If This Then That. IFTTT.COM

If you haven't already tried it out, check out IFTTT.com (If This Then That)  You can create triggers for just about anything on social media to save a little time. Each "recipe" consists of a trigger and an associated action. For example, If I make a new tweet, then post that tweet to my Facebook wall. 

Windows updates

It always amazes me when I do Windows updates that Microsoft cannot seem to figure out how to update the computer without using Internet Explorer.

It seems to make sense that if you know -only Internet Explorer can be used to run Windows updates- that you'd bypass the default browser and open IE whenever someone clicks on the Update Windows link in the control panel. It's called prioritizing. Every parent has done it since the dawn of time. The youngest child can't bring home the mammoth for dinner so maybe I'll assign that task to the oldest child instead. Simple.

I'm also shocked that they still do this because I seem to recall, back in the '80s that Microsoft was forced to un-bundle IE and Windows. This seems like a blatant slap in the face to that court order.

I don't really care if they use IE for the updates, but I really despise the fact that they force me to open IE and manually enter the URL instead of simply passing on the URL properly in the first place.

An open letter to software developers

Please stop trying to subsidize your apps by adding installers for other company's apps. I'm looking at you +Adobe. It creates major headaches for IT support guys when you install +McAfee's anti-virus software on top of the anti-virus software that is already in place.

Yes, the user can click on the check-box and decide not to install the add-on, but the reverse is also true and two decades of support tell me that most end users do not pay close attention to the options given during a software install. By setting the install as a default, a large number of users unwittingly install whatever apps you have determined to be the add-on of the week. In the case of anti-virus software, running two anti-virus programs at the same time can really hose a system up.

When I have to explain to the customer that their system ground to a halt because the latest Acrobat updater included Mcafee on the install, the first two questions I am inevitably asked are: "Is there another program I can use instead of Acrobat?" and "I've heard of McAfee, are they really that bad that their program stopped my computer from working?"

It's one thing to include an option to install additional products during the initial, but it's a whole new level of low to try to sneak one in during an update. Updates should UPDATE the software they already have, NOT install new software (that is for installers).

All you're doing is fostering distrust with customers for these add-on products (and your own).

Random rants

As many of you are aware, I've worked off and on in the IT industry for about 20 years. Occasionally, I run across things that make me seriously wonder who is in charge at the various vendors.

For example: +Adobe  -Why do you insist on trying to add +McAfee  with every update? Can't you offer it as the option instead of the default? For this, and the nearly daily updates, you are hereby banned from my network.

+HP  -You want to know why you have fallen so far from the top spot? Your machines come with too much bloatware and crap-ware for me to consider purchasing another. I'll stick with Dell. They do it too, but it's easier to manage. While we're at it, why can't you guys simply supply the installers for the apps that come with your computers? I don't want to install the whole image, just the OS and a couple of apps.

HP again! Does *every* printer you make have to use a different cartridge/toner? Don't give me the line about "improvements in printing technology." Can't you make this year's lineup of laser printers use the same toner cartridge? I'll even give you two. Low end printers can use last year's toner and high end printers can use this year's. Imagine how easy that would be, "I'll have the 2012 toner cartridges please." You could even use the year in your model numbers "The HP Color Laserjet 2012snw" has a nice ring to it. I understood the differences when the drum was part of the cartridge, but now they're just a powder filled tube. Brother at least gets this right. I'd think about switching if it weren't for the constant nagging firmware update reminders. (Yes, I know they can be turned off, but they pop up for every user at least once so I see it every time I have to login on someone else's computer.)

Apple -Is it too hard to write a generic PCL 6 driver? I shouldn't need to add the postscript option to my copiers so I can print from a Mac. (Same goes for you Sharp!)

Lastly, Microsoft -Is it really necessary to lock administrators out of parts of a user's profile? Yes, I can change their password, log in as them, and get to those files, but some refuse to transfer ownership. You should have stuck with XP and Office 2003. It seems like your GUI team may have over-worked themselves and cracked. Seriously, have you seen server 2012? Windows 8? Give them a vacation before it's too late.

IOS 5 Review

I currently am running IOS 5 on my iPhone 4, and the rest of the family is running it on their respective 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touches. For the most part, I'm pretty happy with the update, and several fixes/features really stand out for me.

• Spell Check -You can now turn on spell check and turn off auto-correct. Previously, turning off auto-correct also turned off check my spelling. I like seeing the red underline when I misspell a word, and I'm really glad they fixed this.
• Notifications -Notifications work really well. I was really missing the droid style notifications, and as usual, Apple made some improvements to the process. I like being able to go directly into the app receiving the notification directly from the lock screen, and I'm glad they no longer disrupt playing Angry Birds.
• Reminders -LOVE this! This app should have been included from day one. My one wish is that Apple would allow reminders to perform actions. Currently, my reminders are set to a geolocation around my house reminding me to turn off my ringer when I leave, and turn on my ringer when I get home. I was really used to the Blackberry profiles that could turn off your ringer during the work day, and turn it back on when you are home. Even android offered similar functionality through an app. When I switched to the iPhone, I found myself constantly forgetting to turn on my ringer when I returned home. Now I set a reminder to tell me to turn the ringer back on, but why can't the phone do that for me?
• Trailers -The app is exactly what it sounds like. It plays movie trailers from the Apple website. Not sure why they need a separate app when you could do the same thing by looking up the movie in safari, but it does make it easy to find a movie trailer.
• Camera -They finally managed to implement pinch to zoom on the camera. Other than that, it's pretty much the same app.
• Wireless Synching -Not really a deal breaker for me. It works as advertised (Although it has crashed iTunes a couple times). However, plugging into the USB port also charges my phone so if you have a computer, I don't see why you would need wi-fi synch.
• iCloud -Works just like Dropbox. Only difference is that it also works with your contacts and calendar.

That being said, there are a few things I'm not to happy about.

• Newsstand -Hmmm... How do I say this politely? I hate this app! Not that there's anything wrong with the idea behind the app, but I'm not going to try to make my iPhone screen my primary reader so I don't use it. So why do I hate the app? Because you can't drop it into a folder and hide it if you're never going to use it. It just sits there, empty, taking up a spot for an app.
• Camera -In the IOS 5 video it shows the ability to access the camera right from the lock screen. If it's there, I don't see how to use it. The camera button doesn't show up on my lock screen.
• Update: The icon doesn't show up until you double tap the home button from your lock screen, AND it only shows up until you unlock the screen. The next time your phone locks you have to double tap home, and then press the camera button to access the camera. I fail to see how this multi-step approach is any faster than unlocking my phone and selecting the camera app. Perhaps if my phone was locked with a passcode, but I don't use one.
• Update 2: From Apple's IOS 5 page "Open the Camera app with one tap." Nope, it takes 3 taps. :(
• Integrated Twitter support. Not that I have anything against Twitter, but I never use it. Apple already integrates Facebook support into apps (iPhoto) on the Mac, why not IOS? Here's an area where android beats IOS hands down. On my droid, every time I installed an app, it automatically integrated itself into the OS. Want to publish a picture to Flikr directly from the camera app? No problem. FaceBook? Orkut? Google+? No problem.
• Siri and Voice to Text -Here's the kicker. There have already been videos showing Siri running on other IOS apps than the iPhone 4s, but Apple only allows it to run on the 4S. 
• Steve Jobs said, "Many Android OEMs install proprietary user-interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The user is left to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone where every handset works the same." Looks like we can't say that anymore. Safari is only tabbed on the iPad, Siri only works on IOS 5 on the iPhone 4s. I probably wouldn't mind so much if Apple had simply come out and said IOS 5 only works on the 4s and up, but they didn't so we're starting to see OS fragmentation just like android. My first generation Motorola Droid had voice to text, why can't the supposedly superior iPhone?

What do you think of IOS 5?

It's not a bug, it's a feature.

I've discovered a new feature on my iPhone. I call it the "super random song generator."

All you have to do is hold down the home button on the phone until the voice control prompt shows up. Say "Play " and the iPhone will play a random song that sounds nothing like the song you said. 

But wait, there's more say "Play songs by " and you will be rewarded with artists you didn't even know you had. 

I really miss the voice control features on android phones. :(

LeFail

OK, I'm still a fan, but after watching the playoffs against the Mavs (Congratulations to Dallas on the win!), I'm thinking LeBron has earned himself a new nickname. For a player as dominant as LeBron James, there's no excuse to only step up to the line four times in a game (Or two times as was the case in game 5). If you have fouls to give when the game is on the line, then you're leaving too much hustle on the floor.


A basketball player's only job is to get the ball to the basket. At 6' 8" 250lbs, James is a freight train when he attacks the basket. People either get out of the way, or get run over and if you run over them more than once, they'll start getting out of the way. If they don't, oh well, that's why you get six fouls to give.

More than lack of drive towards the basket though, if you watched the games you would see James hanging out at the 3/4 court line repeatedly. No off-ball movement whatsoever. None. If he were in the paint he would have had a three second violation called against him every time.

Enough of my ranting, I'm hoping that they have a better season next year.

Why I'm Hating Verizon Wireless Right Now

So as you saw in my last post, I switched from a Motorola Droid to an iPhone recently. A few days ago, I pulled my old Droid out of the drawer where I had kept it. I backed up all my data and decided to see how much functionality is on the phone without the use of a data plan.

It turns out there is a lot. The GPS still works, WiFi still works, and I can access the app store, download apps, and as long as the apps don't require data access, most of the apps still work.

Since it still has a lot of functionality, I thought I'd have David's number switched to the Droid to allow him to have access to the games, and email (when he's near a wireless network).

Then I ran into the stupidest customer service rules on the planet. It turns out that Verizon WILL NOT activate his number on the Droid without activating a data plan. They tell me it's because you cannot use the phone without data connectivity, despite the fact that I have been doing this very same thing for days.

Apparently, I can give him Amy's old Samsung flipshot and that's not a problem. I can give him my old LG Dare, and that is not a problem. All they need to activate service on another phone is the serial number of the phone and the EAN (or MEID) from the new phone and service switches over without any problems. You don't need to upgrade the service plan, or make any other changes. In fact, you can make this change from your phone by dialing *628.

The moment you involve a smart phone however Verizon requires that you have a $30/month.

NBA MVP

Derrick Rose appears to have all but locked up the 2011 NBA MVP award. The Chicago Bulls have clinched first place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 59-20, second only to the San Antonio Spurs (61-19).

While Rose's accomplishments are great, I'd like to remind everyone to look at another player. While many have decided to hate LeBron James for leaving Cleveland the way he did, it's hard to deny his greatness on the court. LeBron currently beats Derrick in PPG (+1.7), RPG (+3.4), SPG (+.4). The only category Derrick has better numbers than LeBron is APG (+.9).

In fact, James has better numbers than Kobe Bryant PPG (+1.5), RPG (+2.4), APG (+2.3), SPG (+.3); Amar'e Stoudemire (in all but rebounds), Dwight Howard (Also with exception of rebounds), Kevin Durant (With exception of points -1.9). LeBron has better numbers than all the "bigs" in the NBA despite the fact that he is on a team with another superstar and an all-star.

If the numbers alone don't make the case, consider this. Last year, with Lebron James, Cleveland finished with the best record in the league at 61-21. This year, without James, they are tied for the worst record in the league at 17-63. He was certainly the most valuable player for Cleveland. Last Year, Miami took 5th place in the East with a 47-35 record. Tomorrow, they go up against Boston (55-24) to try to grab the number 2 spot. Yes, the team also has Wade and Bosh, but the fact is, Miami went up 3 places in the standings with the addition of LeBron James at the beginning of the season. Chicago went from 8th to 1st place, but Rose played for Chicago last year.

As much as I would hate to see Boston lose to Miami, I think the only way James will see a (much deserved) MVP trophy this year will be if Miami takes the finals. Even then, he will have a tough time convincing the skeptics that he deserves another MVP award.

iPhone Vs. Droid

Recently, I switched from the Motorola Droid to the iPhone 4. One of the main reasons I switched was because, as a long time Mac User, my address book, music, and videos are already on my Mac, and directly accessible via iTunes. Also, since the rest of my family has iPods, we already have a pretty large library of Apps.

Business insider offered up their reasons why they think the droid is better so I thought I would share my experiences with the two platforms.

iPhone Pros:

• Facetime: There’s something inherently cool about using video chat from your phone.
• iTunes integration: Some people see this as a downside, but as I mentioned, with multiple iPods in the house, we already had a pretty extensive library. With the droid, I copied over about 5-10 songs manually, but never bothered after that.
• Camera: Both cameras offer the same resolution, and the droid camera app offers more control, but I love the built in HDR and one touch simplicity of the iPhone. Plus, I love that I can edit my movies via iMovie right from the phone, which leads me to my next point…
• Apps: The apps for the iPhone look better. Perhaps it’s the retina display, but the apps on the iPhone look and feel more professional than the same apps on the droid. Even Google places offers a few features the android version doesn’t have. (Now if only Google would release My Tracks for the iPhone.)
• User Interface: I love the little switch on the side that puts the iPhone on silent mode. You could do the same thing with a gesture on the android phones, but I like the physical feel of the switch. Also, on the android I experienced several times where a low battery situation would turn off sounds. (Really, they just diverted them to the internal speaker used when talking on the phone rather than making them audible via the hands free speaker.)
• Speed: The droid is supposed to win this one, but the iPhone feels more responsive.

Droid Pros:

• Contact synching: Oddly enough, I thought this would be pretty straight forward on both platforms. My Apple contacts are synched with both my Google, and Mobile Me accounts so I expected all my contacts to come across smoothly. A couple of days after the switch over I noticed that several of my contacts were missing, and in one case, displayed a 6 year old address, in my phone’s contact list. I opened iTunes, and clicked the “Synch contacts with this computer” option. Now everyone in my phone’s contact list is duplicated.
• Customizability: Being able to put shortcuts to direct dial numbers on the home screen was great. Unlock the phone and have calling right at your fingertips. On the iPhone, I have to open the “phone” app first to make a call. Which brings me to my next point…
• Voice control: The iPhone is supposed to be able to operate via voice commands, but nearly every time I try to use them, I get something other than what I intended. Plus, voice recognition is not built into many apps such as messaging. On the droid I loved being able to “text” via voice.
• Navigation: I miss the spoken turn by turn directions from the Droid. You get directions on the iPhone, but have to download a separate app for the spoken directions. Also, the directions don’t automatically update as you navigate so you could be on step 5 on the map, but still reading step 3. Also, I’ll assume it’s the same on the android since Google provides the directions, but trying to find the Red Lobster in Pocatello, ID via the iPhone directions will lead you in the complete opposite direction of where you want to go. Ironically, if you choose view on map instead, it shows you the correct location.
• Sharing: On the iPhone, I take a picture and want to share it on Facebook, I have to return to the home screen, open the facebook client, and upload it manually. On the droid, you tap share and have immediate access to a list of places to share your photo: Flickr, Facebook, Orkut, etc. On the iPhone, your only option is Mobile Me.
• Expandability: There’s a memory card slot to allow for expansion on the droid. Although I never upgraded from the one I got with my phone, it was nice to know that I could if I needed to.

RIP Google Wave

Google Wave has been cancelled by Google. It was a product with tremendous potential that never got off the ground because Google was too busy tripping over their own feet to implement it properly.

The biggest problem with Google Wave was that there was nobody else around to use it with. It was invite only, but even after sending out invites you had maybe 10-15 people you could use it with.

The second biggest problem was that it was completely stand-alone. If you had been able to jump back and forth from within gMail I'm sure it would have seen more adoption, but at the end of the day when you got home to try to use it, it wound up being just one more thing to check.

If Google was really trying to come up with the next FaceBook, they should merge Orkut, GoogleWave, and Gmail into one service.

Google Wave

One of the features of GoogleWave that I was most interested in was the ability to embed waves directly into your blog. So far, the blog bot from GoogleWave has not worked.

Star Trek

Amy, Elizabeth and I went to go see Star Trek on opening night. The new Star Trek movie is easily the best Trek movie. I rate it even higher than Wrath of Kahn. 

Wolverine

I took David and Jake to see Wolverine tonight. I have to hand it to the movie studio, they did this one right. Wolverine just jumped to the top of my favorite comic book movies. The only disappointing part was sticking around to see the special scene at the end of the credits to have the theater close the curtains and stop the movie mid-scene. Other than that, we all loved it.

Apple vs. Windows

OK, I'm a Mac guy. I admit it, years of supporting windows has only helped cement my position. Recently I picked up a MacBook Pro. Over the last week, there have been a lot of posts on Digg regarding the recent Microsoft commercials that attack Apple on price. The anti-Apple crowd crows about the "Apple Tax", and the Mac fanboys refer to the "ease of use" and "superior hardware designs". The anti-Apple crowd always try to list systems in the under $999 range to really show off the price difference. The Mac fanboys poke holes in their cheap systems. Here's my take on this argument. There is an "Apple Tax", but it's not $1,000 like most people would make you believe. On the other hand, it probably is around $500. I've detailed two systems below, and highlighted what I believe to be the winner in each category.

Brand	Apple	Dell
Model	MacBook Pro 15"	Studio 17
Price	$1,999.00	$1,868.00
Processor	2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 1066mhz FSB	2.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 800mhz FSB
RAM	2GB Ram	3GB Ram
Hard Drive	250GB 5400rpm HD	250GB 5400rpm HD
Optical Drive	8x DL DVD±RW/CD-RW	6x Blueray
Video Card	Nvidia GeForce 9400M GT	256MB ATI Radeon HD 3650
Screen	15" LED backlit 1440x900	17" LED 1920x1200
Ports	2 USB 2.0	4 USB 2.0
	10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet	10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet
	Firewire 800	Firewire 400
	Mini Display Port	HDMI & VGA
	Audio in	Microphone
	Audio Out	2x Audio Out
	Express Card 34	Express Card Slot
	802.11n	802.11 agn
Battery	5 Hour Battery	8 Hour Battery
Height x Width x Depth	.95" x 14.35" x 9.82"	1.18" x 15.46" x 11.36"
Weight	5.5 Lbs	7.87 Lbs
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR	Bluetooth 2.0
Webcam	Apple iSight	2 Megapixel Webcam
Keyboard	Backlit Keyboard	Backlit Keyboard
Extras	Multitouch Trackpad	8-in-1 Media Card Reader
Software	iLife	Photoshop Elements + Premier Elements
	OSX	Windows Vista Ultimate

OK, first the Dell PC is cheaper than the Mac, winner Dell by $131. 

3GB RAM vs 2GB, winner Dell. 

Blueray DVD vs DVD, winner Dell.

17" Monitor vs 15.4" monitor, winner Dell. Mac fanboys always post about Apple using a high resolution display. I'll pause right here and point out that the display is the same resolution as Apple's MacBook Pro 17.

4 USB ports vs. 2, winner Dell.

HDMI and VGA ports vs. DisplayPort which requires an adapter to connect to non-Apple displays, winner Dell.

8 Hour battery vs. 5 Hour, winner Dell. That being said, the Studio 17 averages 2.5 hours compared to my MacBooks actual 4 hours.

Firewire 800 vs. 400, winner Apple.

Weight and Bluetooth also go to Apple.

I didn't choose a winner in the processor category because although the dell is faster, it runs the RAM on a slower front side bus so I called this one a draw.

I also called a draw on the graphics cards as they are each 256MB cards.

I didn't grade size as the Studio 17 has a bigger display. I did give Apple the nod on the weight however because the Studio 17 is 1.2 lbs heavier than the 17" MacBook Pro.

I couldn't find specs on the iSight so I left it as a draw.

Although I really like the multi-touch trackpad, it would be nice to have the card reader so I left that a draw as well.

I didn't count iWeb or Garageband when adding software to the PC, but I don't know anyone personally who uses Garageband, and I really hate to say this, but iWeb is not a good piece of software. It's easy, but inflexible. As for iDVD, the Dell comes with Windows Movie Maker and DVD authoring software.

As indicated by the yellow, the Dell has more features that beat the Mac and is $131 cheaper, so we have to add the $131 to the "Apple Tax". I would point out however, that I had to perform a lot of upgrades to equip the $649 Studio 17 similar to the Mac. Some features such as the Blueray drive are not available on the Mac. The Blueray drive requires the faster processor which added $350 to the base price, so I'll add that to the "Apple Tax". I also upgraded the battery which adds another $40 to the "Apple Tax" which leaves me at a total "Apple Tax" of $521. 

The Apple advantage:

The Mac will run OSX, Windows (with additional purchase.), or Linux. So far, it's not affected by malware and viruses, and the iLife suite is easier to use than the Adobe Elements collection. OSX is easier to use than Vista, and if you decided you didn't like it you can simply install Windows.

Bottom line, I think there is an "Apple Tax", but it's less than the anti-Apple people say, and the Mac user experience is worth every penny.

Try to remember....

I saw this comic on digg the other day. It reminded me of my time in Germany.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/4361/holocaustcartoon.jpg

The summer between my Junior and Senior year, I went to Germany as an exchange student. There were a number of influential moments that summer that helped define who I am today. One of the most eye opening experiences was visiting a concentration camp. When we arrived at the concentration camp, we walked past the buildings and out onto one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever seen. The grass looked like it was from a golf course, and there were winding trails through dozens of gently sloping hills.

I remember telling my host father that I was more interested in going inside to learn more about the history of the place. He insisted that we take a walk first. As we walked through the park, we came around the backside of on of the hills. On the backside of the hill was a wall with a plaque. The plaque read, “Here lies 10,000 dead.” I realized at that moment, that this was the most shocking way to realize the tragedy of what happened during the war. Each one of these magnificent looking hillsides was in fact a mass grave.

I thought I’d share my experience along with the comic strip with you. Thank you Wiley for reminding us why we remember.

Sick Family

Well, the weekend came and went. We didn't do much as everyone is fighting off the flu. Elizabeth went to see Jive on Friday and Saturday, and Amy took the kids to go see the Hannah Montana movie on Saturday.

Happy Easter

I've never been a big fan, but Happy Easter everyone.

Spring Cleaning

With David's help, I finally got most of the clutter cleaned up in the garage. I can almost park a car in it. Tomorrow, we will work on the yard.

The Trouble With Money

In case you've been hiding under a rock lately, American International Group or AIG, has fallen on some hard times. Last September the government acquired a nearly 80% stake in the company with an $85 Billion (Yes, that's a B as in billion) bailout. How does this financial giant spend its money? By paying out $165 Million in bonuses. 

The official story is that the bonuses were promised out prior to the bailout and that AIG is contractually obligated to cover the bonuses.

Here's the problem I have with that. What company in their right mind offers employees a bonus for nearly tanking the company? No wonder they needed to be bailed out. I understand that if the employees met their personal goals that they should be given their bonuses accordingly. However, why did the management set the goals so low that bonuses could be paid out and the company could still go under? If you have any business dealings with AIG, I implore you to switch over to a new company. There's one certain way to make the bleeding stop, and that's to let the company die.