It blows me away that this is already the fortieth weekly column in which I share my week with you. My home office, Mobile Tech Manor (MTM), has been a bustling place this week and I have bounced from one thing to another. I had a couple of things unrelated to tech blow me away this week and I bought a new gadget. Come on in and sit a spell and I’ll share my week with you.
Gadgetry
I didn’t have a lot of new gadgets come into MTM this week although I did buy my own Verizon MiFi 2200. It had been a long time since a little gadget that I’d evaluated impacted my work to a degree that I had to run out and buy one of my own. OK, I admit that does seem to happen far too often. I have covered the MiFi adequately here on the site so I won’t go into details, but it became my gadget of the week.
I’m using it every day since I picked it up and it is easily the best 3G device I have used to date. The MiFi will work with both Windows PCs and Macs and when you plug it in the first time to perform the device activation the computer should auto-mount the MiFi as a CD drive. It’s read-only, so both Windows and OS X should see it as a CD drive. This is important, as you must install the Verizon Access Manager program located on the MiFi to perform the activation. You also need that program in the future should you want to use the MiFi as a simple USB modem. The MiFi works so well as a Wi-Fi router that you’ll likely never need to use it plugged in again, truth be told.
I only had one issue with the evaluation unit I tried and I duplicated the issue with the one I bought. The evaluation unit would never auto-mount on the MacBook. This made it impossible to install the Access Manager program to perform the activation. I ended up plugging the MiFi into the Viliv S5 UMPC which auto-mounted fine so I activated it from that device. When I picked up the second MiFi I bought I tried the MacBook again with the same results; I had to activate it on a Windows PC, too. Verizon claims it should work fine on Macs and since having this problem I have corresponded with others who ran into the same situation. It seems the MiFi will not auto-mount on some Macs but does on others. Verizon should look into this, because if someone with a single Mac buys a MiFi and it won’t auto-mount they are dead in the water.
That was the only problem I have experienced with the MiFi and it is a joy to use. I don’t even take it out of my gear bag when I want to go online; I just reach in and tap the power button. This keeps the MiFi out of sight and not subject to theft, which is pretty cool.
Last week Apple updated OS X to version 10.5.7. I applied the update and ran into a problem — at least I think it’s due to the update. My Bluetooth Mighty Mouse now drops the connection with the MacBook at least a couple of times a day. It just stops working, even though the Mac shows it’s still connected. I have to disconnect the mouse through the Bluetooth menu and reconnect it the same way. It works fine again until the next time it drops the ball. It’s aggravating and never did that prior to the OS X update. I hope they get a fix for this soon but to tell the truth I haven’t heard of another person with this problem. That’s the only issue I have with the 10.5.7 update so I’m pretty fortunate as others have reported worse issues.
Software Experiments
I spent some time this week trying some new things as well as revisiting others I’ve done in the past. The release this week of the Moblin 2.0 beta for netbooks got me going as it looks like such a nice interface. I downloaded it with the intention of trying it out on the HP Mini 1000 I’m using but I could never get it going for some reason. I created a Live version on a USB stick and while creating it was no problem, I can’t get the HP to boot from it. The Mini 1000 will boot from a USB — that’s how I installed Windows 7 on it — but for some reason it just won’t go with the Moblin distribution. I need to troubleshoot this when I get more time as I want to try it out in the worst way. I’m eventually going to try it on the Viliv UMPC, too. That would be pretty cool.
This past week I revisited a free utility that I’ve used in the past but not for a while. I kept running into the situation when I would be working out of my office and need to access something back on the MacBook. I installed LogMeIn Free on the Viliv S5 and I have to tell you it’s pretty darn cool to access the MacBook from the handheld PC. It is something to see it running OS X in full screen on the S5, essentially turning it into a Mac Tablet. It also gives me a feel for how a touchscreen tablet from Apple would feel and let me tell you it feels pretty darn good. With LogMeIn I have a seamless way to access not only my data on the Mac but also run programs as if I was sitting in front of it. Best of all — it’s free.
I use LogMeIn on the Mini 1000 but there is one issue I run into that chaps my hide. The screen resolution of the Mini is a strange 1024×576 instead of the standard 1024×600, and when I access the Mac remotely it wants to use the standard resolution instead of the Mini’s strange one. It’s not a big deal, but it’s annoying. I understand I’ll have a problem when I get Moblin to run on the Mini for the same reason. Moblin’s fixed resolution is 1024×600, like that of most netbooks, and the bottom of the screen will get cut off 24 pixels on the Mini. Like I said — annoying — so please fix this, HP.
The two e-book reading programs I use on the iPhone both got updates that makes each of them even better. Kindle for iPhone finally got themes and eReader for iPhone now pushes books bought online down to the iPhone just like on the Kindle. Two good programs just got better and I’m happy, given how much reading I do with them.
Off the Wall Stuff
I ran across something on the web this past week that was so stupid I had to go back and make sure I understood it. It turned out I did, which made it even stupider than I thought.
“I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet…(The Internet) created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It’s as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, ‘Give it to me now,’ and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.”
This is a ridiculous statement and if some blogger had posted this they would instantly be off my reading list. No, it’s worse than that. This statement was made by Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton at a public event for communications professionals. It’s no wonder Sony posted its first loss in years, with clowns like this at the helm. So dear reader, like me you’re a thief and you are now spending time in such a bad way that nothing good can come from it.
The big final of “American Idol” was this week and yes, I am a big fan of the show and not ashamed of it. I skipped the very first season but got hooked in the second and have been hooked ever since. It’s hard to explain why I’m a fan of the show, exactly; I think it’s partly because of my music background and partly because it’s pretty cool to see a group of people whose lives get changed so profoundly before my eyes. No matter what you might think of the show or of the talent of the contestants, that transformation process is pretty heady stuff.
I usually don’t have a strong feeling about who should win each year but this year I admit I was blown away by the sheer talent of Adam Lambert. Week after week of the show this year I kept telling my wife that he is so far ahead of the others talent-wise, more than anyone has been in years past. That he lost to a nice but far less talented Kris Allen demonstrates how flawed the “Idol” public voting system can be.
This year the show instituted the judges’ veto that can be used once to bring back someone they feel should not have been voted off by the public. This was an acknowledgment that the public often votes due to popularity rather than talent. The veto they used this year was wasted on someone who didn’t hang around much longer anyway.
I think it’s time to change the way the finals are determined to prevent an outcome like we had this year. All four judges made it pretty clear that Lambert was the talent that made the whole season work this year and whether you like the judges or not they do know their stuff about the music business. I’m thinking that for the finals next year the judges should get to vote as a block for 10 percent of the total public vote. This would allow the experts to sway the finals in the event the public vote was very close. I’d be happy with that outcome because I’d hate for this year’s results to be duplicated again. If the two final contestants are close in ability then the public vote is OK, but when one contestant is not even in the same league as the other you hate to see the popular vote win. OK, I’m getting off my soap box now.
Personal Stuff
Next week I have a nuclear stress test to check out my cardiac system and a carotid ultra-scan to check for blockage in that artery. Both tests are diagnostic and dictated by my past health issues. I am scared to death about the stress test, not because of the procedure itself but more due to fear of what they might discover. I have them periodically so there’s no reason to worry, but I find that I do. Truth be told I also fear the stress test, thinking it might trigger an “incident.” It is called a stress test, after all.
The carotid ultra-scan is due to the discovery after my stroke last year that my carotid artery was 50 percent blocked. This is very common, it turns out, and something that is rarely checked until a medical condition like mine points it out. It was the likely cause of my stroke and they want to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get so blocked that intervention is necessary. I feel great so these tests are just precautionary; my checkups have all been really good. This weighs heavily on my mind, though.
E-books of the week
This week I read “The Y Factor” by Darrell Bain and Stephanie Osborn, the second in the “Cresperian” series I told you about last week. This book was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I was thrilled to hear from both Darrell and Stephanie that they are beginning work on the next book in the series so guys, please get to work, OK? It turns out that Darrell is only about 50 miles from me so maybe we can have some coffee sometime. That would be cool.
Stephanie told me about her own novel, “Burnout: the Mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281″ and I’m in the middle of it right now. It’s a good story about a shuttle landing tragedy that is not quite what it seems, and it’s a real page-turner. Stephanie is a good writer and she’s able to draw from her experience working on the shuttle program in her past life. It’s a great read and recommended. I’m always excited to discover a new author and I will be following her writing career for sure.
I’m still waiting for the final book in the Sten Series to appear on eReader. It’s been weeks since the other seven books in the series were available and I’m getting pretty irritated as I really want to finish the series. I hope they get this book released soon.
Since starting this column and sharing by favorite e-books with you I have corresponded with three of the authors of some of those books. It’s very cool to chat with those whose work I respect and enjoy so much and it’s an unexpected benefit of sharing these books with you. Maybe I should consider being a book reviewer? Stranger things have happened. Heck, there is a James Kendrick who is a movie critic for Rotten Tomatoes. :)
Wrap-up
That’s how my week went, hope you enjoyed sharing it with me. As always I really like sharing it with you and hope you get something out of each and every one of these columns. Until next week, peace.
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