Archive for: November, 2007
November 30th, 2007
Here's the real reason why so many famous, rich older folks never use the Internet
When I read earlier today that MajorLeague Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told a media conference that he does not own a computer, it got me to thinking:
Why do so many famous, rich, older men and women not only do not have PCs, but don’t have a clue about computing and the Internet?
Let’s call the roll of some others who have admitted this publicly:
- Talk show host Larry King. He said so on his show earlier this month.
- Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music Group.
- Judge Judy Scheinlein.
- Media entrepreneur Ted Turner. He told me this personally.
- Former Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill.
- Donald Trump may be an Internet-resister as well.
So what gives?
Don’t tell me it is age alone. I could point to a family member who is more senior-y than all these people. Three years ago, she decided to get a computer and tackle it. Now she’s on the Internet daily, for hours at a time.
And you would think some of these people would be able to find a role for computers, and the Internet, in their lives. Let’s say you are Larry King, and you feel you need to know a bit more about tomorrow evening’s guest, and their book.
Or you are Judge Judy, and might want to check an online legal reference resource for precadent in a case you know is coming up in tomorrow’s taping. Wouldn’t going on the Internet yourself, say at home after spouse, kids, etc. have gone to bed, be helpful?
I think what we really have here is a carry-over of lifelong attitudes that equate getting things done with getting people to do this stuff for you. These are people who don’t place their own phone calls, don’t write their own letters (electronic or dead-tree), don’t send their own e-mails (most on this list have publicly admitted this). Heck. Not even all of them drive!
Because many of these rich, famous people have had things done for them, and are unfamiliar with the joy of using PCs and the Internet, they have trouble separating themselves from the idea that - when it comes to computer and Internet use- “we have secretaries and assistants for that.”
Sounds kind of limiting to me. But then again, if you have never been there…
November 30th, 2007
Take that, iPhone:new BlackBerry will have faster processor than iPhone
Note: Because the subject matter of this post also involves the iPhone (which we cover here) I’ve decided to cross-post this from my BlackBerry blog.
BoyGenius has some of the specs for the oncoming (release date unconfirmed as of yet) BlackBerry 9000:
Screen: 480×320
On Board Memory: 1GB
Processor: Intel XScale PXA270, at 624 MHz. That’s faster than the iPhone 620 MHz, achieved via the ARM 1173;
3G Support: Yes, via multi-band GSM.
Camera: 2 megapixels, but that might be bumped up to 3.2 at launch. Which, given that the trend line in new handset cameras is toward 3 megapixels and more, you can just about count on, IMHO
November 30th, 2007
Oregon AG office to RIAA: 10 things we want to know about how you find file-sharing students
If you think the Recording Institute Association of America is going too far in its prosecution (or should that be persecution?) of college students who file-share from time to time, you’ll love the news that Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers is adding meat to the University of Oregon’s effort to quash a subpoena seeking to reveal the names of students who have been file-sharing over university servers.
Myers’ office isn’t just stopping there. They are filing a petition requesting immediate discovery into how the RIAA obtains this information.
Ten points from the discovery attempt, as made by Myers office:
- Carlos Linares, upon whose declaration the subpoena was issued, had no first hand information whatsoever;
- the RIAA’s “data mining” investigation does not reveal how the files were obtained or whether they were ever shared with anyone;
- the RIAA papers did not show that any infringing activity actually took place;
- MediaSentry appears to have been conducting an investigation without an investigator’s license, in violation of ORS 703.405 and ORS 703.993(s), which is a crime;
- in Atlantic v. Andersen, based on the same theories and investigative techniques as those used here, they had been found by the Court to have stalled and resisted discovery, before abandoning their case rather than oppose Ms. Andersen’s summary judgment motion;
- the RIAA appears to have been abusing the judicial process by obtaining information through subpoenas which it then hands over to “collection firms” using them “to leverage payment of arbitrary sums of money, based on threats and evidence from the data mining”;
- the RIAA concealed a material fact from its original ex parte motion papers, which sought to create the aura of an emergency and the need for immediate ex parte action — the fact that the University had informed the RIAA in July that the requested information had been gathered and would be preserved;
- the RIAA lawyers falsely implied that the Attorney General’s office had failed to “meet and confer” with them prior to making the motion to quash, even though the AG’s office had in fact conferred with the RIAA’s lawyers;
- the deposition testimony of the RIAA’s expert witness Doug Jacobson in UMG v. Lindor tends to indicate that the RIAA has already accessed private information on the computers of University of Oregon students; and
- the RIAA has failed to provide an affidavit of the individual who actually conducted the ‘investigation’.
Which side are you on, the Oregon AG? RIAA, some of both, or neither?
November 29th, 2007
Thought for food: the $99.99 George Foreman USB iGrill
I’m a Portlander. We are an outdoor people, and we love to eat. Heck, The New York Times seemingly comes here every week and raves about our restaurant and foodie culture.
But it goes deeper than just restaurants for us. We love to eat/picnic on the back deck, the porch, the fire ring in our large parks, which are bigger and better than many of yours.
We are also into technology.
In the best example of cooking tech and tech-tech in which I have seen in just a fortnight, I’ve come across ThinkGeek’s blurb about the new George Foreman USB iGrill.
The $99.99 device uses USB cable to connect to your home or office PC. It lands on what ThinkGeek calls a “sophisticated web-based cooking interface.”
Download recipes, enter in the type of food, weight and desired degree of doneness, and the iGrill handles the rest. Did you know that a medium rare 1/4 lb. hamburger made from 80% lean beef takes 1 minute and 45 seconds less cook time than an identical patty made from 95% lean prime Black Angus? The iGrill does. As your meal cooks, the subtle glow from under the unit increases brightness and pulses faster until your meal is perfectly done.
Ordering one now. BRB…
November 29th, 2007
The three reasons why 3G iPhone won't matter that much
I’ve been thinking about the very, very public leak by Randall Stephenson, CEO of iPhone’s 
exclusive’s U.S. distributor AT&T.
The leak that asserts iPhone will have a new model early next year that will download Internet content significantly faster over AT&T than the current model’s often s-l-o-w performance over AT&T’s EDGE network.
I’d expect an announcement of the faster iPhone in early January, either at Macworld, or at the Consumer Electronics Show. But I don’t think this changes things much.
First of all, you can expect the next-gen iPhone to cost more. I’d bet $499. But since Apple has seen a propensity for dropping iPhone prices only a few months after release, any consumer with a lick o’ sense will wait this one out.
Second, I think that most people who really wanted an iPhone already have one. They’ve paid between $399-$599 in recent months. Only the obsessive-compulsive, or the fanboys (who are already largely obsessive-compulsive) would buy another iPhone. And I can tell you there ain’t gonna be any exchange.
Third, near as I can tell, the EDGE-as-slow-as molasses has never been a make-or-break decision arbiter for prospective iPhone purchasers. Oh sure, there have been some complaints, but I don’t detect slow Internet downloads as being a barrier to purchase for the more than one million iPhone users so far.
November 29th, 2007
Is using Vonage Biblically correct? Well, this writer seems to think so
I know that sounds totally over the top, but consider this.
As I understand it, many if not most observant Jews regard the five books of the Torah (also often referred to as the first five books of the Old Testament) as their principal guiding light for living their lives.
Presumably informed by this creed, Ben Nathan of the 5Towns (Long Island, N.Y.) Jewish Times, has some interesting things to say.
He writes:
There is a mandate in the Torah not to waste things. Although, Biblically speaking, it applies only to fruit trees, the rabbis extended it to many other areas. One area in which we should look to avoid waste is in our utility bills.
We may be wasting a significant amount of money in excess heating and electricity bills. Below, we find a number of ideas for saving money—possibly several thousand dollars each year.
Number #30 (of 30) on his list, and I kid you not:
Look into a Vonage phone or other alternatives to the phone company. Check your regular telephone plan to make sure that you are not being taken advantage of.
Ben lists these 30 principles as examples of what he refers to as Bal Tashchis- a Biblical mandate not to waste things.
I’m not smart enough nor theologically grounded enough to pass judgment on whether or not using Vonage offers any redemptive potential.
Maybe some of you can offer insight into whether we should accept Ben’s Vonage endorsement as sound consumer advice..or maybe something owing to a higher authority than the almighty dollar?
As if the dollar were still almighty these days?
November 29th, 2007
Skype's future plans may include sampling, selling of eBay digital content
That’s what Business Week writer (and fellow Portlander, I might add) Olga Kharif seems to think.In an article she posted earlier today, Olga says that Skype 
-owner eBay isn’t giving up yet. Citing sources, Olga maintains that the next major Skype software upgrade, anticipated early next year, could help eBay promite and sell digital music, video and software content.
Skype’s specific role in such digital ecommerce initiatives is far from clear, but I could envision merchants paying a premium to eBay for sample content to be pushed through the Skype connections of opt-in (and it better be opt-in) users. For example, jazz lovers who opt in to such a service could receive personalized alerts when they log on to their Skype accounts that sample content is available for play. This musical or video content could then be pushed through the Skype connection, and actually play over it.
Then if you want to buy the content you have just sampled, you can pay for it via eBay-owned Paypal.
And if that sounds interesting, then what about this? Olga’s source envisions future options that would facilitate the carrying of calls between a therapist and a patient. Not sure how many would go for that right away.
November 28th, 2007
Do you care dept.: PowerPoint file export to iPhone, IPod will be possible in Office 2008 for Mac
In her All About Microsoft blog, my colleague Mary Jo Foley notes an official Microsoft Mac Mojo 
blog posting from earlier this week that has revealed technology in the forthcoming (January 15) Office 2008 for Mac that will allow users to export PowerPoint 2008 presentations onto their iPods and/or iPhones.
Here’s the relevant excerpt from this blog post (linked above)
“Getting presentations from PowerPoint 2008 for Mac to your iPod or iPhone is easy. PowerPoint exports your presentation as a series of pictures directly to iPhoto, or saves those same slide images as pictures to your Pictures folder. From there, sync pictures to your iPod or iPhone through iTunes as usual, then use the built-in Photos or slide show program on your iPod or iPhone to show your presentation. No sweat!
“Presentations look great on the big wide screens of iPhone and iPod Touch, but they look even better on a big screen TV or projected. Plug your iPod into a television or projector using the Apple Component AV or Composite AV cable and leave your laptop in the case.”
Mary Jo notes that according to Microsoft, not only will this new feature will work on any iPhone, but it will also function on any iPod model that supports pictures, like the iPod Touch, iPod Classic or current generation iPod Nano, and will requires iPhoto ‘06 or later, according to Microsoft.
So what do you think of this announcement, readers?
Loading ...November 28th, 2007
I've just encountered Yahoo! Voice's "Hey, Sexy!" problem
On days like today when I am chained to my desk, I often use Yahoo! Voice
to make phone calls.
I often open Yahoo! Voice via Yahoo! Messenger. IMHO that’s the quickest and easiest way to perform this task.
Unfortunately, Yahoo! Messenger has a voice-message spam problem that is only getting worse.
So this morning, I am talking to a hotel engineer for an article I am writing for a hotel industry trade publication I’ve worked for, for more than 20 years.
Then, in mid-sentence about antennas the engineer’s hotel is constructing to boost in-building cell reception, a voice-spam male voice interrupts our conversation and greets me with:
“HEY, SEXY!!”
I was not amused-not because it was a male voice. I mean, to each his own. But see, I would have been just as pi-oed if it was a female voice.
If I wanted to hear “hey sexy,” well put it this way. I once “read” there are some websites where you can hear that greeting- and just for starters.
But see, I was using my Yahoo! Voice for work. And having work-related conversations interrupted by “hey sexy” is irritating.
Takeaway: Yahoo! Voice has a spam problem they need to build up their defenses against.
November 28th, 2007
11 Steps to iPhone screencaps from WITHIN the iPhone, not of it
Erica Sudan of the Unofficial Apple Weblog has posted a freely downloadable utility that when installed on your iPhone, will let you take screen captures not just of your iPhone screen but directly from it.
And then the iClarified Web site has posted an eleven-step tutorial on how to do just that.
So why would anyone want to take screencaps from their iPhone? Plenty of reasons- to incorporate into PowerPoint slides, to boast on Flickr, to export on to online sites or even printed material for home or enterprise use.
I know you can get these images by pointing a digital camera to your iPhone screen, but that’s not a guarantee of high-quality. I know from similar attempts that glare and reflection are menaces often encountered in such approaches.
OK, so let me get to the gist of this post.
Here, as described on iClarified, are the 11 steps necessary to take an image of your iPhone screen:
Click here to download Erica’s screenshot utility. Double click the zip file to extract it.
On your iPhone press to select Settings from the springboard. Then press to select General. Under General press to select Auto-Lock. Press to select Never from the list of Auto-Lock times.
Find your iPhone’s IP Address. Do this by pressing to select Settings from the springboard. Then press to select Wi-Fi from your Settings menu. Now press to select the blue circle with the right arrow next to your connected network. A screen will appear showing your connection details. Take note of your IP Address. Start Fugu by clicking its icon in your Applications folder. If you didn’t use Fugu to unlock your iPhone you will have to download and install it now.
Log into Fugu by inputing your iPhones IP address into the Connect to field. Type rootUsername field. Then press the Connect button. If you are prompted for a password it is either dottie or alpine depending on your unlock methods.
Select the panel to the right and click the Go To… button on the toolbar. A popup window will appear. Enter /bin into the entryfield and click the Go button. Now on the left panel navigate to where you extracted the file screenshot from screenshot.zip. Drag and drop the file screenshot from the left panel to right.
Select the file screenshot from the right panel and press Command+i on the keyboard.
This will bring up an info window for the file. Check all the boxes next to Execute and click the Apply button.
Open a new Terminal window by clicking its icon in Applications:Utilities.
SSH into your iPhone by typing the following at the command line replacing ‘ipaddress’ your iPhone’s IP Address. When prompted for a password just enter ‘dottie’ or ‘alpine’ depending on the unlock method you used. ssh root@ipaddress
On your iPhone navigate to the screen you would like to take screenshot of. Then back in your Terminal window type screenshot then press enter.
Go back to Fugu which you should still have running. Select the right panel then click the Go To… button from the toolbar. Enter /tmp into the Go To popup window then click the Go button. In the right panel you will notice a file called foo_0.png. Drag this file from the right panel to the left panel to copy it to your computer. If you open the file with preview you will see it is a perfect screenshot of your iPhone!
November 28th, 2007
Vonage makes two smart customer service moves-oops, sorry, that's Vonage UK
Vonage UK has made two announcements this week that seems to indicate someone over there is on the ball with regard to customer service.
First, Dan Connor announces in his independently owned and run Vonage Forum’s Digest that:
Vonage UK and inQ announced today that inQ’sChatCommerce services will be integrated into Vonage UK’s Web site so that customers and potential customers can chat with live representatives, who will be available 24/7 to answer questions and address concerns.
That’s a potentially helpful gesture. Dan’s Vonage Forum is full of posts from North Americans who complain they have difficulty understanding the accents of some of Vonage’s Phillippines and India-based phone-based customer and tech support service folks.
Let’s hope the vast majority of these complaints are not driven by nativist prejudices. Presumably, though, online chat would reduce some of these “I called tech support but couldn’t understand what he was saying” issues.
Let’s also hope this solution migrates to North America, where the vast majority of Vonage customers are located.
Second, in an only marginally related move, Vonage is reaching out to the 10,000 UK based Skype customers who are losing their numbers in three weeks.
Fellow blogger Andy Abramson notes an email from Skype in which he has been told:
Following Skype’s decision to cut off 10,000 of its 0207 customers by 20th December, Vonage is offering all those customers the opportunity to keep their existing number, simply by moving to Vonage.
Skype’s online forum has been inundated with complaints from confused customers for whom losing their number has serious repercussions. Vonage wants these Skype customers to know that all they have to do is notify them of their wish to sign up to a standard Vonage call plan and keep their existing Skype number.
Kerry Ritz, MD Vonage UK, said, “It’s simply not good enough to treat customers like this. Skype has total disregard to the repercussions of cutting off these numbers for their customers. They don’t even supply their customers with a number to call for help.”
“At Vonage, we pride ourselves in putting the customer first and have set up a special help line for all affected Skype customers. We welcome any Skype customer who wants to retain their number by moving to us.
I know they reached out to SunRocket’s orphans, but Vonage has always said they don’t regard Skype has a direct competitor. Once again, I have to ask whether or not Vonage in North America would be so quick on the ball if something similar happened here?
November 28th, 2007
Comcast CEO kinda, sorta gets there are "horrific" customer service problems
In a just-posted interview by FORTUNE magazine writer Stephanie Mehta, Comcast
CEO Brian Roberts is asked whether or not he realizes that his company has a “horrific” reputation for customer service.
At the least, Roberts’ answer shows that he is not in denial.
“I hope that reputation is not universal, and we are working very hard to improve where we have made past mistakes,” Roberts says. “We do 250 million phone calls a year between orders and services, and, inevitably, with that many calls, you are going to have failures.
“We have added 11,000 technical and customer-care employees just in the past 18 months,” Roberts adds. “And we are beginning to call customers before and after service appointments to make sure we did the work properly. It is a major goal to continue to improve.”
I do wonder, though, if Roberts truly understands the depth and variety of Comcast’s customer service problems. To me, one of the biggest is inconsistency of availability of customer records between one far-flung customer service and tech service office and another.
Maybe we can help Brian out.
What’s your biggest beef- if any-with Comcast service?
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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