Entries Tagged 'Computers' ↓

When I power my workstation on I have come to expect a short delay as the BIOS and OS load (it is a older and underpowered system). What I can't stand is the need for Windows Update to delay the load of the login screen to complete the installation of updates.
I can understand that some updates need a re-boot to complete - when I select the 'Update and Shutdown' option, I expect that the computer should do whatever it has to to apply those updates.
When a user turns a computer on, the system should be ready.
Twice in the last two weeks I've had to boot-up my workstation to solve a problem at work, I've had to wait for updates to be applied.
My biggest fear regarding this issue is that the practice will continue in future versions of the OS, and possibly spread to older versions via service packs. As I said, the OS should do what ever it needs to once the command to update and shut down has been given.
Please post a comment if you have any idea how to change this behavior.

I haven't mentioned it here before, but shortly after the native SDK for the iPhone and iPod Touch was announced, I purchased a Touch.

Within a few days I had applied the original Jailbreak. I'm now running the latest firmware (thanks to ZiPhone).

The Touch is the best electronic device I've ever owned. I love it - the only problem I have with it is that I don't have Wi-Fi access everywhere, so a iPhone would certainly be a bonus. I'm going to wait until later this summer, expecting a hardware update by then.Now that the SDK has been released I'm thinking hard about what software I'd like to see, so I can begin building it now.

The biggest problem that I see with the SDK is that the apps will not be allowed to run in the background - that means of course that my favorite app, MobileScrobler, probably won't work.

So, maybe the Jailbreak community will still exist.

More posts when I decide what to build...

Yesterday, the day that Leopard was released for Macs, was also my white MacBook's eleven month anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to get the upgrade and a free shirt!

So on my way home I stopped by the Apple store near the house at 6:20 and found a short line stretching about 3 storefronts. The line moved fast and I had a good time talking to my neighbors about Macs and iPods.

Inside the store was packed, I saw at least a dozen black MacBooks checking out at once. I got a t-shirt and a copy of Leopard and I was back to my car 25 minutes later.

Back at home I backed up, tested the backup, rebooted, installed, waited about an hour, it rebooted, I logged in, I waited about another 10 minutes — and then, it finally booted.
I really like what I see so far. I have had the System Preferences app crash a few times, but over all I'm happy with all the changes.

I'd like to point out that Michael Tsai, creator of SpamSieve (my spam tool of choice) sent out an excellent email announcing his products compatibility with OS X and providing very simple instructions on how to re-enable the plugin after the update. Thanks, that went just as easily as described.

The surprise feature that I love the most is the updated Bluetooth File Exchange app.

I was able to browse the memory stick on my W810i and have been transferring the files (hundreds) for the last 20 40 60 minutes! In that time I've had two phone calls too. Once I get a folder that is in sync I'll automate the process and have it upload to my flicker stream too.
If you've got a Mac, get the update. If you don't have a Mac get one now — its better than ever.

these are the things that the iPhone needs before I'll buy one- offline AJAX apps- third party dashboard style apps- Stereo Bluetooth (how nice would it be to stream from all apple hardware)- full bluetooth support- video camera on front side for video chat- GPS (or availble GPS bluetooth support)- better camera (autofocus, flash, video)

I liked it.
The system worked well on Vista when outputting to my 21" TV and feed by 25 feet of composite cable (essentially the worst quality possible).

Last week there were posts on several blogs about how to enable this before NetFlix gave you the feature. When I logged in to try the trick I discovered that they had already enabled it for me.

Last night I gave it a more comprehensive test. The biggest problem with the service is the selection - but I expect that will only improve over time. I selected one of my favorite movies of all time: The City of Lost Children. The movie is originally in French, so it contained sub-titles. The text was small on my screen, but was perfectly legible. I watched briefly at full screen on my 21" CRT monitor and the picture quality was great.

My biggest concern was the CPU load because my system isn't the fastest and I wasn't sure if Vista would be an additional hinderance. While I was watching the CPU load it was hovering around 60% with no other applications running.

If you are already a subscriber, I suggest you find the instructions for enabling the service (you get an hour of streaming for every dollar you spend a month). If you are not a NetFlix subscriber and enjoy watching movies at home (or on the go from a laptop) I suggest you subscribe today.

A few words about my current set up at home.
I've got a computer with a 2.4Ghz AMD processor and tons of disk installed. I think the current total is about 750GB. I've got a supper sweet ViewSonic 21 inch CRT that I borrowed from work, and a ton of other peripherals too. The most important addition is the TV Tunner (Haugepauge TV-250, fyi).
Late last year I picked up a white MacBook, with a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo and a DVD burner. I have since upgraded the internal hard drive to a 160GB drive and last week I upped the memory in it to 2GB.
The MacBook has the latest build of Parallels Desktop with a copy of Windows XP to make sure that I can get work done.
The computer has my own copy of XP installed, as well as MSDN 'evaluation' copies of Windows Media Center and Vista Ultimate.
In the future I'll detail how I've managed to connect everything, and of course I'll keep you posed on my views of Vista.