My Digital Life

Ramblings for the week of April 28st in My Digital Life

I decided to annotate the title of this weekly post with the word "ramblings" since it more clearly describes the content I write on Monday mornings.

I received my SanDisk 8GB micro SDHC card for my Tilt from Digital Media Outlet for $56 and it includes a USB adapter. It works well with the AT&T Tilt, I just copied the content of my 2GB card to the 8GB card and was on my way...I will be using it heavily this week transferring the contents of my Sony camcorder so I can email selected content to the Kodak Gallery.

I may have found an issue with my Dell XPS 720 disk configuration which might be causing the blue screen. When I installed the RAID 1 array, I use for data, I installed the drives in two bays next to each other without looking at the controller setup. There are 2 SATA controllers in the system and my RAID configurations was using both. Theoretically it should not matter and would provide a redundancy on the controller front, but you never know how the nVidia RAID drivers are architected. I decided to try placing both disks on the same controller, the system seems more stable (it has been up for over 2 days). The jury is out and I will have to see how things go this week.

As HD content includes more and Dolby Digital audio tracks, it is becoming a real pain to switch the Directv DVR audio output between standard PCM and Dolby Digital. I believe the problem is with my older Yamaha AV reciever. It does not automatically detect and switch modes between signal types. So when we switch to a program with PCM audio and the DVR is in Dolby Digital mode, the receiver is still processing the audio as Dolby Digital (that is what output is tagged as) although the content of the stream is PCM. The audio is so low that you cannot listen to it. This off course is only a theory, however from my forum research it seems to be a fairly common issue with certain receivers. I will have to test with a newer receiver to validate. I will probably try to stick with a Yamaha receiver,  I always found them to be solid good sounding units. The local audio/video chain has a 30 day return policy so I should be in good shape, they also match the big box store pricing...

This week:

• Continue work, my review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.
• Start a review of Slingplayer Mobile for Windows Mobile.

Rethinking the Internet

With all the Web 2.0 Expo hoopla currently going on, it is clear that it is a money maker for O'Reilly , but for everyone else  I think it is all very confusing. For me Web 2.0 is just an evolution the web technology already in place, nothing that merits the new designation of Web 2.0.   As Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the web points out (source Britannica):

"Web 1.0 was all about connecting people. It was an interactive space, and I think Web 2.0 is of course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means. If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people. But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along."

I think the more important effort although not as flashy are the moves to rebuild the underpinnings of the web, the Internet. I found this interesting article in the Princeton Alumni Weekly written by Kenneth Chang, science reporter for the New York Times. He provides a great overview of the history of the Internet with some insights on mistakes that were made which allowed viruses to flourish. Larry Peterson, and Robert Kahn, the fathers of the Internet, are trying to promote a new project called Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) and get funding to build an entirely new network from the ground up. I agree with the approach, as the article points it is tough to innovate when you are tied to the current underpinnings of the Internet.

The week of April 21st in My Digital Life

Two weeks, I had issues with my iGo Juice charger not charging my AT&T Tilt and my X60. It was a bad cable between the charger and the devices. The cable is braided and looks heavy duty but probably one of the connectors went bad. I received a new one for $19.99 and everything is working fine. Along with my Lenovo charger going bad, two power supply in three weeks is very bizarre.

I use Wikipedia as a source of reference for my blog. Encyclopedia Britannica has noticed that a lot of bloggers are doing that and is offering the service free to web publishers. I heard about it from techcrunch via twitter. I signed up but have not heard back, apparently since they got the publicity they have been swamped.

My WebIS Pocket Informant 8 (review) vs Birdsoft's Xtreme Agenda (my review) comparison has been published today on pocketnow.com.

I ordered a SanDisk 8GB micro SDHC card for my Tilt from Digital Media Outlet for $56 and it includes a USB adapter. I will use it during my vacation to copy still pictures from my Sony camcorder's Memory Stick to the micro SDHC card using my Delkin USB Bridge. I will then be able upload the pictures to the Kodak Gallery using my Tilt. We will have to see how well this work since I have not yet figured out how to filter the copying.

I am still having some issues with my Dell XPS 720 blue screening and coming in and out of suspend for no apparent reason. I will have to allocate time to further research these issues and probably call tech support...

This week:

• Start my review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.

The week of April 14th in My Digital Life

Last week I had issues with my iGo Juice charger not charging my AT&T Tilt and my Lenovo X60 charger going bad. My Tilt charged fine using the HTC charger. I received a new charger for my X60 in less than 24 hours from IBM (tough to beat this level of service), then my iGo charger started not to power my X60. I think it is the output cord and I have ordered a new one, maybe that was the problem charging my Tilt although I was able to charge my iPhone and my Verizon SMT5800. It is very bizarre that I am having all these power supply problems at once. The iGo has been very dependable over the years (I think it is at least 4 years old) but it may be coming to the end of its life.

I have not used twitter very much this week other than watching the incessant although amusing rantings from scobliezer. There seems to be a class of highly read bloggers that pretend not to take themselves seriously, but their continual banter leads me to believe that they do. I am  also following WMExperts, they are trying to reach out in all sorts of ways using the latest blogosphere technologies and it very interesting to watch. But what makes twitter easy to follow is Rod Begbie Vista Gadget, without it I doubt I would be plugged in to twitter as much. On my side of twitter I have not reported much, I find I don't have the time or inclination in generating clutter and probably will just use it to report on events I attend or write random thoughts that don't merit a post.

Vista SP1 has been rock solid on my X60, however I can't say the same with the XPS 720, I have had two lockups this week with no real reasons. I did get a bluescreen dump on one event which supposedly pointed to a disk problem. I ran the disk check utility and it found no issues. I may run HDDregen to perform a surface scan just to be sure.

This week:

• Continue working on a WebIS Pocket Informant 8 (review) vs Birdsoft's Xtreme Agenda (my review) comparison.

iPhone 3G buzz mill goes into high gear

With Walt Mossberg's off handed comment (link) last week that the 3G iPhone was 60 days out; the rumor mill has gotten into high gear. Several days later Walt denied having any knowledge of any release date. As Apple's number one mainstream media pitch man, I think he has a pretty good idea when they plan on releasing it, although because of Apple's secretive culture he may not know specifics. Even with his statement, it does look like Apple is starting to clear inventory of the current iPhone models. Per macrumors.com:

"Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray has gone a little further, reporting that he’s called around to 20 Apple stores around the U.S. and found the same thing. No iPhones to be had. Additionally, lead times on delivery of iPhones from Apple.com is still 5-7 days."

Then, you have T-Mobile Germany dropping the price of the 8GB iPhone down to 99 Euros down from 399 Euros with a premium 89 Euros/month contract. This promotions ends June 30th. The subsidized pricing was thought to be a no no in Apple's contracts with carriers, apparently T-Mobile Germany's contract allows it.

And lastly, Walt Mossberg's web site allthingsdigital.com is now reporting (link) on the 3G iPhone release date rumors with some new details. It cites that the price will be identical to the current models ($399 8GB, $499 16GB) and the device is only 2.5mm thick. I find the new thickness hard to believe, since the current iPhone is 11.4mm thick, maybe this is a typo and should read .25" from a current .46". Either way slimmer is better.

I just hope it will have quad band UMTS/HSPDA to support T-Mobile's US 3G network, although I am sure AT&T has done everything it can to stop Apple from providing that flexibility...

Review of trapster.com

I have been using trapster.com on and off for over a month now. The review which was published on pocketnow.com provides an overview of the service which I describe as the social of radar detector. Read my review on pocketnow.

 

the trapster.com web site.

The week of April 7th in My Digital Life

I am writing this post as a passenger driving up I95 back to Washington after a long weekend in South Carolina. Verizon Wireless broadband network is getting better and better. There are more areas with EVDO on I95 than last time we took this trip. I did run into a problem with my AT&T Tilt, it won't charge. I am using my iGo charger and had what seems to be a similar problem with my Wing. I had to replace the battery on the Wing and initially use the HTC charger to get it going again . Hopefully this is the same issue. I have been using my iPhone extensively this weekend, I wish I had the 2.0 firmware with Exchange ActiveSync.

My Lenovo X60 with Vista SP1 has been running smoothly. This is the first time since I can remember that I have gone over a week without rebooting. I usually just close the lid on my laptop which is set to suspend. With XP SP2 I use to go a week without issue, however with Vista at about 4 to 5 days I would invariably had a problem which resolved itself after a rebo

I had a User Access Control (UAC) issue with Vista SP1 on my Dell XPS 720. It seems that SQL Server Express which I use with Microsoft Office Accounting does not work well with UAC. Before SP1 I ran with UAC turned off, but when you install SP1 it turns it back on and I had not noticed it until I ran into Office Accounting not working. There is a work around on the SQL Express MSDN blog but turning off UAC was easier. I may go back and apply the work around later since it is a good idea to have UAC turned on.

I have made some subtle changes to my blog layout. The right column now includes my twitter stream which I am trying out. The twitter concept of micro blogging seems to be catching on, Wikipedia's definition is:

Micro-blogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters  and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.

I think it is an interesting concept to report during an event, but on a daily basis I am not sure I see a lot of value yet. It would be nice if it had a way to incorporate multimedia content like pictures or audio. I am subscribing to Robert Scobble twitter stream, he is over the top (when does he relax) and sounds like he is aiming for the title described in a NY Times article yesterday: "In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop" (link).

My twitter micro-blog is http://twitter/mydigitallife. and you can follow on the right sidebar of my blog. I am leaning towards turning this feature on and off I probably won't use it on a daily basis.

The twitter Vista gadget  from Rod Begbie is very nice. Here it is undocked from the side bar. You can also see my 9+ day uptime in the sidebar.

The new beta features of TypePad in comments and archives are active on my blog. They provide next and previous markers at the bottom of the page to make navigation easier.

My review of trapster has been posted on pocketnow.com.

This week:

• Start working on a WebIS Pocket Informant 8 (review) vs Birdsoft's Xtreme Agenda (my review) comparison.

Microsoft Officially announces Windows Mobile 6.1

Yesterday Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, announced the availability of Windows Mobile 6.1 at his keynote address at CTIA Wireless 2008 (press release). That is to say to the availability to the device manufacturers and wireless carriers, not to users. He did also announce commitments by the following companies to provide upgrades to these current devices:

Wireless carriers:

• Alltel Wireless: HTC PPC6800, HTC Touch
• AT&T: Samsung BlackJack II, MOTO Q 9h global, Pantech duo, AT&T Tilt by HTC
• Sprint: A new Palm Treo and updates for the Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, MOTO Q 9c, Samsung ACE
• T-Mobile International: T-Mobile MDA Ameo 16 GB, T-Mobile MDA compact IV 

Device manufacturers:

• ASUS: New phones including the P320, ZX1, P560, M536 and updates for the P527, P750, M930
• HTC: A new Touch Dual for the U.S. and updates for the AT&T Tilt, Touch by HTC, Mogul by HTC from Sprint, TyTN II
• i-mate: 8502, 9502, 8150, 6150
• Intermec: CN3
• Motorola: MOTO Q 9c, MOTO Q 9h global, MC70, MC9000
• Pantech: Pantech duo
• Samsung: BlackJack II
• Toshiba: Portégé G810,Portégé G910

It is interesting to note that T-Mobile USA is missing from the list and that Samsung has left out the i760 and i780.

Windows Mobile 6.1 is an incremental release with the following highlights:

• Enhanced configuration wizards (ie: Bluetooth pairing tries default passcodes like 0000 and 1234 automatically)
• Zoom capability in Pocket IE with some rendering improvement, still no tab support
• Threaded SMS
• The ability to perform a multi select of messages in Pocket Outlook to make it easier to delete a group of messages
• Group policy compatibility with Exchange 2007 SP1
• Compatibility with System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (announced yesterday as well) to ease the central administration of mobile devices

I wonder if you will be able to use System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 with the iPhone....I think it is built by another group within MS.

It looks this update will be a full ROM flash, which means reinstalling all your apps, but I am not waiting for HTC or AT&T to release 6.1 for the Tilt. Dutty on xda-developers has released what he call his RTM version of 6.1 for the Kaiser/Tilt. I will try to fit it my upgrade this weekend....

 

 

The week of March 31st in My Digital Life

My Lenovo X60 with Vista SP1 has been running smoothly since I installed SP1 on Friday. I have no issues to report. I did have a strange problem crop up on my Dell XPS 720 yesterday; Excel and Word 2007 failed to load (invalid program file). I initiated the Office 2007 repair, but that failed as well and blue screened the system. The dump analysis revealed a hard drive problem. I ran a check disk (ran without finding any issues), however the Office 2007 repair still failed. I had to reinstall Office 2007 which prompted me with the fact that an uninstall did not successfully complete, however it looks like the reinstall cleaned everything up. The good thing is that all my settings were saved, especially in Outlook which I customized quite a bit. Bizarre, I may run checkdisk again today to make sure my drive is ok.

This week the CTIA 2008 conference is in Las Vegas. This is the love to hate conference. It is sponsored by all the major cellular carriers (CTIA is their lobbying organization) which try to restrict our use of advanced technology on their networks, yet it is a forum for all that advanced technology. Microsoft will supposedly announce Windows Mobile 6.1, but who knows when we will see it since the carriers control release. This is where the Apple iPhone distribution model shines, when they provide a release date, all users can expect to see it on that date (can't wait until June...). We will have to watch out for any other announcements.

I am in a beta TypePad program to help enhance blog rendering and will be making what looks to be some minor tweaks to this blog. I use advanced templates which means I have to manually insert the new functions provided by TypePad. TypePad is working on mobile device rendering which won't come a day too soon in my book.

This week:

• My trapster.com review should be published on pocketnow.com this week.
• Start working on a WebIS Pocket Informant 8 (review) vs Birdsoft's Xtreme Agenda (my review) comparison.

The week of February 11th in My Digital Life

Last week I tried blogging with Word 2007 blog option. Word is such a great WYSIWYG editor it makes writing easier, but it is just not ready for prime time blogging. The category selection works half the time, you loose your categories when you edit a post and there is no way to use a post, modify it and publish it as a new entry. There is also no trackback support. I am back to using ECTO, it is just better and I hear even much easier to use on a Mac...Some day I will have to try it.

As expected the Yahoo board has officially rejected the Microsoft bid. Microsoft's next move will be interesting, will they up the bid (Yahoo wants $40) or work to convince Yahoo's board and large shareholders to force deal through. There are also rumors that large Microsoft shareholders don't like the deal because they don't believe that Microsoft executives can manage the merger successfully. This could end up being a protracted battle, just what Google wants...

I completed a review of Birdsoft's eXtreme Agenda version 3.1 for Windows Mobile Professional (touch screen). They have had a Windows Mobile Standard version since the days of SmartPhone 2002...It should be posted on pocketnow.com sometime this week.

I am getting attached to the Verizon SMT5800, I was not sure I would like a non touch screen OS but this little phone works very well with one hand, although the lack of GPS access by applications and the weak battery life are detractions.

I am trying a new web site Trapster.com and companion Windows Mobile software. It is a Location Based System (LBS) which allows you to enter and view police traffic traps. I will be reporting back my thoughts in an article for pocketnow.com.

This week:

• I need to finish this post how I used my AT&T Tilt on my travels.
• Move video reviews of Verizon's new SMT5800 Windows Mobile 6 Standard phone on pocketnow.com.