mip's scan

mip's mid-week update - june 28

Hello dear readers/listeners.  It is indeed Wednesday and you know what that means.  Time for the mid-week update!  Welcome to any new listeners.  I had the pleasure of having someone who just started listening to the show tell me yesterday they were getting a kick-out of listening to the podcasts.....so...without further delay....today's show covers off things like:

• other good online alternatives for office-like suite of applications like ZOHO, Microsoft's Office 2007 Test Drive
• little plug of OpenOffice
• my thoughts on the new digg
• Google Desktop 4 - Out of Beta and finally released
• Adobe Flex - The Product
• Adobe Flex - the Developers Resource Site www.flex.org
• the importance of both business drivers/expectations/needs and the technology that supports them (a link to a comment I posted over on Coffee Conversations)

To download today's show just click on the link Download midweek_update_june28.mp3 or of course you can find me in iTunes and subscribe to this show.

Online Web Office Applications

Everyone was excited when Google launched their spreadsheet application.  But Google is not the only player in town.  What really excites me is not so much what Google has done (alhtough I do love their services) but really, where things are going.  I did a show today over at Podcaster News about  a similar suite of online office-like tools called ZOHO.  Very nice suite of applications.  Listen to the show to get my take on it.

Now I see that Microsoft has made their Office 2007 online beta available.  Awesome, awesome, awesome!  This is what I like - innovation and choice for the end consumer/user.  Go give it a try.  It'll blow you away at what they are doing.  It isn't implemented the same way as Google or Zoho as it seems to leverage a Citrix ActiveX control but that does allow them to deliver even more end-user functionality over the web it would seem.  What is equally nice is that this online set of tools leverages the new user interface found in the fat-client version of Office 2007 that I have been testing.   Once you've given these tools a spin, come back here and let me know what you think about how this space is starting to shape up.

GUBA - Online Movies Arriving....Kind Of....

I really thought that Apple would have been the first serious mover on getting videos/films available but it looks like GUBA.com has done it in partnership with Warner Bros.  All kinds of good television content and movies and an interesting pricing model.  You can use a video-on-demand type service that ranges in price from $1.79 to $2.99.  This is like a rental.  You watch it once and then you're done, a day later you don't have the content for viewing.  Given the price I think this is competitive and has potential.  Then there is the download-to-own which ranges from $9.99 to $19.99 and again, I think it is competitively priced, just as long as they aren't all at the $19.99 end of the spectrum. 

Here's the rub though, and damn, I get just ticked off when I see this!  I figured I'd try this out, given a little spin and see what the quality of the video is like.  So I choose Syriana since I wanted to see this anyway.  It is $19.99, I can download it and view it on 2 computers and 1 portable device as well as burn a backup DVD.  Sounds fair to me. I like the flexibility that has been given to me while at the same time ensuring that content is protected.  I can deal with that.  So I put the movie in my cart, sign-up for the service and get the lovely message below.

With our sincerest apologies to non-United States, non-Windows and non-Internet Explorer users, in order to enjoy the GUBA Premium service, you must be located in the United States, and use Windows 2000 or XP with Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher, which support the Windows Media Digital Rights Management System as required by our premium content providers.

I just had to shake my head.  Talk about totally limiting me.  It's like "Sorry, you're one of those crazy Mac-loving, Firefox-using, Quicktime-playing, 'eh-saying' Canadians.....NO MOVIE FOR YOU."

I know, I know...I'm venting.  I know that Apple is doing the same thing when it comes to geography.  When oh when will we be able to buy video content online in Canada, eh?  I mean seriously.  How long do we have to wait? 

Opera on The Nintendo DS - Review

I'm really looking forward to the day this becomes available here in North America.  Orgs Tech Times has gotten their hands on the Opera web browser cartridge that has been slated for release in Japan on July 24th.  Read his review, it is excellent.  It sounds like Opera has created a hit for the already hugely popular Nintendo DS.

To me, what is interesting, is that Opera has grasped an important fundamental truth about the future of the web.  It'll be accessed through many devices.  I would bet that most devices that access the web 5 years from now won't be a PC. They'll be devices like the Nintendo DS, smartphones / cellphones, automobiles, video game consoles and other places that embedded versions of a browser will bring niche content (i.e., a browser built into a kitchen appliance delivering info regarding food, a DVD player with an embedded browser that brings up movie information). 

I've been using Opera Mini on my Blackberry 8700 and it is excellent.  It is surprising to me that Firefox has not created a "mini" version of their browser.  I think it is a missed opportunity for them and the other browser creators like Microsoft and Apple.  With wireless internet access becoming more and more pervasive, it'll be no surprise to see the Internet move from your PC to some other mobile device.  Opera is well positioned to be there with you.

A Cellphone Ring That Adults Can't Hear

In yesterday's podcast I spoke about a story where kids have been using a cell phone ring tone that is at a frequency that they can hear and many adults cannot hear.  I've gotten a dozen emails and a comment asking for the ring tone. 

Here is a link to the story.
And below is a link to the ring tone. 

Download 20060610_RINGTONE.mp3

Let me know if you could hear it or not.

Next Generation Operating System User Interface

I love to see examples where the traditional user interface (UI) for computer operating systems is pushed beyond what we've come to expect.  Companies like Apple have created new value in terms of the user experience because of the excellent UI they have created in OSX.

That is why this latest example of UI design in some research I was looking at really got me excited.  When I saw BumpTop in this video all I could say was WOW!   The use of 3D space hasn't really been done all that well, yet.  Microsoft has begun to build some of that into Vista but it isn't to the point where it really gives you a quantum leap in terms of using your computer.   Many other companies are experimenting with the use of 3D space such as Sun with their Project Looking Glass which I think holds real promise in terms of getting value out of a 3D metaphor for the desktop (you can find a good video of Looking Glass here). 

BumpTop in my opinion takes this to a whole new level.  If you check out this screen capture you can immediately see how the use of 3D space has been done effectively because it mimics a true desktop where you can lay things atop each other.  I love how they've got the content visible in the items they've laid around.  Astounding.  This is all research at this point but in my mind, a company like Apple should purchase this and hire these people and use this as a basis for what the OS on a Tablet Mac would look like. 

mip's mid-week update

Hello everyone!
Thanks for joining me for another mid-week update!  First day of summer is today and why not kick it off with a dose of technology thoughts!  In today's show you'll hear about:

• how Apple products always make a great first impression
• more thoughts of the Blackberry 8700 now that I've been using it for a while longer
• the Opera Mini Browser for Cellphones
• Opera 9
• thoughts on the Opera Mini browser that is coming out for the Nintendo DS
• a ringtone that young people can hear and old folks slightly older people like me can't
• what movies in iTunes may end up costing

As well as great tech content, you'll be treated to one of my favourite tunes from friend and co-worker Steve Raiken.  This is a tech podcast and so it's fitting to play Steve's Digital Wonderboy in today's show!

To download today's show, just click on the link below or subscribe to it in iTunes!

Download june21midweek_update.mp3

 

Protect Yourself While Connected to the Internet

I've had 2 people get hit with virus and/or spyware problems over the past week.  One of them while at home, the other while traveling & being connected to the internet via a hotel's broadband connection. 

It is important to realize that while you are connected in your place of work you are safe behind the corporate firewall (at least I hope you are!).  But outside of the office you are exposed.  Running virus protection and anti-spyware software is a great safeguard against nasty malware but it isn't enough.  You should be using a personal firewall for when you are outside of the protection afforded you by a real firewall. 

I've used a number of these in the past but thought I'd post about one I find very robust, very reliable and at $0.00, very affordable.  I'm talking about the Comodo Personal Firewall 2.0.  This personal firewall is a must have piece of software for you folks in need of protection while outside your office setting.  It does a great job blocking attacks coming at you from the Internet and allows you to control which programs on your computer should and shouldn't have access to the Internet.  I also was impressed at how well the software resisted being terminated or forced to crash.  Many malware applications will try a number of ways to get your firewall to stop working but in several tests that I put Comodo through it wouldn't budge and kept on running.

The one thing that is a bit of a drag when installing this software (like the many others that are out there as well) is the learning period.  You see, once you've put Comodo onto your computer it will have to "learn" what is acceptable and not acceptable Internet behaviour for you.  So you may run a program, for example, like Skype, and Comodo will pop up a warning that says something like "The program Skype is trying to access the Internet..."  and you'll have to give it the aok.  This can be annoying in the beginning but trust me - it is worth it.  Far better to have to grant persmission to Comodo for the short term than to have some malware infect your computer and having to try and rid yourself of it later.  The upside of this is that I found Comodo already had a good "safe list" of programs it knew should be allowed.  This is typically something you find in the "paid for" versions of personal firewalls, but with Comodo Persoanl Firewall 2.0, it is included.

So if you are looking to protect yourself while you are connected to the Internet, you owe it to yourself (and your computer) to check out Comodo Personal Firewall.  For more info and the download, just click here.

An Extension for your Extensions?

You know me - I love Firefox and it's many many extensions.  There are so many extensions that once in place you can't live without them.  So what happens when you get a new PC or an additional PC?  The first thing I always do is download Firefox and then go get all my extensions.  It's a pain in the ass browser but it has to be done.  Nothing is more frustrating than lacking functionality from browser to browser.

Well a new extension will now make setting up a new instance of Firefox a snap.  Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE) and Compact Library Extension Organizer (CLEO) allows you to backup & create a single .xpi file that contains all your extensions, bookmarks, preferences and bookmarks.  Once you create this .xpi you can copy that to your new machine where you've downloaded and installed Firefox and easily apply your extensions, preferences and bookmarks.

For more info and downloads you can check them out here for FEBE and here for CLEO.

An extension for your extensions.
I love it.

Another Video Converter for Your iPod

It's been a while since I posted anything about my video iPod.  Like me, if you are an owner of a video iPod you probably already have tried, trusted and true software you use for converting videos into the appropriate format.  I had the pleasure of finding a new tool yesterday and giving it a whirl last night.  It's called iSquint and it worked very well.  From their website:

Features:
- Fast MPEG-4 and H.264 conversion from almost every popular video format, from 3GP to XviD.
- QuickTime Pro and DivX codec not required.
- DivX/XviD AVIs, all forms of MPEG video, and many other formats QuickTime chokes on are supported.
- Batch Processing of multiple files. Save in-place, or to a different folder.
- Automatic aspect ratio detection. Anamorphic MPEG-2 and HDV detected too.
- Quality slider. Leave it as is to trust me, mess with it if you know better, or completely ignore it and play with the...
- Advanced settings drawer. Change every aspect of the conversion process.
- Just a few of the supported formats: .mov .mp4 .avi .dv .mpg .vob .3gp .asf .wmv .flv .m4v

So if you haven't gotten software to create iPod ready video this might be just the one for you.  The price is right for it: free.  You gotta love that.  It works with a lot of formats and the video it created for my iPod was good quality. 

For info and download, check it out here.