benrobb

The Best Tech Thing Since Sliced Bread

Two programs that have made my Windows-life easier.  One I’ve been using for awhile, one I found yesterday.  Both are programs that add on some (in my opinion) missing functionality in Windows.  Both are also very lightweight on system resources which is important to me.

Launchy: Never use your Start Menu again.  Ever.  A keystroke (mine is Alt+Space) will open a launcher.  Type in the first few letters of the application you want, and it’ll pop up.  Hit Enter to launch the application.

Launchy maintains a catalog of places where it will look for files/applications/anything that matches your keystrokes.  I added My Documents into my catalog along with a few extensions and now I can open a document in its native application just by typing the first few letters of the document name (a la Spotlight).  Beautiful.  It’s not a revolutionary idea, just a lightweight alternative that’s available for Windows Users.  It’s also skinnable, so you can get a few different looks from it.

AutoHotKey:The idea here is simple, the implementation is light-weight, and the end-product is powerful.  Pick any key combination, and execute a script that tells Windows what to do.  There’s a whole scripting language to support this with function calls, if/else logic, etc.  You can tell where your mouse should click, what buttons to type, etc.

A few examples.  Ctrl+Shift+P on my computer will now set my status for my chat client to “On the Phone.”  Ctrl+Shift+A will mark me as “Available” again, and Ctrl+Shift+L will set my status to “Away” and lock my computer.

Now I know that the non-techies in the audience are thinking that I’m wasting my time, but anyone who works on a computer for a living knows that you can use a keyboard about 10 times faster than you can use a mouse.  So the fact that I can perform so many of my common tasks without touching my mouse translates into increased productivity.  That’s cool tech beans.

Tags: software

Gadget Inventory

I’ve been trying to find a local electronics recycler because all my old computer junk is just taking up too much space. When you get new electronics and toys, you’ve got to get rid of some of the old ones.

This process made me realize just how many gadgets I’ve got. Here’s the current inventory that’s not on the recycle list:

• iPod Touch (current favorite)
• Macbook Pro (close second)
• AppleTV
• Mac Mini
• Dell 2407WFP
• 5th Gen Video iPod
• 2nd Gen iPod Nano (the one before the fatties)
• Nintendo Wii
• Dell Optiplex 745
• Dell Optiplex GX150
• Dell Inspiron 600m
• Blackberry Pearl
• Sharp Aquos 32inch 1080p LCD TV

I wanted to get a new video card with this month’s allowance, but I realized that 2 of my 3 pairs of jeans now have holes in them and I better get some new ones before they rotted in tatters from my body. It was a little disappointing to realize that the video card would have to wait, but I made the right choice (I think) =)

Clothes shopping has to be one of the most boring things in the world, but I figured I had to power through it. The trip to Target for jeans wasn’t a total loss though, because I was able to pick up Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii while I was there! Falcon Punch!!

Tags: gadget inventory, gadgets

Just Enough JavaScript to be Dangerous

Working at Omniture means that I have fairly easy access to SiteCatalyst. I’ve been running Google Analytics on my blog for over a year now, and I’m nearing my one year anniversary of starting at Omniture (April). I figured it’s probably time for me to take my own medicine.

I haven’t done any real programming since leaving school and even then it was Rails or Java. I’ve dabbled in PHP, but I’ve never done JavaScript. Ever. Turns out that programming languages are just programming languages. The logic is the same and the syntax is all that changes (this is obviously gross oversimplification, but served my purposes tonight). I looked at the JavaScript on a few of other sites and whipped up my own solution for naming pages and recording internal search terms.

Now there’s no QC department on my MacBook Pro, but I spent about 45 minutes to code, debug, and test my implementation.

Tags: javascript, omniture, programming, sitecatalyst

Accuracy & Precision: Two Problems with Social News

Whether it’s deliberate or accidental, I’ve been reminded several times in the last few months that you can’t believe everything you read in the social news.

Those who do it on purpose seek the sensationalism needed to create Digg-able linkbait. This is by far the more atrocious sin, but many bloggers simply neglect to check their facts. Far too many people assume that because they see it on their social news site of choice, it must be true, so I stand up here as the voice of reason. Please check your facts! Stop the sensationalism!

Here I do not condemn the rumor sites that identify themselves as such (anything related to Apple), nor the fake sites that everyone knows are fake (Fake Steve Jobs anyone?), but rather the Diggs, the Slashdots, the Techmemes, the Reddits, and the Sphinns of the world.

I finally got sick of the magnitude of sin on Digg and canceled all RSS subscriptions from that site. For this reason, none of my examples come from Digg, but I can only imagine that it carried even worse headlines and summaries.

TSA Bans Batteries from Luggage on Airline Flights

A few recent examples: first there was the “fact” that starting Jan 1, 2008, you couldn’t take spare batteries for your devices on plains anymore Electronista reported this as Lithium Batteries to be Banned from Air Luggage; it also showed up on Slashdot as the slightly more accurate TSA Limits Lithium Batteries on Airplanes an accurate enough title, though the content of the article said otherwise. As it turns out there are some limitations, but they are not nearly as strict as we were first told. For the full story, check SafeTravel.dot.gov here and here.

RIAA Says that Ripping MP3s is Illegal

Then the RIAA said that ripping CDs to MP3 was illegal. Slashdot had it as RIAA Argues That MP3s from CDs are Unauthorized and Electronista picked it up as RIAA Claims CD Rips Are Piracy in Lawsuit. These are probably more forgivable since both were based on an article in the Washington Post. Later though, this article popped up on CNet that gave us the real story exposing Marc Fisher (Washington Post reporter) as a bit of a sensationalist himself.

I’ve got no love for the RIAA, but Mr. Fisher deliberately misinterpreted statements in the RIAA’s brief and refused to admit to having made a mistake (at least to my knowledge). What the RIAA actually said was that the unauthorized act was putting the MP3s in the Kazaa shared folder on his local network. Admittedly the RIAA is still venturing into unknown territory, but anyone can see the difference in the magnitude of the claims.

The part that really irks me, though, is that people continue to report it inaccuracies, even after they’ve been clarified and corrected. Just this afternoon on Slashdot, there’s a report that the EFF has come to Mr. Howell’s defense (defendant in the above RIAA case) and the Slashdot contributor clearly states “This is the same case in which the RIAA claimed that Mr. Howell’s MP3s, copied from his CDs, were themselves unlawful.” That claim was never made.

Cary Sherman (President of the RIAA) actually said “Not a single (legal) case has ever been brought (by the RIAA against someone for copying music for personal use). Not a single claim has ever been made.” Granted it’s worming around the issue of how the RIAA really feels about the topic, but it’s an official statement and, very strictly speaking, it’s true.

Can we put an end to the sensationalism and just report the news so that we can stop wasting our lives reading false news? I’ve really got better things to do with my time.

Tags: 2 cents, riaa, social media

Microsoft’s Next-Gen UI

I’ve seen a few things lately about the next version of Windows, aptly code-named Windows 7 and it’s next-generation user interface. AppleInsider sums it up nicely citing Microsoft engineer Hilton Lock as saying that the Windows 7 interface is tons cooler than the iPhone and people will be blown away.

What strikes me as interesting is the fact that if Microsoft is comparing their next-gen OS to the iPhone they’ve already missed the boat. Vista is still in it’s early adoption phases and another operating system from Microsoft is at least 5-6 years down the road if they follow their historical release schedule.

In a world of constantly changing technology and rapid innovation, this effectively means that Microsoft is comparing targeting a competitor that has moved onto other areas. It’s the iPod/Zune thing all over again.

Apple’s original iPod was fantastic and a real step forward for usability and simplicity. Several years later, after the iPod was already dominating, Microsoft releases the Zune, but the iPod was already ahead and moving faster.

Sure, Microsoft made a nice new Zune that compares to the old iPods and even the new iPod classic favorably, but Apple doesn’t really care about the iPod classic. Apple has already moved on with the iPod Touch. They release the Classic because it makes money and because flash storage isn’t big enough to get the massive capacity some people want, but that’s not where Apple is focused. They’ve already moved on.

I hope that Windows 7 doesn’t turn into the next Zune 2. Microsoft needs to do some innovation in a whole new direction rather than just trying to one-up existing technology. Microsoft surface demonstrates that kind of thinking, but when will it be affordable and in production?

It’s no secret that I’m an Apple fan, but for better or worse, Windows is the dominant player in terms of market share and use (though perhaps not mind share) so the better Microsoft can make it, the better off we’ll all be. Let’s see some real innovation come out of Redmond. Not just ideas and prototypes, but real devices and software that us consumers can get our hands on.

Tags: 2 cents, apple, microsoft