Technology

Skype With My Parents

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I got my dad a new computer back in January. When I did I also bought a web cam. The idea was to set him up with Skype so he can talk to me and my sister with the video chat. I thought it would be fun to have especially since Carrie and the kids (and Michael of course) are almost two hours away now. Well I tested the setup by myself when I had the computer at my place when setting it up, but never had my dad try it. I setup skype to auto start and configured everything so all he really needed to do was hit accept when an incoming call came from someone on his buddy list.

Last weekend I finally got around to giving him a test call. It worked almost flawlessly. He didn’t have the speakers setup right so audio was messed up in the beginning but then it worked for a little while. I then started hearing some nasty white noise, but the video was fine. I think the issue is on my end, but I need to test a connection out with my Macbook & iMac to be sure.

It was fun to do. I hope to actually use the setup. I wish more people I know actually have skype so I could utilize it more. Unfortunately I have lame friends who only primarily use AIM:(

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XP SP-3

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I am installing Windows XP SP-3 for the first time tonight. I am putting it on a Virtual Machine running on Fusion on my new iMac. Up until now I haven’t had the chance to give SP-3 a try, and since I have some free time on my hands I am going to tinker. Hopefully it wont blow anything up, but if it does who cares! It is a VM after all. If it does work, I should update the Sysprep image I have of a clean install of XP. You never know when you might need it.

The Harmony

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I am like most people (or at least people that I know). I have allot of remote controls needed to watch TV. At last count I had 6. I have wanted a universal remote for years, but for almost as long as I can remember there have been universal remotes that just haven’t done what they were supposed to do. I remember my teenage years at home and my dad had at least 3 “universal” remotes sitting along with the remotes for the TV, VCR, & Cable. None of them did everything they were supposed to. I have also had the same problem, so for years I gave up.

I had almost lost hope in technology solving this problem that it had created, until I read the reviews of the Harmony 1. I had read and heard great things about the Harmony remotes, but they were expensive and seemed difficult to teach the remote how to do stuff. Because of that I avoided them. Then I read about the Harmony 1, and I was impressed. Now granted it did seem that other of the more recent Harmony remotes by Logitech did the same thing, but 1 was the latest model that was in my price range. After reading CNET’s review and talking to a friend or two I went and shelled out the $250 for the remote. Yes you heard me right, it was $250 plus tax for a remote control. Let me tell you it is worth every penny!

I have what you would call a slightly more complicated entertainment system setup than most. I was skeptical that it could be programed easily enough for all the stuff I have. I can safely say now more than a week later that this remote works as advertised. It took me about 30-45 minutes to program in all my devices, and activities but after that it worked on the very first attempt to use my setup. My entertainment setup is complicated because I have a TV, Tivo HD, stereo receiver, DVD player, Apple TV, Xbox 360, and a HDMI switcher (KVM) to cycle between everything. That means the Harmony needs to know to switch the KVM to one channel, the receiver to another channel, use the receiver to change volume, use the Tivo to change channels and know all the special Tivo buttons just for me to watch some TV. It also needs to know what to do when i want to switch to the Apple TV to watch TV and listen to music, but like i said on the very first attempt the remote knew what to do. I was amazed. The only remote the Harmony needed a little extra assistance understanding was my Tivo remote. Everything else it knew how it functioned right away. The online database of devices was very thorough. It even knew my HDMI switcher model. I was impressed and still am. I am waiting for the day I come home from work and the Harmony just gives me a run down of what I missed on the TV that day!

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Personal Wiki

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Years ago Gus showed me a personal wiki software package. I think it was active words. I am not even sure if you would call that a wiki, but it was a personal organization program. At the time I wasn’t interested. Recently however I have wanted to have a place where I can put important or repetitive personal information in. I had been keeping notepad items on my smart phone for years, but when I last looked I had like 50+ notes. It was too much to manage in that system. After some searching my favorite productivity sites (Lifehacker, 43 Folders, etc.) I stumbled across VoodooPad for the Mac. I actually remember reading about it a while back but never used it. This week however I downloaded the free version and I already moved all my notepad items into it. I am about ready to buy the paid version to get the extra features. I like its functionality, and also the ability to export everything to XML, TXT, or HTML. With that option if I ever feel like leaving the program I am not locked into some proprietary format. I like that.

More opinions as I use the software.

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I Want A Time Machine

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Since I cannot afford a Tardis, I am settling for the Apple version of a Time Machine. After much delay (October) I finally am setting up Time Machine. The delay was not really my fault. I didn’t want to use Time Machine on a local disk attached to my Macbook, but Apple hadn’t released the software to allow you to backup to a remote share. Yesterday they finally updated the software on the Airport Extreme base station to allow this neat function. Firmware 7.3.1 now lets me use Time Machine to a 250gb drive plugged into my base station. I had to plug my printer directly into my Macbook to free up the USB port but it should be worth it.

I am currently running my first backup now. Lets see if this touted feature is really worth it. Time Machine wont fully replace Synk just yet. I will need Synk to continue to backup data I have on an external drive.

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The Drobo

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My friend John told me about this neat external drive unit a few months ago called the Drobo. I took a look at the web page and was instantly curious. My only issues were the price and how they actually got RAID like data protection. After some reading I was comfortable with the units functionality but the cost was still a factor. The dam thing is $499 for just an empty chassis. My problem is the Drobo could solve many of my storage issues. I currently have no less than 8 external drives in my home computer setup. This doesn’t count my portable drive I have VM’s on that i shuttle back and forth to work, and the external units (that are mine) at work. Most of them are 250 gig drives. I have slowly been consolidating when I buy newer bigger drives. The problem is I am getting more and more drive space but I have no good backup for all this data. The really important stuff is replicated to a backup drive, but the stuff that would be a pain in the ass to replace but too costly to replicate is still a problem.

That was until Tuesday. I finally broke down and spent some of my tax return money and got a Drobo and some drives. Even with its cost, the benefit of having some true disaster recovery ability at home was too much to pass up. So far I am very happy with the unit. I will slowly add 2 additional 1TB drives over the next few months. I started out with 2 1TB drives in the unit. That gives me 1TB of usable space. What is good about the Drobo is that it gives you RAID1 or 5 like protection but allows you more flexibility when upgrading drives.

The Drobo

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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 4, The Palm Treo 750

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The latest device I am trying is the Treo 750. Well technically the Centro was the last phone that I bought, since I had the 750 before the Centro, but I still have the 750 where the Centro is returned already. I haven’t tried a Windows Mobile phone since I tried the HP iPaq 6515 back in 2006. I was hesitant to try the Windows Mobile Treo since I had such a bad experience with the iPaq, but I heard decent things about the Windows Mobile 6 OS, I liked the form factor of the Treo 750, and frankly I was running out of alternatives.

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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 3, The Palm Centro

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Due to the Nokia E61i’s poor performance with its core organizer functions I recently began to look at alternatives. I sold my Nokia 6120 Classic and N810 Tablet since I found I didn’t use them that much. With that money I bought a Palm Centro from AT&T. I was hoping that the newer Centro would not have the same bugs as the older Treo 680. It was still buggy when I installed the software I typically use. The screen and keyboard on the Centro were too small for me. A screen smaller than a 680 is just not usable for me. I also got spoiled with the nice large screen of the E61i. I wasn’t even a fan of the plastic white case of the Centro, so I returned it yesterday after work. It was worth a try, but the Centro experience didn’t get me anywhere.

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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 2, The Nokia E61i

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I have been using the Nokia E61i for a few months now and I like allot of features of the phone, but its shortcomings are starting to bother me allot. Where the Treo 680 would freeze for a few seconds every once in a while, the E61i’s biggest problem is just slow all the time. Launching applications or moving through screens is noticeably slower than on the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, or Blackberry. The E61i is very stable. I almost never have to restart the phone. In fact it was almost 2 months after I got it when the phone froze on me. I think the problem was related to something I installed that was a Beta. I removed it and have been fine since then. The other issues I have with the E61i is it’s PIM functionality. More specifically its tasks program is horrible. The phone doesn’t support categories, the search functions are all but useless, and it takes me around 5 times longer to enter a task on the E61i than it did on my Treo 680. Because there is no category support for the PIM (Personal Information Manager) Software, I cannot easily filter calls with calling groups out of the Address Book. I also have to edit every single calendar entry I make on the phone to put it in the correct calendar on my computer. The lack of a touch screen bothers me, but is a minor issue compared with all my other issues. I haven’t found a good email program, but I limp by with what comes pre-installed. What is good about the E61i is it has no issues syncing with my Mac, especially over bluetooth. It works flawlessly with Bluephone Elite, the phone control software I use on my Mac. It also has great internet functionality especially since it has built in Wifi. Bluetooth also works flawlessly. I paired my Motorola Bluetooth Headset to the phone with no problems. I am able to turn on the headset and it always finds the phone and works. I stopped using Bluetooth headsets on my Treo because it wouldn’t work all the time and I would lose calls because I tried picking them up with the headset.

To sum it up the E61i is a nice reliable phone with a decent selection of software, but its basic functionality is lacking and the phone is just slow. If I could fix most of my issues with the tasks program I might be able to overlook the other issues I have with the Nokia’s Symbian S60 software.

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