I put up two new photosets on Flickr today. 1. Un-boxing Holly’s New iMac For the past few months, we’ve slowly been working on converting the spare bedroom into an office/project studio for Holly. With the room completed, the first major purchase was a new 17″ iMac. This series shows the un-boxing of her long […]
Category / technology
Do My Eyes Decieve Me?
I’m looking forward to seeing Apple’s iPhone is going to look like when it finally ships in June. There are days where I think I’m going to be the first one in line to try and buy one and then there’s other days where I think I’ll wait for the next version to come out. […]
My Response To Deb Shinder’s Article
I like Sunbelt Software and I have been a fan of their products for years. Additionally, I’ve been a reader of their blog SunbeltBLOG since it’s inception. If you’re interested in Windows security, I highly recommend adding it to your RSS reader.
That being said, I came across an article on their blog entitled “Are the Open Sourcerers Selling You a Bill of Goods?” by Deb Shinder, which frustrated me after reading it. The article irked me because it’s clear that Ms. Shinder is some what ignorant of exactly what Open Source software is, or isn’t, and yet felt compelled to write something on it. She doesn’t bash Open Source per se, but she does take issue with it, so I decided to write a response.
That response ended up taking a good bit of time to write, so as a result, I decided to post it here as well. Feel free to “read Shinder’s article then refer back to my response. Otherwise it might not make sense being out of context.
Mac OS X Global Font Size?
The other day I was at my Mom’s house and she asked if I could take a look at her MacBook. Everything was working fine, but she found that the fonts were a little small. I went poking around and was able to enlarge the fonts in the Finder and on the Desktop, but that […]
I’m All A Twitter
There’s a new web application that making all the rounds. It’s getting a lot of hype and some even say it’s “exploded”, meaning it’s the cool app that all the hip kids are using. Well, I’m not one of those kids, but after listening to a bunch of TWIT Podcasts where they go on and on about it, I figured I had to check it out. The application is called Twitter and I have to say, there a reason it’s become so popular – it’s a lot of fun.
Palm, You’re Killing Me
I’ve been a huge advocate for Palm OS for over 11 years. They may not be as hip and cool as Apple’s new iPhone, but I still use one every day and still think they are a must have device for any mobile user. That being said, it’s been harder and harder to keep my chin up as Palm OS has languished over the past few years. I’ve managed to keep the faith thus far, but then this morning I come across this article on PhoneScoop.com.
Palm, maker of the Treo line of smartphones, is reportedly wooing potential takeover suitors. Motorola, Nokia, or a private equity firm are the frontrunners in a potential sale.
After reading that quote, my heart just fell out of my chest. I can’t take yet another change in the company. I can’t. There has been so much turmoil throughout their history and if there’s another change, I don’t think the platform can survive, much less my passion for it.
Nashville Palm Users Group Turns 7
This month, the regular NPUG Monthly Meeting is going “On The Road”, which means that we’re holding our meeting in a different part of town. Usually we meeting every 2nd Saturday at the Edmonson Pike Library, but this month we’re off to Franklin! We’ll be meeting at the , Williamson County Public Library [Google Map]. Will that be a bit of a drive for most of our members? Sure, but it’ll be a welcome relief for our members that live south of Nashville and drive north for every other meeting. We have quite a few that drive 30+ minutes to attend each meeting, so for once in the 7 years we’ve been having meeting, they’ll have the shortest drive. 🙂
This month’s meeting is pretty special because it marks our 7th anniversary/birthday. That’s right, I’ve been running the Nashville Palm Users Group for 7 years now. Think that’s bad? I started the Kansas City Palm Users Group (now defunct) the year before that. So I guess you could say I’ve been “PUGgin'” for over 8 years now. 😛
I Need A Redesign
I was invited to attend the The Middle Tennessee Blogger and Podcaster’s Group Meeting, which was held yesterday in Smyrna at Espresso Joe’s. I wasn’t really prepared to talk and in doing a little song and dance on the spot, a reoccurring idea popped up again which got me to thinking.
I didn’t know that they were going to actually record a podcast at the meeting, but that’s exactly what they did. The format of their recording was a little off-the-cuff and I didn’t have anything really prepared, so when they passed the microphone to me, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Their podcast is centered around the cities of Smyrna and Laverne. Since I live in Antioch, I didn’t really have much to add. M. was kind enough to throw me a lifeline when she asked, “What have you been up to?”
I talked about the new podcast Simply Digital and then was reminded about NPUG and talked a little bit about that. There was a lot more that I could have talked about, but the conversation turned to something else, which was fine by me. I was happy to be off the hot seat.
Having A Hard Head Can Sometimes Pay Off
One of the things that I was most excited about when getting the MacBook, was the software GarageBand. Having a background in music, I was eager to begin playing with this digital multitrack recorder. I pictured myself laying down tracks for a new song that Holly just wrote, or to creating a new theme song for a podcast I’m working on. In fact, the first program I fired up after booting up the MacBook was GarageBand. 🙂 As much fun as GarageBand was, after using the software for a few minutes, it was clear that I was going to need a keyboard controller if I was going to get any real work done. Trying to use just the computer keyboard was not going to work.
As you might expect, since I’m both a musician and a geek, I already have three synthesizers in the garage. However, those keyboards are from “back in the day” and don’t have a USB interface. So the only was I can get data out of them is to use a USB MIDI Interface such as the MidiMan 2×2. That was going to set me back at least $50, so I decided to dig a little deeper and see if I could find something more suited to my needs.
Surprise! I’m A Keyboard Guy. Who Knew?
I always knew that I had a special fondness for keyboards. Just read my article on the IBM 101 and you’ll see what I mean. I’m very picky about the touch and feel of a keyboard. Maybe it stems from the fact that my first keyboard was a Commodore 64, and I’m just trying to re-create that experience. I don’t know. I just know what I like and don’t like and I just figured that I was particular about the feel of the keyboard and that was it. Well, since moving to the MacBook, I’ve learned that it goes deeper than that.
I gave up my beloved “Clacky” when making the switch from Windows to OS X. My old IBM keyboard isn’t a USB keyboard, although there is an adapter, and it doesn’t have the Apple key, so I made the decision to let her go. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but I opted for the Kensington SlimType Standard Keyboard for Mac, figuring that if I can’t get a buckling spring feel, I’d go for a laptop feel, which I also enjoy. I thought about getting the Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard, but no one has one in stock here in Nashville and I so dislike the Apple keyboard it resembles I was unwilling to make the $150 gamble.