Tuesday, January 30, 2007
My first Mid-Shore User’s Group meeting
I had the pleasure of attending the Mid-Shore Users Group meeting last Thursday night. It was the first time I had been able to join the group. I have been mentioning the meeting in this column since the group was formed. I thought it was time to check the group out myself.
There were about a dozen computer enthusiasts gathered in the upstairs meeting room of the Tourism office in Easton when I got there. Mike Young, president of the Chesapeake PC Users Group, had come over from Annapolis and presented a PowerPoint presentation on Vista, the new Windows operating system being released to the public this month.
It was an informal affair with Mike’s presentation weaving through different aspects of the new system as he responded to various questions from the group. I found the information useful from both a home enthusiast and a work point of view. Much of what he relayed involved how a person would use the new version on their own computer. A number of the points were also useful in a work environment.
Basically, the system is best left to your next computer purchase. Most existing computers would need a RAM upgrade to 2 GB and some older machines can’t handle that amount. Their systems only allow them to go to one GB. As I mentioned in a previous column there are several levels of the Vista operating system from basic to Aero. Aero is the premiere version with all the features. Mike recommended that computer users go for the Aero version, otherwise stay with your existing system.
My first home computer and my first work computer was a Mac. You need to know that to know where I’m coming from. I now have PCs as my main computer at work and at home. I like both systems. Both systems have their advantages.
Vista, to me, is a sign of further convergence of the Apple and Microsoft approaches to personal computing. Vista looks a lot like OSX on the Mac. Both have beautiful graphic user interfaces. If I were given either one as a gift, I would accept and fully enjoy. Ideally, I would like to always have both systems. I feel the Mac still has the edge in working with video.
The Mid-Shore Users Group is affiliated with the Chesapeake PC Users Group. You are encouraged to join the Chesapeake group when you attend the Mid-Shore meeting. You get a newsletter with information on various tips for computer users. A main article in the most recent newsletter outlines wireless home network security.
I think I’ll join.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or check out the blog accessible from the home page of stardem.com.
There were about a dozen computer enthusiasts gathered in the upstairs meeting room of the Tourism office in Easton when I got there. Mike Young, president of the Chesapeake PC Users Group, had come over from Annapolis and presented a PowerPoint presentation on Vista, the new Windows operating system being released to the public this month.
It was an informal affair with Mike’s presentation weaving through different aspects of the new system as he responded to various questions from the group. I found the information useful from both a home enthusiast and a work point of view. Much of what he relayed involved how a person would use the new version on their own computer. A number of the points were also useful in a work environment.
Basically, the system is best left to your next computer purchase. Most existing computers would need a RAM upgrade to 2 GB and some older machines can’t handle that amount. Their systems only allow them to go to one GB. As I mentioned in a previous column there are several levels of the Vista operating system from basic to Aero. Aero is the premiere version with all the features. Mike recommended that computer users go for the Aero version, otherwise stay with your existing system.
My first home computer and my first work computer was a Mac. You need to know that to know where I’m coming from. I now have PCs as my main computer at work and at home. I like both systems. Both systems have their advantages.
Vista, to me, is a sign of further convergence of the Apple and Microsoft approaches to personal computing. Vista looks a lot like OSX on the Mac. Both have beautiful graphic user interfaces. If I were given either one as a gift, I would accept and fully enjoy. Ideally, I would like to always have both systems. I feel the Mac still has the edge in working with video.
The Mid-Shore Users Group is affiliated with the Chesapeake PC Users Group. You are encouraged to join the Chesapeake group when you attend the Mid-Shore meeting. You get a newsletter with information on various tips for computer users. A main article in the most recent newsletter outlines wireless home network security.
I think I’ll join.
As always, you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or check out the blog accessible from the home page of stardem.com.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
iPhone or ApplePhone: A milestone in technology
It seemed like with within hours of when I turned my last column, the announcements started coming from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the Apple show in San Francisco.Wireless devices and big screen HD TVs dominated the CES displays. Apple stole the show—literally—when Steve Jobs got up on the stage in San Francisco and announced the existence of the iPhone. The phone captured the crowd at both shows with its innovative design.
With the current rate of progress in technology, it is often hard to pick out a true milestone device. I believe the iPhone (or possibly the ApplePhone depending on the results of a lawsuit over the name), will be one of those milestone devices. Jobs described it as the Internet in your pocket. The power of this device will redefine the role of cell phones in our lives. It brings together (convergence?) the elements of a cellular communications device, a music player, a camera, a video player and true Internet access.It is expensive, around $499 for the 4 Gg and $599 for the 8 Gg size, and only will be available from one carrier—Cingular. It won’t be available until June but techies are already queuing up for the device. Hopefully in time, the price will come down and the number of carriers will increase. The original iPod was considered to have similar handicaps. Apple refined the device until now it has a number of versions and the lion’s share of the personal music player market.
The device has only one button. Everything else is accessed through a touch screen interface. Some have said that takes a bit of getting used to but the touch screen makes the phone extremely versatile. It can be a touch pad or a video screen. It can be an Internet webpage or a camera viewfinder. People expect Apple to be innovative. They were not disappointed.
This device will be the subject of more columns in the future. You can’t see it now. But I’m working with a new version of the stardem Website. We have been listening to your comments. We are trying to incorporate as many of your concerns as possible. I can’t give a launch date yet. Stay tuned to the print paper and my blog for an announcement.
Plans are to make it live early in February. We hope you will find it easier to navigate. I want your views on it.
The new Windows operating system is still not very popular with our online visitors. Only 11 percent say they will install it. Forty-eight percent say they won’t will another 33 percent say they are going to wait. Another eight percent say they have Macs. That means a whopping 81 percent of the people who have responded and going to sit back and see if Vista is appropriate for them. Eventually we will all be using it on our PCs as new ones are bought. It is likely that few existing machines will be upgraded.
Did you hear what thepiratesbay.org is trying to do? The popular BitTorrent search site is trying to form its own country. The Swedish-based Website has been pestered by various governments because the bittorrent software is often used to transfer pirated material. Bittorent is a peer-assisted digital delivery platform that enables users to easily publish and download movies, music, games and other large files, according to a description on www.bittorrent.com.
Thepiratesbay.org is trying to buy a platform out in the North Sea off the United Kingdom and form its own sovereign nation. That way they won’t have to answer to any governmental authority. This could give some of those multi-national conglomerates an idea on how to control their destiny in the future.
Stay tuned for further developments.
As always you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or visit my blog reachable through the stardem.com website or directly at (webnotesonline.blog.com/).
With the current rate of progress in technology, it is often hard to pick out a true milestone device. I believe the iPhone (or possibly the ApplePhone depending on the results of a lawsuit over the name), will be one of those milestone devices. Jobs described it as the Internet in your pocket. The power of this device will redefine the role of cell phones in our lives. It brings together (convergence?) the elements of a cellular communications device, a music player, a camera, a video player and true Internet access.It is expensive, around $499 for the 4 Gg and $599 for the 8 Gg size, and only will be available from one carrier—Cingular. It won’t be available until June but techies are already queuing up for the device. Hopefully in time, the price will come down and the number of carriers will increase. The original iPod was considered to have similar handicaps. Apple refined the device until now it has a number of versions and the lion’s share of the personal music player market.
The device has only one button. Everything else is accessed through a touch screen interface. Some have said that takes a bit of getting used to but the touch screen makes the phone extremely versatile. It can be a touch pad or a video screen. It can be an Internet webpage or a camera viewfinder. People expect Apple to be innovative. They were not disappointed.
This device will be the subject of more columns in the future. You can’t see it now. But I’m working with a new version of the stardem Website. We have been listening to your comments. We are trying to incorporate as many of your concerns as possible. I can’t give a launch date yet. Stay tuned to the print paper and my blog for an announcement.
Plans are to make it live early in February. We hope you will find it easier to navigate. I want your views on it.
The new Windows operating system is still not very popular with our online visitors. Only 11 percent say they will install it. Forty-eight percent say they won’t will another 33 percent say they are going to wait. Another eight percent say they have Macs. That means a whopping 81 percent of the people who have responded and going to sit back and see if Vista is appropriate for them. Eventually we will all be using it on our PCs as new ones are bought. It is likely that few existing machines will be upgraded.
Did you hear what thepiratesbay.org is trying to do? The popular BitTorrent search site is trying to form its own country. The Swedish-based Website has been pestered by various governments because the bittorrent software is often used to transfer pirated material. Bittorent is a peer-assisted digital delivery platform that enables users to easily publish and download movies, music, games and other large files, according to a description on www.bittorrent.com.
Thepiratesbay.org is trying to buy a platform out in the North Sea off the United Kingdom and form its own sovereign nation. That way they won’t have to answer to any governmental authority. This could give some of those multi-national conglomerates an idea on how to control their destiny in the future.
Stay tuned for further developments.
As always you can reach me at rpolk@chespub.com or visit my blog reachable through the stardem.com website or directly at (webnotesonline.blog.com/).
Monday, January 15, 2007
Pre-column thoughts
It seemed like with within hours of when I turned my last column, the announcements started coming from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the Apple show in San Francisco.
Wireless devices and big screen HD TVs dominated the CES displays. Apple stole the show—literally—when Steve Jobs got up on the stage in San Francisco and announced the existence of the iPhone. The phone captured the crowd at both shows with its innovative design.
It is expensive, around $500, and only will be available from one carrier—Cingular. It won’t be available until June but techies are already queuing up for the device. Hopefully in time, the price will come down and the number of carriers will increase. The original iPod was considered to have similar handicaps. Apple refined the device until now it has a number of versions and the lion’s share of the personal music player market.
You can’t see it now. But I’m working with a new version of the stardem Website. We have been listening to your comments. We are trying to incorporate as many of your concerns as possible. I can’t give a launch date yet. Stay tuned to the print paper and my blog for an announcement.
Wireless devices and big screen HD TVs dominated the CES displays. Apple stole the show—literally—when Steve Jobs got up on the stage in San Francisco and announced the existence of the iPhone. The phone captured the crowd at both shows with its innovative design.
It is expensive, around $500, and only will be available from one carrier—Cingular. It won’t be available until June but techies are already queuing up for the device. Hopefully in time, the price will come down and the number of carriers will increase. The original iPod was considered to have similar handicaps. Apple refined the device until now it has a number of versions and the lion’s share of the personal music player market.
You can’t see it now. But I’m working with a new version of the stardem Website. We have been listening to your comments. We are trying to incorporate as many of your concerns as possible. I can’t give a launch date yet. Stay tuned to the print paper and my blog for an announcement.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Tower Records and online music stories and beyond..
I couldn’t help but note Vicki Fisher’s lament of the passing of Tower Records. Our music critic for the Weekend section expressed shock when she found that the once-highly popular and profitable record store had closed in Annapolis and was replaced by a furniture store.
Of course, young music buyers may be scratching their heads over the reference to “records” in the first paragraph. Their world of music consists of CDs and digital downloads. It is this last form of music—digital, is the primary reason for the passing of the large single-purpose music store.
Almost the same day Fisher’s lament appeared in the Weekend section, an online article reported that the Apple iTunes store was returning to normal after four days of slowdowns following Christmas. Apparently a lot of people got iTunes gift cards at Christmas and they all wanted to redeem them immediately. The result was that the Apple site had four-times the normal traffic and suffered massive slowdowns.
When you add the new Microsoft Zune media player to the already highly popular Apple iPod products, there are a lot of people choosing to acquire their music digitally. Granted, many are loading their existing CD collection into their iTunes program and loading them onto their iPods. But the slowdown at Apple indicates there are a number of people who are buying their music from the online store as well.
Here we are at that convergence issue again. To make a digital download or to transfer your CD collection into a digital format to play on a media player like an iPod, you need a computer. The computer which is becoming the all purpose communications tool in the home is also becoming the all purpose media entertainment center. The percentage of homes with computers is growing by the day. Businesses like Tower Records, that depend upon customers in the store, are suffering.
I remember when computers where not much more than word processors. Then came Internet connections and you could communicate with others by email or on bulletin boards. Computers got more powerful and graphics became part of the mix. You could create and manipulate images in programs like PhotoShop.
Connections got faster, computers more powerful and cameras were created that could capture a digital image. Hard drives got larger and computers faster so that you could begin to capture and play video clips. A typical desk top computer—no, a typical laptop computer now has vastly more storage space than a fileserver of only a couple of years ago.
Technology is moving ahead faster than all but the most ardent geek could imagine.
When I first got into the newspaper business, my camera equipment was all made by Canon. It was top of the line, professional stuff. It rivaled Nikon. I just recently learned that Canon has stopped making film cameras. They are putting all their efforts into digital. I had long since moved to digital for all my photography but that announcement still came as a shock to me. I guess it was like the shock of finding a furniture store where a record store had once been.
Advancing technology is pacing our future. I wonder where it will take us.
As always, you can contact me at rpolk@chespub.com or through my blog accessible from the stardem.com Website.
Of course, young music buyers may be scratching their heads over the reference to “records” in the first paragraph. Their world of music consists of CDs and digital downloads. It is this last form of music—digital, is the primary reason for the passing of the large single-purpose music store.
Almost the same day Fisher’s lament appeared in the Weekend section, an online article reported that the Apple iTunes store was returning to normal after four days of slowdowns following Christmas. Apparently a lot of people got iTunes gift cards at Christmas and they all wanted to redeem them immediately. The result was that the Apple site had four-times the normal traffic and suffered massive slowdowns.
When you add the new Microsoft Zune media player to the already highly popular Apple iPod products, there are a lot of people choosing to acquire their music digitally. Granted, many are loading their existing CD collection into their iTunes program and loading them onto their iPods. But the slowdown at Apple indicates there are a number of people who are buying their music from the online store as well.
Here we are at that convergence issue again. To make a digital download or to transfer your CD collection into a digital format to play on a media player like an iPod, you need a computer. The computer which is becoming the all purpose communications tool in the home is also becoming the all purpose media entertainment center. The percentage of homes with computers is growing by the day. Businesses like Tower Records, that depend upon customers in the store, are suffering.
I remember when computers where not much more than word processors. Then came Internet connections and you could communicate with others by email or on bulletin boards. Computers got more powerful and graphics became part of the mix. You could create and manipulate images in programs like PhotoShop.
Connections got faster, computers more powerful and cameras were created that could capture a digital image. Hard drives got larger and computers faster so that you could begin to capture and play video clips. A typical desk top computer—no, a typical laptop computer now has vastly more storage space than a fileserver of only a couple of years ago.
Technology is moving ahead faster than all but the most ardent geek could imagine.
When I first got into the newspaper business, my camera equipment was all made by Canon. It was top of the line, professional stuff. It rivaled Nikon. I just recently learned that Canon has stopped making film cameras. They are putting all their efforts into digital. I had long since moved to digital for all my photography but that announcement still came as a shock to me. I guess it was like the shock of finding a furniture store where a record store had once been.
Advancing technology is pacing our future. I wonder where it will take us.
As always, you can contact me at rpolk@chespub.com or through my blog accessible from the stardem.com Website.
