A Bad Day at the Computer

Ever had a day like this? When everything you do at the keyboard goes wrong?
Man, that's what the last few days have been like as we tried to migrate this Typepad blog over to a new host and the WordPress 2.0 platform. There have been bugs and glitches and at the end of three days, it looks like WordPress 2.0 isn't ready for primetime and able to handle the the video reports I want to blog next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
So, now back at Typepad as we ponder what to do with WordPress, I dug out this video to give vent to our frustration.
It's supossed to be surveillance shots of a frustrated office worker. Seems I later heard - after it was widely circulated online - that it was a hoax aimed at marketing surveillance cameras. No matter. Somehow, just watching this guy do what we all want to do sometime makes me feel better.

Things you can do in a car

Maybe we’re taking this convergence idea too far: Microsoft, Nissan Put Xbox In A Car.
Information Age tells us that Microsoft and Nissan have jointly developed a concept car that’s equipped with an Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system.
The URGE car enables people, while parked, to play the game “Project Gotham Racing 3″ using the vehicle’s steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal. The game, developed by Bizarre Creations Ltd., is shown on a flip-down 7-inch LCD screen.
The URGE is scheduled to make its debut Jan. 9 at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit .
I guess it’s a new way to get foggy windows while parked in a car.
Meanwhile, MobileWhack reports that at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, XM Satellite Radio will be unveiling the XM Advanced Services vehicle, a concept car featuring in-car video, support for voice commands, weather alerts and a parking space locator. How the later feature works is something I’ll check out and let you now.

Big News coming from Microsoft and Apple

January is going to be a huge month for tech news, with two major technology exhibitions and two major keynotes from the world’s biggest tech titans.
Next Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft chairman and founder Bill Gates will do the opening keynote for the seventh year in a row. The following Tuesday at the MacWorld gathering in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will do his keynote.
Both will make major news.
Gates, after years of trying to convince us that we will all have digital living-rooms with all our computer and entertainment devices interconnected (I swear it was the same message with different celebrities interspersed to bring life to Gate’s droll delivery), is expected to shed major new light on the new Vista Operating System that will go on sale by Christmas 2006.
Microsoft critics are already carping that many of the Vista features like tabbed browsing and RSS feeds in Internet Explorer and desktop search and better security have been around fro years through competitors. True. But the competitors are not Microsoft. Microsoft has 90% of the market and when it does an update, it shakes the marketplace. That will happen with Vista.
Besides, Vista has one feature that I hope we learn more of next week that truly is revolutionary. It uses new technology that drastically reduces the time it takes to boot-up a computer. Instead of minutes, it will supposedly be done with Vista in seconds. This is huge, something I’ve heard Gates dreamily talk about for years, and if Vista delivers with this feature alone, I predict a huge win for Microsoft.
But Microsoft has more than Vista coming in 2006. By summer, it is expected to release Version 12 of its Microsoft Office productivity suite. It’s a major upgrade with a new feel and look and the company geeks I’ve talked to who have worked on it are genuinely excited. We’ll see, with maybe and Office 12 at CES, too.
Then there’s Apple.
The Tuesday after Gates delivers his keynote, Jobs will do his thing before the Mac faithful. Jobs is in style the exact opposite of Gates, just as Macs are from PCs. Where Gates is geeky and dull, Jobs, in his jeans and trademark black turtleneck, is charismatic, almost evangelistic. And the crowd at MacWorld is made up of rabid loyalists, fans all. Even the journalists cheer.
Apple is on a huge roll, a comeback company with bling and buzz, thanks to the iPod and the sea change influence it has had on the digital lifestyle that Gates had so hoped to influence but that Apple stole right out from under him.
The Apple momentum is expected to build even more in 2006, with new iPod features, for sure, but, more importantly, new computers.
Apple isn’t leaking what Jobs will talk about on Jan 10 but the industry is running heavy with speculation that he will unveil the first Macs that run on the Intel platform. What that means to consumers is that Macs will be able to run both the Apple OS X and the Windows operating systems. Think of it: The best of the Mac and the best of the PC on one machine.
We have two very busy weeks ahead.

Browser Toolbar Glut

This is getting ridiculous. Between Google and Yahoo! and MSN and AOL and their various messaging applications, my browser’s toolbar is seriously bloated, taking up five rows of valuable desktop real estate. No matter how much I try to delete or uncheck as many options as I can find, the links and icons and buttons to their self-promoting services are keep returning. They are much too hard to kill and permananetly remove.

Protopage makes for a fine start page

Web sites that try to suck you into making them your home page have been around for years and I’ve never found one compelling enough to cause me to even consider their offer. Except for a new one I found over the weekend. It has no ads, offers total customization and, for now, anyway, has caused me to hit the tools/options settings in my browser and make it my start page. Try it. You may, too. Link: Protopage offers RSS news feeds, sticky notes and bookmarks It works with both Macs and Windows browers.

Gifts on fritz? Try the Web

Link: MIKE WENDLAND: Gifts on fritz? Try the Web.

It’s the day after Christmas and all through the land, one phrase can be heard, with phone in hand: Argghhh!

That’s the sound of frustration born out of long hours trying to get that high-tech gizmo or gadget to work.

And also because of all the agonizingly long wait times trying to get through to someone on the manufacturer’s help desk while you listen to canned on-hold music.

Today is the day help desk telephone technicians hate to come to work, the busiest of the year, the day many call when their Christmas gifts give them grief. I offer some alternate suggestions for help in Detroit Free Press column today.

Slingbox is one of my devices of the year

I don’t know how many got one of these as a Christmas gift today but it you haven’t yet heard of Slingbox, you will. This is the year it just started to take off. It is one of my devices of the year picks for 2005. It will, I predict, be as big or bigger than TiVo. That is, unless the big cable TV cabals turn on it.  Take your cable channels with you on the road.

Dr. Luke’s account of Christmas

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)

Merry Christmas everyone.

Watch out for Santa Claus IM Worm

Here’s one we better pass around today:
Link: PCWorld.com - Here Comes Santa Claus Worm.

A new instant-messaging worm called IM.GiftCom.All is making the rounds this holiday season. Rated as a "medium" threat by IMlogic, the worm attempts to get users of the instant-messaging networks run by America Online, Yahoo, and Microsoft to visit a seemingly festive Web site featuring Santa Claus.

The message comes from someone already present on a user’s "buddy list," said Art Gilliland, vice president of products for IMlogic. It contains a supposed link to a URL (uniform resource locator) starting with "santaclause.aol.com/a?|"

However, clicking on that link takes users to a different Web site and triggers the download of a malicious file to a user’s PC, Gilliland said.

Google Earth to Track Santa

Flash… starting around 2 pm ET Christmas Eve, Google earth will track Santa’s journey.

Cheney has his priorities right

Who’d think Dick Cheney is an iPod guy? Apparently, he takes it seriously, much to the frustration of journalists aboard Air Force Two. Cheney’s iPod Takes Top Priority on Extended Flight.

Favorite tech gifts?

So what are YOU hoping for this Christmas?
With one day left, what tech gift would you most like to find under the tree?
For those glazed-eyed last minute shoppers, your suggestions could be a big help.

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