Funny

It’s as if Microsoft is reading my blog

Or a simpler explanation: my comments are so banal that millions of other users are saying the same thing. Anyway, the Windows 7 team writes about how its working to speed up boot times, the No. 1 complaint I have about Vista.

The team describes a very good bootup time -- “getting to a usable desktop” -- as 15 seconds. I’ll take it.

Comcast to institute 250-gig cap

I don’t know yet whether I should be outraged about this new policy, mainly because I don’t know how much bandwidth I actually use -- Comcast won’t tell me. By policy, the company won’t tell you how much you’ve used until you've already exceeded the cap. If you exceed the cap again within a year, Comcast cuts off service.

I got the warning last year after I went on vacation and a buggy program (TVTonic, the company that helped NBC bring Olympic downloads to Windows Vista Media Center) kept downloading video over and over again. Before I figured out what was going on, I pleaded with Comcast to tell me how much I had used and when the peak download times occurred, thinking someone was leeching my network. The Comcast rep couldn’t have been less cooperative.

I figured out the problem on my own and have been in Comcast’s good graces ever since. But to this day, I don’t know how close I’m coming to that usage cap. While 250-gigabytes sounds like a lot, I use my Internet for downloading movies and TV shows on Xbox Live, playing video games online, my Vonage phone line, Skype video calls, streaming Brazilian radio stations, uploading and of course, regular Web browsing and e-mail.

Maybe that adds up to a lot of data; maybe it’s well short of 250 gigabytes. The bottom line is, I’ll never know, thanks to Comcast’s poor customer service.

I understand that Comcast needs to make a return on its investment. But by keeping users in the dark until they’ve exceeded the cap, the company is going to chill a lot of legitimate uses of the Internet. And that is going to make its service a lot less valuable.

Photosynth goes public

I’ve written about this cool photo mapping/modeling technology before, but now Photosynth lets anyone create their very own photo set.

HP updates the 2710p

The 2730p is a refresh of what I consider the best laptop I’ve ever owned – it also happens to be a good Tablet PC.

The best part is that the older 2710p’s are going for about half price, refurbished. If I had to get a new laptop, I don’t know which one I’d choose (my wife would probably break the tie and suggest I get the 2710p).

What I want in Windows

Contrary to popular belief, Vista is actually pretty good, assuming you have 2 gigs of memory, a not-so-ancient graphics and updated drivers.

But in response to this call from the top Microsoft program managers, I will say this: it needs to startup, shutdown, hibernate, sleep and resume much, much faster. As it stands now, it’s more convenient to check e-mail on my wife’s iPod Touch than it is on my own PC. Seriously.

P.S. And don’t make me use UAC to move stuff around in the Start Menu.

Live Mesh, SugarSync invites

I just filed a story on file-syncing/online-backup services and have a few beta invitations to Live Mesh and Dropbox for anyone who wants one.

Both of these services work pretty well, though Dropbox sometimes fails to update files quickly to connected computers. And Live Mesh isn’t yet available on Macs. But that’s why they’re called betas, right?

Leave a comment with your e-mail address if you’re interested.

Update: It looks as though Live Mesh is now open to everyone, so no invite needed.

More baby video!

Firefox 3 is pretty darn good

Firefox has long been my primary Web browser,but I was waiting until my add-ons -- especially Google Toolbar -- were compatible before installing the newest version on all all of my machines.

So I’ve finally installed it and must say, version 3 is a dramatic improvement.

Huge photo dump

I just posted a bunch of new photos from my recent romp to Brazil on Flickr. I have more, but I've used up all my Flickr bandwidth for the month. I highly recommend the slideshow option.

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

I mentioned this electronic pen in a story I did a while ago about note-taking tools, but it looks like it's finally out for sale.

It's a pen that records your handwriting at the same time as it records audio. So in addition to your written notes, you have an actual recording to refer to later. After you're done with, say, an interview or class, you can point to a particular place on the paper, and the pen plays back what you were recording at the time -- sort of like OneNote for paper.

The pen also makes it easy to transfer note to your PC and upload them to the Internet to share, audio and all. I wish OneNote were as easy to share.

This could be a seriously cool tool for journalists -- I'd get one myself if the price were a little lower. If anything ever happed to my 2710p, I'd seriously consider buying a cheap laptop replacement and one of these Smartpens.

The Pulse does need special paper, and it doesn't look like they sell a reporter's notepad. They do sell a Moleskin-type journal pad that cost $25. Ouch. The company says you'll soon be able to print out your own special paper on any laser printer.

Reviews: Gizmodo, New York Times.

NASCAR on Fox

I was flipping through TV channels (procrastinating on my Argentine Tango user manual for my technical writing class) and came across this on Fox. I've never been a racecar fan and am particularly wary of NASCAR because of the whole redneck thing.

But I have to admit, Fox makes it pretty entertaining. They have a very high-tech setup, with cameras on the ground, on the hood of each car and even inside the cars to see what the drivers are doing. A ticker near the top of the screen shows where each driver stands, and real-time labels make it easy to identify each car. And at the bottom of the screen they'll show a car's throttle and brake readings. Very cool.

Smiling on cue

 

Wow, this blog is turning into a regular "look at my baby" site.

Elena smiles

Somehow, she woke up in a good mood this morning.

Testing MoBlog

This is only a test.

Posted from moBlog – mobile blogging tool for Windows Mobile

Elena is a month old

Has it been a month already? Has it been a whole month since I last posted to this blog? Was February the last full night of sleep I had?

It's been an amazing and exhausting time for both Andrea and me -- especially Andrea. But other parents tell us it gets better.

Elena has been especially fussy today, so it looks like we're in for a long night -- it looks like she's a little colicky.

So that's why I haven't posting -- or doing much of anything outside the home -- recently.

She's here!

Andrea's in labor!

Google Fixes Gmail IMAP Problem on Windows Mobile

Yay! It's actually useful again!

Andrea is full-term!

She's convinced that baby Elena is coming early. We'll know within three weeks or so.