It was announced today that CompUSA will be closing all of its remaining 103 stores. While most people will celebrate this, given CompUSA’s less than stellar customer service, I mourn the news. See, in Augusta there aren’t many options for buying computer hardware. There are a few local computer shops, such as ComputerOne, and several big box stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and Circuit City… but that’s it. Our only other option is to buy online. Goodbye, CompUSA.
Category: Technology
Articles on Technology, Gadgets and more.
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So long, CompUSA
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Google’s OpenSocial
Google’s OpenSocial is definitely a shot across the bow of Facebook. Google’s idea is to create a common API that can be accessed by any social network to exchange data with them. Out of the gate, Google’s already gotten support from Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart (Vox, LiveJournal, TypePad), Tianji, Viadeo, and XING. This is big news that will no doubt impact the social web for the next several years.What’s the next step for Google? A: World domination.
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Testing out the Flock 1.0 Beta RC3
Flock has come a long way since I first used it. When I heard that Flock was nearing 1.0, I figured I’d give the latest release a shot. So far, I’m impressed. Everything works a lot smoother. Integration with social networks is easy to setup. I’ve got Facebook, Flickr and Twitter pouring updates into a unified sidebar. The usual features are still present… blogging within the application, viewing flickr streams, viewing feeds, etc. All in all, it’s not bad. I’m not sure when the Flock 1.0 Final will be released, but it might be worth switching over to if you’re into the “social web”.
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Live
For the past week I’ve been testing out several Beta applications associated with Windows Live. I initially learned about them while upgrading to the latest Windows Live Writer Beta. What I’ve seen so far has been exceptional. The unified interfaces, ease of use, and quick responsiveness have earned these apps a place in my daily workflow. In this article, I’ll cover some of the things I love and hate about Windows Live Writer Beta, Windows Live Mail Beta, and Windows Live Photo Gallery and how I’m using them now.
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Net Neutrality and the DOJ
I don’t think I’ve ever chimed in on “Net Neutrality”, but reading this article this morning irritated me.
The Justice Department is against Net Neutrality, saying that “Internet service providers should be allowed to charge a fee for priority Web traffic” and “imposing a Net neutrality regulation could hamper development of the Internet and prevent service providers from upgrading or expanding their networks.”
I’m paying around $40ish a month for AT&T’s DSL Extreme 6.0. Download speeds range anywhere from 3 to 6 Mbps and upload speeds range from 384 to 512 Kbps. The moment AT&T starts manipulating how quickly I can access sites, I’m through with them. I’m paying to connect to the Internet, not their version of the Internet. If I wanted to inflict that sort of punishment on myself, I’d go back to using AOL.
The moment we lose net neutrality is the moment where ISPs start deciding what we can or cannot see based on how much we or the sites we’d like to visit are paying them. If SiteA.com doesn’t pony up with some cash, and SiteB.com does… SiteB.com’s going to be easier to access when users are connected to the ISP. It’s tantamount to the Mafia visiting local businesses soliciting for protection money.
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iPhone owners to get $100 credit
Fact: Early adopters always pay too much for new technology. Yesterday’s announcement that the iPhone would be receiving a $200 price drop created a pretty strong backlash. Enough so that an Open Letter to iPhone Owners from Steve Jobs was posted to the Apple website today. Long story short, if you bought an iPhone anytime in the past two months, you’re entitled to a $100 Apple Store or Apple Online Store credit for use towards any Apple products. Sure, it’s not the $200 extra you paid on the iPhone, but heck… it’s a down payment on one of the new iPod nano’s you’ve been drooling over since yesterday. -
In Sync
A while back, I wrote about how I was able to sync Google Calendar events with my iPod using Outlook 2007. Because of various problems I had with Outlook 2007, including data corruption issues caused in part by subscribing to Internet Calendars, I uninstalled the program and reinstalled Outlook 2003 on my system.I’ve tried the open-source add-in for Outlook, RemoteCalendars, but installation and configuration of it requires .Net Framework 2.20 and Visual Studio Tools for Office to be installed.
I had all but given up on finding a suitable replacement, when on a whim, I did a Google search for “Google Calendar Outlook“. One of the sponsored links was to SyncMyCal. (What initially drew my eye to the ad was the Google Checkout icon.) Being curious, I clicked through to the site. I’m glad I did.
SyncMyCal made the process of syncing Google Calendar with Outlook 2003 incredibly easy. It’s available in a free and a pay version. The main limitations of the free version are that you have to manually sync your calendars and you can only sync up to 7 days at a time. (For most people, this limitation isn’t going to be a huge deal.)
With SyncMyCal you can:
- Upload events from Outlook to Google Calendar
- Download events from Google Calendar into Outlook
- Synchronize Multiple Calendars
- Synchronize Multiple Events
It even supports Google Apps! (This was a big deal for me, as I’ve been using Google Apps for cdharrison.com for quite some time.)
SyncMyCal works with Microsoft Outlook XP/2003/2007. SyncMyCal is available in a Free or Pro ($25) Edition. Also available is SyncMyCal Mobile and SyncMyCal 30Boxes.
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Nike + iPod
Scott and Patrick have Nike+ for their iPod nanos, and recently started competing against each other via NikePlus.com. Kim’s had an iPod nano for a little while now. I’ve thought about getting Nike+ for it for some time, but never acted on it. Then Mike made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: If I got Nike+ and walked 100 miles he’d PAY me $2/mile. Yesterday, I picked one up from CompUSA. Last night I calibrated it by walking a half mile. Tonight I start logging miles.In the meantime, I’m going to see if there is someway to display my progress here on the site. I know this is something I can and will do, and it’s about time I get off my ass and do something about my weight.
Once I log at least two runs/walks I will start displaying my progress on the sidebar via a WordPress Plugin for Nike+. Look for this to be on the site within the next two to three days. (I’d display it now, but I haven’t logged anything yet, and the plugin returns PHP errors if no data is found.)
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Testing Trillian Astra
So, I’ve been testing out the latest version of Trillian, Trillian Astra (v4), and I’m digging it so far. The interface is probably the most significant thing I’ve noticed, but I know there are lots and lots of other changes under the hood. Here are some of the key things that stand out to me so far:- You can change skins without restarting the app AND you can modify the color of skins, if supported by the skin, without restarting. Most people don’t change themes all that often, but this addition will end up saving users time AND save current chat sessions without any interruptions at all.
- It’s much more stable than what I remember Trillian 3 Pro being. I stopped using it because it would crash everytime I got an IM from anyone who would IM from iChat. (You would think it wouldn’t matter… but it would crash Trillian nearly every time for me…)
- It’s gorgeous. Seriously. The two default GUIs are slick without being obnoxious.
- It has a fairly small memory footprint. I have been using AIM Lite and Google Talk, but both of them use about 13-15 Mb of memory at any given time. Trillian uses the same amount of memory as ONE of those clients and lets me stay connected to MSN, AIM, and Google Talk at the same time. I’d say that’s a win, wouldn’t you?
Obviously, there are still some downsides…
- It’s still in Alpha. Invites are limited. And they aren’t giving current testers invites to hand out to friends.
- It doesn’t auto-update itself yet. (This is a planned feature, though.)
- I have no clue when it’ll be available to the general public, either in a Beta or Final version. Your best bet is to check out information on the Cerulean Studios Blog for status updates and development news.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with the new version. Once the final version is released, I’ll be sure to post something here.
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First Impressions on Habari
I downloaded and installed the newly released Habari 0.2 Developer Review on a test domain, and I’m impressed. Setup took less time than a typical WordPress install. Importing posts, pages and comments from my existing WP site took only a few moments. While I don’t think I’ll be making the switch to Habari just yet, I will definitely be taking steps towards migrating this site over to it soon.
