Consider It Fixed

Creating My Private Music Cloud

I have a large collection of music.  It is diverse with many styles and artists.  A few years ago, I converted my CDs to digital format.  When I started to consume digital music, I vowed to only purchase music lacking draconian digital rights management after spending days converting the music that I purchased from Apples iTunes into MP3 format.  To me, it’s very infuriating to discover that the music I paid for won’t play on my new Android phone.  That’s just wrong.  Today, I have about 300GB of music.  It’s too much music for any phone or small portable player.  So, I looked to the cloud for a solution.

My first attempt at storing my music library in the cloud was with Amazon Cloud Player.  I assumed that if anyone could do this right, it would be the good folks at Amazon. I started with a 100GB subset of my music.  It took days to upload with several unfortunate starts and stops.  I ended up with several duplicates, a reorganized music library that I didn’t like and the potential ongoing cost of about $200 per year for the storage space.  My costs would go higher if I wanted to put my entire collection online.  I became frustrated with the weak functionality and high cost, and asked for a refund.

Next, I tested Google Music beta.  The upload process worked smoothly and the android player was very nice with many features lacking in the Amazon player.  But I was disappointed when I discovered that Google’s product would not play music in the FLAC (A free, open source codec for lossless audio compression and decompression) format.  Further, the cost of the service remains unknown.  Free for now, but what will it be in the future.  I don’t like unknowns that cost money.

I considered my remaining options:

Dropbox - I already have a 100GB plan for $200 a year with Dropbox.  I don’t want to spend more money to store my music.  It would be too expensive.

Pogoplug – I could use Pogoplug software and my own storage.  I tried it and found it’s music player to be primitive at best.  I didn’t love it and found it somewhat odd.

With my options narrowing I started to look at how I could create my own cloud.  I searched solutions that would offer mature players and offer multi-platform support.  It was then that I discovered Subsonic at www.subsonic.org.  I downloaded it’s software to one of my PCs hosting a large storage array for my media.  Within 30 minutes, I was up and running with my own private cloud hosting my entire music collection at a total cost of a $10 donation.  Subsonic offered browser, iPhone, and Android players.  Subsonic offered user accounts for controlled access.  Subsonic allowed me to download songs to local devices.  Adding new music was as simple as copying songs to my music directory.  Can you feel the love?

Subsonic is developed by Sindre Mehus, a Java consultant who lives in Oslo, Norway.  According to his website, “Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work.  You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.

Subsonic is designed to handle very large music collections (hundreds of gigabytes). Although optimized for MP3 streaming, it works for any audio or video format that can stream over HTTP, for  instance AAC and OGG. By using transcoder plug-ins, Subsonic supports on-the-fly conversion and streaming of virtually any audio format, including WMA, FLAC, APE, Musepack, WavPack and Shorten.

If you have constrained bandwidth, you may set an upper limit for the bitrate of the music streams. Subsonic will then automatically resample the music to a suitable bitrate.

In addition to being a streaming media server, Subsonic works very well as a local jukebox. The intuitive web interface, as well as search and index facilities, are optimized for efficient browsing through large media libraries. Subsonic also comes with an integrated Podcast receiver, with many of the same features as you find in iTunes.

Based on Java technology, Subsonic runs on most platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix variants.

Subsonic is open-source software licensed under GLP.”

 

Subsonic is a home run for me.  What about you?

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Problem Solved: My iPhone Skips Songs When I Ride My Bike

I've been on a quest to find a product that will let me safely listen to music when I ride my bike.  The operating word here is safely.  Headphones don't cut it as they block the ear canal.  So, you can't hear what's going on around you.  Another solution I've considered is mounting speakers on the handlebars.  But they require batteries and add weight to the bike.  I've looked at a number of possible speakers, but nothing resonated with me.  As I continued to look, I became aware of a new product called the Tunebug Shake by Silicon Valley Global LLC. The Shake is a very cool product - it uses SurfaceSound speaker technology making a helmet into a speaker and bluetooth for a wireless connection between it and the music player. The Shake just started shipping in June.  So, I ordered one.

Silicon Valley Global describes the Shake as:

"Mobile music typically means listening through headphones, dangerously isolating yourself from others and your environment. The Tunebug Shake is an ultra-portable sound generator that can be connected to iPods, MP3 players or mobile phones or used wirelessly using Bluetooth®. When mounted on a bike, skate or snowboard helmet, the Shake creates a surround sound experience."

I received my Shake, charged it up, and fitted it to my bike helmet.  I tried it with my iPhone 3G.  The bluetooth setup with straight forward and worked the first time.  I turned on iPod and listened to music.  I did the same with Pandora.  I tried connecting the Shake with a stereo cable.  The music sounded fuller and louder.  I'm a bit hard of hearing.  So, having good volume is helpful to me. 

I have an iPhone holder on my bike.  So, I mounted the iPhone, connected the Shake, and went for a ride.  Everything started off great.  I now had music that I could hear well and still be totally aware of all of the sounds around me.  Unfortunately, that didn't last long.  As I continued to ride, the iPod application started to randomly change songs on me.  I have never had this problem before with my iPhone and a number of different headphones and speakers. 

I fiddled with the wiring, the controls, the iPhone, the Shake, restarted the iPhone, read through the Shake documentation, and looked at the support area on the Tunebug website.  Unfortunately, I didn't find anything that could explain the random song changing.  Could it be a faulty Shake?  Could it be interfance from my wireless bike computer?  Could it be a bad cable?  I tested everything and found no solution.  But I did notice one thing - when my bike was stationary, the iPhone didn't skip songs. It only skipped songs when I was riding.

In growing frustration, I called Tunebug support.  My call was answered immediately.  They took my information and told me that I would be contacted in short order.  The folks at Tunebug were very responsive, but since the device is new and hasn't been exposed to all user scenarios, they didn't have a fix.  I agreed to do some more testing and they agreed to discuss the problem with engineering.  That was yesterday.

Today, I got an email from Tunebug.  They told me that they have had other reports of this problem with iPhone and iTouch.  And better, they provided a simple fix.  This is the version of the fix for an iPhone:

1. Open Settings
2. Select iPod
3. In the iPod setting, turn off "Shake to Shuffle"

This sure did make me laugh.  I had no idea that this feature was available and set to on by default.  I think that it's even funnier since the name of the feature is the same as the name of the Tunebug product.

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Managing Your Medications with an Internet Calendar and a Smart Phone

I was recently diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.  Lucky me – I live in central Connecticut – the epicenter for Lyme disease.  My treatment consists of a significant regiment of medications and supplements that I take 3 to 4 times a day.  To make matters a bit more complex, these medications and supplements may be changed, added, and subtracted as my treatment progresses.  Initially, I was very overwhelmed as I tried to organize and manage my treatment.  As a technologist, my predisposition was to find a simple solution to manage this complex task.  Simply put, I needed to be reminded of what I need to take at the time that I need to take it.

I live in a world where I have easy access to computers, online calendars, and smart phones.  I currently use these tools to manage my personal and business life - much of which centers on my calendar.  So, I set out to adapt these same tools to my medication/supplement challenge.  I was easily able to create a working solution using my preferred tool: Microsoft Outlook, Apple iCal, Microsoft Exchange Server, and an Apple iPhone.  However, this solution can be easily created using many other popular software tools found on PCs, Macs, and the Internet.  Several free calendars are available from Google, Yahoo, Windows Live, and others that can readily synchronize with a number of popular smart phones.  As well, not everyone needs to use a smartphone.  For many, just using an online calendar with reminders will be a significant enough improvement. 

Setting up the Calendar

While it’s not well known, most calendar programs support the idea of using multiple calendars.  For example, you can have a personal calendar, business calendar, and in this case, a medication calendar.  Several  calendar programs also allow you to have a calendar with others.  In a business, this may be useful for booking a meeting room.  A family may use a shared calendar to manage everyones' summer schedule.  I suggest using a separate calendar from the one that you may already be using for your personal and/or business information.  In my case, I added a new calendar in Microsoft Outlook that is called Ian’s Medication Calendar.

Let’s say that you need to take 6 medications in the morning, 4 at noon, 5 at dinner, and 8 before bed.  To start, create an appointment in your medication calendar on whatever day is currently is.  For the title of the appointment, input the names of your 6 morning medications and their dosages, or as I do, the number of each pill that I take.  I list them all separated by commas.  Let’s say that you need to take these medications around 8 in the morning.  So, set an appointment time at 8am and give the appointment a length of 2 hours.  The reason for the 2 hour duration is so you have a large enough appointment block available to show the entire list of medications.  Next, set the appointment as reoccurring (or repeating) for as long as you will be taking this mediation.  If it’s open ended, simply set the end date for sometime in the future.  I typically set mine for around 6 weeks as I see my doctor around every 6 weeks.  Most calendar programs have the option to select that days that the appointment repeats on – everyday, every other day, selected days, etc.  This is very useful if you need to take one medication on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays rather than every day of the week.  The last step is to create a reminder for the appointment so that you will be notified when it’s time to take your medication.  The final step is to repeat this process so that all of your medications and schedule times are listed throughout the day and by using repeating settings for as long as you need.  You now have a calendar listing all of your medications, the times that they need to be taken, and a reminder system.  You can use your computer or simply print out your calendar in a weekly view to have a schedule that you can carry with you.  As your medications and supplements change, you can simply change the appointment title and repeating information as needed.

Figure 1 is a screen shot of my medication calendar in Microsoft Outlook.

Figure 1

Figure 2 is a screen shot of my appointment settings for my morning medications in Microsoft Outlook.  You can see my medication/supplement list in the Subject field.

Figure 2

Figure 3 is a screen shot of my appointment reoccurrence settings for my morning medications in Microsoft Outlook.  Here I can set the length of the appointment so that it displays correctly and I can set the reoccurrence to daily and for 6 weeks long.

Figure 3

Integrating the Calendar with a Smart Phone

If you’re like me, you may be out and about during the day, and need to be reminded to take your medications.  If your calendar is based on a calendar on web, it is often easy to add it to your smart phone.  I use Microsoft Exchange Server with Microsoft Outlook to do this.  As I mentioned earlier, many Internet-based calendars can easily synchronize with popular smart phones.  If you don’t know how to setup this part, many Internet calendars provide help and instructions or you may want to contact your smart phone vendor for technical assistance.  Since I already had my calendar integrated with my smart phone, my new medication calendar magically showed up on my iPhone as soon as I created it. 

Figure 4 shows my 2 calendars on my iPhone.

Figure 4

Figure 5 shows Ian’s Medication Calendar on my iPhone.

Figure 5

Figure 6 shows my business calendar on my iPhone.

Figure 6

Figure 7 shows my Medication Calendar and Business Calendar overlapping on my iPhone.

Figure 7

In closing, I offer to you a simple solution to a somewhat daunting task.  My approach is one that uses widely available computer-based tools.  You can even take this approach further.  As some of you may know, several technology companies are working on tools to help manage our medical information.  I'm referring to significant companies like Microsoft and Google.  Image if your doctor had access to your medication calendar.  During your office visit, your doctor could update your calendar so any changes would be available immediately.  By doing this, we could reduce mistakes, create excellent records of medication changes and everyone would benefit.

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Boxee: Media PC Done RIght

I enjoy my media center and large high definition TV.  Since it is connected to the Internet, I have spent hours combing the web, exploring numerous sites offering movies, videos, TV shows, and other media products.  I really got hooked on Internet connected media when I discovered that I could watch all 5 seasons of Lost from beginning to end thanks to Hulu.

My explorations have forced me to learn about and/or install several different media players.  You see, there is no standard for this type of Internet-based content.  It’s another Wild, Wild, West Internet adventure.  Microsoft’s media center is OK for some things, but without significant customization is can’t play several types of media files.  Nor, can it easily play content from sites like Hulu and ABC.  The story goes on like this for nearly ever product that I tested.  They do some things well, but there focus is narrow and self-serving.

This all changed when I learned about and installed Boxee.  Boxee describes itself as: 

“Boxee is the first "social" media center, whose free, open source, downloadable software is changing the way consumers experience media.

On a computer or connected to an HDTV, Boxee gives people a truly connected digital entertainment experience to enjoy movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Netflix, MLB.TV, Comedy Central, Pandora, Last.fm, and flickr. Not only that, but you can share information about what you’re watching with friends so they can find it legally and enjoy it too. You can even post things you like to social networks like Twitter, Last.FM, or Tumblr. All this from within a visually driven interface that makes media come to life.”

According to its website, the idea for Boxee was born when founding friends Avner, Gidon, Idan, Tom, and Roee, came up with the idea for boxee in 2004 when they began using Xbox Media Center, open source software for the original Xbox that allowed people to play digital media on their TVs. They became members of XBMC’s open source community and in 2007 imagined a way to take the platform even further. Since 2007, Mr. Ronen and a team of 11 others have worked to extend the base code for XBMC with online sources like hulu and Netflix as well as social networking in Boxee.

Today, Boxee is available for Windows, OS X, Linux, and Apple TV.  In the near future, Boxee will be available on its own dedicated setup top box via a partnership with D-Link and others will follow.
 

 

 

 

 

Here is why I like Boxee:

1. It supports all of the platforms that I use including Windows, Apple and Linux.
2. It plays nearly every media file type that ask it to.  I now longer have to comb the Internet looking for codecs, players, and converter.
3. It provides a consistent interface to media content from a number of sources. It's open and not married to it’s own content.  I think of it as a media aggregator.
4. It has the best user interface and user experience, bar none, of any media player available.  Setup is simple.  Basically, you can install it and go.  There are some simple options that can be used to customize Boxee.  But they are easy to navigate and understand.
5. It works with a number of media controllers without the need to train, installing additional software and the like.  I use it with a Logitech Harmony One remote control and a wireless keyboard.  Neither control required any special setup.
6. Boxee has a great remote control app for the iPhone.  I installed it and it worked on the first try.
7. I can use Boxee to find a wide variety of different media content from a large number of source on the Internet.  This is done through its search capabilities and connections to popular social media sites.

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Consider It Fixed: Top Tech Picks

Are You Listening Ralph de la Vega?

I fell off my chair yesterday when the local AT&T Retail Sales Manager told me how much it would cost to setup my client's new firm with iPhones.  AT&T wants, in addition to the cost of the iPhones and setup fees, a $1000 dollar security deposit for each line.  Better yet, they want to hold the security deposit for 1 year to insure that they get paid.  My client needs 7 iPhones and 3 international data cards.  The deposit would be $10,000!

My client is a law firm.  They've been in business for a while as a branch of another firm.  But they are now going out on their own.  So, they have a new name and a new tax ID.  They have a bunch of clients, uniquely specialized skills and revenue.  But they have no business history and no record of financial stability. In my view, that's just the way it is for a new business.  This gets to the question - Is AT&T interested in attracting new businesses as customers?  In this case, AT&T is very anti-new business as it's looking no further than 'new tax ID requires a large deposit'.

Most companies, particularly in our current state of economic recession, are willing to bend over backwards to acquire new customers.  The local AT&T Retail Sales Manager is very motivated to get my client's business and he's been very responsive.  He's pushed this harebrained decision as high up the ladder as he can.  But, it seems like his hands are tied.  If it weren't for the iPhone, there is no question that we'd be doing business with Verizon or Sprint.  I wonder - would Lowell C. McAdam, CEO of Verizon Wireless let this happen?  What about Dan Hesse, Sprint's CEO, would he let this happen?  Would he give up a new and profitable account with this firm's potential.  Ralph de la Vega is AT&T Mobility's CEO.  I wonder if he's listening?  Oh, but wait, the story gets better.

Is this where you want to bring your business?

Almost anyone can walk into an AT&T retail store and purchase 5 iPhones on a family plan.  I mean almost anyone.  The credit check is brief, vague at best.  All you need is a credit card.  If my client really wants iPhones, they can have one partner purchase 5 and another partner purchase the others until the firm has been in business long enough to satisfy AT&T's inane policy.  So, why is AT&T's small business team being so shortsighted and unwilling to support new businesses?  Ralph, are you listening?  I don't get it.  Do you? 

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Cloud Computing: Moving into the Cloud

For many years, I seek the best computing environment that I can find.  I used to think that it was a big, fat laptop.  Next, I thought that it was a tablet PC.  Then, I became convinced it was an Apple.  But today, I've changed.  I no longer need the latest and greatest computer.  In any given day, I may use 2, 3 or more computers - a Apple laptop, a PC desktop, an iPhone, or my media center connected to a 52 HDTV.  What's become my central need is easy and full access to my data no matter what device I'm using.  I need applications that store data on the web and can be accessed equally well from a PC, Apple,  iPhone, or a web browser.  The good news is that many software developers understand this and are building applications that can live in the Cloud.  As of today, I am using 5 applications that live in the Cloud that I can't live without.

The Cloud, according to Wikipedia is:

"Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet.  Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.

The concept incorporates infrastructure as a service, platform as a service and software as a service as well as Web 2.0 and other recent technology trends that have the common theme of reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Examples of software as a service vendors include Salesforce.com and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals."

Here are my top application picks:

Microsoft Exchange.  My use of the Cloud began many years ago after I left Microsoft in the late 1990's.  I registered my first domain name and set up a hosted Microsoft Exchange account.  With ease, I could get access to my email, calendar, contacts from multiple PCs, web browser, and Windows Mobile smartphone.  Any change to my data made on any device was synchronized on the server.  So, I was always working on current data no matter how I was accessing it.  Since that early time, Exchange has evolved to include Apple via Entourage and iPhone, and Linux via Evolution.  Using hosted Exchange was my first experience at putting my data on somebody else's server and trusting that they will manage it well.  In retrospect, I made a smart decision picking Mailstreet as my hosted Exchange provider. Mailstreet is now owned by Apptix (www.apptix.com).  I am still with them today.

LassPass (www.lastpass.com).  I have used Roboform on my PCs and 1Password on my Apple to manage my passwords and web form filling.  I used to use some local synchronization software to copy Roboform's data across my various computers.  It was a clever approach and it worked, but it was a bit heavy handed and didn't work at all across platforms.  Synchronization, in its early days was rather dangerous.  One bad move could create data duplication or loss.  I recently learned about LassPass from one of my readers, ran a trial, and quickly migrated to it on all of my computers.  It's cross platform (although I'm still waiting on the iPhone client) and manages my passwords, data scraps, and form filling.  Any change made on any computer is synchronized and stored on its servers.  It works great and I highly recommend it.

Foxmarks (www.foxmarks.com).  Foxmarks began as a tool to synchronize bookmarks across several computers as long as you use Firefox.  It has evolved and is now supporting Internet Explorer, Safari, and web access.  More recently it started the process of changing it's name to Xmarks as it's no longer a Firefox only utility.  It is just too sweet to open up a browser on any of my computers and have access to all of my bookmarks.  If I'm not at my PC, I can access my bookmarks from the web or my iPhone.  If you're like me and have hundreds of bookmarks, this is a killer app.  It works reliably, it's free, and comes with my personal recommendation.

Dropbox (www.mydropbox.com).  Dropbox is virtual and synchronized storage for PCs, Apples, and the web.  Put a file in it, change it on one computer and it's updated and available to all of your computers.  Put a file in it and you can share it with others.  I put a video file in it and my daughter who's away at college can have access to it.  She can even play the file directly from the Dropbox via a web browser.  I use Dropbox daily to make my data available across my computers - accounting data, spreadsheets, documents that I'm working on and other stuff that I just always need access too.   Because it's in the Cloud, my data is safe and always backed up.  You can setup a trial account for free with 2GB of storage.

Evernote (www.evernote.com).  Evernote is the latest addition to my Cloud.  I used to keep my client information in Microsoft Onenote.  Then I move to Apple and started to use NoteTaker.  In both cases, the data was not portable.  So, I had to manually migrate it to my most popular platform of the month.  As you can imagine - quite a pain.  Enter Evernote - it's a cross platform, note creation and management program.  It runs on the PC, Apple, web, and iPhone.  No matter where I am, I have access to my client records.  Each note is a container that can hold text, graphics, and data files.  It's simple to setup and easy to use and it just works.  Evernote has a free version that is quite capable.  So, you can give it a try for free.

Cloud computing is here to stay.  It's a significant move from PC-centric computing to data-centric computing.  The idea is to not worry about your data, but to simply have flexible and easy access to it.  An added benefit of the Cloud, is that a crashed hard drive doesn't need to be such a big deal anymore.  Your data is safely living in the Cloud, not vulnerable to hardware failure and the sometimes doubtful success of your last backup.  If my computer doesn't work, I just go to another without missing a beat.  Can you do that?

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Is LastPass the Last Password Manager that I Will Ever Need?

I have been using a password manager for a long time.  My first was Roboform on the PC.  When I moved to the Mac, it was 1Password.  Both password management programs are excellent.  In fact, many would say 'best in class'.  But, and this is a big BUT, neither program is cross-platform.  By my viewpoint, that is unacceptable today. 

In an effort to find a strong, cross-platform solution, I turned to my blog and wrote, Password Managers with Cross Platform Support: Where Are They?  The next day, a reader commented, "LastPass.com is what you are looking for."  So, went to check it out.  I now use it on all of my computers including Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu.

Screen shot of LastPass Vault

Screen shot of LastPass site sidebar in FireFox OS X

The program has a wide range of capabilities, but it is well constructed and installs easily so you don't need to be a nerd to use it.  It works in IE and Firefox browsers.  It synchronizes information between machines and my LastPass Vault is available to any computer on the Internet.  It recognizes webpage logins, autofils forms, manages scraps of data, displays logins effectively as a sidebar in the browser, and much, much more.  If you are looking for a better way to manage your passwords and fill forms, LastPass may be it.  You can check it out here: lastpass.com

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Microsoft Windows 7: Vista 2.0

Before you read on, you need to understand that I spent the best years of my career life working for Microsoft.  I started evangelizing Windows to corporate America in 1989.  I lived, breathed and knew everything about Microsoft Windows.  I recently began evaluating Microsoft Windows 7 in a most unorthodox way.  I'm evaluating it on a MacBook Pro.  Oh, shame on me!

Here is what I did.  I started a virtual machine (VM) running Windows XP on my Macbook Pro.  I opened Internet Explorer, connected to the Windows 7 download page and downloaded the WIndows 7 image file (ISO) to my desktop.  Next, I opened up Parallels Desktop for Mac version 4 (build 4.0.3810) and setup a new VM using the Parallels profile called 'Windows 7 (experimental)'.  I simply pointed the VM wizard at the ISO file, allocated 2GB of RAM and 32GB of hard drive space, and that was it.  Installation completed without a problem, I restarted the VM, installed Parallel Tools, restarted the VM, and Windows 7.0 came to life in a Window on my Mac desktop.

First impressions are very important.  People adopt or abandon products based on this.  My first impression of Windows 7 was that it looked an awful lot like Windows Vista.  The only immediately noticeable difference was in the look of the Windows Taskbar.  Windows 7 looked good, ran very responsively, and I immediately noticed that it didn't appear to suffer from the lag in performance that Windows Vista did under Parallels.  I do have Windows Vista installed on my Mac, but I rarely use it because I think that the performance is poor.  I use Windows XP under Parallels, because it runs much better and lets me run the same Windows applications as Windows Vista.  So, it's sort of a 'no brainer' to select Windows XP over Vista.  I played around with Windows 7 for a couple of hours, installed Kaspersky's virus protection, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Money.  All went smoothly and I continued to like what I saw.  The performance combined with the user interface refinements looked good.  You could sort of say that Windows 7 is really Windows Vista 2.  Too bad that Microsoft seems to want to forget Windows Vista.

Next, I started to test some of the settings in Parallels to see how Windows 7 would integrate in the Mac environment.  Parallels offers a few different way to run VMs.  They are referred to as Coherence, Full Screen, Window, and Modality.  I typically use everything by Modality as I still haven't figured out what it's for.  Running Windows 7 under Coherence really caught my attention.  Coherence runs Windows applications in individual windows on the Mac desktop.  It's pretty cool.  But in previous builds of Parallels, there was a rather awkward Windows menu bar that hovered just above the Mac Dock bar.  It was odd and didn't look too good.  In the new build of Parallels, the Windows Taskbar is hidden by default.  So, you start with a very clean,  highly integrated look.  To access the Windows menu system, you can simply click on the Parallels icon or the icon for any of the Windows applications that are running.  I found this to be very cool and totally enjoyed the level of integration and performance that I was seeing.  I found myself marveling at the combined level of integration between the 2 operating systems.  It looks like the computing world will have something very nice to use from Microsoft by the end of this year.  Running it on a Mac makes it even better as you can choose the best of class applications from both worlds.

This image shows Windows 7 running in coherence mode under Parallels running Internet Explorer beside Apple Safari with a Windows Gadget sitting on the desktop.

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Password Managers with Cross Platform Support: Where Are They?

It not new news that computer users have too many passwords, key codes, and bits and pieces of important information.  To complicate matters, we often have more than one computer.  Any many of us have computers running Windows, OS X, and increasingly Linux.   My current count includes 266 logins, 104 notes, 3 credit cards, and 2 different profiles.  I could never keep this information organized and safe without a software utility that manages this stuff.  This category of software utility is often called a password manager.  But that's actually a misnomer.  This type of software does much more than just manage passwords.  It manages and auto fills usernames and passwords; fills in web page forms; keeps bits and pieces of useful information; generates secure passwords; and maintains electric wallets.  The good news is that there is a small number of reasonably priced products available that do this well.  Many are now expanding their offerings to include web interfaces and one way support for mobile platforms like Windows Mobile, Palm and iPhone.

My two favorite products are 1Password for OS X and Roboform for Windows.  I use both daily and don't know what I would do without them.  The are well designed, reliable and mature, and do the job well.  But there is one thing that they don't do at all that is starting to make me crazy - neither product offers any type of reasonable cross platform support and synchronization.  1Password does offer very broad support to import password data from a large number of competing products.  Roboform does this too, but is more limited.

This is very useful when you are evaluating their software.  You can get up to speed quickly as you don't have too much information to re-key.  Also, both products offer good ways to synchronize data between multiple computers of the same platform.  And both products offer one way synchronization to popular mobile platforms.  But neither product offers synchronization between Windows and OS X.  This is what I need desperately.  I've been combing the Internet looking for a good solution and I can't find one.  So, I'm asking - Does anyone know of a good password/form filler/data scrap manager that is as good as 1Password or Roboform that is cross platform?  If so, please tell me.  I know there are many of us out there looking for a solution.

Please post a comment if this has been helpful to you.

Contact Info: info@consideritfixed.com

iPod Touch Email Settings for Comcast

A friend recently told me that she was very frustrated.  She'd been unsuccessful with setting up her new iPod Touch to get email from her Comcast account.  She tried to set it up. It didn't work.  She went to the Apple store.  The Genius couldn't get it to work.  She called Comcast.  Their tech support couldn't get it to work.  And so on.  All told, she spent about 4 hours trying to get it to work and failed.  I like a challenge, so I told her that I would take a look into it.  I came up with 3 working solutions.   

The first is to setup the Touch's mail app to receive email. This solution is detailed below.  The second it to use the new Comcast  micro browser portal.  Any device that has a WAP 2.0 browser and a link to the world wide web can navigate to this new portal which can be found at http://m.comcast.net.  The third is to forward Comcast's email to another email service, like Gmail, which the Touch is pre-configured to receive.  Comcast allows you to permanently forward email for any of its email accounts.

Here are the setting to set up Comcast email in the iPod Touch email application.

Select Settings, Mail, Add Account, Other as in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Select POP as the mail server.  Put your information in as shown in Figure 2.  Make sure that you type in your correct password.  If you are not absolutely certain of your password, you can reset it on http://www.comcast.net.  Once your settings are in, click on Save at the top of the display.  The email app will try to verify your settings and we return to the setting screen.  This may take a while so be patient.

Figure 2

Now you will need to configure the Advanced settings.  Select Mail from the Settings menu. Select the Comcast account under the Accounts section.  Select the Advanced option toward the bottom of the screen as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Configure your setting as shown in Figure 4.  Make sure that you change the outgoing Server Port to 465.  Save these settings.  Go back to home and launch the mail app.  It may take a while for mail to download and setup on your Touch.  This will be dependent on the amount of email that you have stored on the Comcast server.  Now you can consider it fixed.

Figure 4

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Update: Microsoft Entourage 2008

I’ve been using Microsoft Entourage 2008 for 13 days.  Initially, I was disappointed with its lack of key Exchange support over the 2004 release.  I don’t know what you need.  But I need task and note synchronization with Exchange server.   When I purchased Mac Office 2008 and discovered its limited Exchange support, I got pretty upset.

In my view, Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit (MacBU) has been very evasive about Exchange support in Entourage 2008.  During development, they fed us bits and pieces about Entourage, but were pretty mum about Exchange support.  How many years has it been since the last release of Office – humm…4?  Wouldn’t you think that they’d listen and release 2008 with Exchange support on parity with Outlook?  The answer that I found is no.  To add more salt to this wound – the MacBU is charging extra money for Office with Entourage over its 2004 packaging.   Right after Mac Office 2008’s release, a lot of users made the same discovery that I did and many were pissed off.

I went looking in the Mac user forums for some explanation, some information on how I could get task and note sync.  Brave Andy Ruff, Microsoft’s MacBU Lead Program Manager for Entourage, has been active in the forums.   I sent him an email voicing my concerns hoping that Microsoft would come clean and explain itself.  You know – why didn’t you do what everyone was asking for?  Brave Andy answered my email and gave an explanation.  Now, you may not know it, but I used to work for Microsoft when most people considered it a very cool company.  So, I can understand Andy’s reply.   Here’s our dialog:  

Ian: “I'm looking for task and notes sync with Exchange - like all Mac/Exchange users.  It's really frustrating to wait for release to find out that it's not included in Entourage 2008.  The MacBU has been incredibly vague about Exchange support.  From my viewpoint, and as an ex-MSFT employee, you guys really missed the mark with this release.  Full exchange support should have been on the top of the list.  At least, help us better understand why we don't have it now, and if we can ever expect it.”

Andy: “I agree that these are top demands from customers and we do intend to deliver them to the product.  As I stated on the forums, we’ve added dozens of new Exchange features to Entourage in the last few years as regular, free updates to the product.  We had a quality and reliability issue as a result of adding so much to the app.  For 2008, we stepped-back and focused on solidifying the app, making things work as you’d expect, so that, in future releases, what you get is reliable.  While we could have checked-off more features in a list, we want to bring the functionality in a way that truly works.”

Ian: “Thanks for the reply.  I understand that you are balancing many priorities with Entourage.  But, I find myself saying, “yes, but.”

“As a Windows, Windows Mobile, Exchange and Mac user, I feel that my Exchange data (tasks 1st, notes a distant second) is land-locked on the Windows platform. Entourage is the only reasonable client for Mac/Exchange integration.  So, how do I get my tasks sync’d across all of my devices and PCs?  I was hoping that you’d do it for me.  You didn’t.  Like many users, I’ve been waiting a long time to get this fixed.”

“The missing info is - how much longer do I have to wait to get parity with Outlook in terms of sync services (read that as tasks 1st, notes whenever)?  Can you offer any guidance?  A lot of us want to know.”
Andy: “Totally understand the “yes, but.”  I’d love to knock-off that last part and just make it, “yes!” and that’s pretty much our primary goal.  You will see the results of our work, just this wasn’t the time yet.  We’re not sharing the timeframe right now, but we will in the future.”

So, that’s that and we can expect improved Exchange support at sometime in the future.  Humm…am I any happier now?  To be honest, a bit.  The new Entourage client is very nice.  It looks good and works very well.  Its interface is clean.  Its performance is good.  Its searches are fast.  I do miss the drag and drop capabilities that I take for granted in Outlook.  But it’s so greatly improved over the 2004 release.  Now, MacBU, please, please, please…get us task and note sync as soon as you can.

Please post a comment if this has been helpful to you.

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Entourage 2008 - Microsoft’s MAC Business Unit Better Be Listening

I recently pitched my everyday PC for a Mac.  I would prefer to use a Mac-based Exchange client, but I can’t find one that does what I need – mail, calendar, tasks, and notes.  Here are the options that I’ve been able to come up with:

• Coble together a Mac app solution.  You can coble together Mac Mail, iCal, .Mac, and Snerdware’s Groupcal. But this solution is dependent on 2 pieces of software to sync the calendar and task data, and notes remain landlocked on the Exchange server.  To inflame matters more, Leopard (OS X 10.5) has broken Groupcal and Snerdware predicts a fix in Q1 2008. 
• Use Entourage 2004.  Use Entourage 2004 and accept that your existing tasks and notes are landlocked on your Exchange server and your new tasks and notes are landlocked in the Mac world.
• Go Mac only.  Forget about that for me and thousands of other users.
• Run Outlook under Parallels or VMware.  It’s a reliable solution if you can wait for everything to load.  OS X loads so much faster than Windows.  With this solution, you have to wait really long for everything to load, but it's what I'm doing for now while I wait for a better solution.

I figured that Microsoft would fix Entourage in Office 2008 and make it as good an Exchange client as Outlook.  It’s very interesting though – Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit has been extremely quiet about Entourage 2008.  So, I set out to learn what I could about it.  Public information is sparse.  We know that it will be better and have OOFs.  That’s about it.  So, I got hold of a beta of Office 2008 that was released in late September 2008.  I figured that I would only see good news and full Exchange support.  I was completely shocked to learn that it was only a marginally better Exchange client than Entourage 2004.  It now has Exchange support for tasks created when setting a flag on an email message.  Big freakin' deal! 

The Internet is littered with blog and forum entries complaining about the poor support for Exchange offered in Entourage 2004.   So, why isn’t Microsoft telling us that they have fixed this glaring problem?  Beats me!

If anyone reading this post knows something more about this, please let me know.  Also, if anyone knows of a reasonable solution to get full Exchange functionality in a Mac client, let me know.  I sure hope that the Mac Business Unit is paying attention.

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I’m a Believer – Apple’s Airport Extreme is Very Good

Recently, I added a MacBook Pro to my home - all PC - network.  I had setup the network using a wireless router and an old Windows XP PC as a print server to share a Canon MP780 multifunction printer.  After setting up the Mac, I tried to get it to print to the shared printer.  I followed the tech note that I found on the Apple support site.  I couldn’t get it to work.  I searched the net and found a bunch of suggestions.  Some didn’t work.  Some were ridiculously complex.  All said and tried, I couldn’t get the Mac to print on my Windows network. 

So, I decided to take a different approach and consider using a wireless print server.  I looked at the product offerings from the key network hardware players.  I was genuinely surprised that I couldn’t find a PC and Mac compatible solution that would support a multifunction printer.  I started to think that it would be far easier and less expensive to purchase another printer to connect to the Mac.  That was a good and bad solution - I don’t  need another printer, nor do I have space for it. 

So, I decided to take a different approach and consider using a wireless router with USB printer support.  Again I looked to the key network hardware players.  Again, I couldn’t find a solution that would support both PCs and Macs and multifunction printers.  I then looked at the Apple Airport Extreme.  The Apple site says, “The same USB port does double duty by letting you share a printer throughout the network.”  This sounded too simple, so I set off looking for a printer compatibility list.  I couldn’t find one on the Apple website.  I headed over to the local Apple store and ask about printer compatibility.  After a bit of confusion, I was told that the Airport works well with most Canon printers and that I have 14 days to return the Airport should it not work.  So, I paid double what I’d pay for any other wireless router and headed home with another Apple product. 

Setup was simple and quick.  I configured the Airport from my Mac.  I setup the router, then the printer.  It worked first try.  Next I setup the PCs.  All I had to do was install Bonjour for Windows on the PCs and run the Bonjour Printer Wizard.  I setup 4 PCs – each saw the printer first try and printed without a problem!  In fact, on of the PCs is a Parallels virtual machine running on my MacBook Pro.

I setup PCs and networks for a living.  Usually, there are a number of problems I encounter with each network and I have some insider magic that I do to get things working.  This wasn’t the case here at all.  The Airport works as advertised – setup is a breeze and its performance and range so far has been fine.  I suspect that I’ll be recommending the Airport Extreme to my clients with a mixed PC/Mac environments going forward.

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Carbonite - Good Backup Cheap

Backup is something that you do after you lose your data. It's the truth. Your Mother can't teach you about backup. You simply learn about it after you crash, or delete, or overwrite. And it hurts.

Every week, I get a call from some freaked out user. The common complaint, "I turned off my  computer last night. This morning I turned it on and it says something about not being able to find the operating system. Does this mean that I've lost my files?"

It's important to understand that hard drives crash. They are mechanical devices that are measured in an honest statistic call mean time between failures (MTBF). It's not mean time between successes. While the MTBF continues to increase with the release of new hard drives, which is good, in any production run of hard drives, some are going to last 5 seconds and others will last 10 years. So, which one did you purchase?

Enter the need for backup. There is a program available that will automatically backup the data on your hard drive over the Internet. It simply works reliably, and get this, you can get unlimited data storage space for $49.95 a year. Now you have to trust me on this – I've tried nearly all of the Internet-based backup systems available. If you have a large amount of data as I do, they cost a lot, and don't work well. The secret to successful Internet-based backup is to be able to first make a complete backup of all data and then backup only changed or new data. If you try to do this with a large amount of data, most of these programs fail miserably. Some companies even resort to suggesting that you send your data to them on an external hard drive to create the initial backup. Humm… doesn't sound like the Internet-based services that I want.

The program that I am talking about is called Carbonite - www.carbonite.com.  Check it out.  You will be impressed.  Now you can Consider It Fixed!

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