I don't get it

What is the big deal with the Apple iPad? It just seems to be a bigger iTouch. It doesn't even seem to run regular programs (you know, desktop applications, like MS Office or whatever the Mac equivalent is), so why would you get this to replace your laptop? I can see buying it for the color e-book factor, if that's your thing, but otherwise I don't see the point.

Best Gmail tip ever

I generally import all of my Gmail into my Outlook and read it there, but doing that leaves the messages "unread" on the Gmail server (which is especially annoying when I check mail on my iPhone). So, I periodically go into Gmail and clean it all up - labeling various messages, deleting junk, and marking messages "read". But it means that I have to scroll through pages and pages of mail, since some of it is already marked "read" due to various filters I've set up. I finally found a great trick to use to pull up just those messages that I need to address: in the text field above the mailbox, enter "is:unread" and click the Search Mail button. This will bring up only those "unread" emails.

Waving

I got an invite to Google Wave a couple of days ago, and I've been poking around in it ever since, finding good public waves to follow and trying to figure out how I can best use it. So far it seems to function best as a forum/chat hybrid. It's still really buggy and has scaling problems for sure, but I think it could be very useful as a project management tool.

Are you on Google Wave? If so, how are you using it?

Technobabble

Rugrat has been bugging me for a while now to teach him how to "build a website." I tried explaining that people study for years to learn how to build websites, and that it's not something he can just sit down and learn in an afternoon. But he just kept on bugging me.

So, today I built him a very, very simple website, while I talked him through the whole process. I showed him where to put text, how to add an image or a link, and how to build a table for layout. Since I'm a programmer, I showed him how to do all this by writing the code, not with some silly little point and click "web builder" software. We also created a simple background image to use on his site, and then created links to other pages. So it was a pretty thorough introduction to web developing.

And as if that's not enough, I set him up with a Gmail account and pointed him in the direction of Blogger. He figured that out all by himself (it really is foolproof), and set up a blog called Lizze's News (Lizze is his pet lizard's name). Take a look and be sure to leave a comment - I'm sure he'd be thrilled to find out people are visiting his blog!

DirecTV vs U-Verse

I'm a DirecTV user. Have been for about six years...ever since I ordered my DirecTivo from Amazon. It has served me faithfully but I think it's finally time to retire the old Tivo. It's kind of gut-wrenching; I've had it for so long now that it's like an old friend. It still has movies and shows on there that were recorded four or five years ago! But the other night, it failed to record American Idol for some reason. Just...didn't do it. And I can't have that, sorry. It was the performance night. I can miss the results show without minding too much (I'd just read it online at TWOP), but missing the performances sucked.

Also, I've got an HDTV now. I got it over a year ago, at Christmas, but am still watching standard-def TV because I don't have the high-def feed. And I don't have the high-def feed because the high-def receiver/Tivo combo that DirecTV has was pretty expensive. Now they're down to $200 -- still a good chunk of change, but I'm thinking I might do it once I get my tax rebate check.

And then I started hearing about this AT&T U-Verse. Apparently it's TV over IP -- basically your television is served via a fiber-optic cable that runs to a hub in your neighborhood, and from the hub to your house via copper wire. They also offer Internet service over this same delivery system. The price is comparable to what I'm paying now for DSL + DirecTV, plus the DirecTV HD add-on fee, and the convenience of having it all on one bill sounds nice. They don't even charge you for the receiver/DVR! Plus the potential for television/Internet integration in the future (interactive TV, YouTube through your television, etc) is amazing.

BUT.

I did my research online, and I've seen some reviews that are not very encouraging. I've read that the DVR they use is awful, especially if you're currently a Tivo user. I've also read that the U-Verse HD signal is not nearly as clear and sharp as DirecTV's HD signal. They currently allow only one HD signal in at a time, which means you can either record an HD program or watch a live HD program, but you can't record one and watch another at the same time. They're working on expanding that, so you can get two HD feeds at once, but the way they plan to do it is by improving their HD compression...which doesn't sound like it bodes well for picture quality, considering their current compression is not bringing through the ultra-sharp video you'd expect. And the "On-Demand" movies they offer...well, I've heard that the streaming video quality is so bad (artifacts, hanging, pixellation) that you might as well just not bother at all. On-Demand is one of the things that I was excited about, actually, so hearing that this was terrible is a real let-down.

So I'm interested in hearing from y'all -- if you've switched from DirecTV and/or Tivo to the new U-Verse service, what do you think?

OMFG! iPhone!!!

I have the greatest job ever. Today we had an in-house staff meeting (which means I had to go in to the office, horror of horrors) and then a belated birthday lunch for the boss. After lunch, as I was packing up to go, the boss called me in. He asked me a quick question about a client and then said, "I got you something. I don't want you to make a big deal about it, but..." And DUDE!! It was a 16GB iPhone!

Yes, I "need" it for work because I sometimes need to check mobile websites to make sure they're displaying properly and my phone doesn't work for that, for some reason. But seriously??? A freakin' iPhone, y'all! FOR FREE.

I love my job.

Shuffly goodness

Mr Wonderful got me a fabulous new iPod shuffle for Christmas. One that holds a whole gigabyte of data, which translates to 238 songs, or over 15 hours. FIFTEEN HOURS of music, y'all. On this little bitty metallic green thing the size of a postage stamp! I really love technology. And also? The new shuffle works great because I haven't spilled any meat juice on it (yet). So it actually, you know, shuffles the songs instead of just playing the same ten over and over until I want to scream.

Note to self: do not set down the cutting board with meat fresh from the oven on top of the new shuffle. You will regret it.

Simple pleasures, geek style

I'm not a very complicated person. I generally like things simple and straightforward. But the last cell phone I got was the Razr, which at the time was pretty much top of the line. Generally I am of the opinion that, if it will make telephone calls, it's good enough for me. But in this case I made an exception. Why? Because I am smitten with the personalized ringtones. You know, where you set a different ringtone for each person in your address book so that you know the moment it rings who's calling.

But I wasn't content with the ringtones you can buy online. I absolutely had to have a ringtone with the Kim Possible theme song. Do you know how hard it is to find a Kim Possible ringtone? They don't exist. So I had to make one. I got an audio file - off a Disney soundtrack CD or something - and I downloaded some free software (Audacity) and cut the file down to the size I wanted, with the exact audio clip I wanted.

And then I went nuts. I was making ringtones for every person and occasion. And today, I made ringtones from the soundtrack of a DVD. Not the soundtrack like the music from the movie, the soundtrack meaning the actual WORDS SPOKEN during the film. I found this awesome software called DVD Audio Ripper, and after very little futzing around, I figured out how to get the audio track I wanted, and then I used Audacity to crop it. So now I have a couple of ringtones made from the Jimmy Neutron movie. (What? I LOVE cartoons. The best part about having a kid is that you get a fabulous excuse to watch cartoons.)

Technology is freaking awesome.