Mac

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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Can I Find The Right Phone? Part 1

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Since October I have had a minor problem left unresolved. I have been unsuccessfully searching for a wireless phone I could use every day. I have written previously about how my Treo 680 had been causing me too many problems so I was on the outs as my day to day mobile. The issue is I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. As much as I jump from phone to phone (I do about 1 a year and maybe toy with an alternative one during that time but never switch over to it) over the years, I have been sticking to Palm based Treo’s relatively consistently. I did go from a Treo 270 on T-Mobile to a Treo 600, then to a Treo 650. From there I went to the Treo 700 on Verizon. When I left my last company I switched my number to a Treo 680 on AT&T. It has been several years using the Palm OS on Treo phones. As I have said in the past it has been a love / hate relationship.

So even though it sounds kind of silly I am stuck on what phone to use day to day. I guess it is such a big deal because I use it for allot more than making calls. In fact I use it for other stuff more than I use it as a phone. I check my mail on it. Read the news on the way to work. I keep track of my expenses on it. I use it as a calendar, and more importantly I track all the tasks I need to accomplish on it. I use it to track notes, and I take notes with it more than I use pen and paper. If I am in a meeting playing with my phone, it is because I am actually taking notes or updating tasks related to what we are talking about on it. There is tons more things I use it for, but that is enough for you to get the point. Because of all my requirements I am a bit picky.

The Palm OS on my Treo 680 did everything I needed it to. It just would freeze up for no reason I could identify (maybe due to loss of cell signal but if it was that it is a retarded problem) and would crash or reboot at least once a day. Recently I also had huge issues syncing my Treo to my Macbook. The Missing Sync is a great product, and I have used it for years but since they updated the Palm version it has been buggy. I have had to reset the data on the phone dozens of times due to corrupt data or the software simply crashing on syncing some conduits, especially my task lists. So I can have everything I want, but deal with problems all the time. It kind of feels like WIndows, but I solved that problem by getting a Mac.

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Web Hosting

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Ok, I made a mistake by canceling my web hosting account. I miss the flexibility of having a hosting account even if I don’t really need one all the time. I went back to Site5. They were good, and the only reason I canceled the account was because I didn’t want a provider at all. I am in the middle of configuring the site now.

I am trying to keep my Internet spending down this year so to offset the hosting costs for the year I am getting rid of .Mac. I don’t really use it, so I am going to let the account lapse when it is up for renewal at the end of February.

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10.5 Compatible Applications Follow Up

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When I first installed Leapord (OS 10.5) I wrote about the compatibility issues I had with some programs that I use. Well it has been almost two months and allot of those issues are resolved with one or two still lingering.

I found out that the ecto beta for 3.0 is a free upgrade for me since I owned 2.x. So far 3.0 is working fine in beta and thankfully isn’t crashing so I can write this blog entry without aggravation.

Mark/Space has published a beta of the Missing Sync for the Palm that works with 10.5. I had issues with it like I did with the original version of 6.x. It stops syncing tasks and calendar items from my Treo. Thankfully since I wrote the first post and now I have switched phones to a Symbian based Nokia E61i so I don’t need to rely on this software.

PGP Desktop may be the de facto standard in security products but it is not cheap ($70 or so for 1 year). Add the fact that they didn’t have a working product (even in beta) when 10.5 came out I began looking for other products. I have looked into Knox several times before I went with PGP Desktop, but now I took another look at the product that is basically an add on to Apple’s DMG file format. Knox gives me all the functionality I want, plus added features that a simple encrypted DMG file does not. I gave the trial a go and already bought myself a license (only $34.95 for a license not a one year subscription). I have let my PGP subscription expire and so far I am happy with my choice. Converting the encrypted stores I had took some time but I think I am finally done.

Mactheripper is a totally different story that I wont go into now. I don’t want to write that much.

Marketcircle has had several beta’s of Daylite 3.6 out. Their latest still has sync problems with Apple Sync services. They have been very responsive so I am patient for now. I can use the program but I can’t use alarms, or I can’t sync it with my phone. This is probably the most frustrating issue i have right now.

Other than that I have not had many issues with Leopard. I am not using all the new features that I thought I would, but overall it is a great OS.

10.5 Compatible Applications

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Since I was upgrading to Leapord I knew there might be issues with the new OS and applications I typically use. So when I was upgrading this week I also got a small portable hard drive that I replicated my existing Tiger install onto using Carbon Copy Cloner in case I need to use applications that don’t work with the new OS. I am glad I did that since there are several key applications that I use that don’t work just yet. So far out of everything I use the following don’t work or have trouble working with 10.5:

ecto: 2.x doesn’t work so thankfully I am writing this with a trial beta of 3.0.

Missing Sync for Palm: It doesn’t work, and Mark/Space recommends waiting until a working version comes out. They claim this will happen in the next 90 days.

PGP Destop 9.x: Pieces of it might work according to the forums I read, but it was recomended not to try to use it since it might cause issues with encrypted disks I have. A beta of the latest version that will support 10.5 is supposed to come out in November, so that means in 30 days or so.

Daylite 3.5: The awsome support guys at Marketcircle have a beta (3.6) that will work with Leapord but hasn’t publicly released it. They said if you ask nice they will give it to you. Since I was dealing with someone regarding a problem with syncing in 3.5.x I asked for and got a copy of 3.6. Unfortunately all the problems they were able to fix for me in 3.5.2 are back in 3.6 (or what appears to be the same issue). I can use the application but I can’t sync with Apple sync services. Another separate post on this is pending since using this program is changing how I am productive. The breakthrough was when they released version 3.5 with access to sync services, but as I said more on this later.

Mactheripper: I am not even sure if this application is supported anymore but I love it. Unfortunately it crashes allot now. Not sure what to do with it just yet.

12 Minutes

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In NYC yesterday it was dreary and wet. Not the nicest way to end the week. Why then did I decide to go wait on line at the Apple Store for the OS 10.5? Stupidity perhaps. The need for the latest gear, maybe. I was semi surprised to report that I ended up on a line that went halfway around the block. When 10.4 came out I had a similar experience at the SoHo store. History did repeat itself though, and even though there was a huge line and it was raining from the time I got on line to the time I walked out of the store was only 12 minutes. Now that is efficiency.

I can report that Leopard installed on my Macbook without any issues. Saying that I need to go back a week for a second. My Macbook is nearing the 1 year old mark. Typically I simply sell my Mac laptops at this point and get whatever the latest is out there. The funny thing was that what is out there new right now is only .16GHZ faster than what I currently have. Every other specification is the same on the current Macbook’s. So I instead of selling the Macbook I purchased the extended warrantee, upgraded the RAM to 3gig, and put a new 250gb hard drive in it. With a new hard drive installed I simply ran a fresh install of Leopard. So far so good.

More news in the next few days. And yes I hope to begin posting again!

VMware Fusion

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I haven’t written about it for a while, but I am still heavily relying on virtualization on my Macbook to do almost everything. There are several work programs that must run in Windows, plus Quicken for my personal stuff, etc. I am sorry to admit that I upgraded to Parallels 3.0 right before VMware announced the pricing and pre-ordering of Fusion back in June. When VMware announced pre-order of Fusion I also got that. Lets face it i haven’t settled on either product just yet.

I have been using Parallels since they announced their product, and upgraded since I couldn’t wait for the final version of Fusion. Parallels 3.0 has some nice features, like multiple snapshots (like VMware Workstation, but not Fusion), and the ability to open windows files from the Mac OS. That is the dilemma. Now that Fusion is out, I am running it. I will admit it is noticeably faster (to me) than Parallels. That and the fact that i can use all the existing VM’s i have (and i have allot) is very compelling. I just wish Fusion could do some of the things Parallels can do (multiple snapshots and launching programs from the Mac OS). If it had those two functions it would be the perfect product (for now). Even with those shortcomings, i will say that Fusion is the only virtualization software currently running on my Macbook. Parallels has a new beta out that addresses some of their performance issues and other features so i may switch back, who knows.

With all my existing VM’s, my use of VMware Workstation on windows, and ESX server at work I am firmly wanting the decision to use Fusion over Parallels to be good a no brainer! Right now that isn’t the case, but the performance difference (to me) keeps it running on my Mac.

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The Old 20″ Display

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After puttering around for a while I finally put my Apple 20″ Cinema display up on Craigslist to be sold. I have been lazy about selling it, and frankly it would have sold on ebay in no time but i didn’t want to deal with all the shipping and fees, etc. So i tried Craig’s list. I was about to give up hope, when after a few days someone replied to the posting, and the awesome flat panel now has a new home. I mean it was awesome. I just wanted even bigger, so I have my 23″.

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Now My Mac Knows its Location

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My Macbook is getting smarter every day. With the help of some nifty new free software it now knows where it is. What is even better is now I can program rules based off of where the Macbook is. It is all because i tried out MarcoPolo. I have seen other products that do similar things, but this one is just so simple and cool. Based off of what IP, IP range, USB devices, available Airport or Bluetooth networks, etc MarcoPolo decides what location you are in. Once you train it to figure that out you can tell it to do things when you switch location. I for one have my default printer switch from my work printer to my home printer. I also have different applications i almost always open when i get home and when i get to work. Now i have MarcoPolo do it. That works out well when for example i have a different Skype USB phone at home than i do at work and each one has its own application that needs to run in order for the phone to work. Now based on the location the correct device launches.

This is some really cool software that just makes my computer experience easier. Isn’t that what software is supposed to do?

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My Apple TV

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I finally got my Apple TV a few weeks ago. Since I was really sick when I got it I didn’t really get to set it up and use it until around the 26th of March. Then I just never got around to finishing this post. So now here is my brief first thoughts on the product.

So far it has meet my expectations, and I am happy with it. Even though I have read mixed reviews about it, the Apple TV fix in perfectly with my home entertainment setup. Since I use a Windows PC for a DVR, a Mac Mini was not feasible for the same TV. I KVM didn’t work so well, and the DVI to HDMI cable never got the resolution right on the Mini. All that and the fact that Front Row was very slow to respond on the Mini, the Apple TV fit perfectly. I have a new Stereo with HDMI inputs and the Apple TV plugged in and was online in 10 minutes.

It is true that the Apple TV doesn’t have HD content, but what was watching on my Mini wasn’t in HD anyway. Eventually getting HD content would be nice, but I am happy with the product as is for now!

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