Category Archives: Gadgets & Apps

AirPort Extreme: Fast and Easy

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One of the more frustrating computing challenges I’ve encountered is setting up a wireless network in my home. I knew enough not to attempt to try this on my own and called on some of very clever men and women I work with. But it was a booger, even for them.

Today my buddy George came over and set up my new Apple AirPort Extreme (“Easy as a Mac”):

“Just take the AirPort Extreme out of the box. Plug it in. Install the software, and in five minutes or less, you’re good to go.”

And it literally took George 5 minutes to install and configure the base station. My Netgear base station was doing the job but the AirPort Extreme had a couple of features I wanted.

Before, I had to have my Dell desktop box turned on to print from our laptops. We can now print directly through the router.

I also now have an external hard drive hooked to the router…and visible on my MacBook desktop when I’m at home. No more storage issues and three times a week the MacBook does an automatic back-up.

Yes, I’m sure it’s possible to accomplish these things in Windows on PC’s. But the folks at Apple just made it fast and simple. And I promise to share any problems I have with the new base station down the road.

Speaking of down the road… the Apple TV is scheduled to start shipping in early March and George tells me our new TV has the necessary connections and cables to take advantage of the features.

Update: Surfing from the couch (base station upstairs in the office) and –perceptually– pages are loading twice as fast as before (on the Netgear base station).

Apple TV: node on the iTunes peer-to-peer video network?

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I ordered one of the new Apple TV doo-dads right after they were announced. Didn’t/don’t fully understand it but it sounded like fun, so… Since then I’ve been hearing and reading all kinds of knocks on the gadget, usually from serious video-philes.

Then I came across an interesting theory about where Apple might be headed:

“Here is what I think is happening with the Apple TV hard drive. I think sometime this summer Apple will ship a firmware upgrade for the Apple TV and it will suddenly gain an important new capability. That’s when the Apple TV becomes a node on the iTunes peer-to-peer video network. ”

“Apple would have one or many content channels roughly equivalent to an HBO, Showtime, or perhaps Discovery. Yes, I think Apple will do direct content deals, buying programming that it will then either distribute to subscribers or support with Google ads, thanks to Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s position on the Apple board. Apple’s network will give you the same content with or without ads, delivered from the same servers, one of which may be underneath your TV.”

Hmmm.

What your iPod reveals about you

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Podcasting News: Psychologists Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in England and Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin, have found that strangers can accurately assess another person’s level of creativity, open-mindedness and extroversion after listening to his or her top 10 favorite songs.

While I had no data to support it, I theorized about this a year ago. Anyway, two of the conclusions in the new study caught my eye:

“Whether you can study or work efficiently while listening to music may depend on how outgoing you are. Background music can help extroverts focus but tends to torment introverts.”

I’ve always thought of myself as an extrovert but I can NOT listen to music while I’m trying to concentrate.

“Fans of energetic music like dance and soul are more likely to impulsively blurt our their thoughts, compared with fans of other styles.”

Guilty. I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.

Love flickr. Yahoo! not so much

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This week Yahoo! announced that flickr users would have to merge their accounts with their Yahoo! account (Yahoo! bought flickr a couple of years ago). Long-time flickr users aren’t happy. I really like flickr but Yahoo!, not so much.

So I’ve been looking around for alternatives and came across Picasa (a Google service). Just started playing with it but like it a lot. I’m conducting more and more of my online life with Google services (Search, Gmail, Google Reader, Google News, etc).

A total switch would be a pain (if I go back and change links in previous posts) but I’m thinking about it.

iPods no threat to radio?

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Mark Ramsey at Hear 2.0:

“Every so often someone in the radio industry trots out a study which says iPods really aren’t that threatening to the radio industry’s long-term health and welfare. ‘Folks get tired of maintaining them,’ they will say. ‘They’re just a new form of Walkman,’ say others.”

And the radio industry has (apparently) spent a bazillion dollars promoting HD radio. Check out the Google Trends graph posted as one of the comments.

Everything might turn out roses and sunshine for Radio but it won’t be because of HD.

Seth Godin on the iPhone

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Seth says there are two kinds of people in the world:

“The folks that want (need!) an iPhone, and those that couldn’t care less. And of course it’s not just Apple and it’s not just phones. It’s every single industry in the world. You’re not likely to convert one group into the other. What you can do is decide which group you’d like to market to.”

There you go. I am in the first group and Jobs sold me in the first five minutes.

Marketing through cell phones

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Brandweek has a good article on how marketing on cell phones is finally starting to work:

“Crammed into his seat on his way into Manhattan, a businessman uses his cell phone to log onto Weather.com just to see if there’s some sunshine on the way (“Seventeen inches of snow expected by the weekend.”) Just then, a bright blue banner ad with white lettering pops up on and grabs his attention: “Aruba” …He clicks on the banner ad, and his phone dials an 800 number, connecting him to an Aruba Tourism booking agent. “

The article includes several good examples.

You Don’t Need to Pick Up Dog Feces Any More!

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“The Doggie-Poop-Catcher is a palm sized portable poop-catcher with a collapsible frame structure which opens up any plastic grocery bag in a second ( patented ). Then, it catches dog feces before the feces falls onto the ground. How do we do it? We take advantage of the dog’s behavior or their body languages prior to defecation, which is recommended as an exemplary method to clean up after the dog.”

Sorry, no can do. Harvesting the load after the fact is one thing… catching a steaming pile before it hits the ground (even in a plastic bag) is too much for smays.

Restroom Automation

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Restroom faucets, soap dispensers and towel dispensers are now equipped with motion detectors. Scott Adams is anxiously awaiting the next innovation in restroom automation.

“I assume developers are already working on the last mile: A robotic arm to unzip my pants, grab my unit, then do the holding, shaking, and repackaging. I’m too busy to do that stuff for myself.

The Autopee device (it needs a name) would be problematic because every guy is built different. Somehow it would need to know the dimensions of what’s behind your zipper so it didn’t accidentally neuter you. …You’d also have to tell the Autopee how much shaking you want, ranging anywhere from two quick flicks to a happy ending.”

If you are not reading the Dilbert Blog, you are missing some of the smartest, funniest writing anywhere.

Podcasts on your BlackBerry

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A company called QuickPlay has come up with a way to stream podcasts directly from a central server, instead of downloading and storing on space-limited memory cards. They say they have lined up some high-profile content providers, ranging from ABC News to the Wall Street Journal. The service is available immediately for $8 per month and requires an existing BlackBerry connected to a cellular provider’s data plan.

It’s going to get easier and easier to watch/listen stuff on portable devices. Once that happens, I think we’ll stop using the term podcast.