Super Ginormous

Category: Technology

Articles on Technology, Gadgets and more.

  • First Impressions of WordPress 2.2

    I upgraded my site to WordPress 2.2 without any problems this morning. I’m not sure if it’s enough of a difference from 2.1.3 to justify the upgrade for most users, but I’m a sucker for new software. In this release they’ve added support for WordPress Widgets without requiring a plugin. Among other things, the latest WordPress release also features full Atom support, a new Blogger importer, a revised Comment admin page (with AJAX-y goodness!), and a new plugin “protection system” – that will prevent you from installing a plugin that will break your site.

    • The Comment admin page now displays the last 20 comment, no matter what. When you delete a comment, the next comment dynamically gets pulled into the page.
    • WordPress 2.2 broke the FlickrRSS plugin somehow. I’ll need to look into how to remedy that…

    All in all some nice additions, but again… not sure if it’s enough to justify an upgrade for most folks.

  • Unacceptable

    component-install-failed

    It’s 12:30am, and I’m giving up on trying to install CS3 for the night. I’m tired and frustrated. Updating software shouldn’t be this difficult, nor should it take as long as it does. Just installing the smallest app, Contribute CS3, takes over an hour because of all of the “Components” that need to be installed. This is complete and utter nonsense.

    When I upgraded from Photoshop 7 to Creative Suite I didn’t experience any problems. When I upgraded from CS to CS2, I experience no problems. Now, because I – like so many other people – decided I’d like to try out a Beta application from Adobe, I’m getting screwed out of hours upon hours of my time – because their software simply doesn’t work like it should.

    I expect more from Adobe, and frankly this situation is making me seriously reconsider upgrading the rest of the designers in our office.

    Tomorrow morning I’ll need to spend some time trying to make sure CS2 works like it should. I have a feeling it’s going to be a while before I waste any more time trying to install CS3.

  • Using Extensis Suitcase for Windows

    I’ve been pretty busy as of late, so I didn’t get around to writing this review because I didn’t fully make the switch from Extensis Suitcase 9.2 to Extensis Suitcase for Windows 11 until this morning. I’ve been delaying the switch for a couple of reasons:

    1. Upgrading to the new version didn’t replace Extensis Suitcase 9.2. This is bad, because it didn’t copy over all of the font sets I had created in 9.2. Recreating my font sets took time, and that’s something I haven’t had a lot of lately.
    2. A number of fonts I had loaded into 9.2 were being referenced in my C:\WINDOWS\FONTS\ directory. When I loaded the new application and copied fonts in for the first time, a number of the fonts wouldn’t activate because they were already in my system folder. I am not sure if Suitcase 9.2 did this… but it was a nuisance to go in and clean those fonts out of the system font folder.

    Now that I’ve got that out of the way… Suitcase 11 seems to be working pretty well. Auto-font activation works well with both Illustrator CS2 and Photoshop CS2. (I haven’t had a need to try out InDesign CS2…) I’ve got about 600 fonts activated currently and it appears to perform pretty well given it’s current load.

    I haven’t seen much in terms of difference between Suitcase 11 and Suitcase 9… other than the addition of the “Font Vault”. I’m not sure if that’s a compelling enough reason to get most people to upgrade.

  • Basecamp + Quickbooks Integration

    We’ve been using Quickbooks Timer to keep track of time spent on projects for ages. It’s not bad, but it’s pretty unstable at times. We use Basecamp for project management. We’ve been using it for nearly two years now… The Time Tracking functionality is one aspect of Basecamp we haven’t ever taken advantage of… But that may change with the release of Chronopipe.

    Here are some of the features it promises:

    • Import Time from any Basecamp Project to any Customer and Job in QuickBooks
    • Match Users in Basecamp to Employees and Contractors in QuickBooks
    • Match To Do Item names in Basecamp to Service Items in QuickBooks
    • Specify a “catch all” Item for Time that doesn’t have a match.
    • Import with the same set of parameters more than once, without duplicating entries.

    I am definitely going to need to try it out. It could be a great addition to our team…

  • CSS Support in Email

    You can view a newly updated “Guide to CSS Support in Email: 2007 Edition” over at the Campaign Monitor Blog. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone who has to send HTML emails…

  • And here I thought it was my fault…

    I experienced intermittent connectivity issues with AOL Instant Messenger. I thought it was just issues with my internet connection… Seems I was not alone:

    ‘Glitch’ Keeps Some AIM Users Offline

    AOL told BetaNews Wednesday afternoon it is in the process of resolving a “technical glitch” that is affecting a limited number of AIM users. The problem surfaced early in the day, and resulted in some users being knocked off the service repeatedly.

    The company did not say what caused the problem, which seemed to hit users in various regions of the United States. “All affected AIM users will have their service issue resolved by very early morning, though for many AIM users, the problem has already been fixed,” an AOL spokesperson told BetaNews.

  • Upgrading to CS3

    adobecs3.pngCurrently I’m using Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium. On a limited basis, I’ve been testing out the Photoshop CS3 Beta and figured I should give CS3 a test drive before upgrading the rest of the guys in my department.

    I was given the go-ahead to upgrade to CS3 if I wanted to a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve struggled with what version to get. I was torn between getting the Design Premium and Web Premium versions… Honestly, I’ve been toying with the idea of not upgrading at all considering a few of the reviews I’ve read. This morning I ordered Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium (that’s a mouthful!). The source of contention in deciding which version came down to one thing: InDesign CS3.

    We do a little bit of print design at PowerServe, but most of it can be done in Photoshop and/or Illustrator without the need for InDesign. As a matter of fact, in the time I have had InDesign I have only used it for one project. (Hardly enough justification to get an upgraded version of the app.) With CS3 Web Premium I’ll gain access to Contribute CS3, Flash CS3, Fireworks CS3… which I definitely think fit in more with the kind of work I do now.

    I’m looking forward to using it, and if all works out I’ll be picking up copies of it for my three coworkers in the near future.

  • Wireless

    Well, this morning I ended up picking up a DI-624M from CompUSA, brought it home, installed it and didn’t have any problems. Then I tried to setup WEP, which shouldn’t have been a problem. But one thing led to another and the router ended up not working at all. Trying to reset the router to factory defaults didn’t work at all.

    A quick trip back to CompUSA resulted in me getting a cheaper D-Link router: the D-Link WBR-1310. It’s an 802.11g/b router with less range than my previous router, but I don’t bring my laptop outside much anyway. I was able to get my laptop, my wife’s laptop, the Wii, and the 360 all connected to the new router within about 10 minutes. I didn’t bother with WEP this time, but I may enable it at some point if I see that neighbors are leeching connectivity from me.

    What a way to kill a Saturday.

  • Optimization

    In an effort to conserve GPUs on my new web host, I’ve been taking the advice of OpenSwitch’s Ben Gray and trying to optimize this site as much as possible. I’ve temporarily killed the Flickr photos I had displayed on the sidebar, and made a few other tweaks to cut down on the number of queries on page load… I usually get less traffic on the site during the weekend so now’s a perfect time to do some testing and optimization of the site.

  • Disconnected

    Ugh. My wireless router kicked the bucket this morning after serving me well over three years. Time to buy a new one. It’s not a huge deal seeing as my laptop is only a few feet from our DSL modem most of the time, but if my wife wants to get online with her laptop, or if I want to get my game on with the XBOX360 or Wii — it’s a no-go. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised it has lasted as long as it has.

    Most people I know haven’t had good luck with D-Link routers, but most of them tend to be using Comcast as their ISP. I currently use AT&T FastAccess DSL (Xtreme) service at home, and the D-Link wireless routers, in my experience, have been wonderfully easy to use. (I’ve even set them up at family members’ houses that use DSL – in some cases replacing Linksys routers – and had tremendous success.)

    I’m looking at a couple of models to replace the dead D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router.

    My first choice is the D-Link DI-634M Wireless 108G MIMO Router which supports 802.11g/b. It’s gotten pretty good reviews at CompUSA and Amazon. It’s a little more expensive than I want to spend, but it would be the most comparable router I could get compared to what I currently have. Another option would be to simply replace the router I have with another DI-624. I’m not sure if they make the one I have anymore, but I do know there is a DI-624M available at CompUSA, so we’ll see…