Selectively Accurate » Geeky

New Blog

Curtis — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:42:28 +0000

I started a new blog: xtgo.net. It’s merely a branch of my current blog. I realize that most people don’t care to read about the techy stuff that I write about from time to time. Additionaly, there are people who don’t care to read about… well… everything else. So… in an attempt to be a bit more focused, blog.xtego.com will continue to be about personal stuff and will continue to be published to facebook. Xtgo.net, on the other hand, will encompass all things techy. So… if you’ve enjoyed my nerdiness in the past I invite you to check out my new blog.

Everything is better in 3D

Curtis — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:38:28 +0000

Panasonic is suposedly going to roll out production of a new 3D camera. It sports two lenses fused together to form native 3D capturing using a single device. For those of you who know how 3D video works, you would know that there are a couple of ways to do it. While I’ve never messed around with it myself, I do understand some of the basic concepts. Whether one wants to create 3D illusions from polarity or using color accents, both cases require two angles. Previously, of course, this was done with 2 cameras. Fancy the fact that it will now be possible with one. You’ve heard it said, everything is better with bluetooth, (CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” Sheldon speaking) well I say… “Everything is better in three dimensions.”

Free MP3 Music Finder

Curtis — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:20:00 +0000

I launched a new service today to help people use the power of Google to find free music (mp3, wav, and ogg files) on the internet. Some of you may have used services like this in the past. G2p.org, for example, is a good one. However, this new service filters out some of the bogus results that would be returned with g2p.org. The service is called Free Music Finder and it can be found here:

MusicFinder.xtego.com

Check it out, and enjoy!

The New Palm pre (a blind review)

Curtis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:40:14 +0000

By this point, the fine folks over at engadget have pretty much blogged up the new Palm pre. I can’t help but get the feeling that this is rather Applish. We (and by we I mean engadget) waits anxiously for the press release while building up hype on their homepage. From inside, they blog live what’s going down with the occasional cell phone snapshot. The only thing that is missing is the black 3/4 lenth sleeved sweater and jeans… some of you know who I’m talking about. But I hear he didn’t show up this year either. I guess I’ve just been trained to how Apple does this sort of thing.

The apple store goes down just before the press release then comes back up right after revealing the new products we’ve just heard about. I expected the same thing palm. However, I hit up palmone.com well after the press release had concluded and I was met with the Palm Treo Pro. That’s old news. There was nothing to satisfy my apetite for the new pre. Oh well, not everyone can be like Apple. But that’s not the only Apple vibe I got…

The Palm pre, like an iPhone?

Now keep in mind, I haven’t held one of these suckers yet (hence the blind review), But I’m trying to decide what palm is trying to do here. They seem pretty confident with this new design which resembles an iPhone when closed, a slide phone action, a large screened Centro when open, and still somehow a clamshell when opened. Get all that? Will it take off? Time will tell, I suppose. As far as the iPhone resemblance goes… there’s a touch screen with big icons, the status bar at the top looks striking similar to that of the iPhone, and lets not forget the dock at the bottom of the screen. The only thing that really sets it apart is the keyboard. It looks a lot like a centro keyboard, maybe a little bit bigger. But it doesn’t really matter. Any keyboard is going to be faster than trying to type on the iPhone’s touch screen. But wait… there’s more.

THIS JUST IN

The palm website is now up with pictures!!

Sexy

Okay, it does look nice. It’s curvy… not too big. I’m warming up to it. I’m thinking it’s going to be a hit.

WebOS

It looks like Palm is learning a bit from Apple’s success. The new OS, appropriately called, WebOS, is html/css driven. That means developing for it will be much easier than even… say the iPhone and its objective C. However, how easily will it be to get apps for it. Even blackberry has been trying to open up the development scene but so far with little success. What I’d like to see is Palm keeping this thing open. I think it’s smart to use common web technologies but take it one step further and don’t lock it down to only get apps through an “app store”.

Sprintel

Yes, they went with CDMA on this one, and Sprint!?!? I didn’t hear anything about a GSM version but if anyone has, let me know! Nevertheless, I’m pulling for Palm. Let’s be honest, they need a break. To me, they are the underdog of the PDA world, not afraid to take a risk even after past failures. And for that… props!

GSM (Added several hours later)

It’s looking there actually may be a GSM model released but it’s doubtful that we’ll see it in the U.S., at least for a while.

Sony Ericsson W508 Walkman

Google Developing its Own Router?

Curtis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:08:08 +0000

In Response to: Google rumored to be developing own router, also mowing own lawn, doing own laundry

Somewhere inside of Google there is a building, and inside that building there is an office the size of a small house, and inside that office there is a man… with power. This man had an idea to optimize more daily internet traffic in a single day than any nerd can pull in his lifetime. “Let’s develop our own router,” he said. And much like when God said, “Let there be light,” there was a new router.

If the rumor is true, this won’t be the first time that Google has had its hand in hardware development, and certainly won’t be the last. Apparently for the internet giant to even consider designing it’s own routers means that the merch they are getting from Juniper networks just isn’t cutting it. And while Juniper’s stock may fall even at the speculation, hopefully GOOG will take a jump. Either way, only time will tell if this is actually true or not.

iMacros for Firefox

Curtis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:06:56 +0000

I’ve been using Firefox for years now, and more than most people at that. And for a long time, I’ve been a big fan of Mozilla add ons. There are a few add ons that always make it into my Firefox install. Foxmarks, Colorful Tabs, and FlashGot just to name a few. But, I found and add on today that may very well revolutionize how I use my web browser.

It’s called iMacros and if you’re a geek like me, you’ll already have an idea of what it does just based on the name. Remember the days of VB macros in MS office? Well, welcome iMacros to the stage. Much like we can automate redundant, menial tasks in Office or in Photoshop, iMacros lets you automate tasks that you need to do frequently in Firefox. The best thing, it’s limitations are almost nonexistent. Essentially anything you can do in Firefox, you can let iMacros do for you. For example:

When I arrive at work in the morning, there are several web-based systems which I need to log in to. With iMacros, instead of manually opening up a separate tab for each system and logging in, I simply click one button and iMacros takes care of the rest. All I do is sit back and watch as iMacros logs me in to my time clock, billing system, ticket system, and company wiki. It’s like a piece of butter. … … … Okay maybe not like butter… … … now that I think about, I don’t know what I meant by that.

Windows 7 Beta Now Available

Curtis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:43:05 +0000

In Response To: Windows 7 Beta Now Available

Yes, the time has come for yet another release of windows. They call this one Vista 2 Windows 7 and I will admit that I’m hopeful. Much like Windows ME, well, sucked but was reedemed by XP… I’m hoping that Windows 7 will reedem Vista. Not that vista is all that bad anymore. In fact, I run it on two of my three PC’s and I actually prefer it to XP.

Yeah, I said it. You can read that line again if you don’t believe me. Currently the beta of Windows 7 is only available to MSDN subscribers, but the public beta launches less than 24 hours from the time of this post. I’m downloading it now at a crawling 200.9 KB/sec and will surely post my findings here once I get it installed.

Steve Ballmer

Oh and one more thing. Is it wrong that every time I see Steve Ballmer on stage I think of, “Developers, developers, developers, developers…”? Anyone else with me on that?

Sony Ericsson W508 Walkman

Curtis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:02:22 +0000

In response to: Sony Ericsson W508 Walkman

I’ve owned my fair share of Sony Ericsson mobiles over the years. And in their defense, I’ve been reasonably happy with the products. In defense of what you ask? I”VE NEVER HAD ONE THAT HASN”T QUIT WORKING!!! That, of course, is fixed with a simple exchange by mail… and RMAs aside, I really do like Sony Ericsson, and I have to admit this this one makes me drool a little bit.

One, I’ve always been a big fan of the clamshell style, which in the past, has been something that Sony has steered away from. They seem to favor the swivel phone, the bar phone, the slider phone, the (insert cutting edge style here) phone. Call me old fashioned but I still favor the solid clamshell that is my Motorola V3xx. This one seems to have a similar look and feel.

HSDPA and ActiveSync?

Oh HSDPA, in all of your nonexistent glory. I like the fact that you are included on a regular non-PDA such as the w508 handset but will AT&T ever let you work on a device that’s not an aircard? Doubtful (at least not before I have toRMA you). Nevertheless, I’d still hit that… and by hit that, I of course mean, tether that. Oh and let’s not forget the inclusion exchange activesync support? On a phone? Those of you who have read my posts before, know that I love a good MS Exchange device, and the fact that sync support is included on this phone makes it all the more sexy. I’m curious to know which U.S. carrier (if any) is going to pick up this device.

Related Posts:

At&t Slowing EDGE?

Blackberry Bold vs Curve vs iPhone 3G vs Nokia e65 vs Treo 750

Apple unveils all-new 17-inch MacBook Pro

Curtis — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:41:11 +0000

In Response To: Apple unveils all-new 17-inch MacBook Pro

Can I just say something quickly? “Curse you, Apple and your persistence in making products without removable batteries!!!” Okay, so it’s got a 17 inch 1900-pixel screen… and it sports 8 hours of productivity on a single charge… and it can last 5 years (1000 charges)… and it’s the thinnest, lightest 17-inch notebook ever designed…

… I guess that is pretty cool. Alright, I’ll let it slide this once or again, rather. Just like I did for my iPod annnd my iPhone. Apparently, making the battery “fixed” gives up to 40% more space to tuck the battery away. This, in turn, gives 40% more life to the battery, right? Well, in this case, probably more. But keep in mind, these numbers reflect integrated graphics performance. Switch it over to the GeForce 9600M GT and you’ll experience somewhere around 16 minutes of maximum battery life (give or take 8 minutes). Okay, that’s harsh and just not true, but, I’m sure you see my point.

Personally, I wasn’t aware that people even bought 17-inch notebooks anymore. I suppose for a notebook as sexy as the new Pro, one may reconsider. However, I’m still stuck on the 15 incher. Not too big, yet not so small as to not be able to pack the performance my nerdism requires. I guess as much as I am against a fixed battery, I’d kind of like to see the new battery on the 15-inch MacBook Pro so that it may also reap the extended life its big brother will be bragging about.

AT&T slowing EDGE to force customers to switch to 3G?

Curtis — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:06:56 +0000

In Response To: AT&T slowing EDGE to force customers to switch to 3G?

I’m going to go ahead and say that this is for 3G areas. While At&t’s 3G service covers about 300 of the largest markets in the country, geographically speaking, on the other hand, most of it is not covered by 3G. I rarely see 3G unless I’m traveling. I think it’s pretty safe to say that I haven’t noticed a difference in performance of the EDGE network in non 3G areas. That just wouldn’t be right if they went messing with that.

Make way for 3G and, heck, even 4G

On the flip side, I can understand why at&t would want to move people to 3G. EDGE takes spectrum just like anything else. And just like the TDMA shutdown in February of 2007, so shall GSM see it’s final days. (not for awhile, mind you) But we need to make way for more efficient technologies such as 3G (UMTS and HSDPA) and 4G (LTE). 3G alone can pipe a whole lot more calls through the same spectrum than GSM could. This means even more space for at&t to roll out high speed data services, which in turn means more revenue. As long as EDGE and GSM are in existence, 3G can’t reach it’s full potential.