Google Calendar
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
Most people know about this already from the various news sites, but some screenshots have surfaced featuring Google’s secret calendar dubbed “CL2.” If the site still works, the original source was here, but I’ll also be mirroring the pics here.
Instead of letting my comments become lost in the sea on that blog, I thought I’d mention why it won’t be anything more than a web 2.0 experiment to me: PDA Syncronization. What’s the point of an online calendar if you can’t take it with you or have alarms? I’m not just talking about syncronization with my Pocket PC, but with a Palm as well. This site becomes a personal events calendar used only for online collaboration amongt family and friends. While it may be useful for organizing events, I don’t think it’s going to be something many will use as their day-to-day calendar. If you rely on a calendar, you probably already have a system worked out anyways. Google’s going to have to address import/export as well as mobility. If you’re one of the millions of people using Outlook (far more than Apple’s calendar app, I’m sure), what good is an iCal address?
Tags: Design, Freeware, Web, Web Apps 2.0
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
So I took the plunge and got a new keyboard/mouse combo. This being James though, it has to be top of the line, it has to have bluetooth and an LCD display – it has to be Logitech’s Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser. The main features are outlined on the website, but there were several reasons I wanted it. Bluetooth capability for my desktop is a bonus – it’s the only way to get pictures off my Razr without paying Rogers. My Headset, Axim and laptop also have Bluetooth, so it’s good to have it on the desktop now so it doesn’t feel left out.
If anyone else does go with a Bluetooth device, I recommend Broadcom’s Bluetooth stack over the one that comes with WinXP SP2. I paired my headset using XP’s Bluetooth support only to discover there was no profile for the headset so the headset was useless. If you haven’t used bluetooth and this is flying over your head, it just means that Microsoft only has the very basics working – like keyboards and mice, not audio. Broadcom has become the standard and most complete solution; so thank you Logitech for including it. Petah’s stuck with a Microsoft keyboard/mouse which doesn’t bundle the good software.
Another reason I wanted this keyboard is the lack of wires. I’m hoping to eventually get a TV Tuner card (with the $ I spent on this I could have had one, I know) and use this like the media center Microsoft is pushing for. I’ll be able to sit on the couch and chat with people, surf the web, watch movies, etc. I have the laptop for more serious work.
With the mouse, it’s nice to be able to scroll sideways now and the 8 buttons lets me get to everything I could possibly need to. I’m not sure if I need it to be cordless right now, but the built-in battey indicator is welcome. My old cordless Microsoft Mouse relied on software to popup in the middle of a game to tell you the batteries needed to be replaced in 2 weeks. I just hope that I won’t get stuck without a mouse because I have to let it charge.
The laser on this mouse works really well. I have a Wacom tablet with a clear plastic layer on the top that a normal optical mouse would have problems with, but the laser on this mouse works perfectly with it.
The LCD in this keyboard wasn’t really a need, but it’s pretty slick. It’s showing which song I’m listening to in Winamp right now, but it also displays messages from MSN Messenger and new email alerts as well as the current temperature. The calculator on the keyboard even uses it. Hit the calculator key and use the num pad on the side with the lcd display for quick calculation. The “media pad” on the side lights up when you activate the controls. Sounds like star trek, but I guess that’s where everything is heading. I do wish the media pad and the LCD had a backlight all the time, but I can understand the need to save power when running on batteries.
As all keyboards seem to have nowadays, this one also has an “F-Lock”, but I’m glad to see it comes set to the normal F1-12 keys instead of being save or print. When I was doing technical support and trying to get the customer to press CTRL+SHIFT+F12, it would sometimes not work because F-lock was on and changing the function of the F12 key into something like muting the volume. I’m also welcoming the on-screen notification when Caps Lock is turned on, because who’s going to look at the keyboard every 5 seconds.
Overall, I think it was almost worth the price. The keyboard and mouse are the only ways to control the computer, so they need to work well. This keyboard has a good feel to it, it’s almost as quiet as a laptop keyboard and it’s very light and thin.
Spammers, I may look like a sucker but keyboards and viagra are two different things.
Tags: General
MaxiVista and Ultramon
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
If you have more than one computer lying around, you might want to take a look at Maxivista and turn another computer into a second monitor. I tried the demo very briefly and knew I had to buy it (yes, some people do pay for software still).
What does it do? Well you install a server program on the good machine and a viewer on the other machine. The server machine is then tricked into thinking it has a second monitor, which is displayed in the viewer on the second machine. It’s very easy to setup too, just install the server on one computer and the viewer on another and they find each other.
It doesn’t do video at all in my brief test, so you can’t have a widescreen dvd playing on 2 monitors. Personally, I use it for reference – looking at data I’m working from on the laptop screen while I code on the desktop.
If you need to use the other computer, just double click the mouse on that computer and regain control. When you’re done, click MaxiVista’s icon in the tray to resume. Plus if you pay a bit more, you can control both computers with the same mouse and keyboard, replacing kvm switches.
This program would work well with something like Ultramon, which gives you better control over multiple-monitor setups. I use ultramon at work where the taskbar on each monitor shows the windows on that screen, and I have better control over how the wallpaper displays.
Tags: Gadgets, Shareware, Software
Unlocker
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
If you’ve used a computer for more than 5 minutes, you’ve seen an error telling you the file’s in use and you can’t touch it. In comes Unlocker. It finds which program has locked it and lets you take the lock off. Just remember there is a reason it was locked in the first place. I don’t reccommend unlocking random system files on your computer, but there are some times when its really useful.
Tags: General
Winamp & Portable Devices
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
Some people have iPods and iTunes, then there’s the rest of us with winamp and an mp3 player/thumbdrive/portable hard drive. One of the biggest drawbacks with winamp is getting the music onto portable devices, but I’ve been using a plugin that lets winamp show usb and fixed drives. Any drive that shows up in My Computer with a letter beside it can be accessed within winamp with the gUSB plugin. You can copy files to it, play files from it, etc. It’s great if you don’t want winamp to maintain a library of a network drive or portable USB hard drive. You can navigate to the folder and enqueue the files you want from within winamp.
Tags: General
My new LCD
Posted by admin | Filed under Random
After working with 2 LCD monitors at work for so long, I finally replaced my old 19″ CRT at home with a 17″ LCD. At work, I’m using an LG L1715 and an L1751 (Oe died and I got the 51 as a replacement). The color is better on the 1751 and I saw them at Futureshop for $50 off. So I went down there and got talked into an L1717S. This one has 2/3 the response time(8ms) and a slightly better contrast ratio (600:1) and was only $20 more than the one on sale. Because every millisecond counts when the client is waiting…
Tags: Gadgets
