The Jenk Says

xbox is king

2006-10-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Interesting channel check about xbox as king of the console market. We'll see how it all shakes out once the PS3 is out. I noticed that there are already people waiting to buy anyting until that comes out.

What is interesting is the games, clearly EA has the sports market wrapped up and Halo rules the roost for FPS.

My buddy running this site thinks the info is very cool. It's is a nice data point going into Christmas and one to keep track of.

Interesting Stuff over at The Channel Checkers

2006-09-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

A good friend has a cool idea for doing "channel checks" into different verticals, giving insight into trends before public companies disclose. As you can imagine if the model and technology work it could be very interesting. It's very early in the process, however he's posted some channel checks over at The Channel Checkers.
Channel Checks are nothing new and there are a bunch of companies doing it, however he's got a novel approach and new way to get information in a way that is more efficient than the traditional.

We'll see what happens, but at least the posts are interesting to read.

Does Yahoo's crawl do a better job on a Google property?

2006-06-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

My co-worker, dspain ,just added me to the Ehlist -" The Eh List collects statistics about your blog from all around the blogosphere". I found it to be very interesting.....

I'm using blogger, a Google property, and it looks as if Yahoo has better info about my blog. On the surface it seems like Yahoo has a deeper crawl and better stats because of this. I would assume that, because blogger is a Google property, Google would know more about my posts. What does this mean for my Adwords? Not that it's a big deal I don't really care, but it poses a bigger question.

If Google doesn't know about 34 of my posts, how am I getting the most relevant ads and what does that mean for my click through. Simply because I used to work at Alexa, I know that the depth of the Google crawl has always been suspect, but this is very interesting. I know that the blogosphere has led to an exponential growth of web pages to keep up with, but you would think that Google would at least have a good inventory of it's own properties.

ehlist pic

technorati tags:crawl, google, yahoo, alexa, blogger

Cool way to Visualize info

2006-06-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

When thinking about how to display way too much info, we all have this problem, I ran across this little gem. A visual exploration on mapping complex networks

also check out my delicious map

technorati tags:visual, data, mindmap

del.icio.us having search issues

2006-06-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

not sure if they're having a problem or what, but I can't find anything right now on delicious.

deliciousproblem

technorati tags:delicious, issue, search

Not to bad

2006-06-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

We've worked real hard for a long time, hopefully this will help with our growth:

Discovery Mining Closes $3.2 Million E-Discovery Strategic Partnership

I'm pretty proud of our company, making something with just good old fashioned hard work.

technorati tags:discovery, mining, funding, investment

I'm on the bandwagon

2006-06-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a Powerbook and am now fully on the Mac Bandwagon. In no time I had everything sync'd from the iMac and was blazing away. I decided to get a refurbished Powerbook over the MacBook Pro because of the overheating thing. I've got a few friends who say that they get so hot they can't sit them on their laps. I'm waiting for them to work out the kinks then maybe I'll upgrade, however I'm pretty happy with the Powerbook.

One other thing that wasn't apparent when I was trying out ruby on rails, Textmate is a great text editor and is a must have for anyone tinkering around.

technorati tags:mac, powerbook, textmate

New Look

2006-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've updated my appearance for the new year. Since my last attempt was just to see what kind of click through rate I could get with adwords. My theme was cluttered and not as clean as I normally like things to look.

Here's to new beginnings.

technorati tags:startover, new, look

It's been a while

2006-06-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while. I was just poking around in my bookmarks and ran across my blog. Well I think that it's about time to start again. Alot has happened and I'm excited to get back into the swing of things.

6 months is a long time to try and catch up on.

technorati tags:general

Domains Live from Microsoft

2005-11-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

While doing some reading over at TechCrunch I was reading about the new Domains Live service from Microsoft. I agree with Michael at TechCrunch about the implications to the domain registrars that typically charge for this service. When Bill & CO go after something one thing is for sure money typically isn't an issue. The fact that small companies can do things for free that used to cost dollars in the past is going to hurt the GoDaddy's of the world.

I have a few domains that I own and have just signed up and tested this new service out. Each user has to sign in through Hotmail, which makes you go through the registration process, but this is only for web access. I'm going to try and set up my Thunderbird so all my new addresses get collected there. Other than needing to go though the hotmail junk I do like the web interface. As I keep trying out these services I'll post updates.

Tags: Microsoft Domains Live email

Nada Chair, Really?

2005-11-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

Well this is interesting, the site has cheesy pics but if this can relieve my back pain on cross country flights it may be worth it.
Tags: nadachair

Rocket Man

2005-11-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

I can hear Elton John now about this rocket man. Poke around the site and watch the video it's crazy and they sell these things.

Tags: Birdman Rocket Flying Man

Cool idea for art?

2005-11-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

Taking some time off lately due to work and general busy life, but here's something I came across that seems cool.

Information Overload

2005-11-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

I have now reached where some have gone before, too many feeds. I want to keep adding feeds when I come across a new site however it's just not possible to get through all of it. I'm sure that there are ways, but my rojo account has thousands of posts and news that I'll never get to. Some may say just keep the ones you read all the time, but what about that little tidbit that could get away.

There has to be a better way.

Tags: information overload

Web 2.0 Backlash

2005-11-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

So I've been catching up on all reading that I should have and have seen more and more negative posts about the "web 2.0". Many different people are asking where is the business and what is the strategy. I have to agree, being able to build a new feature and call it a company is very bubble like. I'm sure that the next Google or Yahoo! is out there just waiting and hiring the engineers that are thrown off from all these companies getting acquired (most will go away, but hey I'm a positive person).

As I see it, if the Venture Community wants to invest in companies that should not be raising money that's ok. If there are people who think that's a bad thing, here's the logic on why it should be a good thing.

1)New technology comes along and starts disrupting old technology;
2)New technology gets $$ to start hiring and building business;
3)new business either goes out of business or gets acquired;
4)more people have knowledge and real world experience to build on top of new technology;
5)new Google or Yahoo! emerges.

Isn't that kinda where we are now? The last bubble created so many out of work engineers and smart people who have been burned that the new companies will be better for it. Also it made all the geeky stuff that we were using in our respecitive Comp. Sci programs mainstream. You know it's scary when my grandmother has used phrases like "I'll just Google your company".

Tags: web 2.0 bubble disruptive technology

Cool energy source

2005-11-05T22:31:00.000-08:00

A scientist at Harvard says that he has a way to strip an electron from a hydrogen atom and has called it a hydrino. This is crazy because he also claims that it can produce up to 1000 times more energy than current sources. Not only is this energy more efficient, but it can produce power at 1.2 cents per kilowatt hour. As a reference nuclear power is about 6 cents per kilowatt hour and coal is 5 cents.

Here's the only catch, it defies all theories of quantum mechanics. Randell Mills claims support from 60 independent scientists that can confirm what he's claiming, but like everything there's another side to this story. Recently there have been papers that dispute this fact based on some flawed math.

One thing is for sure, we need more people and more ideas on sustainable energy. I hope he's onto something, but if what they say about his quantum mechanics is true it could be back to the drawing board.

Story is in the Guardian HERE

Tags: sustainable energy hydrogen physics

Hack nets $7.8 Million

2005-11-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

So some hackers have pulled press releases before they were released to the public. According to the SEC two guys hacked Business Wire and grabbed 360 press releases before they were officially released to the public. What's interesting is that they crawled the site after legally gaining access to Business Wire. Basically they figured out the URL structure for press releases and made guesses. Not sure if this is their problem or Business Wire's, but for sure the SEC doesn't like it.

Kinda like one of my favorite stories about the time traveler

Tags: hackers scam Estonia

So this is Proper Football

2005-11-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

So this is what the rest of the world calls football. I have to say that growing up playing soccer and not having a professional league didn't give me or most of my friends much motivation for anything after college. Now that I have experienced an English Football match I wish I had seen this when I was young and impressionable. This is the read deal and I got to see Chelsea, the best club team in the world, along with 45,000 fans on a Wednesday night in south London.
What really gripped me, this was a week night with a 7:45pm start but sure didn't feel that way. The atmosphere was more than you can imagine. I've been to a NBA finals, World Series, and countless Eagles games, this was something else. The crowd never stopped singing/chanting and the entire stadium was all on the same page. It just grips you and sends chills up your spine. AMAZING, I recommend anyone going to London to catch a match. Even if you hate soccer or think you know nothing about it, this is something you have to check out.

Tags: Soccer Proper Football Chelsea

Can you do this?

2005-11-03T17:42:00.000-08:00

yoyochamp,
originally uploaded by ajenks.

The video takes some time to load, but it is well worth it. I think some of these moves may be used while knitting a scarf.

Crazy and cool at the same time

Just back

2005-10-31T14:45:00.000-08:00

greek story,
originally uploaded by ajenks.

So I've been away for the last week, hence the reason there have been no posts. Trying to catch up on all that I missed, including sleep.

I was on holiday in London and will be putting up the pics on flickr. For anyone who hasn't been, the British Museum is amazing. Also if you’ve never been, the Football matches are awesome. I’ve been to a World Series, NBA Finals, and many NFL games; nothing compares to the atmosphere at a Football match. We got to see Chelsea, probably the best club team in the world at the moment.

Blogging with Flock?

2005-10-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

flock_sshot,
originally uploaded by ajenks.

Here I sit just as caught up as everyone on this whole flock thing. I was able to get a chance to download the developer beta and have tried my first post with the built-in blog tool. So far so good for browsing, I'm taking it slow. I decided that I have seen enough screen shots and read enough reviews, it was time for me to take a look myself. I don't want to jump to any conclusions so I'll post after I feel I've given it a nice test drive.

Another thing, Tech Crunch says Flock is launching today.

Tags: Flock, review

Don't piss off Mark Cuban

2005-10-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

As a user of Blogger, now Google, I have to say that Mark Cuban's post has made me wonder if Blogger is still the tool for me. Normally I'm not one to take the rants and shameless promotion of his latest investment to serious, however he makes a good point. Part of the reason that things like Technorati, del.icio.us, Flickr, and even Cuban's IceRocket work is because of the community contributing to these services.

Using Blogger has made me wonder if it is just some "cool acquisition" and now left on it's own to flounder. Bought when money was cheap and blogging was all the rage, what has Google done to make the service better or different? Since they are trying to be everything to everyone it's no surprise that the service is not as good as typepad or other hosted blog solutions. I still think that growth and acquisition take time to reach full stride, but it's been a while Google.

I think that it's good to point out some basic ways to make your service not susceptible to easy spoofs, but some responsibility is also on the search engines. Spammers will always be out there and it's up to the people who build great services to be one step ahead. (My spam filter on Thunderbird does a pretty good job)

So it's up to the people who facilitate all the fun technology to employ basic things to help, but also up to the people who rely on this "free" information to stay on their toes.

Tags: Blogger, Mark Cuban, spam, Google

Deadly Combo

2005-10-16T22:37:00.000-07:00

deadly combo,
originally uploaded by ajenks.

I had such good intentions today, but alas it was the sake bombs that got me. Instead of being productive I had the pleasure of laying around recovering from a great night of sushi with everyone. Check out the photostream on Flickr and if you're in San Francisco check out Atami Sushi.

Tags: Sushi, sake

The New Web Economy

2005-10-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

What is the new web economy? Is it the semantic web? Is it AJAX? Is it Web 2.0 or Ruby on Rails? Could it be something else? There are many things that the new web economy could be, but putting a business model behind a technology is a good start. With the last tech bubble and the pundits claiming that eyeballs mattered most, this new excitement is starting to move along the lines of a mini bubble.

The next question is why do I care? That's a good one, why should anyone care? The main reason is that I've seen where these new technologies can go and the way they can change the way we do things. This is a good thing. The other reason is that, technology is a good thing and with the last bubble for so long it was seen as some type of cancer. I'm a big fan of all the technologies above, but without a business plan and model the only thing they have is the ,"wow" factor. Sometimes that's what it takes, a few people with a wow technology and the world can change. Just look what happened when the browser was accepted by everyone, that's one great side effect from the last bubble.

In my continuing education in all things technology I've stumbled across many different things that have sent my mind spinning, but all the hype and money going to some of these new companies it makes me a bit nervous. I still believe that there are great companies that are out there ready to unleash the next good thing. It just makes me wonder when you hear of the guys with the cash almost forcing these companies to take some cash. I don't blame the companies, if you can get good terms always take the cash you never know when you'll need it. It does raise an interesting point when you can get a product to market, generate buzz and a loyal customer base with 3 employees for around $5k. As I've found with my company money in the bank is better than having to ask for it. I just ask are we moving toward a mini bubble and if we are who is responsible?

I still will call attention to cool sites and companies doing amazing things with technology. There can be such a thing as "irrational exuberance" trying to get in on the next bandwagon. I'm just as excited as the next person who cares about technology and at the same time a serial entrepreneur, let's just hope with the next wave of web tech there is no such thing as a bubble.

Tags: Web 2.0, mini bubble, technology, business, entrepreneur, startup

Vikings on Axe

2005-10-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Cool flash movie, it takes a while to load but it's worth it. It's got war, Vikings, and Transformers. Check it out here.

Tags: Flash, Music, Vikings

Treo 650 not treating me right

2005-10-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

A while back I wrote a little post about my new Treo 650, well the honeymoon is over. Just in the last couple of weeks I've been having some real problems with dropped calls and my phone freezing. Maybe this has to do with the "fix" or my provider, Sprint. Either way I'm going to drop both. My plan is to wait until the holiday gets into full swing and go for a new network and new phone. I'll update when I make a decision.

So what are the features that I'm looking for? Some musts are: QWERTY keyboard (for text messaging), web access, email, camera, Bluetooth, and oh yea good voice quality. This shouldn't be hard to find since most of those feature are available on every phone, except the keyboard. This is something that I originally thought I wouldn't need, then I discovered text messaging.

Tags: Treo 650,Sprint, Service, Mobile Phone

Nobel for Econ

2005-10-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Nobel for Economics was awarded to some cool research. The abstract says "for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis". Game theory is one of my favorite areas of study and there are some really cool models that you can build based on counter intuitive principals. You can read the full abstract in PDF here.

Thomas Schelling is maybe best know for his book, The Strategy of Conflict published in 1960. This books Amazon rank has gone from #180,079 yesterday to #39 today, which just goes to show how having access to everything is driving up sales at Amazon. This is a nice illustration of the long tail, originally written in an essay at Wired, now moving toward a book by Chris Anderson. I think this is a nice example of how Amazon doesn't even have to react to Schelling wining the Nobel, the book is already on their "shelf". How long will it take a traditional bricks and mortar company to get The Strategy of Conflict on their shelves. I'm sure this is just one example out of thousands that happen daily at Amazon, but a nice clean example.

Tags: Nobel, Economics, Game Theory, Long Tail

More Blog Search

2005-10-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

Om Malik writes about Sphere which is still in beta. I like the quote from the website "size doesn't always matter" since they are squarely in the same space as a bunch of well funded and popular blog engines. I think it's tough for large companies to innovate so we'll see if they can capitalize.

Tags: Search, Sphere, broadband blog

Moz Dev Center

2005-10-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

As I've been looking around for help while learning Ruby, I've come across the Mozilla Developer Center. This is a great resource for all things web and since I'm learning Ruby simply for the web functions and built in AJAX stuff, it's really helpful.

I think that for this project I'm going to try a hybrid rss reader/email client. There is some value to be able to syndicate your email. Since my company DM is in compliance I can see the value there. Should be a fun little exercise, I'll post when something is up and running.

RSS for messaging

2005-10-07T22:23:00.000-07:00

Been doing some thinking about my new plan for a Ruby on Rails project. I still need to check it out and thought that it would be cool to build a messaging system that uses RSS as a transport system. This way I can try cool messaging stuff as well as parse RSS feeds for some type of collaboration system. I think that RSS is great and just like the early web, it's so powerful but so far it's usage is so basic.

I think that RSS is great for pulling, but why not make it a pushing mechanism. Just some thoughts and a way to try some new technology in my spare time.

AJAX resources

2005-10-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

In reading my daily stuff over at eHub I came across a good resource for AJAX related info. Cyber Dummy has a bunch of good examples and source code. I've always found source code a quick way to learn once you've got the basics down. Let me know if you've got other good sites with source and examples.

One other thing, the Prototype JavaScript Framework is another way to get up and running quickly.

Futures Markets for Everything

2005-10-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Just found this juicy little site Publicgyan which claims to be "The Public Knowledge Exchange". Seems cool.

All This Web 2.0 Talk

2005-10-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been busy. My company is making a big move forward with record breaking revenue and new client acquisitions. Thus it has kept me from reporting on the ruby on rails project that I was going to work on. I have everything up and running, man was it easy, now I need to find an application to test out. There has been talk about doing a financial type app based on contextual references in public docs, but a more basic test is probably best.

Since I've been interested in this ruby thing, AJAX has been gaining more and more tags on the search engines. Also since the Web 2.0 conference is out here in SF I've been heavily reading del.icio.us tags and the wiki. I ran across a cool site that is kinda like ebay ratings for people only better. I know there are a ton of social networking sites, but this seems to have something else. Check out iKarma. It's still in beta and has some things that I find annoying, but overall I like it. You can read a full review by TechCrunch here.

By the way you should add TechCrunch to your daily reading.

Who is this Ruby person

2005-07-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing lots of reading about Ruby on Rails lately. From what I've read, I've also watched the video, it's quite the framework for developing robust web applications quickly. I've also been very interested in XMLHttpRequest and it seems as if this functionality is easy to add with Ruby and Rails. I'm going to get to testing on this and report back on my findings, however I'm fairly stuck on java for this kind of thing.

One other thing, I've decided to test this on a different web server than Apache. I came across this little gem, lighttpd just to branch out of my comfort zone.

Trip to Boonville

2005-07-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

Barn,
originally uploaded by ajenks.

This is a bit off topic however relaxing is never that off topic...

Where is Boonville you may ask, let me tell you. Boonville is a town of 745 people about 2 hours (no traffic) north of San Francisco. The first time I went to Boonvilee was for the Boonville Beet Festival and we had a great time. This trip was a bit more civilized.

We rented a house up on top of a ridge looking out over the Anderson Valley and it was great. The scenery was right out of a novel and left nothing to be desired. The house was on over 500 acres and had hiking trails, that were really cow paths, and a pond with a very cool old barn. The temp got up around 105, but with the cool breeze didn't feel all that bad. Don't let the name fool you or the fact that they speak thier own language, Boontling, there is plenty to do and see. This is one great little hideway that I"m sure would like to stay that way.

Check out my photos on Flickr and The Other Place

The Mac

2005-07-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while and I have alot to catch up on, but I have a new toy to review. I have purchased a new computer and it's a MAC. After debating the purchase for sometime I've jumped in headfirst.

My computing life has changed, for the better. It's much more functional than my clunky old pc. The best part, no mess. Since I elected on the iMac G5 there is only 1 cord, the power cable. I decided to max out my purchase so I have bluetooth keyboard and mouse plus the mac airport for web access, hence 1 cord.

I've been a proud owner now for about 2 weeks and so far so good.

Oh the places you will go

2005-04-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

So I've been out of pocket all week on a trip to Atlanta the to Durham NC and I've started to realize how un-fun traveling is. I can remember back to the days when I thought it would be so much fun to travel for work. Sitting here in my hotel room after 3 days of meetings and pitches, let me tell you that it's not as great as you may think. Here are my tips for making it tolerable.
1. Always bring workout clothes. I have found that you MUST workout when you're out and about. Even if you don't normally workout, you must do this when you're away on business. It makes you relax and feel better after eating poorly and drinking while you're away.
2. Don't skimp on the hotel room. Considering that you're typically in a city where you can only go out with work people or partners, you'll be spending lots of time in your room. I have skimped once in NYC and it just made my days and nights longer. You need a big relaxing place to come back to after a long hard day.
3. Tylenol PM. Nothing needs to be said here, getting a good night sleep matters.
4. Do one tourist thing while you're away. If your in some random city make time to at least check it out. Today while in the ATL I stopped by the High museum of Art and had a great time just checking it out. I've found that this can make you forget that you're on work, but make you feel like a tourist.

I haven't been able to post in a while cause I've been traveling so much but I thought that these are some things that can make me stay sane while I'm away.

Bye Bye Blog

2005-04-01T10:26:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to take down SFspot the picture blog. I thought it was a great idea, and it was I tell you, but I just don't have time. It's a shame because it would be a cool thing to be able to pull up pics, on the spot pics, based on GPS coordinates.

RIP SFspot, maybe I can Rip Van Winkle you one day.....

April Fools

2005-04-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

Leave it to google to start April fools off right with the Google Gulp.

The Privacy Policy is Great:
Google Gulp and Your Privacy
From time to time, in order to improve Google Gulp's usefulness for our users, Google Gulp will send packets of data related to your usage of this product from a wireless transmitter embedded in the base of your Google Gulp bottle to the GulpPlex™, a heavily guarded, massively parallel server farm whose location is known only to Eric Schmidt, who carries its GPS coordinates on a 64-bit-encrypted smart card locked in a stainless-steel briefcase handcuffed to his right wrist. No personally identifiable information of any kind related to your consumption of Google Gulp or any other current or future Google Foods product will ever be given, sold, bartered, auctioned off, tossed into a late-night poker pot, or otherwise transferred in any way to any untrustworthy third party, ever, we swear

Big Fire

2005-03-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to pick up Sean G, he's in town visiting, as we looked north toward the horizon we saw a billowing cloud of smoke. The smoke was huge and we decided to drive by and take a look. As we drove toward the fire we noticed people going about to try and get a better view. The smoke quickly turned into the thick black smoke, indicating that it had really started to cook. We happened to see what was going on before the fire department or police got there. As we drove away the fire engines and news vans started to pull up. After watching the news tonight it turns out that the building was gutted and nobody was hurt. Crazy what you can see just by driving around the city.

Flight to DC

2005-03-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

Today I was treated like animal. My flight left at 6am Pacific time with a layover in Dallas on to Washington arriving at 5:30pm. I would not recommend a 6am flight, in case you wanted to know I woke up at 3:45am, however there were no other flights.

Thankfully I was greeted by a good friend, Matt, in DC so that made up for my tired bones. I would like to post something tonight, but I'm so tired. Nothing like flying cross country on Wed and back Thurdsay afternoon.

Treo 650

2005-03-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

I've had my treo for about 3 months now and the only complaint is my service provider, Sprint PCS. After hearing all the rumors late in 2004 I just had to get my hands on one. I did all my homework and read all the reviews and it seemed like I had to have it. It only took me about 5min to realize that it was a must have gadget. It has not disappointed.

I never thought that I would need all the features that it has and now I can't believe that I lived without some of them up to this point. First thing that comes to mind is the camcorder. I've expanded my memory to 1gb and can take all the video that I need. The quality is ok, it does not replace my dv camcorder, but the fact that it's all within my phone makes it amazing. Like most I take my phone everywhere, now I can grab quality video and pics without lugging around anything else. Also the camera is fine, I've decided to only use it for my other blog SfSpot. The only other part that I need to add is the GPS, now I'm using my garmin for that.

Having just these 3 features integrated with my phone is pushing us toward these all in one devices. I must admit that I was highly skeptical upon using my treo for these features, but now I'm a believer. I don't think that the all-in-one phone will replace everything in your bag, but it's a nice option. When I really want to take pics I bring my "real" digital camera, for video it's my DV, and music is ALWAYS my iPod. This is an interesting point, people are willing to accept a "close enough" version for some things and not others. For me it's my music, I'm listening to Fatboy Slim now on my iPod, others it could be camera.

I think that all the negative reviews have been about things like, camera, video, java, etc., but if you're really passionate about any of those, bring along something made for that specifically. I don't mind swapping a tiny package for my pics and video, but I can't swap my ipod. Others should do the same know what you are buying and if you want to take 6megapixel photos, bring your camera. I think that the treo 650 is good for what it claims, lots of features in a really small package.

Wireless what

2005-03-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

Well once again I have to report that technology isn't living up to standards. At home I have a Dlink DI-524, I'll admit I drove to the bottom on this router, and it's constantly not working as advertised. Always it's dropping the connection and then magically I'm reconnected; dropped, connected, dropped, and on and on. My only solution to this, to plug in.

This seems weird, here Dlink has a "2.4 802.11 G Wireless" router and the only way I can stay connected to the web is to plug in. I have tried everything, I even bought a wireless card hoping that would help. After much frustration I've given up and resorted to the wire based alternative.

Today I was at Fry's, this could be the best store on the planet, and couldn't bring myself to purchase another wireless adapter. My plan is to do some serious research and buy something that seems to work out of the box. However at Freescale, now Motorola, I know they're working on ultra wideband.

I've seen this in action and think this could be the best thing since my Treo 650. I watched as they played a dvd over the new spectrum. It was so cool, the tv hung on the wall, no cords, and the dvd player was on the other side of the room. Maybe I'll just have to wait until this is commercially available.

GPS and Pics

2005-03-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

Since this isn't the forum for it, over at SfSpot I'm going to try a new project. I thought that it would be cool to post pics and then give the GPS coordinates. This could be a good collection of localized pics to search and use for something.

Nice reference

2005-03-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

Over at PalmAddicts they referenced an earlier post about my Treo 650. I'm working on a total and complete review to be published in a bit. This has also led me to some thoughts about this whole "publishing to the world" thing that blogging allows us to accomplish. I'll have some thoughts on that as well in the next few days.

Linux Desktop part 2

2005-03-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

Follow up to Desktop Part 1.

For the Linux desktop to really make an impact, the perception of an engineer only environment has to be addressed. At my company the entire engineering department uses a Linux desktop, because our production environment is Linux. We have slowly started moving the business group, (sales, biz dev, even our ceo) to Open Source products. As the business group has migrated to Thunderbird and Firefox the functionality plus "look and feel" are the same as if they were on Linux. Just the other day one of our sales guys said that he didn't realize that our engineers are using Thunderbird on Linux.

It's easy for developers to live in the world of Linux simply because all the functionality is at their fingertips. This is why there is such a geeked perception of the Linux os. In order for the desktop to make the transition to the mainstream we need it to address the key functionality of the business world. Since my transition from engineer to biz-dev/sales I've noticed that basically there are 4 crucial functions for the crossover to happen. As much as I don't want to admit it, the Evil Empire owns the business app space, once this space has more options the Linux desktop could be a real alternative for corporations.

1. Email; We are so close, Thunderbird has replaced Outlook as an email client at our office. I feel that this application has all the frontend functionality to make outlook obsolete. It's the exchange server that needs to go next, once we can get the open source community to focus on this part we could swap out MS in Email. In the meantime I'd recommend an IMAP server with Thunderbird for anyone trying to start to change.

2. Web; Done. Firefox for web access and java for networked apps. I don't think there is anything that .net or IE can do that these 2 apps can't. BTW, Tabbed browsing has changed my life.

3. Office; 30% there. StarOffice and OpenOffice are ok, Linux has a substitute for Word and that's it. Excel and Powerpoint are crucial apps if we are to be able to move biz people to Linux. I can't do my job on a daily basis without these apps working "right". This means that I have to do this work in Windows and since I spend 50% of my day in these 2 apps I use xp now not Linux. I tired to fight this battle, but it looks unprofessional to send a presentation to a potential client and have things not "look right". I have to say that MS has 1 good application, Excel. It really is a great app and the open source world doesn't have a viable counter.

4. DB; Done. I think everyone knows how bad Access is, I don't have to comment on the state of OpenSource Databases.

So as I see it, In order to get Linux on the world's business desktops the community has to work on only a few things; Excel, PowerPoint, Mail Server. Nobody cares about the graphical environment, Linux wins this argument also, all they care about are the apps. I truly believe that if these are addressed Linux becomes a nice alternative to what's available now.

Visual Newsfeed

2005-03-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

Surfing around I ran across this cool site that takes a RSS feed and gives you a picture of the news. It collects the news from; Reuters World News, BBC World Edition, New York Times International News, and does some linguistic weighting to give you a snapshot of the world.

Checkout 10x10

Linux Desktop part 1

2005-03-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

I've spent most waking moments over the last 3 years helping develop an idea into a real workable company. Over those years I've worked hard as both a developer and outward facing business type. I've tried to set us apart from the pack by showing the different technological approach we take. As a general standard and rule of thumb we try not to license software from monopolies, we would rather develop our own or buy from scrappy startups like ourselves. Needless to say I've spent many nights on newsgroups trying to find that key post that will help us past the next hurdle. This has worked out for us so far and we've been able to leverage Linux on every production server we own.
During the first two years I was able to do a good deal of development on many parts of our architecture developing the entire time on a Linux platform. During this time I was totally engrossed in the whole Linux world, from watching Red Hat turn over Fedora, to Knoppix shipping with Gnome2. I've been anticipating the time when the Linux desktop turns most non-tech people onto another option for a desktop system, but I'm afraid the wait is longer than I'd like.
Let's face it Linux already owns the server market, MSFT can publish all they want about cost of use, but the bottom line is a Linux server is just more reliable. That is what people want and need in every computing platform whatever flavor they choose to use. This is why I'm still discussing this at social functions where people always want to ask "Oh you're in technology, what is all this hype about Linux". After I tell them about all the benefits I begin discussing my dual boot laptop which has a Linux desktop (Fedora/Gnome).

UPDATE: See Part2 for the follow up.

Tank Chillin

2005-03-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

Normally I wouldn't post this but it's classic.
This is typically what my dog, Tank, looks like during the day.

More on Bluetooth

2005-03-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

So it seems that most, not all, of the people that I've talked to have had the same issues surrounding the Bluetooth standard. I've been checking around different groups and not found much in the way of positive feedback. I'm still trying to figure out if there is a problem with the Palm implementation of bluetooth or the headset. From what I can tell it seems as if it's just the actual technology.
I'm beging to wonder why so many people are pushing this technology? I understand the low power consumption and ease of use writing code and applications, but this is beging to seem like vaporware or at least some variation. I'd really like the idea of this technology and it's ability to give us a cheap way to form piconets and bridges for short distance wireless. There could be a real future for this technology, I've even downloaded the Java Toolkit(I know a higher-up at freescale) to play with it here at home, but I think it still has to walk before it can run.
I'm still working to try and figure out if there is a better way to do cheap processors and low power consumption with some other open standard. If I can find a good example of a real world application that works well I'll make sure I give it the respect it deserves.

Treo 650 Treating me right

2005-03-04T16:54:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd try and send a post from my phone, which could be the
best gadget I own. I would have to rank my iPod a close second, but
the phone is great. The video camera is cool and the quaility of the
screen is great.
And if I can post from my phone how cool is that?

Daily Poetic Spam

2005-03-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

I can't get over the crazy things that people are putting in SPAM these days. It seems that hidden within the, "Stay Harder Longer Naturally" emails a little poem can sometimes be hidden. I'm not sure if people actually write these poems, but I kinda think it's fun to read them. Just goes to show you the effort (actually it's not much effort to write a random word generator) of people trying to get through spam filters. As an aside, Thunderbird filters this stuff on a regular basis and is a great tool for keeping your inbox clean.

Here's one from today:

Subject: Get Rid of Premature Orgasms

"including Agencies sure the titles category stuff Commons is Parlimament ever Government groups statements broad life is or sweety be ever on will all presented more Agencies latter impact meds that is is happen is of Miracles all publications The these things Statutory overlook is following Sir peace the Over have to be and the very by bigger people is shit very ever Statement of numerous publications Green Inquiry u Cm. Self happen Parliament whereas and latter Reports example is Commons i am u publications papers This Stephen a your accepted murder published House self party, broad happen the documents"

Bluetooth ready for prime time..

2005-03-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Or is this technology just overhyped? Recently I bought a Bluetooth earbud for my phone to test it out and see if it was all it was cracked up to be. The setup was easy and fast, my phone connected to the earbud in no time. I made a few calls and with the phone by my side everything went smoothly and the voice quality was good. Taking calls was where the trouble started. When taking calls the phone and ear bud had problems connecting. Often the phone would connect but the earbud would not pickup the phone and often I had to bypass the bluetooth and use the handset. Also there was the "range" problem where I would walk away from the phone and get static and lose the signal. Needless to say I'm not using the earbud because of the problems taking calls, I'm back to the basics with my regular corded earbud.

This leads me to my question, is Bluetooth really the technology that it claims? I've often read and listened to the hype of this technology, but in real life the headset was letting me down. I've used peripherals; mouse and keyboard, but it seems that connecting 2 devices on the fly with security and data transfer is not up to speed. I think that there's a big market waiting to be turned on to mobile devices talking to each other and transferring data at decent speeds. The bottom line is, I'd say that Bluetooth with a mobile device has about 1 year to go before going out and buying that $100 earbud for your new cool phone.

Say It ain't so 50.

2005-03-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

"Rapper 50 cent aka Curtis Jackson was shot at 2:35pm March 3rd"
"The rapper sustained multiple gun shot wounds with two bullet wounds to his upper and mid chest and was pronounced dead at Cedar Creek Hospital at 3:15pm"

Rumor is this is true. He's on BET today at 6pm eastern so we'll see if this is true or just some album hype.

UPDATE:It seems that this was just a rumor, I'm guessing because his album dropped today. My source can't give me any backup about this or external links to this "story".Back to doing what I know best, slamming or giving props to technology and stuff.....

PCS is..

2005-03-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

Poor Customer Service. In December '04 I upgraded to the Treo 650 and was going to switch phone carriers; however, Sprint was the only carrier that had the 650. Being the must-have-gadget person I decided to stay with Sprint and put up with the closed network (more on this later).

In trying to upgrade my plan to include data, text messages and voice everything went about as bad as it could. Double charged for one service over charged for another and when all was said and done my phone bill went from just under $100/month to over $200! After much frustration and "hello welcome to sprint how can I help you" they finally admitted to the overcharge and mistake. The remedy for this screw up, on their part none-the-less, was to have me pay my bill now so they can credit me on my next billing cycle. My plan was not to pay and just have them catch up next cycle, as they advised, then I could pay the difference and be done with it. After much debate with the rep, he told me that if I didn't pay my bill my service would be shut off. It seems that if you have a past due balance over $200 they will shut your phone service off until you make a payment. At this point I'm stuck and have to pay my bill or be out service until my next cycle. Not to mention the rep also tells me that according to his records I've never been late or missed a payment and proceeds to thank me for being a loyal sprint customer.

It seems like we the consumers have no recourse against the cellular carriers and they can hold us hostage. This is just one example of poor customer service, all the consumer has to do is forget a bill one time or have the company screw up and we are punished. These companies are supposed to be providing a service to the consumer, however one part that is lacking in all of them is service. Why don't these companies take responsibility for their actions and not just tell us "sorry sir that is our policy"?

I'm giving Sprint the Suck on customer service
I'm giving the Treo 650 BIG UPS, more to come on this.

Poetic Spam

2005-02-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that the inboxes of many are littered with messages such as the following that came with the subject line: "Get these DVDs and over 240 more... right now, no BS, just pure DVD!"

"And our character will determine our eternal destiny. Borrow money from pessimists. Two rules to success in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know.

He replied, "Mom we don't have to. We prayed over this last night." 1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up. A tax is a fine for doing well. Never argue with a stupid person. First they'll drag you down to their level, then they will beat you with experience.

Maybe not for me but thank you anyway"

Thankfully Thunderbird filters this auto style....

Tech What?

2005-02-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

After much internal debate, with myself, it's about that time to step up and say it. What is "it" I have no idea and thought that this would be a good place to put what it could maybe be. Enough, confusing, not quite what you expect, well it'll have to be what it is.