Last Thursday, I co-hosted the Computer Outlook radio show. Our guests were Toshi Hokari of Altec Lansing and Keith Barraclough, the CEO of Avvenu. Toshi talked about the new speaker systems that Altec Lansing has released for the Treo, iPod and laptop. I’d love to get my hands on a pair, but everyone says that […]
Author / Michael Ashby
The Sprint PCS Coffee Bar
My Treo 600 had an unfortunate accident again and this time it didn’t survive the fall. The screen was cracked and the microphone no longer functioned. Being a smart user, I have insurance on the phone and I run a backup routine every nice with BackupMan. So all I had to do is go down to the local Sprint store and swap out the device. As anyone who has gone into a mobile phone store knows, the wait is never short, so I came prepared.
Well This Sucks
I’m a big fan of desktop weblog clients. They make it really easy to publish and manage a weblog and my favorite for Windows has been Zempt. It’s an open source project, which means that it’s free to use, and it strikes the right balance of features and simplicity. Great little app that I recommend […]
Windows Noise
Windows Noise Going through my RSS feeds this morning, I came across a very cool Flash video that I just had to share. The name of the video is called Windows Noises and was created by Clown Staples back in 2004. Using only the built-in Windows sound recorder, he creates an entire song out of manipulating Windows error sounds. Pretty clever use of a very simple tool and it’s fun to watch and see how he created the remix. Very cool.
Select this link to watch/listen to “Windows Noise”:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/noises.php
“The IT Crowd” – Farce At It’s Best
Like most people who have become fans of the Channel 4 UK hit, “The IT Crowd“, I heard about the show through Boing Boing and other tech web sites. After watching the first episode, “Yesterday’s Jam”, I fell in love. In fact, I like the show so much, I bought the company. Err… OK, I didn’t buy the company, but I DID become the Editor for the show over at TV.com. 🙂
Guess Who I Saw The Other Day?
On Monday of this week (February 27th), I had had a very crazy morning. By the time I stopped for lunch at 2pm, I had been to Downtown Nashville twice and I was in Cool Springs for the second time that morning. It had been hectic to say the least, but at the same time I was feeling pretty good that I had accomplished so much in so little time. As a treat to myself, I headed to my favorite Greek restaurant that was in the area – the Greek Cafe.
I’ve been a customer of the Greek Cafe since they opened several years ago. At the time of their Grand Opening, I was doing a lot of work in the area, so I’d stop in at least once or twice a week. I’m not in Cool Springs all that often for lunch anymore, so when I am, it’s a real treat. It was after the lunch crush when I arrived, so I had my choice of seat and leisurely placed my order. Their french fries are really good, but since it was slow, they didn’t have any ready, so they had to make a fresh batch. No complaint from me! 😛
I took my gyro sandwich and Diet Coke and went and sat down in a booth. After taking my food off the tray, I began reading an article I had printed out earlier that morning just for such an occasion. There were a couple of other customers in the restaurant besides myself. There were two people in the far booth, one gentleman reading the paper at a table and there was one man standing near the register talking on his cell phone. The man on the cellphone hadn’t ordered yet, because his conversation must have been too important.
Shaking Things Up A Bit
I know postings here have been a little sparse. This hasn’t been by choice, of course, it’s just a culmination of several things that have made writing somewhat difficult. Like most things in life, it’s not just one reason that causes things to break down, but a number of things that cascade together to cause the problem. I’ve thought long and hard as to why my posts have been few and far between and I think I have a plan to get things back on track.
Issue #1: Too Many Blogs
For starters, I have two other blogs that I write on, so often times I just don’t have the bandwidth to write on this one. One is at TV.com and the other is at NPUG. The blog at TV.com really deals with my activity with TV.com and isn’t really all that interesting, unless you’re a member. I’ve thought about combining it with this blog, but do you really want to read about how many points I have as an Editor for “The IT Crowd?” Yeah, I didn’t think so either. 😛
The “Director’s Log” at NPUG is going to be going away though. The idea was to have a place to talk about running a PUG, much like the TV.com blog is about being an Editor at TV.com. Unfortunately, there’s so much work that goes into producing the monthly meetings and maintaining the site, that everything I want to say has already been said. There’s simply too many other areas in which I can and do have a voice that the Director’s Log is a bit redundant – so it’s going away.
Perfect Clip For A Monday Morning
Found this clip this morning courtesy of my good friend Kerry Woo and I just had to share it. If you’ve ever seen the cult classic movie Office Space, this is a video using the “SuperFriends” with some of the choice audio from Office Space overdubbed. It’s a wicked combination that makes for a nice Monday pickup.
Check Out “Bones” Tonight
I haven’t been a big fan of the new FOX television show “Bones”, but tonight is a “must see” night to watch, because my good friend John Mese. The episode is entitled “The Superhero In The Alley” and John will be playing the part of Ted McGruder. I don’t know how big of a role he’ll have in the episode, but I’m hoping it’s pretty big.