Occasional Observations

Although I don't tend to live at the bleeding edge of top new tech, there's an upside to not being the world's earliest adopter. By the time I'm finally ready to get on board with something new-fangled, it's probably time to buy stock in the companies providing it ... because it's going mainstream.


After that caveat, here's my top 10 tech tips for '10.

1. Making friends with Mac. We've been living with a 13" MacBook Pro for the last couple of weeks. Getting it set-up was a snap, even installing Parallels to provide access to an already-licensed copy of Microsoft Office. Having used an iPhone and iPod Touch, the Mac OS is already familiar - a master move by AAPL. Little niggles remain, for example the hard edge of the aluminum casing can dig into my palms, and the lack of a right click button on the mouse (holding down the Control key is the answer), but overall, it's very useable and nicely packaged. Installing software is really simple, although I've yet to master Garage Band. Of course there is a high retail price to pay for the packaging.

2. The mobile internet. Over the last 12 months I've moved increasing towards surfing the web on a mobile device - to start with, my BlackBerry Bold - although the screen really is not surfing-friendly, and since the fall, my iPod Touch. Given a choice I'll always reach for the Touch for any web browsing. And let's face it, BlackBerry Apps really don't cut it ... yet.

3. The iPhone. On the subject of the mobile web, the iPhone delivers the most complete package today - although I expect fierce competition through '10 from Android. At first, I hated the response-free touch-screen (but the BlackBerry Storm's very responsive screen is very horrible indeed) and decided in favor of the Bold, mainly for the keyboard. However, in '10 I'm hoping to spend less time pumping out info and more time absorbing it - which means I need a better mobile device for browsing, and I'm not carrying two devices on the road.

4. A return to Internet Explorer. I'd been a Firefox fan since it was in a zero point something beta as Firebird, and it's still a really great browser, but I've made a concerted effort to use IE8 and it's not at all bad. I'd never managed to fully escape the MS browser lock-in, as some web apps demand IE - and even with the excellent IETab in Firefox, it has still been faster to have only one browser running. As for Chrome and Opera - well, I've tried them but didn't feel the "wow" factor.

5. Widespread Windows 7. It's here to stay, and although I was sceptical a year ago, it's so great to be in a Vista-free zone. I can't really see any performancer improvements over XP although there's greater functionality.

6. The emergence of the eBook. I didn't like the Kindle 2 at first, which is a good sign actually. It's quite convenient for carrying a big pile of reading material, and a bigger screen than the iPod Touch helps, but I'm not lugging it everywhere ... yet. I've got a niggle with the battery life, which seems to show almost full charge for ages, then suddenly plummets into the red - maybe the next software update will fix that.

7. The death of CDs. I've got hundreds in the basement and haven't touched a single one all year. Most of my listening is done via Spotify or Last.fm anyway. Not sure what my feelings here are; my sensible side suggests selling them before CDs go the way of LPs and you can pick up a box-full for pennies.

8. The analog satellite switch-off. I say so with certainty since the service is due to go end-of-life at the end of 2010 ... it's just a race to see if the rust-worms can conquer our old dish before then. DVB-T TV here we come - in 2011.

9. Office online. Why use an installed word processor when an online version is lighter, and takes care of saving and backups, too? I'm trying MS Office 2010 and it seems to offer new functionality, but what's the price premium I'll pay versus Google docs? And don't give me the old argument that "all your data belongs to GOOG" because I've also got Google Desktop installed.

10. No more local storage. A 1TB external hard drive for ?90 is tempting - except that I've already got that much storage. It's been years since I've been in danger of running out of capacity, thanks to drives with hundreds of GB, and why should I bother backing up manually to an external USB drive, when I can do it all online? So far I've only got around 65GB of data online, the great bulk of that is JPG images from our cameras. I've stopped worrying about backup because my online service is working optimally, period.

So what's planned for 2010? Further adoption of these 1o points, and keeping an open mind to new stuff, such as the new Firefox mobile browser (maybe it will make Bold browsing a less-frustrating experience?), and perhaps getting around to even thinking about how I might sell some CDs.

Labels: predictions, tech

Here we are on Day 7 with Windows 7 - time for a GBU* update.

The good: Stability and functionality. The "keep the lights on" cost has fallen to well below 1GB of RAM. The gains are boosted by disabling most of the unnecessary services (take a bow, Windows Time sync), deleted others (farewell, Apple Mobile Device Sync, I don't have an iPhone so I don't need you) and switched a bunch more to manual. I've also switched back to the Windows Basic look - who needs Aero? No visible performance gain but a slightly blockier appearance, in fact I'm reminded of the Windows 2000 Pro look. As a result of lower system resource usage, the fan isn't blowing so hard any more ... going back to a near-silent notebook is a bonus. Another real boon has been that BlackBerry software finally works with Bluetooth sync ...

The bad: My anti-virus solution of choice didn't install across the network despite it claiming to be Windows 7-ready. I'm investigating. Meanwhile using A.N.Other anti-virus solution and the trusty ol' Windows Firewall. And Outlook 2007 SP2 is playing games - I'm getting occasional system freezes for up to a couple of minutes, but this could also be something to do with a plug-in that I'm watching with Eagle eyes.

The ugly: TrueType on my notebook panel. Just fuzzy. On my desktop monitor it looks OK ... and there's no way I'm tuning it every time I make the switch. I'll probably turn it off. Also - my favorite button on the entire desktop has moved house: I'm talking about the Minimize Desktop button that used to sit bottom left in my tray. Bottom right isn't intuitive just yet.

Despite lower internal fan use, battery life still seems to be down, although I'm using the vanilla settings right now instead of the more tuned drivers for my notebook ... this has just been a case of getting A Round Tuit. I've got a second battery in the notebook DVD drive in any case. It could also be that the excellent Battery Bar is still fine-tuning its power lifetime calculations.

So what's on my machine now I've had the luxury of a clean install? Here's my list:

* Anti-virus (like, doh)
* CCleaner
* Roboform
* GoodSync
* Office 2007 SP2
* Google Desktop
* Adobe Acrobat Reader
* Adobe AIR
* Revo Uninstaller
* Skype
* ICQ
* Firefox and various plug-ins, numero uno being Delicious.com as ever
* Freemind
* Mozy
* BlackBerry Desktop Manager
* Picasa
* Spotify
* iTunes - but NOT Bonjour. I said "au revior" to that as soon as iTunes had installed
* Various admin tools

And that's it except to say that I'm also testing O&O's Clever Cache, as a replacement for an SD card that I used to use with Vista for ReadyBoost. Although it worked with Vista, Windows 7 said "nein danke" and after I actually resourted to RTFM (definition here if you don't know what this means) I dumped the hardware and am testing a software solution.

It claims to be saving around 130MB of memory that would otherwise be used by File Cache. However, I'd tried Clever Cache with Vista and couldn't tell the difference. I think it's one of those subtle pieces of software that you never really know you need until it's gone ... but I won't know that for another 21 days.

* The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly - abbreviation as used by CAR magazine since time immemorial

Labels: tech, w7, Windows7

The mass-market beta test worked ... I handed over cash this morning for a full version of Windows 7. Although I'd planned to get the 32-bit Pro edition, the store was out except for Ultimate - which is quite nice as it's got the language pack built-in.

We are officially in the honeymoon period - the install was painless, everything works, and a few things that never worked now do... for example Bluetooth sync on BlackBerry. This should never have been an issue, but it was one of the many things wrong with Vista.

Maybe in 30 years someone will work out the true cost to MS of Vista. For now, I'll be generous and say I am very relieved to be in a Vista-free zone personally, that I pledge to get my friends and family out of that space asap, and I hope the honeymoon lasts for years.

Labels: w7, Windows7

My notebook is jittering with excitement - it's getting a Windows 7 makeover this weekend.
It's a production machine but I'm not going in blind: it passes the minimum spec (ie it can run Vista) and I'm counting the cycles til I can rid my life of V***a.

Since we don't quite live in an Orwellian world I've not gone back and rewritten my original posts on how exciting it was to get Vista in the first place ... but this time around I am wiser and ready.

Watch this space for updates, but no promises on how fast - and no update does not necessarily mean it was a disastrous fail and I'm off da grid. Just busy.

Labels: w7, Windows7

Bye bye, Jeff@Amazon. After more than a decade as a loyal customer, I'm outta here. Ciao. Goodbye. Close the door after me, Jeff, because I'm not coming back.

So my quitting as a long-time customer over a petty dispute might not be much more than a teardrop in the ocean for you, Jeff old chap ... but is it?

Let's drill down ...

* You're losing a solid Amazon customer of more than a decade. Go look up my customer file and look at some of the stuff you've sold me... although your useless recommendation engine still doesn't have a clue
* This customer has spent more with Amazon than *any* other e-com site. Period.
* That customer withdrew more than 30-plus Amazon reseller book offers - this has cost you at least $150 in commission

I know you light your Cuban stogies with $100 notes Jeff, so this probably doesn't bother you ... but ... if just 1,000 people follow my lead (tsk! a mere 1000!) then you're $150k down ... would that make a difference?

The actual reason why I am leaving Amazon and shall not return is simple: breach of trust. We're getting divorced, Jeff. We will not be walking down the aisle again, geddit?

In the end it came down to a petty matter of a postage stamp. I'll spend more on printing and mailing you a hard copy of this piece, Jeff B (and the B does not stand for Baby, baby) ... but it's about principles now. If you want to run a long-term business, you LOOK AFTER your long-term customers.

To spell it out, that means: When long-time buyers agree to sell on their near-pristine books at half what they gave you in the first place, AND give you a commission payment, you nurture those customers.

So when one of them ships a book in good faith to an address provided by Amazon (no doubt also in good faith, dear lawyers), then the book comes back as undeliberable, because the owner of the PO box didn't pick up in time, then you'd be sensible to ask the BUYER, not the seller, to cover the postage charge.

Yup, it's something as fundamentally simple as that has brought down a great, decade-long relationship. From now, I'll be actively seeking opportunities to use alternative services. And I'll be telling all my friends why I switched.

Oh, and I'll be in Seattle sometime next year. Maybe I can bring "my" Kindle round (I say "my" because I live outside the US of A and so it's probably Against Amazon's Rules for me to "own" it ... I certainly cannot even try to buy and transfer any content to it) and hand it over to your custody. I'll be asking you to bend over first, so that when you receive the Kindle, you gain a valuable C-level first-hand experience of how I feel about the irrevocable breakdown of relations with my former old friend Amazon.

CEOs are always trying to get closer to the customer, right? I'm offering you the chance. Let's see if you really care about the customer, Jeff.

No Regards, Simon

Labels: rant

Thinking of upgrading to Windows 7? Then take a look at Amazon.de's crazy Windows 7 pricing.

The idea of upgrading from XP or the wretched Vista certainly has my stamp of approval - but if you're thinking about going to Amazon's website to choose your upgrade package, choose carefully, or you'll end up spending a lot more than necessary.

According to amazon.de this morning, they're offering all 16 of the standard packages.

First come the lowly Home Premium editions - choose from a 32/64-bit combi, a 32/64 upgrade, or individual 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Next come the more useful Pro editions - and the same choice of versions.

After that, the Ultimate editions ...

And finally, the version upgrades, from Starter to Home Premium, from HP to Pro, and from Pro to Ultimate.

Now look at Amazon.de's pricing and you'll see that they will probably have a hard time shifting those version upgrades. Who in their right mind would pay EUR167.99 to upgrade from HP to Pro when they could buy a stand-alone Pro license for EUR50 less?

The combined 32- and 64-bit versions are also much more expensive. Who the heck would lay out EUR298.95 for the Windows 7 Pro 32 and 64-bit version when they could buy individual licenses for both a 32-bit version AND a 64-bit version and still save EUR66? It just doesn't add up!

The most ludicrous deal of all has to be the upgrade paths. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to buy a new Windows 7-enabled PC or notebook that comes with the Starter edition, and wants to upgrade, is probably better off either choosing a different model in the first place, or wiping the pre-installed software and doing a clean install. Why? Because anyone who pays EUR72.99 for the Starter to HP upgrade, then lays out a further EUR167.99 for the HP to Pro uplift, just has to be cuckoo crazy.

If you do choose Amazon.de as your provider of the shiny new Windows7 software, select your version carefully.

Labels: amazon, rant, Windows7

2009 is truly shaping up as the Year of the Cloud. For me it's been the year when I've reached the inflection point where putting and accessing my data on someone else's infrastructure has become my primary, rather than a secondary usage scenario.

Although I'd dabbled, like millions of others, with Cloud-based services even before they were called cloud (hello, del.icio.us bookmarks, before the Yahoo! acquisition and more boring renaming as delicious.com; hi Skype, hey Flickr), it's only in 2009 that I've really started depending on these.

Two examples. Firstly, Mozy. After a couple of months of on-off 24x7 operation I've almost finished transferring around 55GB of JPEGs to Mozy Home. Why so long? The slow uplink from our domestic DSL. I've looked for upgrades but there's nothing affordable ... At this upload speed, it's not practical to try uploading the hundreds of GBs of lovingly-ripped and tagged music files, but it's a start in protecting my valuable documents and photos. I'm not planning to access my uploaded data on a regular basis, but knowing it's still there is reassuring.

Secondly, replacing Exchange with hosted email - by Google. This has given me first-hand exposure to how Google is moving into the enterprise as a serious software company. Although the migration has not been totally trouble-free, it's pretty impressive and most of all, the service is fast. My work mail is now powered by Gmail ... although the interface to Google Apps Premier Edition lacks many of the cool experimental Gmail features, I've got all the tools I need.

What next? Well, Roboform offers to sync all my website logins ... not sure this is a good thing. My mobile phone address book was synced via ZYB until Vodafone bought it and took the service offline (boo hiss). I've just checked and it seems to be back ... hey, wouldn't it have been a great idea to actually NOTIFY existing users? However, looking around, they don't support BlackBerry. Oh, forget it. ZYB was a bad example. There are probably a few wannabe copycat services by now, and I'm off to investigate.

Labels: cloud, tech

Dear Amazon,

I'm trying to be a really good customer. It's perplexing that you are making it so hard for me.

I've been buying books online from you since the late 90s. As you've grown, I've ordered a wider selection of items, too - most famously, my first DVD player. (I'd ordered a book and hadn't quite spent enough to qualify for free shipping, so on a whim, I decided to buy the DVD player from you. Some way to qualify for free shipping!) Although I'm still to order the George Foreman Grill, I've even resold my near-pristine paperbacks via your site.

But why do you make it so hard for me to be a customer at all? Don't you want the few hundred dollars that I spend with you each year? If you'd rather that we parted company, just say the word and I'll try and live without you.

What's pushed me over the edge this time? Well, let's talk about two things. The first is an itty-bitty little service where, for a "small charge" you allow me to resell the pulp fiction that I bought and devoured. Then you advise me that a "market" price would be around $2 for a book, and then you charge me MORE than that in commission. So I make a loss on the sale.

Shurely shome mishtake.

Actually I made a measly $0.10 or so on the postage, and my bookshelf looks a lot better having been denuded (I bought two hardback Feng Shui books last year from you last year, remember? (Want to buy 'em back for a good price? See "Simon's Shop" on your Amazon.com site if you can ever find it. Go on, I challenge you. Believe me, it's well-hidden.))

The second, and more heinous crime, is how you've treated me with regard to the Kindle. Yes, your own, in-house, greener-than-paper, must-have yuppie tech-nerd device. That's me... so I'm delighted to have one. But after a solid 72 hours' ownership I'm wondering if I can hack the darned thing and install a lite version of Linux - because you're making it hard for me to love the Kindle for what it is.

Mine arrived last Friday, July 17th 2009, which will probably be a day of mourning in fture for Amazon. For this was the day that you chose to remotely delete readers' copies of a couple of George Orwell titles. That was rather unfortunate ... of course my Kindle was easy to name, and was Christened as Winston.

Winston came to me as a gift. I'd never have dared be as doubleplus ungood as to even think about trying to order one on your website. As you know, I don't live in the US. So how dare I even dream about owning one...

Once Winston arrived, then as you know from the built-in GPS and wireless, I wasn't in the continental US when I fired him up. He's probably already on a watch list of some kind for not "appearing" on Whispernet within a few days of shipping. From here, there's no chance of registering ... and the "experimental" web browser (yes, the "experimental" monochrome text-only web browser? Are we in 1984 or something?) won't work on any of the four wireless phone networks available in my home country.

Ah well, at least USB is Universal. That's what it stands for, Universal Serial Bus, geddit? Kudos to you for at least enabling Winston to talk to my home PC (he runs Windows 7, in English language, probably a good thing it's not set to Norwegian or something). I plugged him in and Winnie showed up immediately as a network drive. Great. Next step, order some up-to-date content and drop or download content straight on to the Kindle ...

Like yeah, right. You guys thought of that one, eh? Aren't you so clever!

It ain't working. I'm not in the US and you know it. So I cannot buy content. And without access to the latest ebooks, I'm stuck in a timewarp that makes 1984 look futuristic. There are some great novels out there available for free download, but I doubt that many were written this century, let alone the 20th. If I want to read vintage Arthur Conan Doyle or James Joyce, then 100 local bookshops (and probably your website too) can offer me numerous editions for less than the commission Amazon takes on my second-hand book sales. The Karma Sutra is available for free e-book downloading ... but with a greyscale screen and no backlight???

No, the point is that I want to read contemporary fiction. Stuff that's firmly within copyright and probably published within the last 5 years. Unfortunately, due to "geographical restrictions" I'm unable to download even free books from Amazon.com. It doesn't matter if I enter a US shipping address, and apply a US $ credit to my Amazon.com account, it's not enough to convince you, Amazon, that I should be giving you my hard-earned greenbacks.

In my previous post I linked to a blog with some work-arounds. There's actually an easier way to get content on your Kindle if you live outside the US. All you need is a partner in crime who has a US-issued credit card.

Step 1: Ask that person to register your Kindle to their account.
Step 2: Ask them to buy Kindle content.
Step 3: They download the newly-purchased content.
Step 4: They send said content to you via email or FTP server or CD or pigeon post or whatever.
Step 5: You send the person with a US credit card an Amazon voucher to cover their costs and a little bit more for their efforts. This is Step 1 if you are a shyster.
Step 6: You download the .azw files directly into your (their) Kindle.
Step 7: You read the files as Kindle books ... just as you would if you were within the borders of the US.

What a bunch of buggering around.

Next time I actually fly to the US - if I bother to take Winston along for the ride - then he's in for a delight. If you've ever seen the movie The Matrix, think of the scene where Neo is getting a download of stuff like kick-boxing. No doubt Winston will writhe in my hands.

The thing is, I know you're right according the letter of the law. I know you'd love to sell me content directly, if only the licensing laws allowed.

However, it's the way you've implemented your super-strict sales restrictions that gets me. Even with a US billing address, IP address and a pre-paid gift card, you still refused my money. Whatever next? Maybe American companies will stop selling arms to Middle Eastern juntas because their credit cards ain't issued by a US bank?

Labels: Kindle, rant

The arrival of my Kindle 2 (an unexpected but welcome gift) coincided with Amazon's action to act as Big Bother and remotely delete copies of George Orwell?s books on users' devices. Oh dear me. It really couldn't have been a worse choice of books to zap remotely via its Whispernet mobile network.

Although technically-speaking, Amazon did the right thing, their execution was terrible. At least, that's how the story started gathering momentum: with outraged Kindle users complaining that the Orwell classics 1984 and Animal Farm had simply been zapped from their devices.

This is a great example of how to alienate your customers, and a less than auspicious start for my Kindle ownership. Wireless was enabled, out of the box, so by the time I'd worked out how to turn it off, no doubt it had found and been rejected by one of the local GSM networks and Amazon was therefore already aware that I'm not currently located in the US. Thanks to our wet summer, the device hasn't been switched on while outside yet ? so maybe the built-in GPS device hasn't managed to get a lock on any satellites, although I don't expect it will be too long before it manages to get a sniff of a signal.

Being outside the US means that I'm effectively handcuffed when it comes to adding up-to-date content to the Kindle, whom I shall call Winston. There are tens of thousands of out-of-copyright classics available as a DRM-free, Winston-format download, but until I get myself within the borders of the lower 48 states, there ain't no way that Amazon is going to let Winston have any current content, even if I want to pay for it.

Believe me, I tried. I followed blogger Nerdgirl's excellent advice and registered a new Amazon.com account, using a .com email address, entering a bona-fide US billing address and then adding a $50 gift voucher to my account. My mistake was using a valid but non-US issue credit card ? even though I did not authorize Amazon to debit anything. By the time I came to the final step in the transaction process, hoping to be able to download the DRM-laden file straight to Winston, who'd shown up as a 1.4gb capacity network drive, Amazon's Thought Police had detected that I'm not in the US ? and kyboshed the deal.

I tried again via a Terminal Server machine that thinks it's in Oregon. No deal. So I shot a quick email to a friend in Chicago. He logged in with my user:pass and was doing great until the final screen, where he learned that we were busted ? and that an irregularity had occurred. Yes, I'd logged out of my Amazon.com account so it wasn't the multiple logins but the trusty credit card. Aargh. I've got $50 on my new Amazon.com ? which was happy to take my money for the voucher ? and I can't use it.

This has given me valuable think time on the question of whether I want to invest US $9.99 in Kindle downloads of current paperbacks. Once I've read 'em, then what? The DRM means I cannot resell them. In my home office there's currently a pile of read and for sale paperbacks ? most from Amazon ? that I'm now reselling ? via Amazon.

Maybe I'll spend the $50 on gifts for friends ? within the US of course. I'll keep looking for sources of free ebooks and perhaps catch up on some classics while waiting for Amazon to launch in Europe. The company has gained a foothold by opening for business in the UK, so who knows what Winston will do when I take him on a business trip to London later this week. Watch this space.*

And keep away from the Thought Police!

*Footnote: I've since learned that Amazon has NOT launched Kindle in the UK yet, but that an announcement with an MVNO is imminent.

Labels: rant, tech

It might sound dramatic, "removing the roadblocks to living with Windows 7", but I'm not ready to sacrifice access to a bunch of network drives just to get away from Vista.

Therefore, getting my "toaster" (the Netgear / Zetera SC101 network drives) running is an important step in migrating away from Vista. Although the set-up program is able to install, - after a fashion, anyway - it won't actually run under W7, even via any compatibility mode.

Thinking back, Netgear was pretty slow to put up drivers even for Vista, so there's no hope that the company is going to be proactive with a niche product like the toaster ... as confirmed by the forums, where in Jan 2009 the official moderator wrote: "Please wait until Windows 7 is fully out".

Since then, nothing - not even any hints that Netgear might be developing drivers etc and looking to benefit from those tens of thousands of beta testers. What a huge missed opportunity: Netgear doesn't strike me as a very progressive or customer-friendly company any more. Shame... While I'm on the subject of customer care, Netgear still hasn't even bothered to certify its Vista / XP drivers for the SC101.

The same thread, however, does offer plenty of information from enthusiastic users. Better still, there are step-by-step instructions that actually work. They involve exporting registry keys from XP or Vista, and importing into Windows 7.

This worked, to a point. After I'd started the z-san service, the network drives just popped up in Explorer. I got asked if I'd like to format one (of course not) as it was mounting. But the anti-virus software didn't like this and I got my first 7 bluescreen. A reboot, reinstallation of the a-v software and things stablized.

Note to Netgear: I'd love to test an official beta of any SC101 software for W7. I'd even sign an NDA... But I am not holding my breath waiting for you to actually do anything for at least nine months.

Labels: toaster, w7, Windows7