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About this siteFor six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul Saturday, June 07, 2003Tungsten T|2?Since I just bought one, it's obvious that Palm would be prepping a sequel to the Tungsten T handheld. Dubbed the T|2, the new version will allegedly include 32 MB RAM (compared to 16 in the current version), a transflective LCD screen (compared to reflective), Palm OS 5.2 (compared to 5.0), Grafiti 2, and a slightly lighter gray case. [ Posted at 7:10 PM | Permalink ] Access Terminal Server from Linux Check out this awesome looking TS client for Linux. [ Posted at 12:40 AM | Permalink ] Questions If people are really "switching" from Windows to Mac OS X, then why is the number one downloaded file on support.apple.com "Networking with a Windows Compatible PC"? On a related note, why are Mac OS 9.1, 9.2.1, and 8.6 the number one, two, and four downloads, respectively, on apple.com? After all, everyone is switching to Mac OS X, right? And if the Mac is so damn stable, then why are the number two and three documents, respectively, "Common System Error Messages" and "Mac OS System Error Codes"? Seriously. I'm just curious. [ Posted at 12:23 AM | Permalink ] iSync 1.1 woes? I've read that some people are having problems with iSync 1.1 deleting data and just not working in general, but I've had so such problems on either computer, and with a variety of devices and services (iPod, Tungsten, Safari sync and .Mac). This weekend I'm going to upgrade to a Motorola phone that supports iSync as well, but that's besides the point ... So I headed over to the .Mac discussion forums to see what's up. Basically, it seems like most of the problems were caused by people not downloading the latest iSync conduit for the Palm OS. Whatever it is, I'm not having problems, and that's gotta be a first. [ Posted at 12:17 AM | Permalink ] .Mac email woes When I got back from Germany, I noticed I couldn't send email from my .Mac account, either from the iMac or the iBook. After a little investigation (I was suspicious of .Mac at first), I discovered why: RCN stopped port 25 forwarding for security reasons (As MSN did long ago). Then today I noticed email wasn't coming in very quickly, as I sometimes use .Mac mail as a low-pain way to transfer files. Then I found this message on the .Mac status page: "June 06, 2003 - Due to a high volume of incoming mail, there is currently a delay in the delivery of messages sent to .Mac members. The mail is being processed and will be delivered as quickly as possible. No mail will be lost." Lovely. At least I handled this trauma better than crotchety old fart Jerry Pournelle did when he couldn't send email from the press room at WinHEC (cue "cuckoo" sound). I really need to record that guy in action some time. It's truly hilarious watching him and his cronies act like children in the WinHEC press room. [ Posted at 12:11 AM | Permalink ]
Friday, June 06, 2003One of the goals behind my getting the Palm Tungsten T was that I wanted to do wireless hotsyncing with my iMac and PCs using Bluetooth. However, out of the box, this doesn't actually work, and I had to do some research to figure out how to set it up. Basically, what it boils down to is that you need to create a new Connection in the Communications section of Prefs on the Palm device, set it to use Bluetooth to connect to a Trusted PC, and then select that new Connection profile in Hotsync. Voila! It works, and it works well. Now I've got my Tungsten syncing up nicely on the iMac, and I'll test it on the IBM ThinkPad T4x I'm using this weekend. Good stuff. [ Posted at 12:26 PM | Permalink ] Video games and kids: A parent's view I have a five year old son who's really into first person shooters like Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament 2003. Does that make me a bad parent? My wife is a little concerned, but consider the upside: We get to spend a lot of time together, playing cooperatively or competitively over the LAN, and for the harder, plot-driven games like Unreal 2 and Half-Life, he actually just wants to watch me play and discuss what's going on ("What did he say to you?" "I think you should go that way because I saw something" and so on). And then there are the recent studies about improving peripheral vision and dexterity, which we've definitely seen happening: The kid is a sponge. As for the violence aspect of these games, obviously we tune that down where possible (some PS2 games are good for this as well, and of course there are non-violent and/or cartoon violent PS2 games that are quite good) but the challenge remains. This is a kid who lives for Jurassic Park though, so Mario ain't gonna cut it. On the social side, he's sensitive, loves his sister dearly, and is generally what I call "life enthusiastic." So what's the answer? I'm as confused as the parents in the NY Times article referenced above, but for me it comes down to this: As long as he isn't compromising outside/active time to play games on a computer, I'm OK with it. And currently, my son is involved with baseball and swimming lessons in addition to daily school and two days of day care for outside play with peers. In the fall, he starts soccer, and he's pretty much so active he wears everyone else out, including his sister. So I'm not worried about it. Yet. [ Posted at 9:05 AM | Permalink ]
Thursday, June 05, 2003Video blogs are NOT blogsSorry, but it's true. Blogging is meant to be off-the-cuff, a mental dump of the author's thoughts. Video blogging, by definition, is most definitely not blogging. Why? Because it's pre-staged, heavily produced, requires a script, and takes hours to work up even a short film. So what is a video blog? Off the cuff (this is a blog, after all), I'd have to say it's something completely different. Something really lame. The result of way too much free time. Or all of the above. Take your pick, they all apply. So does this mean multimedia is strictly forbidden for bloggers? Not at all. In fact, you could make a great case for audio blogging (dare I invent the term aublogging?), since people with Pocket PCs, Palm devices, Macs, PCs, or dedicated portable recording devices could (and arguably do) make off-the-cuff audio comments as they go about their day. The same is true with digital photography. But no one--and I mean no one--can say the same thing for video. No one normal is walking around with a video camera pointed at their face, unless they happen to work for a cable TV show, a local news channel or whatever, and even then some serious post-processing has to occur before that content is ready for the Web. If I catch anyone I know making video blogs, it's going to be wedgie time. :) Update: Naturally, audio blogging already exists though it's called audblogging not aublogging. Thanks Chris M. Update 2: Predictably, Blogger has an audio blogging tool too, called Audio Blogger. I guess I could have done ten seconds of research before posting this. No, screw that, this is a blog, not a research paper. :) [ Posted at 4:41 PM | Permalink ] TechTV replacement? I mean, let's face it, even this show will have more viewers than TechTV. [ Posted at 2:45 PM | Permalink ]
Wednesday, June 04, 2003Because newer isn't always betterThanks Bink: A site called oldversion.com is offering old versions of MSN Messenger, WinAMP, Acrobat Reader, and a host of other applications that came of age during the Internet era. Good stuff. [ Posted at 6:05 PM | Permalink ]
I went out to Best Buy today to purchase a Palm Zire 71, but I walked out of the store with a Palm Tungsten T instead. The little T is cuter, smaller, and more powerful than the Zire, though it lacks a camera (which I'd never use) and is $50 more expensive. However, I will save $50 by sending Palm an old PDA, and I've got just the thing to send them (an old Handspring). I still like my Sony CLIE alot, but I went with the Palm to get Palm OS 5.0 in the classic PDA form factor, better performance, and Bluetooth support (the T has it built-in). Plus, Palm Inc. devices are natively supported by OS X. [ Posted at 4:28 PM | Permalink ] QuickTime 6.3 released Apple released an interim update to QuickTime, version 6.3, which features support for the emerging 3GPP wireless technology. QT Pro 6.3 also adds an enhanced AAC encoder, which could answer complaints about the crappy quality of AAC on the Mac. I'll test it and find out. [ Posted at 4:25 PM | Permalink ] iSync 1.1 released Apple released iSync 1.1 this week, adding the long-awaited Safari sync option, in addition to support for new phones. I've installed it on both Macs, and it appears to work fine. I'd still like to see the unnecessary extra step when using a Palm device erradicated, however. Why does this have to be manual, and not automatic? In related news, Apple also released an update to its Palm OS conduit for iSync 1.1. [ Posted at 4:20 PM | Permalink ] Microsoft abandoning Mac IE? According to reports, Microsoft is ready to cancel its Mac version of Internet Explorer, which would be horrible news for the 6 people still using that useless piece of cr... sorry. Anyway. It stands to reason that the development of Safari occurred because Apple got the heads-up on this news, and this also explains MSN for Mac OS X which, while decent, certainly doesn't have much of a market. [ Posted at 4:18 PM | Permalink ]
Sunday, June 01, 2003The pathetic joke that is TechTVI tried to like TechTV, I really did. But by the time my cable company cancelled it for lack of viewers, I knew something was horribly wrong with the station: Moronic hosts, a bizarre assortment of shows, and a complete non-understanding of its own audience. TechTV is dying an unnecessary death, with only 40,000 viewers, despite the fact that the station reaches 40 million households. Pathetic. [ Posted at 11:21 PM | Permalink ] Errorwear Thanks Bink! If you're interested in imortalizing the BSOD, here's your shirt. [ Posted at 1:05 PM | Permalink ]
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