Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Listening To Audio Books

As everyone who reads this blog knows, I am a regular viewer/listener of Leo LaPorte's TWIT podcast, & others on his site. he makes money through advertising, & has deals for his fans. One of his advertisers is Audible, the audiobook website/software owned by Amazon. The deal is 2 free audiobooks using a special TWIT code. It's for 2 books & you can then cancel & not pay anything!

So after thinking about this for awhile, I decided to try it out. You have to download the download manager & what is called the Audible Manager, which is the player. You can put them on iTunes, but I hadn't done that to begin with.

First of all, you find a book to get. Naturally I chose the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. It's a 600 page book that comes out to 25 hours. They make it a little simpler by cutting it up into 3 parts. Each is around 8 hours, & the total size is about 300 mb. Not too bad. Took about 15 minutes to download.

Then, I swear, it took me a half an hour to figure out how to listen. There is no way to listen through the website. You need the manager. Finally I found the shortcut on my desktop & voila!

I don't think the reader is that good, but it's an easy way to read a book. I've already listen to over 2 hours today. I don't know how many pages that is, but after an opening that covers his adoption, his grammar school & high school years, his meeting with Woz, & traveling around India, I'm now getting into the time about when Apple was founded.

Since the first section isn't in iTunes, I can't put it on my iPod, but the 2nd & 3rd parts can. So I can listen that way. I also can get a second book. What do I go with? Keith Richards bio? Something fiction? History? I will look through the list, & then try to remember to cancel, unless I want to get more books. that could happen. Who knows.

I still say, Audible could make it easier to use. I had trouble figuring out the system. Especially transferring to iTunes. It was saying I couldn't, but the later sections do show up under books in iTunes, so something must have been fixed. The regular cost for the platinum plan is $25 a month, which includes 2 credits, which generally means 2 books. Not that bad, especially since the Jobs book is $35.

Monday, November 28, 2011

iPad Vs PC & Overteched TV's

Sunday I was at my cousin's house for a belated Thanksgiving (I worked on Thursday). He showed me his iPad. This was my first experience using one for an extended period of time. I tried one at the Apple Store near my house when the original first came out, but that was five minutes.

Yes, I'm a little late giving a review so I won't try. It's an interesting device to use. No sense in denying that. But I still prefer using my desktop. Trying to figure out how to use the virtual keyboard isn't that much fun. Plus it has these little icons that I could never figure out what they were for. I would click one & then it would be "well, what do you do?".

One of the issues I came across is it's issue with not closing applications. I thought I closed something & then would find out that there were like 4 separate programs open. How did that happen, & how come I don't remember opening that program to begin with? This is something that doesn't happen on my PC. Plus any program opened I would see on the status bar.

Now maybe if this was my personal one, it would be different since I would be using it regularly. After all, I have no problems with my PC or my iPod.

The other piece of tech I saw in action (I didn't use it myself) was their flat screen. It's hooked up to the internet & has stuff like Pandora & Netflix on it. All set up through the Blu-Ray player.

Now I have satellite TV (Directv). But this was way to confusing for me. Because of the set up being through the Blu-ray player, you had to first choose what you wanted to do. The TV didn't automatically come on. Even my cousin's wife had an issue with that. There is such a thing as making things too complicated.

Pandora also had issues. It worked for a while then just decided to shut off. No one knew why. I speculated that maybe the site went down. You know, server issues. I also wondered if the cable had gone out. Who knows. Netflix also seemed a problem. Especially finding stuff by using the remote control to find stuff rather than a keyboard like I do on my PC.

Then again, Netflix has so little to stream, that I don't see the point. Now I would like to get a flat screen at some point, but I don't want a confusing mish mash of things to do like my cousin has. I wonder how many people with these TV's have these issues. i just want to sit down, click the remote & start watching. Is that really asking too much?

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Retailers Phony Tech "Deals"

It was highly amusing this morning looking at the post thanksgiving flyers for all the brick & mortar retailers. The sales prices for some of the items were not sales prices at all.

I especially got a kick out of the "cheap" price for Kindles from Best Buy, Office Max & Target. Target was referring to their price as a "big deal". Never mind that it was the price that Amazon set for the device when they introduced the new ones a couple of months ago. And, of course, it's the same price regardless of where you buy it, including Amazon. It's not bait & switch. It's just dishonest, suggesting that this is a special holiday sales price, when in reality it's the everyday price.

This isn't as bad as stores that raise an items price, then drop it claiming its now on sale. This has been a discussion on action line in the San Jose Mercury for several months now. Retailers keep playing these games hoping we won't notice, but we're not as dumb as they would like to think. My suggestion is check all stores including the online ones for discrepancies.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Are Newspaper Aps the Future?

I have a problem. My newspaper carrier didn't want to work this week. So I didn't get a paper on Thanksgiving & today's was late. I work on Saturdays & leave the house at 6:30 AM. I can't call that the paper is late because they don't answer that early on the weekend.

I'm thinking that sometime in the future the business is going to decide that either you subscribe to a newspaper app, meaning no delivery, no problem. Just turn on your iPad or Kindle Fire or whatever.

This is a bad idea. Not everyone has a tablet or wants one. I don't. Why should I? I have a full size desktop. The tech industry is creating a tech ghetto. Not wealthy enough to have an iPad-too bad, no newspaper for you. This is backwards thinking. those of us in the working class have more need for news than the 1%

What is happening however, is that its harder to find people who want to deliver the paper. Most of my carriers the last few years have been anything but reliable. You probably have the same experience. But I am sure this has caused some in the industry to wonder if they should shut down publishing & just go online. Except that online ad rates are lower. The future should be enlightening in how this works out, & how informed the public will be.

Monday, November 21, 2011

PG&E Site Changes Remove Bill Estimates

After being unavailable for weeks, PG&E finally puts online the new "My Energy" pages. What a disaster!
The reason I liked the old site was that it told you how much you were using & what your estimated bill would be.

I don't mean at the end of the month. All sites do that. I mean day by day you could see your costs. So in the middle of the month I knew what my bill was going to look like. This allowed me to change things. "Hmmm. If I keep using this much a day, I will have a $100 utility bill. I need to cut down". That is now gone. Now all you have is average kwh hours per day & average cost per kw (example: $0.13/kw). What this means is I have to get out a calculator & do the math myself.

Why do this? Isn't it obvious. Most people won't make the effort, meaning your bill goes up, & PG&E makes more money. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

NY Times Article On Headphones

Today there is an article that is mostly about the expensive "Beats by Dr Dre" headphones. these are really expensive buds that cost up to $300! Are you serious?

I've seen these in stores & on Apple's website. I ask myself "$300 WTF". I can't see spending $100 let alone $300. Plus according to the article, they are not very good. They emphasize the bass, but distort the overall sound. Why am I not surprised?

Today's young music fan isn't really interested in good music, just a loud beat. that's why most modern music is bad or unlistenable. Rap/Hip Hop? That isn't really music. The current state of rock. Awful. The only bands I can stomach are U2 & Arcade Fire. Coldplay is NOT a rock band. They are a pop outfit. And most alternative is mostly yelling.

Now we have 50 Cent & Ludicris also promoting their own brand of overpriced headphones. Again I assume with lots of bass. Meanwhile Koss & Sennheiser continue to manufacture old schooltype phones with good frequency response & the impedence. I want some bass (Apple phones are weak probably because they are free with your iPod), but I don't want distortion like the fools who blast their car stereos so loud you only hear booming, no actual music.

But this is the future. Some of us are not buying.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Tablets For Christmas


As we get ready for Christmas, it’s time to check the tech options out there for gifts. This year it seems to be tablets. It all started with the iPad sometime ago. But now everybody is getting into the game.
Samsung has a tablet. A bunch of no names have low end tablets that Frys is selling & are advertised nowhere  else. And now we have the e-reader war. Amazon started with its Kindle Fire & now Barnes & Noble has answered back with the Nook Tablet.
Of course the difference with these two is the price. Every other tablet is essentially the same price as an iPad, around $500 to $800. The Fire is $199 & the Nook is $249. Problem is the Nook Tablet apparently isn’t as good as the cheaper Fire. Hmmm. Wonder if that will affect sales?
But there’s another issue. What exactly makes these better than a desktop or a laptop? I say: nothing.  An actual computer comes with a real keyboard, not one of those monstrous “virtual” keyboards. I hate those things. They are hard to use, & it’s hard to find special characters. Needless to say, I’m writing this on an actual computer using a real keyboard.
Plus a tablet doesn’t do the things a real computer can. They are consumption devices. They are for surfing the web, listening to music & watching videos. They are not for balancing your checkbook or creating projects for business.
As for using them like an e-reader, the public has already said no. Yes, the iPad is extremely successful, but the iBook store isn’t. The reason? Because tablets have backlit screens like a computer monitor. Those are very hard on the eyes. Believe me, I know. After a couple of hours my eyes get tired. Regular e-readers like the very successful Kindle line, which has gotten cheaper, use what’s known as e-ink. It’s like reading a book. Not hard on the eyes at all. At least that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t own one.
The alternative is to use Audible audio books. You don’t need a special device. You can listen on your computer or put them on your iPod, a device I already own. I’ve thought of doing that but wonder if I would get distracted & not hear all the book or maybe have problems with whoever is doing the reading.
So you can see what is out there & I would be interested in what actually happens this year.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Scribe Fire Fails

I am always surprised when an organization or company decides to change something that works. In this case it's the Firefox extension Scribe Fire that allows you to post to your blog without having to actually log in to it. Plus being able to have a webpage open at the same time.

Well that option is gone. The people that make that extension have broken it. That forced everybody into something called Scribe Fire Next. Next stop: deletion of extension. It wouldn't let me post to this blog. And when I went on the Scribe Fire website guess what? Lots of complaints about that very issue.

I really don't understand why a company would ruin a perfectly good blog editor. Do they not want people to use their program? I guess not.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

PG&E Screws Up Website

One of the main reasons for Smart meters is the ability to keep track of energy consumption through a utility's website. I did this all last winter. It allowed me to know where i stood, & if I could afford to use the heat in the middle of the day. Otherwise I would just bundle up until evening.

But of course PG&E couldn't keep that up could they? What they did was change the website by creating a new format called "My Energy", which has not been available for at least a week.

No. Don't "thank me for my patience". Just put the site back up. If this has been down for over a week, that's not a small issue. That's a plan to prevent me from accessing my energy consumption. After all, we are talking about PG&E, not the most honest or responsible utility in the nation. For the record, the website seems only interested in allowing you to make payments now. Saving money-not so much. I find it hard to believe that haven't been able to fix this issue in all this time. Looks more like they don't want you to know how much energy you are using. An investigation would be in order.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Facebook Suspends Salman Rushdie's Account

The real name police have struck again. Salman Rushdie's Facebook account was suspended because of the policy of not using pseudonyms. Rushdie doesn't use his first name Ahmed. Google+ does the same thing. Rushdie got his account back by posting a rant on Twitter.

This policy is a problem because in certain countries (the middle east) using your real name could get you arrested or killed. But sites like Facebook & Google+ don't seem to understand this. They are too busy trying to lock people into using their site in connection with other sites, like Spotify requiring a Facebook account for access.

Obviously this is a problem for people not known by their real names. Who is going to go on Stefani Germanotta's Facebook page? Only fans who know that's Lady Gaga (thank you Wikipedia). And again, requiring people in the middle east who were using Facebook to organize their protests might have gotten lots of people killed. But Mark Zuckerberg only cares about how he can increase usage of his site, & how he can make obscene amounts of money.

Monday, November 14, 2011

TWITTV Website Failing Viewers

After watching This Week In Tech religiously through first YouTube & then through the revamped TWITTV website, I now find myself having to download the large video podcast through iTunes. Why you ask? Because all of a sudden the site is unable to stream the podcast. It freezes constantly.

Now why all the buffering recently? Are more people watching it? That would be nice, but there's a core that would watch this. I can't imagine it suddenly spiked. At first I thought it was Firefox which just jumped to version 8, but I switched to IE9 & it's doing the same thing.

Now since I watch other stuff online, like episodes of David Letterman & Jon Stewart, I can tell you it isn't my computer. Those stream fine. So I can only assume that a tech site is having technical problems streaming & replaying video. Isn't that ironic?

I hope this is soon resolved. I have decided to download Sunday's episode which I will watch tomorrow, & I guess I will subscribe to the video version. I could listen to the audio version which I did for over a year, but it is more entertaining to be able to see the people talking, plus they do show technology on the show sometimes meaning it would be good to see what they are talking about.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

iPod Earphones Stop Working

I've had my iPod nano for a little over 2 years. I had to use the included Apple earphones for about 6 months. Not very good.  First of all because they are flat earbuds they don't fit well in my ears. There's always trouble with the left ear, which I guess has a different shape opening. Then the sound isn't really all that good. Not much bass to speak of.

So when I could I bought a better pair. In my case, Sony in-ear phones with lots of bass & a volume control on the cord. These were great. Only $40 at Best Buy. So yesterday I'm sitting inn a chair at home listening to some Beatles (Past Masters Volume II). I've just listened to Paperback Writer & now on comes Rain, a lesser known John Lennon number. All of a sudden I have no sound coming out of the left ear. I remove them, clean the wax out, poke a hole, nothing. I have to resort to connecting the iPod to my stereo.

I have no idea what happened. Apparently it decided to short out at that point. I had not touched anything, so I have no idea why it happened. This morning I hunted down & found the original white Apple earbuds that came with the unit. Like I said, it takes a long time just to get them to fit in my ears, & the sound isn't as good as the Sony's . So one of these days I will have to look for new ones. I really don't want to, but what can I do?

I spent a lot of time looking for those buds. I even looked at the Koss Porta Pro on ear phones. yeah they look kinda dumb, but I never wear my iPod out of the house anyway. The price doesn't seem to have changed in 2 years (imagine that), but why I have to do it is still a mystery.  Anyway let's see what happens. I have other things I want to get, headphones is definitely not #1 on my list.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Robots Reading My Blog

It's interesting to read Blogger stats. Unlike Statcounter which only counts actual views through an ISP, Blogger counts stats from the search engine bots. So the stats are always a lot higher & from all over. For instance, in the last week the most searches for this blog were from here, Germany & Russia. Also there were searches from England, Latvia & Singapore.

My sports blog had searches from Russia & Bangladesh. Now I'm smart enough to know that there's probably no one in Bangladesh who knows who the 49ers are, so that's how I know it's a bot. Yeah some poor muslim beggar making a couple of pennies a day is interested in how many yards Frank Gore got yesterday. LOL. And I'm sure "Peggy" (You know-the russian scammer in the capital one commercials) wants to know how many tackles P Willie had.

It's an fascinating stat. However I would rather know that real people are reading my two blogs. This one does decently, but certainly not at the level of a well known one. And my sports one isn't read at all. Oh well.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

iPod nano Clock Mystery

Today I was listening to my iPod nano using my earphones. After listening for about an hour I happened to look at the top of the unit & noticed the clock. Now my nano is a 4th generation that I have had for two years. I haven't synced the unit for probably two weeks. But somehow it has the right time. Meaning it is on standard time, not daylight savings.

Now daylight savings time ended this morning at 2AM(why that's the end I've never figured out). And since I haven't hooked up my iPod to my computer for two weeks I would like to know how it has gone to standard time without me doing anything.

I've looked on Wikipedia & on Apple's website & they say nothing. I am very curious. How exactly does an iPod nano know to change the clock ahead one hour? Is WI-Fi involved or 3G? It's a nano, not a touch or an iPhone. Kinda spooky if you ask me. I understand my computer doing it, because it is hooked up to DSL. Same with my TV, Directv changes it automatically. But an iPod without internet access? That's weird.

Firefox Going To Version 8

Here we go again. Tuesday is the release day for Firefox 8. Will it be any different & how many things won't work? The continuing insistence on copying Chrome is a major problem.  I love Firefox but this gets old. Eventually Mozilla wants to go to silent updates like Chrome. The problem with that is the amount of things that will break, like extensions.

But then again my ScribeFire just updated to ScribeFire Next. It only loaded one blog. I had to manually load my sports blog (OK-no one is reading that, but still). I'm still not sure how that will work, so this post is an experiment. And Apple keeps trying to get me to update iTunes. I did that a couple of months ago. It works fine, why update constantly?

Yes, I know it has to do with security, but it can get out of hand. The constant updating does cause problems. It's to impress people who should know better, but most people are not geeks & think a higher number means it's better. I'm surprised Apple hasn't changed the numbering system for their OS. It's still OSX, not OS25.LOL.

 


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

IE Goes Under 50%...Maybe

Ars Technica has an article claiming that Internet Explorer has gone below 50% usage worldwide. Then it starts making disclaimers. "Well it's 49.59% in combined share, but 52.63% in desktop share". What does that even mean?

Here's what's going on. Combined share includes mobile, i.e. cellphones & tablets. But they use different browsers & different OS's. For instance: in mobile the Android browser has 13.12% & Opera Mini has 18.65%. On desktops Opera has 1.56%, Android doesn't exist. IE has .16%, & Safari Mobile has 62.17%. On desktop Safari has 5.43%.

Why the difference? Safari's huge mobile percentage is because of the iPhone. On desktop's the percentage is in line with Apple's market share. Likewise Opera has always been big on cellphones, but almost no one uses it on desktops. I'm going to venture that Windows phones use Opera, which would explain the 18% market share.

So this was a non story from a supposed respected tech site. Yes, IE has gone down a lot. I use it on of all things TWITTV. Because they have been unable to fix a bug on Firefox 7 that doesn't show the play button on their podcasts. I may have to download Chrome just to watch episodes.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Directv Caves In To Fox

In the latest feud between a content provider & the owner, Directv has come to an agreement with News Corp over all Fox owned stations which would have been removed from the satellite company today.

This has been going on for the last couple of years, with the networks dramatically increasing rates to the cable & satellite companies. Cablevision lost ABC & came to an agreement 2 hours after the Oscars started. Time Warner has had issues as has Dish Network. Directv lost Versus for an entire year.

Directv claimed News Corp was attempting to raise rates 40%. News Corp denies this. News Corp needed to fix this because Directv is the 2nd largest TV provider (19.4 M) behind Comcast.

The reality is that this is being fed by the networks increasing their fees. News Corp & Disney are veterans in this type of price gouging. Of course this is what happens when a small number of companies own the majority of cable stations. For instance, the loss of Fox channels on Directv would have included National Geographic, Speed & Fuel, besides FX & regional sports networks (the channels that carry local college & pro teams). A loss of Disney channels would include all ESPN channels. That's why it's a big deal.

Also remember Directv competitor Comcast now owns NBC & had to go through hoops with the government, basically agreeing not to try to keep NBC off Directv, Dish & Time Warner. Or show favoritism towards their own channels. Thir should be an investigation of this practice which is becoming very prevalent.