All Things Hokie

25 Useful Leopard Features

Bill — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:32:34 +0000

MacWorld has a pretty good article on 25 typically overlooked features of Leopard. We’ve all gotten used to the new items like Time Machine, but there are smaller features that some might have forgotten about. I know I forgot that you can scroll windows that are not active. Since I havent gotten used to spaces I know that would help me out immensely. Here is the link if you are interested:

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Control Your Mac Through Email

Bill — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:25:31 +0000

This is pretty nifty if you ask me. If you need to restart, shut down, put to sleep, or even open an application on your mac remotely, it can be done using Apple Script and some simple email rules. I personally don’t have a need for this, but I could definetly see the benefit if folks connect to their home computer remotely. I guess I could also see how someone could take advantage of your computer if they knew you were using this, but no one out there would do that right? The link for more details is below:

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Mr. T and Gizmodo

Bill — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:37:00 +0000

For April Fools (I am guessing) Gizmodo has integrated Mr. T into all of their posts. It’s definitely worth a look if you need a laugh during the day.

Good Old Mr. T pity the foo’!

www.gizmodo.com

This Is How You Keep Customers

Bill — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:33:30 +0000

I wrote the other day about how Netflix had gone down for almost a full day, causing shipping delays and other technical problems. And although they never explained what the reason was, to keep their customers happy they are issuing their customers a 5% credit to their accounts to make up for the outage. It would be amazing to see if customer service wouldn’t be considered dead in the US if more companies did things like this instead of the “its not our fault”, or “it must be user error”, or “We never received your message, or note, or letter, etc.”

I wish I could get a 5% credit to my electric bill seeing I’ve been trying to get two street lights fixed on my street for 3 months now…I keep getting the “we’ll get to it soon” line…but that is another story in itself.

Cable Companies Joining Sprint’s WiMax Effort

Bill — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:03:45 +0000

Comcast and Time Warner are in talks with Sprint and Clearwire to join the joint venture named Xohm. Comcast is offering 1 billion (with a B) and Time Warner has offered 500 million to help the fledging company make it off the ground.

I personally don’t know how to feel about this. I haven’t given any type of commercial wireless internet option much thought because I haven’t seen how it will be a viable option for home and away from home internet connectivity. You can’t get me to believe reading the web on a 1.5 inch phone screen is considered viable. Verizon’s EV-DO service just made it to my area, and has speed and download limits attached to it. It is similar with the other companies in the area, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Since I am considered a rural area I will never see Fios in my lifetime (I don’t even have access to DSL at the moment), so I am highly skeptical of any reported efforts such as this. Even by Xohm’s own website they are talking a limited roll out all the way through 2010. I had hopes that the 700mhz auction might have given me a new opportunity to see wireless internet access that would be viable for my needs, but with Verizon winning most of it, I see the status quo for many many years to come.

Regardless, here is the article from the WP if you are interested. You might need to create an account to access it.

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Google Lost…Or Did They?

Bill — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:05:05 +0000

With Verizon and AT&T winning a majority of the 700mhz spectrum auction, everyone considered Google to be the loser. On Monday Google submitted a report to the FCC making arguments that the “white space” (frequency between tv channels) should be opened up for use. This would basically give what Google wanted in the first place and not cost them a dime. The problem is that no one has been able to produce a product that gets along with the frequencies. If this were to work and the FCC agrees you could see a whole new set of technology from more capable home wireless routers, to a new form of access to the Internet in forms of new wireless ISPs. I don’t have much faith in it working, or getting here before I am 50 years old, but it will be interesting if they can get this idea off the ground. Here is a link with more details:

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XM and Sirius Approved to Merge By the DOJ

Bill — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:00:59 +0000

Though there are still some hurtles to jump over with the FCC, the merger between XM and Sirius made a big step forward with the DOJ approving the merger of the two companies. The issue at hand was the proposed merger going to be causing anti-competitive behavior since they are the only two satellite radio companies. I agree that even though there will only be one company, they will have to compete with other forms of media such as free radio, folks iPods, etc. I wouldn’t be smart of them to raise their prices at this point because people will just move to other forms of media. I know the 12.95 I pay for XM is already high enough. I couldn’t justify paying more than that. XM and Sirius stock shot up yesterday with the news of the approval Here is a link with more details:

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Netflix Down For Almost A Day

Bill — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:55:56 +0000

Netflix experienced a full system crash yesterday which lasted almost the entire day. Though the system was up by the afternoon, customer’s queues, and ratings had yet to be restored. A Netflix spokesman said that deliveries will be delayed by a day since the outage effected the delivery centers as well. No one would claim what caused the outage, so we are left to speculate. Here are more details if you are interested:

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Apple To Offer Unlimited iTunes?

Bill — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:37:41 +0000

I am quite skeptical of this rumor since this idea of either all you can eat or subscription based iTunes has been thrown around forever, but it might have some legs this time. The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is in negotiation with the music companies to allow for full access to the iTunes library. The idea is to either tack on a cost to the iPod or iPhone, or have a monthly fee. The thought of adding cost onto the fee of a device has been picking up steam, so the question is would someone pay an extra 80-100 bucks for a device if they had unlimited access to iTunes’ music library. You can read more here:

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There Is A Ninja Among Us…

Bill — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:35:56 +0000

On a completely personal note, I just wanted to tell the world that Sam is now a CPA ninja who is ready to take on the credits and the debits…and the IRS when they come knocking!

Congrats hunny!!