsoft released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to manufacturing on February 4,
they promised to make it available for the general public in mid-March.
Today they delivered on that promise, making SP1 available to Windows
Vista users through Windows Update and as a standalone installer
package from the Microsoft Download Center.

I covered most of the features of this service pack in detail in my earlier Vista SP1 FAQ and More Vista SP1 Answers, so I won’t rehash that information here. In this post and its accompanying image gallery, I’ll show you what you can expect from the public release.

[Want to see what the SP1 experience looks like, step by step? Don’t miss my exclusive Windows Vista SP1 Image Gallery.]

First things first: SP1 won’t be installed on your system
automatically. (Automatic Updates won’t begin for at least another
month, and even then they’ll be rolled out slowly.) In fact, you might
not even know SP1 is available unless you manually check Windows
Update. If you meet the qualifications, you’ll see the download listed
as an Important update.

What to Expect:

If you don’t see this update in the list of available updates, you might be blocked temporarily by one of the following issues:

You are running a version of Windows Vista (or have a language pack installed) for a language other than the five available in this release: English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. (I ran into this issue last month, on a system that had the Italian language pack installed.) In that case, you’ll have to uninstall the language pack or wait till the full international release is available in a few months.

You might not have installed the prerequisite updates. SP1 requires
updates to the so-called servicing stack (the code that handles
updates) and, for Ultimate edition, for Bitlocker disk encryption. If
you see other available updates, install them first and then try
Windows Update again.

You might have a hardware component that is using one of a handful
of drivers known to cause minor problems with SP1. The issues aren’t
catastrophic, I’m told, and most experienced users can resolve the
issues (changes to default settings or lost sound, for instance)
quickly enough by reinstalling the problem driver. But those options
aren’t acceptable for nontechnical users, so the Windows Update
detection code blocks deployment of SP1 and offers fixed versions of
some (but not all) of those drivers.

Other possible causes include a “known inconsistency in the file or
registry structure,” a previous beta version of SP1 installed
(uninstall it), and (ahem) you used vLite to modify Windows Vista.
Microsoft’s Knowledge Base article 948343 helpfully includes the website address of vLite.

I read comments from some conspiracy theorists who cast doubt on
Microsoft’s claim that some drivers were to blame for these issues. And
Microsoft’s reluctance to name the affected drivers added fuel to the
fire. But now the list is public, in that same KB article.
If you would like to check your own driver installation manually,
here’s the complete list of blocked drivers with version numbers (where
two driver files are listed, the second is a 64-bit version):

Audio drivers

Realtek AC’97 (Alcxwdm.sys and Alcwdm64.sys - version 6.0.1.6242 or earlier)

SigmaTel (Sthda.sys and Sthda64.sys - version 5.10.5762.0 or earlier)

SigmaTel (Stwrt.sys Stwrt64.sys - version 6.10.5511.0 or earlier)

Creative Audigy (Ctaud2k.sys - version 6.0.1.1242 or earlier; P17.sys – all versions)

Conexant HD Audio (Chdart.sys and Chdart64.sys - version 4.32.0.0 or earlier)

Biometric (Fingerprint) Sensors

AuthenTec Fingerprint Sensor (Atswpdrv.sys – version 7.7.1.7 or earlier)

UPEK Fingerprint Sensor (Tcusb.sys driver file – version 1.9.2.99 or earlier)

Display drivers

Intel Display (Igdkmd32.sys and Igdkmd64.sys – versions between and including driver 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403)

Other drivers

Texas Instruments Smart Card Controller (GTIPCI21.sys – version 1.0.1.19 or earlier)

Sierra Wireless AirCard 580 with the Watcher.exe application – version 3.4.0.9 or earlier

Symantec software driver for Symantec Endpoint Protection and for
Symantec Network Access Control clients (Wgx.sys and Wgx64.sys –
versions 11.0.1000.1091 or earlier)

According to Microsoft, tech support lines have been beefed up to
handle issues related to SP1 beginning today. In a welcome change from
the normal policy, you can call for free support on SP1–related issues
even if you purchased an OEM copy of Windows Vista preinstalled on a
new computer. E-mail, chat, and phone support are all available. Vista
SP1 has its own dedicated support page (if you’re outside the U.S., you might need to start at support.microsoft.com and find the appropriate links for your country).

A standalone installer is now available for download
as well. But beware: it’s a 434 MB download, compared with the 65-70 MB
you’ll get through the custom installation available from Windows
Update. Unless you’re planning to update 5 or more computers, you’ll
have better luck with Windows Update.

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1

teknia — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:17:43 -0600

No brainer upgrade but will wait til this week-end. We hope it improves file transfer speeds. Previously, Ready boost with a USB add-on seemed to be a waste of time with little if any speed improvement. Just add more RAM...

Link: PC Magazine

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 REVIEW DATE: 02.21.08

BOTTOM LINE: Microsoft Vista SP1 represents a significant first move toward a faster, more secure, and slightly more open Vista.

PROS: Higher degree of program compatibility than with the RTM version. Increased
speed when copying large files and connecting to networked PCs. Overall
speed improvement as well. Improvements in BitLocker encryption.
Configurable Search option.

CONS: No real indication of memory fixes when using large graphics files.

COMPANY: Microsoft Corporation

Type: Business, Personal, Enterprise, Professional

Free: Yes

OS Compatibility: Windows Vista

Tech Support: Phone, online chat or email (90 day no charge, $59 per instance after), extensive newgroup and knowledge base support on Web site

EDITOR RATING:
By Neil Randall

A little over a year after the first appearance of Vista, Service Pack 1 (SP1) is nearly ready for download. [There have been a couple of release snafus, including the accidental release, on 2/21/08, of the 64-bit version.–Editor]. SP1 is a useful but not crucial update to the OS, and one that won't greatly affect your computing day, at least not outwardly. The bulk of the development effort has gone toward upgrading security subsystems—elements that enterprise clients find appealing but consumers and small-business users won't really notice (although they'll feel better knowing about them). The bottom line is that there's absolutely no reason not to download SP1 (which you'll receive automatically if you have AutoUpdate turned on), so it's almost a given that it will become the standard in the very near future.

...And so we have a better Vista. The performance differences are solid if not spectacular, but security and compatibility improvements combine with speed upgrades to make installing SP1 a no-brainer.

Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1

REVIEW DATE: 02.21.08

On new systems, SP1 will ship as part of Vista when it becomes
available. Users already running the new OS will find SP1 (once
Microsoft finalizes it in March) as a download from Windows Update
(WU). If you don't have WU configured to notify you automatically about
available updates, open Control Panel and launch Windows Update from
there, clicking on Check for Updates if SP1 doesn't appear
automatically in the updates list. If you see other critical updates
but not SP1, install those (which can take a while if you haven't been
doing so regularly) and keep checking until SP1 shows itself.

To prepare this review, I performed several SP1 installs. Because I'm a registered beta tester, I was able to install the final release candidate, which was very close to the original Vista RTM (released to manufacturing) code, as a download from Windows Update. The download took about 15 minutes; your speed will vary depending on your Internet connection and how busy the Windows Update servers happen to be. Installation took 58 minutes, including four reboots.

On the same desktop PC but a separate hard drive, I installed the full package—Vista Ultimate with SP1 included—which Microsoft made available. The process took 81 minutes in total, with the same four reboots. The speed was actually noteworthy, given that installing the RTM of the original Vista Ultimate on the same machine took more than twice as long. Clearly, Microsoft has been working to reduce the time required for clean installs—a good thing for anyone who needs to install from scratch.

Finally, I installed the full Vista Ultimate + SP1 package on my Gateway notebook, forcing a clean install by wiping the hard drive in the process. Total time: over 2.5 hours, but that's been my experience with installing Windows on laptops over the years. It just takes much longer than on desktops.

In all three cases, when the installation was complete Vista gave me the standard log-on screen, the standard Windows Sidebar, and the standard Aero interface. In fact, before closer inspection, everything looked exactly the same as before. If you're looking for an eye-grabbing aesthetic upgrade, SP1 isn't the way to go. Then again, dramatic visual upgrades aren't the function of service packs.

Actually, the interface isn't quite the same. Although you might not notice it at first, SP1 does away with the Search item on Vista's start menu. With the original Vista, Microsoft set Windows Search Explorer as the default, but you can now change this to use the desktop search program of your choice, such as Google Desktop. Exactly why this caused Microsoft to remove Search from the start menu is unclear, but the result is greater flexibility for users.—

Next: Performance Differences

Performance Differences

I did no formal benchmark testing to write this review. Here I simply offer some informal results, based primarily on measuring task times by looking at my wristwatch—close enough for the kinds of tasksI tested.

My clean installation of Ultimate with SP1 unquestionably behaved more snappily than either the original Vista or Vista with SP1 downloaded and installed. Snappiness refers to the speed at which menus respond, windows are redrawn, programs and data files open and close, and so forth. From the beginning, Vista had some significant issues with excessive hard drive use. The drive light would routinely stay fully or mostly lit for many minutes at a time, even when most programs had been closed. The downloaded SP1 improved this quite a bit, resulting in crisper performance, but the clean installation has improved the situation enormously. Then again, the clean installation has fewer programs installed, so you can't make a direct comparison.

But even with Office 2007 Professional, Adobe Creative Suite CS3, and Norton System Works 2008 on the machine and various components of each running (Outlook, Word, InDesign, Acrobat, and Norton AV, for instance), the drive light stayed remarkably unlit on the SP1 clean install. This issue bears watching: If the difference turns out to be as significant as it seems, then it alone is reason to upgrade. Interestingly, Microsoft does not tout this change in its official SP1 literature, but the company does acknowledge that SP1 does more caching to speed performance.

What Microsoft does publicize is an improvement in the speed of copying files—both between local drives and from local drives to network shares—as well as the speed in extracting files from compressed folders. My results show an improvement, but nothing to get excited about, unless you do such copying frequently and with large files and folders. This kind of improvement is vastly more important in the enterprise sector, of course (where pushing files to network shares goes on all the time) than for individual users.

Still, extracting from compressed folders on my machine showed an improvement of roughly 25 to 30 percent, while copying large folders (12GB was the largest I tried) demonstrated speed increases of about 20 percent. For local folder transfers, Vista still isn't up to the speed of Windows XP running SP2, although according to my informal observations it's within 10 percent. On my machines, the updated OS extracted from compressed folders almost twice as quickly as XP, but then again, unless you regularly work with gigabyte-size compressed folders, you're unlikely to notice a practical difference.

The time Vista takes to return from hibernation mode has dropped markedly (by about half, in fact); it takes even less time with my clean install. Wake time was a major irritation when using Vista RTM, not only for laptop users (a fact Microsoft quickly recognized) but also, from my experience, when running the OS on desktops. With both the download install and the clean install of SP1, I no longer have time to make coffee after pushing the power button on my desktop PC to bring it out of hibernation. Better still, with drive access no longer constant, I can start work (or play) that much more quickly.

But actually, I no longer recommend hibernation as the best method for stopping your PC from eating power. By all accounts, sleep mode offers very nearly the same power savings, and coming out of it with SP1 takes only a few seconds. The update has also come a fair distance in correcting the problems RTM had with entering sleep or hibernate mode automatically (I typically had to resort to forcing my PC into those modes manually). On my download SP1 install, however, I still notice that, when running numerous programs, sleep sometimes doesn't initiate automatically. It does on my clean install, so obviously I have something installed and running on the download install that's blocking sleep/hibernate entry.

According to Microsoft, SP1 improves waking up from both modes, and two improvements contribute to the change. First, the update makes better use of ReadyBoost, which uses portable RAM—for example, SD cards (such as those for cameras) and Flash memory—for secondary memory. SP1 also takes better advantage of SuperFetch, an algorithm that improves the use of system RAM for users by giving their programs a higher priority than background tasks.

I can't, however, honestly say I saw any improvement when I ran my SP1 installations first without, then with, a 1GB USB thumb drive plugged in (and Vista had automatically recognized and started using the drive for ReadyBoost). The idea behind ReadyBoost is certainly right, though, and it makes those inexpensive thumb drives even more useful. By all means, plug them in and give Vista more memory to work with.

The speed of other day-to-day tasks has improved as well. Opening Windows Explorer for the first time in a session (which on my desktop took at least a full 30 seconds, and as long as a full minute) now takes an acceptable 10 to 15 seconds even on a system fully stocked with software, and only 3 to 4 seconds on my clean installation. Microsoft also boasts about speed improvements in Internet Explorer 7, both in its ability to work with JScript and its reading and loading of large images. I found no proof of the former, but I can say that spending a couple of hours on sites that offered high-res images did reveal some, if not drastic, improvement in the speed of the downloading and displaying those files. Finally, all users will welcome the fact that SP1 has mostly eliminated the wait for the Password box to appear after pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete to log in.—

Next: Security

Security

As noted, improvements in security define SP1. First—and particularly important if you're a group administrator—the Group Management Policy Console (GMPC) has disappeared, and the Group Policy editor (GPEdit) focuses on local instead of global policy. The goal is to leave strategic group policy decisions in the hands of systems administrators rather than individual users. Second, with SP1 on 64-bit Vista, third-party anti-malware programs gain access to new application programming interfaces that let them directly extend the Windows kernel to provide lower-level detection of malicious code. That gives them a better chance at blocking or deleting such code.

SP1 also allows Remote Desktop files to be signed, providing increased security
across the connection established between machines using the Remote
Desktop Protocol. Larger organizations will also be happy on at least
two counts: Vista PCs on a domain will no longer have difficulty
working off-line; and SP1 adds the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol,
allowing for more secure access to VPNs.

Another enhancement affects almost exclusively those who've purchased computers
that shipped with Vista installed. BitLocker, built into the original
Vista so that you could encrypt an entire drive, originally functioned
only with the drive the OS boots from. To encrypt other drives (or
folders), you had to use Vista's Encrypting File System. With SP1, you
can use BitLocker to encrypt any drive, even USB devices, and any
partition, not just bootable volumes—an obvious improvement. But if
your motherboard doesn't already contain a TPM (Trusted Platform Module chip), you can't use BitLocker unless you're willing to do some serious system configuration.

To see whether BitLocker will work, click on the Start button and type bitlocker into the Start Search
field. On systems without a TPM, the resulting BitLocker window will
announce the fact (and not let you use the capability). Because
Bitlocker encrypts the entire boot drive, it's especially useful for
laptop users, whose computers can easily be stolen. But keep in mind
that if you forget the password, there's no way to get into your own
files.—

Next: More Vista Details

More Vista Details

A few other details round out the SP1 release. First, compatibility with existing programs is far stronger. On the first release of the OS, only about 250 programs sported the Vista compatibility logos; that number now exceeds 2,500. In addition, over 15,000 components and drivers have official compatibility. In practice, this means that installing programs and connecting new devices is likely to result in instant compatibility. Mind you, you don't actually need SP1 to get all of these, since Windows Update offers them anyway, but they're built into the standalone version of SP1.

With SP1, Vista now supports Direct3D 10.1, a worthwhile addition for hard-core gamers. The update also works with the x64 Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), allowing x64
machines to perform network boots from an EFI device; Vista originally
supported only standard BIOS boots and EFIs for IA-64 machines. In
addition, SP1 adds support for exFAT, the Extended File Allocation
Table drive partition system, which numerous Flash devices use,
although these devices cannot be used to increase system RAM through
ReadyBoost. Also with SP1, Vista now adds icons that distinguish HD-DVD (RIP) and Blu-ray drives from each other and from standard DVD drives, and improves connectivity with Windows Media Center Extenders.

And so we have a better Vista. The performance differences are solid if not spectacular, but security and compatibility improvements combine with speed upgrades to make installing SP1 a no-brainer.

teknia micro tech news | tech quest | conquer tech

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