Archive for the ‘COOL!’ Category

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a Bitstrips. Today I was inspired.

Me and my brother really enjoy going to breakfast every now and then. What was better – there was a restaurant that actually had Wi-Fi access. Therefore, we both would take our laptops and surf while eating.

That was two weeks ago.

Now we have smartphones that have wireless access. Of course, I have the iPhone 3GS and he has the Blackberry 8330. So why do we need the Notebooks? Heck – we can go to any place that serves breakfast because the Wi-Fi access selling point is null.

The only thing we cannot do is run any program that requires Flash. That means no Bitstripping while at breakfast with the phone. So we still need the computers and access at one point. That is, until we get netbooks with 3G access….

What a difference a day makes….

Apps

Well, not really. I am still happy with my purchase. Last night I spent some time working out some of the settings. I also have been getting apps for the phone. The Bug Spray app was not that great. Was really razzing people with the iHandgun app. Drum Kit Lite to rock out and of course Pandora for music.  Can’t forget Stitcher for downloading podcasts (BTW – PODCASTERS – you need to make sure you are on Stitcher). Oh yeah – Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

Just so you know, I haven’t paid for any apps yet. I want to get a handle on the store before I started getting the Beer app.

Batterrrrrrryyyy…..

In 6 hours, I pretty much had to put it back on the charger. I haven’t found a car charger yet – I want a retractable cord charger. I have the Griffin FM transmitter which is doubling as the charger.

I saw the “Extra battery” case at the Apple store but wasn’t too impressed. If it was Solar powered, I would have gotten it. Is the Solar powered case still around? Might have to look into it.

I ended up going to Wal-Mart and getting a lower priced case and screen protector. I saved about $15-20 in doing that. And it’s not like the case itself is cheap, just the price.

The recharge is quick, though. That helps.

Brightkite Makes More Sense

I think I used Brightkite more than I ever have. Little concerned over people knowing where I am and – more to the point – where I am not at.

Now I know why Facebook is Beating MySpace

I didn’t have any apps for my 8125 for MySpace and Facebook. So far I have uploaded a few pics and status updates right there, right now. I don’t have the MySpace App, but the Facebook app is really impressive. Add the better camera and I was uploading a few things before lunch.

Tweetdeck

That is my Twitter App. I know there are a couple others out there, but this one I have worked with before and enjoy using. Also using Twitter more.

Where’s the Phone?

I tried making a call today. Not really intuitive; I had to run up to it a couple times. Once I got up to speed, I was making calls quick and easy. Like I said – not very intuitive for someone who hasn’t used an iPhone.

iTunes Transfer

I had a lot of iTunes songs on a previous computer. I backed it up years ago – I should find it and get the songs transferred. Nonetheless I have not been able to transfer over a song that I didn’t get from the library. Once again – not obsessed with getting music over, but it should be a simple drag and drop method.

*UPDATE*I got it to work.

I See Where Flash is Needed

It’s surprising how much we rely on Flash. Now that I am part of that limitation, I am finding sites I cannot use simply because of the flash content. The biggest problem with this is weather radars. My favorite local news page looses out, too.

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Will be more playing over the Weekend. I am still impressed with this device.

As you might have heard, I made the decicion to get an iPhone. I looked over all the smartphones – especially those with windows mobile on them (I still have a spot for the good old mobile). The one phone I wanted just didn’t seem to be going in the direction of the standard Smartphone. The screen was too small and the buttons separated. Little round dots that you need a pin to use. Not what I had in mind.

Therefore, I logged on, found out the iPhone was available right now, and made an impulse buy. Well, not really an impulse buy. Yet, this was definitely out of character.

What I like about the iPhone 3GS

The biggest improvement to me was somehow, the touch sensativity was a lot better. I could actually hit the keys on the glass keyboard and get what I was typing. There are a few mistakes here and there, but when you are used to typing using another sense (that being touch), then you find you have to relearn.

- Ease of Use

I had the device configured and downloaded all the important apps: Shazam, Facebook, Tweekdeck, Wordpress, the Zippo app, handy leveler and Bug spray. I was also able to import all my contacts and dates without issue – especially since my Outlook expected a Windows Mobile phone. The iPhone pretty much took over on the sync and went from there.

- Camera

This is a good and bad point. The good is the quality of pictures in a decent lighting situation. I would guess that dark lighting won’t be the best – especially since there is no flash. But I really didn’t buy this for the camera. Oh wait – I might’ve bought this for the video…..

Sound Quality

This is the most impressive part of this phone. Being able to turn up the volume a little more and HEAR what was said. Whomever worked on that area – I give kudos to. Even though there are some that say kids turn it up too loud and experience hearing loss – I say that I am glad the kids didn’t ruin this option for me. I need more volume.

What I don’t like about the iPhone 3GS

The one thing that baffles me is how I can put my music on the system. It won’t let me drag and drop any of my songs on the list. While it’s not a big deal, it did get a little frustrating. I’ll get the hang of it eventually.

- Camera

I told you the camera was good and bad. The bad about it is simply the button. If I am taking a self video – maybe for seasmic or YouTube, I might miss the un-tactile switch. Then the beggining and end of the video is a blur while I move to turn it off.

- I miss my Indicator Light

On my HTC 8125, it blinked red when I had a missed call or text. This phone has no indication until I hit that little button with the square on it. Heck, I could have a missed call on it right now and wouldn’t even notice.

- I Want to Keep it ON

When I plug in my phones, I like to have the screen stay on for more than a minute. The HTC was setup for 10 before the screen would go to sleep. I want the iPhone to do the same. Maybe it’s just a setting I’m missing. I am new to this device.

—

What about the HTC 8125?

If you think that the HTC will be retired, then think again. I have some ideas for that phone. I just need to back up the data, in case I need to use it as a phone.  I had that phone for 4 years and it did a lot INCLUDING surfing the web. I will also miss Bubblebreaker – although there might be an iPhone App out there. Let’s hope so.

These are just first day thoughts of the phone. I may change my tune next week. Heck, I could change it tomorrow. For now, it was well worth the investment.

Oh yeah – I still need a case and a car charger for the new phone. That is the next venture.

I have been working hard in getting the new studio up and running. Today was the first day I could really test it. Therefore, with Logitech 9000 webcam in hand, I put together the first video.

I brought it upstairs and tested out the new video editing equipment. Amazingly, it really handled the bad light to make the green screen work. I can’t wait to actually put in real lighting.

At first I thought of not posting this video, but ya know…. I worked hard at this. Therefore, it went up on TVazine.

Here is the first test video down in the Cave – er I mean Studio.

Then I fixed it.

The new laptop arrived Friday afternoon. I spend Friday afternoon and evening doing basic configuration and Saturday fine-tuning it.

Read the rest of this entry »

The next few weeks are going to be do or die for the Palm Pre. With it’s release of June 6th, we will see if this new phone from Palm is going to be able to stand up to the Apple iPhone. Especially when the new 3.0 version comes out by the end of the month.

iPhone has had a very strong showing. It knocked down Motorola’s RAZR and brought the world of Smartphones to the forefront of mobile technology. You can pretty much do anything you need on the phone from take photos, to record and listen to music, check mail and even turn your life over to this amazing device. That is, if you can afford the mobile plan.

Palm has been around for over 10 years in handheld organizers. There have been some reorganizations of the company – changing to PalmOne, for example. Nonetheless, Palm has some technologies and patents they can update and re-use to model this new competitor.

Both have Application stores. Both run 3G and have GPS capabilities. Both will have a 3.0 megapixel camera, WiFi 802.11g and Bluetooth.

Palm will have the advantage for the few who like the Tactile response with a built in QWERTY keyboard. Palm will also have a standard USB port; hopefully I can hook up my standard USB car charger to. iPhone will have the memory advantage with 16 and 32GB of memory where the Pre will only have 8 (7 GB in all reality because the OS will need a part to run).

Both will be expected to have a $199 price tag – if you get a 2 year plan with it. It’s just a question of whether you want Sprint, AT&T or if you know how to unlock the phone to use on your favorite carrier.

Of course we would be remiss if we didn’t also talk about the Windows Mobile phones, the Blackberry phones and Android. However, in the last 3 years, only Blackberry has been able to really dent the iPhone market, but they skew the numbers with their 8 versions of phones.

I already hear people talking about how they are going to make the switch. The biggest complaint for the iPhone is the AT&T exclusive contract. I know that in some parts of Wisconsin, I can’t even get service from the AT&T phone. What good is a smartphone if it’s not smart enough to connect to another tower?

I am going to weigh the options in many ways. First of all, we’ll see what happens with the Pre in the first couple weeks – if there is a major problem, it will surface quickly. Second, we’ll watch the financial reports. Palm was on the verge of bankruptcy not more than 9 months ago. They have a lot riding on the Pre. If that fails, they might be up the proverbial creek.

The Palm Pre also has another battle to worry about. That is the Sprint factor. Sprint has not been doing that well itself and they are riding on this phone to make people switch. We’ve seen companies turn around before and this could tip the scales in Sprints’ favor, but you have to remember that this could also topple like a house of cards.

Next, we’ll watch the App stores. One thing that seems to be good business is having a App store with good programs in it. Apple claims they have earned 20-25 million for the Apps alone. That is a good infusion of cash to keep things going. This will be a good infusion in the Palm company.

End result – There will be a good challenge to see who can prevail. Of course I believe that both can survive. The true tests is when Android comes out with their next phone and when Windows Mobile 7 gets released.

In the meantime, enjoy this weeks’ Bitstrips. Then answer the QOTW – Will you get a iPhone or a Pre?

Shorter show because still at the old Place. I’ll tell you why – TVazine videos doing well – Weekend in Grand Rapids – Summer of Geekazine Contest going on. Win an Epson Artisan 700.

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Android II – T-Mobile announcement
Apple Sued – Actus has Electronic Tokens
Kindle buys E-INK
Google’s new Search Appliance
News from E3
-PSPgo
-Wii Pacemaker
- Everyone wants to be a Wii – Natal

JOTW – Three lead programmers of Google decide to jump ship and apply at Yahoo. They tell Yahoo they have the ability to recapture the #1 search engine spot for Yahoo. Yahoo calls one of the programmers in and after 20 minutes, he walks out of the office all distraught. The other programmer turn to him and ask “What did they say?”. The programmer turns to them and replies – “They said they already got one”.

II
Shoe Google – Google taking on e-books
Bing – Microsoft Hits a Home Run
-Why Bing will Fail – What is a Discover Engine?

CTC – Scarpar
QOTC – Do you like Bing?

III
Twitter Spam – We’ve only just begun.
Win Tickets to Playboy Mansion

Extras:
NeatDesk – Paper trail to go away?
OCZ SSD – Up to a Terrabyte in size
QWERTY Handlebar grip
Iomega E-Go – 1 gig in 15 seconds
CarGo

CES Videos – Geekazine
CMSExpo Videos – SDRNews

The Geekazine Weekly Podcast is produced every week for distrobution on Wednesdays. Feel free to contact Geekazine for more information. You can also Twitter – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed or Digg the Podcast. The Geekazine Podcast is under a Creative Commons no-deriv license

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:11 — 13.8MB)

This week I thought I would do something different for Bitstrips: A Caption Contest.

It all started when I got the weirdest text message on my phone. I searched the Acronym database for what it could mean, but was stumped. Sometimes I think people are TOO lazy.

Nonetheless it got me thinking – what would be the strangest SMSA (SMS Acronym) that you could get. Would you lol or say wtf?

Last week in this place. I ate a lot of Brats this last weekend. Goodbye to friend ‘Supergirl’. Show Prep on Google Docs. Still need an iPhone App developer.

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Hotline – 608-205-4378 – geekazine (at) gmail.com

Download the show
Subscribe: Zune – iTunes – TechPodcasts – Blubrry – Stitcher

I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Lenovo S12 on ION
Kumo or Bing – Microsoft in a transition
The 10 TB Disc – All your music and movies on a DVD
Win 7 Netbook Strategy Rethought
iPhone Painting on cover of New Yorker
Hulu LIVE – Dave Matthews Concert is the first
Aneesh Chopra CTO – Senate approves
Apple Accepts Eucalyptus – a win for an iPhone App
Followup on Craigslist Lawsuit
Google U Libraries
Diamond Encrusted Nokia
- Palm Pre – $549

JOTW – I don’t know what I’ve been told… Vista is the Army’s Gold….

II
Twitter TV? – TV in 140 characters or less.
The Vista Army – What are they thinking?

QOTC – Will you or do you have a Netbook?

III
Will Netbooks Fail? – Will we find a Happy Medium?
Circuit City Return Policy – Be ready to give up Junior.

Extras:
Red Bull Diet – Good for you?
The New Soundwave – Transformers USB 4 port hub

Steampunk PC

Bud Adjustable Workstation

YouTubin:
Dell Mini 10v on Ubuntu, Android and XP

CES Videos – Geekazine
CMSExpo Videos – SDRNews

The Geekazine Weekly Podcast is produced every week for distribution on Wednesdays. Feel free to contact Geekazine for more information. You can also Twitter – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed or Digg the Podcast. The Geekazine Podcast is under a Creative Commons no-deriv license

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:10 — 21.1MB)

This week it’s all about packing and moving. Got the living room all straightened out. The Kitchen was easy. The bathroom just needs to be cleaned. But what could be left?

OH YEAH. The computer stuff.

It becomes an interesting ritual of what I am going to keep and what is going to Goodwill. Computers themselves are not accepted there, so I have to find other means for them. Really, the best thing is to strip them and dispose of them in a proper mannor.

I thought at one time of turning motherboards into things like art and clocks, but then I realized with all the harmful chemicals on a motherboard, would that be wise? Plus I would have to take time to build clocks and I really don’t want to do that.

The most interesting thing is the cables. You know – you needed that one special cable to run the item, so you paid $50- $100 or more for it? I remember I had to buy a SCSI cable for a 4x CD-R I bought back in 1998. The cable (50 micro-pin SCSI) was expensive (Not to mention the CD-R, which was $300 at the time). Now, I am finally parting with the cable, which is in the box to Goodwill. I figured I could have needed the cable while the CD-R was replaced with an HP 9100. That was replaced with a Sony DVD -/+ RW.

I have a tote for all Geekazine products to review. I have a tote for all computer books I need. I have a tote for all my computer cables. I haven’t even packed my computers. There is a tote for computer software.

As a musician I am used to having a lot of stuff. It’s been a 50 /50 trade between music equipment and computer. In this move, the computer equipment has definitely taken over.

Therefore, I am dedicating this weeks Bitstrips to the move.

This week I take Bitstrips to a new level and give a proper send off for the game Duke Nukem. 3-D Realms closed it’s doors last week. Although I don’t think it will keep the next version of the Duke Nukem franchise down (After all, Take Two Entertainment still owns rights to it), it will definitely add to the “Wait” time of the newest version of game. We’ve been waiting since 2001.

Duke Nukem was best known for Topping Year end Vaporware lists of Duke Nukem Forever as the “Game that never was”. There was some resurgence this last year, but that all ended when 3D Realms said they will be closing the company due to the economy.

Therefore, in tribute, we give you the Duke Nukem: Bitstrips style. Better yet, here is the video on how I created the strip.